“Is there anything the matter?” she asked the girl.

Katherine stepped a little closer. “I have a message for Kingston.”

“Come in and sit while I get him.” She waved toward a chair and smiled as the girl entered the room, walking as if stepping on eggs. “Kingston is out back. I’ll call him.” She leaned out the window. “Kingston, Katherine’s here to see you.” He thrust his head out from under a branch he’d been trimming, his eyes wide with curiosity. A few feet away, Angus poked his head out, the fear in his eyes as plain to see as the pine needles stuck in his hair. “Come on in. I’ll set out some cookies.”

And so the four of them sat around the table, as awkward as strangers sharing a table on the train.

“Dad said he wants you to come home.” Katherine kept her face averted.

“That all he said?” Kingston asked.

“What he said was, ‘Go tell your brother to get on home.’ ”

She shrugged. “Guess he never even said which brother.” Her glance darted to Angus. “I thought he meant you.” She turned back to Kingston. “I suppose you should come too.”

Kingston held up a hand. “I’ll go. Angus, you stay here until I talk to Dad. Come on, Katherine.” He hesitated. “Unless you want to stay and visit.”

“Please do,” Maryelle begged. “I’d like that.” Perhaps she and Katherine could learn to be friends if Lena was absent.

Katherine nodded.

“I’ll be back soon.” Kingston kissed Maryelle. Rags bounded in as he left.

Angus scooped up the kitten. “Recognize this kitten?”

Katherine took a good look. “Is it one of Mitten’s batch?”

“Yup. Lily brought her over and gave her to Maryelle. I tell you this is the way a cat should be treated. Hand-fed from the table, sleeps on the bed—” He grinned at Maryelle, repeating words he’d heard Kingston say as he teased her. Maryelle couldn’t help thinking the same words could well apply to Angus himself.

Katherine laughed at her younger brother. “Sounds like a nice way to live.”

Maryelle smiled at the pair. “It’s so nice to have you both here.”

Katherine gave her a sober look. “You aren’t mad at me?”

“Of course not. I’d like us to be friends.”

“Me too.” Then Katherine turned back to Angus, and they played with the cat.

Maryelle paid them only half a mind, her thoughts on Kingston and the task that lay ahead of him. She prayed so hard that she didn’t even hear him return until he stood in the doorway.

“Kingston.” She ran to greet him.

Angus left off the game he and Katherine were playing and waited.

“We worked out an agreement.” He kissed her nose and pulled her inside. “Sit down. I’ll tell you all about it.”

Katherine stood. “I best be getting home.”

“You might as well hear this too. It’s bound to affect you.”

She sat down obediently.

“Dad and I reached an agreement.” He turned to Angus. “You’ll be going home. He’ll not hit you again. If it ever happens again, you’ll be living with us. I agreed to work for him on that condition.”

Maryelle swallowed hard. Despite her resolve to return for Kingston’s sake and with God’s help, it vanished in the light of reality. She drew a deep breath and prayed for strength.

Kingston reached across the table and took her hand. “Part time only, and he agreed to pay me wages.”

She gaped at him. “Part time?” What would he do the rest of the time? How would they survive on part-time wages?

“I won’t be able to spare him anything more. This place will take some building up again.”

“What place?”

“Grandma and I have been talking. Grandpa can’t manage any longer. She asked if I would consider buying the place from them. I’m going to do it.”

Stunned silence greeted his statement.

“Angus, you’ll stay here tonight. We’ll go across tomorrow.” He grinned at Maryelle. “By the way, we’re invited for supper tomorrow night.”

Later, when Katherine had left for home and Angus had gone to his bed in the little shack, Maryelle finally had a chance to ask all the questions barging through her mind.

“What makes you think your father will keep his end of the agreement?” She pulled the pins from her hair and shook it free.

He tipped back in his chair, his eyes bright as the water and sky and warm with love. “Because, my sweet brown eyes, I made it clear that if he ever hit Angus again, he would find himself without any help. He could never manage on his own, and he knows it.”

She shook her head.

“Besides, if he can control his temper when he’s ashamed for someone to see how he acts, he can control it because he doesn’t like the consequences.”

“I hope you’re right.”

He caught her arm and pulled her to his knee. “If I’m not, then I walk away and take Angus with me. I’d like to hope he will change; but unless he lets God work in his life, I don’t see it happening. In the meantime he’ll comply out of necessity.” He paused a moment. “I always wondered about Mom. Today she told me she’d shoved aside her faith in order to keep the peace. But now she says she’ll do what’s right even if Dad doesn’t like it. I think Dad knows when he’s run into overwhelming odds.”

“You never said anything to me about buying this farm.”

“I needed to think about it. I didn’t want you to get your hopes up until I was sure what I was going to do. I didn’t make up my mind until I walked over to the farm. Suddenly everything fell into place.”

“I’m glad we’re going to stay. I like it here.”

“As much as you like this?” He drew her near so he could kiss her.

“Umm.”

When he would have pulled away, she held him close. He chuckled low in his chest.

After a minute or two, he pushed away. “I thought I would never enjoy another farm the way I did ours.” He jerked his head in the direction of home. “But I discovered it’s the work I enjoy. I’ve grown to love this place. There’s so much I want to do.”

“I confess I didn’t want to go back to living with your family again.”

“I figured that out.” He kissed her nose. “But thank you for being willing.”

“I worried, too, what would happen to Grandpa if we left.”

“Me too.”

“Seems like God has provided an answer for everyone’s need.”

“He has promised to meet all our needs.”

Rags jumped up on Maryelle’s lap, purring and pushing against her arm, begging for attention. Maryelle shoved her away. “Not now, Rags,” she murmured. There was no room for the cat as she hugged Kingston.

Angus hung back as they approached the house. Maryelle shot him a look of sympathy. She wasn’t looking forward to this either. It was only for Kingston’s sake she was willing to enter this house again.

“Come on, you two. No one’s going to bite.” He chuckled. “You both look like you’re about to enter a bear’s den.”

Angus smiled sheepishly.

“Lead on.” Maryelle clung to Kingston’s arm. “I’m ready.”

They mounted the steps, Angus on their heels, and stepped into the kitchen. Familiar smells met them—the smell of warm milk, roast chicken, fresh bread, and spicy applesauce.

Mother Brown turned from the stove. “Come on in. Supper’s almost ready.” Her gaze found Angus practically glued to Kingston’s back, and she smiled. “Welcome home, Son.”

Maryelle’s jaw dropped open. Never had she known Mother Brown to appear so happy to see someone. For a moment, anger blazed through her veins. Why couldn’t she have welcomed Kingston like this? Why not her even? But she couldn’t stay angry; Kingston had gained what he wanted—peace in his family. An uncertain, untried peace. As for loving him, she would take care of that so he would never miss not having it from his family.

Father Brown thudded up the steps.

Angus shifted to Kingston’s side. “You’ve no need to be afraid,” Kingston murmured.

Their father stepped into the room. “I see you’re here in good time.”

“Wouldn’t be late for one of Mom’s meals.” He held out his hand. For a moment his father stared at it; then he gave a hard squeeze. “How have you been?” Kingston asked.

“Not bad considering how much work I’ve got to do.”

Kingston nodded. “I’ll be over in the morning to help.”

The little girls bounded through the door and gave Kingston a hug. When Maryelle bent down to hug them, Lily wrapped her arms around Maryelle’s neck. “I love you,” she whispered.

Tears blurred her vision as Maryelle whispered back, “I love you too.”

Jeanie allowed herself to be hugged; and when Maryelle whispered the same words in her ear, the child’s eyes grew wide.

Katherine came down the stairs. “Hi,” she said, smiling shyly.

Lena followed her, carefully avoiding Maryelle’s gaze.

The meal was delicious and the conversation almost relaxed as Kingston told about the work he’d been doing and stories of Rags’s mischief.

After the meal, the men went outside. “To check on what we’ll be doing tomorrow,” Kingston said.

Lena ducked back up the stairs as Maryelle helped the little girls clear the table. In a few minutes, Lena returned, her hands behind her back, and sidled up to Maryelle.

“Here.” She thrust an object into Maryelle’s hand.

Maryelle looked down. “It’s my picture of Sheba.”

“I took it one day when I was feeling spiteful. I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad you returned it. Thank you.” Before she could change her mind, she gave Lena a quick hug. “I hope we can be friends now.”

Lena hung her head. “It was never really you I was mad at.” She shrugged. “I guess it was the war. You see, my boyfriend died over there.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She nodded. “Mom talked to me about it and said I had to let go of my bad feelings. I’m trying not to be so angry.” She shook her head. “But it’s hard.”

“It will take time.”

Lena nodded, then turned to put away the dishes Jeanie had dried.

Kingston returned. “Shall we be going home, Mrs. Brown?”

She nodded. “I’m ready.”

Hand in hand, they walked back over the hills, pausing at the last rise for one more look at his family home.

Kingston pulled Maryelle into his arms. “I could not imagine I would ever be this happy.” He kissed the top of her head. “Your love has made my life complete.”

“Thank you, Mr. Canada. I love you too. But we need to thank God for the way He’s worked everything out.”

“ ‘All things work together for good to them that love God.’ Never before has that verse meant so much. Indeed God has done marvelous things.”

“I know.” She turned to look up into his face. “Will everything be okay now?”

He smiled. “It’s a beginning. I’m sure there’ll be ups and downs along the way.” He hugged her close. “But God will be with us each step of the way.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Let’s go home.” It felt so good to have a place of their own and to know Kingston could help his family at the same time. Her heart felt full and content.