It wasn't so much the large cauldron of hot water steaming over a slow fire that came as a surprise-people did laundry and made soap that way all the time-but the fact that Luke was sitting in it, like a cartoon missionary in a cannibal camp, wearing his hat and nothing else.
He smiled through the rising vapor, but she saw the knowledge of Jonah's illness in his eyes, and it touched her in a way words of sympathy could never have done. "You'll pardon me," he said, tipping his limp hat, "if I don't stand."
In spite of all the sorrow and distress of past days, Charity laughed. "I won't ask why you're taking a bath in the dooryard in the bright light of day," she said, dismounting but keeping a cautious distance, "but I will surely perish of curiosity if you don't explain the hat."
The grin widened. "Habit," he said. "Pure habit. Guess I've been a bachelor too long-getting set in my ways. Would you mind adding a few chunks of wood to the fire? I don't want the water to get cold."
Charity complied, though her nerves were rattled and her heart was thumping away in the pit of her stomach. "Mind you don't stay in there too long," she fussed. "You might just boil right down to the bone, like a stewed chicken. Doesn't the bottom burn your-feet?"
The brim of the disreputable hate moved upward as Luke raised his eyebrows. "You could always join me in here and find out for yourself," he suggested.
He smiled through the rising vapor, but she saw the knowledge of Jonah's illness in his eyes, and it touched her in a way words of sympathy could never have done. "You'll pardon me," he said, tipping his limp hat, "if I don't stand."
In spite of all the sorrow and distress of past days, Charity laughed. "I won't ask why you're taking a bath in the dooryard in the bright light of day," she said, dismounting but keeping a cautious distance, "but I will surely perish of curiosity if you don't explain the hat."
The grin widened. "Habit," he said. "Pure habit. Guess I've been a bachelor too long-getting set in my ways. Would you mind adding a few chunks of wood to the fire? I don't want the water to get cold."
Charity complied, though her nerves were rattled and her heart was thumping away in the pit of her stomach. "Mind you don't stay in there too long," she fussed. "You might just boil right down to the bone, like a stewed chicken. Doesn't the bottom burn your-feet?"
The brim of the disreputable hate moved upward as Luke raised his eyebrows. "You could always join me in here and find out for yourself," he suggested.
( Linda Lael Miller )
[ One Wish ]
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