October 1919
Evelyn glanced up from peeling potatoes at the sink as Louis and five-year-old Aaron raced into the kitchen, brandishing the wooden guns Evelyn’s grandfather had made Louis the previous Christmas. “Outside, boys,” she directed.
They tore out the back door, slamming it shut behind them. Evelyn’s grandmother chuckled from her seat at the table, where she was knitting winter hats for all the boys at the farm.
“Things aren’t as quiet as they used to be for you and Grandpa,” Evelyn said with a chuckle. She brushed a curl from her face and returned to her task.
“It’s nice not to have things so quiet.”
“Really?” Evelyn set down her knife to study her grandmother. She’d been saddened to find both of them looking so frail when she and Louis had arrived home last December before Joel was released to join them in the States. Yet her grandparents had welcomed the idea of opening their home to other boys in need of help. To Evelyn’s surprise, the whole venture had seemed to renew their health, instead of speeding up its decline.
Her grandmother’s knitting needles paused. “I haven’t seen your grandfather so happy in years.”
“What about you, Grandma?”
Her wrinkled face lifted into a smile as the knitting needles resumed their quiet clicking. “I am a great-grandmother now. I have nothing to complain about.” She looked up from her work, her keen gaze on Evelyn. “I’m proud of you, Evelyn. You have a good husband and son, and you are raising a whole passel of boys to be good men, too.”
Evelyn brushed at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. Telling her grandparents all that had transpired during her time in France hadn’t been easy, but they had reacted to the news with the same loving kindness she felt in her grandmother’s words at this moment.
Joel stepped through the back door, a bushel of apples in his arms. “How are my two favorite women?” He placed a kiss on Grandma’s cheek as he passed her chair. Evelyn’s grandmother grinned.
He set the bushel of apples on the counter, then came to the sink and kissed Evelyn firmly on the lips.
“Is that the last of the apples?” she asked when he stepped back.
“Just about. The older boys think they can get one more bushel, maybe two.”
“Good. I think Grandma and I will make apple pie tomorrow.” Evelyn rinsed another potato as she glanced out the window. The red and gold leaves clinging to the trees matched the colors of the sunset.
A movement drew her attention and she looked to see a lone figure walking up the road in the direction of the farm. The young man had a knapsack over his shoulder and appeared to be about sixteen years old. He glanced at the farmhouse and came to a stop, his blond hair lifting with the evening breeze.
Something in his face brought a spark of hope and excitement thrumming inside Evelyn. Could her letters have finally found the person she’d been seeking ever since she’d returned to the States?
“Joel, I think we’ll need to get out that other bed frame tonight.”
Joel came up behind her and looked out the window. “I’ll go meet him,” he said with a smile.
Evelyn kept her eyes focused on the young man. A minute later, Joel appeared on the road. He approached the boy with his hand outstretched to greet him, then he froze. Evelyn held her breath. The young man stumbled forward and Joel clasped him in a tight hug.
“Oh, thank you, Lord,” she breathed, dropping the potato in the sink. “I’ll be right back, Grandma.”
She hurried out the back door and through the short side gate. Joel released the boy and led him toward the house. Evelyn met them on the road.
“Who do we have here?” she asked, though she suspected the answer already.
Joel grinned. “Les, I want you to meet my wife, Evelyn. Evelyn, this is Les.”
“Pleased to meet you, Les.” She shook hands with the young man. “Welcome to our farm.”
A faint smile erased the hesitant look on Les’s face. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Why don’t you go on up to the house and wash up? We’ll be eating soon. The kitchen’s right through there.” She pointed at the back door.
Les nodded and strode to the gate. Evelyn watched him a moment longer, then turned to Joel. He was studying her intently.
“What?” She laughed.
He took both her hands in his. “How did you find him? I didn’t even think his mother knew where he was.”
Evelyn shrugged, though she couldn’t stop beaming. “It took a lot of letters and patience, but I finally found a woman who had hired him to work in her store a while back. I wrote and told Les about our home here and invited him to come. To be honest, I wasn’t sure he’d even—”
He ended any further attempt at explanation with a long kiss that set Evelyn’s pulse racing. “Thank you, Evelyn. For marrying me, for finding Les, for giving us a family with Louis and all these boys.”
Joel put his arm around her waist as they walked back toward the brightly lit house. On the front porch, her grandfather sat in a rocker, whittling at a stick, while two of the younger boys listened to his stories. Ahead of her and Joel, Louis and Aaron jostled each other good-naturedly as they entered the kitchen behind the older boys. Through the open door, the trill of her grandmother’s laughter and the murmur of many voices spilled out, encircling Evelyn. She couldn’t imagine happier sounds. With the warmth of Joel’s hand on the small of her back, she climbed the stairs and stepped inside.