A Daughter’s Return

She nodded. “And I didn’t try to fly down the banister today.”

“That’s good. I’m sure your mama is happy about that.”

The little girl giggled and nodded before turning to her grandmother. “Come on, Granma. Let’s hurry things up.”

“Let’s go.” Mrs. Heaton gave a little wave and they hurried off, leaving Ben and Rebecca in the foyer.

“Sounds as if you had a pretty good day since Jenny didn’t try to repeat yesterday.” Ben grinned at her.

“That child...” Rebecca smiled at him. “Yes, it’s been a nice day. I worked on the assignments you gave me and I think I did all right.”

“I’m sure you did. I’ll check them over this evening, if that works for you?”

“Whenever is convenient for you is fine with me. You’re helping me, remember?”

“I am. But I don’t have a child to take into consideration. If you need to wait until you put her down for the night, I don’t mind. It’ll give us more time anyway. I will be going to the YWCA around seven-thirty to teach for about an hour or so.”

“Oh, that will work out well for me, Ben. By the time you get back, Jenny should be asleep and I’ll be able to concentrate a little better.”

“Good. Where shall we meet?”

“I’ll be in the small parlor.”

She smiled and Ben’s chest tightened. Something about Rebecca had him not only wanting to help her but to get to know her. He told himself it was because she was his landlady’s daughter who’d had a hard time, and if he knew more about her, he’d know how to help her better.

Yes, he’d always had a soft spot for women who raised children by themselves—but he wasn’t totally sure that was all there was to it. Those women didn’t make him feel quite like this...he couldn’t name it, didn’t have any idea what to call it. He only knew he’d never felt quite this way before.

Mrs. Heaton appeared just then, with Jenny in tow, and announced dinner was ready. Other boarders hurried out of the big parlor or down the stairs to the dining room.

Ben held out both arms, thinking Mrs. Heaton would take one and Rebecca would take the other. His landlady did take an arm, but when Rebecca hesitated, Jenny rushed forward and placed her small hand inside the crook of his arm. She smiled up at him and in that moment Ben realized the little girl had claimed a very special place in his heart.

* * *

After putting Jenny to bed, Rebecca checked her hair, pinned up a few stray curls and then gathered her math book and started downstairs as the clock in the foyer chimed the half-hour.

She hurried down the hall and was surprised when both Ben and her mother came out of her study. “Rebecca! We’ve been waiting for you. Please come here for a moment before you and Ben get started on your lessons,” her mother said.

“Of course. What’s happened, Mama?”

“Well, we have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Rebecca looked from her mother to Ben and they both grinned at her. She followed them back inside, where her mother pointed at her desk. In the center of it sat a gleaming black typewriter.

“Mama! You bought one already?” The typewriter was beautiful, big and black with gold lettering proclaiming it an Underwood.

“I did. Ben recommended this brand and said he could get one at a discount for us. It was delivered this afternoon.”

“That was very nice of you, Ben.” Rebecca turned to him. His smile seemed to be contagious and she found herself grinning back at him.

“You’re both very welcome. Now you can start those practice lessons.”

“Speaking of lessons, I’ll let the two of you get to them.”

“Thank you, Mama.” She hugged the mother, who kept showing her, in every way she could, how very happy she was to have her back in her life. “I’m going to learn quickly so we can put it to good use.”

“I’m sure you will, dear.” Her mother hugged her back. “I’ll check on Jenny and send some tea in when I get back down.”

“I’ll probably need a cup,” Rebecca said as her mother left the room.

“Well, are you going to try it out?” Ben asked.

“I suppose I should.” Rebecca sat down at the desk. There was a fresh sheet of paper in the machine and she put her hands on the keys. They were laid out exactly as the picture showed in the manual Ben had given her the night before.

She looked ahead and began to hit the keys in the order of the alphabet as she tried to remember each one’s placement on the keyboard. Once she’d hit what she hoped were all the right keys, she glanced down.

“Oh, no! It appears I’m going to need a lot of practice.”

Ben came up behind her and began to chuckle as he examined the paper.

“I don’t think it’s very funny,” Rebecca said, but she couldn’t help but join in. She’d been wrong on each and every key.

“I have an idea what the problem is. You had your hands on the wrong keys to begin with.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here, let me show you. I’m going to place your hands in the right position.” He stood behind her and leaned over one shoulder.

Rebecca wondered if he heard her quick intake of breath at his nearness. She could smell his aftershave and feel the warmth in his hands as they took hold of hers.

“Keep your thumbs free and place your fingers on the four keys on either side of the g and the h keys.”

“Like this?” Rebecca’s voice sounded breathless to her own ears as she turned to him and found his face so close to hers she saw tiny flecks of gold in his blue eyes, giving them a blue-green tint. Her heart began to beat erratically and she quickly returned her attention to the keyboard.

“Exactly like that.” Ben cleared his throat and backed away.

Rebecca could tell because some of the warmth that had been surrounding her suddenly disappeared.

“Now try again,” Ben said. “But be sure to keep your fingers on those keys when you aren’t using them.”

Rebecca took a deep breath and began to tap out each letter as she had before, only a little slower than before. She smiled when she finished. This time, she’d only missed a few letters.

“Very good,” Ben said. “You’ll get better with practice. Did you bring your math with you?”

“I did. It’s right here.” She picked up the book and the notebook she’d done her problems in from the corner of the desk and handed them to him.

“I’ll check them over while you practice and then we’ll go over your problems together.”

“All right.” Rebecca was happy trying again. Learning to master this machine had quickly become a goal and she wouldn’t settle until she had accomplished that.