Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Ella
The next morning, I spent two hours on YouTube and was now a self-proclaimed chicken, goat, and highland cow expert. And after watching three videos on how to chop firewood, I was ready to take another stab at that. I had high hopes I wouldn’t chop my foot off.
Armed with gloves and steel-toed boots, I yanked the back door open, only to be met with another perfectly chopped bundle of wood.
And there was a handwritten quote on paper resting on top.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you." - Isaiah 43:2
My throat tightened with emotion, but at the same time, I was livid.
I didn’t want to be confronted with God’s word right now!
I was mad at God. He’d allowed my husband to be taken.
My faith was less than a mustard seed. It was the size of an atom and slowly shrinking by the day.
How entitled of this man to assume that I wanted firewood and Bible verses.
Was I some pathetic widow who couldn’t care for herself? Did he pity me?
With a growl, I stalked over to the barn and did some quick chores, feeding the animals and letting Bliss, Wolfy, and Jumper out into the main run where they could free-range.
The black chicken—which I’d name Honey because Darlene was right, she was sweet as honey—kept following me everywhere and nuzzling her head on my leg like a dog looking for pets.
I stroked her back for a good two minutes, trying to quell my anger at my neighbor, but it was no use.
I needed to say my piece with him or I’d never be able to sleep tonight.
Leaving the animals in the large open pen, I peered across my backyard to the pale-yellow house on the hill.
It had to be his. The others were too far.
It was a good five-minute walk—trespassing, really, but I didn’t want to drive up there.
That felt serious and weird. Besides, he was trespassing on my property every morning when he dropped off the wood.
After pulling the new Bible verse from my pocket, I smoothed it out and started my walk.
I would simply hand it back to him nicely and tell him I wanted neither his wood-chopping services nor the Bible quotes. I would be kind and full of grace and even-keeled.
When I got to the front of his house, I saw that he was loading bales of hay into his truck. Good. Easy peasy.
A dog barked to alert him that I was there, and he turned and tipped his hat to me. Walking out from behind his truck, he stepped over to me.
“Need more animal feed consults?” he asked with a grin, and that dimple popped in his cheek.
All of my anger at God and the world manifested itself right then, and I couldn’t stop it once it reached the surface.
Upon taking three heated steps forward, I slammed the piece of paper onto his chest, holding it with one finger.
“I never asked you for this. How dare you assume I want it.” My voice trembled, tears filling my eyes, and I had embarrassed myself again.
What was I doing? This wasn’t me. It was like watching a train wreck, and I couldn’t stop it. I never treated people like this, especially not strangers who were just trying to do nice things.
Concern pulled at his features. He slipped his glove off, gently laying his hand over mine, and my heart skipped a beat.
I hadn’t been touched by a man since James died.
I yanked my hand back like I’d been burned and left the piece of paper in his hand.
“I’m sorry. I saw you and your husband in church the first week you moved here. I wondered why you stopped coming. Then I heard the screaming that night and… well, I figured you could use some encouragement.”
He’d seen us at church? We’d only been one time, and then James died.
“I don’t need encouragement. I need my husband back.” A tear slipped free, and I swiped it away quickly.
“I understand that.” He nodded, his eyebrows knotting together in the center of his forehead.
“You couldn’t possibly,” I shot back, “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bother trying to fix the broken widow.”
His eyes widened suddenly as he looked at something behind me, and then he took off running that way. “Buster, don’t even think about it!” he screamed.
I spun just in time to see his black-and-white border collie lunge for Honey. The dang chicken had followed me over here!
The cowboy dove, grabbing the dog and doing a roll as Honey clucked and flapped her wings to get away from the dog.
“You silly chicken!” I yelled at the hen and ran over to where she was. “You followed me here? You could have been killed!” I scolded her.
The cowboy stood, dirt covering his entire left side as he held a whining dog in his hands. “Buster is a working cattle dog who also doubles as a bird dog when I go hunting. Chickens are dinner around here,” he told me, eyeing Honey warily.
I swooped down and grabbed Honey, pulling her into my arms, and he finally let Buster down.
Now that the dog was free, it sat patiently at my feet and peered up at the hen in my arms, licking its lips.
I was about to open my mouth to thank the cowboy for saving my hen when Honey began to purr. Honest to God, the chicken vibrated in my arms, eyes half-lidded and purring like a cat.
My eyes widened as I stared at the man who was watching me holding my purring chicken, and amusement danced in his gaze.
“Is this normal?” I asked him. He seemed to know more about chickens than I did.
He chuckled. “Little known fact. Chickens purr when highly content. Looks like you got yourself a best friend.”
Wow. I hadn’t known that. I’d been nothing but mean to this man, and he was so gracious with me. I felt so embarrassed and shameful I didn’t even know where to begin in apologizing to him.
“I… I’m…” I sighed, and he just gazed at me as if patiently waiting for me to find my words.
“I’ve been in rare form lately and awfully rude to you, and I’m sorry.
I just… I’m not myself,” I told him, hoping he would not judge my whole character based on these few horrible interactions we’d had.
We were neighbors, and I didn’t want bad blood between us.
He gave me a sad smile. “I understand completely. Don’t worry about it.”
It was a sweet thing to say, but he couldn’t possibly understand my grief. Still, I was grateful he was accepting my apology, but I needed to kindly push that I no longer wanted the wood and Bible verses.
I opened my mouth to tell him as much when the front door slammed, and I jerked my head in that direction. I expected his wife or maybe a kid to step out and tell him it was lunchtime, but instead, an older woman in her seventies with a long silver braid over one shoulder came out onto the porch.
“Hi there!” She waved as she walked over to me, wearing a big smile.
The guy took his cowboy hat off as if it weren’t allowed in this woman’s presence.
He leaned into me. “Quick, what’s your name? I just realized I never introduced myself, and she’ll kill me if she knows.”
“Knows what?” the woman said over his shoulder, and he jumped a little.
“Hey, Maggie. This is…our new neighbor,” he said, and I grinned at seeing him squirm under the woman’s gaze.
She looked like his grandmother. At least, I assumed she was his grandmother based on the age and the same blue eyes.
“I’m Ella. What is your name? You never introduced yourself,” I told him playfully and held out my hand.
He gave me a withering glare as if I’d just started a feud, and I couldn’t help the smile that played on my lips.
The woman gasped. “Did I raise you in a barn, Seth Jacob Knight!” She lightly smacked his arm, and he flinched. “You meet a young lady and don’t introduce yourself? Heavens, I’m so embarrassed,” she told me.
I chuckled, delighting in her use of his full name. “It’s fine. We were busy keeping these two apart.” I pointed to the chicken in my arms and the dog at my feet, waiting patiently for me to feed Honey to her.
Not gonna happen, buddy.
She nodded at that. “I’m Maggie, his grandmother, though I don’t like that name ‘‘cause it makes me feel old. I live in the apartment above the garage.” She pointed to the giant red building, and I noticed the white painted staircase on the side. “You should come over for dinner tonight. I’m cooking lemon chicken and pasta.”
That was a sweet offer, but socializing was not my thing right now. I peered down to see if the topic of cooking chicken offended Honey, but she was currently napping in my arms like a newborn babe.
“I can’t, ma’am, but thank you.”
She raised one eyebrow as if she didn’t like my answer but nodded. “Well, I also host a women’s Bible study on Wednesday nights if you want to swing by for that.”
I cleared my throat and exchanged a tense look with Seth. “I should get going. I’ve got a lot of chores to do back home.”
She waved at me as if unbothered by my ignoring her Bible study invite. “Alright then, darling. It was nice to meet you.”
I gave her a nod and then turned to walk away.
“Dear?” Maggie called over to me, and I spun to face her. She wore a serious look that was filled with compassion. “I was so sorry to hear about your loss in the local paper. Sometimes I wonder what God’s plan is when He allows things like that to happen.”
The color leeched from Seth’s face, and he elbowed his grandmother lightly in the ribs. She shoved him off as if she didn’t care what he thought about what she’d said.
I nodded, refreshed by her bluntness. “You know what? I wonder that, too. I wonder what kind of God sits up there and lets horrible things happen to His children when He has the power to stop it.” By the time I finished my words, they were uttered through clenched teeth and the anger was back.
Maggie’s mouth popped open in shock. “I didn’t mean that—”
“Bye now,” I growled and turned back around, tears trailing down my cheeks.
That was enough peopling for today.