Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher Page B

the same town. The moment they were introduced, her heart had been lost to him. She hadn’t worked to win his affections or his attentions. She hadn’t planned and schemed. She’d simply loved.
    But things were different when one was a girl of nineteen than they were when one was a widow of thirty and the mother of two. And if she didn’t want to go on living in her in-laws’ home and depending on them for everything, including the money to buy afew needles and some thread, she would have to do whatever was necessary to get herself another husband.
    Dropping a packet of needles into her shopping basket, she looked toward the counter in time to see Felicia bid Colin a good day, then turn to leave the store. When their gazes met, Felicia waved her fingers. “See you in church tomorrow, Kathleen.”
    “Yes.” She returned the small wave.
    “Are you sure you don’t need any help, Mrs. Summerville?” Colin asked, his attention returning to her.
    Grabbing a couple of spools of thread, she replied, “I’m sure.” She walked toward the counter. “The only other item I need is a pound or two of sugar.”
    “Jimmy, can you help Mrs. Summerville with the last of her order? I need to check something in the stockroom.”
    “Sure thing, Mr. Murphy.”
    Colin gave Kathleen a distracted glance before disappearing through the doorway into the back room.
    I might as well be invisible for all he notices me. She drew a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. At this rate, I’ll live with Mother Summerville until I’m a hundred.

    Returning home, Felicia removed her straw hat and left it on the kitchen table. Then she took a basket outside and removed the clean laundry from the clothesline. Before she went to bed, she would have to iron her clothes for Sunday, but she would wait for the day to cool before she heated the iron on the stove.
    “Hi, Miss K.”
    Felicia glanced over her shoulder as she removed the last shirtwaist from the line. “Hello, Charity.”
    Perhaps that morning the girl’s long hair had been tidy,captured at the nape, but now most of it had pulled free from the ribbon. It hung in loose curls over her shoulders and down her back. Her cheeks and the skirt of her dress were smudged with dirt.
    “What have you been up to?” Felicia asked, smiling.
    “Tommy Bryant’s dog Goldie was missing, so I helped look for her.”
    “And were you successful?”
    “Yes’m. We found her and her new puppies too.”
    “Puppies?”
    Charity nodded. “Twelve of ‘em.”
    “Gracious. Twelve puppies. That’s a large litter.”
    “That’s what Mrs. Bryant said. Tommy wanted to keep ‘em in his room, but his mother said dogs don’t belong in the house. I don’t see why not. Do you?”
    Britta Kristoffersen hadn’t allowed any pets, let alone any pets in the house, but Felicia liked to think her real mother would have allowed it, had they had the money to feed an extra mouth.
    Sadness pulled at her heart.
    “Something wrong, Miss K?”
    She forced another smile. “No, Charity. Nothing’s wrong. I was remembering something from my childhood.”
    “Want me to carry that basket inside for you?”
    Felicia’s sadness disappeared like a vapor, and she laughed. “You, Charity Murphy, are an amazing child.”
    The girl cocked her head to one side, obviously wondering why her teacher had said such a thing.
    “I’ve never known anyone—child or adult—so quick to help others as you’ve been to help me.”
    Charity grinned. “That’s ‘cause I knew I was gonna like you right from the start. Even before you got here. Don’t know why. Just knew I would. And I want you to like me too.”
    “I do like you, Charity. Very much. I like all of my students.”
    “And do you like Frenchman’s Bluff?”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Good. Then you’re gonna stay. Papa said if you didn’t like it here, you’d wanna leave and not be the teacher anymore.”
    “Well, I do like it, so neither you nor your father need be