Lizzie smiled warmly. “There’s no need to apologize. You didn’t know. And yes, that is much better. Thank you so much for understanding.”
Janell leaned back, admiring the way Lizzie had handled the situation with such confidence and kindness. Oh, yes, she was going to be very good for Chloe.
When the waitress had returned to the kitchen, Janell leaned forward slightly. “The food here is good, but for breakfast tomorrow you really should try Daisy’s restaurant. She’s a fabulous cook and I think you and Wilfred will really enjoy it.”
“You’ll be joining us, won’t you?”
Janell shook her head. “I have to work tomorrow. But it’s the last day of class until after Christmas, so we’ll have lots of time to be together before you head home.”
Janell settled back. “Which reminds me. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve rented this dining room for all day Saturday. I was hoping all of us, Hank’s household included, could get together here for the afternoon, including lunch. Sort of an indoor picnic.”
“I don’t mind at all. In fact, it sounds lovely. Is there a special occasion I’m unaware of?”
“No, I just thought it would be a good way for you to spend time with Chloe in an informal situation.”
Lizzie nodded. “So, tell me what I can do to help Hank’s niece.”
“As I wrote in my letters, Chloe is certain her life is over. And no matter how much I try to tell her otherwise, I don’t think she quite believes me.”
“I well remember those feelings.”
“My hope is that she’ll believe it if it comes from you. I’d like her to spend time with you, to observe the rich life you’ve built for yourself, to see the confident, accomplished, social woman you’ve become, so that she can see the possibilities for her own life.”
“I’ll be glad to do what I can. But you do realize no one can force her to believe something—it has to come from within herself.”
“I know. But a little nudge from a person who’s been through something similar certainly can’t hurt.”
“You seem to care a lot about this little girl that you only met a few weeks ago.”
“She reminds me of you. How could I not love her?”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?”
“Lizzie, you promised.”
“I promised not to discuss your ridiculous assertion that marriage is out of the question. I didn’t promise not to discuss your feelings for Hank.”
Janell let out a frustrated breath. “All right, let’s get this out of the way. I like Hank. I like him a lot. But nothing more than friendship will ever come of it.” She saw the protest forming on her sister’s lips and held up a hand. “He has someone else in mind to share that part of his life with.”
Her sister’s expression fell. “Oh, Nelly, I’m so sorry. I would never have brought it up if I’d known. It’s just, the way the two of you look at each other...”
How had Lizzie sensed something like that in the brief time she and Hank had been together in her company? Janell thought she’d been doing a good job of hiding her feelings. Perhaps Lizzie was just seeing what she wanted to see.
She waved away her sister’s apology. “Enough about Hank Chandler. Tell me about how Mother and Father are doing.”
To Janell’s relief, Lizzie accepted the change of subject and the conversation moved onto safer ground for the rest of the evening.
But as she and her sister got reacquainted over their meal, Janell’s mind kept wandering back to Lizzie’s statement. Had Hank been watching her with love in his eyes? Could he possibly care for her in that way after the way she’d treated him and with the knowledge she’d found him an ideal wife candidate? Could it be that he truly cared for her?
Then she pushed those thoughts away. It. Didn’t. Matter. She couldn’t marry him, no matter how either of them felt.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hank escorted Cassie Lynn to Reverend Harper’s home, then headed back to his own place. These past few days had shown him that Cassie Lynn was going to make a very good wife. He came home every afternoon to a delicious meal, a warm, clean house and kids who seemed content. She was making their costumes for the Christmas pageant, and she was earnestly working on her sign-language skills.
So why wasn’t he happier? Walking her home in the evening was more of a duty than a pleasure. Other than a few updates about the children or questions about household matters, the two of them really had nothing in common to discuss. He was never tempted to touch her arm or linger on her doorstep.
Though Janell had told him Cassie Lynn was twenty years old, he still saw her as an adolescent, a mature adolescent, but an adolescent nonetheless.
Could he really go through with marrying her?
His thoughts turned to Janell and the joy he’d seen in her face when she first caught sight of her sister this afternoon. The siblings obviously shared a strong bond—it made him more curious than ever as to why she’d stayed away from her family for so long. All his protective urges came to the fore as he contemplated possible reasons.
He wished she would trust him enough to share her past with him.
* * *
Janell glanced at the clock. It was thirty minutes until the school day ended. She’d spent most of the day wondering how Lizzie and her family were getting along and now she was considering sending the students home early.
But before she could decide, the door opened and a familiar face peeked inside.
“Hello,” Lizzie said with an impish smile on her face. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but I bring treats.” She held out a large box tied with a string. If Janell wasn’t mistaken, that box came from Eve’s sweet shop.
It appeared, based on the number of students bouncing in their seats, that several of the children recognized the box as well.
“Class, I’d like you to meet Mrs. Elizabeth Hastings. Better known as my sister, Lizzie.”
Lizzie joined Janell at the front of the classroom. “Hello, everyone. I made a visit to a wonderful little sweet shop today and I thought perhaps I’d share some of what I found there. Would someone like to pass these out for me?”
Several hands shot up and Lizzie selected Peggy Richards, one of the girls in the second row. While Peggy began her important task, Alex raised his hand. When Janell indicated he could speak, he turned to Lizzie. “Is it true that you’re deaf, just like my sister?”
Lily, as usual, was making sure she did her best to help Chloe understand what was going on. She used a combination of signing, gesticulations and writing on the slate. Chloe had sat up taller and was looking from Lily to Lizzie with intense interest.
Lizzie nodded. “It is.” She signed as she spoke.
“Then how come you can tell what I’m saying without me using sign language?”
“Because I can read your lips.” Again she signed her response.
That elicited a lot of excited reaction from the class with several of the students speaking out at once. Lizzie finally held up her hand for silence and the room quieted. “Because I can’t study all of you at the same time, lipreading doesn’t work well when a lot of people are talking to me at once.”
Janell addressed the class. “Now, if you all will take your treats, and thank Mrs. Hastings, I think it is close enough to dismissal time to let you go home. Those of you who are waiting for someone to walk you home may wait on the playground.”
As the students began gathering their things to leave, she made one more announcement. “And don’t forget, even though there is no class next week, we will have practice for the Christmas Eve program on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at eleven o’clock.”
“A Christmas Eve program,” Lizzie said. “That sounds like fun. Do you remember the plays we used to do for Mother and Father?”
Janell smiled at the memory, but before she could respond, Chloe stepped up. “Is learning to read lips hard?”
Lizzie moved to the blackboard to write her response as she spoke it aloud. “It’s more difficult than signing, and it’s not perfect, but with a lot of time and patience, it can be learned.”
“Can you teach me?”
“I would be glad to help you get started and to work with your uncle so he can help you after I leave.”
Chloe cut a quick glance Janell’s way. “Could you work with Miss Whitman, too, so she can help me?”
Lizzie gave her a smile. “Of course.”
Cassie Lynn showed up just then to fetch Alex and Chloe, and Janell made the introductions.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Cassie Lynn said. “The whole town is happy that your sister moved here to be with us, but I imagine you all back in her hometown do miss her.”
“That we do. But I’m glad she’s found a new home among such fine, caring people as I’ve met here in Turnabout.”
Cassie Lynn took each child by the hand. “Time for us to be getting home. But don’t worry—we’ll be seeing them again real soon.”
Once they’d gone, Lizzie turned to her. “Is that the woman Hank is currently courting?”
Courting was definitely not the word she’d use. “It’s not my place to speak of Hank’s personal business,” she said primly. “I probably shouldn’t have said as much as I did already.”
Then she changed the subject. “What did you think of Chloe and Alex?”
“They seemed like sweet children. Alex is protective of his sister, as you mentioned in your letters. But Chloe doesn’t seem quite as rebellious as I’d expected based on your letters.”
“She’s softened some since she arrived. Now she’s more resigned than outright belligerent.”
“I see she’s made a friend—I’m certain that’s helped.”
“Lily’s a sweet girl and she’s really taken a liking to Chloe.”
Lizzie linked arms with Janell as they moved to the door. “So tell me more about this ‘indoor picnic’ you have planned for tomorrow. Exactly what activities, other than eating, did you have in mind for us?”
As they stood in the school yard together, watching over the remaining children and discussing plans for Saturday, Janell found herself dwelling on thoughts of Cassie Lynn and her upcoming marriage to Hank.
How could she bear to stand aside and watch that happen?
* * *
Janell sat off to one side of the dining room, happily playing with little Olivia while Lizzie stood in the middle of the room, directing her husband and a frazzled-looking hotel manager on how to rearrange the tables so that everyone could sit together.
Hank, accompanied by the children and Cassie Lynn, arrived before things were arranged to her sister’s satisfaction, and he quickly made the introductions then rolled up his sleeves to help the men do Lizzie’s bidding.
By the time the matter of the tables was settled, it was time to eat.
The meal became a large, loud affair, the kind Janell remembered with such longing from her childhood. The children sat with the adults, the food and conversation flowed freely and stories were exchanged. Janell made sure Chloe sat across from Lizzie so that she could observe how this other deaf individual lived with such exuberance.
Wilfred and even Elliott could sign as easily as they spoke, and they instinctively spoke in a manner that facilitated the reading of their lips.
Once the meal was over Lizzie stood to get everyone’s attention. “Nelly and I have a surprise for you. When we were children, one of our favorite things to do during the days leading up to Christmas was build gingerbread houses. And we used to compete to see who could build the prettiest and fanciest.”
“Who won?” Alex asked.
“My mama,” Elliott said with supreme confidence. “She makes one for me every year and they’re the best.”
Janell smiled. “She does make very colorful houses.”
Lizzie ignored their side conversations. “Today we’re going to build our houses together for the first time in a very long while. And we want you children to help us. What do you think?”
The children immediately voiced their support for the project.
Janell took up the announcement. “Lizzie and I already baked the gingerbread this morning, and we also stopped at the mercantile yesterday and picked up gumdrops, licorice whips, candy canes and other candies we can use for decorations.”
Alex was practically bouncing in his seat in excitement.
Lizzie tapped a finger against her chin. “I think I should like Chloe and Elliott to be my helpers.”
“Then I shall have Alex and Cassie Lynn,” Janell said quickly.
“And what about us menfolk?” Hank asked.
Janell spread her hands. “We only have enough gingerbread for two houses, but you two can be our judges if you like.”
“Now, that sounds like a thorny proposition if I ever heard one.” Wilfred glanced Hank’s way. “Why don’t the two of us see if there’s more of that apple pecan pie in the kitchen.”
Hank gave Janell a wink as he got up to follow Wilfred.
Now, what in the world was she supposed to make of that?
Chapter Twenty-Three
As they worked on the gingerbread houses, Janell noticed how naturally Elliott communicated with his mother. When he spoke, he made certain she was looking at him and he enunciated properly. And he was also adept at sign language. She could tell that Chloe was taking notice as well, which was the whole point.
As for her own team, she, Alex and Cassie Lynn worked surprisingly well together. There was a lot of friendly banter and some challenges levied. Once they had the four walls put together, they had to take a break to let the frosting dry properly before trying to attach the roof, so Lizzie suggested a game of charades. It was an activity that Chloe and Lizzie could participate in on nearly equal footing with everyone else.
It was nearly two hours later before the gingerbread houses were deemed complete. Olivia had long since gone down for her nap on a soft pallet set up in one corner of the room. Elliott was yawning but he’d refused to lie down for his nap until they were finished with the gingerbread houses.
Hank and Wilfred were called on to judge the results, but they took the coward’s way out and declared it to be too close to call.
Lizzie declared herself so happy with the gathering that she talked Wilfred into renting the dining room for their exclusive use during the rest of their stay.
“That way we can all get together whenever we like without inconveniencing anyone.” She clapped her hands as an idea occurred to her. “In fact, why don’t we plan to all spend Christmas Day together right here? We can all go out and select a tree to set up in here and then decorate it together.” Then she sobered. “Unless you have your own traditions you’d prefer to celebrate. I don’t want to step on any toes.”
Hank looked at Chloe and Alex. “Actually, our family is hoping to discover some new traditions this year,” he said.
“And we can have our gingerbread houses for dessert,” Alex added.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Janell said. It would definitely be better than the past few Christmases she’d spent alone in her room at the boardinghouse.
A real family Christmas. Attended by some of her favorite people.
Janell couldn’t wait.
* * *
After the children’s practice for the Christmas pageant on Monday, Cassie Lynn was there to walk Alex and Chloe home. Janell had offered to do it for her, but Cassie Lynn had insisted on doing it herself. Janell could tell that, now that the children had grown used to Cassie Lynn, they were getting more and more comfortable being around her.
It appear
ed Cassie Lynn was going to be a good fit for the Chandler household after all. Janell was happy for all of them.
Really, she was.
This sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was more about her own selfish feelings than anything else.
Janell stayed behind at the schoolhouse after everyone else had gone. Lizzie wanted to meet her at the boardinghouse today so she could see where Janell lived, but that wasn’t for another hour, and she wasn’t in the mood to return to the boardinghouse on her own.
She drifted over to the piano and fingered a few random keys. The disjointed sound—she couldn’t call it music—echoed the unsettled feeling inside her. A feeling she was ready to give a name to.
She sat down on the piano bench and began playing, her fingers seeming to make the selection of their own accord. It was a sonata her mother had composed many years ago, a piece that had always been a favorite of hers.
Her fingers danced across the keys, but it didn’t bring her the peace it normally did. It did, however, bring clarity.
She was in love with Hank. In fact, she’d been in love with him for some time now; she just hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself. Because acknowledging her feelings didn’t change anything. She couldn’t marry him, not even if he asked her again. And really, what man would propose to a woman three times in as many weeks, especially when she’d turned him down with such firm determination the first two times?
No, her chance was lost, and, though it didn’t feel like it right now, that was probably for the best. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to refuse him a third time.
She’d reached the crescendo of the piece and she pounded it out. There were some missteps, but she didn’t care—this was for herself alone, and she was pouring all her emotion and angst into the music. When the piece transitioned into a quieter, slower section, she felt almost sorry.
A sudden crash made her jump, then spin around to find the cause. Hank stood there, a load of firewood in his arms...with one large piece at his feet.
The Holiday Courtship Page 20
