Teaching Patience (Homespun) by Katie Crabapple Read Free Book Online Page A

surprised.  She was such a pretty little thing and there were so many more men here than women, it didn’t make sense to him she’d never had a beau.
    “Every time a boy so much as talked to me at church, my papa would take them outside and tell him how much he loved his oldest daughter.  Then he’d explain that he was able to hit a knot hole in a tree at five hundred feet when he was twelve.  Then he’d whisper really softly, ‘I got better with age.’”  She sighed.  “Not one boy even asked me to a church social.”
    Hugh found himself laughing.  “You know?  If I had a little girl, I’d probably be the same way.”   He’d admired George from the first moment he met him, but found he went up a notch in his mind after hearing that.
    She shook her head.  “I’ve never given my father any reason to think I was too stupid to decide which men to stay away from on my own.”
    “You don’t have to.  He loves you and worries about you and that’s enough for him.”  He paused, staring down at her.  “Does this mean you’re not going to the church social?”
    “I’ll go with my family like I always do.”  Please ask me to the social , she thought.  She waited quietly, hoping he would find the words.
    He swallowed hard and before he could stop himself asked, “How ‘bout Charlie and I pick you up and take you?” 
    She blinked a few times.  “I’d like that a lot.  You’ll have to ask my papa, though.”   She wanted to dance through the school.  She was even more excited at the prospect of going to the social with him than she was about the storm being over. 
    He nodded.  “I’ll ask him.”  He couldn’t believe she was even interested in going with him since she knew the truth about his marriage.  She truly was a remarkable woman.
    An hour later the fathers started arriving just like Patience had said they would.  Each was on snow shoes pulling a long toboggan.  Hugh watched as Patience’s younger siblings piled onto the toboggan together, but Patience strapped on a pair of snow shoes of her own.  She banked the fire and cleaned up the mess, carefully sweeping the room before leaving. 
    She explained to each father there would be no school for the rest of the week.  They all needed time to recover from the storm. 
    George, Patience’s father, headed over to him as he waited for Patience to get ready to leave.  “How’d you get here?”  The two men had talked several times after church and had become fast friends.  George remembered his months as a single father and didn’t envy the younger man his role in life.
    Hugh explained about getting lost in the storm, and how he’d run into the rope Patience had tied.  He told him how impressed he was that Patience was able to hold everything together so well during the storm.
    George nodded.  “I’m glad you ran into that rope.”  The two men gripped hands tightly.  “Will you be able to get your boy home with no snow shoes?”
    “We’re only a few minutes from the farm here.  It shouldn’t be a problem.”  He eyed the older man, knowing he needed to bring up the idea of taking Patience to the church social, but wondering how.  “I have a question for you if you don’t mind.”
    “Of course.  What can I help you with?”
    Hugh sucked in a breath. He’d already been through all this once.  What was he thinking deliberately putting himself through the hassle of courtship again? “I was wondering if it would be all right if Charlie and I took Patience to the church social.”
    George looked at Hugh studying him carefully.  Millie had told him about the problems Patience and Hugh had not even a week ago, and now he wanted to take her to the social?  He wasn’t really surprised, though.  His Patience was a beautiful young girl, and there had been a lot of boys interested in her over the years.  Most hadn’t been up to his standards, though.  “I think that would be okay.”   He liked Hugh and