Roses for Mama (17 page)
Tears formed in Angela’s eyes. She would miss Thomas. They had been so close. Had worked together for so many years as a team, raising their younger siblings.
She brushed impatiently at the unbidden tears. “Here I am, on the happiest day of my life, sobbing like a buffoon,” she scolded herself. “Why, I should be singing my way through the morning chores—and here I sit crying in my coffee.”
Angela decided not to drink the second cup of coffee, after all. She took the cup to the slop pail and poured out the contents, then turned her attention to the morning dishes.
“It is just that the morning did not start out well,” she informed herself. “Things will soon be right again.”
She cast a worried look toward the kitchen window. The sky had darkened and a stiff wind was blowing.
I do hope Thomas makes it to town and back before it storms. And I hope the children are bundled up warmly enough against the wind. I wonder if Louise wore her muffler. She is getting so full of silliness that she’d rather freeze than be thought out-of-style. Oh, dear! What will I ever do with the girl?
Angela’s mind turned to prayer. “Lord, you know how hard it is to be growing up. And Louise seems to be having a particularly bad time with it. How can I help her, Lord? Mama would have known just what to do and say—but I stumble along and make so many blunders. Give me wisdom, Lord. Give me wisdom. With Louise. And with Sara. Give me patience with her constant chattering, too, Lord. And with Derek and his buried grief. Help me, Lord. And help me to pick the right time to share with them the news that I am to marry. May they be just as excited about a new home as—as I will be—as I am.”
Angela did not say Amen. She knew her prayer might be taken up again many times throughout her day.
———
In the afternoon, Angela was surprised to see Thane. He had been out their way delivering groceries to the Widow Thorson and had decided to drop in, he said. Angela pushed the kettle forward and prepared a cup of hot lemonade to help take the chill from his bones.
They chatted and laughed as old friends. Then he said he must get home since the day before Christmas was always a busy one in the store. As he left, Angela called after him that she would be seeing them all on the day following, and he called back that he hoped it wouldn’t storm and prevent them. Angela turned again to her preparations for the family evening.
The family arrived home in a flurry of excitement and much laughing and bantering as they headed for bedrooms to wrap gifts before the evening gift exchange. Angela called out orders as to chores to be done before supper. The girls responded good-naturedly, but Derek was still quiet and withdrawn. Angela was relieved that Louise had returned to good humor—probably something to do with the fact that she had been given a nice compliment on her hair by Claude Sommers. Sara shared the news and, though Louise shrieked and scolded, Angela was sure Louise was secretly pleased that Sara had told.
The stock was cared for, the woodbox stacked high, and extra water carried from the well before they gathered around the kitchen table, where the lamp cast a soft glow on wind-chilled faces and the kitchen stove sent out waves of warmth.
Angela looked at the little circle of family. Everyone was relieved to be in out of the cold and most anxious for the evening’s festivities—simple as they were.
Angela had taken special care with the meal. The chicken was fried just the way Thomas liked it. The biscuits were high and fluffy. The peas had been creamed to suit Sara, and there was cranberry sauce to please Louise. The fruit cake was especially for Derek.
“Are we having company?” asked Derek, casting a furtive glance about.
Angela laughed. “Who would come out on a night like this?” she asked, and Derek just shrugged his slim shoulders and looked relieved.
“Thane used to,” put in Sara.
A hush fell on the room and all eyes turned to Angela.
“Why doesn’t he come anymore?” went on Sara, wistfulness in her voice.
“Why, he comes. He stopped by for a few minutes today.”
Angela thought she saw a smile play about the corners of Thomas’s mouth, but he made no comment.
Sara did not let it pass. “He did? And I didn’t see him,” she mourned. Then she went on. “But he doesn’t come much. He used to come—lots and lots. Why doesn’t he do that anymore?”
“I—I don’t know. He’s—he’s been very busy helping his father expand the store, I guess,” said Angela. “He says they are finally done with it. He’ll have more time now.”
“I miss him,” continued Sara. “I haven’t had any lemon drops for—for just years.”
“Sara!” Angela scolded. “I hope that Thane means more to you than lemon drops.”
Sara fidgeted in her seat, but Derek raised his eyes to Angela’s.
She could feel a probing, a questioning, and she wondered what he was thinking. She felt like squirming under his gaze, yet didn’t know why. To Angela’s relief he dropped his eyes to his plate.
“Did you fight?” asked Louise bluntly.
“Who?” asked Angela, knowing full well whom she meant.
“You. You and Thane.”
“Of course not! What do you mean? Why would Thane and I fight?”
“Well, he used to come see you all the time and he doesn’t anymore,” said Louise with a shrug.
“He—he didn’t come to see me. He—he came to see us—all of us,” Angela protested, her cheeks flushing.
“Oh no,” denied the chattery Sara. “He used to come to see you. I know. I saw him looking at you.”
“Don’t talk foolish,” Angela hushed Sara as she rose to replenish the chicken platter that was still piled high.
She had planned to share her proposal with the family over the supper table, but now did not seem like a good time to declare her news.
“Sara, that’s enough chatter,” Thomas said softly. “Stop your talking and clean up your plate or we’ll all need to sit and wait for you.”
Angela noticed that each family member still had a full plate. Sara was no slower that the rest of them, yet she felt thankful that Thomas had put a stop to the conversation.
———
“What is it?” Thomas asked when the two of them sat alone at the kitchen table sharing the warmth of the stove and the dim light of the lamp. The taffy-pulling and popcorn-making was over for another year and each gift had been exchanged and received with proper fuss and appreciation. The three younger children had been sent off to bed, with Angela and Thomas left to clean up the kitchen and then catch their breath.
Angela raised her head.
“You’ve got something on your mind,” Thomas continued.
Angela did not deny it. It would be wrong—and foolish—for her to do so.
“I—I had a proposal for marriage,” she answered, trying hard to hold her voice steady.
A glimmer lightened her brother’s face, and Angela breathed a little sigh of thanksgiving. Thomas looked pleased—not upset.
“And you have given an answer?” prompted Thomas.
Angela could not speak. She simply nodded her head, but there was a gleam in her own eyes now.
“I take it from the shine in your eyes that the answer was yes,” said Thomas.
Angela nodded again, a smile blossoming on her full mouth, her cheeks flushing faintly.
“When?” asked Thomas simply.
“No date has been set,” responded Angela. “We really have not had much chance to make plans at all.”
“I know,” nodded Thomas. “He’s been terribly busy.”
“And it wouldn’t seem right to—to hurry into marriage with circumstances as they are, and all.”
Thomas looked a bit puzzled. “Circumstances?”
“With his father just being buried and—”
Thomas jerked upright, his whole body tensing. His eyes looked startled and unbelieving in the dim light of the lamp.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded.
“Carter wouldn’t want to marry quickly. His father—”
“I know about his father.”
Angela understood then. Thomas had not been thinking of Carter Stratton when she had announced that she was to marry. Thomas had thought she was speaking of someone else. But who? Who other than Carter would Thomas have assumed to be the one? Who had already been given Thomas’s blessing? And why were his eyes now filled with concern?
“I—I don’t understand—” began Angela.
Thomas had dropped his head and was running a nervous hand through his thatch of blond hair. At last he looked up, his eyes dark with anxiety.
“It’s not that—I mean—” He hesitated and took a deep breath. “Are you sure? I mean, do you really—?”
“Of course,” said Angela with more confidence than she felt. After all, wasn’t her marriage to Carter going to solve problems for all of them?
Thomas looked at her for a long moment.
“Then you have my blessing,” he finally said, but to Angela, his voice sounded weary.
She reached out to squeeze his hand, flashing him a smile so that she might receive one of his in return.
He managed the smile. And he responded to the pressure of her hand. But Angela wondered if both were forced.
“I—I wonder,” he finally managed, “if it would be wise to just—just keep your secret—for a—a while—until—until we get this matter of the land settlement behind us.”
Angela nodded. She had forgotten about the will. Although she wasn’t sure she understood exactly what Thomas was saying, she was content to abide by his wishes.
It was difficult for Angela to keep her secret from Mrs. Andrews on Christmas Day. But each time she was tempted to bring up her engagement, she remembered Thomas’s request and fought back the urge. She didn’t let herself think about the fact that Thane seemed to be avoiding any eye contact with her. She had enough on her mind already.
At the end of the day, the family bundled up with robes and blankets and started off for home. They were filled with turkey and trimmings and new memories of fun and laughter with their good friends.
But as Angela reflected on the day, she felt a stab of pain. This would likely be the last Christmas spent with the Andrews family. Surely Carter would expect to celebrate Christmas in their own home in the future.
Angela brushed away tears that started to spill. She loved the Andrewses. They were like family.
———
January turned bitterly cold. Angela hated to send the youngsters off to school. A few mornings she did keep them at home, putting them to work on their lessons at the kitchen table.
Carter had not been to call. Angela kept telling herself that it was much too cold for anyone to be out, but she did wonder about his absence.
The trial date was drawing closer. Angela could hardly bear the suspense. She was tempted to bundle up and head for the nearby farm. Surely Gus would be able to give her some news. Perhaps she would even be lucky enough to visit at the same time Charlie was making one of his calls.
But what would she do if Carter should be there? So Angela did not head across the field. She knew Thomas would oppose her going out in such weather. She stayed put, trying to ignore her troubled thoughts, and waited.
Thane dropped in a couple of times in spite of the weather.
“I hear you’ve been missing me,” he said to Sara with a wink. “Or is it just the lemon drops?”
Sara denied the charge with a shake of her blond pigtails, but she did smile brightly when Thane produced her favorite candy.
Thane and Thomas set up the checker board by the cozy kitchen fire and spent the next hour noisily challenging each other. Angela felt a strange comfort in the familiar banter that accompanied the game. She had to admit that she had been missing Thane’s visits, too.
By the trial date, the weather had eased some. Angela dressed the children in extra layers and sent them off to school. She fought the urge to hitch the team and head for town. From the reports she had received, the trial was to be held in the town hall. But this word had not come to her from Carter. He had not mentioned the hearing, nor had he called since his pre-Christmas proposal of marriage. Angela began to wonder if she had dreamed it, after all.
Thomas must have noticed her agitation, but he made no comment.
“I think I’ll go on into town,” Thomas announced at the dinner table one evening. “Do you care to come along?”
Angela paled. “I don’t think so,” she answered slowly.
So Angela watched him go, feeling that whatever word he brought back would somehow affect her.
If Carter only had brought it up
, Angela kept saying to herself,
I might have been able to explain to him how important the little place is to Charlie
.
At other moments Angela tried to see Carter’s point of view and found herself feeling put out with Charlie.
He could have taken his money and gotten a nice little place in town
, she protested during her inner debates.
He didn’t have to take Carter’s land
.
But no matter which way Angela argued, she could not find peace of mind.
When Thomas returned from town, he told her the matter still had not been settled. Angela felt more agitated than ever.
Thomas did, however, bring with him a note from Carter.
“My darling Angela,” he wrote in bold, firm script. “The days have been unbearably long since I last saw you. I cannot wait until this ordeal is over and I will be free to call again and we can make our plans. It shouldn’t be long now. Things went well today—in my favor, I might add, and I propose that soon I will be granted the land that is rightfully mine. This fool of a little man really doesn’t have a logical argument on his side. So please bear with me. I will call the moment I am free to do so. With my deepest affection, Carter.”
Angela was relieved to hear from him but troubled at his assessment of Charlie.
He’s not a fool of a little man
, she argued to herself.
He is a dear, good friend and he does have right to the land. It was left to him
.
But Angela would not have shared her thoughts or her words with anyone. Not even Thomas. To do so would have been to put some blame on Carter.
“It will all be over soon,” she said out loud, pretending to find comfort in that fact.
