She rolled her eyes, but gave him a nod of agreement.
“Just give me a minute to let the kids know.” As he headed down the hall he smiled in satisfaction. Nice to see she could occasionally allow someone else to take charge.
Then his smile faded. Had he been too quick with his proposal? After all, he’d only arrived back in town with the kids this morning. If he’d given her more time before he proposed, might her answer have been different?
He supposed now he’d never know.
* * *
Janell lay in bed that evening, contemplating how quickly her world could change. It was difficult to believe that when she’d got up this morning, she hadn’t known of Alex and Chloe’s existence and had barely ever spoken two words to Mr. Chandler. Right now they all seemed like very important parts of her world.
Her heart went out to Chloe—she saw so much of her sister in the girl. But the thought of helping this hurting child energized Janell as nothing had in quite a while.
And little Alex—his consuming concern for his sister, despite his own loss, or perhaps because of it, touched her deeply. She had to find a way to help him just be a little boy again. And perhaps she could, especially once she got him in her classroom.
Then there was Mr. Chandler.
She rolled over on her side, trying to find a more comfortable position.
Her opinion of the sawmill owner had certainly undergone a dramatic change in the past twelve hours. No, that wasn’t quite accurate. She’d simply given him very little thought before today.
But now that she had noticed him, she found him to be a man of intriguing contradictions.
He could be gruff, but he wasn’t unkind. While he wasn’t classically handsome, his square-jawed ruggedness held more appeal for her.
He seemed unsure of himself around the children, but it was obvious he had their best interests at heart.
He’d also proved himself a gentleman on more than one occasion today.
And he had proposed to her. A marriage proposal was definitely the last thing she’d expected.
Not that it was a true proposal. After all, he was looking for a mother for the children, not a wife for himself. And even though the circumstances were much different than with her husband, she could never contemplate entering a loveless marriage again.
Still, what was most surprising of all the things that had happened today was that she’d found herself, if only for a brief moment, considering saying yes.
* * *
Janell arrived for church early the next morning, wanting to get there ahead of Mr. Chandler and the children.
She sought out Eve and another friend, Hazel Andrews, and asked for their help in making certain Chloe wasn’t overwhelmed by crowds of people.
She wished she had time to speak to Eve alone for a moment. It would be nice to have a chance to talk over yesterday’s surprising development with her friend. Perhaps they’d have that discussion later.
When the church bells rang, indicating it was time for the congregation to move inside, Janell still hadn’t seen any sign of Mr. Chandler and the children. Should she check on them? Should she have offered to help him get the children ready this morning?
She’d already taken a few steps in that direction when she caught sight of them, hurrying up the sidewalk. Chloe looked sullen and Alex appeared anxious. Mr. Chandler’s usual easygoing demeanor seemed a little frayed around the edges this morning, but they were all appropriately attired and headed this way.
“Hello, Alex, Chloe,” she greeted them as they drew closer. “You both look very nice in your Sunday clothes.”
Alex said a subdued thank-you. Chloe, as expected, said nothing.
Close up, both of the children appeared nervous. Without her cat, Chloe seemed much more vulnerable.
Janell turned to Mr. Chandler, determined to act as if yesterday’s proposal had never happened. And that became easier when she saw the uncharacteristically frazzled look on his face. “Shall we go inside?”
They were the last to enter the church. Fortunately, she had asked Eve to keep the back pew clear for them, and her friend had come through. Janell entered the pew first, then Chloe, Alex and finally Mr. Chandler.
They received several smiles and nods, but fortunately, the service started almost immediately and everyone turned to face front.
Janell knew the service was lost on Chloe and that the girl disliked being here. But Chloe had to learn to spend time among people again, and church was a very safe place to start. For one thing, while the service was in progress she didn’t have to interact with anyone. For another, the interior of a church should be a somewhat familiar, comforting place for her.
Once the service was over, she and Mr. Chandler ushered the children toward the exit as quickly as possible. Reverend Harper, who stood in the doorway to greet his departing congregation, gave Mr. Chandler’s hand a hearty shake. “Welcome back, Hank. My condolences on the loss of your sister.”
“Thank you, Reverend.” He drew the children forward. “These are Enid’s children, Alex and Chloe. They’ll be living with me now.”
The reverend smiled at them. “Welcome to Turnabout. We’re glad to have you join our community.”
“Thank you, sir,” Alex said, his tone respectful.
Chloe remained silent.
Janell spoke up then, complimenting the preacher on his sermon. As she’d hoped, this gave Mr. Chandler and the children the opportunity to move on. A moment later she joined them at the bottom of the steps and they moved forward as a group.
Before they’d taken more than a couple of steps, however, Mr. Chandler was hailed from several directions by folks who were eager to welcome him back and express their condolences.
While he was forced to pause, Janell kept going forward. She moved herself between the children and took their hands. Eve and Hazel had recruited some help and several women were positioned strategically around the churchyard. They smoothly intercepted anyone who approached Janell and her charges, diverting their attention.
Normally this would be a good opportunity to introduce the children to others their own age, but Janell knew that Chloe wasn’t ready for that yet.
Once they were beyond the churchyard, Alex looked up at her. “Are you coming home with us, Miss Whitman?”
Janell glanced over her shoulder and found Mr. Chandler had kept his gaze on her. As their gazes met, he gave a slight nod and disengaged himself from his conversation with Ward Gleason.
She smiled down at Alex. “I am. But first I need to stop at my place. You don’t mind coming with me, do you?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I don’t mind at all.” He glanced toward his sister. “And I’m sure Chloe won’t mind, either.”
Mr. Chandler caught up with them about a block down Third Street.
“We’re going to Miss Whitman’s house,” Alex informed him, saying it as if it was some grand adventure.
“So I see.”
“If you’d like to take the children home, I can join you there in a bit.”
He shook his head. “We’re in no hurry. And it’s a nice day for a walk.”
“As you wish.”
They strolled at a comfortable pace, exchanging nods with the folks they encountered but not pausing to chat. When they reached the boardinghouse, Janell motioned to the numerous chairs scattered on the broad front porch. “You’re welcome to sit out here while you wait. Or you can sit in the parlor. I won’t be long.”
“The porch is fine.” Mr. Chandler motioned for the children to take a seat. “And take whatever time you need. As I said, we’re in no hurry.”
With a nod she hurried inside. But even with her back to him, she was quite aware that he watched her until the screen door closed behind her.
* * *
Hank watched the schoolteacher disappear through the boardinghouse entrance. Truth to tell, he’d tagged along today because he wasn’t ready to be alone with the kids in his house again. At least here there were distractions to be had.
The sight of Mrs. Ortolon, dressed in her Sunday best with a ridiculously embellished hat perched on her head, marching up the front walk, however, made him rethink that decision.
Eunice Ortolon owned the boardinghouse, and while she was a good-hearted woman, she was the town’s biggest busybody. He immediately wanted to set the children behind him in order to shield them from her probing. He settled, instead, for stepping forward to greet her. “Good day to you, ma’am. It sure is a fine afternoon, isn’t it?”
“Why, Mr. Chandler, how nice to see you.” The woman studied him with a broad smile and a speculative gleam in her eye. “It is a beautiful day. And what brings you to my front porch today?”
Hank chose his next words carefully. He wanted to avoid having her read anything into the situation that wasn’t there. “I’m waiting for Miss Whitman. She’s going to work with the children to evaluate where they’ll fit in her classroom.”
“Oh, how nice.” Mrs. Ortolon moved to the side and peered behind him. “And are these the little dears?”
Hank swallowed a grimace as he stepped aside. He nodded to the children, but didn’t ask them to step forward. “Mrs. Ortolon, allow me to introduce my niece and nephew, Chloe and Alex. Children, this is Mrs. Ortolon.”
“Well, aren’t you two just the sweetest things? You look so much like your dear departed mother. I knew her as a little girl, you know.” Then she sighed dramatically as she placed a hand to her heart. “I’m so sorry about what happened to her and your father, and to you, too, Chloe.”
“Your sympathies are appreciated, ma’am, by all of us.”
Luckily Miss Whitman stepped out just then, dressed in a simpler frock and carrying a basket. She paused for the merest fraction of a minute when she spotted her landlady standing there, but then pasted a smile on her face. “Mrs. Ortolon, thank you for keeping my visitors company while I was changing.” She turned to him and took Chloe’s hand with a cheery smile. “Shall we go?”
Silently thanking her, he nodded, then turned to Mrs. Ortolon and touched the brim of his hat. “It was nice visiting with you, ma’am. Please enjoy your afternoon.”
With that, he placed a hand at Alex’s back and followed Miss Whitman and Chloe off the porch.
Hopefully, the busybody hadn’t noted anything to gossip about. He felt strangely protective of the schoolteacher’s reputation. He wouldn’t want her getting into hot water due to anything he’d done.
With that in mind, he held back, walking beside Alex rather than trying to hold a conversation with Miss Whitman.
When they arrived at his house, she sent them off to change clothes while she prepared a simple lunch consisting of ham, cheese and pickled green beans.
By the time he returned to the kitchen, she was slicing vegetables into a simmering pot of water. “I thought we were just going to have a simple, cold lunch.”
She nodded. “I’m putting a vegetable soup together for tonight’s supper.”
As usual, she was making decisions for them without consulting him. This time she had assumed he hadn’t already made plans to take care of supper. Never mind that her assumption was correct. Again.
However, she seemed unaware that she’d got his dander up once more.
“Did you encounter any problems when getting the children ready this morning?” she asked.
He grimaced. “It was a battle with Chloe. But I think she saw how her attitude was affecting Alex, so she finally gave in.”
The schoolteacher glanced his way sympathetically. “I promise it will get better with time. But patience will be required.”
She said that as if she was doubtful he could pull it off. He could be patient when a situation called for it. It was just that he had no patience with tantrums or foolishness. But he decided a change of subject was in order. “I looked over that sign-language book you left here last night.”
“And what do you think?”
“I think you were right when you said it would be a lot of work. But if this will help Chloe as much as you seem to believe it will, then it’ll be time well spent.”
She nodded. “Did you say anything to the children about our plans?”
“No. I figured I’d do that when you were around to answer any questions they might have.” And unlike him, she’d be able to do it without putting her foot in her mouth. In fact, he was okay with her taking the lead in that particular discussion—he wasn’t such a fool as to think he had all the answers, especially when it came to something like this.
* * *
Janell raised her chin. “Then we’ll speak to them together, right after lunch.”
She wondered why he’d put it off. Had he been afraid to broach the subject with them? Or had he just not known how to bring it up?
Or was he beginning to think of them as a team, the way she was?
Chapter Nine
After lunch, Janell made certain they all pitched in to clean up. Once the kitchen was put back to rights, Mr. Chandler exchanged glances with her, then turned to the children.
“Alex, I’d like you and your sister to join us in the parlor. Miss Whitman and I have something we wish to discuss with you.”
She would have to work with him on addressing Chloe directly in the future, but now was not the right time.
The children sat on the sofa, while their uncle and Janell sat in nearby chairs.
Mr. Chandler cleared his throat. “Miss Whitman has something she’d like to discuss with us.”
The children turned to watch her warily. Were they expecting bad news?
She smiled reassuringly. “As I’ve explained to your uncle, I think I may be able to help Chloe find ways to more easily communicate with the rest of the world and they with her.”
There were no changes in Chloe’s expression, but Alex sat up straighter. “You mean you can help her hear again?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, Alex. I wish I could do that, but I can’t. However, there are other things we can do.”
“Like what?”
“Sign language.”
His nose wrinkled. “What’s that?”
“I’ll show you in just a minute.” First she had to get Chloe engaged in the discussion. She took the piece of chalk and wrote I have a plan to help you on the slate, then turned it so Chloe could read the words.
Chloe read it, a touch of guarded interest lightening her features.
“My own sister is deaf.” She wrote the same words on the slate, and as she did, it hit her, in a way it hadn’t before, that that was something she and Alex had in common.
Chloe read the words, then looked up at her with much more interest than she’d shown to date.
“Just like Chloe?” The question came from Alex.
“That’s right. Only in Lizzie’s case, she went deaf because of an illness.” Janell wrote an abbreviated form of that on the slate and showed it to Chloe.
“And did you help her?” Again it was Alex who asked the question.
“We did. Because it was not just me. My whole family got involved.”
“Involved how?”
“We learned sign language.”
Chloe waved a hand, obviously feeling left out of the conversation.
Janell smiled inwardly, encouraged by this show of interest. But she pretended not to notice. Chloe had to learn to speak up, as awkward as it might feel to her.
Finally the girl did speak. “What are you saying?”
Janell wrote on the slate again. I would like to teach all three of you sign language.
Chloe read the chalked words and her expression shifted into uncertainty. Janell had expected some resistance, so this didn’t catch her off guard.
“Is it hard?” Alex asked.
“It’s not a simple thing, but then again, it’s not really any more difficult than it was for you to learn to read and write.”
The boy nodded thoughtfully at that.
“We’re all going to be learning together,” Mr. Chandler added. “Even me.”
Janell pulled out the book that had the illustrations they would need to learn from. “Why don’t we try just a few things today, just so you can get a feel for what it will be like?”
* * *
Miss Whitman returned her hands to her lap. “There, that’s enough for one day. You’ve all done quite well. I’m going to leave the book here so that you can pull it out and practice whenever you want to.”
She stood. “The soup should be ready in about another hour.”
Hank stood as well. How did she think it went? There’d been a lot of fumbling on the kids’ part, and his, too, if he was being honest, but she’d done her best to turn it into a game of sorts and not make them feel bad when they made a mistake.
“Do you have to go?” Alex asked.
Hank spoke up before she could answer. “We’ve already taken up quite a lot of Miss Whitman’s time.” Though he wouldn’t mind if she stayed a bit longer himself.
The schoolteacher gave his nephew a regretful smile. “It was time I enjoyed giving. But I do have some things I need to tend to before I retire this evening. And we’ve made a good start today.”
Alex didn’t seem reassured by her answer. “Are you coming back tomorrow?”
“I am. Until your aunt arrives, I plan to be here with you while your uncle goes to work at the sawmill.”
That finally seemed to satisfy Alex, at least for the moment.
Hank cleared his throat. He and his would-be matchmaker had some things to talk about. “Alex, why don’t you and Chloe go to your rooms and rest a bit. Miss Whitman and I have a few things to discuss.”
The Holiday Courtship Page 8
