by the simple pleasures that had governed their time as a family. Coming home from the hospital, crawling, walking, first words—those memories were precious to him. All the more because Sarah had been part of them.
But, as Caitlin liked to remind him on a regular basis, they weren’t babies anymore. At six and four, they were far from being independent, but they didn’t need him for every little thing as they once did. His role in their lives was gradually changing and would continue to evolve until the day he died. His goal was to enjoy every moment of that time to the fullest, but sometimes he lost sight of what that meant.
It didn’t escape him that this lovely artist had been the one to set him straight, and he couldn’t come up with a better way to repay her than to help save the program she’d put so much effort into.
“You’re right,” he agreed, smiling to show her there were no hard feelings. “And I appreciate you pointing that out to me. In return, I’d like to support you at the upcoming board meeting. When is it?”
“This coming Wednesday night. But it’s really not necessary for you to come. I know how busy you must be.”
“Everyone is, but we all make time for the things that matter. If you can stop by the bank tomorrow around three, I’ll take a look at what you have and see if there’s anything I can do to help you make your case for keeping the program a little stronger.”
Emma gave him a long, assessing look, and he got the feeling she was sizing him up. Deciding if she could trust him, maybe. “That sounds good to me. Thank you.”
She added a bright smile, and he found himself returning the gesture with no thought at all. He was no stranger to feminine attention, which was why he kept his wedding band firmly in place. Liberty Creek was a small town, and the last thing he needed was women thinking he was available. As a single dad, he’d gone through that before, and it had always ended badly. While he’d enjoy having someone to spend his scant free time with, he wasn’t about to subject his young daughters—or himself—to the dating scene anytime soon.
So for now he’d keep his wedding ring on and avoid getting into a relationship that would probably end up going nowhere and making a lot of people miserable. It was just simpler that way.
“You really don’t have to do this,” Emma protested while the Marshalls helped her dismantle her display area. She’d sold most of her stock, and while she wasn’t sure of the final tally in her cash box, she could tell from the weight of it that between sales and donations, she’d done well. “The boys will be coming over to help me when they’re done working for the day.”
“We’re here now, so we can save them a trip. It’s really not a problem,” Rick assured her, setting out some white cushioned boxes for Caitlin and Aubrey to load her extra jewelry into. “Make sure you don’t tangle the chains on those necklaces, Cait. Knots are no fun.”
“My hair got all tangled last week,” she commented with a sour face. “It took Mrs. Fields a long time to get it out.”
“I like braids,” Aubrey informed Emma, holding one out to prove her point.
She was so adorable, Emma couldn’t help laughing. “So do I, especially ones as pretty as yours. Who does them up so nicely for you?”
“Daddy. He’s good at lots of things.”
“Like what?”
“Making waffles, doing Band-Aids, singing,” Aubrey replied, ticking off his admirable skills on her pudgy fingers. “Mostly, he’s good at being Daddy.”
From the corner of her eye, Emma saw him smile while he broke down the table that had held the handmade items she’d been selling. He didn’t say anything, but his expression told her that his daughter’s praise meant a lot to him. From their conversation earlier about him being a numbers guy, she’d gotten the impression that he was the pragmatic type who didn’t get overly sentimental about things.
Seeing this softer side of him made her wonder if she’d misjudged the young widower. Timid by nature, she certainly could relate to why some people chose to keep their feelings under wraps. Considering his profession, he’d probably learned that it was smart to bide his time and carefully assess new situations—and acquaintances—before jumping in with both feet.
Emma’s own experience with the uncertainties of life had taught her to embrace each day and squeeze every ounce of joy from it that was humanly possible. It was tiring sometimes, especially because her health still tended to ebb and flow without much warning. But during all those months of chemo and her challenging recovery, she’d promised herself one thing.
When God finally decided to call her home, she’d go with a peaceful heart, secure in the knowledge that she’d used all the talents He’d given her and had accomplished everything she could have done during her time on earth.
After closing the back door of her hatchback, she turned to her assistants and gave them a smile. “Thanks so much for all your help today. What have you got planned for the rest of this weekend?”
Alternating, the girls rattled off their lists of what they hoped to achieve, including cleaning their room, finishing the puzzle they’d been working on and learning how to make snickerdoodles.
“Why snickerdoodles?” she asked.
“They’re Daddy’s favorite,” Caitlin informed her in a tone that implied the reason should have been obvious to Emma. She nearly laughed, but didn’t want to insult the bright girl by giving the impression that she wasn’t taking the subject seriously.
Instead, she sighed. “That all sounds like a lot of fun. I’ll be doing dishes and laundry, which isn’t nearly as interesting.”
“But very important,” Rick said, giving his darling girls a father-knows-best kind of look. “Work first, right, ladies?”
“Yes, then cookies,” Aubrey agreed, braids bobbing with enthusiasm for the treat that awaited them at the end of the job.
This time Emma couldn’t hold back her laughter, and after a moment he joined her. He’d struck her as a very serious man, and now that she was more familiar with what he had to manage on a daily basis, she completely understood his reserved demeanor. Still, she couldn’t help noticing that his eyes twinkled when he smiled at either of his daughters. It told her that there was a lighter side to his personality, and she hoped that he might feel more comfortable showing it to people as he got to know them better.
Not to her, of course. She was Caitlin’s teacher, which meant considering anything serious with Rick Marshall would be foolish, at best. Beyond that, between her job and ongoing recovery, she had more than enough to handle as it was. Some days she woke up so drained, she could barely drag herself out of bed to face the day ahead of her. The Marshalls had already been through that heart-wrenching territory with Sarah, and she’d never dream of encouraging any sort of relationship that might lead to their family being forced to retrace those agonizing steps.
It was one thing to be optimistic about her condition for her own sake. It was quite another to pull someone else into the uncertainty she faced every day. While she’d love to have a family of her own one day, she’d come to terms with the fact that, at least for a while, she was better off staying single. It was lonely sometimes, but in her heart, she knew it was for the best.
“Before we do any of that,” he said as he fished his car keys from the pocket of his shorts, “we’ll go over to Miss Calhoun’s and help put all of her supplies away.”
“That’s really not necessary,” she objected. “You’ve spent most of the afternoon here, and I’d hate to keep you from your fun any longer.”
He didn’t respond to that as he beeped open the doors of a gray sedan so the girls could climb into their spots in the backseat. Glancing at them, he then turned to Emma.