The Widow's Choice by Gilbert Morris Page A

rest.”
    “But it’s so it’s cold in here. I’m freezing!” Zac protested.
    “I know. That’s why I’m going to go out and get some more wood. I’ll be—” Interrupted by a knock at the door, Alona turned and left the room. She opened the door to a tall man she didn’t know.
    “Mrs. Jennings,” he said. “I’m Jason Moran.”
    “Oh, you’re Oscar’s brother!”
    “That’s right.”
    “Please come in, Mr. Moran.”
    “Everybody just calls me Jason.”
    As he stepped inside, Alona asked, “Did Oscar send you?” She had to look up to Jason—he was at least two inches over six feet and very fit. He looked nothing at all like his half brother. He had rich auburn hair, a wedge-shaped face, and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They were as blue as the cornflowers that dotted the hills in the beginning of spring.
    “Oscar sent me to take the boys to the doctor. The pastor told him they’ve been sick.”
    “Oh, I couldn’t permit that.”
    “But he told me to do it, and I have to do what he says.”
    Alona smiled. “Are you going to kidnap them? Because that’s what you’ll have to do.”
    Jason had heard a great deal about her indirectly but was surprised at how attractive the woman was. Oscar hadn’t shown much interest in women after his wife died, but Jason had figured out that he was interested in this one. He took in her glowing orange hair, large gray-green eyes, and tall strongly built figure and found himself admiring her. “Mrs. Jennings, I don’t want to sound pushy or anything, but this is something that Oscar wants me to do, and he usually gets his own way.”
    “I’m afraid he’s not going to get his own way this time, Mr. Moran.”
    “Jason.”
    “Jason, then. The boys will be all right. Just tell Oscar that I appreciate it but I can’t permit him to do this.”
    Jason laughed. “He’ll probably shoot me. Sometimes I think he’s going to.”
    “You work for him, I understand?”
    “That’s right. I work at the foundry, but he’s upset with me today, so he sent me over here.” He hesitated, then said, “Are you sure you won’t let me take the boys to the doctor?”
    “I’m very sure. Thank you very much, Jason.”
    He turned and left the house without another word. As the door closed, Alona thought, He’s so different from Oscar. I would never take them to be even distant relatives.
    Putting the incident out of her mind, she bundled up and went outside to split a few more pieces of wood. She had bought a load of wood from a man who had stopped by with a load in the back of his pickup. It was sawed into two-foot lengths but not split. The ax was dull, and the wood was tough and spongy. She awkwardly handled the ax but managed to get enough to keep the house warm for the next day or two. She carried the wood in and put some in the woodbox in the kitchen and some in the living room. As she deposited the load in the living room, she heard a car pull up. “Who can that be?” She went to the door and saw Dr. Roberts getting out along with Jason Moran.
    She waited until the two men approached. “I’m surprised to see you, Dr. Roberts.” She was fond of the man, who was a member of their church.
    He grinned. “I had to come, Mrs. Jennings. Jason here threatened to start rumors about me if I didn’t.”
    “You’re a stubborn man,” Alona told Jason.
    “No I’m not. Other people are stubborn. I’m just . . . firm, you might call it.” He smiled, exposing very white teeth. “I was more afraid of not doing what Oscar said than of offending you.”
    “That’s enough of this foolishness, Alona. Let me see those boys.”
    “All right, Doctor. Come in.” She opened the door, and the two men entered.
    “I’ll just wait here in the hall,” Jason said.
    “Go on into the kitchen. There’s coffee on the stove.”
    Dr. Roberts, a short, rotund man of sixty with silver hair, went at once into the living room and gave Zac and Carl a good examination. “Well,”