Christmas on the Prairie Read online

  “Jonah has his reasons, Mr. Dobson. I’m sure we’ll talk our way through them when he’s ready.”

  The boy’s eyebrows went up. He stepped back and pushed the smallest girl forward. “This is Lily, the baby.”

  “I’m not a baby!” Her fists clenched and Ansley felt an immediate kinship with the little girl. Ansley had been the fighter between Rose and her, the unapologetic defender of the weak and put-upon.

  “Of course you’re not a baby.” Ansley bent forward and met the child eye-to-eye. “I think your brother just means you’re the youngest. And there’s nothing at all wrong with being the youngest. Look at your mama. She was my little sister just like you are to Jonah and...” She didn’t know the middle child’s name.

  “Hannah,” the girl supplied. She gave a perfect curtsy. “Pleased to meet you, Auntie Ansley. Mama said you had the most beautiful name she ever heard and she used to be jealous because her name was just plain Rose.”

  So she had spoken to the children about her childhood. How much did they know? “Can I tell you a secret, Hannah?”

  The child nodded, her eyes wide.

  “Your mama’s name was not ‘just plain Rose’ and I was always jealous of her name, too.”

  “You were?”

  Ansley nodded at her captive audience. “When Rose was born, my parents—your grandparents—were surprised to welcome another baby girl. They had been expecting a boy, so they hadn’t prepared a name for your mother. But the day she was born, my papa clipped a bud from Mama’s rosebush and from that day on, he always called your mama his little rosebud.” She swallowed past a lump. “I always believed she had the most beautiful name in the world.”

  Lily slipped a warm, pudgy hand into Ansley’s. “I like that story, Auntie Ansley.”

  Relief flooded over her. At least the girls were inclined to open their hearts to her. Perhaps Jonah would in time.

  She faced Mr. Dobson, drawing a long breath. “May I speak with you in private?”

  “Of course.” He turned to the children. “Go back to your table for a few minutes. I’ll collect you shortly.”

  The children did as they were told, but it was clear from the long-suffering expressions on their faces—at least the girls’—exactly how they felt about being dismissed.

  Ansley’s heart sang at the knowledge that not only had Rose borne children, but that they were wonderful, imaginative, mostly polite children. Perhaps the boy would come around. Or if not, was it possible Mr. Dobson might consider allowing her to return to Boston with just the girls? She believed she could win over the girls easily. The boy might resent her even more if she tried to take him away.

  Seth’s hand cupped her elbow. “Shall we return to the parlor?”

  She nodded and he released her. Once they returned to the room, Seth went to the fire and poked the logs that had begun to burn away. The fire sparked as he added another log and turned to her. “I reckon we have some talking to do.”

  “Yes.” Ansley picked at nonexistent lint on her skirt and swallowed hard. “Tell me about your family. Do the children see their grandparents often?”

  Mr. Dobson shook his head. “My ma died a few years back. Pa joined her within a year. Now it’s just me and my sister, Teddy, plus our grandpa, who lives in Martin’s Creek. The children live with Teddy and me.”

  Sister! So he didn’t have a mother for the children. Of course a sister was almost as bad. A lone man might welcome the relief of having the children taken off his hands, but a woman was another story. This Teddy might prove to be a problem. Still, Ansley had to try. She would love nothing more than to pack up the three of them and take them back to Aunt Maude’s home in Boston. After all, the home belonged to her now, along with an inheritance large enough to keep them all well dressed and well fed, and to allow them to attend proper schools. Surely Mr. and Miss Dobson would see how much better off they’d be with her.

  But as she returned Mr. Dobson’s gaze, his narrowed eyes indicated he might have an inkling what she was up to.

  She gathered a breath and clasped her fingers together so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Mr. Dobson. I came to this town with the intention of reuniting with my sister. I assumed there might be children, but I would never have imagined they would be orphaned.”

  “They have me.”

  “Yes, of course they do, and from the appearance of things, they’re being cared for in the way Rose would have wanted. However...”

  “You want them.” He spoke the words without inflection.

  “Yes. I am well able to provide for them. And they’d be loved like no other children were ever loved.”

  “The way you and Rose were after your folks passed on?” Gone was the man who had, only moments before, kissed her hand and told her she was pretty and graceful. Mr. Dobson’s voice had grown combative. And though she preferred the former, Ansley knew how to hold her own, and she squared her shoulders.

  “No. My aunt was a self-centered, bitter spinster, incapable of putting anyone’s needs above her own. And while she loved us in her own way, she loved herself more.”

  “You’re a spinster. How do I know you aren’t just like the old woman?” He stood, paced the room. “And how do I know you wouldn’t raise the children as strict and cold as you were raised?”

  Hearing herself compared to Aunt Maude made Ansley’s blood run cold. In the past few months, there had been a steady stream of suitors, all after her inheritance, all bitter over her rejection. And almost all had voiced similar words to Mr. Dobson’s last. They claimed she’d be nothing more than a bitter old spinster, suspicious of anyone who might try to love her. She would die alone with her money and big house with no one to mourn her. Ansley refused to believe that. Even if she never married, she would not live a life of indifference.

  “I know I will raise the children differently, Mr. Dobson, because I am different. My aunt had no love for her brother, my papa. He was rather a disappointment to the family. But I loved my sister and I love her children. Love makes the difference.”

  “I love them, too, Miss Potter. So does Teddy. And just so we’re clear, those kids don’t even know you. They love us. I won’t give them up.” He had stopped pacing and his jaw was tight and determined. “You’re welcome to see them anytime you’d like, but I made Rose and Frank a promise, and I intend to see it through.”

  Ansley saw the certainty in his eyes and knew she was in for a fight. But she wasn’t foolish enough to press the issue and risk raising his ire any more. If she could spend time with the children, there was always a chance Mr. Dobson would eventually have a change of heart. Tomorrow she would telegraph her housekeeper and let her know she would be spending the holidays right here in Prairie Chicken. Two months should be long enough to convince Mr. Dobson of the wisdom in her plan, and if not, it would be long enough for her lawyer to start the process of her gaining legal custody.

  * * *

  The rain had stopped by the time Seth gathered the children and herded them out to the wagon, amid the girls’ loud protests over leaving their aunt Ansley. Only a promise from Seth and Miss Potter that she would come to dinner the following evening convinced them to obey. The excited chatter all the way home grated on his nerves, and relief flooded him as he pulled up to the two-story frame home his pa had built. Smoke wafted from the chimney. Teddy must have gotten home from Grandpa’s after all.

  “Get on with your chores,” he instructed, leaving the wagon for Jonah to put away. Hannah went to tend the milk cows, and Lily, the chickens. “And be sure to take off your shoes before you come inside or Aunt Teddy will have all our heads.”

  As relieved as he felt that Teddy had made it back safely, he had a lot of thinking to do after his conversation with Miss Potter. Once the children came in from their chores, all they’d be talking about was their new aunt, so he suppos
ed he’d best fill Teddy in before that happened. His stomach hadn’t stopped churning since Ansley Potter had announced the children would be better off with her in Boston.

  “What am I going to do about her, Lord?” He waited for a sense of peace to come as it usually did when he prayed, but this time, his stomach continued to churn, and he received no answer from above.

  Opening the door and stepping inside, he was greeted by the aroma of supper cooking on the stove. “That you, Seth?” Teddy called from the kitchen, and then appeared in the doorway, her hair damp and laying around her shoulders.

  Seth removed his hat and dropped it onto the hook by the door. “You were supposed to be home yesterday. What happened?”

  She shrugged. “I missed the stage so I thought I’d catch it today. But Grandpa had a little fall and twisted his ankle. By the time the doc said he’d be okay, it was too late. I borrowed one of Grandpa’s horses. I was soaked clean through by the time I got ten miles. But I figured a little rain wouldn’t hurt me, so here I am. Besides, it’s faster on horseback.”

  “How is he?”

  “Oh, his ankle will be fine in a couple of days. Rachel Conroy is going to check on him and take him food until he’s back on his feet.”

  “That’s good.” Seth peered closer. Sometimes Teddy said more in what she didn’t actually say in words, and he could tell there was something else.

  “What else?”

  She sent him a scowl. “How do you always do that?” A deep sigh shoved out of her throat. “He’s worried about Frank’s land.” She angled a rueful glance at Seth. “Sorry. He dragged it out of me.”

  “Great, all we need is Grandpa causing a scene over the land.”

  “Well, you can’t blame him. He was so proud of Pa for making such a success of the farm.”

  “And I’m the disappointment of the family.”

  She waved away his comment. “Don’t be silly. Not one person thinks that. Anyway, let’s not talk about it. I told Grandpa not to worry. But you know how he is.”

  “Yeah.” Seth didn’t fault his sister for opening up to their grandpa about his trouble with the mortgage and Luke’s father’s determination to buy Frank’s land, which bordered Carson’s. But he still had some details to work out, and he’d have preferred to let Grandpa in on the whole thing once he had things in hand.

  Teddy puckered her brow as she looked him over. “By the way, why’d you get home so late? I expected to see you an hour ago.”

  “Let’s go into the kitchen. Coffee smells good.”

  “It’s just finished boiling. I figured you’d want something to warm your insides.”

  “You figured right.” Seth followed her back to the kitchen and dropped into a chair at the table. He smiled his thanks when Teddy set a steaming mug of coffee in front of him, then took a seat across from him with a cup of her own.

  “So,” she said. “What kept you?”

  Seth gathered a long, slow breath and released it along with the details of the past couple of hours.

  “How sad for Rose that she never knew her sister wasn’t the one returning those letters!” Teddy’s eyes narrowed in anger. “And how dare that wretched aunt of theirs keep them apart.” She spooned sugar into her cup with such force it splashed onto the table. “When I think about all the years our Rose mourned about her sister, I could just... It makes me so angry.”

  “It doesn’t seem fair. That’s for sure. I guess if Miss Potter and Rose had stayed connected all these years, we might have gotten to know her years ago.”

  And then the woman might have a better chance of tearing the children away from their home. If they’d grown up knowing her, they might even want to go live with her.

  “How long will Miss Potter be staying in Prairie Chicken?” Teddy’s question brought him back to the present.

  He shrugged. “Not sure.” Hopefully she would realize he wasn’t going to budge about the children. She had seemed to accept his refusal to give them up, but Seth had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy. He drained his cup and set it on the table. “Anyway, she’s coming for dinner tomorrow night. That okay?”

  Teddy’s face lit up at the news. “Of course! I’ll cook some deer steaks and put on a pot of beans with those little onions we dug up last month. This is wonderful.”

  A twinge of guilt hit Seth as he listened to Teddy. He supposed being the youngest by a good fifteen years and being doted on her whole life had given his little sister a naive view of people and their motives. He was about to tell her about Miss Potter’s desire to raise the children herself, but he changed his mind as he watched Teddy continue to plan for the next evening’s meal.

  He only hoped Miss Potter wouldn’t cause a scene and upset the children.

  * * *

  Ansley felt herself drawn to Teddy Dobson from the first moment she laid eyes on the young woman. If she had to guess, she’d say Teddy was no more than twenty. Still old enough to have married, but not so old she would be considered a spinster by any means.

  “I’m so delighted to meet you,” Teddy said, taking Ansley’s cloak and hanging it on a hook by the door. “The girls have been so excited since they got up this morning, I’m sure Miss Vestal had a horrible time trying to keep their attention at school.”

  Ansley couldn’t help but notice Teddy hadn’t mentioned Jonah. Clearly, he’d made it known to this other aunt of his that he wasn’t happy with Ansley’s presence. He’d given her a dutiful kiss on the cheek when she arrived, no doubt instructed to do so by Mr. Dobson and Teddy. But the girls had milled about the instant she’d arrived, both talking at once. “I told everyone at school about you,” Hannah said. “Sarah Wayne pretended she didn’t care a thing about anyone having a new aunt, but I could tell she was envious. And Ma always said you shouldn’t envy because it’s a sin.”

  “I suppose that’s right.” Ansley grinned at the girl.

  A tug on her dress brought Ansley’s attention down to Lily. “I picked you some wildflowers at recess, but they made Miss Vestal sneeze so she asked me to take them outside. And then I couldn’t find them after school.”

  Ansley bent and hugged the child, relishing the warm, plump arms that hugged her back. “Well, I appreciate the thought.”

  “Sarah Wayne said you’ll probably be setting your cap for Uncle Seth,” Hannah said, holding out a chair for Ansley and climbing into the chair beside her. “Think you might marry him?”

  “I should say not!” Ansley instantly regretted the force of her words as the girl grew red and appeared as though she might start to cry. “It’s just that I don’t know your uncle, and besides, I’m not setting my cap for anyone.”

  Teddy clucked her tongue, but her eyes held a hint of merriment at the turn of conversation. “Sarah Wayne sneaks into those dime store romantic novels much too often. I’ve even seen her reading them at the general store. I don’t know why her ma doesn’t put a stop to it. They fill her head with the silliest ideas.”

  Seated at the head of the table, Seth grunted around a sip of coffee, but Ansley couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. He set the cup on the table and turned to Teddy. “I’ve been meaning to speak with Miss Vestal about Sarah. It’s one thing to fill her own head with silliness, but I don’t want her talking about courting and marriage and such around our children.”

  Ansley couldn’t help but agree that this Sarah Wayne seemed to be a source of trouble, but she knew his use of the term “our children” didn’t include her. And she suspected he’d used it as a deliberate reminder that he considered Rose’s children to be his, and he intended to keep it that way. Well, they’d just see about that.

  “May I help you with dinner preparations, Miss Dobson?”

  She shook her head and waved away the offer. “You’re a guest the first time you come to dinner. Next time you can help.
” Her smile was infectious and Ansley found herself smiling back. “And please call me Teddy. We’re family now.”

  “Then you must call me Ansley.” The young woman’s smile widened, revealing a dimple in one cheek. All the tension Ansley had felt the day before about Teddy’s resistance to her taking the children faded. If she proceeded very carefully, she might just have found an ally. After all, a woman this young, pretty and bubbly surely must have a string of beaux dying to ask for her hand. Before long, she would likely marry. And if that were the case, Seth would have no one to help him care for the children. That circumstance might bode well for Ansley’s desire to take the children back to Boston and raise them as her own.

  As they laughed and talked around the dinner table for the next hour, Ansley felt a growing unease about her plans. Clearly, these children were loved, cared for and doted on by Mr. Dobson and Teddy. How would the children feel about leaving an aunt and uncle they had known their whole lives? Her mind drifted to the day Aunt Maude’s lawyer came for her and Rose after their parents’ deaths. They’d spent three months with the Cranes, a local family and good friends of their parents. Ansley and Rose had believed, as had the Cranes, that they would be adopted into the family. Leaving had felt cruel and unjust. And even if Aunt Maude had been kind, which she wasn’t, they had resented being ripped away from a loving adoptive home.

  Could she do that very thing to Rose’s children? Would Rose have even wanted her to?

  The thought nearly made Ansley cry, but she cleared her throat and gained her composure. Of course Rose would want her to raise her children. She refused to believe anything else. She couldn’t let her growing affection for the Dobsons blind her to what must be done. One way or another.

  She felt, rather than saw, Mr. Dobson’s eyes on her. Turning her head, she met his steely gaze. Her stomach churned as he sipped his coffee, his eyes, never leaving hers. Finally, she couldn’t bear it anymore and averted her gaze as Teddy regaled the children with stories of her three-day adventure in Martin’s Creek, embellishing, Ansley felt sure, most of the details. The children clearly adored her.