Free From This Day Forward by Margaret Daley

guess he doesn’t think Nathan will ever marry. He may be right.”
    Mr. Stuart’s statement bothered her. Rachel didn’t want to marry again either, but that was because she had once. Nathan had never wed. Perhaps marriage would agree with him even though it did not with her. “What has brought you out here?”
    “You.”
    She lifted her head and looked up into his dark brown eyes. “Me? Why?”
    “ ’Tis time to break the fast, and Nathan is going to join us this morning.” He offered her his arm.
    Rachel slipped her arm in his. “I was beginning to wonder if he had left Pinecrest after that first night.”
    “You have kept yourself entertained?”
    “Yes, I have been pestering your cook. She has shown me some of the dishes she prepares. I even walked to the stable to ask some questions of your workers.”
    “Good. I don’t think Nathan would have stayed if you had not agreed to come to Pinecrest.” Mr. Stuart strolled with her toward the veranda.
    “I have enjoyed myself, but it is time for me to go to Dalton Farm.”
    After opening the front door, he swept his arm across his body, indicating she should go in first. “I have a gift for you to take with you.”
    “I cannot take a gift from you.”
    He crossed the large foyer to the dining room. “I am sending Amos to repair your cart. You will need one. Nathan said one of the wheels on yours is broken. Amos can replace it.”
    Rachel opened her mouth to refuse the help but realized she was not in a position to decline someone repairing her cart. “Thank you.” Now if it were only possible for her to find her horse. If not, she would have to use her meager coins to buy an animal for the cart and a plow that one of Mr. Stuart’s workers showed her needed to be used for the fields.
    She moved into the room and picked up a china plate to serve herself at the sideboard. The aromas from buckwheat cakes, cold bread, sausages, and mush whetted her appetite. As she took a chair, Nathan appeared in the entrance. His gaze snagged hers and held it. Dark shadows under his eyes attested to the long hours he had spent at his grandfather’s bedside. One corner of his mouth lifted, his look sparkling to life.
    “I’m starved.” Nathan filled his plate with a taste of every food laid out for their pleasure. When he sat across from Rachel, he asked, “Have you been resting well?”
    She nodded. “Mostly.”
    “Mostly?”
    “I learned how to make Johnny cakes, and this mush is my contribution to the meal.”
    “You cooked?” Nathan glanced toward his brother. “I told you she needed to rest. It hasn’t even been a week since she delivered her baby.”
    “ ’Tis clear you have not tried to stop her from doing as she intends.” Mr. Stuart waited until the young black girl filled his cup with tea then took a sip.
    The servant poured tea for Rachel too. Steam wafted from her drink, the heat rivaling the look Nathan shot his younger brother. “I am most reasonable when it is warranted.”
    Mr. Stuart chuckled. “You see what I had to deal with.”
    Nathan lowered his head and took a bite of his buckwheat cakes.
    Rachel sipped her tea while waiting for the men to sample her mush. Finally, after Nathan ate all his cakes and sausage, he dipped a spoon into the creation she’d made by herself while the cook went about her usual duties. When Nathan slid the utensil between his lips, she held her breath. It was a simple recipe the cook had said would be hard to mess up.
    With his mouth puckering and his eyes watering, Nathan gulped down the bite and quickly followed it with several large swallows of tea. He coughed and drank some more.
    “What is wrong?” Rachel peered from Nathan to his brother, who placed his spoonful of mush back onto his plate.
    “Salt. How much did you put in this?” Nathan asked in a strained voice.
    “Cook said to salt to taste. It was bland, so I thought it would need a lot.” Rachel took a small taste of the mush, lumps and all, not