Providence (21 page)

I carried Baby Girl into the front parlor when we got home that night. “She fell asleep on the way home,” I whispered. “Would you like to give Georgia Rose a kiss before I put her in her crib?”

I leaned over Rosie’s chair, putting the baby within easy reach. After I settled Baby Girl into her crib for the night, I sat on the footstool next to Rosie. I rubbed her feet and told her about how much business we had done that evening. I showed her the pile of order slips I needed to fill.

“Thank you for getting this all set up for me,” I said, nodding toward the sewing machine and table set up in the corner of the room. “But you should have had him stick it in my room, so that you don’t have to look at my mess while you’re watching television.”

“Nonsense,” Rosie said. “I want you out here keeping me company. Besides, I was thinking that I might be more useful here than in the store. You have so many orders to fill, and there are only so many hours in a day. I’m no seamstress, but if you give me a pattern to follow, I can cut everything out during the day so it’s ready for you to sew at night.”

I smiled. “That’s a great idea. I was worried I might not be able to keep up with the orders on my own. Maybe tomorrow morning you could sort through these slips and when I come home at lunch, I’ll give you some patterns to work from. I’m so tired tonight; I don’t think I can do anything else.”

“You don’t think the store will be too much for you on your own?” Rosie asked.

“I won’t be on my own,” I answered. “I’ll have Georgia with me, and that girl can charm everyone into being patient while they’re waiting their turn.”

We agreed that we were too tired for television and started off for bed. “I think we should come up with a special name for your Christmas line,” Rosie said.

“What kind of a special name?” I asked.

“You know, something like Christmas Cherishables, or Becky’s Blessings.”

“Or Second Hand Santa’s,” I suggested.

Rosie raised her hands to the sky. “I have it,” she said. “Once Upon a Time.” She smiled triumphantly.

I leaned back against my doorjamb. “Hmm,” I said. “I like it. Once Upon a Time, as in, our decorations are as magical as fairy tales.”

Rosie laughed. “I was thinking more like once upon a time, that stocking was an old flannel shirt and a wine-stained tablecloth. Or once upon a time, that tree skirt was a basket of ties so ugly men wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them.”

Despite the wearing day, I fell asleep laughing.

The next night when I got home, not only had Rosie found the energy to organize my work orders, she also managed to spread a red or green cloth over every flat surface in the house. Each table was decked out in Christmas colors, and when I went into my room there was even a red bedspread.

“I hope you don’t mind my going in your room uninvited,” Rosie said. “I thought it could use a little Christmas cheer. I wasn’t trying to nose around or anything.”

“Of course you weren’t,” I answered.

Rosie smiled. “I’m glad you know that, because now I can be sure you won’t be upset about what I happened upon under your bed.”

My bones all stiffened a bit. The book John gave me was tucked safely under my bed. I tried each night and morning to spend at least ten minutes studying it. Progress was coming real slow.

Rosie rested on the edge of my bed. “Now, don’t you be embarrassed. There is nothing to be ashamed of. I’m proud of you for wanting to finish your education. I never graduated from high school, and it is the one thing I regret in life. How are your studies coming?”

“I don’t have much time to devote to them,” I said.

“Of course not, what with you working so hard and a baby to boot. I just came up with a great idea. Why don’t you bring your book along on our visits to Lily? She can help you get ready for that test.”

I had come to dread our Sunday visits with Lily. I wished Rosie’s grand idea was for me to stay home and study while she went and visited.

“Yes, this might be the key to opening that door she has locked between herself and the rest of the world,” Rosie said clapping her hands.

The next day we arrived at Lily’s front door with my book tucked inside the diaper bag. Lily seemed no more enthused about Rosie’s plan than I was. “It has been a long time since I tutored anyone. I will be happy to pay for a more suitable tutor for Becky,” Lily said, tapping her cane against the floor to make her point heard. Rosie was hearing none of it, though, and within minutes I found myself sitting alone in a room with Lily. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with shelves of books. As Lily thumbed through my book, I leaned my head toward the door trying to hear even the faintest sound of Baby Girl fussing. She had taken to crying whenever I left the room, so I wasn’t expecting a quiet study time. Of course, now that I was looking for a cause to go pick her up, Baby Girl wasn’t letting out as much as a peep.

Lily put me straight to work. Studying on my own, I tended to skip over the parts I didn’t understand, all the while telling myself I would go back to them when I had the time, but Lily would have none of that. “It’s best to face our enemies head on,” she said.

Lily had a knack for breaking big ideas down into small bites, and I must admit her patience pool was bottomless when it came to me not understanding something. “There’s more than one path between two points,” she said, and then she explained things in a whole new way.

I was surprised when she told me our time was up. I had gotten further in the book than I usually did in a whole week’s study time, despite not being allowed to skip the hard parts. Time moves faster when you’re busy than when you’re staring at that grandfather clock in the parlor, trying to will the hands to move.

The following weeks proved too busy to leave time for thinking. Each morning, Georgia and I would set out for the store. We would come home at lunchtime to visit with Rosie, and then go back to work. At night, after I got Georgia down for the night, I would get to my sewing. The list of stockings, tree skirts, and ornaments waiting to be sewed was growing. I was starting to wish I had concentrated on my paint markers instead of coming up with a way to recycle some of the Second Hand Rose’s merchandise.

All this extra work left me with even less time for my studying. I rarely finished my weekly assignments from Lily, so she kept me longer and longer each week. Some weeks Baby Girl was happy enough to stay with Rosie in the parlor, but other times she had to come into the little school room with me. She sat balanced on my knee while I solved math problems and wrote essays. One week she was especially feisty, and I could not keep her from pulling my book every time I tried to write something. Finally, Lily took her from my lap and balanced Baby Girl on her knee while I worked. Georgia took to Lily immediately. Before long, she was ignoring me altogether in favor of playing with Lily’s necklace. After that meeting, Lily insisted Georgia come in to the study room with us all of the time. “There is no sense in starting a session only to have to stop because this baby is fussing,” Lily explained. “It makes much more sense for us to bring her in from the beginning than to lose our momentum by having to start again.”

I didn’t believe a word she was saying. It was clear to me that she wanted an excuse to hold Baby Girl. Rosie, of course, thought this was a wonderful idea. “Perfect,” she said. “That way Becky will get the most she can out of your tutoring, Georgia Rose will be happy, and I’ll get in a little rest time.”

For a reason I couldn’t put my finger on, I was not entirely comfortable with this arrangement. I had to remind myself every week to count my blessings and to abide by Rosie’s wishes.

Rosie was having her good days and her bad days. Some days she would accuse me of taking it easy on her and not leaving enough work to keep her busy. Other days Baby Girl and I would come home for lunch, only to find Rosie still in bed. There was no predicting what kind of day the morning would bring.

Rosie never spoke of missing the folks on Main Street, but she always wanted to stay late after church. I was happy to wait while she visited with old friends. Giving up going into the store every day had left her with no one to talk to but Baby Girl and me. We still made our weekly trips to visit Lily, but Lily lived out of town, so she couldn’t help keep Rosie up on the gossip.

One day we came home a little early for lunch, and I saw Doc Richards’s car pulling away from the curb in front of Rosie’s house. I asked Rosie about it, but she just said something about an early Christmas visit. Another day, I came home to find the reverend and another man leaving the house.

“Hello, Becky,” Reverend Thompson said. “Rosie’s expecting you home now. She was saying how hard you work all day and night, and that she feels bad about you coming home to make her lunch.”

“I’m happy to come home and see her,” I said. “She worries about me too much.”

“I could get some of the church ladies to help you out,” he said. “They can stop by with lunch and keep her company for a little while.”

“Did you talk to Rosie about it?” I asked.

“I thought it best to talk to you first,” he answered. “You know Rosie doesn’t like admitting she might need some help.”

I nodded. The man with him reached out his hand. “It’s good to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Rosie swung open the door. “Now, you gentlemen know better than to keep a young girl standing out in the cold with a baby,” she said. “Shame on you.”

The men gave their apologies and went on their way. Over lunch, I asked Rosie about the visit. “Reverend Thompson came by because I told him last Sunday that I might have to take a few weeks off from church. This weather is hard on my old bones. He wanted to make sure I wasn’t taking time off from praying,” she said.

The only times Rosie had left the house since Thanksgiving had been to go to church and Lily’s. I hated seeing her give up church, too. “Maybe we can get you a ride to church,” I said. “One of your neighbors, or I can ask John or Dottie.”

Rosie reached over and rubbed my hand. “Maybe,” she said. “But for now, let’s take things one day at a time.”

That day turned out to be a big one for visitors. After dinner, while I was sewing and Rosie was dozing in the chair, there was a knock at the door. I was surprised to see Jeanie Applewood standing on our front porch.

“Look who stopped by for a visit,” I said to Rosie, ushering Jeanie into the parlor.

“I’m sorry to drop by uninvited,” she said. “But I’ve come bearing gifts, so I hope that will make up for my showing up at your door unexpectedly.”

“We’re always glad to see you,” Rosie answered, without getting up. “Becky, can I trouble you to put on the kettle? I think our visitor could use a nice cup of tea to warm her up.”

“I don’t want to put you out,” Jeanie protested.

“You’re not putting anyone out,” I said. “We were about to have our evening tea anyway. Please, have a seat and visit with Rosie while I get the tea.”

Rosie said, “Do you need me to help you get the china down?”

I looked at her for a minute not really understanding what she was saying. She turned to Jeanie. “Tea always tastes better when it’s served in a proper china cup, don’t you think?”

I went to the kitchen and put the water on to boil. I went to the Sunday china cabinet and took out a tray, teapot, and three cups and saucers. I found the white linen napkins in the drawer and tied each one up with a bit of red ribbon. By the time I carried everything into the parlor, the tray looked fit for a queen.

Jeanie made a fuss over how pretty everything looked and Rosie seemed pleased. Our guest had brought a tin of homemade Christmas cookies and Rosie suggested we have some with our tea.

“I didn’t think it was possible for these cookies to taste as good as they look,” Rosie said. “But I was wrong. They are delicious. You could open a bake shop.”

Jeanie blushed. “I can’t take all the credit for the cookies,” Jeanie said. “This being Chloe’s first Christmas, I insisted we spend it at home. You know, start our own family traditions. Don was worried about his mother. This will be the first Christmas he doesn’t spend at her home, and he didn’t know how she would take the news.”

Jeanie closed her eyes and savored a sip of tea. “She seemed to take it well,” Jeanie continued. “But Don warned me it could be the calm before the storm. Of course, he was right,” she said, forcing a smile. “Last week, a car pulled up to the house and out popped Mother Applewood. It took her driver five trips to carry in all of her luggage, boxes, and bags.”

A groan slipped out from me. Jeanie shook her head and sighed. “Mother Applewood decided I needed her help to get our family traditions off to the right start. She plans to stay through New Year’s Day. Anyway, most of the credit for the cookies belongs to her.”

Rosie smiled and leaned forward, pointing at Jeanie. “But you brought the cookies to us, so you deserve our thanks.”

Jeanie put down her teacup. “I almost forgot. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a little gift for Georgia.” She pulled a box out of the bag at her feet. It was wrapped in shiny red, green, and gold plaid paper, and tied with gold ribbon and a big gold bow.

I held the box, admiring the wrapping, until Jeanie said, “Please, open it now.”

I slipped the ribbons off the box, careful not to undo the bow. I slowly removed the tape from the ends and peeled away the paper, folding it neatly before opening the box. Inside, I found a red velvet dress as pretty as the box it came in. I lifted it up to show Rosie. “Why, that dress is almost as beautiful as the little girl that is going to wear it,” Rosie said.

Jeanie beamed. “I’m so glad you like it,” she said. “I hope it fits her.”

“It looks like the perfect size to me,” I said. “Thank you so much. This is the first Christmas present Georgia has ever received. I’m going to put the card in her keepsake box tonight, and she will remember you forever for it.”

When Jeanie decided it was time to go, I walked her to the door. “How is everything going between you and Lily?” she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sometimes when we’re working on my studies, I think I’m really lucky to have her in my life, and there is nothing that makes me happier than seeing Rosie light up when Lily smiles. But the truth be told, it still gives me an uneasy feeling seeing Lily with Georgia. It shouldn’t, I know that—Lily can soothe Georgia as well as I can, and I know she wants what’s best for her—but I always get the feeling she doesn’t think I’m worthy of tending to a baby.”