Strong and Stubborn by Kelly Eileen Hake

Author:Kelly Eileen Hake [Hake, Kelly Eileen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-62029-562-5
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-09-02T04:00:00+00:00

“Do you think he’ll like it?” Naomi scrutinized the parlor, reaching in to nudge one of the mantel candlesticks a smidge farther inward. “I know men don’t usually think much of dolls and dollhouses, but we’re going to be putting in long hours working on the next one.”

While she didn’t expect Mr. Strode to share her enthusiasm for all things miniscule and perfectly ordered, Naomi did hope he would find the work interesting. Nothing put a damper on her enjoyment more quickly than someone who didn’t savor the process of creating the pieces or worked as though rushing through an unpleasant task.

“What’s not to like?” Cora looked up from where she sat on the floor, cross-legged, the box for the ballroom half unpacked amid the cushion of her carefully smoothed skirts. “It’s amazing!”

“I wish I had these full-sized!” Arla exclaimed. At some point, Granger had brought in a small rocking chair for Arla to sit comfortably amid them. She’d pulled it up to a table and was gingerly unwrapping the pieces that belonged to the nursery. Arla held up a wicker bassinet tiny enough to rock in the center of her open palm. “However did you make this, Naomi? It must have taken you days!”

Naomi laughed and admitted, “I cheated. It’s a regular cradle made out of sandalwood with braided broom straws glued on top and painted. To tell the truth, it went quickly once I learned the straw bent more easily if I soaked it overnight in a bucket of water.”

“Clever.” Evie turned the house slightly so she could place the baking table in the center of the kitchen, offset so it didn’t block the stove and scrub sink already situated against the back wall. She let out a little squeak of pleasure as she unwrapped the next bundle. Tiny rounds of cheese, braided loaves of bread, and a cone of sugar—complete with tiny wire tongs—spilled into her hand.

“You thought of everything!” From Evie, this was the highest compliment any kitchen could receive. “When you’ve finished your work for Mrs. Smythe, I might have to beg you to make me one of these model kitchens. I’d keep it on my shelves for inspiration!”

“I’d be honored.” The thought that another project might follow this gave Naomi a surge of energy. There was something galvanizing about the idea that she could keep doing what she loved.

“We’re the ones who should be honored.” Lacey lifted the lid to the small hope chest she’d slipped against the end of a canopy bed. She smiled, tugging out a set of tiny washcloths for the washstand. “Isn’t it awful, the way we become used to the blessings we’re given and stop seeing them? Honestly, Naomi, it’s as though years of familiarity blinded me to how special you made this Lyman Place.”

“Working on this was a gift to myself as much as a present for you,” Naomi confided. “I would have gone mad if I didn’t find a way to keep myself busy!” Indeed, losing herself in a thousand tiny details kept her from losing herself in a quagmire of self-loathing and sorrow.

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