Enchanting Nicholette

by Dawn Crandall

  When the butler drew open the door, he welcomed them in, as normally as possible, I supposed, and then as Bram Everstone, his wife, Vance, Violet, and Miss Abernathy all walked into the entryway, Estella stepped past the threshold and apparently could do nothing save wrap her arms around her father and hug him. A moment later, the rest of us from the two front parlors joined them in the hall and Bram Everstone’s surprise at seeing everyone there took its effect.

  “My, what a crowd!”

  “It’s all for you, Father. We thought you’d enjoy seeing more than just your newest grandchild.”

  “And you couldn’t have been more right, daughter.”

  After the party settled down a bit, everyone congregated into one of the parlors and sat around the long spacious room. Cal and I sat in the far corner with his mother and Miss Abernathy, giving the Everstones their space as they talked, visited, and cooed over the grandchildren, including Estella’s newborn.

  Wishing we’d made it to Blakeley House with time to relax after our ten-hour journey from Boston, I couldn’t help but rest my head upon Cal’s shoulder. “What it must be like to travel from Boston to Severville in the comfort of your own Pullman rail car…Bram and Evangeline look as fresh as I felt this morning when boarding.”

  Cal leaned in and whispered smartly, “They also had a little time at Everston before joining us here.”

  I turned my head, the edge of his jaw at my brow. “We should have come up yesterday. I probably look a fright from our long journey today.”

  “Not true. You look perfectly wonderful.” He brought a finger up to my neck and caressed the back of my ear. “Delectably scrumptious, in fact.”

  Smiling, I looked up and noticed a maid walk into the room from the farthest entrance, rolling a cart with what looked like a chocolate cake…with candles?

  Violet stood from her seat with Mabel and took Vance by the hand, leading him to the cake. The rest of the guests stood then as well, Cal and I included, and gathered at the other end of the room around the cart.

  Dexter stood between everyone and the cake, holding his newborn son. “Now, it just happens that baby Kent came along just in time to celebrate someone else’s birthday as well.” He held his hand out to his brother-in-law. “Vance turns twenty-nine today.”

  Before Vance could reply, Bram Everstone started in with the first words to the tune, “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” and everyone else immediately joined in, singing the song in Vance’s honor.

  Again, I marveled at how God had made a place for him, this black sheep of the Everstones—this prodigal son come home—who was evidently still so loved by his family, despite everything he’d put them through over the years.

  Cal took my hand as we stood behind the crowd of the family that had almost been mine…and still sort of was. He feathered his fingers over my palm, catching my attention, and my gaze. I breathed one word, “What?”

  “We are blessed, indeed, with such friends.”

  “Indeed.”

  Once the song was finished, Vance faced everyone unabashedly, looking as if he’d taken the stage and had something important to say. “Well, that was entirely uncalled for…but since you’re all here and waiting for me to say something…” He looked to Violet for a moment and she smiled, so he continued. “I will say something. Violet informed me yesterday that in about six months, she’s going to have a baby.”

  After this momentous news, there really was no stopping the hustle and bustle in the room as everyone shared their congratulatory remarks. With the excitement of such wonderful things to come, the joy was contagious.

  Looking across the long room, I noticed both Miss Abernathy and my mother-in-law slumped over in the two armchairs in the corner, fast asleep. Well, at least they were getting their rest. And Mabel and Violet were chatting boisterously with Amaryllis and Meredyth as they all got to know each other better.

  “Goodness,” I whispered to Cal. “All these people…and the busyness…I honestly don’t think we’ve been in such a crowd more than once, and that was at the Charity Ball last month. Which absolutely seems as though it were a thousand years ago. So many things have changed since that night.”

  My husband of three weeks took a step forward, an irresistible little smirk upon his lips. “The best of all is the fact that you’re now all mine.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s more that you’re now all mine.”

  “We could debate…or we could simply excuse ourselves to the balcony over there...” Cal nodded toward the double leaded glass doors at the center of the room. “We could endeavor to reconcile our differences, as I have a very good idea about just how to do that…”

  I playfully elbowed Cal in the side, smiling most giddily, a little embarrassed that someone in the room might overhear him say such silly things.

  Cal’s expression suddenly turned thoughtful. “We could also discuss a few other possibilities regarding spending more time up here near Everston. It is gorgeous up here—and we’d be close to Mother, not to mention Vance, Violet, Estella, and Dexter.”

  “Do you mean move up here—build a house of our own?”

  “For the summers, at least. Or we could simply live at Everston for a few months a year. Summers here are said to be quite pleasant. What do you think?”

  Astonished by this sudden and very welcome idea, I could only stare at him and let out a little half-laugh. I took a few steps closer to the windows along the wall next to the doors leading out to the balcony, looking at the woods and mountains surrounding Blakeley House with new eyes. Cal followed me, taking my hand again as he opened the door and quietly led me outside.

  “What do you think?” he asked again as he closed the door behind us.

  “I think it would be…marvelous.”

  “Marvelous, yes, but I’m not so certain how much May will love the idea. She may want to remain in Boston; I can’t see her relishing having to spend an entire summer in the country, even with the crowds Everston would provide. It was difficult enough trying to get her to come up for the next two weeks.”

  “We could have her stay the summer with someone… like Sylvie is right now. They both have lots of friends who would love to have them for a summer.”

  “Well, then, the plans are set.” The wind picked up just then, sending the long, loose blonde strands of my hair flowing in the breeze. Cal reached up and gathered them between his fingers and tucked them behind my ear. “Now, about what I said in there…” He gave a slight nod to the doors. “About reconciling our differences—”

  Before he could say another thing, I put my arms around his neck, pulled him down to me, and kissed him.

  After a few minutes, I pulled back. “You were right,” I admitted breathlessly, with as much seriousness as I could muster.

  Cal stared down at me, apparently a bit lost for words. “I was—I am?”

  “I suppose I can allow you to be right—that my being yours is the best thing to happen in the last five weeks...as long as you promise to keep kissing me like that.”

  “I can most definitely keep that promise,” he said softly with that enchanting smile of his. “For as long as you’d like, Mrs. Hawthorne.”

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