I quickly put it in an envelope and copied the address of the inn where my parents would be staying, then called out to Gabriella to let her know I was headed to the post. She came out to the sitting room, wiping her hands on her apron. “Would you be able to stop to buy a quart of milk? These boys drank all of it already. They drink so much milk.”
I’d noticed that too.
“Will do. I’ll return shortly.” I reminded Gabriella that the boys and Li had gone out to play in the park and wouldn’t be home for at least an hour.
Smiling, she lifted a hand to her flushed cheeks. “Thank goodness Li took them away. They are nuisances, and I am very hot.”
As I walked to the post, sweating in the heat of the afternoon, I tried to predict my parents’ reaction to my strange news. I didn’t want them to be angry with me. They’d never been so. However, they very well could be, and I must be prepared to defend my position as well as present a plan.
I was twenty, I told myself. An adult. I could be their mother. Of course I could. However, what would people think? It would be tolerable if I were a widow raising children alone, but a young single woman? I could probably say goodbye to any chance of a man falling in love with me.
What did I care? It was Li I wanted. As hopeful as I’d been a few weeks ago, all that had been dashed of late. Li had made no mention of any feelings for me whatsoever. I wouldn’t care. Soon, it would be a distant longing instead of one that consumed me. When I returned home, I would throw myself into raising the boys and making a life of my own. My sisters and Mama were near should I need help. With our large extended family, I could do this. Plus, I had my trust. What better to use it for than to build a little cottage for the boys and me? A single parent wasn’t ideal, but it was a lot better than what they had before I brought them home.
I would have to be enough for them. And for myself.