Hearts Awakening by Delia Parr

alongside him, she gave the room she would call her own a good look. She smiled, despite the dust and musty odor in the room, which had been closed off for a good number of weeks. The room itself might have been considered modest in size by most people, but it was larger than any bedroom she had ever had as a child or as an adult. Ever.
    The dark blue quilt on the large double bed, the oversized trunk at the foot, on which Jackson had set her travel bag, and the heavy chest of drawers had probably suited the boys’ grandfather when this had been his bedroom. But the delicate lady’s desk set in the corner between two large windows that splashed the room with light most definitely appealed to her, almost as much as the small stove that would keep the room warm in winter.
    Ellie made an exaggerated effort to sniff the air and crinkled her nose. “It’s smelly in here. Maybe we should open those windows first.”
    With a quick nod, Ethan let go of her hand, raced to the nearest window ledge, and climbed up before she was halfway there. “You’re awfully quick,” she murmured and planted herself directly behind him so he would not topple off and get hurt.
    Unfortunately, despite both their efforts, the window simply would not budge. “Let’s try this,” she suggested and tapped around the bottom frame with the side of her fist to loosen the sash. She waited until Ethan repeated what she had done before she set her feet and tried to lift the sash again.
    “Up it goes,” she gritted and got rewarded for her efforts with a gush of fresh air and just the hint of a smile from her stepson.
    Once they had opened the second window, he actually offered her a full smile that stole her heart. “You’re a good, strong boy. Thank you for helping me.” She smoothed his stubborn cowlick, which refused to surrender and lie down.
    As fast as lightning, he ran across the room and knelt on top of the trunk next to her travel bag, stirring up dust in the process.
    She chuckled her way over to him and wondered how she would find the energy to keep up with him every day. “You’re very fast, too. Let’s see how quick I can be at emptying out that travel bag of mine,” she suggested and opened it up.
    When he poked his face straight into the bag, she chuckled again. “I doubt there’s much there you’ll find very interesting.”
    He pulled away and sat back on his haunches, which gave her the room she needed to lift out the single gown she owned that was suitable for Sunday service. Once she did, she realized she had no place to put it that was not coated with dust.
    “Hopefully, this trunk is empty so I can store this inside. Scoot yourself over to the bed so I can open it,” she suggested and waited until he climbed onto the bed before she set the travel bag alongside him.
    She lifted the lid to the trunk with her free hand and grinned. “It’s empty. See?”
    Ethan leaned forward, peered over the lid, and nodded.
    After bending down to place the folded gown inside, Ellie stood up and pointed to her bag. “There are two aprons next. Will you hand them to me?”
    He did, although she had to discreetly refold them as she added them to the trunk and then closed the lid. “We can put the rest into the chest of drawers.”
    Ethan acted on her suggestion before she scarcely had the words out, tugging the travel bag. But in the process he lost his balance on the soft mattress and plopped down bottom first, while the travel bag flipped off the bed. It landed upside down, scattering most of the contents across the bare planked floor as it fell.
    When Ethan took one look at what he had done, he promptly burst into tears. Not silent, tiny baby tears—huge, noisy, marble-size tears that rolled down his cheeks, accompanied by heaving, heart-wrenching cries that rumbled from deep within from his narrow chest.
    Driven by a maternal instinct that seemed to surface quite naturally, Ellie swooped the child up into her arms and sat down on