James turned to follow the direction of her pointing finger looking at the house where she lived. “Nice.” He commented with a smile about the freshly whitewashed fence. It wasn’t what he was used to of course. No estate back home used something so simple as a fence. It was something he’d started to get used to since his arrival in the small frontier town.
“It looks great.” James told her, offering her a lopsided little smile, his solemn hazel-eyed gaze sweeping over the modest little house that Addie shared with this Weedy. From the warm light in her eyes when she spoke about him, James felt that she was the kind of mother every child deserved. After a moment’s thought, he said just that, “Weedy is very fortunate to have you in his corner.” Would that more parents cared enough to put their child’s welfare above anything else. James’ life would’ve been a great deal different had his own father taken the time to ensure his younger son’s education was covered.
“Does he enjoy learning?” James wondered, pursing his lips thoughtfully, his gaze drifting from her house back to Addie’s face. Heaven knew he always had. Not that he’d been all that interested in law but law was one of the few professions deemed worthy for the second son of the nobility. He had never felt much of a passion for the law, but he was intelligent enough to have been able to pick it up fairly easily which boarded well for his future in the field.
"He's a real smart boy, no question on that!" Addy grinned proudly, then shook her head. "He's hear an' there on his learnin'...likes history an' composition, but not so much math an' such...but likes science, an' I don't know as ya can have science without math." She shrugged. "Seems like that he wants ta learn things that he sees as havin' a purpose ta somethin' he wants."
Of course, what interested him, and what he wanted seemed to change on a weekly basis, depending on what he'd been exposed to. "Like as not," she laughed, "he'll want ta be a lawyer after meetin' you!"
Opening the door, she stepped into the modest house, then stood back so James could enter. They were greeted by the aroma of stew.
The first room was a general living area, with a stone fireplace along the far wall, and a doorway to the left of that. There was a couch and a couple of stuffed chairs, worn but clean, a chest and a low table.
"Kitchen's this way." Addy turned to the left, where the delectable aromas were coming from. The room was small, with a stove, sink, some cabinets and a table with four chairs. Seated in one of those chairs was a lad of about eleven, who looked up from the book in front of him as the adults entered.
"I put the stew on to heat, Miss Addy," he declared, jumping up, but then hesitated when he saw the man. "Hello..."
"Weedy, this here's Mr. Vaughn, he's joinin' us fer supper. "Mr. Vaughn, Weedy."
"Good to meet you, sir." The boy nodded politely...his manners were excellent!