As she finished that task, she thought about what they might eat for supper. Luke had been bringing bread from the bakery and other things to make her daily tasks much easier, but it was still necessary to cook, and now that she knew for sure it was all right for Luke to be at the house, he’d expect supper.

Entering her house, Gloriana was immediately assaulted by the aroma of something delightful. She made her way to the oven and found a casserole of some type.

“Too many cooks spoil the broth,” Luke announced as he came into the room.

“This smells wonderful. Did you make it?” She closed the oven door and straightened.

“I can’t take credit for it. Mrs. Sedgwick brought it by. I’m just the man who put it in the oven to warm. How did you sleep?”

“Wonderfully. I never knew a short nap could help so much.”

He laughed. “Short, eh? You’ve been asleep for twenty-three hours.”

Gloriana’s mouth dropped open. “What? No. I couldn’t have.”

“I’m afraid so. I actually had Mrs. Sedgwick check on you last night. She and Pastor Sedgwick stopped by to visit. I told them what was going on, and she promised to bring us supper for tonight. I could hardly say no, since I had no idea when you might wake back up.”

“JT?”

She started for the hall, but Luke caught her waist and swept her into his arms. “Is doing much better. He’s awake and starting to eat a little gruel. Mrs. Sedgwick told me to start him on that and graduate to soup. So, you see, we’re quite under control here.” He kissed her nose.

Gloriana shook her head. “I want to see him for myself.”

He nodded and released her. “I knew you would.”

She went to JT’s room and found her little brother sitting up in bed with all his toy soldiers lined up around him.

“Glory! You’re awake. Luke told me you were so tired that you slept all day and all night.”

“You did a lot of that too.” She felt his forehead. The fever was gone. “How do you feel?”

“Itchy, but Mrs. Sedgwick told me not to scratch. She said when it got really bad to just put my hand on top of where it itched and pray.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t help much.”

“A baking soda bath might do the trick. Not that prayer is a bad idea.” She smiled, feeling such relief that she had to sit down. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

“I’m strong, Glory. You said so yourself. I’m going to get better and better, and then I’ll never get the measles again. Luke told me that.”