| It’s supposed to be in June sometime, but I figured May was close enough.” She smiled. “It’s a day to tell your father how much he means to you. How… much you love him.” “Daddy? Are you okay?” Savannah asked quietly. Daddy. The word twisted Jack’s heart. He hadn’t been much of one to her—probably couldn’t be if he tried. But he was sick and tired of pretending not to care. Tired of living in an isolated, lonely world full of aching silences and wrenching regrets. Don’t do it. You’ll fail. At the thought, Jack felt a rush of fear. It was easier somehow to be a father to Caleb; he was an infant. Caleb wouldn’t know for years if his father had failed. Even Katydid might not notice, but Savannah was different. She was older, wiser. She’d see. She’d know he’d tried to be something he couldn’t. She’d know he failed, and the failure would break both their hearts. won’t fail. But this time the words didn’t matter. Maybe he would fail, he thought tiredly, and maybe he wouldn’t. But one thing he knew for sure—had always known—was that not trying was the biggest failure of all. Enough was enough, he decided. God had given him this chance for a new beginning—given it to all of them. And Jack wouldn’t run away this time. He wouldn’t be a coward again. He turned slightly and gave Savannah a bright, love-filled smile. “I’m fine. Now, why don’t |
the oven door, carefully extracting the golden loaf of bread. Using her apron to shield her hands, she moved the loaf to a riddle board and started to slice it thickly. Katie went to the table and sat down. Her little elbows thumped on the scarred wooden surface. The steady thump-thump-thump of her toes hitting the chair’s solid legs was a welcome end to the silence. “What’s for dinner, Vannah?” Savannah slopped a ladleful of stew into a bowl, balanced a plateful of bread on top, and headed for the table. “Rabbit stew, cottage bread, and some of those pickled cucumbers Mrs. Hannah gave us.” Katie wrinkled her nose. “Rabbit stew… again?” Savannah set the food on the table, and gently cuffed her baby sister on the head. “Watch it, you,” she said, smiling as she buttered her sister’s bread. “Or you’ll get it for breakfast, too.” Daddy dished himself a heaping bowl of stew and laid two slices of bread on the bowl’s rim. Balancing it carefully, he mumbled, “Thanks,” to Savannah and headed to the back porch to eat in solitude. Savannah headed back to the stove and got herself a small bowl of stew. Then she went over to her usual dinner spot. Leaning against the dry sink, feeling the towel rack jabbing against her lower back, she ate her dinner. No one spoke, and the entire meal was over in less than ten minutes. drainboard. Filling the metal washbasin with the hot water from the kettle |
