Free Mad World (Book 2): Sanctuary by Samaire Provost Page A

this simple yet savory meal. Julie had made an enormous amount of food, and even with all nine of us eating our fill there was some left over.
    “Well, my darlin’, looks like I’ll have something to take with me when I go out to work the wheat tomorrow,” Tom said as he sat back, allowing his full belly room to expand. Julie smiled. We all soon leaned back in our chairs, satiated and drowsy.
    “Why don’t you all retreat to the sitting room, and I’ll bring out some coffee?” Julie said.
    Obediently, we all shuffled off to the adjoining room. I felt so full and happy I couldn’t stop smiling. I saw Jacob and DeAndre loosening their belts. Tom had already. Luke, seeing his father and uncle, decided to undo the top button of his jeans. As he walked next to me into the sitting room, they promptly slid to his ankles. Luke floundered, trying to walk with pants around his ankles.
    “No, baby,” I said laughing, “You don’t wear a belt yet, so you can keep that button fastened. See how your pants have drooped?” I bent down and grabbed the pants, pulling them back up and buttoning the waist again. Jacob had stopped and come back to where we were. Ruffling Luke’s hair, he smiled down at him.
    “It won’t be long before we need to get you a belt, eh, Luke?”
    Luke smiled up at his father and horse-skipped into the sitting room, where Caitlyn, DeAndre, Stanley and Tom were already seated.
    “It sure has been nice having you all for a visit. God showed his providence with your arrival,” Tom said as he sat back an easy chair. Odd wording, I thought. He hadn’t asked for much in exchange for the meal. He continued.
    “I’ve been praying for days, and then you show up and spend the afternoon with us. It’s been very enjoyable,” he smiled.
    “Well, we really appreciate your hospitality, we really do,” Jacob said. He pulled out his wallet and withdrew three ten dollar bills and handed them to Tom. “I think we got the better of the deal with this exchange.” He smiled at the farmer, who took the bills and thanked him as he took out his own wallet and carefully folded them into it.
    Just then Julie emerged from the kitchen with her tray. This time it held a white coffeepot with yellow flowers painted on the side. Delicate coffee cups surrounded it on the tray. She put it down on a table off to the side and then went back and came again with a matching creamer and sugar bowl. The next ten m inutes was spent pouring the coffee , with everyone letting Julie know how many lumps of sugar they wanted and whether they preferred cream or not. She went into the kitchen one last time and came out with a platter heaped high with little cakes and biscuits. They looked too pretty to eat. Smiling, she handed everyone a cream-colored napkin, and we all picked out a dessert treat.
    Luke nibbled on a small, square cake experimentally. Tasting it, he then wolfed down the rest, hopped up and reached for another.
    “Only one, Sweetheart,” I said in gentle admonishment.
    “Oh, let the boy have another,” Tom said, chuckling. “He looks like he could put on a little weight.”
    I smiled. “He’s been growing so fast this year, he’s shot up several inches since January,” I said.
    “Well, how old is he? Seven? Eight?” asked Tom.
    “I’m five and a half!” said Luke, lifting up his hand and spreading his fingers wide. We all laughed. I nodded to Luke, and he picked out another little cake and sat down at my feet with the cup of milk I’d gotten him.
    “Well, now. You’re a big fella, aren’t you?” Tom said, smiling down at Luke. Luke smiled and nodded, his mouth full of cake.
    I’d applied a bit of makeup to Luke’s face, and with his long hair, Tom and Julie hadn’t noticed his odd coloring. Or if they’d noticed they hadn’t said anything. Luke tended to have so much enthusiasm and energy that people soon were distracted from his skin color.
    Julie sipped her coffee and dabbed her mouth with her napkin.