Hearts Awakening by Delia Parr Page B

jingle of coins, then quickly reached for the pair of handkerchiefs lying within his grasp.
    She grabbed for her comb before he noticed it, but froze when she saw him pick up the square of faded canvas she had tied shut with a bit of green ribbon. Trying not to panic, she kept her movements slow and her voice soft as she approached him. “I think you were able to pick up much more than I did,” she noted gently and sat down beside him.
    Ethan ignored her, intent on untying the ribbon.
    “Would you like me to help you?” she asked, fearful he might inadvertently damage the one possession she treasured more than any of the others.
    To her surprise, he handed the canvas packet to her, albeit reluctantly. After she untied the ribbon, she carefully unfolded the canvas to reveal a miniature pair of silhouettes of her parents, which had been cut from black cloth on their wedding day and laid atop a light paper background.
    “This is a silhouette of my mother,” she whispered. As she traced the outline of her mother’s image with the tip of her finger, memories of the years she had spent caring for her invalid mother unfolded, along with many loving memories of the man whose silhouette image lay next to her mother’s.
    Ethan’s gaze locked on the image of her mother, and she did not stop him when he traced the outline of the silhouette, exactly as she had done. Satisfied he was being gentle with her treasure, she left him for a moment and laid her comb and brush on top of the chest of drawers next to her father’s silhouette and the canvas wrapper.
    She had to tug hard to get the top drawer open. After she stored her coin purse and handkerchiefs inside, he walked over and reluctantly handed her the silhouette of her mother without being asked. “Thank you,” she murmured and rewrapped both silhouettes back in the canvas wrapper. She placed it into the drawer under her handkerchiefs and closed it before taking Ethan’s hand again. “I’m really hungry. Are you?”
    He nodded so hard his cowlick danced.
    Laughing, she crossed the room with him and shut the door behind them. She had just sat him down at the worktable while she made a snack for them when she thought she heard footsteps on the porch.
    Startled, Ellie looked up to see Jackson and his oldest son coming into the kitchen. “Did you forget something?” she asked as Ethan charged across the room and ran straight to his father.
    Jackson hoisted up his youngest son as soon as he was within reach and frowned. “I was hoping to find supper ready when we returned.”
    “Supper?” she said as she scrambled to her feet. “Already? But you just left with Daniel not—”
    “Two hours ago,” he said. “And we’ve both worked up an appetite, haven’t we, Daniel?”
    The five-year-old nodded and rubbed his tummy. “I think Ethan’s hungry, too.”
    Embarrassed, Ellie apologized. “I-I’m sorry. Ethan was helping me unpack, and I suppose I just lost all sense of time,” she explained. No wonder she and Ethan were so hungry. “It won’t take me long to reheat the soup I made yesterday and set the table. I . . . I apologize for not having supper ready. I won’t let it happen again.” She hurried over to get a fire started in the cookstove.
    Daniel followed right behind her. “Supper was never late when my mother was here, and she never forgot to keep a fire in the stove, neither.”
    Ellie forced herself to give the boy a smile. Apparently he had not forgotten any of her mistakes, and she wondered if she would ever do anything right where this child was concerned. She looked over at Jackson, hoping he might defend her.
    He merely shrugged without bothering to ease the frown he still wore, but she could not tell if he was frowning because she expected him to defend her or because it was the second time in nearly as many days that his supper was going to be late.
    Ellie squared her shoulders. She had gotten herself into this situation in the first