“Does this mean we can be friends as well as neighbors?” William asked, hoping that the playful, sweet Emily Jane would stick around awhile. Now that she knew he wasn’t interested in marriage, maybe she would become friendlier and less stiff around him.
She stood. “Yes, I’d like that. And from now on, you and the girls will eat dinner at our house.” Emily Jane smiled at him, then walked to the steps.
William followed her. He stood on the top step. “Thanks for the cookies. I think we should call them peace-offering cookies, don’t you?”
Her sweet laughter floated on the breeze to him. “I like that. I think that’s the name I’ll give Violet tomorrow for the menu. Good night.”
“Good night.” He watched her until she stepped inside her house with a final wave.
As he turned to go inside, William wished Emily Jane wanted marriage and children. She’d make some man a perfect wife.
But not him.
What he hadn’t told Emily Jane was that he couldn’t see marriage in his future. Unlike Emily Jane, most women hid the fact that they didn’t want a family. He wanted children, and now that Charlotte had proved how easy it was to deceive him about their true feelings of having children, William didn’t trust himself to find a woman who was honest and open like Emily Jane had been tonight.
He took the cookies to the kitchen and looked about. It didn’t feel homey like Emily Jane and Anna Mae’s. His grandmother hadn’t been a woman to put up lacy curtains or keep frilly towels lying about. William sighed. He missed his grandmother and sister. Loneliness crept into his chest as he realized he would never have the homeyness of a woman’s touch in his house again. He rubbed his chest in an effort to ease the dull ache that seemed to have taken up residence there.
After a restless night, William rose the next morning with a headache and two little girls crying for dry diapers and full tummies. He wondered how mothers did all that they did in a day. When was he going to have time to do laundry, fix meals and make sure the girls were happy?
The rest of his morning was hectic, and by the time he knocked on Emily Jane’s door, his nerves were shot. Rose and Ruby seemed happy, but William wasn’t sure how much longer he could continue at this pace.
Emily Jane answered the door. Her smile turned into a frown when she saw his haggard looks. “Rough night?” she asked.
He offered her what he hoped was a charming smile. “More like a rough morning.” William kissed Rose on the cheek before handing her to Emily Jane.
“Do you have time for a cup of coffee?” she asked, stepping back so that he could enter with Ruby.
William sighed. A cup of coffee sounded wonderful. Between changing the girls’ diapers, fixing breakfast for them and cleaning them up after eating, he hadn’t had time to make coffee, too. He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “A cup of coffee would be nice, but it will have to be a fast one.”
“Fast cups of coffee are my specialty.” The sweet smile sent a fresh appreciation through him for the woman standing beside him. “Come on, girls. Let’s fix Uncle William a cup of coffee before he keels over.”
His name on her lips sounded like music to William’s ears. It was the first time she’d used it, and he wanted to hear it again and again. William shoved the silly thought aside. Lack of sleep made a man loopy in the brain.
Emily Jane hadn’t expected him to show up unshaven and rumpled. Were two little girls just too much for him? If so, how had he managed before he’d gotten to Granite? Of course, now that she thought about it, he’d been out of sorts that day, too.
She placed Rose in the pen she’d created, handed her one of the cloth balls and then hurried to get a coffee mug and pour William a cup. “This should perk you up,” she said, handing him the coffee.
“Thank you.” He continued to hold Ruby as he took a drink.
Emily Jane reached for the little girl. Ruby came into her arms and snuggled against her neck. She hugged the little girl close before placing her in the pen with her sister.
Of the two girls, Rose seemed the most affectionate. She smiled the easiest and laughed more often than her twin. Emily Jane patted Ruby on the head. Later she’d get the little girl out and give her an extra cuddle, too.
William sat down at the table and sighed. “This is really good coffee, Miss Emily Jane. One of these days you’ll have to show me how you make it. Mine never turns out this smooth.”
She laughed. If you weren’t careful when making coffee, you could end up with coffee grounds in your cup; she had a feeling William drank a lot of grounds. “Are you hungry? I’m sure I can put together a plate of bacon and biscuits.”
“No, thanks. I took your advice and made the girls a pan of scrambled eggs and buttered bread. They don’t eat as much as I thought, so I had lots of eggs for breakfast this morning.” He drank from his cup as if he was still washing down the eggs and bread.
Emily Jane turned to pick up Ruby from the pen. Ruby squirmed in her arms, pushing against her shoulder. Emily Jane hid her smile. The poor man had stuffed himself with eggs and bread this morning. No wonder he was tired. “I see.”
He drank the rest of the liquid in his cup. “Thanks for the coffee. I better get to the general store.” William stood to leave. “I hope you don’t mind we are a little early. I wanted to run by the furniture store and see if Mr. Westland has any more wagons for sale.”
Emily Jane held Ruby’s hands as she tried to walk across the kitchen. Unlike Rose, who liked to cuddle, Ruby wanted down to explore. If Emily Jane guessed correctly, Ruby would be the first to walk. She wasn’t as timid about falling, and she didn’t cry as quickly as her sister. She laughed. “I don’t mind at all. I hope he has an extra wagon.” She swung Ruby up into her arms. “We’re going to have a good day today, aren’t we, Ruby?”
Ruby pushed against her shoulder in protest, wanting back down, but Emily Jane’s back couldn’t take the bending over any longer. She returned her to the pen. William grinned at the two girls. “They really are sweet little things, aren’t they?”
Emily Jane looked at them. “Yes, they are. But, like all children, they have minds of their own and often their thoughts do not align with ours.” She offered him a smile. “I wish I could tell you the older they get, the easier it will be, but that’s not entirely the truth.”
He laughed. “Good to know.” William bent down and kissed each of the girls on the head. “Be good for Miss Emily Jane. I’ll be back after work, hopefully with a bright new wagon. Bye-bye.” He stood and wiggled his fingers at them.
“Bye-bye,” the girls echoed, but it sounded more like bite, bite. They tried wiggling their fingers like him and ended up poking them in their mouths in cute embarrassment.
William chuckled aloud. “Thank you for watching them. They seem very happy to be here.”
Emily Jane hated to admit it but said, “I enjoy having them.” And it was the truth. She missed her little sisters, and taking care of Rose and Ruby seemed to ease the loss a bit.
Once he was out the door, Emily Jane went into her bedroom and quickly sorted her dirty clothes. Then she moved into Anna Mae’s room and did the same. If she hurried, she’d be able to get them washed and on the line to dry before she’d need to start supper.
“Hey, girls, want to help Emily Jane wash today?” she asked, dropping the laundry beside the front door.
“Go!” Both Rose and Ruby called out at the same time.
Emily Jane walked back to them. “Yes, you get to go. We need to visit Mrs. Matthews for a few minutes.” She scooped up the girls, one in each arm, and then carried them out the door and across the street to the other lady’s house.
She knocked with her elbow.
A few moments later, Mrs. Matthews answered. “Come in, child, and bring those little darlings with you.”
“I really don’t have the time to stay but was wondering if maybe you could help me with the girls for a few minutes.”
“Sure, Emily Jane. What do you need me to do?” She stepped out onto the porch and took Rose from Emily Jane’s arms.
“Do you mind if I leave them with you for just a few moments while I run over to Mr. Barns’s house and borrow Mabel’s washtub? The girls are using mine for a pen, and I’d really like to get some laundry done today.” Emily Jane blew a stray lock of hair off her forehead.
Mrs. Matthews closed the door and started down the porch steps. “Of course I don’t mind. But I’d rather just go to your place to watch them, if you don’t mind. I can put them back in their pen and watch them play with those balls I made them.” She continued on across the street, not waiting for Emily Jane to answer.
As she followed the older woman, Emily Jane felt a laugh building in her tummy. Mrs. Matthews didn’t want the twins to destroy her perfectly cleaned home. Who could blame her?
Emily Jane trotted after the older woman. “Thank you. I promise I’ll get the tub and be back as fast as I can.” She hurried up the steps ahead of her neighbor and held the door open.
“Don’t give it a second thought and don’t rush.” She passed Emily Jane as she walked inside. “This is what friends do. We help each other.” Mrs. Matthews headed for the kitchen, where she deposited Rose into the pen.
Ruby wasn’t going to be left behind and called, “Down!” She pushed against Emily Jane’s shoulder.
“Hold on, you little darling.” Emily Jane eased Ruby into the washtub with her sister. “There, now. You two can play for a few minutes.”
Mrs. Matthews made her way to the coffeepot and clear jar full of cookies. “Do you mind if I make myself a snack?” she asked, pouring a cup of the coffee and reaching for the cookies at the same time.
“Help yourself. I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks. I can’t ever resist your cookies.”
Emily Jane laughed. “Have as many as you want. I’m off to get the other washtub.” As she left the kitchen, she heard the girls yell, “Eat!”
Mrs. Matthews’s laughter followed Emily Jane out the door. Emily Jane welcomed the soft breeze that brushed the hair off her forehead as she made her way to William’s house. She circled around to the back, where Mabel had always left her washtub on the back porch.
She didn’t think William would mind her using it. She hurried to the washtub. Just as she reached for it, she heard a high-pitched whimpering that sent a shiver down her back.