Cinderella in Overalls - By Carol Grace Page 0,12

she really meant was who are they and where are they? The words were on the tip of her tongue: are you married?

“My father died in a plane crash a few years ago,” he said.

“I’m sorry.” She dug a hole in the soil with the toe of her shoe.

“Don’t be. It was the way he wanted to go. He didn’t want to die in bed. He’d done more living in seventy years than most people do in two lifetimes. He had the most incredible stories to tell... when he was home, that is.” There was sadness and bitterness in his voice.

“Which wasn’t very often?”

“No. My mother went to work and I went to school. My father went to look for lost treasure. My mother’s family never forgave him.”

“Did you?” she asked softly.

He gave her a long look, then shrugged without answering, as if it weren’t important. But somehow Catherine knew it was.

Abruptly he changed the subject. “I can just picture your childhood. Jumping into haystacks and raising kittens in the barn.”

She studied his face, watched the taut muscles in his neck relax. “That’s right, and even though we weren’t rich, we never felt poor. There’s always enough to eat on a farm, and my mother sewed all my clothes. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be there forever, making clothes for my children, canning peaches in the summer and spinning wool in the winter...” She stopped and forced a smile. “Well, let’s get going. There’s so much I want you to see.”

They walked in silence past fields of wheat, a plot of tomatoes ripening in the sun and then the lush green of parsley. The colors seemed more intense today, the air sweeter and the earth more fertile. Catherine didn’t know if it had anything to do with the man who walked behind her. Absently she waved to Doña Blanca, who was guiding a horse pulling a plow across the field, and the two little boys riding a burro behind her.

Josh nodded to the woman and waved to the children. Then he turned his gaze back to Catherine, who took the lead down the narrow path, following her easy gait with his eyes on her firm, round bottom. He reminded himself he was here on bank business. Although he could have told her no without coming all this way. In fact, he did tell her no. Now that he was here he was more convinced than ever they had no chance of paying off a loan with their primitive farming methods.

The most he could expect out of today’s trip was to convince her to accept the truck as a gift, then convince someone to give her one. If she wouldn’t take it, maybe one of the other women would, one who wasn’t so proud. Like the one who was waving to them from the doorway of her house.

Catherine introduced Doña Jacinda to him, and she ushered than into her plain, spotless house. A small boy peeked through the window, and Jacinda shooed him away. “They are curious,” she said to Josh, “about you.” Then she poured coffee and stood back to survey Josh as if he were the answer to her prayers. Her gaze traveled to Catherine and back to him, her rapid Spanish too fast for him to follow. He looked inquiringly at Catherine, seated next to him in a hand-carved wooden chair.

“She says she remembers you,” Catherine said. “From the market.”

“Tell her I remember her, too. Does she know why I’m here?”

“I haven’t told anyone about the loan. So she’s jumped to her own conclusions.” Catherine set her coffee cup on a small table. “When a man comes calling on a woman in Aruaca, it’s for only one reason.” Catherine shifted uncomfortably. “So she wants to ask you some questions.”

Josh’s blue eyes gleamed in amusement. “Fire away.”

“She wants to know if you can support a wife.” A flush crept up Catherine’s face.

“A wife and children, too,” he assured her politely.

Catherine translated and waited for the next question. “How many?”

“Four, five, six...as many as possible. I was an only child. Let me tell you, that’s no fun at all.”

Hearing this, Jacinda raised her palms to the sky and praised God for sending this man to them just in the nick of time. Catherine seemed to have no intention of translating any longer, but Josh caught the drift of what she was saying. Explaining to Jacinda that she wanted to show Josh the farm now, Catharine stood and