Wanda E. Brunstetter (5 page)

Should I ask him to cover for me so I can see that Amy is fed, or should I serve Amy her lunch and try to eat my sandwich while I keep an eye out for customers? Guess the latter would be better
, she decided.
No point bothering Dan. He’s probably busy and might not appreciate the interruption. After all, he hired me so he could be free to operate his own business and not have to run back and forth between Twice Loved and the photography studio
.

“Amy, please have a seat at the table again, and I’ll bring your lunch,” Bev instructed her daughter, who was now on her knees in front of a stack of wooden blocks.

“Okay, Mommy.” Amy lifted her baby doll by one arm. “Can Baby Sue eat lunch with me?”

Bev smiled, pleased that the child had accepted the new doll so readily and had even given it the same name as her old doll. “Sure, sweetie. Just don’t give her anything to drink, all right?”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, Amy and Baby Sue were seated in the small wooden chairs opposite each other, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cup of cold milk in front of Amy.

Bev said a quick prayer, thanking God for the food, then took her bologna sandwich and the remaining milk over to the desk so she could look at the ledger while she ate. From time to time she glanced up, wondering if or when Dan might emerge from his studio. But he didn’t. The only evidence that he was in the back room was the occasional ringing of his telephone.

After lunch Bev encouraged Amy to lie on a piece of carpet next to the bookcase and take a nap. Amy slept with Baby Sue tucked under one arm and a stuffed elephant under the other.

Bev decided to use this quiet time to sort through some boxes she’d found in one corner of the room. she soon discovered they were full of Christmas decorations, and it put her in the mood to decorate the store for the holidays. Perhaps it was too soon for that though. It was early October, and most of the stores didn’t set out their Christmas things until sometime in November. She set the box aside, planning to ask Dan if he would mind if she decorated Twice Loved a little early. If she put some Christmas items in the store window it might attract more customers. Besides, it would help Bev get into the spirit of the holiday season. For the past several Christmases, she’d forced herself to put up a tree. Christmas wasn’t the same without Fred, but for Amy’s sake, Bev had gone through the motions.

Pushing the decorations aside, she turned her attention to another box. This one was full of old train cars, reminding her that she should speak to Ellis Hampton when She saw him at church tomorrow morning. She hoped he would be willing to look at the broken train. It would be cute, set up in the store window under a small, decorated tree with several dolls and stuffed animals sitting off to one side.

Bev blinked back tears as a feeling of nostalgia washed over her. Christmas used to be such a happy time, first when she was a child growing up near the Pocono Mountains, and then after she’d married Fred and they moved to Easton.

She closed her eyes and thought about their last Christmas together. She could almost smell the fragrant scent of the cedar tree they’d cut down in the woods that year. Amy was only two, and Bev remembered the touching scene as Fred carried their daughter on his shoulders while they trudged through the snow. They’d laughed and thrown snowballs, eaten the chewy brownies Bev had made, and drunk hot chocolate from the thermos she’d brought along.

Unwanted tears seeped under Bev’s eyelashes and trickled down her cheeks.
Those happy days are gone for good
. Her mother and father had been killed in a car accident five years ago, and the ugly war had taken Fred away. It was hard not to feel bitter and become cynical when there were so many injustices in the world. But for Amy’s sake, Beth was determined to make the best of her situation.

“Aha! I caught you sleeping on the job, didn’t I?”

Bev jumped at the sound of Dan’s deep voice.

“I—I wasn’t sleeping.” She sat up straight and swiped a hand across her damp cheeks.

“I was kidding about you taking a nap, but your daughter certainly is.” Dan motioned across the room, where Amy lay curled on her side.

Bev nodded. “I suggested she rest awhile. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind?”

She merely shrugged in reply. Dan didn’t seem like the type to get upset over something like a child falling asleep inside his toy store. In fact, from the look on his face, Bev guessed he might be rather taken with her daughter.

Dan left the desk and headed across the room. When he reached the wooden rack where the colorful patchwork quilt was draped, he pulled it down. Turning to give Bev a quick smile, he moved over to where Amy lay sleeping. Then he bent at the waist, covered her with the quilt, and reached out to push a wayward curl off her forehead.

The sight was so touching that Bev’s heart nearly melted. She barely knew Dan, yet she could tell he had a lot of love to give. How sad that he hadn’t been blessed with any children of his own.

She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Why was life so unfair? Shouldn’t only good things happen to good people?

O
n Tuesday morning Bev showed up at Twice Loved wearing an olive-green two-piece trouser suit, a pale yellow blouse, brown lace-up shoes, and the same jacket she’d worn on Saturday.

When Dan greeted her, she offered him a radiant smile. Then, as her fingers curled around the strap of her pocketbook, a little frown pinched her forehead. “I was wondering if it would be all right if I left the shop during my lunch hour today. There’s an apartment for rent in the building two doors down, and I’d like the opportunity to look at it before it’s taken.”

“You’re planning to move?”

She nodded. “My rent’s going up to sixty-fivedollars in a few weeks, and since I live on the south side of town and have to catch the bus to get here, I thought if I could find something closer, it would be the wise thing to do.”

Dan’s heart went out to Bev. He could see by her troubled look that she was probably struggling financially. Many people had been faced with financial hardships during the war. “Mend and make do.” That was the motto for the women in America. From the looks of the patches he’d seen on the knees of Amy’s overalls the other day, Dan figured Bev had done her share of mending.

He rubbed his chin and contemplated a moment. “Maybe I can increase your wages.”

Bev stared at the floor, twisting the purse strap back and forth. “Today’s only my second day on the job, and I’ve done nothing to deserve a wage increase.”

“I know, but—”

She held up her hand. “I don’t need your charity, but I do need to look at that apartment today. Is it okay if I leave the store for an hour during lunch?” “Sure, that’ll be fine.” Bev was obviously a proud woman, and he really couldn’t fault her for that. Maybe he could find some other way to help.

“Thank you, Dan.” She pursed her lips. “Well, I’d better get busy.”

“Same here. I’ve got some phone calls to make.”

She started across the room but turned back around. “I almost forgot to ask….Would you mind if I decorate the store window for Christmas a little early?”

Dan’s eyebrows drew together. Other than attending the candlelight communion service at church on Christmas Eve, he hadn’t done much to celebrate Christmas since Darcy died. His parents, who lived in Connecticut, had invited him to come to their place for the holidays, but Dan always turned them down, preferring to be alone.

He glanced around the store as bittersweet memories flooded over him like waves lapping against the Jersey shore. When Darcy was alive, she had decorated every nook and cranny of Twice Loved for the holidays.

“If you’d rather I wait until after Thanksgiving, I understand,” Bev added. “I just thought it might bring in more customers if we had the window decorated a little sooner.”

Dan tapped his foot against the hardwood floor. Would it hurt if the store were decorated? It didn’t mean he would have to celebrate Christmas, and it wasn’t as if he would be giving up memories of Darcy by allowing Bev to do something festive here. In fact, if Darcy were alive, he knew what she would do.

“Sure, go ahead. Do whatever you’d like with the store window,” he conceded.

“I’ll start on the decorations when I return from my lunch break,” Bev said sweetly.

“Take as long as you need to look at that apartment. I’ll be praying it’s the right one.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

Bev wanted to pinch herself. Not only was the apartment she had looked at on Saturday within walking distance of Twice Loved, but the rent was five dollars cheaper than what she was paying now. Without hesitation she had signed the lease, and she hoped that by next weekend she and Amy would be in their new home.

The move would mean Amy had to change schools, but she was young and adjusted easily. It would solve the problem of her needing a babysitter after school, too, which meant one less expense. Since the closest elementary school was only a few blocks away, Amy could walk to Twice Loved after school on the days Bev was working. Of course, she knew she would have to check with Dan first and see if he approved of the idea.

Bev smiled as she pulled out the box of Christmas decorations. Everything was working out fine. She’d been worried for nothing.

For the next hour, Bev worked on the window decorations. She had spoken to Ellis Hampton after church yesterday, and he’d agreed to look at the broken train.

She knew it was too early to get a cut tree. She certainly didn’t want it drying out and dropping needles everywhere.

For now, Bev hung several Christmas ornaments in the store window, along with some red and green bows. She also placed three dolls and a couple of stuffed animals in the center and included several small empty boxes, which were wrapped like Christmas presents.

It looks rather festive
, she told herself as she stood off to one side and studied her work. She allowed herself a satisfied sigh and began humming the words to “White Christmas,” swaying to the music.

“The window display looks great. Your humming’s not so bad either.”

Bev swiveled around. She hadn’t realized Dan had come into the room and stood directly behind her. Her face flushed. “Thanks. I think it will look even better once the train is fixed and set up under a small tree.” She chose not to mention her off-key music.

“Did you speak to that man from your church?” he asked, leaning against the inside casing of the window display and looking at her intently.

Bev nodded and moistened her lips.
Why do I feel so jittery whenever Dan’s around?
“Ellis said he would come by sometime this afternoon,” she said.

Dan smiled, but there was sadness in his hazel-coloredeyes. Was he nostalgic about trains, or could something else be bothering him?

“I’ll be anxious to hear what the train expert has to say.” He took a few steps toward Bev but then backed away, jamming his hands into the pockets of his brown slacks. “I didn’t get a chance to ask, since I was busy when you left last Saturday, but how’d things go with the apartment hunt?”

“It went well. If I can get some of the men from church to help transport my furniture, I’ll be moving to my new place next Saturday. After I get off work here, of course.”

“If you need the whole day to move, that won’t be a problem. In fact, why don’t we close the store that day, and I can help you?”

Bev noticed the look of compassion on Dan’s face. Help her move? Was there no end to this man’s charitable offers?

She opened her mouth to decline, but he interrupted her. “I can’t get much into my Studebaker, but I know someone who has a pickup truck. I’m pretty sure I can borrow it.”

“That’s nice of you, but I really couldn’t accept your help.” Bev appreciated his generosity, but he’d already done enough by hiring her and allowing her to bring Amy to the shop on Saturdays.

He lifted his hand and leaned forward, almost touching her lips with his fingertips, but then he quickly lowered it. “I wish you’d reconsider.”

Bev swallowed around the lump in her throat. Why was it that whenever anyone was nice to her, she felt all weepy and unable to express herself? She’d been that way since Fred was killed. And why was she so determined to do things on her own? Maybe she should accept Dan’s help—just this once.