Free Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 by Zoe Matthews

glad they were in her life. 
     
    When she was alone with him, she was more formal and distant.  She allowed him to hold and kiss her at night and she seemed to enjoy the closeness as much as he did, yet it seemed to him she only talked to him when she needed to, and it was usually when she had questions about the children or the house. 
     
    For the first few days after the doctor visit, she tried to talk to him about her concerns for Grace, but he always rebuffed her, and would quickly walk away with an excuse that he needed to take care of a chore or an animal on the farm.  She had since stopped trying to talk to him about it. 

 
    He wished the money didn’t bother him so much.  He wished he had known about it before he married her.  He wished she hadn’t kept the knowledge from him, though she adamantly denied keeping it from him on purpose. 
     
    If he had known, would have he still married her?  Craig thought long and hard about that question and was able to quickly answer that, yes, he still would have married her.  He suddenly realized that he loved her and was grateful circumstances made it so she finally agreed to marry him.  He missed seeing her smile that was just for him.  Suddenly everything within him longed for that sight.  He knew he needed to come to terms with her money.  He just didn’t know how to do that.

Chapter 13
     
     
    Three weeks after the doctor’s visit, Amanda decided she had given Craig enough time to get used to the idea of her money.  After the children were in bed one evening, Amanda invited Craig into the kitchen for some leftover cake and coffee.
     
    “We need to talk about Grace,” Amanda started the conversation when they were seated across from each other.
     
    “Why?  Is something wrong?”
     
    “I think her leg is really bothering her,” Amanda explained.  “She has lived a fairly sedentary lifestyle before coming here.  She probably didn’t need to move around very much in the orphanage.  But now that she is living on a farm, she wants to walk and she tries to, and I’m afraid she could be causing more damage to her leg.”
     
    Craig sighed.  “What are you trying to say, Amanda?”  His lips thinned as if he knew the answer.
     
    “I think we need to reconsider using the money David left me to fix her leg, now.”
     
    “You know my feelings about this,” Craig fairly shouted at her.  “We wait until the crops are in.”
     
    “Is it fair to make Grace wait because of your pride?”  Amanda asked.
                 
    “This isn’t about pride.  It’s about me as the head of this household supporting this family.”
     
    “And what about my role?”  Amanda questioned.  “Aren’t we partners in this marriage?  Shouldn’t we be raising these children together?”
     
    “Yes, your role is the care of the children and the house.  That is a wife’s role.”
     
    “Shouldn’t we be sharing these roles?”
     
    “Yes, when it’s needed.”  While they were arguing, neither saw a shadow in the kitchen doorway.

 
    “It will be expensive to fix Grace’s leg.  We need to wait until I can earn the money and that won’t happen until the crops are in.”  Craig stood up.  “I have made this decision.  I don’t want to talk about it again.”  He left the kitchen and went outside to make his final check on the animals in the barn before bed.  The shadow in the kitchen doorway slowly disappeared.
     
    Amanda sat at the kitchen table trying to fight tears from her eyes.  She had learned to love Craig.  She loved how good he was to the kids.  He treated both children the same, not favoring one over the other.  He was a good father and she knew his hesitation was not because he didn’t love Grace and didn’t want her leg fixed.  She wished her money wasn’t coming between them in their marriage.
     
    I’ll just have to really watch Grace and do my best to keep her quiet until she can have the surgery in