Tales from Grace Chapel Inn by Sunni Jeffers

Author:Sunni Jeffers
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780824932343
Publisher: Guideposts
Published: 2012-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

When she got home, Louise found Eliot still at work, his grading materials spread out on the kitchen table.

“I'm later than I thought,” she said apologetically. “How is the grading going?”

“Slowly, I'm afraid. Cynthia woke up cranky as soon as you left. I guess she missed her mother because she cried most of the evening.”

“I'm sorry,” Louise said. “We had to work extra hard because several choir members are down with the flu. At least tomorrow is Friday, so there's no rehearsal.”

“How's it going?” he asked.

“Okay. One soloist has a cough, but I guess that's not a symptom of this new flu. I hope she'll be able to sing at the concert. She has a week to get over it. I have a substitute in mind, but she's not nearly as good.”

“I think I'll call it a night,” her husband said, standing and stretching. “If I get up early, I can still make the deadline for turning in grades. Let's go to bed before Cynthia wakes up again.”

“You go ahead. I'll be along in a while.” With both her husband and baby sleeping, she could finally get started on the stocking.

“You really should get some sleep while you can,” Eliot said. “You look absolutely exhausted.”

“You're right, I'm sure, but this is the first chance I've had to begin work on Cynthia's Christmas stocking. I'll only work a little while.”

“It can wait,” her husband insisted. “Your health is more important than a stocking, and you look beat. What possible difference can it make if it isn't done until next Christmas?”

Louise tried to stifle her irritation, but it wasn't like Eliot to be so closed-minded. Why couldn't he see how important it was to follow in her mother's footsteps? She would be devastated if she couldn't finish the stocking for Cynthia's first Christmas. She even had a few little presents to put in it: a new rattle, a pretty embroidered bib, and the cutest red and white striped stockings with tassels. Even before the baby was born, she'd tucked away a few small purchases so Cynthia would have presents to celebrate the Lord's birth.

“I don't want to wait,” she said emphatically.

“Very well. I'm going to bed.” He squared his shoulders and left the room without saying good night.

Eliot was slow to anger, and they'd never had a real fight. In fact, they rarely disagreed on anything important. This was the exception. Louise was beside herself, frustrated because he couldn't or wouldn't see how important Christmas traditions were in her family.

His family had their own holiday customs, but they'd seemed to lose importance after his parents moved to Florida to retire. There was something about lazing on the beach on Christmas Day that didn't appeal at all to Louise, but she respected what they wanted to do. Why couldn't her husband make an effort to understand why she needed to follow her mother's traditions?

After making a cup of tea, she settled down at the folding table, taking the velvet and satin out of the department store bag.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.