by Jillian Hart
Noah realized he should have thought about what to say before he stepped into the kitchen. He had never been good with talking about his emotions, though.
Just then a thin cry came from the bedroom. “Mommy.”
“I have to go,” Maeve said as she stood up.
“I know.”
Noah watched her hurry out of the room. Then he turned to leave. For the first time he could remember, he was looking forward to Christmas.
* * *
The next morning, Maeve was standing at the cookstove before Dakota came into the kitchen. She had pancake batter stirred and bacon sizzling on the stove. The rest of the eggs in the basin were sitting nearby, ready to be cracked.
“You don’t really mean the ranch hands can’t have any more eggs, do you?” she asked the older man as she spooned pancake batter onto a flat skillet. “Because, if you did, I’m only going to fry one a piece.”
He shook his head. “No, I was just trying to make a point to Noah.”
“I figured as much,” she said, reaching for the platter she was going to keep the pancakes on while she waited for all the ranch hands to get to the table.
“That man has a hard head,” Dakota added.
Maeve smiled. She liked hearing the affection in the men’s voices when they talked about Noah. “I noticed as much.”
“He’s a good man,” the ranch hand continued and then stopped in thought for a minute. “He just— Well, he worries about disappointing people. Like when he was married to Allison. He was bringing cattle onto this land, but he wasn’t making much money. Any fool could see he was going to come out all right, but Allison didn’t have time to wait.”
“She didn’t love him enough,” Maeve said as she flipped the pancakes and took the bacon out of the skillets.
Dakota grunted. “That’s the truth.”
“I think he might like me, but I don’t know,” Maeve said, turning her face toward the stove so she didn’t have to see the expression on the older man’s face.
“I’d say he does,” Dakota said thoughtfully. “It would help if Allison wasn’t here, though.”
“If he wants to be with her, I’d rather know it,” Maeve said as she started cracking eggs. “She’s a beautiful woman.”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Dakota said as he absentmindedly stepped closer to her and helped crack the eggs. “Allison just reminds him of his failures. Makes him reluctant to try again.”
They were busy cracking the eggs and putting them in one of the skillets to fry so they didn’t talk for a few minutes.
“I haven’t told him about the baby yet,” Maeve finally confessed when all the food was cooking. “And he’s going to Miles City today so he’ll be gone. In fact, I think he already left. I heard a horse walk past the window earlier.”
“His room is empty at the bunkhouse,” Dakota said, agreeing. “Leaving as early as he did, though, he’ll be home for supper.”
“I hope so,” Maeve said. “I plan to make an announcement—”
Dakota looked up.
“Not about the baby,” she assured him. “I want to invite all of the ranch hands for a Christmas Eve party to decorate the tree.”
“We’re going to have a tree?” Dakota asked, his eyes wide with wonder.
Maeve nodded her head. “With popcorn strings and gingerbread men. Red ribbon and pinecones, if we can find any. I’ll start making the cookies tomorrow.”
“Well, I’ll be...” Dakota’s voice trailed off. “We’re going to have a regular Christmas.”
Maeve nodded. “But don’t tell anyone until supper.”
Breakfast was subdued, the men all eating solemnly like they couldn’t quite get used to everything. The pancakes were golden, the bacon crisp and brown, and the eggs were cooked to perfection.
The ranch hands left with a thankful chorus, leaving Maeve and Allison at the table.
“You haven’t told me what Noah wanted last night,” Allison said as she pushed her chair closer to Maeve.
“Not much,” Maeve said and then hesitated. “I think he might like me, but I’m not sure.”
Allison leaned back and examined Maeve critically.
“Maybe it’s the servant’s uniform,” she said. “You need to make a man sit up and take notice. They like their women to dress pretty.”
“But I don’t have anything else, except my church dress and that’s gray.”
“I can help you with that,” Allison said as she smiled. “I can spare one of my dresses for you to wear to the Christmas Eve party.”
“I’m taller than you,” Maeve reminded the woman.
“We can make some adjustments,” Allison said.
Maeve wasn’t sure what the other woman had in mind, but she was willing to find out. After all, the two of them had an agreement. Maeve was teaching her how to be a useful wife with all the cooking and sewing lessons. Allison was in charge of getting Noah’s attention.
Chapter Eight
It took two days for Maeve and Allison to get everything ready for the party on Christmas Eve, but the time was finally almost there. The two of them were sitting at the table, each with a cup of hot tea in front of them. Breakfast had been over for hours and they had been making the final arrangements for the party since them.
Maeve couldn’t have done everything alone and she was grateful for Allison’s help.
Violet had been skipping around the house all that time, too, playing with her pillow doll and the sprig of mistletoe from the train. She’d gone to the parlor to tell her doll about the “misty toe,” as she called it.
“She’s got quite an imagination,” Allison said.
Maeve nodded.
“Did you ever finish the sock doll?” the other woman asked.
Maeve shook her head. “For some reason, watching the needle go back and forth makes me queasy. But I have two nice handkerchiefs I plan to give Violet. She’ll like those.”
Yesterday, Maeve had told Allison that she was pregnant, too. She’d had no choice when she couldn’t prepare breakfast for the men. The other woman, under Maeve’s direction, had taken over more of the cooking since then and was feeling justifiably proud.
“I’m glad I’ve been spared that,” Allison said with a shudder. “Morning sickness.”
“I didn’t have it the first couple of months, either,” Maeve said. “So take advantage of the fact that you don’t have it yet and travel back to Denver to be with your husband while you can.”
“Not until I find a way to go back gracefully,” Allison said. “If I start back by apologizing I’ll be doing it for the rest of my life.”
“Better to lose your pride than your husband,” Maeve advised.
Allison grinned, but she didn’t say anything.
Just then Violet ran into the kitchen.
“Someone’s coming,” she announced. “With a wagon and a big horse.”
Maeve asked Allison if she could answer the front door, and the other woman took pity on her. Violet followed down the hallway, and Maeve was left alone in the kitchen. She looked around her in satisfaction. Everything was ready for the party.
The tree was in the root cellar with its trunk in a bucket of rocks and water. Noah was going to bring it in soon. More than a hundred gingerbread cookies were lying on the table with pieces of red yarn tied through them so they could be hung on the branches. The golden corn kernels were ready for popping and Allison had threaded two dozen needles so everyone could start making a garland when the kernels were puffed white.
Maeve had never had a large party like this, and it had cheered everyone in the house up more than she had expected. There was only an hour until the ranch hands would be coming over. Dakota had already told her that they’d been heating hot water for days, between the baths and the shirts that needed to be washed. Of course, they had all shaved, too.
She had peeled potatoes earlier and they had a hearty potato soup simmering. Maeve had made sourdough bread for supper after they fin
ished with the tree. They’d decorate the house some, too, and then Maeve was serving a peach cobbler with coffee and tea.
The big Christmas meal, ham and some dried apple pies, would be at noon tomorrow.
Noah was giving the ranch hands most of today and tomorrow off. Just the animal chores would be done—feeding the cattle, milking the cows and gathering the eggs.
Maeve had heard whispers that some of the men liked to sing and had been practicing Christmas songs for the past few days. They had hesitated to offer to entertain everyone when they knew Allison was still going to be there, but Maeve convinced them that the other woman would enjoy their efforts, too.
The men had started coming by the kitchen periodically during the day, each one with a compliment about Noah. She didn’t tell them, but their effort touched her deeply. She wished she had listened to what other people said when she’d gotten married the first time. Noah himself had also been by, helping her tie yarn bows on the gingerbread men and reaching up to the high shelves to find the dried apples.
Just then, Maeve heard footsteps coming down the hall and she told herself she needed to stop letting her mind wander.
Allison was the first one back into the kitchen, obviously flustered with her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkling. A distinguished gentleman with a mustache and a cane followed her.
“This is my husband,” she said breathlessly. “He came all this way to get me.”
The man nodded his head toward Maeve. “May I thank you for taking care of my wife until I could get here. I did not know she was with child until your husband sent me a telegram.”
“Noah?” Maeve said and then squeaked in alarm. “Oh, he’s not my husband. It’s just that this is his house.”
The man smiled and bowed slightly. “Allison tells me your name is Maeve Flanagan. I’m Judge Brandon Scott—soon to be reinstated, I hope. I’m pleased to meet you.”
Maeve had never met a judge of any kind before so she gave a slight curtsy.
She had no sooner finished than the back door opened and Noah came inside.
“You made it,” he said as he walked forward and held out his hand to the judge. “And in good time, too.”
“I’m in your debt,” the man said. “I did not know where to look until I got your telegram.”
Noah inclined his head. “I was glad to do it.”
Maeve was relieved the preparations were almost ready for tonight. She knew from looking at her that Allison would want to spend the rest of the day with her husband.
“You’re staying for the party, aren’t you?” Maeve asked the judge.
“In this kind of weather, you won’t be able travel until morning anyway,” Noah added. “And we have plenty of room.”
“Please, Brandie,” Allison added.
The judge looked pleased and nodded. “Very well.”
Then he looked down at his wife with an expression of such adoration on his face that Maeve felt a stab of jealousy go right through to her heart.
Noah reached over and took her hand. Together they walked down the hall to the parlor, leaving the other couple standing there.
Violet was in the room, sitting on the floor playing with her pillow doll, but she stood up when Noah and Maeve entered.
“Could you go in the bedroom and give your doll a nap?” Maeve asked her daughter. Maybe now was the time to have a conversation with Noah.
Violet wasn’t looking at Noah as if she was afraid of him, but she was not rushing toward him, either. She nodded her head at her mother and carried the doll out of the parlor.
“I’m sorry,” Maeve began and then faltered. Noah must have realized she had something serious to say since his face was solemn.
“What do you have to be sorry about?” Noah asked softly.
“Looking at Allison and her husband makes me realize I want that, too,” Maeve said. That wasn’t what she thought she was going to say, but the words seemed to come forth on their own.
“You want to be loved,” Noah said, his voice neither rising nor falling. It was completely flat.
“I know that’s not what you advertised for,” Maeve continued. The words were not going the way she had planned, but her heart wouldn’t let her change course. “I thought I was past wanting someone to love me and not just take care of me. But you were right. It’s not enough for a lifetime.”
Noah studied her for a minute. “I thought you were going to finally tell me that you’re pregnant.”
“You know?”
Noah nodded. “I finally figured it out.”
“And that’s another reason,” Maeve said, blinking back tears. “You only have room for one child.”
“I said I was an only child, not that I wouldn’t accept a baby also.”
Maeve nodded. “I’m going to ask Allison and the judge if Violet and I can go back to Denver with them. There will be lots of jobs for a widow woman in a big city like that.”
With that, she turned and walked out of the room.
* * *
Noah stood there, stunned. None of this was supposed to happen. He’d thought she would stay.
And then, as clear as if she was in the room with him, he remembered Mrs. Barker telling him with some urgency in her voice that he needed to share his feelings if he was going to keep his marriage to Allison.
He hadn’t been willing then. But now—he ran out of the parlor and down the hall.
There was no one in the kitchen or the dining room. Allison and her husband must have gone upstairs. That left only his bedroom. He raced back down the hall and knocked on the door. He figured the reverend would have to forgive him because Noah knew this was not acceptable.
But Maeve, bless her heart, answered his knock.
She’d been crying; her cheeks were pink and wet. Her glorious hair was swirling about her.
“What do you want?” she said, her voice thick and unhappy.
“You,” he said. “I want you.”
She just looked at him.
Then she looked behind her at Violet and gestured for him to step out into the hall. She shut the door and followed him.
He knelt at her feet.
“I want to tell you everything about me,” he said as he looked up. “How abandoned I felt when my parents died. How alone I was in the care of my aunts. How I resented God and didn’t think I could ever love anyone again. How I made a mockery of my marriage to Allison. How my wife left me because I couldn’t seem to care enough. And how much I’ve come to love you.”
He stopped for breath.
He didn’t know what he would say next to convince Maeve to stay. And then he saw her bend down slowly until she was on her knees, too.
“I want to tell you,” she began. “How my husband destroyed my faith in love. How he betrayed me with other women. How he made me ashamed to go to church. How I blamed him and blamed him and never once asked myself if I could have stopped him. If I could have prayed for him more. Loved him more. I ran away from the scandal and was still hiding. And, to make it worse, I was so angry at God that I told myself He was angry with me. And then I want to say how much I love you, too.”
She stopped talking then, and Noah did what was natural. He leaned across to her and rested his forehead against hers.
“We have a lot of talking to do,” he said softly. “A lifetime of talking.”
He could see the smile start to curve her lips. That’s when he kissed her.
He was starting to kiss her for a second time when he heard the outside door to the kitchen open.
“The men are coming for supper,” Maeve whispered.
“They’ve missed meals before,” Noah said. He didn’t want to move from where they were.
“But it’s the party, too,” Maeve reminded him.
They rose up together and held hands as they walked down the hall. It was only when they got to the kitchen that Maeve remembered her daughter.
“Violet,” she gasped as she turned. “I’ll be right back.”
/> Noah let her go and turned to greet the ranch hands.
They were all standing there, beaming at him.
“You were mighty cozy there,” Dakota said.
Noah grinned. “I’m not going to wait any longer. I’m going to marry her if she’ll have me.”
“You mean you haven’t asked her yet?” Dakota demanded.
Noah laughed out right. “I guess I have. With the ad and all. But I want to do it proper and from the heart.”
The party started right then, Noah thought, even though Maeve and Allison insisted they weren’t dressed yet so he kept an eye on Violet and started the ranch hands on the popcorn strings. A couple of the men were humming Christmas carols until everyone joined in.
Maeve and Allison came down the hall at the same time.
Half of the men whistled, but Noah didn’t have the breath for it. He thought his heart had stopped. Maeve was wearing a green silk dress, with tucks pulling the waist in and a scooped neckline that made her neck look elegant. Allison was wearing a red dress, and together they looked like Christmas.
“You’re beautiful,” he said as he walked close enough to Maeve to capture her hand again.
He was staring at her, he knew, but he couldn’t seem to stop. And then Violet was standing next to him and saying something about being lifted up. He looked down. There was no fear on her face as she asked to be taken up. He bent down and did so.
She no sooner had she gotten up in his arms than she started to giggle and lift one arm high in an attempt to get something over his head.
“Misty toe,” Violet said in triumph. “You can’t kiss without some misty toe.”
Noah decided the girl had the right idea. He leaned forward and kissed Maeve until she was breathless.
“Will you marry me?” he asked while her eyes were still soft and unfocused.
She smiled. “Yes.”
A cheer erupted from the ranch hands, and there was much slapping of one another on the back. In fact, the party was in such high spirits that Noah decided it was time for Violet to receive her Christmas present.
“I think we have another guest for the party,” he said to Violet, who was still in his arms talking about her “misty toe.”
