Love is Patient - Kay P. Dawson Page 0,4
wash the windows and the floors. And I helped paint the outside too, but just the bottom of the walls where I could reach.”
“Well, it looks perfect. This is just about the nicest schoolhouse I’ve ever seen.”
Owen pulled his eyebrows together suspiciously. “I thought you grew up in the big city. I don’t believe you. Your schools would have been a lot fancier than this one.”
Mr. Hammond stood off to the side, leaning back against a desk with his arms crossed over his chest. He shook his head at his son, shooting him an angry look. “Owen! Remember your manners.”
The young boy quickly looked down at his shoes. “I’m sorry, Miss.”
“No, Owen, you’re right. The school I went to in Boston was quite a bit fancier than this, but I have to tell you a secret.” He slowly lifted his gaze to hers. She offered him a smile as she scrunched up her nose. “It was fancy, but it smelled really bad inside. And, there were hardly any windows to look outside, so it was always dark. It really wasn’t a very nice place to be. That’s why I say this is the nicest school I’ve ever seen. It truly is.” She went over by the window closest to her and waved her hand toward it. “See that? It’s so nice to be able to see outside, and enjoy feeling the sunshine on our skin, even when we’re inside learning. You don’t know how lucky you are to have grown up where you can see for miles.” She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes for a few moments. “And everything smells so fresh.”
Delia’s eyes were wide as she listened. “What did it smell like in your school?”
Kathryn laughed as she walked over by the children and crouched down in front of them to whisper her answer. “Well, don’t ever tell anyone I told you this, but in my school it always smelled like dirty feet and horse manure.”
Owen’s face broke out in a smile before he quickly tried to hide it. But Delia couldn’t. She brought her hand up to her mouth and giggled.
“That would have been awful!”
Kathryn nodded seriously. “It was. And that’s why I’m so glad it doesn’t smell like that in here.” She gave a small shudder as she winked at Delia.
She stood back up and faced Mr. Hammond. As soon as her eyes met his, the smile dropped from her face. She couldn’t tell if he was angry with her or how he was feeling, but something in his stance told her he wasn’t happy.
“You’ve seen the schoolhouse, so let’s get to the cabin where you’ll be staying. I don’t have all day to be showing everyone around. I have a field to finish planting.” He pushed himself past her toward the door. Kathryn looked nervously toward Mrs. Hammond who was scowling at her son’s retreating back.
Thankfully, her aunt had come with them too, and now she came over to put her arm around Kathryn’s shoulder as they followed him out the door, leaning in close to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry about Colt Hammond, dear. He’s a bit rough around the edges sometimes.”
Mrs. Hammond came behind them with the children in tow and as they walked through the tall grass toward the cabin, Kathryn’s cheeks burned as she wondered what she’d done to make him angry with her.
But she couldn’t spend too much time worrying, because as they walked, the gentle breeze kissed her cheeks and took away any doubts that had started to creep in.
This was where she was meant to be. She could feel it in the air around her and with every step she took, her heart swelled even more with joy. She’d never felt like this walking in the city. The ground crunched under her boots and she let her hands trail over the top of the long, feathery grasses along the path. Above them, birds sang from the trees standing behind the small cabin.
“There’s a well right there with a pump for your water, and just behind the trees there’s a small creek that runs through the property you can use too if you want.” Kathryn looked over to the rickety-looking pump that Mr. Hammond was pointing to as they stopped in front of the cabin. He turned slightly and pointed to a small building off on its own. “And that’s your outhouse. It’s not much, but it keeps the wild animals out. You’ll want to