"No, Wyatt, your father's right. It's just a joke. Our cook used to say that her food tasted so good because she made it with love, but I think she was just a very good cook." She bent down slightly and winked at the young boy.

"Oh, got it. I kinda figured so," Wyatt smiled back, he was - despite her first impression - a very friendly boy.

The woman took a side step but Aurelian was in no hurry to move. It was a Sunday, a day of rest, though of course the farm animals always needing caring for every day of the week.

"Isn't there anyone nearby you could get to help you? Neighboring farms who might have a few extra hands?"

"Oh probably there is, if I looked around for somebody. But the rub there is that costs money to pay them, money I can ill afford. No, Wyatt and I will manage. It's not like I can't cook after all," Aurelian declared.

"No offense, Pa, but you CAN'T cook," leave it to a boy to be blunt.

"You going to do it then, son?" Aurelian glanced down.

"No, I ain't old enough," Wyatt didn't sound enthusiastic to try either.

"Anyhow I'm not looking for pity, Mrs. Dietrich. We'll make the adjustments and be fine. So changing the subject then, you've decided to stay in Kalispell then? It's a good town, plenty of nice folks. Where are you planning on staying? If I might be so bold to ask?" Aurelian ventured.

Lucinda smiled at the banter between Aurelian and Wyatt, although her smile was tinged with sadness at seeing something that for her, could never be. Even if Francis had lived, she didn't think she would have been able to bring any children into the world for him. It must be nice for Aurelian to have someone to talk to. Goodness knows she had started talking to herself during the winter.

"Anyhow I'm not looking for pity, Mrs. Dietrich. We'll make the adjustments and be fine."

Lucinda's eyebrows arched in surprise and she frowned slightly. She had forgotten how proud men could be. She answered Aurelian crisply. "I wasn't offering pity, Mr. Redmond. I was offering a solution. Or trying to, anyway. But lack of money does make it difficult to do what I suggested." Her voice softened and she smiled to let him know she wasn't angry at him or offended.

Thankfully Aurelian had asked her another question so she didn't have to leave him and have him think she was angry.

"I will stay, at least for the time being. I am staying at the Wigfall boarding house until I find something else or until Mrs. Wigfall needs my room. Or until my money runs out." She said this last bit with a wry grin on her face.

"I wasn't offering pity, Mr. Redmond. I was offering a solution. Or trying to, anyway. But lack of money does make it difficult to do what I suggested."

"That's fine, thank you for the advice, it was well meaning I'm sure," Aurelian was far too good natured and laid back to be touchy about such things.

He then asked about her, just to make conversation, not that he was nosy...OK, maybe just a little. Kalispell was such an insular place, new folks were often fascinating.

"I will stay, at least for the time being. I am staying at the Wigfall boarding house until I find something else or until Mrs. Wigfall needs my room. Or until my money runs out."

"Ahh, yes, the Wigfall boarding house," Aurelian nodded but left it at that.

"She could sleep in our barn, Pa?" Wyatt suddenly blurted out, the look on his face was dead serious too not an attempt at comedy.

"No, son. Ladies are not meant to sleep in barns. Mind your manners," Aurelian ended that wild thought.

"Sorry bout that, but Wyatt actually likes to sleep in barns and outdoors," he quickly tried to set things straight. Twelve year boys! He wondered if he had ever been like that? Probably.

Aurelian's reaction to her choice of boarding house was quite similar to the way Emeline had told her about the Wigfall house. They had both just mentioned the name, but nothing else about it. Lucinda knew enough about people and conversation that she knew when people were leaving something out. True, the Wigfalls had seemed slightly...odd, but she had assumed that was just because she wasn't used to being around people again yet.

Suddenly Wyatt offered that she could sleep in the Redmond's barn! Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to keep herself from laughing. A few smothered chuckles escaped, but after a few seconds she lowered her hand and looked at Aurelian and his son with a straight face. A mostly straight face. A few crinkles at the corners of her eyes and the way her lips still turned upwards at the corners even though they were pressed tightly together betrayed the humor she found in the boy's statement.

"It's quite all right. He's not the only one. I will admit to having snuck out onto the roof of my boarding school one night, intending to sleep under the stars. But the shingles were too hard, and I was worried I might fall off in my sleep!" She couldn't keep a straight face any longer and broke into a grin which she directed first at Wyatt and then at Aurelian.

"I suppose if you slept on the ground you wouldn't have to worry about that. Or even in a barn. And in a barn, there would be haystacks." She grinned only at Aurelian this time, arching one eyebrow slightly. Even she, with as sheltered of a life as she had led until her marriage, knew what people used haystacks for.

Fortunately rather than being insulted the woman saw the humor in the boy's innocent offer, Aurelian was relieved to see.

"It's quite all right. He's not the only one. I will admit to having snuck out onto the roof of my boarding school one night, intending to sleep under the stars. But the shingles were too hard, and I was worried I might fall off in my sleep!"

"They got boarding schools too?" Wyatt only knew about boarding houses like the one run by old lady Wigfall. It sounded horrifying to him that kids not only had to attend school but apparently live and sleep in the place too? He was happy - maybe for the first time - he only went to the local one room school.

"Mostly in the big cities and back East, yes," Aurelian explained. The lady had said she was going back east so made sense she might have attended one of those places.

"I suppose if you slept on the ground you wouldn't have to worry about that. Or even in a barn. And in a barn, there would be haystacks," the woman pointed out cheerfully.

"Barns are fun, yeah," Wyatt certainly agreed, Aurelian just smiled.

"Well I suppose we should let you go then. Best of luck to you. I hope it all works out for you for the best. But then we'll probably run into each other somewhere in town if you are staying. It was a pleasure to meet you," he gave just a slight bow of his head.

Lucinda was impressed by how much Aurelian seemed to know about her world. It wasn't as though she had expected him to be an idiot, but she hadn't expected a farmer to know about boarding schools...and to care to share his knowledge with his son.

How could he not respond to her haystack comment? She was surprised until she remembered that she was standing in the middle of the church. Oh. Maybe that was why. Oh, dear. Being alone during the winter had made her completely irreverent. She bit her lower lip and focused on what Aurelian was saying, then nodded and inclined her head as he bowed slightly.

"Thank you, Mr. Redmond. It was a pleasure to meet you...and you, Wyatt. I hope I shall see you both again before the harvest, but if I do not, I wish you luck."

She pulled out one edge of her skirt and made a small curtsy, giving Aurelian a smile before turning and heading out of the church. Kalispell really wasn't so bad after all.

Arabella counted up the hymnbooks in the store cupboard off the vestry: one missing! That woman must have sent one flying under the pews when she made that oh-so-obvious gambit for Mr. Redmond's attention. She skidded back out into the main body of the church just as the woman was leaving: still holding one of the precious maroon bound hymnals!!

She ran down the aisle so fast in her best Sunday dress that she didn't have the time nor the puff to shout 'Stop thief!' and caught up with Lucinda only when she was outside of the church. And when the woman turned to see who was running up behind her, she didn't say anything, just snatched back the errant book.

Arabella stalked back inside, only turning once to shout to the new member who had been welcomed to the family of the Lord three little words: "Eighth Commandment, Lady!"

Yes, Kalispell really wasn't so bad after all.

The End