Page 44 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
“I’m sure he is,” Jess said, catching the new tears.
I didn’t know how to ease her pain. To explain death in a better way. And I didn’t know how to get her through this tough period. She was so young and innocent, and Ben had been such a big part of her life. All I could do was hold her close and remin
d her how much I loved her.
“Want to know how I knew Ben?” Jess asked.
“Yeah,” Roe nodded.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t have a dad around the house.”
“Kind of like me?” Roe asked.
“Yep. But my mom isn’t like your mom. Your mom is strong. Takes great care of you. My mom, well, she was sick a lot so I had to take care of her. Big job for a little kid. One day I was walking home from the store with my arms full of grocery bags. It started snowing and I had a long way to go. A truck pulled up beside me, and Ben got out. He made me put the bags in the back and he drove me home.”
“He did?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“How old were you?” I asked.
He thought about it for a couple of seconds. “Nine.”
I winced. We hadn’t talked about his family yet but I couldn’t believe he’d had to take on such responsibilities. Nine-year-old kids shouldn’t be shopping for groceries. Sooner rather than later I needed to ask about his parents.
“Ben never let me walk to the store again. Picked me up from school every Wednesday and took me to the store. Then drove me home,” Jess said.
“Mommy always went to the grocery store for Ben,” Rowen told him.
Jess smiled. “Glad she could help him out.”
“What else did you guys do?” Roe asked.
“Well . . . he let me come over here after school a lot. Let me help him mow the grass or work on projects. Taught me a lot of stuff. How to use tools. How to fix his truck. He came to my football games. Sometimes practices too.”
“What else?” Roe asked.
“He took me fishing.”
“He did?”
“Yep. Same place we went. It was his favorite spot. Said it was where he caught his biggest fish.”
“Really?”
“Yep,” he said. “What kind of stuff did you do with Ben?”
“He read me books. And we’d color crowns. He built my dolls block houses so they had a place to sleep,” she said.
“Sounds like fun,” Jess said.
We stayed quiet for a little while longer, enjoying the comfort of being wrapped tightly together in my soft bed. Then we all went downstairs to play with the kitties before bed.
“Those girl kittens need names,” I said.
While Rowen was toying with her pets, I was reclined on the porch swing, enjoying the view of the beautiful sunset.
Jess was sitting on the floor, the kittens between his long legs stretched wide. Rowen was perched by his feet, their makeshift blockade keeping the kittens from escaping.
