Sleigh of Hope by Wendy Lindstrom Page B

confessions.

Chapter Five

    S aturday evening Adam and Leo flopped in the parlor, exhausted from a hard day at the mill. Benny toddled around the furniture while Cora crawled after him on her hands and knees barking like a dog. Benny giggled and screeched. Scout barked and darted through the parlor whacking chair legs and the mahogany side tables with his madly wagging tail.
    Leo seemed pleased by Benny’s exuberance. A couple of times he reached around the back of his chair to scare Benny and Cora.
    They screeched.
    Faith and Duke sat on the davenport watching and laughing at the chaos.
    It was cute. For two minutes. Adam groaned. Usually he enjoyed sitting in the parlor reading or playing games with his family. He liked lying on the floor near the woodstove and playing with Scout. But the shrieking and giggling was about to drive him mad.
    In the ruckus Scout knocked Benny down. He tumbled backwards and bumped his head against a wooden chair leg.
    Everyone lunged to their feet as Leo scooped Benny into his arms.
    The boy squalled while Leo held and comforted him.
    Faith and Duke checked Benny’s head and determined it was nothing more than a bump.
    The accident upset Cora and she crawled onto Faith’s lap, watching warily as Leo rocked Benny in his arms and calmed him down.
    Adam glanced at his father to see if the chaos had upset him, too, but he seemed relaxed and happy to have the house in an uproar.
    “The little one is quite attached to you,” Duke said to Leo.
    “I’ve been caring for him from the day he was born.” Leo rubbed Benny’s back. “My mother was sick and died shortly after his birth. There was no one to take care of him, so I did it.”
    A sad look crossed Duke’s face. “You’ve certainly been dealt some hard blows. It can’t be easy taking care of your little brother, but I’m proud of you for doing it.”
    Leo shrugged. “Benny’s all I got. My dad left us at the orphanage with nothing. Benny needs me.”
    “I’m real sorry about that. You’re an upstanding young man, Leo, and I’d be proud to call you my son.”
    His father’s declaration pierced Adam’s heart like a hard strike from a hunting knife.
    Leo acknowledged the compliment with a nod.
    Adam’s chest ached so bad he could barely draw a breath, but he sucked air through his clenched teeth because he had something to add. “Cyrus feels the same way. He wants Leo to be his son.”
    “I know.” His father nodded. “Cyrus is a smart man. He can see the caliber of Leo’s character. Any decent man would be honored to have a son like Leo.”
    If Adam had the words and the breath to comment, he wouldn’t have known what to say. Duke was his father. Leo knew that, but he just sat there lapping up the praise and doing his best to take Adam’s place.
    Cora and Benny were starting to drift off, and Adam saw his opportunity to escape.
    He stood and opened his arms to Cora. “If you want to go up to bed, I’ll tell you a story about Gordie the goat who gets lost in the snow and is found by that old snowman we made last week.”
    Her eyes widened and she launched herself into his waiting arms.
    Storytelling in their house was an art form that everyone enjoyed and participated in. Adam was a master storyteller and Cora loved when he created a story just for her.
    “Thank you, Adam. I’ll be up shortly,” Faith said, wearing the loving, motherly smile he’d been seeing from his earliest memory.
    Duke stood to kiss Cora. “Goodnight, princess.” He hugged Adam. “Goodnight, son.”
    “Goodnight... Dad,” Adam said, forcing the words from his aching throat. Without a single look or word to Leo, he walked out of the parlor.
    ***
    The thudding sound of firewood being stacked in the parlor woodbin woke Adam with a start. He flung back his bedcovers and reached for his pants. He should have filled the bin last night like his dad had asked, but he had fallen asleep while telling Cora a story. When Faith woke him and sent him