Read Within the Candle's Glow for Free Online Page A

Beckler clucked his tongue. The two horses stepped forward. “Now aren’t you glad I insisted we all go to the picnic?” He sat on the wagon box with Velma tucked close to his side.
    “There weren’t no arguin’ with you,” Velma whispered.
    “Well, I got your attention. No other man in the cove has done that,” he said with an air of pride.
    Ella and the six children sat in the bed of the wagon. The rough ride bounced them against one another. To stay seated, even Velma had to grab hold of someone—Mr. Beckler.
    The instant blush on Velma’s cheeks gave the thin woman some color, causing her to appear closer to her correct age, instead of ten years older. Even so, Ella figured there had to be at least a thirty-year difference between Velma and the storeowner. But the span of years and life’s tragedies might knit the two of them together.
    Ella heard Mr. Beckler lost his wife to a fever when he was only thirty. He had never remarried. She assumed he’d appreciate a young wife. Velma had gone through years of torment at her husband’s hands, before he ended up buried alive while digging for gold near Dahlonega. The woman might welcome a mature man who doted on her.
    As the wagon bumped along the trail, Velma’s oldest son, Scott,studied the glow on his mama’s face. His hazel eyes grew sharp—much like a circling hawk’s penetrating stare. His eleven-year-old glare could alarm a polecat, so Ella nudged him with her elbow.
    “Stop lookin’ like a crazed rattler.”
    “We don’t need a new pappy.” His brow scrunched above the bridge of his straight nose.
    “Oh, listen.” She whispered, “Wouldn’t it be nice to live with someone who
owns
the store?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Why, I bet—you’d get candy every day.”
    Scott grinned. The gap between his front teeth showed. “You might be right.” There was a conspirator’s undertone in his voice. “That’d make it all worthwhile, eh? I’ve seen the sweets he hides behind the counter where you stand. I think I’ll tell him to marry Mama. Like … next Saturday?”
    “You’re silly. Don’t say a word to him ‘bout it. You might
spook
him.” She gave the boy an impulsive hug. “Your mama deserves to be happy.”
    She was close to all of Velma’s children. Ella felt thankful her abusive stepfather had abandoned her and left the cove. The six children seemed like siblings. A fleeting consideration jumped through her mind.
    If the time should come, and Mr. Beckler asks Velma to marry him, will I be welcome in his home?
    “Why were you an’ Scott whisperin’?” Thirteen-year-old Carrie held little Adam on her lap and scooted across the wagon bed. With arms tight around the boy’s belly, she asked, “What’s the secret?” Her light-hazel eyes sparkled with interest.
    “Let go!” Adam twisted sideways and bumped Carrie’s chin with his head. His chubby fingers plucked at her hands. His bottom lip protruded.
    “No, you ain’t standin’ up.” Carrie rubbed her chin with one hand and held him with one arm. “Sit.”
    Remy, Mae, and Rosemary sat at the end of the wagon, their legs dangling off the edge. Their bare feet brushed the tall grass growing between the ruts in the trail. They all turned to stare at Ella and hear the answer to their big sister’s question.
    “
Shh!
” Scott mashed his finger against his lips and motioned with his left thumb at Mr. Beckler’s back. “We was talkin’ of the candy in the store.” His voice blended with the swishing noise of the rolling wheels and the horses’ hooves. “Figgerd we’d be allowed pieces—if we got to be family.”
    With stares of wonderment, all the children—except Adam—turned to watch the interaction between their mama and the storeowner. Ella could tell she had solved one problem for Velma. The children would be thrilled to welcome Mr. Beckler as a new father.
    She giggled to herself, reached for Adam, and lifted the three-year-old out of Carrie’s