Roland stared. “On Christmas Eve?”
“Yes.” Garrett tromped across the room and flung open the door. “Come with me. I have a favor to ask.” He needed his brother to watch Sadie and Isaac—and to keep this secret from Amanda.
Roland followed. “Where are you going?”
“To do something I should have done long ago.” Garrett ushered his brother out, and the wind slammed the door shut behind them.
* * *
Amanda didn’t tremble at the slam of the door. She’d found joy among the children, who didn’t question her every motive. They accepted her for who she was. Unlike Garrett. Let him stew. Let him stomp around and slam doors.
“I think he’s coming around,” Pearl whispered to her while they watched the children take their places.
“I can’t imagine who you mean.” Or what. The Garrett she’d seen was just as angry as the day she’d come face-to-face with him in Saugatuck.
Amanda straightened Sadie’s veil. She would need to pin it more securely tomorrow morning, or Sadie would lose it halfway to the inn at Bethlehem. Amanda made a mental note to bring more pins.
For the next few hours, all the details of getting ready for the play occupied her thoughts. Roland had to narrate for his brother, who didn’t return. It annoyed her that Garrett would shirk his responsibilities, and Roland refused to offer any explanation. Soon she was too busy to dwell on it. She and Pearl ran around, making adjustments when children went the wrong way or entered at the wrong time or gave up entirely and began playing under the benches. By the time rehearsal ended, the adults were exhausted.
Later that day, when the excitement had died and Amanda was alone in the kitchen scrubbing away the day’s grease and grime, Garrett returned to her thoughts. Why had he left and not come back? Was it because she’d suggested that it was too late to forget what he’d read in Mrs. Chatsworth’s letter? Before that, he’d seemed to want to talk. Garrett didn’t speak with flowery phrases or bold declarations of love. He didn’t issue copious compliments or shower a woman with gifts. Instead, he let down his guard and showed his vulnerable side. He’d opened himself to her this afternoon, but she’d been too preoccupied with her own doubts and fears to recognize it.
On the other hand, he must have been the one to spread Mrs. Chatsworth’s accusation around town. That was reason enough to break off further contact. Then why did Amanda feel so terrible about it, as if she’d lost her last chance?
Add to that difficult situation the disastrous second dying of the wedding dress, which Mrs. Calloway had revealed when Amanda returned, and the day had gone from bad to worse. At least Fiona and Louise hadn’t been upset.
“I’m sure you can do something with it,” Mrs. Calloway had added hopefully when she showed Amanda the gown.
If anything, the stain had gotten more obvious.
“I can add an overskirt,” Amanda had said with a sigh, “but not in time for the wedding.”
“That’ll be perfect, dear. We can give it to her later. She’ll love it.”
Amanda couldn’t escape the knowledge that it was all her fault. She’d spilled the tea on the gown in the first place. Stained. Just like her.
She attacked the grimy oven with a vengeance. Perhaps something in her life could be clean.
“Try to leave some of the cast iron intact,” said a familiar voice.
Amanda lifted her head out of the oven to greet Pearl. “You’re home early.”
“I’m exhausted.” She sank into the chair that Mrs. Calloway kept in the kitchen. “The play and the wedding preparations, it’s all too much. I wish we’d kept it simpler.”
“It seems pretty simple to me.”
“Is it? Christmas is about remembering Jesus’s birth and why He came to earth. It’s not about decorations or remembering lines or costumes or backdrops. They’re all fine, but I fear they’re taking too much attention away from the real meaning of Christmas.”
“Perhaps we should pray about that.”
A faint smile creased Pearl’s tired face. “I think you’re right.”
Amanda wiped her filthy hands on her apron. Together they knelt on the floor and prayed for the focus tomorrow to fall entirely on Jesus.
“Let it be about You, Lord,” Pearl finished.
“Amen.” Amanda squeezed Pearl’s hands. “All will go well. You’ll see.”
Except the dress. Oh, well. What was the gift of a dress compared to the gift of a Savior?
Pearl smiled. “I certainly feel better, and it appears Garrett is coming around.”
Amanda stiffened. “I don’t know how you can say that when he stomped out of rehearsal and didn’t return.”
“What did he say to you?”
Amanda had expected her friend to ask what she’d said to him to send him off angry, not the other way around. “He seemed to imply he wanted me back as housekeeper,” she admitted.
“A first step?”
“I’m not sure I should. Not now.”
Pearl’s brow furrowed. “What happened? I could tell you weren’t happy with what he told you.”
“That’s not it. It’s the way Mr. Bailey acted toward me. Didn’t you notice?”
“Um, yes,” Pearl said. “But what does that have to do with Garrett?”
“Garrett is the only other person who knew what was in that letter. He admitted he read the first line. He’s the only one who could be spreading rumors about me.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute! Garrett would never do such a thing.”
“Are you sure? He was angry with me. Something might have slipped out to one of the men. Even one stray comment. From there, well...” She didn’t need to explain further. Pearl would know.
But her friend shook her head. “Not Garrett. Never.”
“Then who?”
Pearl heaved a sigh. “I don’t know.”
That was the problem.
* * *
Garrett stood at the front of the church the following morning, exhausted from his trip upriver and back. His brother should be here by now, and with him the man Garrett had fetched. Soon Amanda would have her answer. He drummed his fingers on the podium that served as a pulpit. What was keeping them?
Today was Christmas morning. One of the most important days of the year. He didn’t look forward to reading—narrating, Pearl called it—the nativity play. He could read just fine at home or even in front of Roland and Pearl, but standing up in front of a congregation was different.
His mouth was dry as sawdust, and his heart pounded away like a sledgehammer. To distract himself, he recalled Sadie and Isaac’s excitement when they’d tugged him awake before dawn. In the glow of a candle, he’d told them the Christmas story. They’d hung on every word. The congregation wouldn’t be so attentive. Already the buzz of conversation had increased to a roar.
“Decker.” Ben Bailey passed on his way to a bench on the opposite side of the room that served as the community’s church.
“Ben.” The man’s condemnation of Amanda still stuck in Garrett’s craw. It was one thing to confront her in private and quite another to spread rumors in public. No doubt the truth had been so badly distorted that it bore no resemblance to fact. Still, this was no day to hold a grudge. “Merry Christmas.”
The man nodded. “To you and yours, too.”
“Mrs. Bailey here?” Garrett spotted her conversing with some of the other mothers. From the severe looks they gave Amanda, none of it was good.
“Holding a meeting, it appears.” Bailey shook his head. “Better go break it up.”
As Ben headed across the room, Garrett’s gaze drifted to Amanda. She was helping ensure the children’s costumes were all in place. Sadie clutched Eva’s porcelain doll, wrapped in rabbit fur to play the role of baby Jesus
. The youngest shepherds had taken to chasing each other, and Pearl was having a time corralling them.
Garrett stepped toward them, eager to help, but Pearl shook her head and pointed to the door. Roland entered. Alone. Garrett tried to catch his brother’s attention, but Roland wasn’t looking his way. Garrett’s heart sank. What had happened? Last night, after talking to the lumberman Jake, Garrett had been certain he’d found Amanda’s brother. Had the man slipped from his hands? Or rather from Roland’s hands, since that’s where Garrett had left Jake last night.
Sawyer Evans brushed past Roland with Fiona on his arm. Apparently that friendship had rekindled. Garrett couldn’t say he was sorry. Sawyer escorted Fiona toward the front of the room. She would sing, but there was no space for her that Garrett could see.
“Miss O’Keefe,” Garrett said as she passed.
“Don’t forget your cues, Mr. Decker.” She breezed to the pulpit and plunked her songbook on it.
Garrett cringed. Where would he stand to narrate the play? For that matter, where would the minister put his notes and Bible?
“Brother John hasn’t shown up yet,” Sawyer whispered in his ear. “We might have to go it alone.”
That made Garrett’s stomach churn. He’d counted on the itinerant pastor directing the flow of the service. Garrett was too tired to remember everything. “Maybe Mr. Calloway will do it.”
Sawyer gave him a cynical smirk. “And talk for hours? By the time he finishes, the children will have lost all interest. Best get started.”
Garrett’s heart pounded again. Thinking of his role being in the future was one thing. Knowing he’d have to begin right away made the palms of his hands sweat in spite of the chill in the air.
Next thing he knew, Amanda was at his elbow. He knew that even before he looked. Whenever she was near, he felt this peculiar heightened awareness, similar to when he made a breakthrough on a problem at the mill. Except Amanda had nothing to do with work. Neither did those feelings.
He gazed into her violet eyes. For the first time he realized just how different they were from Eva’s. Amanda’s eyes were lighter, with a dark rim. Eva’s had been the same deep color throughout.
Amanda leaned a bit closer. “Pearl says we need to start now before the children get too impatient.”
That was a kind way to put it. The children were bored and about to cause trouble.
“Tell her we’ll start right away.” He guided Amanda past the folks gathered in the front row, and that jolt hit again. There was something about her that brought his emotions to the surface. He couldn’t deny it any longer. He loved her. But to have any future together, he had to win back her affection. That could be in jeopardy if Jake didn’t show.
Garrett stepped to the pulpit.
No one paid the slightest attention.
He cleared his throat.
A few looked his way and stopped chattering. To the rest, he might have been invisible.
“Good morning,” he said loudly, “and may the grace of the Lord be with you.” He hoped it was all right to repeat the opening that Brother John always used.
More people turned to him, but a few insisted on chatting. Did that drive Brother John crazy? Garrett wasn’t going to muddle through the noise. He whistled.
A few more looked his way. Fiona gave him a pitying look.
He patted his suit coat. On a whim, he’d tucked his old harmonica in the inner pocket, thinking perhaps he’d show Isaac how to play it after the service. He brought it out now and blew a quick verse of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
Everyone stopped talking and stared at him. Amanda, though, smiled softly, as if she knew how difficult it was for him to pick up that harmonica this morning.
“Thank you,” he managed to say. The quiet, with every eye on him, was unnerving. He cleared his throat. “Turn to Luke, the first chapter, beginning with verse twenty-six.”
The story would be familiar to everyone there, yet perhaps this Christmas Day it would reveal a new truth to some. That’s what he’d prayed this morning.
His hand trembled as he leafed through the pages to find that chapter. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pearl readying the children. His Sadie was dressed in robes of blue, like so many portrayals of Mary, the mother of Christ.
A mother.
They hadn’t attempted to make her appear with child. For that he was grateful, but as he read the verses about the angel Gabriel bringing the news to Mary, he couldn’t help thinking about that Jewish girl so many years ago. So young. Had she known what she would face? With child before she’d wed. People could be vicious. Rumors would spread.
Yet each one was false.
Nowhere in the Word did it say that she explained or retaliated. Had she simply borne the snide comments and innuendo, treasuring the truth deep in her heart?
He moved on to the second chapter and read about Joseph taking Mary to Bethlehem to register. Sadie and Isaac walked toward the front now.
A lump formed in his throat. How could he protect his children? He couldn’t. Not entirely. The realization hit hard.
He looked up at Amanda. She watched his children with such love, following each step with the kind of attention that only a parent could give. He had misjudged her terribly, had leaped on a single sentence without considering there might be another explanation. Then he’d demanded she explain. No, not in so many words, but in his heart. He wanted her to tell him not only that those words were wrong, but to reveal every detail of what had happened.
Had Mary told Joseph everything, even about the angel’s visit? Would he have believed her if she had?
The lump in Garrett’s throat made it impossible to speak.
Pearl was waving frantically. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Then, before he quite realized it, Amanda was at his side. Mrs. Bailey stiffened, her lips pressed tightly together in disapproval.
Garrett’s temper flared. No one had a right to condemn Amanda, and no one would if right now he stood up for her.
She appeared oblivious to the whispers as she read, “‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.’”
Garrett stepped closer and, to show his approval, joined her in the reading.
“‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,’” they said together.
“Toward all men and women,” Garrett added. “Each of us has failed Him, yet He came to earth to extend forgiveness. We do not deserve it, but He granted us mercy, anyway.”
The comments hit the mark with the Baileys, who ducked their heads. Garrett looked every man and woman in the eye. The whispers stopped, and he felt Amanda stand taller. He looked at her then.
She smiled at him, and his heart soared higher than it ever had with Eva. This beautiful woman was giving him a second chance. He would not let it slip away. Not this time. God had answered his prayers all along, but he’d been too blinded by his own guilt to see it. The advertisement for a mail-order wife, Amanda’s arrival, her love for his children, their joy while sledding, even the mishaps in the kitchen. It all blended together into the perfect family.
As Fiona led the congregation in the hymn “Joy to the World,” he gazed at the woman he loved and sang with all his heart.
God had brought them together. Even Sadie and Isaac watched him and Amanda rather than the congregation. As the hymn wound toward a conclusion, he placed his hand over hers, resting on the Bible.
“Thank you,” he said.
Her eyes lifted to him in silent acknowledgment.
Then the church door opened.
* * *
Something had changed. Amanda felt it the moment she joined Garrett. Pearl hadn’t needed to prod her. She saw him floundering, saw the emotion
s written on his face, and went to him. She didn’t think about it. She just went.
She had never spoken in front of a crowd before, yet with Garrett at her side, all fear was gone. When his voice joined hers, joy filled her heart.
Yes, something had changed in him. Tears filled the corners of his eyes. He swallowed frequently. His hand trembled. But as they read together, his voice steadied.
When he placed his hand over hers at the end of the closing hymn, she felt like her heart would burst.
His gratitude was genuine, and he held back nothing. She could see on his face the hurt of the past get swept away by a rush of hope and wonderment.
“Merry Christmas,” she said, after Mr. Calloway gave the benediction.
Garrett continued to hold her hand. “Thanks to you, it will be the best Christmas ever.”
“It will?”
He nodded. “We have a tree.”
“And presents,” Sadie chimed from her father’s side. “Papa gave me a real baby doll.”
Amanda gave him a questioning look. “The baby Jesus?”
He shook his head. “A new and less breakable one.”
“And I got a steamboat,” Isaac announced. “My papa made it himself.”
“Of course he did.”
Happiness welled at the sight of their joy. Her handmade gifts for them—a bonnet for Sadie and a new cap for Isaac—could wait for another day. This day belonged to family.
The children rushed off to get out of their costumes.
“I should help,” Amanda said, gently moving away.
He didn’t release her hand. “Can you spare one moment?”
Her heart raced. What would he say to her? Harsh words? Demands she explain? It must happen. He deserved the whole truth, but she’d hoped to wait until after Christmas and Pearl’s wedding. “I’m needed.”
He did not release her. “There’s someone you need to meet.”
Only then did she realize a stranger had wandered to the front of the little church. Though he was roughly clothed, the man’s dark hair and bright blue eyes made her catch her breath. “Jacob.”
He wrung a cap between his hands. “I got your letter, but I missed the tug downriver. Then Mr. Decker showed up yesterday on the Donnie Belle.”
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