Page 31 of A Joyful Ring
“You’re welcome,” she whispered. “I was just leaving the boardinghouse when I saw Maybelle’s skirts swishing through town. That usually means she’s on her way to see you.”
Gunder sighed, weary from keeping up his defenses around the annoying girl. “Will she ever understand I’m not interested?”
“Eventually. Hopefully. She is like a dog with a bone it refuses to turn loose when it comes to you, though. Know anyone at the mine who’d be interested in her?” Risa asked as she handed Gunder the milk bucket, and he took a seat next to the docile milk cow.
“There isn’t anyone at the mine I dislike enough to sic Maybelle on them.”
Risa’s laughter filled the barn as she doled outfeed for the horses, then filled their water buckets while he milked the cow. Her laughter put Gunder in mind of silver bells, ringing in pure, delightful tones that echoed softly in his heart.
He turned to watch her as she gave both King and Prince attention, wondering what she whispered to the big Belgian horses. Did they carry her secrets, the most tender longings of her heart?
Gunder couldn’t help but hope he was included in at least one or two of her wishes.
They finished the chores, then made their way inside the house, where warmth stung his cold cheeks, and the scent of stew bubbling on the stove made his stomach growl in hunger.
“I really should pay you for all the meals I eat here,” he said, removing his scarf and coat, and hanging them on a peg by the door where Lars usually left his.
Risa shook her head, then swatted him with the mitten she’d just tugged off. “What do you think the crates of apples and pears in the cellar are, if not payment for the meals you share with us?”
Gunder shrugged and held her coat as she slipped her arms from the sleeves.
One Sunday evening when he’d been there for supper, Risa had mentioned wanting apples and pears. The next time he was in Baker City, he tracked down a farmer selling apples, and another who’d raised pears. He’d purchased four crates of apples and two of pears, and presented them to a shocked Risa, indicating he’d bought them to compensate for some of the food he’d eaten at her table.
“It’s no trouble at all to feed you, Gunder, especially since I’ve yet to set something on the table that made you turn up your nose.”
He grinned and hung her coat next to his, thinking how much he liked the way they looked side by side. Like they belonged together. Like he wanted to belong to Risa.
Someday. If the good Lord were willing, someday it would be so.
He turned and found her at the sink drying her hands.
“Wash up while I take the biscuits out of the oven,” she said, and used a folded towel to pull out the pan of golden biscuits while he washed his hands and hastily dried them.
Gunder filled two glasses with cold well water and set them on the table, then took cutlery from the box on a shelf by the sink and set the pieces in their usual places.
The notion that he had a place at Risa’s table brought him up short. He had a place there. One where he was always welcome. He glanced at her as she brushed an unruly strand of hair from her cheek and wished with everything in him that he had a place in her heart.
Risa filled two bowls with the aromatic stew and handed them to him, then set the biscuits on a plate and carried it to the table. Gunder retrieved the butter and jam, while Risa set two napkins at the table.
Harmony.
Gunder mused that being around Risa made him feel as though life were a song sung in perfectharmony. There were times the song might be soft and easy, and other times when it was energetic and bold, but the notes were always in harmony.
He longed to share the thought with her, but instead tucked it away into the box in his mind he’d labeledSomeday.
After asking a blessing on the meal, he leaned back in his chair and offered Risa a sly smile. “When Maybelle cornered me outside my tent, I had the strangest thought if she were a mule, I’d refuse to let her in my string.”
Risa, who had been taking a drink of water, snorted liquid out of her nose, turned a bright shade of red, and held the napkin over her face.
Gunder couldn’t help the hearty laughter that rolled out of him, and only laughed harder when Risa thumped his arm.
“You just had to tell me that when I was taking a drink. I’d be mortified by that most disgraceful display, but I have a feeling you don’t care at all.” Risa’s face remained red, but she settled back in her chair and draped her napkin over her lap.
“I don’t. Obviously, you thought it was funny too.”
“That’s beside the point. And heaven help you if Maybelle ever finds out you compared her to a cantankerous mule.”
Gunder grinned and picked up his spoon, dipping it into the thick beef stew. “I never called her cantankerous, but if she were a mule, she’d pretend to act docile until your back was turned, then either bite your shoulder or kick you into next week.”
