“It’s my pleasure.” For some reason she wasn’t ready to explore, Missy liked helping in this house. She did it not out of obligation or duty but because she wanted to, and perhaps that made all the difference. Not to mention it was appreciated.
Grady, Joey and Annie chattered freely at the table and the adults gave them attention, just as her mama and papa had done with her.
Reliving her memories of her parents through these children was better than any Christmas present Missy could have wished for, and she knew a sense of joy and rightness she had not known since her parents had died.
The meal over, the men excused themselves.
Eddie stood at Linette’s side. “Is there anything you need before I tend to chores?”
She pressed her hand to her husband’s arm. “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about us.” She glanced toward the cradle where little Jonathan slept peacefully.
“I’ll give you a hand.” Wade joined Eddie and Nate as they left the house.
Joey and Annie stared after their uncle. Annie’s lips trembled.
Missy sprang into action before they could start crying or worrying. “I need help with the dishes.”
Linette wanted to help, but Missy shooed her away. “Sit and rest while you can.”
She assigned each child a chore and turned putting food away into a game of “what’s next?” Laughter rang through the kitchen.
“You’re very good with the children,” Linette observed.
Missy chuckled. “It’s because I’m not much more than a child myself.”
Linette and Louise both snorted. Louise shook her head. “When was the last time you looked in a mirror?”
Missy grinned, purposely misunderstanding her. “Why, is my hair untidy?”
Louse chuckled. “You’d be beautiful whether your hair was tousled or tied back in a tight bun.”
“Thank you.” Missy hugged her sister-in-law.
Annie watched, her eyes studying Missy’s hair. “You have awfully pretty hair.” She yanked at her tangled locks. “Mine is ugly.”
Missy grabbed the child and hugged her. “Not so. The first time I saw you, I thought what a pretty little girl. With those big dark eyes and thick curls, you could never be anything but beautiful.” She eyed the child’s hair. It could do with a brushing and maybe some styling.
“As soon as the dishes are done, I will fix your hair so pretty you won’t recognize yourself.” She stuck her hands in the dishpan full of hot soapy water and a stack of plates.
Annie grabbed a drying towel and handed one to each of the boys. “Let’s hurry.”
The women chuckled at her eagerness, and in no time the kitchen was clean and the dishes done. Missy got her brush and sat behind Annie. Slowly, gently, she worked the tangles out of the curly hair. As she brushed she talked to the children about the stagecoach trip she and Louise had recently completed.
“Weren’t you scared?” Joey asked, when she told about the snowstorm they had been forced to travel through.
“Maybe a little, but the men seemed to know what they were doing. I was awfully glad to get to the next stopping house, though.” Equally glad when the storm ended and they could move on. The old man at the stopping house had done his best to get Missy interested in his advances. She stopped a shiver before it could race through her body.
She French braided Annie’s hair into a thick rope, then showed the girl a mirror. “What do you think?”
Annie stared into the glass a long time and when she lifted her face to Missy, tears filled her eyes. “Mama braided my hair like this,” she whispered.
Missy hugged the child. “I hope it’s okay that I did it, too.” Perhaps Annie preferred to remember her mama’s hands on her hair.
“I like it being like Mama did it.”
Joey had slipped away to the window overlooking the ranch, and Missy went to him.
He leaned on the ledge, peering at the scene down the hill. “I don’t see him.”
Missy knew he meant Wade. “He’s there someplace helping with the chores.”
Joey turned and fixed her with a demanding, yet sorrowful look. “What’s going to happen to us?”
Missy’s throat tightened. She’d agreed the children should enjoy some special days before they were faced with the truth, but oh, how she wished she could give them assurance that their future was secure, that they would stay with the one person they knew and loved.
But Wade had made his plans clear, as well as his reasons.
“What’s going to happen? We are going to enjoy a special Boxing Day celebration.”
Annie’s eyes grew wide. She covered her mouth with her hand.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Missy asked.
“We need a star.” The child’s voice trembled.
“What kind of star?”
“A paper star to take to the barn. We hang it over the manger.”
“Don’t you worry. We’ll find a star.”
Missy asked Linette for paper and scissors. She pointed her toward the cupboard. “There’s brown paper and everything you need in there.”
Missy led Joey and Annie to the cupboard, while Grady hung back at Linette’s side, looking down at his sleeping baby brother.
“Will this do?” Missy asked.
Annie and Joey nodded in unison.
She spread the paper on the table. “How big?”
“Big,” Annie said. “Real big so the wise men can see it.”
Missy sketched a five-pointed star on the one-foot-square piece of paper. “Is this good?”
The children nodded, their gazes riveted to the sheet.
She cut the star out.
“I’ll carry it,” Joey said, and Annie didn’t argue.
Joey returned to the window. “Uncle Wade won’t forget, will he?” Worry darkened his voice.
Missy glanced past him. “Look. He’s just leaving the barn.”
The children rushed for their coats, except for Grady, who held back. “Mama, they said I could go, too.”
Linette glanced at Missy, who nodded. “Wade said it was okay.”
“Very well, you may join them.”
There ensued a flurry of activity—struggling into coats and hurrying to do up the buttons, finding hats and scarves and boots. By the time Wade stepped inside, three children bundled up for winter waited at the door.
He gazed at the children, a puzzled expression on his face. “Looks like you’re going out.”
Three heads nodded.
“Got something planned, do you?” He kept his voice quizzical, but Missy saw the flash of teasing in his eyes and leaned back to watch how it would play out.
Annie nodded decisively, but the two boys looked at each other as if to check if they had misunderstood the plans.
“Anything I should know about?” Wade asked.
“Uncle Wade.” Annie’s voice dripped with impatience. “You know we’re going to the barn for Boxing Day.”
“Oh, that. I thought we had all day to do it. I