Merry Christmas, My Love

“Uh, oh,” The mayor said. “Time to get you another wife so you can have some more young ones. This one is growing up too fast.”

“Ian, be sure to remind Miss Cochran to have the older boys load the costumes from the play, and anything else that has to go to her house, into my buggy.”

Ray smirked. “Seems to me you have someone all picked out to have those little ones with.”

Mitch snorted and turned to the pastor who nudged him on the shoulder. “The new teacher did a wonderful job with the play and concert. We made a good decision when we hired her.”

Now that Priscilla had the town eating out of her hand, they all of a sudden seemed to think they’d made the decision to hire her. If she’d turned out to be like the last one, they would have run him out of town.

He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her direct the children in gathering the costumes and props from the play. She bent as she spoke with each child, coming down to their level. She patted heads and handed out cookies. She easily chatted with the parents who congratulated her on a job well done. She glowed under the praise, and all of a sudden he realized how perfect she was for this job and why it was so im

portant to her.

Mitch motioned to the mayor across the room speaking with Mrs. Gillis. “Hey, Ray. I want to ask you something.”

The mayor turned and waved him over. “What?”

“I need an emergency meeting of the town council.”

He raised his eyebrows. “When?”

“As soon as possible.”

Chapter 11

Early in the morning a week after the success of the Dogtown concert and Christmas pageant, Priscilla bounced out of bed. Although far from home and family, she still felt the excitement in the air that always surrounded her on Christmas Eve.

She hurried through her morning ablutions, and, since she expected to spend the day doing physical work, slipped on her trousers and buttoned up her younger brother Ben’s hand-me-down shirt. She intended to make this Christmas as much fun and as enjoyable as if she were home. Mitch and Ian were coming over to help her cut down a Christmas tree from the wooded area behind the schoolhouse and decorate her home.

While they did that, she would gather greenery to tie with red ribbons for the window sills and mantle, and wrap the presents she’d bought for Mitch and Ian. Since they were spending Christmas at her house, she planned to also keep busy baking a ham and pies and Christmas cookies that Ian could help her decorate. All the things her mama did every year to make the house smell wonderful.

She pushed away the lump in her throat at the thought of Christmas without Mama, Papa, and her brothers.

The pile of food sitting on the table Mitch’d had the general store deliver late last evening had her wondering if he thought she was feeding an army instead of two adults and one boy. Then again, the holidays were when you indulged in all the foods not normally eaten during the year. At least not in such abundance.

Fastening her hair in one single braid down her back, she went around the house, pulling up the shades to let in the pale winter sunshine. Since she’d dismissed school for the holidays two days ago, she’d spent the entire day yesterday cleaning, scrubbing and polishing. Her little house shone with love and pride.

She was just sliding the apple pie into the oven when Mitch and Ian arrived. Both of their faces were ruddy from the cold. Ian’s eyes sparkled with excitement, very common in children the day before Christmas. Once more she thought of her brothers, especially little Andrew, and her throat closed up. She had to stop this. Dogtown was her home, and home was where you spent Christmas.

“I hear someone is looking for a Christmas tree.” Mitch walked right up to her and gave her a kiss. And not a slight peck on the cheek either.

Priscilla pulled back and patted her hair. “Mitch, for heaven’s sake, Ian is right there,” she whispered.

He winked at her. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about that.”

What was this all about?

Not that she and Mitch had anything to hide—well, maybe they did—but they’d always been quite proper around others, especially Ian.

“Ian, I made some gingerbread cookies for you to help me decorate. But if you want to taste one now to see if they’re any good, I can find a couple to go with the hot chocolate I made.”

“Yes, definitely.” Before he finished speaking he was already sitting in a chair, a grin on his face.

Mitch tapped her on her nose. “Don’t I get a gingerbread cookie?” His voice and look were so seductive, she felt as though she would burst into flames. What game was he playing today? When she regarded him with raised eyebrows, he merely winked again and strolled over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat.

Her body humming, she poured hot chocolate into three cups and placed a dish of cookies on the table. Her heart was pounding and every time she looked in Mitch’s direction, he gave her that strange “I have a secret” look.

“Miss Cochran, Pa said we’re going to cut down your tree this morning. Pa and I usually have a real small one, but he said this year we’re going to cut down the biggest tree we can find that will fit in your parlor.”