A few days later, Anna Mae gathered all her scraps of fabric and carried them in a basket to the sitting room. “Rose, Ruby, come help me please.”
The twins entered the room with big grins. They spotted the basket and hurried over. Each grabbed the colorful strips and started pulling them out.
“Pitty,” Ruby said, grinning as if she’d just had another piece of taffy.
Rose nodded. “Pitty.”
Anna Mae touched their soft curls. “Would you like to help me make pretty decorations for Christmas?”
They looked at each other and then nodded.
“Good.” Anna Mae pulled her scissors out and began cutting the strips into smaller pieces. “We’re going to make Christmas garlands so that we can decorate our house. Won’t that be fun?”
They nodded and giggled. For the next hour Anna Mae worked with the girls tying the fabric strips into loops and then tying the loops together.
The little girls played with the cloth and took turns helping her string their homemade garland about the house. The brightly colored fabric brightened the room.
“Pitty,” Rose said, pointing at the garland Anna Mae had hung about the bedroom door.
Ruby clapped her hands together and grabbed the next string. She hurried to the playroom, tripping on her little legs and hurriedly picking herself up. Rose, hot on her trail, picked up the tail of the string and followed her sister, laughing and chattering a mile a minute. Some of the words were intelligible, most were not. They both were doing much better in that department.
Anna Mae adored the little girls. They were such sweet babies and they loved to laugh. She grinned and followed them inside. They stood in the middle of the room, looking about.
“How about we hang that one above the window?” she asked, walking toward it and pulling a chair over as she went.
Again the girls nodded in agreement, so Anna Mae climbed on the chair, then reached down for the string of bright fabric.
As she hung it, she recognized the blue from her dress and the quilt she’d made for Josiah’s bed, the pink and yellow from the little girls’ dresses, and green, purple and red that she’d used to make doll clothes. The scraps represented their first Christmas together and the many hours she’d worked to create gifts for her family.
Once garlands hung from every available space about the house, Anna Mae turned to the twins. Their eyes darted back and forth as they admired the decorations they’d put up. “Would you like a warm glass of milk?” she asked them, heading to the kitchen.
The sound of little feet following caused her smile to broaden in approval. It seemed these days she smiled a lot.
It took only a few minutes to get the girls in their chairs and the milk on the stove warming.
Josiah came through the door, stomping his feet. “Boy, it’s cold out there.” He took his coat off and hung it up, then walked to where the girls sat. It was sweet the way he kissed the tops of their heads.
He looked at Anna Mae, eyebrows raised inquiringly. “So what have you ladies been up to?”
“Pitty!” Rose squealed, pointing at the garland.
Anna Mae laughed, amazed he hadn’t noticed the many colorful swags that decorated his home. “Getting ready for Christmas.”
Josiah looked about at the various strings of looped fabric. “It is very pretty.”
“Yep, pitty,” Ruby agreed, with a nod at her father.
“We’re having warm milk and cookies. Would you like some?” Anna Mae asked, stirring the milk to make sure it didn’t scorch.
He pulled out a chair and sat down. “I was hoping for something a little heavier. I’ve not had lunch yet.”
She poured the warm milk and grabbed four cookies from the cookie jar. “How about a couple of ham biscuits and a pickle?” She handed the twins their cookies, then set their glasses of milk just a little out of their reach.
“Sounds wonderful. Do you have any cold milk left?” He snatched up one of Ruby’s cookies from her chubby hand and pretended to take a bite from it.
When the little girl sent her a wide-eyed look, Anna Mae hid her smile. “I do.” She turned around so that Ruby wouldn’t see her pleasure at Josiah’s teasing.
While she made Josiah’s lunch, Anna Mae listened to him talk to his daughters, his voice filled with love and warmth. What would it be like if he spoke to her like that? Anna Mae pushed the thought away and finished fixing his food. She hadn’t expected him to come home for lunch. She’d hoped to be able to go to town and finish her Christmas shopping.
She set Josiah’s plate in front of him. “You’re home early.”
He looked up at her. “I decided to come home this afternoon and after dinner return to town. Would you like to go Christmas tree hunting after I finish this sandwich?”
Anna Mae couldn’t contain her excitement. “You mean it?”
“Why not? It will be a fun outing for the girls.” He bowed his head and quietly thanked the Lord for his meal.
When he finished Anna Mae pulled four more cookies from the cookie jar and poured herself a glass of milk. She placed two of the cookies on his plate before sitting down. “They will need to go down for a nap before it gets too late.”
“No nap!” the girls said in unison.
Josiah laughed. “See? They don’t want to nap.” He tipped his glass up and drank about half his milk in one big gulp.
Anna Mae shook her head. “You are not helping me keep their schedule, but today, it’s all right. I’m looking forward to getting a tree.” Joy bubbled within her. Her husband had been paying attention. He’d noticed how much the tree would mean to her. Did she dare hope that he was finding something to love about her?
* * *
Josiah pulled a sled behind him as he and Anna Mae made their way into the woods. Rose and Ruby sat on the toboggan, giggling. The breeze was cold as it blew against his cheeks.
“Do you think they will be all right? It’s a little chilly out here,” Anna Mae said, looking over her shoulder at the twins.
“They will be fine. It won’t take long to chop down a tree and get them back to the house. We might even have time to get them down for—” he lowered his voice “—that nap you mentioned earlier.”
Her pink cheeks and the soft tendrils about her face gave her a youthful look. Anna Mae’s eyes sparkled as she turned to face him. “That would be good.”
He pushed on through the light snow. She didn’t know it but he’d already found the perfect tree. He just hoped Anna Mae thought it was perfect, too.
“Did you have a Christmas tree when you were a kid?” she asked, looking at all the evergreens around them.
Josiah sighed. “No, Grady didn’t think Christmas trees were safe. He didn’t allow one.”
“That’s too bad. What about before you went to work for him?” she pressed, again checking on the girls.
“My dad enjoyed his bottle more than he did Christmas trees.” How could Josiah change the subject? He searched his mind and then it dawned on him to just ask her the same question. “Did you?”
Her gaze swept back to him. Big brown eyes studied his face knowingly. “Yes, my parents threw a big party every year, so we had a large tree in the entry.”
Josiah arrived at the tree he’d picked out. “What do you think of this one?”
Anna Mae walked around it and studied its branches. “It’s not very tall.” She touched the vibrant green pine needles.
“I don’t know that we want it too tall.” Josiah ran his hand around the back of his neck.
She turned with a smile. “You’re right. I think it will work fine.” She glanced at the girls again. “Uh-oh.”
Josiah spun around to see what she was looking at. His sweet daughters were curled up like little foxes on the sled. “Well, you got your wish. They are napping now.” He leaned down and tucked the blanket tighter around them.
Anna Mae sighed. “Yes, but I kind of hoped they’d wait until we got home.”
He gently turned the sled back toward home. “I’ll take you home and then come back for the tree.”
Her shoulders slumped as she walked along beside him. His girls often interfered in things Anna Mae wanted to do. Feeling bad, Josiah draped his arm around her. “I know you wanted to be there when I cut it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I’ll get them down for their nap, then start looking for things to decorate the tree with.”
The brave smile she gave him melted a small part of his heart. Josiah leaned over and kissed her temple. “You are some woman, Annie Miller.” He’d been looking for a reason to get this close to her since he’d seen her stirring milk at his cookstove. He only wished she’d offered her lips for his kiss and not just her temple. He could get used to kissing Anna Mae and deep down he knew his feelings for her were growing stronger every day.