Читать книгу Mistletoe Mommy - Danica Favorite - Страница 13

Chapter Four

Luke hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said his home was small. The tiny cabin was but one room, containing a small stove in the corner that looked like it was used for both heating and cooking, though Nellie had no idea how anything could be cooked on such a contraption. Shelves along one wall contained what appeared to be the family’s meager supplies and very few dishes. A table and chairs sat on one end of the room, awkward and lopsided, like they had been placed there as temporary furnishings, and they’d never gotten around to finding something permanent. The sitting area seemed like another thrown-together spot, with mismatched furniture that appeared to be other people’s castoffs. Though Nellie understood why Luke had been hoping for a clean house, she could see the potential in this space to make it a home.

On the far wall, Nellie could see the makeshift ladder built into the wood to gain access to what she imagined must be the sleeping loft. The only other furnishing in the room was an old trunk, probably full of the other household goods. But as Nellie looked around the room, she saw there was no place to put anything else. She glanced at the two bags she’d brought with her. They seemed to eat up the remaining space in the place, and though she’d once lamented the loss of most of her personal belongings, Nellie couldn’t help but be grateful now that she’d had to leave almost everything behind. There’d be no place to put it.

“It’s not much, I know,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said from behind her. “Luke was going to add another room before Diana’s passing, but since she’s been gone, I think he’s lacked the motivation. Perhaps now...”

Her voice trailed off as she probably thought she’d overstepped. Nellie turned to her and smiled.

“It’s all right, Mrs. Fitzgerald. I know you mean well. Change will take time, and that’s all right. I’ve been in worse situations, and I know how to make the best of things.”

Nellie set Maeve down, and the little girl immediately scrambled up the ladder to the loft. Amos cast a glance at Nellie, then followed his sister.

“Just let them go,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said. “And do call me Myrna. We don’t stand much on ceremony here.”

The older woman looked around the room, then let her gaze rest upon Nellie again. “I apologize that I didn’t do more to clean things up in here. It’s easier to keep them all at my house when Luke isn’t home. I don’t know how he manages in such a small space. I tried to sweep, but there’s only so much you can do with these little ones running about in here.”

Nellie looked down at the dusty floor. “I can imagine.” Then she gave Myrna a smile. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to manage, just as Diana did.”

Myrna pressed her lips together, then looked around the room before pulling Nellie closer to the stove. “Now, I am not saying this to speak ill of the dead, but I think you need to understand a few things about Diana.”

Pointing to the stove, Myrna said, “That chocolate cake Amos wants. Do you really think you’re going to bake one in this?”

With a sigh, Nellie shook her head. The stove was barely large enough to hold wood for a fire and a kettle on top. She had no idea how she’d make a basic meal on it, let alone a chocolate cake.

“That’s right. You’re not. Diana was no housekeeper, and she couldn’t cook a proper meal to save her life, let alone feed her family. When they first came to Leadville, she and I made a deal. I did all the cooking, and she did all my mending and sewing. I never could sew a straight seam, so it was a good trade for me. I tried explaining to Luke what we’d worked out, but he thought that taking meals from me was accepting charity.”

Myrna let out a long sigh. “I don’t think he ever knew just how poor a cook Diana was. He knew she wasn’t much for housekeeping, but I don’t think any of us had the heart to tell him the truth about—”

The door opened, and Luke entered, a sulking Ruby trudging behind him.

“Tell him the truth about what?” he asked, looking confused.

If no one else could bear telling him that his wife couldn’t cook, Nellie sure wasn’t going to. She smiled at him. “About how difficult it must have been for Diana to cook on your tiny little stove. But just as she managed, so will I.”

Nellie gave him a bright smile as she winked at Myrna. They would have to come to some sort of agreement, because Myrna was right. Cooking on this stove, meant as a heating unit, would be near impossible.

If one could look at a woodstove with fondness and love, that was exactly what Luke appeared to do. “The gentleman at the mercantile did say it was impractical, but Diana thought it the sweetest little thing, and she had to have it, so who was I to refuse?”

Then he sobered and turned his attention back to Nellie. “But if this won’t suit you, I could see what they’d take for it in trade, and what a different stove would cost. I don’t have a lot saved up, but...”

A frown creased Luke’s forehead.

“It’s all right.” Nellie smiled at him. “As I said, I’ll manage. You weren’t supposed to hear that bit about the stove. It wasn’t meant as an insult. Just an observation among women who are accustomed to doing a lot of cooking.”

Though Myrna let out an audible sigh of relief, Ruby glared at Nellie. Did the girl, who’d taken on her mother’s duties, know about her deal with Myrna? Or did Ruby see this as yet another slight against her departed mother?

Luke nodded slowly. “If you say so. Like I said, I know it’s a hard life. But I do try to make it easier where I can.”

He looked around the small room as if observing it through a stranger’s eyes. “I didn’t exaggerate when I said it wasn’t much.”

Ruby’s glare intensified.

“But it’s enough,” Nellie said smoothly, smiling as she turned her gaze around the room. “Your family has been very happy here, and I have no doubt that we all will continue to be.”

Luke looked up toward the loft. “The others up there?”

Nellie nodded.

“Have you been up yet?”

“No. Myrna had just begun explaining things to me, and we haven’t gotten that far.”

Her answer didn’t seem to please Luke, who only looked more uncomfortable at her words. “Seeing you in here, I hadn’t realized...” He shook his head. “It really is a small space, isn’t it?”

“We’ll manage,” Nellie said, reiterating her earlier words.

Luke glanced down at her bags. “There’s no place for your things, no privacy for you.”

“I guess she’ll have to leave, then,” Ruby said, the scowl disappearing from her face for the first time since entering the house.

“I’m not leaving,” Nellie said, just as Luke said, “She’s not leaving.”

A small smile turned the corners of Luke’s lips as he looked at Nellie. “At least we still agree on that. But still, I’ve given no thought to your comfort, and for that I apologize.”

“My mother never needed anything more,” Ruby snapped, the glare returning to her face.

“Remember your promise,” Luke said quietly, looking at his daughter with an expression that spoke of both rebuke and affection at the same time.

Nellie felt her shoulders relax as she examined Luke for any sign of violence. There was none. Just that pervasive sadness that seemed to surround him whenever Diana came up in conversation.

“Well,” Myrna said, stepping in to the conversation. “As Nellie and I were discussing just prior to your arrival, I have supper ready for you at my house, and if we don’t sit down soon, it’s liable to get cold. So let’s all head across the alley and we’ll get some food in us all.”

Nellie was grateful for the sudden ease of tension in the room. Whatever Ruby had promised Luke, she wouldn’t have to deliver right away. And the cloud had lifted from Luke’s shoulders, a smile filling his face again.

“That sounds wonderful. Thank you for thinking of my wife and realizing that it would be too much to ask of her to prepare supper so soon after her arrival. I’m sure it will make her feel most welcome.”

“It does indeed,” Nellie said, smiling back at him. Though their words were all polite and proper, things felt strained between them, as if the reality of their arrangement was somehow less satisfactory than it had sounded when they’d first discussed it. Luke continued to seem more ill at ease than happy about her acceptance of the situation.

“I’ll just get the children,” Nellie said, heading for the ladder. “And have a peek at the loft so I can say I’ve seen it all. I’m sure it will be just fine.”

She could feel Luke’s eyes on her as she climbed the ladder. Though it had to be sturdy enough to hold Luke’s weight, the way it creaked as she made her way up made her stomach churn. She would get used to this.

The tiny loft was lit by a small window in the eaves, and the space was nothing but wall-to-wall bedding. Which, based on the smell assaulting Nellie’s nostrils, hadn’t been washed in some time.