“We’ll start our school lessons every day while Georgie is napping,” Hannah said.
“You will be my teacher?”
“Yes. That’s how I made a living before coming to Hunter’s Grove. I taught schoolchildren, so your father and I decided that I would teach you.”
“Will I learn arithmetic? I’m not good at that.”
“Yes, and physical exercise, too. I feel that exercise improves the blood flow to your brain and helps children learn.”
Annabelle clapped her hands together. “Yes!” She stood up from her seat on the straw. “Come—I’ll show you the creek and my favorite tree.”
Hannah scooped up Georgie and followed Annabelle. They came to what Annabelle called a creek, but to Hannah, it was just a babbling brook.
Annabelle said, “I like to sit here and listen to the sound of the water as it hits the rocks.”
“It looks like this might be a good place for our science lessons,” Hannah said as she bounced a restless Georgie.
“Come on.” Annabelle led her into some nearby trees. She pointed to one that looked dead, but it had an interesting bare branch that was low and long. Annabelle grabbed the branch, pulled herself up, and straddled the branch. “This is my horse, and his name is Bullet.”
By then, Georgie was rubbing his eyes.
“It’s time for Georgie’s nap,” Annabelle announced. “Now, we can have our first lesson.”
Chapter Five
When Cameron came home, he couldn't find his wife anywhere in the house. He peeked in the children’s room to find Georgie sound asleep. Cam returned to the first floor to find Bessie in the kitchen, basting a roast.
“Where’s Mrs. Hart and Annabelle?”
Bessie turned. “I imagine they’re still outside.”
“Outside,” Cam repeated to himself as he walked to the back door. He stood on the porch, watching Annabelle and Hannah as they sat beneath a tree, apparently reading.
Hannah was holding the book between them, and he could see Annabelle’s mouth moving as she read.
He stepped from the porch and walked toward them. “Hello,” he greeted them. He addressed Hannah: “I didn’t realize you’d start lessons so soon.”
Hannah closed the book and patted Annabelle’s head. “That’s it for today. Your homework is to finish reading the chapter and tell me tomorrow how it ended.”
“Thank you, Mama.” She grabbed the book and ran to the house.
Cam took Annabelle’s place on the grass beside Hannah. “How did the first lesson go?”
Hannah shook her head. “I’m shocked. Annabelle picked up reading so fast. I’ve never taught a child her age who picked up reading so quickly. She stumbles over the bigger words, but I know she’s read before. You must have taught her.”
Cam thought that perhaps the orphanage had given her lessons. “I...a...well, we did some reading together.”
“She’s very smart. I imagine she takes after you. Or was her mother smart as well?”
Cam shrugged. “She was average, I suppose.”
“And Georgie,” Hannah said, “needs to stop sucking his thumb or he’ll have protruding front teeth. Do you have any suggestions for helping him to quit?”
“He only does it when he’s scared or nervous. I suppose we could bandage his thumb. I’ve heard that helps.”
“Your first wife must have been blonde with blue eyes.”
“Yes.” He answered quickly. “Yes, she was.”
Hannah smiled. “I love being called Mama.”
Cameron stood and held out his hand to help her to stand. “I thought you and I could have dinner at Parker’s tonight as my first attempt at courting you.”
“Parker’s?”
“It’s the closest thing we have for fine dining here. The hotel’s food is awful, but Sam Parker makes some delicious soups. Mind you, it’s not a fancy place, but just an old stable Sam made into a little place to cook. He used to cook and sell the food for people to take home. Then, recently, he added a small addition with wooden tables and benches.”
“I would love to, but Bessie has been working all day on a roast for dinner.”
Hannah tapped her chin as he noticed she often did when thinking.
“I have a better idea,” she said. “We’ll eat at home with the children, and tomorrow we’ll make sandwiches out of the leftover beef and have a picnic by the river. Tomorrow’s Saturday, and I’m thinking you won’t have to work.”
“I often go in on Saturday, but I can miss this week. The case I’m working on is an easy one. I can’t wait to move up to being a state senator. The cases here are boring.”
“And Sunday we’ll all go to church... or whatever you call it when it’s held in a barn.”
Cam liked her poise, and she was well-spoken if not slightly bossy, yet her manner let him know exactly what she wanted, and that was good. He had courted a woman a few years before, and he never knew what she wanted, so it seemed as if he couldn’t please her. This woman knew what she wanted, and he believed she could become quite testy if she didn’t get it. He liked her, though. She was fair-looking, seemed good with the children, and she would make the perfect senator’s wife.
They walked slowly to the back door of the house, which led to the kitchen.
Bessie looked up at them and smiled. “I was just on my way upstairs with the children’s dinner.”
Hannah stopped walking abruptly, causing Cam to bump into her. She turned to him.
“The children eat upstairs?”
“Yes,” Cam answered. “In the playroom. There’s a table and—
“No, no, no,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “That’s not how families eat dinner.”
Cam gave her a puzzled look and shrugged. “Why not?”
“Bessie, set two plates in the dining room for Georgie and Annabelle,” Hannah ordered.
“But—" Cam tried to explain.
Hannah turned and said, “You brought me here to be their mother, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
