Bring the Boys Home Read Free Page B

planters.
    After a while Jeff admitted, “Actually, I’ve come begging. I don’t suppose you’ve got anything to eat I could take back to some of my friends at the front.”
    “I’ll bet we do!” Lucy jumped up. “Let me get on a coat, and we’ll go see what we can find.”
    They actually filled a sack with an assortment of food. Jeff flung the bag over the horse’s back and mounted behind it. Then he reached down and shook Lucy’s hand. “You’re making some Confederate soldiers mighty happy, Lucy.” He smiled at her. “I thank you for all of them.”
    “Come back, Jeff, and don’t get hurt,” she said.
    “I wish I were going with you, Jeff.”
    “You stay here, Cecil. You take care of Lucy now.”
    Cecil looked at Lucy, and it seemed something passed between them. But then the lieutenant looked back at Jeff. “I sure wish I could do more than push papers around.”
    As Jeff slowly moved down the driveway on the skinny horse, he thought,
Those two are going to fall in love. I’m not much on romance, but I know it when I see it
.
    “Jeff! You come in this house!”
    Jeff had been standing on the step when Leah opened the door. He let her grab him by the arm and drag him inside.
    “Esther,” she called, “come and see your big brother!”
    Three-year-old Esther came trotting in. She squealed with delight and ran for Jeff. He caught her up, tossed her high, and said, “How’s my baby sister?”
    “Jeff—Jeff! Come on, I’ll show you my dolls!”
    “All right. Let’s see your dolls.”
    He sat on the floor as Esther named off her dolls, giving their family histories.
    “She talks like a parrot, doesn’t she?” Jeff said to Leah.
    She sat on the floor with Jeff and his small sister. “Yes, she does. She’s very bright.”
    At that moment Eileen came in. “Jeff! I didn’t know you were here!”
    Jeff scrambled to his feet, walked over to his stepmother, and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Now, that’s from your husband. He’ll do better when he gets here.”
    “How is he, Jeff?”
    “He’s fine!” This was not exactly true, for nobody in the front lines at Petersburg was fine, but Jeff wanted to encourage her.
    “Well, I’m going to fix you the best supper you ever had, and you can take some back to Nelson.”
    Jeff was glad that his father had found a companion. Though he had been opposed to their marriage at first, he really liked Eileen.
    “I’ll go chop wood for my supper,” he said.
    “Take me too,” Esther said.
    Finally, after much pleading, Leah bundled her up, and the three went outside. Jeff split the wood, enjoying that job as he always did, and they went in only when Eileen called that supper was ready.
    It was indeed a good supper, better than he had had in some time. Eileen had managed to find a little beef and some vegetables, and Jeff wolfed down the food hungrily.
    After the meal, he and Leah sat in the parlor playing with Esther. They had a moment alone when Eileen put Esther to bed.
    “I just came from over at the Driscoll place,” Jeff said.
    Instantly a flush came to Leah’s cheeks. “I still feel guilty about the way I treated Cecil—just trying to make you jealous. And I still have trouble forgiving myself for it.”
    Seeing her face, Jeff said quickly, “I know you feel bad about it—but I don’t think you have to.” He grinned broadly.
    “I don’t know why you’d say
that
.”
    “Because I think you would’ve made Cecil miserable if you had married him.” His grin widened. “You’re enough to drive a man crazy!”
    “Well, I like that!”
    “I honestly don’t think you need to worry though. It looks to me like Cecil has his eye on Lucy.”
    After a moment, Leah nodded. “I hope so. They’d be perfect for each other. They’ve grown up together, and they know all about each other.”
    “I’m not sure
that’s
a good idea,” Jeff said, concealing a grin this time. “He’ll know all her faults, and she’ll know all of