The Widow's Choice (11 page)

“But it’s so it’s cold in here. I’m freezing!” Zac protested.

“I know. That’s why I’m going to go out and get some more wood. I’ll be—” Interrupted by a knock at the door, Alona turned and left the room. She opened the door to a tall man she didn’t know.

“Mrs. Jennings,” he said. “I’m Jason Moran.”

“Oh, you’re Oscar’s brother!”

“That’s right.”

“Please come in, Mr. Moran.”

“Everybody just calls me Jason.”

As he stepped inside, Alona asked, “Did Oscar send you?” She had to look up to Jason—he was at least two inches over six feet and very fit. He looked nothing at all like his half brother. He had rich auburn hair, a wedge-shaped face, and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They were as blue as the cornflowers that dotted the hills in the beginning of spring.

“Oscar sent me to take the boys to the doctor. The pastor told him they’ve been sick.”

“Oh, I couldn’t permit that.”

“But he told me to do it, and I have to do what he says.”

Alona smiled. “Are you going to kidnap them? Because that’s what you’ll have to do.”

Jason had heard a great deal about her indirectly but was surprised at how attractive the woman was. Oscar hadn’t shown much interest in women after his wife died, but Jason had figured out that he was interested in this one. He took in her glowing orange hair, large gray-green eyes, and tall strongly built figure and found himself admiring her. “Mrs. Jennings, I don’t want to sound pushy or anything, but this is something that Oscar wants me to do, and he usually gets his own way.”

“I’m afraid he’s not going to get his own way this time, Mr. Moran.”

“Jason.”

“Jason, then. The boys will be all right. Just tell Oscar that I appreciate it but I can’t permit him to do this.”

Jason laughed. “He’ll probably shoot me. Sometimes I think he’s going to.”

“You work for him, I understand?”

“That’s right. I work at the foundry, but he’s upset with me today, so he sent me over here.” He hesitated, then said, “Are you sure you won’t let me take the boys to the doctor?”

“I’m very sure. Thank you very much, Jason.”

He turned and left the house without another word. As the door closed, Alona thought,
He’s so different from Oscar. I would never take them to be even distant relatives.

Putting the incident out of her mind, she bundled up and went outside to split a few more pieces of wood. She had bought a load of wood from a man who had stopped by with a load in the back of his pickup. It was sawed into two-foot lengths but not split. The ax was dull, and the wood was tough and spongy. She awkwardly handled the ax but managed to get enough to keep the house warm for the next day or two. She carried the wood in and put some in the woodbox in the kitchen and some in the living room. As she deposited the load in the living room, she heard a car pull up. “Who can that be?” She went to the door and saw Dr. Roberts getting out along with Jason Moran.

She waited until the two men approached. “I’m surprised to see you, Dr. Roberts.” She was fond of the man, who was a member of their church.

He grinned. “I had to come, Mrs. Jennings. Jason here threatened to start rumors about me if I didn’t.”

“You’re a stubborn man,” Alona told Jason.

“No I’m not. Other people are stubborn. I’m just . . . firm, you might call it.” He smiled, exposing very white teeth. “I was more afraid of not doing what Oscar said than of offending you.”

“That’s enough of this foolishness, Alona. Let me see those boys.”

“All right, Doctor. Come in.” She opened the door, and the two men entered.

“I’ll just wait here in the hall,” Jason said.

“Go on into the kitchen. There’s coffee on the stove.”

Dr. Roberts, a short, rotund man of sixty with silver hair, went at once into the living room and gave Zac and Carl a good examination. “Well,” he said, putting his stethoscope back in his bag, “they’ve got what everybody else has. In a
couple days they’ll feel much better. Meanwhile, give them a teaspoon of this cough syrup—” he took a bottle out of his bag—”every few hours and especially before bedtime.”

“How much is it, Dr. Roberts?”

“It’s a free sample.”

“Now, Doctor, I don’t believe that.”

He smiled. “I don’t care whether you believe it or not. You give the boys what I tell you and don’t argue.”

Alona shook her head but she couldn’t help but grin as she accepted the medicine he held out. “I’m going to get a spoon and give them the first dose right now.” She went into the kitchen and quickly came back with a spoon.

“Say, I’ve just recruited a sinner for the choir,” he told her as she gave each boy some cough syrup. “Oscar’s been telling me that Jason’s got the best voice he’s ever heard. Clear as a bell and powerful he says. I told Jason I’d come visit your boys if he’d agree to sing in the choir. He’s scared to death of his brother, so he agreed. Don’t know what the pastor and the music director will think, though.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Jason’s not a Christian. He made a profession of faith when he was very young, about fourteen, I think, and did well for a time. But he got away from the Lord somehow or other. Have you heard about that trouble he had in the navy?”

“Oscar told me he crashed his plane.”

“Yes, he did. It’s a miracle he got out of it. But it did something to him. You should have known him before that. Full of life, ready to try anything. Now he drinks too much, although I guess any drinking at all is too much for a Baptist. The way I figure it, he’s better off in church even if he’s not living a Christian life. He’ll get to hear some good preaching and be around good people. It may be just what he needs to help him get back into a relationship with the Lord.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Dr. Roberts.”

“There’s a good man inside Jason somewhere. It just got lost somewhere along the line.” He snapped his bag shut
and went over to the couch to pat each of the boys on the shoulder. “These boys will be all right.”

“Thank you so much for coming. That was so kind of you.”

“Don’t you give it another thought.”

The two went into the kitchen to get Jason and found him sitting on a chair, stroking Buddy’s head, with Buddy’s paws propped up on his lap. “Just push him away, Jason,” Alona told him.

“I think this dog is love starved.” Jason grinned at her. He leaned over and let the dog lick him on the face. “You see? He’ll even kiss a stranger. You’ve been ignoring this animal.”

Alona laughed. “Ignoring that dog! Not likely. He’s spoiled to death.”

“Are you ready to go, Jason?” Dr. Roberts asked.

“You go on ahead, Doctor. I know you have other house calls to make. I’m going to walk back to the foundry.”

“Are you sure I can’t give you a lift?”

“Nah. I like to walk. Thanks anyway.”

Alona showed the doctor to the door, thanking him again for coming. She went back into the kitchen to find Jason talking to Buddy.

“He’s a beautiful animal. I’ve always liked collies.” He held Buddy’s head between his hands and moved it gently back and forth. “They’re smart, nervy, and loyal to a fault. I had one when I was growing up. When he died, I thought I was going to die too.”

Alona offered her sympathy and sat down at the table with him, talking about dogs.

“I’d better get going now,” he said after a few minutes.

“I really appreciate your bringing the doctor. I . . . I was starting to worry about the boys.”

“It’s pretty hard to take charity, isn’t it?” Jason grinned wryly. “I’ve taken a lot of it the last few years. Haven’t ever learned to like it, though.”

“Do you enjoy your work at the foundry?”

“I hate every second of it, but Oscar’s been good to me.
Anybody else would have kicked me out on my ear a long time ago.”

“I understand he raised you from the age of ten.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Jason shrugged. “I never had a mother, you know. She died when I was born. And when our father died when I was ten, Oscar just took over. I’ll always be grateful to him for that. No telling where I’d be today if it weren’t for him.”

“Dr. Roberts tells me you’re going to be singing in the choir.”

Jason sobered. “That’s his fool idea. I’ll do it, though, because I promised.”

“It’s a wonderful choir. I enjoy it so much.”

“I guess you need one sinner there to balance all the saints.”

“You shouldn’t talk like that! You’re a Christian, aren’t you?”

“I think I’ve lost my birth certificate. I guess I used to be saved, but I haven’t acted like it for the last few years.”

“What happened?” She was hoping she could get him to talk about it.

“I’m like that sheep. The one out of a hundred that wandered away.”

“That happens sometimes. But you’ll be in church now, so if you let Him, the Lord will bring you back.”

She saw that he was disturbed by the remark, and his face was stiff. Even as she watched him struggle for a reply, she thought what a handsome man he was. Oscar had told her he was twenty-eight, which made him just a couple of years younger than she was. “It will be good. You’ll see,” she said.

“Maybe so. Can’t hurt, I guess.” He got up and left the house without saying another word.

Alona was surprised by his abrupt departure, but she started making preparations for the noon meal. She had just taken the pans out of the drain pan in the sink when she heard a loud smack coming from the back yard. She looked out the window and saw Jason lift the ax and strike a blow at one of
the round sections of log. It fell apart easily. He picked one of the split logs up and struck it again. He was strong and had evidently split a lot of wood before, for every strike split the wood as cleanly as if it was cloven rock.

“I shouldn’t let him do that, but he’s got a stubborn streak. I expect he’d do it no matter what I said.” Jason was still splitting wood by the time lunch was ready. She went to the back step and called, “Jason, come in and have some lunch.”

“That sounds good.” He swung the ax into the chopping block and then came inside, his face flushed from the exercise.

“You can wash up in the bathroom.” She showed him where it was and went into the living room to call the boys to lunch.

When Jason came back, Zac said, “You don’t look like your brother.”

“No, I sure don’t. Which one of us do you think’s the most handsome?”

“You are,” Carl said at once.

“Well, that’s nice of you to say so, but he’s a far more reliable man than I am.”

“He gave us lots of presents for Christmas,” Carl said.

“Yes, I heard about that. He loves kids. He raised me for much of my life. He’s been more like a dad to me than a brother.”

They all sat down at the table to eat their soup and sandwiches, with Zac firing questions at their visitor. When he found out that Jason had been a pilot in the navy, he grew very excited. “Tell us about it,” he said. “What’s it like to fly?”

Jason told them a little about the exhilaration of flying and explained how the planes landed on aircraft carriers. But then he dropped his head for a moment. “At one time it was the biggest part of my life, but I don’t fly anymore.”

“Why not?” Carl demanded. “If I could fly an airplane, I’d want to fly all the time.”

Alona saw something change in the tall man’s face. She wasn’t sure, but part of it may have been sadness. He said quietly, “I had a pretty bad accident, so I don’t fly anymore.”

“That’s enough questions. You boys are through eating. Why don’t you go back and get all warm and cozy on the couch and listen to the radio.”

When they were gone, she said, “You’ll have to excuse the boys. They’re full of questions. My oldest son, Tim—he’s at school—is fairly quiet, but those two younger ones never stop.”

“It’s all right.” He turned the coffee cup around in his hands, and she noticed how strong they looked, with long fingers. “That’s sad about your accident . . . with the plane, I mean.”

“It was pretty well the end of the world for me.”

Alona did not pursue the subject. “You never married?” she asked. Then she laughed. “I’m as bad as the boys. We’re a bunch of busybodies around here.”

“That’s all right. No, I never married. Wouldn’t saddle a woman with a fellow like me. I’d be the world’s worst husband.”

Alona didn’t know how to respond.

“What about your son Tim?” Jason went on. “What’s he like?”

“Like I said, he’s very different from my other two boys. Very artistic.”

“Is that right! In what way?”

“He likes to draw and paint. He says he’d like to be an artist.”

“Well, he and I will have something in common, then.”

“Oh? Are you a painter?”

“I thought I might be at one time. I still fiddle with it and I enjoy it, but I’m not too talented.”

When he looked up, she noticed again how bright his blue eyes were. They were very penetrating, and there was a strength in his face that she rarely saw in a man.
He’s so handsome,
she thought.
It’s a wonder some woman hasn’t married him, no matter what he says.

“I’ve got an idea. I’ve got a lot of painting supplies. I don’t
use them much anymore. I wonder if Tim would like some of them.”

“He would love them, but what he needs even more is somebody to talk to. A man, that is.”

“I’m a good talker. And I suppose a fair listener too. I’m just not much of a doer, as my brother will tell you.”

“Your brother has been very kind to us.”

“He’s grown fond of your boys and of you too.” He took a sip of his coffee. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him show any interest in a woman. At first I thought he just liked being around the boys, but now that I’ve seen you and gotten to know you a little bit, I don’t think it’s only that.”

“Oh, there’s nothing to that!” Alona said, her face burning with embarrassment. “He just likes the boys.”

“So you say. But about Tim. I’ll drop by later and bring him some paints and easels and things.”

“That would be wonderful. He got a few supplies from Oscar for Christmas, but I’m sure he would make good use of anything that you don’t think you’ll be using.”