“That never crossed my mind.” But why had she never thought of it? Answering a stranger’s ad to become a wife and mother, one would think would’ve given her a little nudge in the make-sure-the-guy’s-solvent category. Sure, she had money of her own, but it wouldn’t do to yoke herself to someone who would take it and squander it.
Maybe her desperate…sense of expediency needed to slow down a little and drink a dose of rationale.
He gazed directly into her eyes as if trying to figure out her thoughts. The gesture didn’t make her uncomfortable. Instead, the quiet intensity and interest drew her in. Kind eyes. Thoughtful eyes.
“I know you quilt, but what else do you do?” He turned the subject neatly to her own prospects as a smile kept his lips slightly parted.
She looked away. She didn’t need to fall for this guy before she knew she could stay. That just wouldn’t do. “Well, that’s it. I make quilts and sew things,” she said as she studied the ground. “But I work from home. I can take months off if I choose. Thanks to my father’s investments of my funds, I am comfortable, too.” She looked up at him and smiled. “So you wouldn’t have to worry about me spending your cash on bolts of fabric and thread…if this works out.”
His chuckle resonated through the air. “That never crossed my mind.”
Much as she enjoyed the banter—too much—she returned to the mundane. “It’s nice…being self-sufficient…because then I can work on quilts as art, rather than just a utilitarian blanket. May I ask how much you paid for Blaze Of Glory?”
“I imagine I paid what it was worth, the same as the previous owners.” He named the five digit figure.
“You did.”
“There are no coincidences. I think God may have sent you into our lives for a purpose.”
“And what about Miss Jenkins?”
He was quiet for a couple seconds. “Time will tell what God has planned for her.”
It was almost as if he’d made his choice.
Natalie didn’t know what to think about that.
9
The week passed with the children back in school. Strangely enough, the pranks also stopped.
Natalie didn’t know if it was because they needed time to plan more, or if they’d decided to accept her. Or perhaps they still had pranks set in motion, and they would pop up at unexpected moments. She was cautious around the furniture in her bedroom, looking in drawers before sticking her hands in, checking out the bathroom cupboards before putting her stuff away.
Jason worked from a home office on some days, and went off to an office in town on others. “Feel free to explore the property and the house, poke in the corners, climb into the attic, check out the basement. If one of you ends up being the mom, you need to know your territory.” His grin lit up his face.
Often he’d whisk Emily and Adam off on some adventure, leaving Natalie with Miss Jenkins, who’d still not invited Natalie to call her Rose.
Then Miss Jenkins began disappearing for hours at a time and Natalie, in a complete fit of irrationalizing, wondered if the woman weren’t off helping the children plan their pranks. In her more logical moments, Natalie dismissed her ridiculous musings and silently asked forgiveness for entertaining such judgmental thoughts. Miss Jenkins seemed too mature and staid for such antics. And while this arrangement was an interview of sorts, it certainly wasn’t an outright competition—not one Natalie wanted to win unless it was God’s will she be here.
She set up the sewing machine and her portable design wall in her room to work on a quilt she’d been imagining for some time, a scene depicting the Nativity. She studied photos of Bethlehem and the area around it on the Internet, trying to envision how the fabric could be turned into something worthy of the subject.
She sighed as the picture just wouldn’t formulate in her mind’s eye. Grabbing a sweater, she ran down the stairs. A walk in the cool autumn air would clear her head.
“Hello,” Jason called from the kitchen.
His voice still had the ability to make her spine tingle. She wandered in, opened the fridge, and poured a glass of iced tea, pleased that he was around. She was enjoying getting to know him, and her heart craved spending time with him for a portion of each day. Especially when it was just him and her.
“Soon the weather will turn and you’ll want hot tea,” Jason teased.
“Yes, I will.”
“Would you like some coffee, instead?”
“No, I prefer tea.”
“Have you seen Miss Jenkins this morning?”
“I saw her at breakfast, same as you, but then she went off somewhere. I don’t think she’s in her room.”
“I wonder where she goes?”
“I’m not certain. Where are Emily and Adam?”
“Out with George. He likes them and will often take them around the barns. He thinks it’s good they’re around the horses. Keeps the horses socialized and the kids learn about animals.”
“He seems like a nice person. You’re blessed to have a capable helper who also likes kids.”
“Yeah, he’s been a good friend. He had some troubles. His wife died of cancer about ten years ago and he became an alcoholic for a time. When he climbed out of the bottle, he couldn’t get a job. So I gave him one.”
“That was kind of you.” Warmth spread through her heart at Jason’s generosity. He really was an exceptional man, and she was half falling in love with him, already. Maybe that was why her imagination went wild when it came to Miss Jenkins. Of course, Jason had been clear that he wasn’t looking for that, but she couldn’t control the way her heart beat. If she ended up being the mom, she knew she’d love him, anyway. She’d simply have to work to keep it hidden.
“Well, I wanted to invite you and Miss Jenkins to the children’s fall festival at the school this evening.” Jason broke through her thoughts. “They have games and food and such, to raise money for extracurricular activities.”
“Oh, that’d be fun. I go to all my nieces’ and nephews’ festivals whenever I can make it.”
“What does your family think about you being here?”
“Ummm…they don’t know.” Natalie hurried to respond, in case he thought she was hiding something. “Since it’s a tryout, I didn’t want to get their hopes up thinking that I’d be bringing someone…er several someones, home for Christmas or something.”
“So you’re thinking of the holidays?”
“Well, yes. If we are to be a family, Jason, I have to think of them. Holidays, especially the ones celebrating our Lord, are important to my family. We share our faith and our love, even though we do it all year, too. It’s a way of bringing us together even more. Sharing our God with the new members, showing our love as He did.”
“Your family sounds like mine. I have three sisters who are married and have families, too. I also have two younger brothers, still at home, although they’re both in college. They all live in town, and we get together at my parents’ or here for a lot of the major holidays.”
“What about Olivia?”
A shadow of sadness crossed his face. A tug of remorse pulled at Natalie for bringing up a painful subject.
“She grew up in a Christian orphanage. Never knew her parents. I think that’s why she wanted so many children. She’d wanted a large, happy family all her life. Since I wanted one too, we clicked and then fell in love. It’s rare to find someone who wants more than a few kids.”
“They miss out on a lot, don’t they?” Natalie smiled, remembering shared times with her sisters and feeling sorry for those who didn’t have siblings.
“Yes, but I think Livvie was happy with our big family. It filled something in her soul that she’d always missed. She was really into our gatherings; she loved Christmas and birthday parties and all our get-togethers. My parents saw the need in her, so we had a lot of the gatherings here instead of at their house. She loved being the hostess.”
“That was kind of your parents.”
“Wait until you meet t
hem. I think you’ll love…ummm…love them. If you get to meet them, that is…I mean, I’d be happy to introduce you…”
“Jason, stop. I understand what you mean. If I’m the chosen Mom, I’ll meet them. If not, well…it wasn’t meant to be.”
10
Jason was pleased that Natalie had agreed to accompany him the children’s school winter festival. At least one of the potential moms would be there. Miss Jenkins claimed to have a migraine headache, and had gone to her bed, looking pale and tired. He hoped she felt better soon, but he was also surprisingly glad to have time with just Natalie and his children. They felt like a real family as they wandered around the fair. Natalie played games with the kids, and she even won a few prizes for Emily and Adam when they couldn’t get any for themselves. She fit in with them like the final piece of a puzzle.
He hoped she felt the same because each moment he spent with her, the more he wanted her to stay. “Shall we get some hot dogs?” he asked.
“Absolutely.” Natalie grinned at him. “And cotton candy. And funnel cake if they have it. The kids need the full experience of once in a while junk food and sugar.”
They enjoyed the meal while huddled around a scarred up picnic table with a lighthearted rendition of “Jingle Bells” and the din of a crowd in the background for ambiance. Even Stone seemed to be enjoying himself as he chatted with his siblings around a bite of hot dog. Jason didn’t have the heart to issue a reprimand for chewing with his mouth open. The afternoon was perfect.
Too perfect? A twinge of guilt skittered across the back of Jason’s neck. Hiring a mom was one thing, but falling for another woman just one year after Livvie’s death…was it right? How would his children feel about that? He had them to consider first. He shook off the melancholy. He could suppress his growing feelings.
Or at least hide them.
With the food devoured, Natalie suggested they take a look at the book table. Funds raised from purchases would benefit the school library.
“Really? Books?” Adam whined.
A small giggle escaped Natalie’s lips as she rolled her eyes at Adam in mock disgust. “Crazy, right? But think of the adventure.”
Adam rolled his eyes right back. “I like reading as much as the next guy, but there is such a thing as video games, you know.”
Jason almost spilled his soda. Where had his four-year-old heard that? He speared Joe with a look.
“Hey don’t look at me. I didn’t tell him books were bad.”
Jason eyed Stone. His eldest started shaking his head immediately.
“Not me,” Stone said. “I’d never teach Adam to say such a thing.”
Natalie laughed. A sweet, high-pitched, feminine belly laugh that rang with such genuineness that Jason wanted to kiss her on the spot for being such a good sport.
“Tell you what, Adam. You can teach me your favourite video game if you help me find some new adventures. How’s that sound?”
Adam shrugged, but he hopped down from the table and took Natalie’s outstretched hand.
She pored over the book table, selecting some books she thought the children would like to read.
He noted the poetry books and short stories, even a few spooky ones for Stone, Larissa and Joe. She really did seem to have a handle on his kids—as if she genuinely cared even after such a brief period of time. What more could he ask for in a mother for his children?
Dusk had fallen by the time they hopped in the car to go home. All six kids quieted once in the car, sleepily content with their afternoon out.
“Did you see the special edition of Twas the Night before Christmas that I picked up?” Natalie asked quietly.
Jason glanced at her and shook his head.
“I know it’s a well-known story, and you probably already have a copy, but I thought if I’m still around at Christmastime, it could be a special treat for Emily and Adam. They can help me bake cookies and I’ll make hot chocolate, and then we can sit around and I can read to them.” Her breath suddenly caught. “I’ll do something special for the older children, too. I wouldn’t leave them out. I hope you know that.”
Jason touched her hand across the console. “I know.”
She turned her fingers up to hold on.
Something familiar settled in his heart, something he’d only felt once before. With Livvie. His heart had chosen. But he still had another week to get through.
What would he do with Miss Jenkins?
And did his children still prefer the older woman?
After the kids were all in bed and Jason had gone downstairs, Natalie tapped Miss Jenkins’s door.
No answer.
Natalie went to bed, hoping the woman felt better the next morning. It worried Natalie that Miss Jenkins disappeared during the day, as if she had somewhere else to be. When she was around, she seemed to have warmed to both the children and to Natalie—even though Natalie still didn’t have the privilege of calling Mrs. Jenkins by her Christian name. Natalie hoped the woman wasn’t disappearing during the day because there was something seriously wrong. She didn’t want to win the mom tryout because of a dire illness or something as grave.
That night, as Natalie spoke with God about all the kids, Jason, and the jumble of feelings that were creeping into her heart, she prayed that Miss Jenkins’s heart wouldn’t be broken if Jason and the children chose Natalie instead.
And, please, Lord. Let them choose me. I know it’s only been a little while, but You know how I feel about them. Your will, Lord. Amen.
“Jason, would you mind if I used the gazebo for something over the next few days?”
He was daydreaming when Natalie’s voice broke into his thoughts. He shook the mental image of Natalie and focused on the real one. Her expressive eyes held a hint of hesitation mixed with expectation. He loved that about her—that she was so open. When she’d first arrived, she’d acted so strangely that he thought she had secrets. That had scared him. But over time, she’d settled into an easy routine. He supposed perhaps she was just a little shy in the beginning.
Not now, though. Now she just…fit.
The children, too, were acting more as though Natalie might be their mom choice. Just yesterday, Joe had asked her advice on what do about a girl who liked him…and Joe never asked anyone’s advice about anything.
Jason wasn’t quite sure where that left Miss Jenkins, but she was become scarcer with every passing day. Not that Jason minded. He was perfectly content to spend his time with Natalie.
He forced his mind to focus on her question. “It’s all yours.” He smiled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to make a quilt with a theme, the Nativity, but the artificial light is making the colors look different. I thought if I viewed in natural light it’d be better, but I don’t want it out in the elements, as I’ve hand-dyed some of the fabric, and I’m afraid it might fade before I get it right. Once the colors are right, I’ll set them.”
“Set them?”
“Use vinegar and salt in a wash to make the colors permanent. They won’t fade or run after that.”
“Ahhh. And why are the colors so important?” He waved a hand in the general direction of the glass enclosure. Thinking of Blaze Of Glory, Jason was pleased that she paid so much attention to her work, even though he didn’t really see it as she did.
“I want the quilt to have the feeling, the true colors of the terrain of Bethlehem, before technological advances changed the light. It has to reflect the land in Christ’s time.”
“Well, if the gazebo will help you accomplish that, it is all yours.”
She grinned and ran up the stairs.
When he looked out his office window a few minutes later, she was carrying an unwieldy board of some type through the glass doors of the enclosed gazebo.
She moved around inside, obviously setting up something important. He could see the concentration on her face even from a distance…or maybe he was imagi
ning it because he knew how serious she was in her attention to detail.
The kitchen door opened and closed a few more times as she carried stuff out there in her quest to make the perfect quilt. He wondered a few times if he should offer to help, but thought it best just to let her be. She was used to working alone.
Silence descended.
He went to work.
Moments later, a scream ripped through the air reverberating even inside the house.
George and Miss Jenkins ran out of the stable, concern written on their features.
Natalie came rushing out of the gazebo, her hair drenched, her hands in the air. “Why?” she screamed.
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong?” Jason cried as he came out the door.
“You.” Her glare encompassed him, her anger palpable. “Your kids…they’ve played trick after trick, and I’ve put up with it, because I knew they were testing me, but this…this! Look what they’ve done!”
“They’re not even here, the older ones are in school and the little ones are out with George.” Jason heard her words, but didn’t comprehend at first. “What do you mean, they’ve played tricks?”
“Don’t you try to defend them! I know they did this!” She wiped her face, flinging water everywhere. “They’ve played several tricks on me since I’ve been here. But this…” Her voice gave out and she sank to the ground, bending over her folded knees to cry.
Jason’s heart broke. What in the world had happened? He approached the gazebo with trepidation.
The large board she’d struggled to bring in was open now, propped against a wall with full sunlight streaming on it. Several pieces of fabric clung to it as water from the fire sprinklers rained down. The colors ran and were mixing together to create a muddy brown that held no appeal at all.
Remembering her rhapsody over the perfect colors, his heart sank like a rock tossed into the water. He stepped over to shut the sprinklers.
Christmas Mom Tryouts Page 4