He put his arm around her, but he didn’t make a move to help her remove his shirt. Instead, he asked, “Did you tell Isaac to give the bird one of the cornstalks?”
She blinked in surprise. “No. I assume you gave him permission to do that.”
“I did. I just thought maybe you gave him the idea. Birds like to eat kernels.”
“Birds will eat almost anything. They’re not picky.” She studied him for a moment. “Are you upset he was feeding the bird some of the kernels from that cornstalk?”
Dave sighed. “Don’t you think Isaac’s getting obsessive about Richard?”
Her eyes grew wide. “You’re still worried about Isaac and Richard?”
“How can I not be? All Isaac ever talks about is how great Richard is. And even today, when I took him to see the big cornstalks, he was thinking of feeding the bird—the bird he named after my brother.”
“Oh, Dave.” She kissed him. “Isaac doesn’t like Richard more than you. This is just a season in his life. Everything with Richard is still new. Isaac will grow bored of it in time.”
“The interview happened a long time ago. Isaac should have forgotten all about it by now.”
“It wasn’t that long ago. It happened after you broke your leg, and you’re just now able to walk on it.”
“I was unable to walk on it for a very long time.”
“It was only two months.”
“I was confined to the chair,” he said. “It was a very long time.”
She chuckled and kissed him again. “Alright. It was a very long time. I know it wasn’t easy for you to stay off of your leg for that long.” She snuggled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re Isaac’s father. You’ll always be more important to him than any uncle is. Try not to let it bother you. This, too, shall pass.”
Glad she couldn’t see him, Dave rolled his eyes. She meant well, but she was usually so busy cooking or cleaning that she missed what Isaac was doing when he was on the porch or in the barn. Isaac spent a lot of time talking about Richard and that stupid article. It was too bad Dave couldn’t go back in time and tell Amanda they didn’t want one of the papers she’d brought out to his parents’ house that day.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, willing his irritation to cool so he could sleep. This, however, proved to be a difficult task. He didn’t fall asleep until well after it was dark in the room.
Chapter Ten
The next day before noon, Sally came by. “Maureen and Connie have started selling their foods. I thought you might want to see how things are going for them,” she told Mary.
Since Dave said it was fine with him if she went, Mary gathered the children and got into the buggy with Sally. The only reason they could all fit was because the children were still small. Mary doubted they would be able to use her buggy much longer.
Mary shifted Adam so that he was more securely on her lap. “Where are they selling their foods?”
“In a small shop.” Sally led the horse down the bend in the path that would take them to town. “I saw them this morning as I was taking Greg and Laura to Rick’s parents. I immediately thought of you, so I came out here.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in what they did outside of the annual baking contest.”
“I won’t lie. I love the fact that the judges always have a hard time picking whether they like your food or theirs best, but usually, I don’t pay attention to what they’re doing. They don’t hang around the same social circles that I do. They like to keep up with the more prosperous people in Omaha, though they don’t go around the same circle that Richard and Amanda do. Speaking of which,” her smile grew wider, “you’ll never believe who’s in town today.”
“Who?”
“That magazine reporter from Chicago. Rick saw him when he was walking home from the courthouse yesterday. The reporter was on his way to a hotel.”
Mary’s eyebrows furrowed. “How did Rick know it was a reporter from Chicago?”
“Because some of the men were talking about him. The reporter has to be here because of Richard. I can’t think of any other reason he’d be in Omaha.”
Isaac turned to Sally in interest. “Is Uncle Richard getting interviewed today?”
Mary glanced at her son, a wave of apprehension coming over her as she recalled how sad Dave had been last night.
“I don’t know,” Sally told Isaac. “We can stop by and see Richard while you’re in town.”
Isaac glanced over at Mary, eyes wide with hope. “Can we do that?”
“Oh, well…” Dave wouldn’t like this. It would only make him feel worse if he knew Isaac was jumping at the chance to see Richard.
“Jenny has been wanting to see Amanda about a new hat Amanda bought,” Sally told Mary. “Jenny wants to see if she can duplicate it. She thinks it might go well with one of her dresses. We could go to Jenny’s and then all take her wagon into town.”
Mary didn’t know how she could argue her way out of going to Richard and Amanda’s. If she’d known this was going to happen, she would have had Isaac stay home. But what good would that do? Rachel would mention seeing Richard, and Isaac would find out anyway.
“Why not?” Mary finally replied.
Isaac cheered, and Mary did her best to hide her apprehension. She hoped she hadn’t just made things worse for Dave.
Sally went to Jenny’s, and soon, everyone was climbing into the wagon. Jeremy decided to stay at the cabin so he could keep cutting wood
