Since his back was to the two women, Will wasn’t able to see what happened next, but the expression on Tommy’s face brightened. Before he could stop his son, the boy shot off his chair toward the stranger.
“Come sit with us, lady. You look nice. We need someone to teach us how to eat nice and not like a bunch of wild hogs.”
Will turned in his chair and caught the surprised look on the woman’s face. She quickly disguised it with a smile. “Well, hello to you, too, little man.” She crouched down and looked into Tommy’s eyes while she spoke.
Will was taken by her soft, sincere voice. She sounded as though she actually enjoyed talking to the little boy. Will opened his mouth to call Tommy back to the table, but the words died before reaching his lips when he saw the rapture on his son’s face.
“I’m not a little man, I’m just a boy. My brother says I haf’ta be more’n eleven to be a man. He’s gonna be a man soon ’cuz he’s already nine,” Tommy informed her, holding out eight fingers until she helped him lift one more.
“That’s nine.” She smiled, ruffling his hair.
“I just got my hair—”
“Tomas.” Will didn’t know what to do with his son. He seemed bound and determined to get the whole town laughing at his antics. “Leave the lady in peace and come back to the table.”
“But, Pa, she don’t have nobody to sit with and we could learn how to be gent’men if she were at the table,” Tommy argued, taking hold of the woman’s hand.
“Tomas, you need to heed your father, dear.” Her melodic voice soothed some of Will’s embarrassment, and her eyes sparkled with delight. She straightened back up and led Tommy to the table without withdrawing her hand from his.
Reluctantly, Tommy sat down and let her go, but as she turned to leave, she suddenly turned back to look closer at Will. “Oh, my! You’re the one who—”
“Yeah,” Tommy answered for his father, “he caught you at the train. You were gonna fall on your face.”
“Yes, I was. I don’t think I had a chance to thank you, sir.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt,” Will mumbled uncomfortably. It had been years since he was in polite company.
“Can she eat with us, Pa? Please.” Tommy pushed the issue.
“She probably wants some peace and quiet after her train ride, Tommy.”
“Yeah, you talk too much,” Willy whispered to his brother. Tommy’s face fell and he bit his lower lip.
“I’d love to eat with you, young man. You’re the most handsome gentleman who’s ever invited me to sup with him. I’d be honored, but your pa might want to have you boys all to himself.”
“It would be our pleasure to have your presence at our table,” Will responded, belatedly standing in the presence of the lady as his mother had taught him. “Please, have a seat, if you’d like.” Even as he stepped around to hold out the chair between Tommy and Willy and opposite his, he wondered what he was thinking. The young woman had just given him the perfect out and instead of taking it, he asked her to join them and endure his sons’ antics. Maybe it was just the idea of talking to another adult or maybe it was the worried look she was trying hard to hide from the boys.
“Thank you again,” she murmured. The waitress set a menu in front of her and soon returned with a glass of water for everyone.
“Well, my young friend.” She smiled down at Tommy. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. My name—”
“I’m Tommy,” he interrupted, “and I’m six years old.” He held out his hands and this time he had managed to get six digits to stand in the air.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Tommy.” She grinned and shook his hand as if he were a grown man.
“And you would be...?” She turned her attention on Willy.
Will did all he could not to stare at the young lady. Her eyes were a mix of green and blue and she smiled genuinely at his son. Her blond hair had been pulled back into some sort of braids and then wrapped into a bun. With the jostling about of the train and the wind, little spirals had escaped, bouncing close to her diminutive ears.
She couldn’t be more than eighteen. What person had sent her out on the train by herself? Didn’t they know that the prairie was full of single men? Many hadn’t had an opportunity to socialize with a lovely lady for months or even years. Where was her father or brother? What was she to do now that no one had shown up to the station? And who was so irresponsible to have a young lady like her come halfway across the continent and then not meet her train?
“He’s my big brother. He always tells me what to do. He’s sweet on Jill. So, what are you going to eat? Pa likes the chicken ’cuz we mostly eat venison and rabbit on the farm. I’m gett’n’ the same thing ’cuz it’s got potatoes in it. I think I like potatoes.”
“That’s very nice, Tommy, but you didn’t tell me you brother’s name.”
“I told ya you talk too much,” Willy muttered.
“I do not!” Tommy answered his brother with a glare.
“Do, too!”
“Do not!”
“Do, too!”
“Boys!” Barely keeping his voice low, Will intervened and frowned when he saw the young lady biting her lower lip. Was she trying not to laugh at the boys or trying not to show her discomfort? He had had almost all the humiliation that he could take for one day. “Behave yourselves.”
His warning was understood and both boys lowered their eyes. “Forgive us, miss. We don’t get to town very often and it seems we’ve left what few manners we have back home.”
“Don’t think another thing about it, sir. My nieces and nephews were always saying things without thinking them through first. I find your boys refreshing.” She smiled reassuringly at both boys.
“Well, I should try to start the introductions again,” Will stated, wondering why her smile made his stomach flutter just a bit. It must have been the hunger for his supper sending ripples though his middle. “I’m Will Hopkins and this is Willy.” He pointed to his older son.
“It’s a pleasure—” The young lady had turned to Willy, extending her hand to shake his, when she froze and turned stunned eyes back to Will. Willy stared at her strangely, his hand in the air.
“I... What did you say your surname was?” she asked in a choked voice.
“Hopkins, but around here we usually are very...” Her face had gone deathly white and she looked as if she was going to faint.
She looked too stunned for words, barely gathering herself together enough to speak. “I... Where is Mrs. Hopkins? Where is Francis?” she stuttered.
He hadn’t heard anyone call him that in years—in fact, other than his mother, no one called him that at all. He could feel himself flush, and tried to talk over it. “I’m, um... My father was... I’m Francis, Francis William Hopkins. I go by Will most of the time.”
“But you’re not a widow!”
A widow? Why would anyone think he was—
“I thought... My mother’s best friend was Frannie, Francis...and if you...if you’re... Why didn’t you tell me who you were at the station? You just walked past me and left me there!” The confusion on her pretty face gave way