He grinned and continued kissing her arm.
She squirmed to get her arm away from him, and in doing so, she ended up falling to her side on the couch.
“You are really ticklish tonight,” he playfully said as he hugged her. He paused then wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I have you exactly where I want you.”
“Oh? Was this all a ploy to get me in your arms?”
“To be honest, it wasn’t what I set out to do, but now that you’re here, I see no reason to let the opportunity pass me by.” He lowered his head to hers, and she thought he was going to kiss her neck—another area of her body that was ticklish at times—but he kissed her on the mouth instead. When the kiss was over, he asked, “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
“I seem to recall hearing you mention something about loving me this morning.”
“Well, I love you more tonight than I did then.”
“This morning wasn’t all that long ago. But,” she wrapped her arm around his neck, “I like that you keep reminding me of how much you love me.” She kissed him. “I love you, too.”
With a smile, he helped her sit back up. He drew her close to his side and let out a contented sigh. “We have it pretty good, don’t we?”
“You’ll get no complaints from me.” She found the needle and resumed her sewing. “How are the crops doing?”
“Good. They’re coming along perfectly. I’m hoping this will be a better summer than last.”
“Last summer wasn’t too bad.”
“It wasn’t that great, either. The winds damaged half the crops.”
She shrugged. “The wind didn’t do that much damage. We managed fine. You still made a profit with Ralph Lindon.”
“Only because I know how to negotiate with him. That man loves to bargain. You’ve seen how his face lights up when he realizes he’s going to get more than he initially expected.”
“Yes, I’ve seen him at his best. There’s no denying he loves what he does. Connie James and Maureen Brown spent a full half hour debating how much they were going to pay him for flour.” She gave Dave a pointed look. “Flour, Dave. The three were arguing over the price of a bag of flour. Neither one was going to be seriously affected by the transaction regardless of how it went.”
“I admit that is ridiculous.”
“But they loved it. Maureen and Connie are going to start a business selling the food they’re making, and they said every little bit saved is more profit in their pockets. Ralph came back with a reply that he also had to watch his profit since he owned the mercantile. They went back and forth for a while on which was a nobler venture then started the bidding war over the flour. I, and others, had to wait in line during this whole thing.”
He shook his head. “It’s a good thing Sally was watching the kids.”
“It is. Rachel and Adam would never have stayed still for the entire thing. Isaac’s good about staying still now, but even he would have grown bored.”
After a moment, Dave asked, “How did the bidding thing end? Who won?”
“They both did. There was a man behind me who ended up giving Ralph the full price for the flour just so they’d stop.”
Dave threw back his head and laughed. “The poor man.”
“He was upset.”
“I bet he was. They’d been holding everyone else up for a long time.”
“I just hope it doesn’t encourage the three to keep doing that,” Mary said. “I don’t think it’d be good for Ralph’s business if he keeps customers waiting like that. There’s another mercantile in town now. People might start going there instead.”
He straightened up in interest. “There’s another mercantile in town?”
She nodded as she continued to sew. “It just opened up last month. Sally told me all about it before I saw it.”
“Did you check it out?”
“I wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’ve known Ralph for a long time, and he’s sold some of the items I made in the past. It seems like I’d be disloyal if I checked out another store.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Ralph has been good to us over the years. Still, it’s tempting to see what the other place has to offer. Has Sally been in there?”
“She has, and she said once you’ve been in one mercantile, you’ve been in them all. The new store offers the same things as Ralph’s.” Dave seemed disappointed, so she asked, “What were you hoping would be in the new one?”
After a moment, he said, “I don’t know. I just thought there’d be something different. Maybe a few items Ralph doesn’t sell.”
“Sally was with Greg and Laura at the time. She didn’t get to stay in there too long. Laura had to go to the privy.”
If Mary had learned nothing else from having children, she’d learned that if a child had to answer nature’s call, it was necessary to hurry up and get out of the store as soon as possible. Sally, apparently, had learned the same thing.
“I think I’m going to get some water,” Dave said. “Do you want some?”
“A glass would be nice.”
“You got it.” He kissed her cheek then got up from the couch and went to the kitchen.
Her cheek pleasantly warm from where he’d kissed her, Mary smiled and kept on sewing.
Chapter Two
It was a couple days later when Isaac came running into the kitchen in a panic. “Pa fell off the horse!”
Mary, who was taking the roast chicken and vegetables out of the oven, had to renew her grip on the pan so she didn’t drop it. Isaac sure could be loud
