Rimfire Bride (26 page)

“You’ll have to blame Devlin for that.” Drew chuckled. “I tried to hold him back, but he just kept thinking of something else to build.”

“It wasn’t me who kept shipping more lumber,” Devlin said. “You can’t find this kind of wood in Little Missouri.” He ran his hand over the smooth boards that formed the door facing. “But don’t you think it’s pretty?”

“It’s more than that. It truly is beautiful,” Jana said.

“Well, it’ll really look good when we get all this furniture in place. We need to get it ready so we can have Christmas tomorrow,” Drew said.

“You’re right. I wish we would have come yesterday,” Jana said. “How many rooms are there?”

“Eight. Right?” Drew asked as he turned to Devlin.

“Technically, that’s right, but I did add some spaces where I thought you’d need it. There are closets and pantries and alcoves all over this place. It’ll take you a week of Sundays to find all the little things I put in here. You’re gonna like it so much, you’ll never go back to Bismarck.”

“You know, I’d stay right now,” Drew said.

“Not me,” Sam said. “This place looks like a big, empty barn.”

“Ah, you just wait until your dad goes to work on it,” Devlin said. “But for now, why don’t we go
see if Peach has anything for us. In the meantime, I’ll send some of the hands over to get this furniture moved.”

“Thanks, Devlin,” Drew said. “Now let’s help Elfrieda find the kitchen.”

After the cowboys
got there, they were able to put the furniture in place almost faster than Jana could decide where the pieces should go. Sooner than she would have thought possible, every room in the house was presentable.

Suddenly, the door opened and Sam and Benji ran in, the dusting of cinnamon around their mouths evidence of the crullers they had eaten.

“What do you think, boys?” Drew asked, taking in the newly placed furniture with a wave of his hand.

“Oh, I like it!” Benji said excitedly as he ran to the sofa that sat in front of the fireplace.

The sofa was covered in a smooth, tan jute fabric that imitated the look of the Turkish goat’s hair that was on more expensive lounges. The inlaid floor was covered with a red Turcoman carpet, picking up the red paint above the wainscoting. A frescoed panel was on either side of the fireplace, just waiting for an artist’s brush.

“What about you, Sam?” Drew asked.

“It looks a lot better now.”

“Really? Well, I’m glad you see it that way, since I didn’t think you were all that enthused about the house when you first saw it.”

“Well, frankly, I thought the situation was hopeless,” Sam said, speaking beyond his years.

Drew laughed, then ran his hand through his oldest son’s hair. “It will really look good when we get the Christmas tree up, but we’d better hurry. We won’t have many more hours of daylight. Now, who’s going with me?”

“These boys can’t go,” Elfrieda said as she came into the room carrying a large bowl of popcorn. “I’ve got to have help making a rope to go on the tree, and if I made too much corn, somebody’s got to help eat it.”

“I’ll help you,” Sam said as he took a handful of the just-popped corn.

“Good, and, Benji, what about you?”

“Can you get the tree without me?” Benji asked his father.

“I think so—that is, if Jana will go with me.”

“I’d love to.” Jana went to the hall tree to get her coat.

When they stepped outside, Drew headed to the bunkhouse. “Wait here a minute; I’ll get someone to go with us.”

Jana waited as Drew stepped into the bunkhouse. A moment later he came back with a young-looking, towheaded cowboy.

“Jana, this is Charley. He’s not much more than a sprout himself, so he’s more than willing to help us find a tree.”

“Ahh, I ain’t all that young, Mr. Malone. I’m sixteen, most near seventeen.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Charley. And thank you for coming to help us.”

“It’s my pleasure, ma’am.”

“Get a harness put on Harry and hitch him up to
the cart,” Drew said, indicating a mule standing in the corral. “There’s no sense in us lugging the tree back as long as we have him.”

“All right,” Charley said.

Ten minutes later they were near one of the buttes on Drew’s property. Drew looked over several small juniper trees carefully. Finally he selected one that was about five feet tall and had a good shape.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think it will make a great Christmas tree,” Jana said, leaning in to smell the pungent fragrance.

Charley quickly chopped the trunk of the tree while Drew held it upright.

When they got back to the house, Devlin had brought in a butter keg. They trimmed off the bottom branches of the tree and stuck it down into the dirt Devlin had put in the keg.

They had also brought back a few limbs cut from some of the other trees, and Jana picked them up. “These branches will look pretty on the mantelpiece.” She began arranging them on the board. “I wish we had some red ribbon.”

“We don’t have any ribbon, but we have some red calico,” Elfrieda said as she opened a box and began to search through it. She brought out a square of cloth that was printed with green holly.

“That’s Mama’s,” Sam said as he snatched the cloth out of Elfrieda’s hand.

“It was Mama’s, but don’t you think she would want us to use it?” Drew asked.

“That’s for our house, not for this one.”

“But, Sam, this is our house, too, and this is where we’re going to have Christmas, so we’re going to decorate.” Drew took the cloth from Sam and handed it to Jana. “Now, let’s put the rest of the ornaments on the tree.”

The box was filled with cloth ornaments, many in the shape of apples and pears, as well as balls that were quilted together with small pieces of fabric and then filled with batting.

At first Sam held back and would not help, but as all the others seemed to be enjoying themselves, he eventually joined in. He put on the string of popcorn and a few of the gingerbread cookies that the boys had helped Elfrieda make while Jana and Drew had been out getting the tree. Soon the tree was trimmed, except for one final ornament. That was an angel with oversize wings. She had blond hair and was wearing a dress made from the same red cloth that was now on the mantel. Drew picked Benji up, so he could place the angel on the top of the tree.

“Did your mama make the angel?” Jana asked Sam quietly as they were picking up some of the berries that had fallen off the juniper.

“She made all the ornaments. They’ve been on every Christmas tree I’ve ever had,” Sam said.

“Then I’m glad Mrs. Considine didn’t forget to bring them. I’ll bet you wouldn’t think it was Christmas if you didn’t have them.”

“I miss my mama.”

“I know you do.” Jana gave Sam a gentle hug.

He did not hug her back, but he didn’t seem to mind that she had put her arms around him.

After supper, during
which all the cowboys along with Devlin and Toby and Peach shared some of Elfrieda’s oyster stew, everyone came back into the keeping room to admire the Christmas tree, which now glowed with lit candles. They sang carols and Peach read the story of how the baby Jesus was born in a manger. As the cowboys were leaving, Drew passed out envelopes containing money, and everyone left in high spirits. Elfrieda went to the kitchen, and then to a room that adjoined the kitchen that she had claimed as her bedroom.

Jana and the boys sat on the sofa, and Drew joined them.

“Is it Christmas yet?” Benji asked.

“No, silly. It’s the night before Christmas,” Sam said. “Tonight is when Santa Claus comes.”

“I don’t understand,” Benji said. “How does Santa get here?”

“He comes in his sleigh,” Drew said.

“He can’t come in his sleigh because we don’t have any snow.”

“He doesn’t need snow. His reindeer know how to fly,” Jana said.

“I don’t believe that,” Sam said.

“That’s what the poem says.”

“What poem?”

“ ‘’Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ ” Jana said. “Do you mean you’ve never heard that poem?”

“No.”

“Oh, it’s a wonderful poem!” Jana began to quote the famous lines.

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

“Do you know the whole poem?” Drew asked.

“Yes, I do. I used to have my class recite it every Christmas.”

“Are you a teacher?” Sam asked as he pulled up from his position.

“I used to be. Would you like to hear the whole poem?”

“Yes, but start over. I want to hear all of it,” Benji said as he snuggled under the crook of Jana’s arm.

As Jana recited the poem, both children seemed enraptured. Benji leaned closer to her, and Sam fell back upon Drew’s chest.

She continued with the poem, putting great emphasis on certain passages, eliciting laughter from Benji and even Sam when she spoke the lines
He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

Jana recited the poem to the very end, then Benji repeated the last line. “ ‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night,’ ” he said, laughing.

“And it
is
time for good night to all,” Drew said. “Santa won’t come if you aren’t in bed.”

“But I want to see Santa come down the chimney,” Benji said.

“He’ll just fly right by our house if you’re awake,” Drew said.

“Aww. Is that true, Jana?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“And you do want Santa Claus to come, don’t you?” Drew asked.

“Yes.”

“Then you’d better go to bed.”

“Can I sleep with Sam?”

“You’d better ask him,” Drew said, “but right now, let’s get you to your new room.”

“All right. Good night, Daddy, good night Jana,” Benji said as he got down from the sofa. He started for the bedroom, but then he turned around and came back to give Jana a hug. “I’m glad you told us about Santa Claus.”

“I’m glad, too. Good night.”

“Come on, Sam. I’ll tuck you in,” Drew said as he headed down the hall to the boys’ bedroom.

Sam smiled shyly at Jana, but he didn’t say good night.

While Jana waited
for Drew to return, she moved around the big room, putting chairs back in place that the cowboys had moved, and picking up anything that needed to be put away.

“That was easier than I expected,” Drew said when he came back into the great room. “They’re two tuckered-out little boys, and I guess I’m a little tired myself. Come sit beside me, and let’s just look at the tree before we blow out the candles.”

Jana joined him on the sofa, and he placed his arm so as to invite her to put her head on his
shoulder. When she did, he draped his arm around her casually and laid his cheek against her hair. Neither said anything as they sat for several minutes watching the flames flicker in the fireplace, as the candles burned down.

“I could stay like this forever,” Drew said as he turned his face to her hair. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “I want you to know, I’ve not been this happy for a long time.”

Jana turned her face up to his and initiated a kiss—not on his cheek, but directly on the lips.

Drew pulled back and looked down at her with a seductive gaze, causing her pulse to pound. As he lowered his head to kiss her again, they heard the door opening in the entryway.

“Boss, are you ready for these?” Devlin called softly.

Drew jumped up from the sofa. “I almost forgot that Santa’s coming. Bring in the saddles and put them under the tree.”

“Tim Murchison did a heck of a nice job on these things. Look at this tooled leather. Why, he even put their names on them,” Devlin said as he and Charley brought in the small saddles.

“What about the ponies?” Drew asked. “Are you pleased with them?”

“They came from the Custer Trail Ranch, and Howard Eaton picked them out himself. He says they’re bred from the gentlest broodmare he’s got.”

“They are broken, aren’t they? Sam and Benji aren’t going to want to wait until we can gentle them.”

“They’re as gentle as lambs right now,” Devlin said.

Drew smiled. “Good, they’ll love that.”

Jana remembered the gifts she had brought, so she went back to the room that had been designated for guests, where her valise had been put. She had a slate board and colored chalk for Benji, and a cup-and-ball game for Sam, and a shawl for Elfrieda. Drew’s gift had been difficult to choose. She had seen many things that she wanted to get for him, but most were either too expensive or too personal for a woman to give to a man who wasn’t her husband, so she had finally decided on an English tweed neck scarf.

Greta’s present had been the easiest to pick out. She hoped Tom McGowan would not forget to give Greta the hat Jana had selected to go with the dresses the men had bought. Jana had considered giving it to Greta herself, but she thought it would be more fun if Greta actually got her present on Christmas morning.

The packages Jana had brought with her were neatly wrapped with brown paper and bright red ribbon and tucked among her garments in her luggage, so she retrieved them and took them out to place under the tree. Drew and Devlin were still conversing near the door, so Jana made certain the candles were extinguished and made her way to her room.

She took off the easy-flowing, gray worsted skirt she had worn, thankful that she didn’t have to wear the bustle Mr. Watson had insisted she wear under many of the fashionable dresses she modeled.
She folded the skirt and put it in a drawer of the wardrobe, then removed her cotton waist, folding it as well. She was glad she had worn her flannel vest under her blouse because with it she had not needed a jacket. Drew had not told her exactly how many days they would be staying at Rimfire, but she knew she would be wearing this outfit on numerous occasions.

Mrs. Watson had given her a new nightdress as payment for her translation of
The Stranger
, as Mrs. Watson called Kotzebue’s play, and Jana had brought it with her. Slipping out of her vest and drawers, she pulled out the foulard gown and reveled in the feel of the soft fabric against her body. She had never worn a nightdress that had the opening trimmed with a frill all the way down to the hem, and it made her feel a little bit special. While she was attempting to close the long opening, she heard a light knock on the door.