Free Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

brushinghers. The innocent contact jolted her, and she couldn’t keep from staring at his fingers against hers, his tanned, leathery skin contrasting her paleness.
    He took a step back, breaking the connection, probably not even noticing. “Emma.” He traced the mug’s handle with his thumb. “Why don’t you call me Patrick? Now that we’re married and everything.”
    â€œOh, okay.” She hadn’t wanted to appear overly familiar with him. But he was right. They were married now, and living together. She’d have to get used to sharing intimacies with him eventually. . . .
    A flush crept onto her cheeks.
    Josiah crammed a piece of jerky into his mouth, chewing with his mouth open and watching Patrick’s exchange with her with wide-eyed interest.
    Patrick smiled at the boy, then bent and kissed his head. “Good night, lad. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    â€œNight, Daddy,” Josiah said, reaching out to Patrick with his mushed-cheese fingers. In spite of the mess, Patrick planted a kiss on one of the boy’s hands. He retrieved a wedge of cheese and piece of jerky, strode to the back door, and was almost outside before he turned to look back at Emma. “I’ll be in the tower or watch room if you need anything.”
    She nodded and wished she knew what else to say. But every time she was around him, she turned into a shy, bumbling girl.
    After her laughable attempt at dinner, she decided to explore the grounds. The evening was still sunny and warm, and Josiah followed her around as she found a plot behind the cottage that looked like it had been a garden at one time, but was now overgrown in a tangle of weeds. She later discovered a well, a dilapidated hen house, and a shed that had an assortment ofequipment and tools. There was also a cellar that had a few remnants of overripe apples and molding onions.
    By the time the shadows had lengthened and the sun began to dip in the sky, Josiah had started yawning and rubbing his eyes.
    When she stripped him of his filthy clothes and lowered him in a tub of warm sudsy water in the center of the kitchen, he gave a shriek that could have rivaled a fog whistle. Thankfully, he splashed and flailed for only a minute before she thought to give him a cup for playing in the bathwater. While he was distracted with his new task of catching bubbles in the cup, she scrubbed his hair and every inch of his little body.
    After she dressed him in pajamas, he didn’t offer a single complaint when she laid him in his bed.
    â€œPray, Mamma?” He looked up at her, fighting to keep his eyelids open. He popped his thumb in his mouth and fingered the edge of a frayed blanket that he snuggled under his nose.
    The earnestness of his question took her by surprise. She knelt in the narrow space beside his bed. “Okay. We’ll pray.”
    Without a window, the room was dark and cozy. The fading light of the kitchen cast a warm glow over Josiah. His lashes fluttered, and his thumb sucking halted. Damp strands of red hair curled over his forehead. His face was finally clean, revealing a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks.
    Her chest swelled with tenderness. This was her son now. And even though she knew very little about parenting, she had to admit, she hadn’t done a bad job that afternoon and evening with him. Maybe she could utter a prayer of thankfulness, even if she was a bit rusty when it came to talking with God.
    â€œThank you,” she whispered as she closed her eyes and bowed her head. Gratefulness choked off any further words.
    Soon Josiah was asleep, and she slipped silently from his room.
    For a while she kept herself busy washing his tiny garments in the soapy bathwater, wringing them out, and hanging them to dry around the kitchen. When she’d finally dumped the dirty water out the back door, the light in the tower was on and cut a long beam through the night sky.
    It was