Dave opened his eyes and turned his attention to his parents who stood in front of him on the porch. He hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep.
He cleared his throat and straightened up in the chair, making sure he didn’t irritate his leg as he did so. “Did Joel tell you about it?”
“Nope,” his pa said as he sat in the chair next to him. “Sally did. She said she saw Mary yesterday.”
Had Mary only gone into town yesterday? Dave could have sworn that was a good week ago. It’d sure felt like a whole week had passed while he stayed here with Isaac to wait for her to return.
Dave’s ma offered him a sympathetic smile. “How long will you be stuck in the chair?”
“One and a half to two months,” Dave replied.
She winced. “That long?”
Dave nodded. “And this all happened because I took the horse too close to the river. I knew better. That section of land right around it isn’t level.”
“We all make mistakes,” his ma replied. “You can’t be too hard on yourself.”
“Just be glad it happened now instead of at harvest. Harvest is when you need to do the hard work. Right now, you’re in the season where Mary, your ma, and I can help out.”
“You and Ma have your own farm, and I know you planted crops this year.”
“Yes, but the planting’s done. Without a house full of children, we have nothing better to do than come out here when we finish up with morning chores. Then we can get back home in the afternoon and do the evening ones.”
“You’re planning to come out here every day to help us out?” Dave asked in surprise.
“Of course, we are,” his pa replied. “We’re family, and family sticks together.”
“That’s right,” his ma agreed. “I told Sally not to worry about you two. Your pa and I have everything under control. She was ready to round up your brothers to pitch in and help, but everyone has their own children and work to manage. Your pa and I only have each other, and that can get boring.”
His father glanced at his mother. “Thanks a lot,” he told her.
She giggled and kissed him. “I didn’t mean it that way. I only meant that there’s not a lot to do besides sit and read for most of the day.”
“If you’re trying to make me feel better it’s not working,” his pa replied.
“Well, you have to admit we never once got bored when the children were living with us.”
He seemed to consider her words and relented. “That’s true. It’s hard to get bored when someone is breaking something, making a mess somewhere, or getting into an argument.”
“Exactly. Things are too quiet. Once you have children, it’s hard to adjust to living without them.”
“You have grandchildren who come over a lot.”
“But then they go home.”
Dave’s pa looked at him, and he whispered, “They go home after they break something, make a mess somewhere, or get into fights with each other. I don’t know why she complains that nothing’s the same ever since you all grew up and left the house.”
“What was that?” she asked.
He turned his attention back to her and winked. “I love you more today than the day we married.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could respond, Isaac and Rachel came running out of the barn, calling out to their grandparents. Forgetting all about their conversation, she hurried down the porch steps and ran to them.
Dave’s father laughed. “If it weren’t for grandchildren, the poor woman would die of boredom. I, on the other hand, have no trouble keeping entertained.” He pulled out a deck of cards. “Want to play some games?”
Relieved, Dave nodded. “There’s a small table over there we can use.” He gestured further down the porch where the swing was.
“Good.” His pa went over to get the table.
Dave’s gaze went to the barn where Mary came out with a pail of fresh milk. Adam was walking beside her, but he stopped to inspect something in the grass. Mary continued on and went over to Dave’s mother who was hugging Isaac and Rachel. His mother looked up and saw Mary. Picking up Rachel and holding Isaac’s hand, his mother stood up, and the two women began talking.
His father returned to him and set the table down between them. “Don’t tell your mother this, but she was up half the night because she was trying to come up with things to do with Isaac, Rachel, and Adam. You’d swear she had died and gone to heaven. You getting injured was good for her, even if it was bad for you.”
Though Dave rolled his eyes, he laughed. “At least my broken leg is serving a useful purpose.”
His pa chuckled. “You can’t blame her too much. I’m the one who’s outside doing the chores. She’s stuck inside the house. I’m sure there’s not much to do if there aren’t any children running around.” He shuffled his cards. “What do you want to play first?”
“Cribbage.”
“In that case, I’ll get a pencil and paper.” He set the cards down.
“We have some in the kitchen.”
His pa headed into the house.
Dave was glad his parents had decided to come out here. He didn’t know how much longer he could have kept his sanity if he had to keep staring out at the yard. He was sure Mary could use his mother’s help, too. Next time he saw Sally, he would be sure to thank her.
***
Two weeks later, Dave breathed a sigh of relief as another day came to an end. That left him with four to six weeks to go. Then he could get back up and live his life again. While having his parents visit during
