A Look Around
Judah stepped between the two-by-fours that comprised the wall closest to the school. The other three sides were done, though the windows needed framing and installation, and she remembered from earlier there was some interior work to be done, like trim and all of that fancy stuff she’d never imagined having in a house of her own—not that she’d own it, but it would feel like home once she had a chance to move into it. In the dim light it was hard to see his face, but she knew it was him by his walk, and she imagined he likely knew her, too, though he was probably confused. Still, she kept walking, almost as if she were in a dream. For a moment, she pondered that notion and thought she might awake and find herself back in her too-small bed at the Howards’ place.
But she wasn’t there—she was standing in the schoolyard at midnight, staring into forbidden blue eyes, praying this didn’t end up being the biggest mistake she’d ever made but also knowing she was too involved now to care.
“What are you doin’ here, Miss Tucker?” Judah asked in a harsh whisper. “Are you sleepwalking?”
“Something like that,” Hope replied, stifling a giggle. “I forgot a letter from my daddy in my desk, and I come to fetch it.”
“You walked all the way down here in the middle of the night for a letter? Must be important.” He adjusted his hat on his head and smiled at her like he only half believed her.
Hope pulled the letter out of her pocket. “It is. I asked him a few important questions, and I really want his opinion. It could’ve waited, but, I figure as long as I’ve got his pistol in my pocket, I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll take that as fair warning.” That easy smile she’d noticed all those months ago slid into place across his handsome face, and Hope felt the flapping of butterfly wings in her stomach.
“Have you been doin’ all of this on your own?” she asked, gesturing toward the structure.
“For the most part. Some of the frame the boys from church helped me with, but yeah, most of it I’ve done. That’s why it’s so slow going. And it’s hard to see this time of night. But I can’t hardly come and work on it during the day.”
“That’s a shame,” Hope muttered, but she didn’t say more. “I’ve been watching the progress. You sure do fine work.”
“Well, thank you,” he said, looking down at the ground and wiping at his brow beneath his hat. “It’d be better if I could see what I was doing.”
She laughed, a little louder than she meant to this time, and he put a finger over his lips to shush her. “Sorry,” Hope whispered. “It’s your fault. You’re the one that made me laugh.”
He let her comment go, and a serious expression came over his face. For a moment, Hope felt as if he was taking her in. It was almost as if he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him. “I’m sure you oughtta be gettin’ back, but do you wanna see it right quick? Get the official tour?”
“Yes, I’d love that,” Hope replied, no longer caring about the possibility of getting herself into trouble.
“You have to watch yer step because there’s boards and tools all over the place right now.” He offered his arm, and Hope took it, trying not to dwell on the feel of his muscular bicep beneath her hand. She walked along with him to the opening that would be the front door, once it was hung.
“This is the front room, obviously. I wanted you to have plenty of room for a table and lots of light.” She noticed there were two windows and lots of space for a desk as well as some comfortable chairs near the fireplace. “There’s still some work to be done on the chimney. I have a friend who’s a mason, and I want him to come out and check everything before we call it finished.”
“It looks amazing,” Hope said, not sure what else to say.
“Watch your step here.” There was a gap in the flooring and then a few wooden planks lying across the floor as they went into the next room. “This is the kitchen. Same thing here with the fireplace.”
“So I’ll have two?” she asked, surprised she’d even have one as nice as the fireplace in the living room, let alone two. She hadn’t noticed that there were actually two when she’d looked at the structure from afar.
“Well, I figure you don’t wanna be cookin’ in your living room,” he said. “The wash basin will have a pump.”
“That’s wonderful.” The kitchen seemed to be a decent size for a single woman.
He led her back through to the hallway running parallel to the kitchen space. “And there’s two bedrooms, in case you have guests. I thought your folks might come visit you. This room’s a little bigger than the other.”
Hope followed him inside, careful of the flooring again. “What’s this doorway?” she asked, gesturing at a hole in the wall.
“Closet,” he replied. “There’ll be another one in the guest room.”
She never expected to have closets either. “Those will come in handy, especially if my folks send down more of my belongings.” The idea of having all of her books here and the rest of her clothing was appealing.
Judah took her back to the hallway and showed her the other small bedroom before he took her into a little space at the back of the house. “And this is the washroom.”
“Washroom?” Hope repeated.
“Yep. There’ll be a pump and a drain.” He pointed at a hole in the floor with his boot. “I wish I could get you a fancy toilet, but I thought Mr. Stewart would raise an eyebrow at that since he don’t even have one.”
Hope was speechless. She looked around, and finally said, “You mean I’ll have a room just for bathing? With its own pump?”
“Sure. I mean, you’ll still have to heat it up, but it beats lugging buckets in from the well or the kitchen, don’t you think?”
She noticed another, smaller fireplace near the place where he’d indicated the pump would be. “I don’t even know what to say. This is more like a palace than the little cabin I had in mind.”
“I like to think of it as an educator’s cottage,” he replied with a smile. She could tell he appreciated the compliments.
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