Free To Have and To Hold by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

left yet. He
    said he wanted to see Joel.”
    Curious, Mary eased out of her seat and joined Sal y. Dave was reading the letter her sister—
    Grace, if she remembered the name right—had written. With a sigh, she said, “I’m afraid
    there’s bad news in my family.”
    “How so?” Sal y asked, sounding alarmed.
    “My father’s taken il . He doesn’t have much longer to live,” she softly answered, unsure of how
    she felt about this. Of course, it was sad, but it felt as if she was hearing about someone
    else’s father, not someone who raised her.
    “Do you remember him?” April asked.
    “No,” Mary replied, reluctantly turning away from the window where Isaac and Greg played
    with the two dogs near Dave. She went back to her chair and sat down. “I don’t remember
    anything about my life in Maine. It’s as if I started out here, with no background.”
    Sal y turned to her in interest. “You remember your life here?”
    “Bits and pieces. I mostly get a sense of how much I liked or didn’t like something, but I get
    glimpses of sights and smel s, too. Everything that happened in Maine is a complete blank.”
    “But you’re remembering things that happened here?”
    Mary nodded.
    April tapped her fingers on the table. “I wonder if Joel’s right. He said a trip back to Maine
    might help you make a lot of progress in a short time.”
    “Yes, but it’s an expensive trip,” Sal y argued.
    “Maybe we can al pitch in and help pay for it. Considering her loss of memory and her father’s
    il ness, it’s for a good cause.”
    “We could, but who’s going to watch the farm? Rick doesn’t know the first thing about taking
    care of one.”
    “Maybe Doctor Adams wil let Joel and I stay out there until Mary and Dave come back.”
    “Dave would go with me?” Mary interrupted, immediately feeling better that she wouldn’t have
    to go back there by herself, especial y since she couldn’t remember any of the people there.
    “Of course, he would,” Sal y said. “He wouldn’t want to be away from you. Besides, if it was
    me, I’d want Rick to join me. It’s scary enough having to travel that far without your husband
    there. I don’t know how you managed the trip here without someone, and even then, you told
    me you were determined that you wouldn’t have gone back to Maine.”
    “You original y came out here as a mail-order bride, but you said if it didn’t work out, you were
    going to get a paper looking for a job as a teacher or a cook.” Sal y glanced at April. “You
    want to talk romantic? David said he took one look at her and just knew she’d make the perfect
    wife.”
    Mary hardly heard the last part of what Sal y said. Her mind was stuck on the fact that she had
    decided she wouldn’t return to Maine. Why would she make that choice? Wouldn’t it be natural
    to want to go back home if the man she came out to marry didn’t want to be with her?
    Before she could give any more thought to the matter, Sal y leaned toward the open window
    and cal ed out, “David! Come on in! We need to talk!”
    April stood up to get the coffee. “And Mary, you don’t have to worry about traveling with the
    children. Joel and I wil be happy to watch them while you and Dave are gone.”
    Sal y turned her attention back to the women and said, “I think Isaac wil be happier if he’s with
    Greg. Jeremy comes over when Jenny’s here, and the three play wel together.”
    They looked at Mary, and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Everything was happening so
    fast. Her head was spinning. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on what Sal y and April
    were suggesting.
    The kitchen door opened, and she opened her eyes in time to see Dave saunter into the room.
    With a quick glance out the window, she saw that Greg and Isaac were taking turns throwing
    sticks for the dogs to catch.
    “Sit over there,” Sal y told Dave, pointing to the seat next to Mary.
    Dave obeyed. “This is a first. Usual y, you get