His eyes narrowed. “Did you just walk over there and talk to her to scare me?”
Toria’s grin widened. “Nobody said I was perfect.” She winked at him. “Are you coming over for lunch today?”
“If you’re offering to feed me, I won’t turn you down. I want to talk to you and Dad about something together anyway.”
“Well, come over, then. I put a pork roast in the oven for our lunch. I’ll need to make potatoes and carrots to go with it, but that won’t take long. You and Mortimer can play checkers while I cook.”
“All right. Where is Dad, anyway?”
“No idea.” She looked around and spotted him talking to Arthur. “Oh, he’s over there talking to Arthur. Those two seem like fast friends.”
“They are. I think it’s good that Dad has made friends with him.” He frowned at her for a moment. “I really wanted to hate you.”
“I know you did. Maybe I’ll think of something terrible to do later so you can hate me after all.”
He laughed. “Thanks for being good to me.”
“What else could I be?” Toria walked across the church to find Beatrice sitting in a pew near Arthur and Mortimer, who were talking non-stop. Little Sally was asleep in her arms. “She looks angelic lying against you that way.”
Beatrice smiled. “She’s my angel, all right.” She took a deep breath. “I’m glad she’s being so good today. I’m having trouble keeping my breakfast down.”
“Are you all right? I could make you some ginger snaps. Ginger is great for nausea.”
“I’m fine. Nothing nine months won’t fix, anyway.” Beatrice looked a little embarrassed to admit to her condition, but mostly she just looked happy.
“Oh, congratulations! I’m happy for you!”
“We just found out for sure on Friday, so I’m really excited. I probably shouldn’t run around telling people, but I saw you, and I just couldn’t keep it in another second. I think Sally will be a wonderful big sister, don’t you?”
Since Toria had never seen Sally awake, she had no way of answering that. “She’ll certainly be a beautiful one.” The baby had blond hair that curled around her little face. “I hope she makes the next few months easy for you. If you need me for anything, let me know please.”
“I will.” Beatrice looked over at Mortimer and Arthur, who were still talking. “I think our men might need to be torn apart if we want to make it home before suppertime.”
“At least they’re talking kindly to one another. I think it’s good for both of them. I don’t imagine Arthur has much time for friendship when he spends all day in the telegraph office.” Toria looked at Beatrice with a smile. “Why don’t the three of you come for supper tonight? John will probably be there as well, and we could spend time getting to know one another better.”
Beatrice looked nervous at the idea. “I’m not sure if Sally will sit still or not. She’s very rambunctious.”
“Then we’ll just make sure anything breakable is put up. Please come.”
Beatrice nodded, a smile on her face. “We’d love to. Then I won’t have to cook supper. It will be nice to take a break. Is there anything I can bring to help?”
“Just yourselves. We’ll see you at six.” Toria was excited to have people over for supper. She’d never been able to in the boarding house, and though she’d cooked for the other boarders, it hadn’t been the same as having her own home.
On the way home, Toria practically danced in the street. It was a good thing there was very little traffic. “I invited Beatrice, Sally, and Arthur for supper tonight. I’ve never had the opportunity to entertain guests in my own home. I’m very excited!”
Mortimer nodded. “They’ve had me over for supper a few times. I’m glad we can reciprocate. I’m not much of a cook, and I wasn’t about to invite anyone over to eat my beans and cornbread.”
“Badly cooked beans and cornbread,” John interjected.
“Very badly cooked beans and cornbread. I have to say, I’ve been buying up the loaves of bread Beatrice has been baking so I could eat something that wasn’t badly cooked.” He shrugged. “I probably should have made more of an effort to go to the restaurant, but there were always things to do at the store, and it was closed before I was done. I never claimed to be a good cook.” Mortimer didn’t seem at all embarrassed that John was making fun of his cooking. “I’m a merchant, not a chef.”
“What should I cook for supper with them coming over? Is there anything you’ve really enjoyed that I made this week?”
John looked at her with a grin. “Why don’t you make your fried chicken again? I didn’t get to have any, but Dad told me about it the next day…I think I need some.”
Toria laughed. She did enjoy the humor that was constantly displayed between her two men. When they reached the house, the two men sat and played checkers as she’d suggested while she finished fixing lunch, and then they ate together.
As soon as the meal was over, John looked between the two of them. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Mortimer shrugged. “Anything, son. You know that.”
John took a deep breath. “Well, you both know that I’m trying to stop drinking. I find that when I’m alone, I’m more tempted to go to the saloon. Would it be all right if I moved back in and took my old room? I don’t want to live alone anymore, because it’s not good for me.”
Mortimer studied him for a moment. “I think that’s a good idea. But if you’ll remember, you started drinking while you still lived here. What makes you think it will be different this time?”
John looked down at his hands, then looked his father right in the eye. “Because I don’t want to drink anymore. I want there to be something that keeps me from doing it. The desire to stop—and people to help me remember I want to stop—should make the difference for me.”
“When are you moving home?” Mortimer asked. There was no need to ask Toria about what she thought, because she’d already told him.
Chapter Seven
After lunch, John went home to get his things. He didn’t want to live alone for even one more night. As soon as he left, Toria looked at Mortimer with wide eyes.
“Where am I going to sleep?”
“By my side, where you should have been sleeping since you got here. I don’t know what came over me when I told you to sleep in John’s bed.” Well, he did, but he didn’t want her to feel like she was in competition with his dead wife.
Was he saying he wanted their marriage to be consummated? She was developing feelings for him, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for that yet. “I’ll move my things.” They’d talk about it later. For now, she wanted him to be able to save face with his son. John never needed to know they’d been sleeping apart.
Mortimer got to his feet and reached for her, pulling her into his arms. “Thank you for being so understanding. So many things have been strange since you got here, but you take them all in stride.”