Hannah flicked a wrist at the yellow retriever. “Keep him out of here, please. I scrubbed the floors yesterday, and I’d like it to last more than a day this time.”
David smirked. “Give Gideon some respect. He became a proud papa of eight last night.”
Doris shot up so quickly her chair squeaked. “The puppies were born?”
The twins ran to the door. “Can we see them? Can we?”
“After breakfast,” their father answered, his voice stern but kind. “Come sit down, girls.”
Hannah carried a pewter plate of sliced cheese to the table and placed it near her father. She sat next to David and glanced at the empty chair at the end of the long table. She meant to look for only a second, to acknowledge her late mother as she did at every meal, but while her father said the blessing, Hannah’s eyes never closed.
A layer of dust dulled the ladder-back slats of the dining chair. She should have kept it cleaner. She had meant to. Doris did the dusting last week. Hannah would do it herself this week. That’s what she had promised her mother—not the dusting specifically, but to take care of everything: the home and her siblings, to raise them, to protect them, to teach the girls to be women who would one day take care of their own households.
She had promised to put her family first. Her father, David, Wade, Doris, Ida, and Minnie—they all depended on her to keep that promise. Put them before your friends and your schooling, Mother had said. Keep writing your stories, but put your family first. They need you.
Five and a half years later, they still needed her. She touched the folded-up paper in her apron pocket. They needed her and she needed to write. Creating her story made it easier to stay dedicated to her promise and not yearn for a life apart from this house.
The imaginative process wasn’t enough though. It was the actual pencil to page that made the story come alive. If only she had more time—time alone, time to write, time to think. The busyness of a full house kept her on her feet and at the stove for hours each day, and school would be out soon, so there would be even more voices and more needs to put before her own.
She had promised to raise her siblings, but the twins were only seven now. Could she do this for a decade more? The weight of the years pushed on her shoulders as if she were strapped with a fifty-pound sack of flour. How pleasant it would feel to drop that sack and run! But no. These people were her family, the anchor of her promise.
Still, the glum ache remained. She could only write that yearning, that desperate stirring for something more, into Adeline’s story.
As Christopher said Amen, Hannah closed her eyes and opened them again, this time careful not to look at her mother’s dusty chair. The twins needed help with peeling eggs, and Doris’s chatter rose over the twins’ whining about seeing the puppies.
Her brothers held a quieter conversation about the dogs and which family in the village would get one. Christopher interrupted them. “We must offer the puppies to those in village-supported positions before trading with other families. I doubt the reverend, the doctor, or our schoolteacher will want another dog, but we must ask them first. Then we’ll talk about the puppies that are left.” He looked past the twins and winked at Hannah. “Delicious breakfast.”
Her father’s approval made everything feel better. Almost everything.
After they ate, she packed the children’s lunches while Doris dashed into the bedroom she and Hannah shared. Doris plodded out a moment later, frowning. A pink ribbon dangled from the end of one of her braids. She touched the other braid. “I guess I’ve lost one of my ribbons somewhere. I don’t remember when I wore them last.”
Hannah covered each lunch pail with a square of cheesecloth and tied it with twine. “Forget about the ribbon and come get your lunch pail.”
“I can’t go to school today.” Doris’s chin quivered. “I can’t be seen like this.”
Hannah’s father and David were already back to work in the orchard, and the other children were standing on the stoop, waiting to walk to school with Doris. There was always some stall, some lost item, some emotional upheaval before school, but once she got the children out the door, the day was hers to do her housework and to think.
Hannah wiped her hands on her apron and turned Doris around. She untied the long pink ribbon and draped it over her sister’s shoulder as she unwound the two braids. Using the same gentle touch her mother had used with her, she combed out Doris’s dishwater blond waves and wove them into one thick plait. The kitchen fell quiet, save for Doris’s sniffles.
“I remember the way it feels,” Hannah said. She tied the ribbon into the prettiest bow possible. “Wanting the other girls to like you, wanting to feel pretty. You are as pretty as Sarah Ashton and Roseanna Colburn and the others.”
Doris turned, pulling the fresh braid to the front of her dress. The tip of her nose was as pink as the ribbon. “But all the boys like Sarah.”
“Things change very quickly at your age. They might all like her today and all like you tomorrow.”
“Did that ever happen to you?”
Hannah had spent her early teen years helping her bedridden mother with twin infants while her father planted the orchard. There hadn’t been time for school or ribbons or boys. The isolation had stopped bothering her once she started writing, but looking back, a lonely pang echoed inside her heart. She rubbed Doris’s arm. “My adolescence differed greatly from yours. Enjoy your freedom and your friends.”
Doris pointed at the ribbon. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You sound like her… like Mother. Sometimes I dream about her and hear her voice. When I awaken, I realize it was your voice in my dream.” Doris spun to pick up her schoolbooks from the edge of the table, leaving Hannah gaping as the words took hold. Her sister had spent as many years being cared for by her as by their mother. Doris’s young mind had given their mother’s image Hannah’s voice.
The significance of Hannah’s influence on the children pressed her insides together. Her siblings had no mother, but they had her and would as long as they needed her. She passed a lunch pail to each of the girls and a second pail to Doris. “Hand this to Wade, please.”
She closed the door and waved goodbye through the window in the back door. Her breath fogged the glass, which had once been a window in the sterncastle of the ship that brought them to this uncharted land. After that arduous voyage aboard the Providence, the families had spent years building the settlement of Good Springs, but before she could enjoy the new village and schoolhouse, her mother passed away, entrusting her with the task of mothering five children.
A stack of dirty dishes called to her as did the dough that needed baking and laundry that needed washing. She traced a finger over the folded piece of paper in her pocket. She might not have the freedom to choose her lot or experience her own romance, but she was the master of her stories, the creator and controller of an ideal universe where adventure awaited, health abounded, and love made people glad to be alive.
If she couldn’t have the life she dreamed of, she could create it for Adeline and Aric. They deserved to live happily ever after. Now if only she could finish her story in a way she felt was worthy of her noble characters, even though no one besides Olivia would ever read it.
Download All Things Beautiful in the Kindle store to continue the story.
More Books by Keely Brooke Keith
The Land Uncharted
Book One in the Uncharted series
A hidden land settled by peaceful people
The first outsider in 160 years
Lydia Colburn is a young physician dedicated to serving her village in the Land, an undetectable island in the South Atlantic Ocean. When Lt. Connor Bradshaw’s parachute carries him from the world war to Lydia's hidden land, his mission could expose her simple society.
As Connor searches for a way to return to his squadron, his fascination with life in the Land makes him protective of Lydia and her peaceful homeland, and L
ydia’s attraction to Connor stirs desires she never anticipated. But will they be able to keep the Land hidden?
Uncharted Redemption
Book Two in the Uncharted series
Mandy Foster spends her days building musical instruments and her nights avoiding the discontent that plagues her after sundown. She’s learned how to guard her heart with skillfully played songs and flirtatious smiles.
Levi Colburn is building his house outside the village—across the road from Mandy to be exact. Though he’s been in love with Mandy since childhood, she rejected him once and has been unattainable to every man in the village ever since.
When Mandy’s life is in danger, it’s up to Levi to rescue her.
But will she accept the tender care of the one man who truly loves her?
If she does, her secret would be exposed.
Uncharted Inheritance
Book Three in the Uncharted series
As Bethany Colburn completes her apprenticeship and dodges unwanted suitors, a mysterious man arrives in her village. He brings charm Bethany has never encountered and illness the Land has never known. She will need more than her heightened intuition to uncover the truth about life in the Land.
Just when Everett Foster finds the courage to confess his love for Bethany, a stranger threatens his future with her—and their whole society. Everett must protect the Land, run a farm, and win back Bethany’s heart.
Christmas with the Colburns
Book Four in the Uncharted series
It’s Christmastime in Good Springs, and Lydia Bradshaw is eager for the light at the end of her year—the Colburn family’s big holiday gathering. When she discovers none of her siblings are coming back to the village this year, she believes Christmas will be ruined. As Lydia faces a gloomy holiday in the Colburn house, an unexpected discovery brightens her favorite season. Will it be enough to rekindle the light of Christmas?
Spend Christmas with the Colburns in this inspirational holiday novella. Holiday recipe included!
Uncharted Hope
Book Five in the Uncharted series
Sophia Ashton’s new medical assistant job comes with the perks of living on the Colburn property, which include being surrounded by a loving family—something she’s never known. During the job’s trial period, a patient puts Sophia in a questionable position. Now she must prove her competence or lose her job and home.
Nicholas Vestal is working on a sheep farm to earn a starter flock, but before his contract is up, he inherits a house in the village. While fixing up the old house, he pursues Sophia Ashton, believing she is the woman God wants him to marry. But when Sophia’s difficult past blocks Nicholas’s plan, he must find a way to her heart.
Meanwhile, outside the Land...
When plant biologist Bailey Colburn is offered a research job, she knows Justin Mercer is playing her somehow. Working for the former naval flight officer sounds better than her other options in post-war Norfolk, even though Justin says he once met her long lost relatives. But when Justin introduces Bailey to the mysterious gray leaf tree, his unbelievable claims change her world.
Uncharted Journey
Book Six in the Uncharted series
Young widow Eva Vestal assumes loneliness is God’s permanent plan for her life. She keeps busy by raising her son and co-managing the Inn at Falls Creek with her elderly father, but her heart yearns for more.
Solomon “Solo” Cotter has spent his life working with horses, but he secretly wants to write a book of the children’s stories his grandfather told him as a boy. He barters with Eva’s father for a 40-night stay at the inn, a needed respite from work to get his stories on paper.
Once Eva discovers the barter, she believes Solo is taking advantage of her father’s failing memory. But when tragedy strikes and Solo works hard to save the inn, Eva sees his true nature. As her heart stirs with feelings for Solo, she wrestles with the guilt of loving someone new.
Meanwhile, outside the Land...
Bailey Colburn arrives at the coordinates of the Land on the autumn equinox and finds nothing but ocean. The sun sets, ending Bailey’s dream of a safe and simple life with the family she’s never known. Just when she decides Justin Mercer lied about visiting a hidden land in the South Atlantic Ocean and meeting Bailey’s distant relatives, the atmosphere around the boat changes and ushers her into an uncharted world, but her entrance into the Land comes at a devastating price.
Uncharted Destiny
Book Seven in the Uncharted series
Bailey Colburn is safe in the Land, but her father figure, Professor Tim, never made it to Good Springs. When Bailey discovers Tim is lost in the Land’s dangerous mountain terrain and out of his life-saving medication, she sets out to rescue him. Even with the help of intriguing native Revel Roberts, Bailey faces an impossible journey to save Tim. The mountains are shrouded in dark folklore and full of deadly surprises.
Revel Roberts never stays in one place too long. No matter where he travels in the Land, he avoids the Inn at Falls Creek, his boyhood home and the business he will inherit. But when fearless newcomer Bailey Colburn needs Revel’s help to find her friend, he joins the mission and is forced to return to the place he’d rather forget.
Bailey and Revel’s friendship strengthens as they need each other in ways neither of them imagined. But nothing can prepare them for what awaits in the Land’s treacherous mountains.
Uncharted Promises
Book Eight in the Uncharted series
Sybil Roberts uses the warmth of delicious meals to lift the spirits of road-weary travelers at The Inn at Falls Creek. Her life at the inn would be perfect if she could just get her brothers and mother to move back home.
And if she could see Isaac Owens again.
He visited the inn once when he interviewed for the farm manager job, and she’s dreamed of his return to Falls Creek ever since.
Isaac Owens knows how to run a farm. His family might not have faith in him, but if he succeeds at Falls Creek, he’ll prove them wrong. He arrives at the inn thinking the job is his, but the inn’s senile owner offered the position to another man too. Isaac must spend the winter competing if he wants to win the job… and Sybil’s heart.
It will take more than warm meals on cold nights for Sybil and Isaac to find love while working at the isolated inn.
The Uncharted Beginnings Series
Aboard Providence
Book One in the Uncharted Beginnings series
In November 1860, Marian Foster joins a group of Virginia families who are sailing away from America to form a new settlement off the coast of Brazil. As an amateur botanist, Marian eagerly anticipates exploring a new land. During the voyage, her heart is drawn to Jonah Ashton, the ship’s handsome physician.
When family obligation forces Jonah Ashton to escort his family to their new settlement, he plans to return to medical school in Philadelphia immediately. But while sailing, he is beguiled by Marian’s optimistic spirit and finds himself in uncharted waters.
And soon an uncharted land.
The mysterious island is all Marian has ever dreamed of.
Soon Jonah makes a startling discovery that changes everything, but will it change his heart?
Above Rubies
Book Two in the Uncharted Beginnings series
It’s 1863, and Olivia Owens believes education should be a top priority in the new settlement of Good Springs. Between planning lessons and helping on her family’s homestead, Olivia doesn’t have time for Gabriel McIntosh’s charming advances. When the council denies her request to build a schoolhouse, Olivia must challenge their ruling while hiding frequent bouts of word blindness (dyslexia).
If the council knew the new teacher couldn’t always read, they wouldn’t allow Olivia to teach anymore.
As a carpenter, Gabe McIntosh is working hard to help build the settlement of Good Springs, and once his land is granted, he begins constructing his own house. When Olivia discovers he plans to share it with her, she
guards her heart from him. But Gabe is determined to win her affection and to discover what she’s hiding.
All Things Beautiful
Book Three in the Uncharted Beginnings series
He is the last person she wants reading her story…
And the first person to awaken her heart.
It’s 1868 in the settlement of Good Springs, and Hannah Vestal is passionate about writing fiction and keeping her stories to herself. By lantern light she slips into her story world and dreams the adventures she’ll never experience. When her father asks to read her work, she decides to have it printed secretly for his 50th birthday. Hannah tries to arrange the printing with the settlement’s pressman, but the witty and dapper Henry Roberts won’t make it easy for her to prove her writing is worthy of his ink.
If Henry Roberts did nothing else for the rest of his life but print and bind books, he would die a satisfied man. In order to secure settlement support for his printing press, the elder council says Henry must print an error-free copy of the New Testament before the settlement’s 8th anniversary celebration. He is determined to meet their challenge, but when the enigmatic Hannah proves to be a beguiling distraction, Henry longs for something more than a life at the letterpress.
About the Author
Above Rubies (Uncharted Beginnings Book 2) Page 22