She felt a tug on her skirts. Sadie had grabbed hold.
During that moment of inattention, Isaac exploded. “You’re not so smart. My pa says common sense smarts are more important than book smarts.”
“Well, your pa ought to know—”
“Stop this at once!” Amanda pushed Angela and Isaac apart, keeping them at arm’s length from one another. “You are in church.”
“It’s only church on Sunday,” Angela pointed out.
Amanda was not about to let that technicality get in the way of ending this dispute. “It is a house of God. Do you think He wants you to act like this? Especially when you’re going to portray the birth of His Son?”
“But it’s a sch—”
This time Amanda cut Angela off with a glare. “Miss Lawson will not tolerate such misbehavior in the classroom. Do you want me to tell your parents about this?” She looked first Angela and then Isaac in the eye.
Both children backed down.
“No,” each grudgingly admitted.
“Just no?”
“No, Miss Porter,” they said in chorus.
“Very well, then. Let’s get back to work. I expect your full attention. Understand?”
The children nodded, and Amanda could relax a little. She had solved the dispute before it escalated into a crisis. Pearl would be grateful. She looked toward her friend, huddled with the rest of the children in the opposite corner, and instead saw Garrett Decker watching her every move. He was not smiling.
Oh, dear. She’d just disciplined his son.
Memories bobbed to the surface of the repercussions when she’d dared to tell Mrs. Chatsworth that Lena had ruined Amanda’s best dress by cutting it to pieces with a pair of scissors. Instead of disciplining her daughter, the woman had sent Amanda to her room without lunch and supper. Later, Mrs. Brighton sneaked a few biscuits into the room in her apron pocket, but she also brought the unwelcome news that Amanda was expected to repay the Chatsworths for the ruined gown by cleaning every piece of silver and brass in the house.
Garrett was not Mrs. Chatsworth, but what father would not favor his son over a housekeeper? Amanda turned back to the children and tried to remember what she was supposed to be teaching them.
* * *
Garrett had to get away from Fiona. Every time he reached for another nail, she was at his elbow asking his opinion of the latest stroke of paint she’d applied to the canvas backdrop, or if she should change some element of her preliminary sketch.
He’d explained over and over that he wasn’t an artist, but she continued to seek his approval. This last consultation had gotten far too close. Out of the corner of his eye he’d noticed Amanda glance in his direction just in time to see Fiona inch so near that she almost touched him. From that distance, it probably appeared that she had. Since he’d been forced by politeness to duck just enough to look at the sketch, Amanda probably thought something else was going on.
It wasn’t.
Garrett had no interest in Fiona O’Keefe. True, he’d once considered her. She brought him the most delicious sweet rolls and bread, after all, but that had stopped once Amanda began working for him. He’d figured Fiona had turned her attention elsewhere, such as to Sawyer Evans, her accompanist at the Saturday concerts. Apparently not.
So once he gave his opinion on the type of trees to paint on the backdrop, he made an excuse about needing to stretch his legs and headed for his children, who were huddled with Amanda and one of the Wardman girls in the back of the church.
He’d arrived in time to overhear his son get in an argument with the Wardman girl. It was the sort of foolishness children often fell into—boasting and making prideful statements. Though Isaac was correct, the boy knew better than to argue with a girl. Garrett would have to have a talk with him later.
The moment he was about to step in, Amanda came between the two, holding them physically apart and firmly putting an end to the dispute. Garrett was impressed—no, shocked. He hadn’t figured Amanda could discipline. Moreover, she’d done so kindly, without placing blame on one child over the other.
Maybe that was the confirmation he’d been seeking. Amanda would make a fine mother to his children. Maybe even a good wife in a friendship sort of way. Marrying for love was out of the question, but marriage for the sake of the children wouldn’t be the worst thing he could do.
If she would agree to it.
Surely she would, seeing as she’d come to Singapore in answer to that advertisement his children had asked Mrs. Calloway to place. What a mess that had been, but maybe something good might come out of it, after all.
When Amanda finished settling down the children, she cast a final glance his way. Instead of the shy smile he’d expected, she looked upset and nervous. She quickly turned away.
What was that about?
“Garrett, Garrett!”
Fiona, paintbrush in hand, had tracked him down.
He slowly turned to face her.
“Should I paint snow or grass?” She waved the paintbrush, wet with the yellow artist’s paint that she was using on the backdrop. “It is wintertime.”
If she wasn’t careful, she’d get paint all over the benches and ruin someone’s dress or suit tomorrow morning.
He took her by the elbow and calmly directed her back up the aisle to the front of the church. “Be careful that you don’t splatter paint anywhere.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed, as if the thought had never crossed her mind.
Perhaps it hadn’t, considering her apron and dress were spotless. Perhaps her quest to snare him had pushed all other considerations from her head. But Fiona was much more intelligent than she sometimes led people—especially men—to believe.
They’d just reached the front when the door burst open, and Mr. Wardman entered. He stomped snow off his feet.
“Miss Lawson,” the man said in a booming voice. “The snow is getting deep just inland from here. I can take the Saugatuck children home. I passed Earnest Clapp and Lars Norstrand on the way here.”
Pearl set about at once getting the children dressed in their coats and hats and mittens. Amanda joined in. Within ten minutes, most of them had left, and the building quieted considerably. Of the children, only Isaac and Sadie remained.
Garrett looked out the window. The snow was getting thick, and an inch or so coated the ground. “I suppose I should get Sadie and Isaac home.” He glanced back at the stable, which wasn’t quite finished. “That’ll have to wait until next Saturday. Isaac, Sadie, get your coats on.”
Amanda hurried down the aisle. “I can take them, so you can finish your work.”
He glanced out the window again. “Are you certain?”
“Roland said he has to go back to the store. He can walk with us to the house.”
“I sure appreciate that.” Garrett couldn’t help but think of the thirty-first chapter in Proverbs that outlined the qualities of a good wife. More and more Amanda was meeting those qualifications.
Then he felt Fiona at his back. “That’s so considerate of you, Amanda. We have a lot to do here before we’re finished.”
Amanda blanched, but not nearly as much as he cringed. If Roland left, then Pearl might decide to go with him. That would leave him alone with Fiona without anyone as a buffer.
“On second thought, my brother could take Isaac and Sadie to the store with him,” he said to Amanda. “Then you can finish your work here.”
She blushed the most lovely shade of pink, and her gaze drifted down. “I thank you, but my work is not here.”
He could not tear his gaze from her, the very picture of virtue with her hands clasped and her gaze lowered in humility. “The virtuous wife puts the needs of her husband ahead of her own.”
Amanda gasped softly and clenched her hands.
&
nbsp; “Humph,” Fiona grumbled.
Had he really said wife aloud? He cleared his throat. “Virtuous woman.”
The women didn’t appear to accept that amendment.
Amanda backed away. “I need to go.”
* * *
A wife. Not only had Garrett called her virtuous, but he’d also called her a wife. Surely he did not mean it. Surely he was not considering her...or was he? Oh, dear. She wrung her hands. If he knew everything about her past, he would never consider her the paragon of virtue.
“I, uh,” he stammered, “have been reading Proverbs. I didn’t mean...that is, it wasn’t what it sounded like.”
Fiona smiled. “You were just paraphrasing a Bible verse.”
“I guess. More of a summary.” He squirmed like a boy caught looking at another child’s test paper. “I was just thinking aloud.”
“Naturally,” Amanda managed to reply through her partially closed throat.
At that moment, the impossibility of her hopes hit her with gale force. He sought a wife who measured up to the perfection delineated in the last chapter of Proverbs. Amanda fell far beneath that standard. Perhaps every woman did, but the secrets she carried were particularly damaging.
“I will take care of Isaac and Sadie.”
Without waiting for his response, Amanda hurried to the back of the church, where she had to lean against the wall so she didn’t collapse.
Pearl touched her arm. “What’s wrong?”
Amanda shook her head. Pearl must have heard the exchange. Without the pounding of hammers and squeals of children, every word could be heard in this small building. On the surface, Garrett had issued a compliment. Then why did she feel her world crashing in?
“Sit down.” Pearl guided her to a bench. “I don’t want you fainting on the walk back.”
Amanda sat heavily and leaned forward to draw a few deep breaths. This was what she wanted—to marry Garrett and become a mother to those precious children. Then why this overpowering fear?
“I don’t know what came over me,” she whispered, still conscious that everyone could hear what she said.
“You didn’t eat much for breakfast and nothing for lunch. No wonder you feel faint.”
God bless Pearl. She’d found a way to divert attention from the emotional turmoil to what she assumed was physical distress.
Once Garrett began hammering, Amanda could finally speak the truth—at least all she was willing to share. “Did you hear what he said?”
“Of course.” Pearl rubbed her back. “It’s about time.”
“But...” But what? Amanda couldn’t articulate it. “I’m afraid.”
Pearl’s brow creased in a frown. “Has he hurt you?”
“No! Never! He is the kindest man I know. Aside from Roland, of course,” she added, for Pearl’s sake. “But I’m not worthy.”
There. She’d said it.
Pearl looked her right in the eyes. “I don’t want to hear one more word like that from you. You are not only worthy, you love those children.”
The children! They had witnessed the whole exchange. Oh, dear.
Amanda frantically looked around. They weren’t anywhere.
She stood. “Isaac! Sadie!” She ran for the door and yanked it open.
Snow blew in, temporarily blinding her.
Pearl slammed the door shut. “Roland took them to the store with him. He’ll watch over them.”
“He did?” Gradually the fear ebbed away. “I didn’t even notice.” Again the tears rose. “What sort of mother would I be if I don’t even notice that the children entrusted to my care leave with their uncle?” The question ended with a pitiful wail, and she buried her face in her hands. “What’s wrong with me?”
Pearl slid an arm around her shoulders. “You’re tired and overworked. And you’ve been hoping so much for this that the first sign it might come true has set your nerves on edge. It’s completely understandable. Now, will you sit down a moment? I need your opinion on what to do for the nativity play now that we’ve lost our best chance to rehearse.”
Thinking of something practical helped calm Amanda’s jangled nerves. Though Garrett and Fiona still worked in the front of the church, she could manage to concentrate without worrying that she’d ruined her chances with Garrett.
Pearl laid out the problem concisely. “Neither the shepherds nor the magi are willing to speak lines, least of all learn them. How did Isaac and Sadie do?”
“We never got that far,” Amanda admitted, “but Angela knows her lines fairly well, though she did mix up some of it and got a few words wrong. You will probably need to correct her, though, since she believes she already knows her lines perfectly.”
Pearl chuckled. “That sounds like Angela. Do you think Isaac and Sadie can learn the lines?”
Amanda hesitated. “Sadie hasn’t been talking that long. I’m not sure if she’ll speak in front of a roomful of people.”
Pearl nodded. “I think you’re right. We need to come up with another plan. Do you have any suggestions?”
Amanda thought back to the plays that Lena forced her to participate in when they were children. Amanda had to play the villain or the one who died, and she never got the lines right, in Lena’s estimation, so her foster sister would read both parts.
“You could have a narrator,” Amanda suggested.
The worry lines vanished from Pearl’s face as a huge smile burst forth. “Exactly!” She hopped to her feet. “It’s the perfect solution, and I know precisely who should do it.”
Chapter Fourteen
“No.” Garrett must have told Pearl that a dozen times.
She didn’t listen.
He was not going to narrate the nativity play. Garrett did not speak in public. Bad enough he had to stand up with his brother at the wedding the day after Christmas. That at least did not involve speaking. This? There was no way.
“You’ll be perfect.” She practically danced in front of him. “Your voice is deep and carries well.”
“I can help narrate,” Fiona offered.
Great. Just what he needed. Not only would he have to humiliate himself in front of a churchful of people, but Fiona, a stage actress, would show him up at the same time.
“No,” he said again.
Pearl seemed not to hear him. “Just Garrett. His baritone will ring out, like the teachers of old.” She beamed at him. “You will be perfect, and you simply have to read from the Bible. Amanda said you read aloud every evening. Think of all the hearts you could touch with God’s word. Perhaps He’s calling you to do this.”
If that was true, then why was his throat as narrow as a pencil? He glanced at Amanda. All the color had drained from her face, as if she feared his answer. But which one? Was she hoping he would do it or afraid he would agree? As far as he knew, she didn’t have a role in the play beyond making costumes and animals. And helping Pearl rehearse the little actors. Her investment was completely in the children. His children, especially, who could be disappointed to learn they wouldn’t have speaking roles.
“I thought Isaac and Sadie were playing Joseph and Mary.”
“They are,” Pearl assured him, “but without sufficient time to memorize lines, it would be a lot easier on all the children if they could simply concentrate on where they have to be and not worry about remembering lines.”
Amanda added softly, “Your presence would give Isaac and Sadie confidence. They’re a bit intimidated by having to speak. This would help them so much.”
“Plus you could rehearse together each evening,” Pearl said. “Amanda, give Garrett the pages for Isaac and Sadie. It describes where they are supposed to be during each part of the play. You can read the passage directly from Luke’s gospel.”
She then jotted down exac
tly which verses to read. “Thank you, so much. It will make our only remaining rehearsal go much more smoothly.”
Garrett had been cut down right where he stood. He could no more refuse Pearl than if a preacher had asked him.
Fiona leaned close and looked over his shoulder. “I would be glad to help you rehearse. I do have some experience with stage productions.”
Garrett stiffened. “No, thank you.”
“You’ll do it, then?” Pearl asked.
At least she sought confirmation, but Garrett didn’t have much choice. If he refused, Fiona would swoop in. Sadie, in particular, seemed to fear the bold redhead. He couldn’t let his children down.
“All right.”
Pearl beamed, but it was Amanda’s shy smile that warmed his heart. He would do this for his children.
* * *
The snow stopped as quickly as it had begun. By midafternoon, the sun appeared, turning the two inches of snow into a glistening white carpet.
“Isn’t it lovely,” Amanda sighed to herself.
She’d stepped to the window to ease the ache in her back from spending so much time bent over the sewing machine. Three hours of steady work and the costumes were nearly done. She just had to hem Mary’s veil.
“They’re all beautiful.” That was Pearl.
Amanda turned to greet her friend, whose cheeks were flushed from the cold. Pearl had gone straight to the store after they left the rehearsal, and was probably back for supper. Amanda needed to tidy up and head over to Garrett’s house to cook for them.
“The children were fine?” she asked Pearl.
“They’re going to have supper together at the apartment once Garrett returns. Roland told me to tell you that you might as well take the day off.”
Off again. At this rate she would not earn enough to pay for her lodgings after Pearl’s wedding.
Pearl crossed the room and wove an arm around her waist. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I know you. When that little indentation forms between your eyebrows, you’re worried about something.”
“It’s nothing important. Better that we think about your wedding. It’s only a little over a week away.”
Mail Order Mommy Page 14
