Dorothy Garlock (22 page)

“Then why’d you have that big breakfast, Pa?” his son, Will, asked.

“ ’Cause a man can’t work on a empty stomach, neither!”

Loud laughter rose up all around.

Sophie smiled cheerfully at the Tatums’ good humor. She wasn’t the least bit surprised that Charley and Will had followed
through on their pledge to help her father rebuild their barn. Though it had only been a short couple of weeks since she’d
last seen them in Ambrose Hardware, the burning of the barn then still as fresh to her as the moment it happened, absolutely
scared out of her wits and more than ready to jump at any passing shadow, those moments now seemed as if they had been a lifetime
ago.

I’m not the same as I was back then!

This change in Sophie’s life was the result of meeting Cole. She easily found him among the working men; he stood beside his
father, driving nails into the long boards that would make up the framework of each end of the barn. He stopped for a moment,
wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hammer-laden hand, and then his eyes were upon her. Though he was
far away from her, she could see his face brighten, giving her a smile that she warmly returned.

Over and over in her mind, Sophie had replayed their trip to the movies; the excitement she had felt when picking out what
she would wear, the passion of their first kiss, and everything in between, even including her near-confrontation with Carolyn
Glass. Still, it was the memory of the kiss upon which she lingered. She’d lain in bed that night, treasuring her recollections
of his lips upon hers, the feel of his hands upon her back. Just thinking about it was enough to make her heart race. She’d
had her share of childhood crushes and flirts, but this was developing into something… more.

“We could use another saw over here!”

Pulled from the blissful reverie of her relationship with Cole, Sophie again smiled warmly at the scene unfolding before her.
Coming to the aid of one’s neighbor was a tradition in Victory that was every bit as rich as the black soil of the farming
countryside. When she thought of the selflessness of those who had risen with the dawn to help her and her family, she knew
that they were simply being true to their sense of community. That Cole Ambrose was among them only reaffirmed her faith in
him.

“You best keep your mind on what you’re doing.”

Cole tore his eyes from Sophie and turned them toward his father. His face was already flushed and wet with sweat but he worried
that he’d turned a shade redder at having been caught staring. He expected his father’s face to be full of rebuke, a further
sign of the man’s reproach, but Robert only gave him a nod before turning back to his work.

“Sorry,” Cole mumbled. “My mind must have wandered for a bit.”

“Just bring it on back, then.”

Cole and his father had been working side by side since shortly before sunrise. When they had arrived at the Hellers’ farm,
they’d first made certain they had everything they needed and then set to work. Thereafter, they’d been joined by a new hand
with seemingly every passing minute, but still they had worked together. For the most part, the only sounds they’d made were
from the tasks of their labor, but the silence between them had not been cold.

Ever since Jason’s train had disappeared into the rainy distance, carrying him off to war and leaving Cole alone with his
father, there had been a subtle difference in their relationship. Cole had expected his father to remain as cold and distant
as he had been since his own homecoming, but there had been a slight thaw in the older man’s icy exterior: he had begun to
converse in full sentences instead of his usual grunts; he sat at the kitchen table for the duration of most meals, even those
he had finished eating; he even asked Cole a question or two about teaching. While Cole certainly didn’t expect the man to
completely change his tune, he couldn’t help but recognize that it was a start… a start that he rather liked.

“Do you think we’ll finish today?” Cole asked.

“We’ll be close enough.”

“We’ll have to hurry. The hours are flying past.”

“There’s no shortage of help,” Robert said, nodding toward the men bustling about the yard. “With this many hands, we’ll get
most of the hard work done, the frame built and up, at the very least. From there, Hermann and Karl will be able to handle
the rest.”

Cole followed his father’s gaze out over the men who were working alongside them. Most of the faces he recognized easily;
those that he struggled with often proved to be boys who had grown into men during his years of absence. To have so many hands
come together on a Saturday to help out a neighbor warmed his heart. Though he himself had changed, he was relieved to find
that Victory was still the community it had always been.

“You have enough nails?” his father asked.

“I think so.”

“Then I’m going to see if I can help with the roof,” Robert said, rising to his feet, his knees cracking in protest, before
he ambled off, leaving Cole to his task.

Though his leg prevented him from doing many tasks, Cole took some small measure of pride from working with his hands. Since
he wasn’t able to haul lumber or move other heavy objects, he instead hammered away on the heavy beams that would make up
each end of the new barn, driving many dozens of nails as easily as if he were pushing them through cotton. He might not be
able to march off to war with other men his age, but in this instance, he could more than hold his own. His hard work had
not gone unnoticed by the other men.

“Not bad for a teacher!” Charley Tatum roared.

“And a math teacher, at that!” another had added.

Still, worry gnawed at Cole’s gut as determinedly as a mangy dog working on a soup bone. Other than the Hellers, he alone
knew the truth of what had happened to the family’s barn. Only he knew that it had not been an accident that had razed the
building, but a premeditated act of ignorant hatred masterminded by a despicable bastard and his patsies. Once the barn had
been built, reared up in the ashes of its predecessor, there was nothing that would prevent Ellis Watts from simply destroying
it again.

For not the first time since Sophie told him her story, Cole wondered if he shouldn’t take the matter to the police. Surely
the law would recognize that Ellis was capable of such an act as arson and lock him up behind bars until it could be concretely
proven! It would be just another crime among the long litany he had already committed, but enough was enough! Many times,
Cole had thought of mentioning the matter to his father, of simply saying the horrible truth in front of him, but…

If I did, how would I ever be able to look Sophie in the eyes?

Ultimately, Cole knew that he couldn’t go against Sophie’s wishes. When she had told him the shocking truth of what had happened,
she’d extended a trust to him that was to be treasured, held with the utmost care. If he were to tell what he knew, if he
were to break that trust, it could bring about the end of their relationship, and that was a risk that he was not willing
to take. He would have to continue to watch over her in his own way, and make sure that bastard Ellis Watts stayed far, far
away.

Cole’s relationship with Sophie filled him with a happiness that he had never believed possible. When they were together,
all of his worries, all of his insecurities about his leg, no longer seemed to matter. Memories of their night at the movies,
of their passionate kiss under the watchful gaze of the summer moon, made him long to hold her against his chest again. Every
time they parted, he counted the hours until he could next see her. To be so close to her now, to simply look up and see her
smiling face, and not be able to speak with her or to hold her hand was like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

“You’re doing it again.”

Cole looked back over his shoulder to see his father standing behind him, his handkerchief swabbing over his wrinkled face,
his small glasses held gently in the other hand. Robert had come upon him quietly, although it was far more likely that Cole
had been so lost in his thoughts about Sophie that he hadn’t heard him approach.

“Doing what?” Cole asked.

In answer, Robert nodded across the lawn to where Sophie stood.

“I guess I am,” Cole admitted.

“There will be plenty of time for watching Sophie Heller later,” Robert said, his voice patient. “For now, you’re needed to
help Franklin Moore with the roof crossbeams. I’m afraid he might not have it measured right, on account of those bad eyes
of his.”

As Cole rose to his feet, he knew that his father was wrong about one thing.

There would never be enough time to watch Sophie Heller!

Sophie stood beside Cole as they admired the work that had been done on the barn. From the front steps of the farmhouse, the
sight was nothing short of miraculous. Most of the framework had already been completed; working with the pulleys, it had
taken over ten men to pull each of the large side frames up off the ground and into place. The building began to resemble
a skeleton waiting for its outer skin. Squinting her eyes, Sophie could practically see the finished product; a barn just
like the one that had been destroyed.

Glancing at Cole, Sophie marveled at the way the early evening sun shone on his handsome face. Though they had spent much
of the day within eyesight of each other, nearly all of it had been in the company of neighbors and friends; the closest that
they had come to any intimacy had been when Sophie had brought Cole the water bucket and their fingers had touched as she
had passed him the ladle. Even now, after most of the men had left for the day and those who remained were carrying their
tools back to their trucks, Sophie felt as if all eyes were upon them and didn’t dare to show much affection.

“I can’t believe this was all done in one day,” she said.

“Me, either,” Cole admitted. “I never thought we’d get this far.”

“My family can’t give thanks enough for everything you and your father have done for us. If it wasn’t for all of your hard
work, I wonder if the barn would have ever been rebuilt.”

“Thanks aren’t necessary.”

“They’re given all the same.”

Though Sophie was aware that Cole had only a few short moments before his father returned from loading the last of their tools
into the truck, she was struck by the strong desire to reach out and touch him. To brazenly kiss the young teacher would have
been especially foolhardy, setting every tongue wagging, but she wished she could take his hand in her own, to feel the heat
of his skin, if only for a moment.

“That looks much better.”

Sophie and Cole turned to find Gitta slowly making her way out the front door to join them. With her wrinkled face turned
up to the setting sun, she struck Sophie as being smaller than she remembered, so frail that she could be blown away by a
strong gust of wind. Gitta settled herself on the top step to rejoice in the remaining light of the day. When she looked down
at them, she smiled with a warmth every bit as genuine as that of the sun in which she basked.

“Much better than burned-up remains,” she said, nodding.

Sophie introduced her grandmother to Cole. Suddenly she was a bit nervous about the two of them meeting; each was so important
to her that she hoped and prayed they would like each other.

“I have heard very much about you,” Gitta explained. “My granddaughter’s told me many things, but since you have caught her
eye, I thought that I might finally take look for myself.”

“I hope I can live up to your expectations,” Cole said, his voice earnest.

“You are hardworking young man who wishes to take no credit, even when that credit is due. This is not way of most. Being
humble, doing for others simply because it is right… this was also way of my husband, Sophie’s grandfather.”

“Then he was a good man.”

“He was.” Gitta smiled. “He was at that.”

Sophie could only watch as Cole and her grandmother talked like old friends who had been suddenly reacquainted after years
apart. They spoke of the construction of the barn, Cole’s position as a teacher, and even the weather. She marveled at how
Cole’s eyes held the older woman kindly, patiently waiting until he was certain she had finished speaking before adding to
their conversation. When they laughed, the sound of their voices carried over the yard as if it were a summer breeze.

“Cole!” Robert called from the truck, interrupting them. “Time to head home.”

“I’ll be right there!” Turning to Gitta, Cole gently took her hand in his own and said, “It was a real pleasure to meet you.
I hope I haven’t said anything that might prevent me from seeing your granddaughter again.”

“You will not have me standing in the way.”

“I’m glad.”

“Don’t I get some say in this?” Sophie asked, grinning.

“We have already decided for you,” Gitta said with an even bigger grin.

After Cole had made plans with Sophie for lunch the next day, he slowly crossed the yard to join his father. The truck sprang
to life with a coughing sound and was soon bouncing down the lane and out into the road, heading west as it melted into the
last golden rays of the sun.

“Did you really like Cole?” Sophie asked after the truck was finally out of sight.

“Do you believe I would lie to you, child?”

“No, I don’t,
Oma
,” she answered. Sophie had known the answer to her question before she had even asked it; simply looking in the older woman’s
face as she spoke to Cole had told her all she had needed to know. How Gitta Heller felt was often as easy to read as the
pages of a book. This moment was no different.

“You will be happy with that man,” Gitta said with a broad smile that said the same. “Just as I was, you will be happy.”

C
OLE WALKED SLOWLY
down the dark, rain-slicked streets, his hands stuffed deeply into his pockets. After yet another week of unbearable heat,
the afternoon had brought thunderclouds that had bathed the town in a cool rain before finally moving on. In the east, where
the storm was headed, thunder continued to rumble. Now, with the clock having not yet struck nine, Cole had the streets all
to himself, save for the crickets that had resumed their steady buzz and, in the distance, the occasional barking of a lone
dog.