An Abundance of Blessings Read online

  Though she found Bill friendly, Emily tried to keep her distance from Anna. Charlotte was sure she remembered Bill’s advice to sell the farm, and, previous to that, how angry Bill and Anna were when Madison had gotten hurt while Emily was keeping an eye on both the girls.

  In spite of her reluctance to say good-bye, Jennifer was the first one downstairs. She threw herself into her father’s arms, hugging him so tightly, Bill’s head slanted to one side.

  “I’m going to miss you,” she pronounced. She gave him a noisy kiss on his cheek then, when he put her down, flew at her mother.

  Anna, however, held the little girl at arm’s length. “My goodness, you’ve already gotten dust on your pretty shirt. How did that happen?”

  Jennifer pulled her head back as she tried to look at the ruffles on the front of her shirt. Then she shrugged. “Dunno. I was lying on the floor.”

  Anna shook her head. “Honey, is that a good idea?”

  “Yeah. I was trying to get the kitty to come out.”

  Anna’s perfectly plucked eyebrows arched upward.

  “We’ll make sure the cat stays away from the girls,” Charlotte hastened to say. “If we had known just when you were coming, we would have locked him up.”

  “Well, I thought I told you,” Anna added, looking somewhat put out by what she perceived as a reprimand. “I thought it would be better if we showed up earlier rather than later.”

  Charlotte held her hands up in a gesture of peace. “And I’m glad you did. We’ll make sure the girls don’t spend too much time with Lightning.”

  Madison dutifully kissed her mother and father good-bye. “I hope you have a good time,” she said, her voice growing quiet.

  Charlotte heard the faint catch in her voice and stood beside her, slipping her arm around the little girl’s shoulder to console her.

  “Your mom and dad will be back in no time,” she assured her, underlining her comment with a gentle squeeze. “And we can have some fun together, can’t we?”

  Madison swallowed and nodded, but Charlotte caught the faint glint of a tear in the corner of her eye.

  “Be good now,” Bill said, ushering his wife out the door.

  Anna glanced back, blowing a kiss at her daughters. “Work hard on your schoolwork and listen to Grandma Charlotte,” she called out as they left.

  Before the door even clicked shut, Jennifer shot off the porch, heading back up to Christopher’s room.

  “I’m going to miss my mommy and daddy,” Madison said, her voice quivering as she leaned into Charlotte. “I’m going to miss them so much.”

  Charlotte felt sorry for her. While the girls often came for visits, they had never stayed overnight at the farm before.

  Charlotte bent down and placed her hands on Madison’s shoulders. “I’m so glad you could stay here with me and your grandfather. I’m looking forward to all the help I’ll be getting from you, and I know Grandpa really misses having a little girl to sit on his lap in the evening.”

  Madison nodded, swallowed again, and then gave Charlotte a quivery smile. “I’m a good helper,” she said.

  “The best. And I think, if you want, you can help me make supper.”

  Her face brightened.

  Charlotte felt a moment of fulfillment as she walked out of the porch with Madison. For the next week and a half, she would have all her grandchildren staying with her and Bob.

  “What can I do to help you make supper?” Madison asked.

  “Well, you could either peel the potatoes or set the table.”

  Setting the table was Christopher’s chore today, but Charlotte was sure he wouldn’t mind if Madison took over the job.

  “I should set the table,” Madison said. “I don’t think my mommy wants me peeling with sharp knives.”

  “You’re probably right,” Charlotte agreed. “But before we start supper, I have to go outside for a few minutes, okay?”

  “Why?” Madison asked.

  “I need to see if I can get some more eggs from the chickens,” she said, taking a clean pail from under the sink. “I was baking all day today, making treats for you girls, and I’m out of eggs. Do you want to come with me?”

  Madison shook her head. “It’s too cold outside.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes. You’ll be okay?” Madison nodded and Charlotte went to the porch.

  The sun was slipping beneath the horizon as Charlotte walked across the yard. Five o’clock and the dark was already creeping across the sky. The sound of a car approaching made her stop halfway across the yard. Who was coming here this time of the day?

  Headlights lit up the rows of trees lining the driveway, making the snow on their branches glisten. Then the car topped the rise and drove into the yard.

  A young woman sat behind the wheel of the car, a teenage boy slouched beside her in the passenger seat.

  Charlotte walked toward the vehicle as the driver rolled her frosted window down.

  Charlotte recognized Lisa Grienke, the school secretary, and her heart skipped. Had one of the kids gotten into trouble and hadn’t told her?

  “Good evening, Mrs. Stevenson. I’m sorry to bother you, but I understand Pete, your son, lives here on the farm.”

  Dumbfounded, Charlotte could only nod. What business could Miss Grienke possibly have with Pete?

  Lisa’s broad smile was as unexpected as her presence. “I—uh—he helped me today.”

  “When he pulled you out of the ditch?”

  “Yes. Then.”

  Charlotte had heard about that adventure as soon as Sam returned from school. Emily had been disappointed not to have been in on the fun.

  Then the young boy beside Lisa leaned over to look at Charlotte. He wore his hair shoulder length, and the ubiquitous hooded jacket Sam seemed to favor above all other clothing. “Could you just tell us where he lives so we can get on with this?”

  His rude demeanor took Charlotte aback, but she pulled herself together.

  Half a year ago, he might have intimidated her, but having teenagers in the house had showed her the necessity of heeding the advice her friend Melody Givens had shared with her when Sam, Emily, and Christopher first came to her home: hold your ground, maintain eye contact, and above everything else, show no fear.

  “And you are?” she asked, determined not to let this young man intimidate her.

  The boy’s only reply was to puff out his breath in a sound of disgust then drop back against his seat, slouching down and pulling out his cell phone. Probably texting his friends, telling them about the not-cool lady he just met.

  “This is my younger brother, Adam,” Lisa said with an apologetic smile. “You’ll have to forgive him; he’s tired.”

  Charlotte was more than willing to forgive him, but she didn’t think she had to.

  “Can we just get this done, sis?” Adam groused, the glow from the screen of his phone shining blue on his face.

  “Adam will be attending the high school while he is here. I believe your grandson, Sam, is the same age.” Lisa’s sudden friendliness was not only out of character for the usually stern and abrupt woman, but her attitude was a direct contrast to her surly brother’s. “I was hoping they could meet.”

  “I’ll have to let him know.” Though Charlotte wasn’t sure she wanted her grandson to have much to do with this young man. Sam had enough difficulties getting settled into the school, he certainly didn’t need to connect with someone as rude as Adam.

  “I talked to Sam already. When Pete pulled me out of the ditch.”

  “I see.” Charlotte didn’t know what else to say, and her hands were getting chilled. What she really wanted to know was why Lisa came all the way to the farm to see her son, but that was none of her business.

  Charlotte pointed to Pete’s apartment. “If you need to see Pete, that’s where he lives. You can see the lights on. You’ll have to go up a flight of stairs and then you’ll see the door to his place.”

  “Thank you very much. I apprec
iate your help.”

  Again she flashed an uncharacteristic smile.

  “Now would be good,” Adam mumbled, the glow from the screen of his phone shining blue on his face.

  Lisa rolled the window up, muffling her reply to her brother. Charlotte stepped away from the vehicle as it drove toward Pete’s apartment.

  As Charlotte walked toward the chicken house, she couldn’t help but watch as Lisa parked the car in front of Pete’s apartment. She opened the back door and took a box out, hesitated a moment at the door to the stairs, then opened it and walked up.

  In Charlotte’s dealings with Lisa, she had never seen the young woman as outgoing as she was tonight.

  Nor had she any inkling that, other than Pete pulling her out of the ditch, they knew each other well enough that Lisa would feel free to come visit him at the farm.

  Puzzling indeed.

  “ARE YOU SURE IT’S MY TURN to do the dishes?” Sam asked, glancing over his shoulder at the chore list stuck to the refrigerator door.

  “It’s Friday. Your turn. Besides, I did them yesterday,” Emily put in. “Remember?”

  Sam made a face as he got up from the table. “I do remember. You put a bowl in the refrigerator with exactly one green bean in it so you wouldn’t have to wash it.”

  “Four green beans,” Emily retorted, not the least ashamed. “I didn’t think Grandma would want to waste them.”

  “I emptied the bowl,” Charlotte said, smiling at the banter between the two. “I needed the room in the refrigerator.”

  “Can we go up to the attic?” Jennifer asked as she pushed her chair back under the table. “I want to go exploring.”

  “There’s nothing in the attic but clothes.” Christopher tapped his fork on the table, then stuck the end in his ear to hear the tone. Pete had taught him this trick. “Is Uncle Pete going out tonight?” he asked, his question coming out of the blue.

  Charlotte was momentarily taken aback by his question. “I have no idea. Why?”

  Christopher shrugged. “I need to talk to him about something I’m doing for school.”

  “You could run over to his apartment and see.”

  “Okay.” He slipped off his chair and walked to the porch, Jennifer trailing behind him.

  “Where you going, Christopher? Can I come?”

  Christopher shook his head. “I have to do something for school.”

  Jennifer wandered back to the kitchen table and slumped in her chair. Then she sighed. “I’m bored.”

  “Don’t say bored in this house,” Emily teased, shooting a mischievous glance at Charlotte.

  “You can help me clear the dishes,” Charlotte said, handing her a plate.

  “I suppose.”

  “See what I mean?” Emily teased. “As soon as you say you’re bored, you get some work.”

  A few minutes later the door slammed shut again and Christopher slumped into the kitchen, his cheeks red from the cold. “Uncle Pete was leaving. And he won’t be home tomorrow either.”

  “What do you need to talk to Uncle Pete about?” Sam asked.

  “Just something for school.”

  “C’mon, Christopher, let’s go.” Jennifer tugged on his arm. “We can do some more exploring in the attic.”

  “Why don’t you go too, Madison?” Charlotte said as Jennifer dragged a reluctant Christopher toward the stairs.

  Madison shook her head. “I don’t like playing up there. It’s creepy.”

  “Of course it is,” Emily said, scraping the food off a plate into the slop pail. “All those ghosts of our relatives roaming around, looking for their lost things.”

  Charlotte shot her granddaughter a frown, which Emily ignored.

  “C’mon, Madison,” Jennifer exhorted. “It’ll be fun.”

  “I’ll stay here.”

  Bob stretched, yawned, and then ambled to the family room, dropped into his recliner, and turned on the television.

  “Madison, do you want to help us?” Charlotte asked, trying to pull her granddaughter out of the funk she had fallen into since her parents had left.

  Madison didn’t reply, her attention on the television. “Or you can watch TV with Grandpa,” she said.

  “Well, it’s not really a show I’m allowed to watch,” she said, her eyes still on the flickering screen. “And I don’t know if my mommy would let me.”

  When Sam rolled his eyes, Charlotte had to confess she knew exactly how he felt. Of the two girls, Jennifer was by far the more easygoing. Madison was like a mini version of her mother, complete with uptight attitude.

  “I’ll explain it all to your mother. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  “Don’t worry so much. Just go watch it already,” Emily encouraged.

  Madison bit her lip, then got off her chair and walked over to Bob.

  “Hey, honey, you gonna cheer on my hockey team?” Bob asked, looking up at Madison as she approached.

  “Grandma said I can.”

  “You want to sit on Grandpa’s lap?”

  Madison shook her head and, instead, sat primly on the chair beside Bob’s.

  “Silly girl,” Emily muttered, shaking her head. “Why wouldn’t you want to sit on your grandfather’s lap?”

  “You say something, Emily?” Sam said.

  She shook her head, but Charlotte had heard.

  Sam, Emily, and Christopher had been less than thrilled to move across the country from city to farm, from known to unknown, and there were still times of adjusting. Emily’s comment was another one of those slivers of encouragement Charlotte received from time to time, reminding her that they were slowly settling in and coming to appreciate their life here in Nebraska.

  “I’m gonna go upstairs. When Grampa is done watching his game, can we watch a movie?” Emily asked, wiping her hands.

  “And your homework?” Charlotte prompted.

  “None, thank goodness.” Emily pumped the air with her fist in a celebratory gesture. “I’m free for the weekend.”

  “Okay. Fine by me. Just let me know which movie it’s going to be.” She was fairly sure Anna wouldn’t let the girls watch what Emily, Sam, and Christopher preferred, so she wanted to make sure it would pass muster.

  She ran upstairs, leaving Sam and Charlotte alone in the kitchen.

  “I met Miss Grienke’s brother,” Charlotte said.

  Sam frowned. “When?”

  “He and Miss Grienke came by shortly after Anna and Bill came. Do you know much about him?”

  Charlotte handed Sam a rinsed plate, and continued, “I heard something about his parents splitting up.”

  “Yeah. Well. Happens lots, doesn’t it?” Sam dropped the plate into the dishwasher with more force than necessary. “Dads decide to do something else and leave their kids behind.”

  Charlotte knew he was referring to his own father, Kevin Slater, who had done precisely that shortly after Christopher was born. She thought of Sam’s question and then gave him a quick pat on his shoulder. “Your mother did a great job with you kids,” was all she could say. “You know for sure she loved you dearly.”

  The faint smile teasing one corner of Sam’s mouth gave Charlotte hope. “Yeah. I know.”

  “Then hold onto that instead.”

  Sam nodded, gave her a shy smile, then continued loading the dishwasher.

  Chapter Five

  Jennifer. Christopher. Where are you guys?” Emily called out, her voice softened by the boxes and old furniture piled up in the attic.

  Grandma had asked her to check on the kids. Make sure they weren’t getting into trouble. Emily would have preferred to go outside and work with the horses, but she didn’t want to argue. Things had been going pretty good lately and she liked that too.

  “Back here.”

  Christopher’s muffled voice was hard to pinpoint. Emily looked around the large open area with its numerous nooks and crannies. Grandpa had told her the house had been added to lots of times, so the attic didn’t always jibe with the rest
of the house.

  “Where’s back here?” she called again.

  “Behind the old dresser.”

  Emily spotted the large piece of furniture Christopher was talking about. It looked like something out of a horror movie with its huge, fly-specked mirror and shelves along each side.

  She walked around it and came upon Christopher and Jennifer wearing the weirdest clothes she had ever seen.

  Christopher had on a purple-and-gold-plaid jacket over a shiny gold shirt. Jennifer wore a bright red sweater decorated with yellow, green, and blue triangles and circles.

  “Whoa. Ugly much,” she said with a laugh. “Where did you find those?”

  “In these boxes.” Christopher pulled out a flouncy, lacetrimmed dress and tossed it toward Jennifer. “This is yours.”

  Jennifer grabbed it and laid it on a pile beside her.

  “How many boxes are there of this stuff? Where did they come from?” Emily asked.

  “I dunno where it came from, but there’s lots of them,” Christopher mumbled, diving into the box again. “There’s some that we can’t open.” He pointed to a couple piled up haphazardly against the wall. “Can you open them for us?”

  “Sure.” Emily heaved the top box onto the floor. The flaps were stapled shut and it took her a fair bit of tugging to get them loose.

  She pulled the flaps back and curled her nose against the musty smell drifting out of the box. Some of these clothes had been sitting here a long time.

  Whose could they have been? Grandma and Grandpa’s? Uncle Pete’s?

  Maybe her mother’s?

  Emily dug into the box, suddenly excited at the prospect that her mother might have worn some of these clothes.

  “Hey. Check this out,” she said, pulling out a creamcolored vest that looked like it had been crocheted. Wooden beads painted orange, red, and brown decorated the hem of the vest, and it tied at the front with another string of wooden beads. “Cool,” she pronounced, setting it aside.

  The next item was a shiny blue jacket with huge shoulder pads, and below that a pair of heavy, black lace-up boots with thick soles and buckles.

  “Score,” Emily said, pulling the boots out. “These are awesome.”

  “They look mean and angry,” Jennifer pronounced, as she tugged a long, lacy dress over her clothes. “I like this,” she said, lifting handfuls of fabric from the huge, full skirt. “I feel like a princess.”