Mail Order Mommy

“No, but you can decorate the stable and make costumes for the children.”

“Decorate it? I don’t think the stable that Joseph and Mary used was decorated.”

“I’m thinking more along the lines of toy animals. You know, the lambs and the sheep and so forth.”

Amanda gasped. “That’s a lot of fabric and a lot of something or other to stuff them.”

“It’s been so warm and dry of late that I’m thinking we could make a day of it and gather dried grasses. Maybe invite Roland, Garrett and the children. Roland already told me that he will donate some old flour sacks and muslin. It’ll be wonderful.”

Amanda wasn’t so certain, but the idea of working anywhere near Garrett overcame her hesitation. Perhaps he was beginning to forgive her for losing track of Sadie during the fire. Perhaps he could begin to trust her. A Christmas nativity would be lovely, especially with the children involved.

“What are the children going to do?”

“Play the roles of the shepherds, angels and Mary and Joseph.”

Amanda could guess who Pearl had pegged for the parents of Jesus, but she had to ask, anyway. “Who’s playing Mary and Joseph?”

Pearl murmured, “Sadie and Isaac. It will help convince Garrett to build the stable. Now go to sleep. I have a busy day of school tomorrow, and I’m expecting you to help out.”

Amanda couldn’t begin to think of sleeping. Her mind whirled with everything that had happened today and would happen over the coming weeks. Pearl’s wedding. Pearl moving to the rooms above the store. Amanda’s new job. Garrett warming to her. So much joy.

The only thing missing was her brother. When she’d learned this autumn that a lumberjack named Jake was working upriver, she’d thought at once of her lost brother. The man fit Jacob’s description. She’d waited day after day for this lumberjack to arrive in Singapore with the last logs rafted down the river, but he’d headed for the camps up north instead. That opportunity had slipped away.

Perhaps this one with Garrett wouldn’t. Now they would work together on the nativity play.

No doubt Pearl and Roland had arranged this “project” in order to get Amanda and Garrett together. After today, that didn’t seem like such a hopeless prospect. Garrett was beginning to treat her with compassion and respect, something she enjoyed but was having trouble accepting. If she did a great job with not only the curtains for his house but also the costumes for the nativity play, maybe he’d forget about Fiona and begin considering her for a wife. Maybe. Just maybe. As long as he never learned about her past.

Chapter Six

Saturdays gave Amanda more time to work on her sewing projects. For the last week, she’d cut and basted and sewed Pearl’s wedding dress in every spare moment. By this afternoon, she switched to making Garrett’s curtains, in case Pearl returned to the boardinghouse early.

Curtains should take no time at all, but the treadle sewing machine was finicky to operate. The bobbin kept snarling, and she would have to stop and take apart what she’d just done and start over. She’d run into the same problems when making the dress and doll dress for Sadie this past August, but it was still faster than sewing every seam by hand. For the trickier parts, she still preferred hand-stitching, but she kept the curtains simple.

“No ruffles or lace,” Garrett had said.

So that’s what she did. She would not risk the progress she’d made with him over something as unimportant as curtains. Though he hadn’t smiled at her again the rest of the week, he had been most cordial. Her supper offerings had improved, thanks to Mrs. Calloway’s coaching, and he had complimented Amanda on them.

She dearly hoped these curtains would continue to elevate her in his esteem.

With Sadie’s prompting, Amanda had chosen a serviceable muslin fabric in a pretty yellow color with tiny flowers. The fact that Sadie picked it out would go a long way toward winning Garrett’s approval if he thought the color or pattern too dainty. It would also brighten the rooms, which were terribly dark, between the ponderous walnut furniture and the unpainted walls. It was a leased cottage, she had to remind herself, nothing like the Chatsworths’ home or even the three-story orphanage.

“A tablecloth would help brighten things, too,” she said aloud to no one but herself. If she cut the cloth precisely, she might have enough left over to make one.

“Brighten things where?”

The masculine voice made her pause the treadle and look up. Garrett stood in the entrance to the writing room where Mrs. Calloway housed the sewing machine. Amanda had not expected to see him this Saturday afternoon, since he had given her the day off until suppertime.

“You’re not with the children?”

“They’re spending the afternoon with Roland and Pearl,” he pointed out. “What are you making?”

Amanda turned back to her sewing. “These are the curtains for your house.”

She heard him step into the room until he stood just a few steps behind her. “They are bright.”

“Sadie and I thought they looked like sunshine.”

He didn’t respond right away.

She glanced back.

He looked down at the hat in his hands. “I suppose you’re right, but they’re...bright.”

“Cheerful. They make me smile, especially knowing how much Sadie liked the fabric.”

As expected, that wore away the last of his resistance. “You really did ask Sadie to help you pick out the cloth.”

“Of course. She has excellent taste, especially when it comes to color. You must have noticed that she’s quite the little artist.”

He didn’t answer.

Again Amanda paused long enough to glance back. He was frowning. Why? “Do you disapprove of artists?”

“It’s not very useful.”

“Sometimes the most important things in life are not useful. Beauty lifts our spirits.”

If anything, he looked more uncomfortable.

“A tablecloth would only get stained,” he said gruffly.

“It could also teach the children to take care when eating.” She didn’t mention Garrett’s tendency to shovel food in his mouth as fast as possible. She’d seen starving children do the same thing in the orphanage. Perhaps he’d had to battle Roland for enough to eat. “Were you poor when you were growing up?” The moment she said the words, she regretted them.

Garrett’s complexion darkened, and she steeled herself for a rebuke.

Instead he denied it. “No. Not at all.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

He walked over to the window. Already the light was low. Soon darkness would settle over the land. “Forget it.”

She searched for another subject. “You must have come here today for a reason.”

He cleared his throat. “Roland and Pearl insisted I speak to you about the project they have for me. Us.”

She had forgotten. “The stable?”

“I don’t need help. I’ll cut the sheep from wood.”

“That would work, but they won’t be very nice for the children to cuddle.” When Pearl had first broached the idea, Amanda had imagined the children holding the lambs and perhaps even taking them home.

“Cuddle? I thought this was a depiction of the nativity.”

Amanda bit her tongue. Garrett was right. This was a holy, solemn moment. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. But how will we make them look like the animals? I don’t know anyone with paints.”

“I do.” Fiona swept into the room. “The moment Garrett told me about the project I sent for my painting supplies. They should be on the next mail boat from Chicago.”

“You paint pictures?” Amanda had to shut her gaping mouth.

Fiona smiled indulgently. “Singing is not my only talent. In the theater, one becomes accomplished in many arts.”

Amanda wondered why she’d never mentioned this before, especially when watching Sadie, who loved to draw.

Fiona had turned her attention away from Amanda and lavished it on Garrett. “You look quite handsome tonight.”

For the first time, Amanda noticed that Garrett was wearing his Sunday suit and good coat. He carried a felt bowler rather than the cap he wore when working in cold weather. His hair was combed into place, and he’d shaved.

He extended an arm to Fiona. “Shall we?”

“Of course,” she purred, casting a triumphant glance at Amanda. “We wouldn’t want to be late.”

Amanda turned back to her sewing and pretended to work. Almost immediately the bobbin thread snarled. Still, she worked the treadle, making the knot worse and worse. Only when she was certain Garrett and Fiona had left did she stop. The mass of knotted thread would take forever to untangle, but not as long as her foolish hopes.

* * *

Garrett felt awful from the moment he stepped into the boardinghouse and Mrs. Calloway sent him to the writing room. The woman clearly thought he was there for Amanda. The fact that she was working on curtains for his house only made things worse.

He should have explained that he’d agreed weeks ago to escort Fiona to her Saturday concert, when Sawyer Evans, her accompanist who usually walked her to the hotel, asked him for the favor. Sawyer had left this morning for Chicago to meet up with family ahead of the holidays.

“I don’t trust anyone else,” Sawyer had told him when Garrett hesitated.

The man must not have realized Fiona’s ambitions toward Garrett, or he would never have asked the favor.

At the time, Garrett couldn’t find a single reason to object, so he’d agreed. It wasn’t that he felt anything for Fiona. True, they’d dined together on occasion at the hotel, but they were just good friends. At least that’s what he told himself.

Fiona’s actions revealed just how wrong he was. She’d made a point of besting Amanda over the animals for the nativity play. Maybe he should have agreed with Pearl’s idea to make stuffed animals, but it had seemed like far too much work for Amanda, who was already helping at the school, working for him and making the costumes for the play. He’d wanted to ease her burden, but instead he’d paved the way for Fiona to triumph over Amanda.

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