A Bride Idea

by Yvonne Lehman

  Neil chuckled when she grinned. He could imagine her and Stella marching and speaking about a woman’s right to vote. But more on his mind was her talking about getting paid for housework.

  He’d hoped to find a way to ask if she might think of him not as an employer, but as one interested in her personally. He’d shared something of his future plans with her. Surely she would know he would not do that with a woman unless he thought her. . .special.

  But he’d hired her to do a job and was paying her. It wouldn’t be proper to pay a woman he was courting.

  This was a predicament.

  He thought of the Bible studies they’d started at the inn. If ever there was a time when he needed to study his Bible and pray, now was that time.

  fifteen

  The end of October brought fall rains, flooded areas, and winds that almost stripped the deciduous trees bare of their brown leaves. After the cold spell, the November sky cleared, leaving a crispness in the air.

  Olivia was delighted, along with Neil, that Mama McCory wanted to make big plans for the holiday season that was quickly approaching. They spent many hours poring over recipe books and discussing how to decorate the inn.

  Olivia was grateful that Stella had been invited to the inn for Thanksgiving and would join them for the Thanksgiving Day service at church.

  After the special service, Edith and Pastor Whitfield joined them for dinner at the inn.

  The inn smelled like roasted turkey, giblet gravy, yeast rolls, corn bread dressing, nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, green peas, and buttery corn.

  “I love the smell of Thanksgiving,” Mama McCory said. “It’s been a few years since we’ve cooked a turkey and all the trimmings. I have so much to be thankful for this year.”

  “I’ve missed these invitations to your dinners, too.” Jacob frowned. “To not be alone, Edith and I had to go to Milton’s at Thanksgiving or depend on some church member to invite us.”

  “But you don’t look like you’ve missed a Thanksgiving dinner or any others for that matter,” Mama McCory quipped. “No offense, Jacob.”

  “None taken.” He patted his ample belly, smiled broadly, and reached for the gravy bowl.

  Edith sighed. “Christmas will be here before we know it.”

  “Oh, I’m looking forward to it this year,” Mama McCory said. “Why don’t we go against tradition and decorate the day after Thanksgiving?”

  “We could do that,” Olivia said. “If you want to.”

  “Yes, we could, couldn’t we? We’ve already planned how we want to decorate. And maybe Stella could stay and help.”

  “As long as you need me or want me. I don’t do any more than put up a small tree with a few baubles and set out a few candles. But some years I went to my brother’s house.”

  Olivia remembered when Stella came to their house, dressed so beautifully. The two of them would go shopping downtown. They’d have fun, walking in the snow in their boots with fur-lined hoods around their faces. Stella would make hot chocolate when they returned to her father whose glass of Christmas cheer hadn’t cheered him.

  “It’s a shame you have to stay down there all winter,” Mama McCory said. “Do you have electricity?”

  “No, but it’s expected to reach that far in the spring.”

  Mama McCory scoffed. “You could freeze to death by then.” She stared at Neil. Olivia watched them communicate without speaking.

  The expression in Neil’s eyes was warm. He smiled and gave a brief nod of understanding. Then he looked at Olivia. “My wife is the one to interview the hired help. Maybe she has something in mind.”

  Oh, Olivia could have kissed him.

  No. . .she supposed she couldn’t. . .or shouldn’t.

  “Mrs. Kevay,” she said as dramatically and formally as she could, trying to hold back her excitement, “we have a position open for the winter. You may have free room and board in exchange for—” She paused and cleared her throat, waiting for everyone to look at her. “In exchange for your keeping the commodes clean.”

  They all laughed.

  Stella said, “Honey, for the privilege of staying here with you wonderful people, I would keep the outhouses clean.”

  They laughed again. Stella and Olivia got up and hugged Mama McCory, then they hugged each other.

  Olivia looked at Neil and mouthed a sincere “Thank you.”

  His gaze made her feel as warm as freshly baked bread. Edith Whitfield’s voice finally got her attention. “Would you do that, Juliet?”

  “Pardon?” She returned to her seat. “I didn’t hear that.”

  “Oh, good. We all have just volunteered you and Stella to be in charge of the children’s Christmas program.”

  She began to protest.

  Edith wouldn’t hear of it. “You must use your talents for the Lord.”

  “It’s your Christian duty,” the pastor added.

  Olivia and Stella stared at each other. Since he put it that way, what recourse did they have?

  As if that were settled, Mama McCory said, “Stella, you’re part of the family, so there’s no way you can stay in one of the servants’ rooms on the lower floor. You can have one of the guest rooms upstairs.”

  Stella had a different idea. “That’s so far from everything though. Why don’t I take Neil’s study? That way I’m close to the kitchen and dining rooms. Besides, I’ll be getting up early.” She grinned at Neil. “I doubt he does much studying in there anyway.”

  Olivia thought he looked like he’d just been put out in the cold.

  Finally, Neil found his voice and some color returned to his face. “That’s fine. She’s right. I don’t really study in there.” More color was in his face now. “I have my clinic, the parlor, the foyer”—he raised his hands and his eyes—“the second floor.”

  “Or even the lower floor with the laundry room and hired help,” Stella said.

  Neil grinned. “Now we know what it’s going to be like, living with my mother-in-law.”

  They all laughed. Olivia loved the way Stella and Neil could tease each other.

  ❧

  For a long time after the guests left and everyone had retired for the night, Stella and Olivia couldn’t stop giggling.

  “Did you see Neil’s face when he thought I was taking his secret ‘bedroom’? ” Stella said.

  “It was priceless,” Olivia agreed.

  “I think it finally dawned on him that he would still have his study as his bedroom and I’d be in here with you.”

  Olivia couldn’t be happier about that. Sitting in bed eating popcorn, their conversation turned serious.

  “What do you know about children’s Christmas programs?” Stella asked.

  Olivia thought. “I know Father sent gifts to the miners’ children on Christmas. We had our own Christmas alone. Then after we moved to the city and before I went off to college, we went to some programs at church. I remember the choir sang and the preacher preached.”

  “About what?”

  “I don’t remember. But I do remember, as we left, everyone was given a paper bag filled with an apple, orange, some nuts, a candy cane, and some hard candy.”

  “If that’s all you remember, it must have been boring,” Stella said seriously.

  “Well, I liked the candy.”

  They each tried to remember how much they knew about church.

  “We can’t ask the church members here. They’ll think we’re heathens.”

  Stella nodded. “Herman made me feel like I was not as good as church people, so I never went much.”

  “Father and I didn’t go often,” Olivia said. “There was only a traveling preacher when we lived at the mining area. Before she died, Mama told me about God and even read the Bible. But I remember very little of it.”

  “Your grandmother was like that. Mama McCory reminds me a lot of her. She used to talk about God like He was her friend.”

  After a thoughtful moment, Olivia said, “Pastor Whitfield s
aid anybody can come to Jesus and that God invites anybody and we are to tell others that.”

  Stella nodded, a light replacing that question in her eyes. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t tell that to the children. I mean, it’s like acting. You read what the scriptwriter puts on paper, you learn it, and then you act it out. I did that for twenty years.”

  Olivia wasn’t so confident. “But I haven’t.”

  “Posh!” Stella said. “I hadn’t either when I started. And I didn’t even go to acting school. I learned the hard way. Learned what it was like to feel rejected, alone, and criticized, and then acted it out on stage. You know those things. You can do it, too.”

  “You mean, we can just find something in the Bible, memorize what it says, teach it to the children, and have them act it out?”

  “Sure. And it won’t be like we’re telling them something bad. We’ll stick right by the script. Now what have I always told you?”

  Nodding, Olivia felt a confidence that Stella often inspired in her. “ ‘All the world’s a stage. . . .’ ”

  “Exactly. Neil has to act in his job. He can’t come right out and tell people their loved ones might be dying.”

  Seeing what she meant, Olivia could add to that. “I know Mama McCory and Hedda love cooking and serving the guests in the mornings. But sometimes Mama McCory’s fingers are stiff and Hedda has a headache. But they act like everything is fine in front of the guests. So acting different than you feel isn’t wrong, is it?”

  “I don’t think so. Remember that Sunday when Jacob Whitfield preached on love? He said it’s not a feeling, it’s an action. So, he’s saying to act it out.”

  “Like I’m acting like I love Neil.”

  “Yes. And he’s acting like you’re his wife.”

  That made it sound all right. “So it will be good for us to act like good Christians in church?”

  “Exactly,” Stella said. “That’s what they all do. We’re going to church like other people. The motto?”

  “Life’s a stage, and we play many parts.” Olivia felt better. “By the time I finish my year here, I may not need acting school.”

  “And,” Stella added, “the pastor said if people do acts of love, they may learn to love the ones they do the acts for.”

  Olivia nodded. “Proof of that is my pretending to be Mama McCory’s granddaughter-in-law. I really love her now.”

  “So do I,” Stella said.

  Olivia wondered why she was staring at her and grinning. Then something occurred to her—something she refused to say aloud.

  That kind of reasoning didn’t extend to Neil, of course. She pushed a piece of popcorn in her mouth and chewed. Acting like she loved Neil wouldn’t make her love him.

  Except as her employer.

  sixteen

  At breakfast the next morning, Stella arranged for her and Olivia to go to Canaan Valley for her things. “I can get every-thing in the wagon that I need for winter.”

  “Don’t you have appointments on Friday?” Hedda asked.

  Olivia saw Mama McCory give her a strange look. Maybe she thought that was too personal, coming from Hedda.

  “I mean,” Hedda said, “maybe you get your hair done?”

  “I do my own hair.” Stella studied her for a moment. “Would you like for me to do something with yours?”

  “No.” Hedda turned away and busied herself in the kitchen.

  “Now, I might,” Mama McCory said. “I like that new short style. I might even have you give me a bob.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. But as far as my appointment on Fridays,” Stella said, loud enough for Hedda to hear, “I can’t very well do that and live here, too.”

  Olivia wondered if her aunt would really be able to give up her job in the theater.

  Their plans for the day were settled. Olivia and Stella would go to Canaan Valley and bring back Stella’s belongings. Hedda and Bart would go up into Mama McCory’s attic and bring down boxes of Christmas decorations.

  While in Canaan Valley, Olivia sent a letter to her father.

  Father,

  I am very happy with my new job. It keeps me busy, so I will not be home for Christmas. Please tell John and Sarah “Merry Christmas” for me. Stella is doing well. She sends her love. I love you, too.

  Olivia

  ❧

  Olivia and Stella decided to get the Christmas spirit going with dinner that evening. After Neil came home, he, Olivia, Stella, and Mama McCory ate at a table in the dining room in front of a fire blazing in the fireplace. Stella had made a centerpiece of lighted candles, evergreen sprigs, and a few Christmas baubles. Olivia had lit candles on other tables, lending a cozy, romantic feel to the room.

  “Streun and I used to do this,” Mama McCory said wist-fully. “Just the two of us.”

  Olivia could imagine that. She glanced at Neil who also was looking at the setting and wondered if he was thinking he would like a romantic evening with someone special. It suddenly occurred to her that he couldn’t pursue another woman even if he found one he cared about. In his mind, he was a married man.

  After the blessing, Neil mentioned the Christmas decor-ations in the parlor. “I see someone is going to be hanging and stringing.”

  “After someone brings in several big trees,” Stella quipped.

  “Several?”

  “Yes. This is a big house.”

  The women were all nodding. He sighed. “I see I’m outnumbered.”

  Judging by the way he smiled, Olivia thought he didn’t mind at all.

  “Thinking of Christmas,” Olivia said, eager to hear their ideas, “what kind of children’s program has the church had in the past?”

  “The usual,” Neil said. “Children act out the Christmas story.”

  “Um, which one?” Stella asked. “My goodness, I’ve been thinking of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.”

  “I saw A Christmas Carol a long time ago,” Mama McCory recalled. “It’s a good story. But I don’t think we have enough people in the church who can do that. Maybe you should keep it simple and just do the birth of Jesus.”

  “The birth of Jesus.” Stella nodded. “You have a script for that?”

  “Well, no. I don’t think they’ve ever had a script. Jacob usually reads the story. The children wear their little costumes and act it out. Edith should have costumes from last year.”

  “I can show you where it is in the Bible,” Neil offered.

  “I just thought of something.” Mama McCory nodded, remembering. “Edith said they lost their star.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Stella said. “What happened?”

  Mama McCory shrugged. “Probably got thrown in the trash.”

  Disbelief crossed Stella’s face. “I’ve heard of an audience throwing rotten tomatoes at the star, but I wouldn’t think church people would do that, much less throw somebody in the trash over a poor performance.”

  Mama McCory began to shake.

  Neil put his napkin over his mouth. Then he moved it. “I’m sorry,” he said, but he couldn’t hold back a hearty laugh.

  Mama McCory laughed aloud then.

  “You were joking, of course,” Stella said.

  Mama McCory couldn’t talk but nodded. Finally, she said, “I’m not talking about the star of the play. But—” She paused as she had trouble getting the words out. “I’m talking about the kind of star that hangs in the sky.”

  Neil couldn’t keep a straight face.

  “Oh. Ohh.” Stella began to laugh, and so did Olivia.

  Finally, wiping the tears from her face, Mama McCory said, “You just tickle me to pieces.”

  “The star of the Christmas show,” Neil informed them, still emitting a few chuckles, “is the baby Jesus.”

  Stella was nodding. “That gives me something to go on. I don’t know if I can do this the way you’re used to.”

  Mama McCory gave her a straightforward look. “I don’t think anybody really expects that.”

&nbs
p; ❧

  Neil had come to realize that Juliet and Stella knew less about the Bible and Christianity than he had assumed. But they were eager to learn and take part. At least his grandmother was having the time of her life. He knew she loved Juliet and adored Stella.

  The days of December flew by, and the inn constantly had children in it practicing for the play, women meeting for Bible study, and cooking going on in the kitchen. Neil did his part, too. He, Bart, Stella, and Juliet went out on the mountainsides until the right sizes and number of trees were found.

  The big one in the foyer was twice as tall as he. A smaller one was placed in the corner on the stair landing. There was one in the dining room, one in the parlor, and a small one on the table in his grandmother’s bedroom that would shine from her front window.

  Each evening, he’d say, “Is that it?”

  “Almost,” Stella would reply. “But we do need this garland hung along the stair banister.”

  Another time, one of them would say, “We must have some of that holly with red berries,” and then look at him as if the temperatures hadn’t dropped to below freezing.

  “Hot cocoa will be waiting when you return,” Juliet said.

  He jokingly complained but loved every minute of it, even when they sent him off to find mistletoe.

  Another evening, he strung beads, then stood back watch-ing the transformation while the three women added candles, silver wire ornaments, glass baubles, and tinsel to the big tree in the foyer.

  They stepped back, looked at each other, and nodded.

  “It still needs something else.”

  They began to murmur about what it could need.

  “Stella,” Neil said, pointing to the top of the tree. “That’s the spot for you.”

  Her hands went to her hips. “What are you talking about?”

  “That’s where the star goes. You’re the star of this deco-rating show, so go on up.”

  She rushed over and beat him on the arm. “Oh, you keep that up and you’ll find yourself in the trash can.”

  His grandmother found her cardboard star outlined with silver tinsel. He hung it while the others lit the candles.

  Instead of in a trash can, he found himself encased in a world of glowing candlelight, vivid colors, the smell of cedar, and three beautiful women who made him laugh, brightened his days, and gave him a family to come home to at night.