Free A Lantern in the Window by Bobby Hutchinson Page A

Feeling
wretched, neither reached out for the other.
    Annie, wounded by his rejection,
couldn’t, and Noah, wanting her more with every sultry, wasted
night, wouldn’t.
    “ Bets, I’ll take the lunch
out to Noah today.” It was nearing the end of August, and he was
clearing land that bordered the river, about a mile away from the
house.
    Annie usually sent Bets out with
Noah’s lunch every afternoon, but today she’d been busy making
rhubarb jam all morning, and she was hot and thoroughly sick of
being indoors.
    The jam had turned out, though. She
could hardly believe how impressive the row of jars with their pink
contents looked lined up on the table. Even more amazing, she’d
made good bread four times now, tall, golden loaves, crusty and
delicious.
    It was the most peculiar thing. She’d
waited until Noah was out one day and then, feeling both guilty and
defiant, she had ventured up to the attic to look at the
beautifully carved cradle, setting it to rocking and wondering if
the child she carried would ever sleep in it.
    There, in a box behind the cradle,
she’d found recipes that Molly must have written. Feeling like a
thief in her own home, Annie brought them down and began trying
them.
    Unlike the ones Elinora had sent,
these were easy to follow, and one after the other, she turned out
perfect bread, piecrust, puddings, even a sponge cake.
    And for the first time, Annie found
herself whispering fervent thank-yous to the ghost who
shared her house.
    Exuberant with the success of the jam,
she relished the long walk along the riverbank and through the
fields to where Noah was working.
    She saw him from a distance, using the
team of heavy workhorses, Buck and Bright, to pull
stumps.
    His snug-fitting pants were tucked
into high leather boots, and he’d taken his blue shirt off and hung
it on a nearby bush. Brown suspenders rested on equally brown-bare
skin, and he had a wide-brimmed straw hat on his head. The muscles
in his arms and back bulged as he added his considerable strength
to the efforts of the animals.
    He didn’t see her at first, and
Annie’s eyes traveled over his long, broad-shouldered body,
sweat-sheened and powerful.
    He was a beautiful-looking man. He was
a man any woman would be proud to claim as her husband.
    Slowly, torturously, the gigantic
stump parted from the earth, and Noah threw his fists to the sky
and hollered in triumph, unaware that she was watching.
    It was a revelation to see him this
way, exhilarated and noisy. "Hello, Noah. I brought you fresh water
and some sandwiches,” she called as she walked across the torn
earth to hand him the bucket she’d packed the lunch in.
    He actually smiled at her. His face
was streaked with dirt, and sweat poured from him.
    "Thanks, Annie. Whew, it’s a scorcher
today. I'm thirsty and hungry both.” He took his hat off and mopped
his face with a red checkered bandanna. “There's a shady spot over
by the riverbank.” He paused, and she could tell he was uncertain
as he added, “Will you come sit and share this with me?”
    Annie hadn't planned to linger, but
for the first time since their quarrel, the tension between them
seemed somewhat eased.
    “ I’d like that, Noah.” She
didn’t know about him, but she was sick and tired of the strain
between them. She’d never been good at holding grudges. What
purpose did they serve? Life went right on.
    Besides, the thought of sitting
somewhere cool for a spell was appealing. Her dress was light
cotton, but her long skirts were cumbersome. She'd shoved her
sunbonnet back, and as usual curls had escaped from under her
sunbonnet and were glued to her forehead and neck with sweat. A
fresh crop of freckles were undoubtedly popping out like
gooseberries on her nose and cheeks, and she didn’t
care.
    Noah retrieved his shirt and handed it
to her to carry while he took the team down to the water for a
drink and then turned them free to graze. When they were settled,
he led the way to a sheltered,