A Cozy Mitten Christmas (The Ornamental Match Maker Book 9)

by Christine Sterling

  “Thanks,” Nathan acknowledged. “I guess I’ll just add them to the growing stack.”

  “You gone through the last ones?”

  “Not yet. I just don’t want to marry someone I don’t know. What would cause a woman to want to come all the way out here in winter?”

  “I dunno, but I do know this. Several men out here have sent for mail order brides and had very successful marriages. Besides, having a warm body beside you in winter is an added bonus.” Mr. Victor’s eyes twinkled as he looked at his wife, causing her to blush.”

  “Oh you…,” she responded, gently pushing him away. Mr. Victor laughed and placed a kiss on his wife’s cheek. Nathan blushed as he looked at the couple who were still affectionate after many years. He would have loved to have that type of relationship with his wife. But since he couldn’t, perhaps he could start thinking about someone else. Mrs. Victor tapped her pencil against the counter bringing him out of his reverie. “You have a credit of $3.87. Is there anything else you need?”

  Nathan felt for the second piece of paper in his pocket and slipped it over to her. “Can you let me know how much this would be?”

  Mrs. Victor peered at the list over her glasses. “Very nice. Let me check the prices.”

  He watched as she checked the prices on a doll, he knew Susan would love, a rocking horse for Harry, some drawing supplies for Forrest and fabric, thread and sewing needles for Emma. There was also a sack of penny candy the children could share Christmas morning.

  “You’ll be a dime short.”

  Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out a dime placing it on the counter. “Can you get them wrapped up for me? I’ll come get the box as soon as I load everyone into the wagon.”

  Mrs. Victor nodded and went to work wrapping the presents in brown paper.

  He went to the wagon to place his crate of supplies in. A loud whistle caught his attention and he watched the steam engine lumber into the station. He needed to get the boys situated and the presents hidden as his daughters would be back soon.

  

  Molly was ready to arrive. She had been on this awful train since Thursday. Mr. Davies put her in the cheapest car available, so she was crammed up against the window with two other people on the bench. There wasn’t any room to move. She brought a book to read, but instead spent hours staring at the beautiful countryside or pushing the woman off her shoulder and back into an upright position on the bench. It had been a long trip.

  Long gone were the sandwiches and apples that Hershel and Mitzie packed for her. She shared the cookies with the ladies in the bench, but now she wish she hadn’t as her belly was starting to rumble. They were due to arrive within an hour and Molly could get some lunch when the train stopped.

  Finally, there was a whistle and a train pulled slowly into the station. It seemed to take forever for the passengers to gather up their luggage and make their way to the platform below. Molly had one bag and her reticule. She didn’t bring much with her.

  When she stepped off the train platform, she felt the cold air quicken her breath.

  I guess I’ll have to get a scarf from the mercantile, she thought, pulling her coat tighter around her neck.

  She dropped her bag and looked around. When she sent the telegram to the news office, they assured her that they would get the message to the Parker children. The day before she was leaving a return telegram arrived announcing someone would meet her at the station.

  She saw two little girls holding hands on the edge of the platform.

  They were younger than ten and dressed in winter coats with knitted hats and mittens. Both looked angelic with the curls peeking out of their hats and rosy cheeks from the cold.

  “Look,” the older one said. “That has to be her!” She watched as the little girl grabbed the other’s hand and dragged her to where Molly was standing.

  “Are you Emma?” Molly asked as the little girls stood in front of her.

  The little girl didn’t say anything, but the younger one piped up. “Yes, she is.”

  “You must be Susan then. I know your name from the letter.”

  “Say something, Emma,” Susan said, pinching her sister.

  Emma jumped suddenly and looked at Molly. “Golly, you are beautiful.”

  Molly laughed. “Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, as she took off her gloves, putting her hand forward. “I’m Molly Griffith.”

  The child stared at Molly’s outstretched hand. When Emma didn’t take it, Susan didn’t think twice about putting her own hand in Molly’s larger one. “Are you the reporter from New York?” she asked.

  “Yes, I am,” she said with a small laugh, taking back her lingering hand. She looked past her, as she put her gloves in her bag. “Where are your father and brothers? I’m excited to meet them.”

  “They are at the mercantile. My father is selling vegetables to Mr. Victor,” Susan said without a care.

  “Shush, Susan. Miss Griffith doesn’t need to know everything.”

  Molly laughed again. The children were delightful. “Well, then shall we?” she said, as she grabbed her bag from the ground and motioned for them to lead the way.

  They walked down the steps towards the mercantile. They received several stares as they made their way over to the mercantile. Molly was feeling a bit nervous. What if they didn’t like her? It wasn’t as if she was applying to be his wife. But she wanted him to like her just the same.

  “Are you the one who wrote the letter, Emma?” Molly asked.

  “I helped!” Susan yelled as Emma nodded.

  “It was beautifully written,” said Molly. “Do you like to write?”

  “I don’t like practicing my letters. Mrs. York, she’s our school teacher, says I need to practice them every day.”

  “She sounds very wise. Do you go to school here in town?”

  “We go in the spring and summer. Susan, here, went for the first time after harvest. We don’t go again until the snow melts.”

  Molly looked around. There was a light dusting on the ground, but nothing that she thought should interrupt schooling. “Is this all the snow there is?”

  “For now. It can get really bad in the winter.”

  “We got snowed in for a whole month.”

  “Oh my,” Molly said. “A whole month?”

  “That was last year. Poppa says it only gets bad when the crickets try to come into the house early. I didn’t see many crickets this year.”

  “That’s good, I guess.” Molly switched her bag to the other side.

  They walked in silence a few more feet. Emma was holding her sister’s hand and Susan’s small legs were trying to keep up.

  “You work at the newspaper?” Emma asked. “You must be a good journalist if they sent you out here.”

  Molly was flustered at the question. She didn’t want to tell. “Well, yes, I have been known for my writing,” she coughed out as they made their way to the wagon.

  “Why did you want to write about us?” Susan asked.

  Molly thought about it. She had the answer already in her mind but was silenced at the young girl’s question.

  “I used to live in Virginia in a beautiful valley. It was so lush and green, and I didn’t have a care in the world. But then one day I couldn’t live there anymore.”

  “Why not?” Susan asked.

  “Well, my parents were killed in a tragic accident. The buggy they were riding in went off an embankment and they were thrown from the carriage. So, I didn’t have any one to take care of me.”

  “Do you have brothers or sisters?” Emma asked.

  Molly shook her head. “No, it was just me. I missed having my momma, and my father too. I know how much it hurts. So, when I read your story, I knew I had to help.”

  Susan slipped her tiny hand into Molly’s larger one. “I like you, Miss Griffith.”

  “Call me Molly.” She gave the small hand a squeeze and Susan didn’t let go until they arrived at the merc
antile.

  Chapter 5

  Nathan Parker watched his children cross the street and head to the mercantile where he was loading the wagon. Susan was holding a young woman’s hand and chatting happily. Emma looked a little more reserved, but she was smiling. It had been so long since he saw his children smile.

  “Susie,” he called to his youngest holding the hand of the young lady. “Time to go.”

  Susan released the woman’s hand and ran as fast as she could, launching herself into her father’s arms. “Look, Daddy!” she pointed to the lady. The woman looked up and Nathan felt the breath leave his body.

  She was exquisite. She had long blonde hair that was tied up with a bright red bow behind her head. She was a little on the shorter side, so he towered over her. Her face was flushed from the cold, enhancing her cheeks and pert lips. And she had a pair of eyes that a man could get lost in. Beautiful eyes the color of a summer sky looked back at him. He felt a flutter in his stomach that he commanded to go away.

  “Who’s this, Emma?” he asked, pointing to the woman that captivated his attention.

  “Pleased to meet you. I’m Molly Griffith. I just arrived from New York.” She held out her hand.

  He looked at it a moment before taking it in his. Her hand fit perfectly, and he could feel the warmth radiating. “Nathan Parker. What were you doing with my girls?” He lifted Susan up and put her in the back of the wagon. She scrambled to get under the blanket with her brothers.

  “She’s here to help us find a mother,” Susan called. Emma looked mortified as several people paused to look at them before they continued walking.

  “She’s what?” Nathan was not expecting an actual woman to arrive in town. He wasn’t thrilled with the letters, but he could store those in the sacks. A physical woman showing up was more than he was ready for.

  “Oh no, I’m not here for that.” She paused and tilted her head. “Actually, I am, but not the way you think.”

  “Oh?” he asked, lifting one eyebrow.

  “Your children’s letter made it all the way to New York City and I came to write an article about them finding a mother for Christmas. I know you’ve received several letters.

  He looked around to see if anyone was looking. Now he was going to give the gossips something to talk about. Not only the letters, but the flesh and blood woman in front of him. Other men would probably be elated at the prospect, but it just made his stomach sick.

  He stared at Molly, who was meeting his stare with one of her own. Susan tugged on Nathan’s hand. “Daddy, aren’t you going to say anything?”

  He didn’t know what to say. He had hoped that he could ignore the letters until he was ready to deal with them, but it seemed that fate was going to intervene. “Yes, darling, I heard you,” he said.

  The woman blushed as she tried to fill the awkward silence. “Mr. Parker, I’m a reporter from the New York Gazette, and it seems that you weren’t aware I was coming,” she said, as she looked towards Emma, who was blushing and trying to hide her face. “The newspaper was to contact you last week to let you know I was on my way.”

  Nathan gave a stern look to Emma. “Em? Is there something you want to tell me?”

  Emma twirled a bit, her coat flaring out around her knees. “I forgot.”

  “Uh-huh. We’ll discuss that later.” He turned back to the pretty reporter in front of him. “So, Miss Griffith, what brings you all the way here from New York?”

  Molly gave a slight cough. “As I said, I’m a reporter for the New York Gazette. I’m here to write a piece on your wife search for the paper.”

  Nathan pushed his hair back in a nervous manner. “Well, I’m sorry you came all this way, but there really isn’t much of a story. I’m not interested in finding a wife right now.”

  Emma looked up at her father, with wide eyes. “But Father!” she said. He could see tears prickling her eyes. “We have all those letters.”

  “Yes, and I want a mother!” screeched Susan, as she pulled his arm to the side. Forrest came around and grasped Emma’s hand as Susan continued. “And you said that whatever we ask Father Christmas for, we get.”

  Nathan was certain that he didn’t say this to her. Though, as he looked at the faces of his children a feeling deep in the pit of his belly started to burn. Harry was standing next to Susan, unsure of what was going on, while Forrest was staring at him with determination. For what, Nathan didn’t have a clue. Susan was red in the face from yelling, and Emma looked like she was going to cry. This was certainly not how his afternoon was supposed to go.

  “Father,” Emma choked out, tears thickening her voice. “We do have all those letters; don’t you want to at least look? It’s what Mother would have wanted.”

  How did his younger daughter act more mature than he felt at the moment? He wanted to stand there and stomp his feet, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know what to do.

  “If I may, Mr. Parker,” said Molly as she looked at the family. “I did come all this way out here. Shouldn’t we at least look at the letters? We don’t have to decide anything now. Finding a wife and mother is an arduous task that shouldn’t be done lightly. But I think you owe it to all the people that read the letter and invested in your family to at least look at the letters? If you don’t find anything, then I don’t think you would be faulted. But wouldn’t you like to know that you at least made the effort?”

  As he surveyed his children staring at him with hopeful eyes, he knew that she had brought him a nice reprieve. It would be best for him to at least look through the letters. If nothing else, this way it would appear that he was at least playing the game, though he had no intention of actually choosing a wife from the large piles of letters that were now littering his house.

  “You are right, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to at least go through the letters.”

  “Yes!” shouted Susan, as she hugged his knees. Emma smiled wildly as Forrest joined Susan’s hug. Nathan was elated at the response but hoped that his children wouldn’t be too disappointed when he eventually told them that he couldn’t find a worthy replacement for their mother.

  

  Molly was overjoyed as she stared at the happy family before her. She had imagined the Parker family in her mind for the whole trip. She had envisioned them to be the typical family; never did she think they would be the handsomest family she had ever seen.

  The children were like the porcelain dolls you would see in the windows of the toy stores in Manhattan. And their father was the most attractive man she had ever seen. He certainly was the most surprising; she had thought he would be an older man, balding and heavy set. The man before her was none of that.

  He was quite young to be a father of four children, she thought. He was tall with a strong build. His muscles were bulging from his sleeves and she saw the callouses on his hands indicating the hard work he must do with them. He had longish dusty brown hair, with hazel eyes and full lips. She knew she was gawking at him and told herself she must stop.

  She turned her eyes away from him lest he see how affected she was. The children continued to hug and kiss him. When he had said he wasn’t interested, she saw her journalistic dreams slip away from her fingers. She was desperate to find a way for him to reconsider his position. So, she said the first thing that was on her mind and hoped it would stick. She was pleasantly surprised when he agreed so quickly. She wondered if he had something up his sleeve, although it didn’t matter so much. Whatever she had to do to get this story, she was willing to do.

  “Well, I’m glad you have reconsidered,” she said with a smile as the children disengaged themselves from him. “We can probably get started first thing tomorrow. Right now, it’s been a long journey. I was wondering if you could take me to your nearest hotel?”

  Nathan looked at her quizzically as Emma twisted her hands nervously. When they didn’t say anything, Susan spoke. “There isn’t a hotel here.”

  Molly felt her eyes go wide. “There isn’t?”

&n
bsp; Nathan confirmed what Susan said. “Well, no. They were going to build one, but the developers decided it wasn’t worth it; usually, people don’t end up staying here. They come here to live, not to visit. And if there are visitors, they stay at either the boarding house or with relatives.”

  “I wonder if the boarding house has room.” Molly looked at her surroundings. There wasn’t much to the town. Just the mercantile and a restaurant next door. There was a doctor’s office, the marshal’s office and a few other buildings that she couldn’t identify. At the end of the road where the train station was, there appeared to be a church. There were people milling around, either near horses with wagons attached to them, or walking down the streets.

  “No. Mrs. Gustafson went to Texas to visit her son for the holidays. It won’t be open again until the end of January.

  Molly didn’t really see what her other options were, and she felt deflated before she even started. Suddenly, Susan, the chattiest little girl she had ever met, piped up again. “She can stay with us!”

  Molly stared at the precious girl and then looked up at her father. From the look on his face, she could tell that this was not something that he was expecting. Molly didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable.

  “Oh, honey, that is really nice of you, but I couldn’t impose.” There had to be somewhere she could stay. Maybe she could ask the mercantile owner if they knew anything? There had to be an old couple with a farm close by that she could let a room from.

  “It’s not imposing. That way, we can go through the letters all day,” continued Susan with a smile on her face. She looked back up at her father. “Can’t she stay with us?”

  “Yes, can’t she?” said the boy that was holding Emma’s hand. He looked like a mini-version of his father.

  “I’m not sure,” Nathan said again.

  “She can stay in our room,” Emma said. “I can share a bed with Susan.”

  Nathan looked as if he wanted to say no, and Molly silently wished that he would too. But looking at him looking at his children, she knew that he wasn’t about to say no them.” He looked at Molly. “If you don’t mind sharing a room with my daughters,” he started.