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“How are you doing with it, him being gone?”

“It’s only been a few hours.”

“I know.”

Harriet dipped her spoon into her bowl.

“I’m sad about him leaving. I’ll miss him. He’s a good man to me and a good father to Paul.”

“He is.”

“But… I’m also happy. I think that means I’m going to hell.”

“Well, Deb, according to everyone else, you and I are already going to hell, so that’s nothing new.”

Deb smiled softly and stirred her own stew.

“I guess not. But it’s just you and me now, Harriet – you, me, and Paul – and I can’t help but be happy that we have the house to ourselves. I want him to come home, of course, and I know things would go back to how they were when he does, but… I don’t know. I just feel like this is our chance to live the life we want the best way we can.”

“You want me to move in?”

“You know I do. And I know you have your reasons for worrying. I understand. But your brothers don’t care. They’ve given up on you getting married by now. In fact, I think they’d rather you move in here because they wouldn’t have to worry about you anymore.”

“Probably true. What happens when JD comes home, though? I just move back out? None of my brothers would have space for me by then. You know they all plan to have big families, and they’re well on their way.”

“No, you’d stay here. We’ve got the room. And we’re not having another baby, so it’s just Paul for us. We’ve got that room upstairs, next to Paul’s, that you can sleep in whenever you’re not sleeping in my room. Right now, Paul’s young, and we can put him down before going to bed, but when he gets older, you might have to wake up early and go to that room so that he doesn’t find out. JD and I don’t want him to know about us. We want him to be safe. And, honestly, neither of us wants him to have to lie for his parents.”

“So, you’re saying JD would be all right with me living here permanently? He’s not going to come home and make me leave when I might have no place else to go?”

“No, we talked about it again last night. And he knows that Jacob can’t move in here, but if he could, we’d, all four of us, live in the house together and be happy. He wants me to be as happy as Icanbe, at least. I know I’ll be happy if you don’t have to use that ladder or pretend to be dropping things off in the morning so it doesn’t look like you slept here. You were getting questions from your brothers about why you were coming and going at all hours. We’re only lucky they don’t seem to care to put together why.”

“Well, none of them were particularly blessed with much in the smarts department, so that’s why.”

Deb laughed a little and said, “Will you move in with us, Harriet? Me and Paul?”

“That won’t confuse him even more?”

Deb leaned over and reached for Harriet’s hand then, joining them on the table.

“My love, you are that boy’s mama in the same way that I am. I might have brought him into the world, but you’ve been there every minute of his life. Besides my mama and the nurse, you were the first person he met, even before his daddy. I love that he calls you ‘Mama’ because it’s the truth.”

“Don’t make me cry, Deb,” Harriet said with tears in her eyes.

“Will you please move in? Be with me here? Fall asleep and wake up next to me every day, not just when you can get away?”

“I’m not really hungry.” Harriet pushed the bowl away.

“You haven’t eaten all day. We were both so worried about JD and Jacob. Do you want something else?”

“Yes, but not food.”

“Harriet…” She flushed immediately.

“Sweetheart, we have never been able to touch each other in this house unless it was upstairs in your room. Paul is asleep, and you know once he goes down, he’s down till morning.” Harriet stood up.

“You want to dothatdown here?”

“Yes. I want to touch you in every room in our house except for Paul’s and JD and Jacob’s rooms, obviously, because that would be wrong.”