A Hope for Hannah by Jerry S. Eicher

kitchen.
    “So where is this Mr. Brunson from?” Kathy asked.
    “I don’t know,” Hannah confessed. “He was living there when we bought the place.”
    “Never has family visiting?”
    “Not that I’ve seen.”
    “Isn’t that strange?”
    “I don’t know. He’s an Englisher.” Hannah gave her most logical explanation. “That’s one reason I invited him for supper.”
    “Once that water’s hot, I’d like to see the outside with the sun coming up,” Kathy said.
    “The mountains block the view sometimes,” Hannah said. “It depends how cloudy it is.”
    “Is it cloudy this morning?”
    Hannah glanced out the kitchen window. “No, I don’t think so. We can step out and look.”
    “That kettle will take a while anyway,” Kathy said. “Let’s see what the sunrise is like.”
    They stepped outside with their coats on and looked toward the Cabinet Mountains. The air was brisk but not cold enough to spoil their enjoyment of the early morning. The first rays of sunlight reached for the sky over the tops of the mountains. A line of clouds that hadn’t been visible from the kitchen window hung low on the horizon.
    “Let’s get our coffee and come back,” Kathy said, her voice excited. “I’ve never seen the sun rise over the mountains before.”
    Hannah followed Kathy back inside and placed another stick of wood on the fire to hurry things along. With the extra heat, the kettle soon whistled merrily.
    “Sounds of home,” Kathy said as they waited.
    They measured coffee into the filter and let the steaming water run through and drip into their cups. Hannah gave her mother the sugar and spoon first and waited until she was done to stir her own.
    Back outside, the colors of the sunrise slowly grew. Hannah had watched sunrises in Montana before, but this one seemed to work extra hard to put on its best display. With the low clouds as the backdrop, the red, yellow, and orange streaks reached upward. Greens and blues soon appeared, each vying for dominance and producing new shades of brilliance every few seconds.
    Kathy reached out her arm for Hannah and pulled her close as they stood shoulder to shoulder. Never in her growing up years had Hannah felt this close to her mother. Was it because she was becoming more like her now that she was with child? Had they found a new common ground they could share?
    “I’m so glad you’re my mother,” Hannah whispered as the colors of the sunrise deepened even further above them.
    Kathy just pulled her tighter and said nothing.
    “For putting up with me,” Hannah’s voice caught.
    “You were always a joy.” Kathy’s voice came softly. “You’re a good daughter, and you have a good husband.”
    Hannah didn’t trust her voice at the moment. There was no sense in bawling like a little girl even though she felt like one.
    They stood there for long moments until the colors began to fade above them and the sunlight grew stronger.
    “We’d better go inside before you catch a cold,” Kathy finally said.
    Ever the mother, Hannah thought. She wanted very much to tell her mother how she wanted her to stay here forever and never leave again, but that was silly. Such moments could be cherished, but they could not last forever. Life moves on.
    In the kitchen again, the two women made the pancakes and placed them in the oven so they’d stay warm until the men got up. When eight o’clock came around with no signs or noises from the bedroom, they made eggs for themselves and ate together.
    Hannah smiled at her mom’s boldness. “The men can eat when they get around to it, I suppose.”
    “It’s our morning,” Kathy said.
    When her dad got up around nine, he found a seat in the living room and began a sleepy morning tease.
    “Why am I so neglected in my daughter’s house? No one cares one bit if an old man starves. I’ll soon be nothing but skin and bone.”
    Hannah smiled as her mom played along.
    “You have to fix your own breakfast today. We already ate