Free The Widow's Choice by Gilbert Morris Page B

asked curiously. “Doesn’t it work right?”
    “I had a spell with it about a year ago, but you know doctors. They get all upset. I’m fine really.”
    Alona put a piece of cake in front of everybody and poured milk for the boys and for Oscar. Finally she sat down herself.
    “What was it like when you were a boy, Mr. Moran?” Zac wanted to know.
    “Well, these are hard times we live in, Zac, but I think it was even harder back then. My family was happy when I was a boy, but we had to work hard to make ends meet. Things got even harder for me when I got older, though. My mother died when I was twenty, and my father remarried a younger woman two years later. They had a son—my half brother Jason, but Jason’s mother died in childbirth. Then our father died when Jason was only ten, and I wound up raising him myself.”
    “Do you have any other brothers or sisters?” Alona asked.
    “I have one sister. She’s married to a colonel in the army. They move around constantly. He’s about ready to retire.”
    “What about your half brother? Where is he now?”
    Oscar seemed somewhat at a loss at the question. He took a bite of cake before he answered. “Actually, he lives with me right here in Jonesboro. He works for me too.”
    “I don’t believe I’ve met him. Doesn’t he ever come to church?”
    “No. Jason’s not much of a churchgoer.”
    “That’s too bad, when you’re such a good example for him.”
    Oscar suddenly grinned. “I’m not a saint by any means, Alona.”
    “How old is he?”
    “Let’s see. He’s twenty-eight.” The boys wanted to know more about Jason, but Alona noted that Oscar was having a hard time talking about him.
    “Some young men have a hard time finding themselves,” Oscar explained, “and Jason’s one of those. He’s tried a lot of jobs. He was even a pilot for the navy for a while.”
    “A pilot! Gosh, that’s what I want to be!” Zac said.
    “You want to be a fireman. That’s what you told me yesterday!” Carl snapped.
    “I’ll be a fireman first and then a pilot later. Would he take us up in his airplane, do you think, Mr. Moran?”
    A sober expression crossed his face. “No, Jason doesn’thave an airplane now. It was like some of his other efforts. He had a bad crash, and it shook him up so badly he hasn’t been able to fly again. He’s afraid of it now. I don’t understand that.” He shrugged his thick shoulders. “When a man makes a mistake or has hard luck, he just has to get up and try again. That’s what I always had to do.”
    “I suppose it’s harder for some than for others. You obviously have a lot of determination.”
    “Well, thank you. I do have that. Some call it bullheaded stubbornness.” He laughed and shook his head. “I guess that’s about right. I’ve had to be stubborn to keep this business going. It all but went down during the first year of the Depression, but it’s doing well enough now.”
    Moran stayed for half an hour and heaped praises upon Alona’s cake. When she walked him to the door, the boys scattered to their bedrooms. “You know, Alona,” Oscar said as he put on his overcoat and hat, “I envy you those fine boys.”
    “They’re not perfect, but they are good boys. And I want to thank you for paying attention to them. They miss their dad a lot. It means something to them to have a man show them some attention.”
    “No thanks necessary, because it’s a joy to me. If you ever have to take them to the doctor, or have some difficulty with them, give me a call. You have my card.”
    “I do have it, Oscar, and I’ll use it if I have to.”
    “Don’t hesitate. Thanks again for the cake. It was delicious.”
    Alona closed the door and was thoughtful as she went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes. She thought about how odd it was that Oscar seemed so unwilling to talk about his half brother Jason. He doesn’t have any other relatives except for a sister. I would think the two of them would be closer,