Sarah Jane (Countdown to Christmas Book 1)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  "This is wonderful, Edna Petunia," Sarah Jane said. "Thank you for taking the time to bake us a wedding cake. It's very good."

  Chrissy put her head down onto the table and stared at Cletus, watching every bite that went into the man's mouth.

  Cletus smiled at the little girl, licking his lips. "Best cake I ever did eat. You know what, snickerdoodle? I'd like another piece. Chrissy didn't get one, so I'll just eat hers."

  Chrissy's eyes widened with shock. Obviously, her antics had worked with other people, but they weren't working with Cletus. "You can't eat my piece!"

  "Won't be good in a week. You know what, Chrissy?"

  "What?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

  "I think I'll have two desserts every night for a week, just to keep everything in the world in balance." Cletus winked at Sarah Jane and Micah, showing them his support.

  Micah turned a laugh into a cough when Sarah Jane elbowed him. "Don't you dare laugh," she hissed under her breath.

  "Being a father is hard work!" Micah replied, keeping his face down so she wouldn't see the laughter trying to escape his lips. "Delicious cake, Edna Petunia."

  "You should see the hats I make!" Edna replied.

  "Hats?" Micah asked. He felt as if he was missing something.

  "I was a hat maker before I retired to start my adventure with the Sullivan girls."

  "Sullivan girls?" Now he knew he was missing something.

  "Dr. Iris Harvey was the eighth in a line of girls with flower names. Their last name was Sullivan. I made hats before I became an honorary Sullivan."

  Micah swallowed the cake in his mouth, nodding as if he understood. "How did you become an honorary Sullivan?" he asked, certain even as he did he'd regret the question.

  "By taking on a flower name, of course. You don't think someone in their right mind would name their daughter Edna Petunia, do you?"

  Not certain how to respond to that, Micah kept his mouth shut. This time, he was the one to elbow Sarah Jane when she turned her laugh into a cough.

  Chapter Seven

  Chrissy was back to her sweet self by the time they reached the parsonage that evening. She talked excitedly to Micah and Sarah Jane about their new lives together as if nothing had happened.

  "I'm going to be the best girl in the whole wide world!" she announced. "I'll make my bed, and help with chores, and do anything you ask of me. I'll even help cook!"

  Sarah Jane and Micah looked at each other over the top of her head. Micah thought she reminded him of a book he'd read recently by Robert Lewis Stevenson called Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The child was sweet as could be one moment and a real hellion the next. He never knew who she was going to be. He sincerely hoped it was simply the way she'd been raised that made her act so erratically and not something wrong with her.

  When Sarah Jane and Chrissy went to bed, they prayed together in the spare room. Chrissy's prayer helped Sarah Jane understand her a bit better.

  "Please, God, help me to be a good girl. I know I can be naughty at times, but I do want to be good. And help my new mama and daddy love me always. I don't want them to stop just because I'm naughty. In Jesus's name. Amen."

  Sarah Jane hugged her tightly. "We're not going to stop loving you. We'll punish you when you misbehave, but neither of us will ever stop loving you. I promise."

  Chrissy had tears streaming down her face. "Everyone else did."

  When Sarah Jane tried to get her to say more, the child remained silent, her eyes closed.

  * * *

  After breakfast on Tuesday morning, Sarah Jane set out for the orphanage, Chrissy's hand gripped tightly in hers. She knew she should talk to Mrs. Henderson about cutting back to half days. She needed to have time to focus on the cooking and cleaning she'd have to do as a new wife, and she wanted to spend as much time with Chrissy as possible.

  She was worried. Chrissy woke during the night, out of breath and crying. Sarah Jane had woken with her, holding her and rocking her back and forth, but it was two hours before either of them had gotten back to sleep. Sarah Jane hoped that wasn't a regular occurrence.

  When they reached the orphanage, Chrissy started crying. "Please don't give me back! I'll be good! I promise!"

  "I know you will, baby. We're not giving you back! I work here every day."

  "May I stay at home? Or with my new grandma? I don't want to go back!"

  Sarah Jane shook her head, not understanding. "You were here for less than a week, Chrissy! Did someone mistreat you?"

  "Not here," Chrissy mumbled.

  "Were you mistreated at another children's home?"

  Chrissy shrugged. "No."

  "Then why don't you want to go back?"

  "Everyone always takes me back. No one wants to keep me."

  Sarah Jane didn't understand, and she knew she had to. Understanding her new daughter's fears was one of the most important things she must do. When they reached the orphanage, she talked to the matron. "I'm not going to be able to keep working more than half days. I'm so sorry."

  The matron patted Sarah Jane's arm affectionately. "Truly, I'm surprised you're here at all. I thought you'd decide not to come back once you were married."

  "I wouldn't do that to you. Not without some notice at least." She lowered her voice as she watched Chrissy skip away to play as if she hadn't just gotten upset. "I need to see Chrissy's records, if you don't mind. She's acting oddly."

  The matron nodded. "It's an interesting read."

  Sarah Jane sighed. "I was afraid of that." She followed the matron to her office.

  "You sit here and read while I take care of the children. I'll go for my break after you're done, and make certain to be back here by the noon hour so you can go home and do what you need to do there."

  "Thank you." Sarah Jane picked up the file and started reading.

  An hour later, she closed it, rubbing her forehead. She truly wished they'd had the foresight to read it before adopting the girl, but she knew deep down she and Micah both still would have wanted her. She belonged with them.

  On their way home, Sarah Jane and Chrissy stopped at the mercantile, buying the things they needed for meals for the next few days. The budget Micah had given her to spend was strict, but not so bad she couldn't make it work.

  As she piled what they needed on the counter, Lewis asked, "How would you feel about earning a little money?"

  Sarah Jane had never worried about finances, but she knew she would like to be able to buy something nice for Micah, and Chrissy desperately needed some clothes. Edna Petunia would always help if asked, but she didn't want to ask. She wanted to be able to do it on her own. "Doing what?"

  "Right now, it's all Ruby can do to keep up with the twins. If you could make dinner until the baby's born, and maybe for a week after, that would help us out tremendously."

  Sarah Jane thought about it. The parsonage was only a few houses down from the mercantile where Ruby and her family lived and worked. "I'd be happy to cook for you all. I couldn't ask for money, though."

  "You're not living with Edna Petunia any longer, Sarah Jane. You're going to find you need the money. Please accept it. I won't feel right about you helping out if I don't pay you at least a little for it."

  Sara Jane finally nodded. "That would be fine, but will you pay me in goods and not with money? There's something I have my eye on for Micah for Christmas."

  Lewis grinned, nodding. "I'd love to do that. Could you start tomorrow?"

  Sarah Jane thought about everything she needed to do and nodded anyway. "I can start today. I remember what a hard time Ruby had last time she delivered, and she didn't have twin toddlers then."

  "Thank you! The boys are going to rebel if I make one more meal. The twins don't seem to care."

  Sarah Jane laughed. "Of course the twins don't care. They're still too little to know the difference."

  Chrissy glared at Lewis. "We need my mama at our house. You can't have her!"

  Lewis laughed. "I only need her hel
p for a few weeks. My wife is about to have a baby."

  "Oh. I don't much like babies."

  Sarah Jane bit her lip. "This baby will be your cousin."

  Chrissy seemed to think about that for a moment. "I guess that's all right, then."

  Sarah Jane shook her head as she picked up the box of goods. "Do you want us to come over to cook?" she asked, wondering how she was going to manage if he did. It would be difficult for her to cook dinner at both homes.

  Lewis shook his head. "Just cook it at home, and I'll come pick it up when I close the store at six. Will that work for you?"

  "That's fine. Thanks, Lewis."

  She and Chrissy walked the rest of the way home while Sarah Jane thought about what she had on hand that she could quickly turn into a meal for their family for lunch. Finally she lit on making French toast out of the stale bread on their table. That would use up the food and keep it from being wasted, but also give them a bit of a treat.

  She planned to spend the afternoon baking some bread and cleaning as well as cooking supper for her family and now Ruby's. It was going to be hard to get it all done, but if she made the same thing for both families, it would help.

  Chrissy washed her hands, and Sarah Jane carefully tied one of her aprons around her before pulling her own over her dress. Together they made French toast, and had just enough time to get it onto the table when Micah arrived.

  "What's for lunch?" he asked, hugging Chrissy and kissing Sarah Jane's cheek.

  "We made French toast!" Chrissy announced excitedly.

  "You did? I don't think I've ever had French toast," Micah said. He glanced at the table. "Looks and smells wonderful."

  When Micah had left again, Sarah Jane gazed down at Chrissy. "You have two choices. You can help me with my chores this afternoon, or you can take a nap."

  "I'll help!" Chrissy said enthusiastically.

  Sarah Jane smiled. "I'm so relieved. I wasn't sure I could do all the work myself." She cleared the table with Chrissy following behind her. "Now we need to wash dishes. Do you want to dry them while I wash?"

  Once the dishes were done, they mixed dough for several loaves of bread, and while it was rising, Sarah Jane had Chrissy wash some carrots and potatoes, which she then peeled. "We're making stew for supper."

  "Beef stew?" Chrissy asked.

  "Yes, beef stew. Do you like beef stew?" Sarah Jane asked. So far the child had been willing to eat everything put in front of her, so she wasn't terribly worried.

  "I love it!"

  Once the stew was on, Sarah Jane punched down the bread and put it in pans to rise again. While it was rising, she smiled at Chrissy. "Even though you're not allowed to have dessert, your new daddy loves dessert, and so does Ruby's family. Why don't we make two cakes?"

  Chrissy frowned at the mention of her punishment, but she nodded. "I'd like that."

  It was half past four before they got the bread out of the oven and had the cakes frosted. Sarah Jane was used to hard work, but she wasn't used to doing it with her sleep so badly interrupted. She also knew she needed to share what she'd found out about their new daughter with Micah that night. Hopefully, the insight she'd gleaned would help them understand the girl better.

  When Micah walked into the house at half past six, the kitchen was clean, but he couldn't see that any other work had been done in the house. He was disappointed that more cleaning hadn't been done, but Sarah Jane was a new wife. And the smells from the kitchen were heavenly.

  When Sarah Jane brought out dessert, all was forgiven. He would never be able to get upset with her if she continued to cater to his sweet tooth. "I can't believe you had time to bake a cake."

  "I know how much you love sweets," Sarah Jane responded.

  She sat at the table with her own cake in front of her, eating small bites. She was more tired than hungry, but she wasn't about to admit that to him. Chrissy drank her milk and looked sad while they ate cake, but she didn't complain. She was taking her punishment better today.

  Chrissy helped Sarah Jane with the dishes after supper before going to her room to play with her new baby doll. As soon as she'd left, Sarah Jane said to Micah, "I learned some things by reading Chrissy's file today. We have a lot to talk about after she's asleep."

  Micah's eyes widened. "That bad?"

  Sarah Jane shrugged. "I think we still would have chosen to adopt her if we'd known, but we'd have had a better idea what to expect. I don't want to talk about it while she's awake, though."

  Micah sighed. "All right. We'll talk later."

  * * *

  Once Chrissy was asleep, Sarah Jane slipped out of bed and met Micah in the parlor. She was wearing just a light wrap over her nightgown, and would normally have changed entirely, but she was married to the man. Surely it was fine if he saw her in her nightgown.

  Micah was working on his sermon, a stack of paper in front of him and a pencil in hand. He looked up as she came into the room, thinking that she looked beautiful with her hair in disarray.

  Sarah Jane sat on the sofa beside Micah, gathering her courage to tell him what she'd read in Chrissy's file. "When I got to the orphanage with Chrissy today, she started crying, so I thought she'd been mistreated in our orphanage, or in another, but she said she hadn't. So I asked the matron to let me read her file."

  "What did it say?" Micah was almost too afraid to ask.

  "Well, she's been in and out of orphanages since she was small. She was born to a prostitute in Hell's Half Acre in Fort Worth. The woman had no idea who Chrissy's father was. She kept Chrissy for the first two years of her life, but it became difficult for her to keep working in her profession with a small child to care for." Sarah Jane said the words quickly because she was embarrassed to have to talk about prostitutes, even with her husband. It wasn't something a lady should know about.

  "So she left her at the orphanage?"

  "If only that's all she did." Sarah Jane shook her head. "She left her at the orphanage, and then a month later, realized she couldn't live without her, so she went back to get her. But two months later, she was back. The periods at the orphanage grew longer, and the time with her mother shorter, until finally, when Chrissy was four, her mother married, and her new husband made it clear he didn't want a child. She dropped her off and never returned."

  "That's sad."

  Sarah Jane sighed. "I know. I feel badly for her. When she had been there about four months, a nice couple took her home, but her erratic behavior had them taking her back two weeks later. Five different couples have tried to adopt her, and they all took her back to the orphanage. That's why she volunteered to come to the orphanage here. She thought there would be new people to take her home with them."

  Micah frowned. "Her behavior is very inconsistent, but it sounds like her life has been crazy. If we show her the love she deserves to have, I think we can help her be the best person she can be."

  "I agree. I'd have taken her even knowing everything I know now, but I'd have been more prepared. Taken more time with it to explain to her what we expect and not jumped in with both feet. I know how hard it is to be left at an orphanage by people you think are going to keep you forever."

  Micah took her hand in his. "We're never going to do that to Chrissy. There's nothing she could do that would make me send her back. She's ours now, and we're going to make the most of it. But we're going to have to be very strict with her."

  "Yes, we are. By being strict and always doing what we say we'll do, we'll show her that we love her." Sarah Jane sighed. "I wish I could erase every time she's been abandoned because I know how much it hurts."

  "I know. It would be so much easier if we had gotten her when she was first left at the orphanage, but we can't go back in time. We can only do the best we can for her now, and that's giving her a good Christian upbringing. And loving her." He looked into Sarah Jane's eyes. "And we need her to know that we care about each other, too. I feel like we've only focused on Chrissy for days. We need to concentrate on our
relationship as well."

  Sarah Jane nodded, feeling shy. "We do. She's going to take a lot of energy, though."

  Micah leaned down and brushed her lips with his. "She will. For the next month at least, our main interest should be on her, but I think we should also set aside an hour after she falls asleep to spend time with each other. I want to know everything about my new wife."

  "And I want to know all about my new husband." She snuggled close to his side, her head on his shoulder. "Why did you decide to become a pastor? Didn't your father want you to take over his ranch?"

  "I have always had a strong love for the Lord, but I figured I'd follow in my father's footsteps. Something inside me changed when I was seventeen. We had an itinerant preacher fill in for our pastor one week, and his sermon raised the hair on my arms. It wasn't about hellfire and damnation like my normal pastor preached about. Instead, it was about God's love and forgiveness. It made me feel like I needed to help spread the message."

  "How did your father react to that?" she asked.

  "Oh, he wasn't happy with me. My older sister married a few months later, though, and her husband's ranch borders on my father's. They decided to merge the ranches together and build an empire. Now he's happy because he has three grandsons to carry on the family tradition. It won't be called Barton Ranch anymore, but at least it'll be his blood running it."

  "I don't know how my real parents would have felt about me marrying a minister. I have few memories of them. If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can picture a woman with blond hair and beautiful green eyes. Her voice was soft and full of love. My father was a big man with brown hair, and I remember his booming laugh. That's the only thing I remember about either of them. I hate that."

  He hugged her to him with the arm he'd placed around her shoulders. "What about the pastor and his wife?"

  Sarah Jane shrugged. "They were always kind to me, and they worked hard to instill their love of God in me. She trained me to be a good wife and mother. Both of them were very strict." She shuddered, remembering a time she'd talked back and had been forced to spend her evening on her knees praying for forgiveness for her undisciplined tongue. "I think in my mind, I've glorified the time I spent with them. I tie my years with them to my relationship with God, and that's not right. Yes, they brought me to love God, but they took me back to the orphanage like I was nobody to them. It never bothered me before, but I see how Chrissy reacts, and I realize they weren't as good as I've built them up to be."