Gift of Grace

by Shanna Hatfield

  Mrs. Gibson just stared at him then finally turned to Nora and Anna. “And you two talked him into this?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say we talked him into it,” Nora said, glancing at Anna who nodded vigorously. “We merely asked if he had any opportunities open in which a woman might find gainful employment.”

  “That’s right,” Mr. Ackerman said, hunkering down and smiling at the two children on the blanket. He glanced up at Mrs. Gibson. “If you’re of a mind, we could get you settled into the house today. We’ll have to order some furniture for it, but there’s a table and chairs in the kitchen. You could bring whatever laundry you haven’t finished and do it there. It’s warm and would be far more comfortable for you and the little ones.”

  Nora felt as though she might explode from excitement when the woman slowly nodded her head.

  “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, but I’m warning you right now, I sleep with a revolver next to me at night and know how to shoot it.” Mrs. Gibson gave the livery owner a pointed look.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Mr. Ackerman said with a grin. “Shall we get you loaded? Mrs. Nash has a wagon right outside.”

  It took only minutes to load all the woman’s belongings in the wagon. Mr. Ackerman carried Violet and John, settling them into a nest of blankets Anna had created for them. The children stared at the big man with round, awe-filled eyes. Mrs. Gibson cradled Bess close to her as Mr. Ackerman drove the wagon to his newly purchased house.

  By the time the wagon was unloaded, Mr. Ackerman had a cheerful fire snapping in the fireplace of the parlor as well as in the kitchen stove. A bedroom off the kitchen would make a warm, comfortable place for Mrs. Gibson and her children to sleep. The bed in the room was big enough for her and the two older children to share.

  Nora couldn’t hide her pleasure or surprise when Mr. Ackerman hurried up the stairs and returned carrying a beautiful cradle.

  “It was in the attic,” he said, setting the cradle in the kitchen. “Just needs a little dusting.”

  Mrs. Gibson, who’d remained quiet and tight-lipped, turned to face them with tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, then buried her face in the threadbare blanket wrapped around Bess and began to sob.

  Nora hurried to give the woman a hug while Anna offered her a handkerchief. Mr. Ackerman stood watching them, as though he had no idea how to handle emotional women, which he most likely didn’t.

  “I’ll be back in a while with some supplies,” he said, edging toward the door. “I’ll plan on you taking a look at the ledgers on Monday.”

  Mrs. Gibson wiped away her tears and nodded at him. “Thank you, Mr. Ackerman. I’ll work hard for you and make this boarding house the best in the area.”

  “I’m sure you will, ma’am. Now, you keep those fires stoked and I’ll be back soon.”

  Mrs. Gibson looked at Nora and then Anna. “I can’t thank you enough for your help. I just never thought… I couldn’t even begin to hope.” The woman sighed and smiled at them. “Thank you.”

  “It’s our pleasure. Just keep those sweet babies of yours safe and warm.” Nora moved toward the door with Anna beside her. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas,” Mrs. Gibson said, smiling. Her face transformed from hard and careworn to lovely.

  Once they were outside in the wagon, Nora and Anna hugged, overjoyed they’d been able to accomplish something that had seemed impossible.

  “I think we should celebrate with lunch at the hotel then shopping,” Nora said, as they started down the street.

  “Lunch sounds delightful,” Anna said with a smile. “As Erik would say, my tummy is telling me it’s time to eat.”

  Nora parked the wagon near the mercantile then the two women made their way inside the hotel, arm in arm. They stopped and stared at the towering Christmas tree in the hotel’s ornate lobby and the garlands draped along the front desk. More garlands and red ribbons decorated the dining room.

  After eating a delicious chicken pie, they enjoyed cups of tea with slices of moist white cake then ventured to the mercantile to shop.

  While Anna gathered supplies she needed for baking a few more holiday treats, Nora wandered over to a watch display. The day Plutarch had tossed J.B. around like a sack of flour, the horse had broken his watch. Nora thought a new watch, inscribed, would be the perfect gift for J.B.

  Most of the watches were gold with ornate scrolls and flowers, but one stood out to her. Silver, with an image of a horse on the outside, the timepiece would be perfect for her husband.

  “Mr. Johnson?” Nora smiled at the store owner as he restocked a shelf nearby while his wife helped customers at the front counter.

  “How may I help you, Mrs. Nash?” he asked, as he strode over to her.

  “I’d like to purchase a watch, that silver one,” she said, pointing to the display case.

  “An excellent choice,” he said, opening the case and handing her the timepiece.

  “Is there any possibility I could have it engraved?”

  Mr. Johnson grinned. “My wife just happens to be quite adept at doing inscription work. If you don’t mind waiting a few moments, I’m sure she’d be happy to do that for you.”

  “Wonderful!” Nora exclaimed, then followed him to the front counter where she wrote out the inscription then continued shopping. As she looked around the store, filled with happy shoppers and Christmas cheer, she felt the spirit of the season seep into her. This was what she’d been missing—a joyous feeling beyond description.

  She picked up a basket and began filling it with items. Nora selected a small toy for each of the older Gibson children. She added a book for Pastor Whitting, and a lovely etched mirror for Doctor and Mrs. Reed.

  By the time she returned to the front counter, Anna was there with an overflowing basket of items, too.

  “Did you choose something frivolous, just for you?” Nora asked, peering at the woman’s purchases.

  Anna nodded her head and held up a beautiful bottle of French perfume. She held it out for Nora to smell.

  “That is divine,” Nora said, taking a second whiff. “Einar will be pleased.”

  A blush of bright pink stained Anna’s cheeks, but she smiled and leaned toward Nora and spoke in a whisper. “He bought me a bottle of that perfume when we were newly married. We both enjoyed it.”

  Nora grinned at her friend. Mr. Johnson rang up her purchases then handed her the watch his wife had just finished engraving. After reading it, Nora offered him a pleased smile. “It’s perfect. Thank you for doing that for me.”

  “You’re most welcome.” Mr. Johnson said, hurrying to box up her purchases.

  A half-grown boy he’d hired to help around the store and make deliveries carried their purchases out to the wagon for them. Nora gave him a nickel and he tipped his worn cap to her.

  “Many thanks, Mrs. Nash. Merry Christmas!” he called as he rushed back inside the store.

  “It is going to be a Merry Christmas,” Nora said as she climbed up on the wagon.

  “I believe it will be.” Anna agreed as they headed out of town.

  When they drove past the empty shack Mrs. Gibson had vacated earlier that morning, they smiled at each other. Nora could hardly wait to get home and share what had transpired with J.B. It galled her to admit it, but she felt more like herself today than she had since Grace had passed away. Doing good, helping others, had filled her heart with something that had been missing for weeks. Something she didn’t ever want to lose again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Nora? We better get going or we’ll be late.” J.B. stood at the kitchen door, not wanting to track snow across the clean floor. “Nora?”

  “I’m ready. I just, um…” She moved into the doorway of the spare bedroom and looked at him. “Could you come here, please?”

  J.B. had no idea what she was doing and they didn’t have much time to waste. He’d promised Pastor Whitting they’d come early and help get things ready for the Chr
istmas Eve service. If Nora didn’t get out the door, soon, though, they’d be among the last to arrive.

  “We really need to go, Nora.” J.B. stepped into the bedroom, noticing right away Nora had the contents of Grace’s trunk spread out on the bed. His daughter’s beautifully embroidered gowns, the soft blankets Nora had swaddled her in were all there. He should have known today would be hard on his wife. He’d been struggling with the loss of their baby today more than he had in recent days. He couldn’t help but think about how much different things would be if they were taking Grace to her first Christmas Eve service.

  “J.B., I want to… Well, you see, I was thinking… That is, I, um…” Nora cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “These things aren’t doing anyone any good stuffed in a trunk. Mrs. Gibson’s baby has nothing, not even a warm blanket. Would you mind terribly if I give her some of Grace’s things?”

  Caught completely off guard, the air whooshed out of J.B. and he sank down onto the edge of the bed. The last thing he would have expected was for Nora to want to part with a single thing that had belonged to their daughter.

  Yet, there she stood with a pleading look on her face, wanting to share with someone in need. That was the Nora he’d fallen in love with, the Nora he greatly admired, the Nora that held his heart. Even so, he knew something about Nora was different, too. She’d come out on the other side of her grief a changed, more mature person.

  “Are you sure, Nora? It’s a wonderful thing to do, but once you give those things away, there’s no asking for them back.” J.B. picked up a soft pink blanket that still held the sweet fragrance of his daughter. He wasn’t sure he wanted all remembrances of her gone.

  “Why don’t we each choose two things to keep, and the rest we’ll give to Mrs. Gibson for her baby?” Nora spoke in a tender tone as she fingered a little dress she’d spent many hours laboring over to make sure each tuck, each tiny rosebud was perfect. “That child has nothing. None of them do.”

  “Do you want to take this to the Gibson family today?” J.B. asked, looking over all the baby things beside him on the bed. Could Nora really stand to part with them? She’d clung to each item for weeks and now she was willing to give it all away to a woman he wasn’t even sure she liked.

  “Yes, please. I thought we could perhaps stop after the church service. I have a few little gifts for the older children, and they’ll all benefit from these blankets.” Nora pointed to a stack of baby blankets. Some of them hadn’t even been used since Grace was yet so tiny when they lost her.

  “If that’s what you want to do, then we’ll do it.” J.B. swept his hand over the bed. “What two things would you like to keep?”

  Nora picked up a christening gown and a yellow blanket her grandmother had knit for the baby. “When we have more children, they’d be able to use both of these, even if it is a boy.”

  Surprised to hear her mention children in their future, J.B. smiled. He handed her the pink blanket, and the first gown he remembered seeing Grace wear. If he wasn’t mistaken, it had been a gift from the Erikson family. He added a rattle Jim had made and a spoon and bowl set Dent had spent hours carving, along with a pair of tiny white socks the doctor’s wife had knit for the baby. “We’ll keep those things.”

  Tears glistened in Nora’s eyes as she tenderly placed the remembrances back in the trunk. “If you set everything in that box there,” she pointed to a box on the floor by the door, “I’ll put on my coat and be ready to go.”

  J.B. caught her arm in his hand before she hurried out of the room and pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her cheek, breathing in her decadent scent. “You’re quite a woman, Nora Nash.”

  The glance she gave him over her shoulder held love and longing, along with appreciation. He let her go and she rushed from the room. It didn’t take him long to place everything in the box and carry it into the kitchen. Nora had on her coat and hat as she tucked treats into a basket. Another box on the counter held wrapped gifts he assumed she intended to give to the Gibson family.

  On the way to town, Nora chattered like she used to before grief left her so different from the girl he knew. She discussed their plans for later that evening when the hired men would join them for dinner and tomorrow when the Erickson family would share a meal with them. Admittedly, J.B. was as excited as Nora to see little Erik’s reaction to the toy ark she’d purchased for him. He could hardly wait to watch the boy when he realized the gift was for him.

  Nora had packages tucked beneath their beautifully decorated tree for Einar and Anna as well as Jim, Henry, and Lyle.

  Although J.B. would have been happy to open everything Christmas Eve, Nora wanted to wait until Christmas Day. Tonight, after dinner, they would light the candles on the tree and sing carols in the parlor. Nora could play the piano and sing like an angel, so the evening would be one he enjoyed. He’d admired the cornucopias she’d made out of paper and filled with candies and nuts. There were red and white paper hearts Anna had taught her to make as well as blown-glass balls her grandmother had sent as an early Christmas gift. She’d also hung a few ornaments she’d brought with her from Omaha, including a horse her father had carved for her when she was a young girl.

  They also had a nativity that belonged to her father’s parents and a few other sentimental items she’d placed on display. Between sprigs of greenery tied with red bows, a wreath on their front door, the Christmas tree, and the smell of spices from all her baking lingering in the air, their home felt festive and joyful.

  Had anyone asked J.B. even a week ago if he thought it would be a happy holiday at Nash’s Folly, he would have answered that he doubted it. But now, with Nora on the way back to her big-hearted, happy self, it was going to be a grand Christmas. One he was sure they’d long remember.

  “Warm enough, apple cheeks?” J.B. asked as they neared the edge of town.

  “With this stinky buffalo robe, I’m quite toasty,” Nora said with a cheeky grin. “Where did you get this atrocious thing?”

  “I traded a few pieces of beef and a slab of bacon to an old trapper. He was passing by, said he was heading somewhere his bones didn’t ache so much in the winter, whatever that means.” J.B. grinned at her. “I hoped airing it out would get rid of most of the smell. Maybe this summer you can rub it all over with flowers and it will have a better scent by next winter.”

  “I wonder if it’s possible to wash such a thing?” Nora looked down at the robe covering her from chin to toes.

  “I think the trapper coated it with something to keep out moisture. That could be part of what smells.”

  Nora wrinkled her nose but was too warm in her cocoon to push the smelly robe away.

  J.B. grinned at her as they drove through town and stopped at the church. A few wagons and one sleigh were already there. He jumped down then reached up for Nora, swinging her to the ground.

  “I need the basket with the green ribbon on the handle, please.” She pointed to the back of the wagon.

  “Here you go,” J.B. said, handing her the basket and then holding out his arm to her. She took it, leaning close to him as they hurried up the walk to the church and went inside. The Erickson family was there along with Mr. and Mrs. Tooley, and Doctor and Mrs. Reed. Pastor Whitting was adding wood to the stove at the front of the church while the others set out hymnals. Erik saw them and raced over, giving both of them a hug.

  “It’s Christmas Eve!” the boy proclaimed.

  “It certainly is. Are you excited for Santa Claus to visit you tonight?” J.B. asked as he bent down so he didn’t tower over the child.

  “Yep. I just know he’ll bring me something. I’ve tried to be good all year.”

  “And you’ve done a splendid job of it, Erik. Happy Christmas Eve!” Nora kissed the boy on the top of his head before he bounded off when a few children his age arrived.

  The service was well attended and full of the true meaning of the season. Pastor Whitting delivered an excellent sermon then ev
eryone gathered to partake of punch, cider, and cookies before heading home to their own festivities.

  J.B. hid his surprise at seeing Mrs. Gibson at the service with her children. It appeared Lou Ackerman had accompanied her. Perhaps there was a romance about to brew between the two of them. Lou might be a little rough around the edges, but he was a good, kind man. One who would treat Mrs. Gibson and her children well.

  “Nora, Mrs. Gibson is here. If you’re certain you want to give her that box of Grace’s things, I’ll go fetch it.” He bent down and whispered in his wife’s ear.

  Nora nodded. “Yes, please, J.B. Will you bring in the basket with the red ribbon, too?” She gave him a tearful look then turned to greet the pastor and handed him a wrapped gift from the basket she carried. He’d watched her hand out gifts and little packets of treats to most everyone in attendance. It warmed his heart to see her thoughtfully share the joy of the season with those around her.

  With a smile on his face and one warming his soul, he hurried out to the wagon and lifted the box of baby things then snatched up the basket and headed back inside the warmth of the church. He found Nora standing with Mrs. Gibson, holding the baby.

  She glanced up at J.B. with such a soft look on her face, J.B.’s breath caught in his chest. Yes, his Nora was definitely back.

  “Mrs. Gibson, we hope you’ll accept a few things for the baby. They belonged to our sweet Grace and we’d very much like for you to have them for Bess.” Nora kissed the baby’s brow then offered Mrs. Gibson a watery smile.

  J.B. held the box out toward the woman. Mr. Ackerman took it, holding it while Mrs. Gibson looked inside. She burst into tears and wrapped her arms around Nora, giving her a hug with the baby caught between them.

  Both women were crying and the baby began to wail at being stuck in the middle of their emotional display.

  Nora moved back with a choppy laugh and soothed the baby while Mrs. Gibson exclaimed over the blankets, clothes, and even diapers. She held up the tiny pair of red shoes and sniffled.