The Dove_The Second Day by Shanna Hatfield

Author:Shanna Hatfield [Hatfield, Shanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Women's Fiction, Forever Love, Christian Stories, Faith Based, Inspirational Reads, Love Inspired, 19th Century, Bachelor, Single Woman, Frontier & Pioneer Era, Hearts Desire, American West, Second Chances, Life-Changes, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Lifetime Love, Romantic Schemes, Beautiful & Feisty, Love-Family & Forever, Clean & Wholesome, Action & Adventure, Noelle Colorado, The 12 Days of Christmas Theme, Mail-Order Brides, The 12 Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides Series, Christmas Holidays & Celebration, Christmas Time, Holiday Whimsy, Festive Season, Winter Weather, Mountaintop Mining Community, Benevolent Society of Lost Lambs, Countdown To Christmas, Marriage Scheme, Small Town & Rural Area, Saving The Community, Building The Railroad, Novella Length Story, short story, Multi-Author Series
Publisher: Shanna Hatfield
Published: 2017-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“We don’t have much time to make Culver’s gift, Jem,” Kezia said as she raced upstairs and tossed aside her cloak and Jemimah’s blanket. She held the baby with one arm while she rummaged through her traveling case and found the bag she sought.

With it in hand, she hurried downstairs and filled a pot with water, setting it on the stove to boil. From the bag, she withdrew a precious supply of dried apples. She’d spent more than she should have from her meager funds on the apples, wanting to bake Culver a pie as a Christmas gift. She hoped he’d not only be surprised, but also enjoy it.

The baby squirmed and wiggled, trying to grab the quickly heating pot. Kezia gave her a tiny piece of apple to gnaw on and Jem settled down, content with her treat. If Kezia could get Jemimah down for her afternoon nap, she’d have time to bake the pie and get dinner started.

While the apples softened, she rushed back upstairs. After changing Jemimah’s diaper, she settled into the rocking chair in the bedroom and nursed the baby then tucked her into the middle of the bed for a nap.

She placed pillows around the edges of the bed to keep her daughter from rolling off then returned to the kitchen. Pearl told the brides to use whatever food supplies they needed, so Kezia quickly crumbled sausage into a pan to brown and added pieces of onion then began mixing lard with flour for the piecrust.

By the time the sausage was cooked and the piecrust rolled out for the pie, the apples were soft. She drained the water from the pot then stirred in sugar and cinnamon. From her bag, she pulled out a bit of nutmeg and grated it over the apples. Stirring it into the mixture, she spooned the apples into the crust, added a few generous spoons of butter, then topped the apples with the second crust. Quickly crimping the edges, she set the pie in the oven and cocked her head toward the hallway, listening as Jem let out a cry.

Kezia took the stairs two at a time, hoping she wouldn’t disturb any of the other brides who were in the house as she ran upstairs. She stepped into the bedroom to find Agatha already lifting Jem into her arms and kissing the baby’s cheek.

A few other brides checked to make sure Jemimah was well.

“All that fuss, sweet thing. I think you just wanted to make sure we were all paying attention,” Agatha said, bouncing Jemimah in her arms.

“Oh, she knows how to get what she wants,” Kezia said, taking Jem from the older woman and nuzzling the baby. She loved the smell of her daughter, the sweet, innocent fragrance of her. It filled her heart so full that she sometimes marveled it didn’t explode from the glory of her little girl. “Did you have a good nap, my dove?”

Jemimah smiled and reached out to grab Kezia’s bottom lip. Kezia nibbled on the tiny fingers, making the baby chortle as she kicked her legs.

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