Leave a Candle Burning by Lori Wick

wrist a few more days and to ease back into her duties, favoring her wrist until it was completely comfortable. He had seen that she was delighted with this news and also witnessed the same pleasure on Maddie’s face. He knew she got along well with her aunt and wondered what might have been going through her mind.
    Before the visit to the farm, Dannan had been at a house on the outskirts of town, a location that kept him from joining the folks at the big house for dinner, seeing to the needs of a young girl. She had a rash on the backs of her legs that made walking very painful. Her mother had tried several poultices with no relief. Dannan suspected poison sumac, but when he questioned the mother, she said the little girl had not been out.
    Dannan had stood still for a moment, his mind at work. He was almost certain of the diagnosis, but he couldn’t very well argue with the mother when she said the child had been indoors. In Dannan’s favor, the family dog had chosen that moment to come into the room. Dannan had looked down at the big animal as he came to stand by the bed. In obvious affection, the dog had laid his head on the mattress, and the little girl had reached to touch him.
    An explanation of where the exposure might have come from was easy to make. The mother hadn’t looked delighted with the idea but took Dannan at his word, and she listened carefully to his suggestions to make her daughter more comfortable.
    While Dannan was still sitting on the edge of the bed, his mind finally wandered backward to the beginning of the day. He could easily see Eli Peterson sitting against the headboard of his bed, slightly bent to the side, his face too thin but redeemed by the short, neatly combed beard he wore. Remembering Eli’s eyes as being dark in color and keen with intelligence, Dannan doubted they missed a thing.
    He had felt instant warmth from Eli, not just that morning but the day before as well. Dannan didn’t know how much company he had, but he clearly knew how to make visitors feel welcome. And Dannan had been serious in his compliments about the full bookshelves. He’d not seen such a fine collection in many years.
    For a moment, Dannan thought about some of the other titles, but without warning, he saw Scottie entering the room. Dannan’s heart did the strangest things when that woman was in view. Dannan had thought he’d prepared his mind to see her, but then there she was, smiling in delight. Her beautiful face had been completely distracting with those light red curls peeking out from the brim of her bonnet.
    For several minutes Dannan let his mind slip away. He thought about what his new life in Tucker Mills might have been like if she hadn’t been married. He pictured her smiling up at him and not Eli and felt his pulse quicken.
    Dannan shook his head and stood up, knowing that thinking about her was the worst thing he could do; it was also wrong in the eyes of his Savior. He couldn’t remember if he’d left the book he’d borrowed from Eli in the parlor or the kitchen, but it was time to find it. And he did just that, right after he confessed to the Lord yet again that he’d been dreaming about another man’s wife.

     
    “When do your boys come home, Alison?” Reese asked on Tuesday afternoon.
    “This Friday.”
    “Have you missed them?”
    “I can’t tell you how much,” Alison confessed, and every woman in the room smiled at her in understanding.
    It happened once a month, sometimes more often. The women of the church family gathered in Alison’s parlor at the time of Jeffrey Muldoon’s nap to visit and share for whatever time their schedules would allow.
    Today Maddie was there, the baby in tow. Reese had come, as had Beth Peternell and Ora Weber. Maddie and Beth were regulars, but the other ladies came only when they could. They had been doing this for the past few months, and each time the women grew a little closer.
    “How is Cathy doing?” Ora asked of