Mistletoe Mommy

A frown creased Luke’s forehead.

“It’s all right.” Nellie smiled at him. “As I said, I’ll manage. You weren’t supposed to hear that bit about the stove. It wasn’t meant as an insult. Just an observation among women who are accustomed to doing a lot of cooking.”

Though Myrna let out an audible sigh of relief, Ruby glared at Nellie. Did the girl, who’d taken on her mother’s duties, know about her deal with Myrna? Or did Ruby see this as yet another slight against her departed mother?

Luke nodded slowly. “If you say so. Like I said, I know it’s a hard life. But I do try to make it easier where I can.”

He looked around the small room as if observing it through a stranger’s eyes. “I didn’t exaggerate when I said it wasn’t much.”

Ruby’s glare intensified.

“But it’s enough,” Nellie said smoothly, smiling as she turned her gaze around the room. “Your family has been very happy here, and I have no doubt that we all will continue to be.”

Luke looked up toward the loft. “The others up there?”

Nellie nodded.

“Have you been up yet?”

“No. Myrna had just begun explaining things to me, and we haven’t gotten that far.”

Her answer didn’t seem to please Luke, who only looked more uncomfortable at her words. “Seeing you in here, I hadn’t realized...” He shook his head. “It really is a small space, isn’t it?”

“We’ll manage,” Nellie said, reiterating her earlier words.

Luke glanced down at her bags. “There’s no place for your things, no privacy for you.”

“I guess she’ll have to leave, then,” Ruby said, the scowl disappearing from her face for the first time since entering the house.

“I’m not leaving,” Nellie said, just as Luke said, “She’s not leaving.”

A small smile turned the corners of Luke’s lips as he looked at Nellie. “At least we still agree on that. But still, I’ve given no thought to your comfort, and for that I apologize.”

“My mother never needed anything more,” Ruby snapped, the glare returning to her face.

“Remember your promise,” Luke said quietly, looking at his daughter with an expression that spoke of both rebuke and affection at the same time.

Nellie felt her shoulders relax as she examined Luke for any sign of violence. There was none. Just that pervasive sadness that seemed to surround him whenever Diana came up in conversation.

“Well,” Myrna said, stepping in to the conversation. “As Nellie and I were discussing just prior to your arrival, I have supper ready for you at my house, and if we don’t sit down soon, it’s liable to get cold. So let’s all head across the alley and we’ll get some food in us all.”

Nellie was grateful for the sudden ease of tension in the room. Whatever Ruby had promised Luke, she wouldn’t have to deliver right away. And the cloud had lifted from Luke’s shoulders, a smile filling his face again.

“That sounds wonderful. Thank you for thinking of my wife and realizing that it would be too much to ask of her to prepare supper so soon after her arrival. I’m sure it will make her feel most welcome.”

“It does indeed,” Nellie said, smiling back at him. Though their words were all polite and proper, things felt strained between them, as if the reality of their arrangement was somehow less satisfactory than it had sounded when they’d first discussed it. Luke continued to seem more ill at ease than happy about her acceptance of the situation.

“I’ll just get the children,” Nellie said, heading for the ladder. “And have a peek at the loft so I can say I’ve seen it all. I’m sure it will be just fine.”

She could feel Luke’s eyes on her as she climbed the ladder. Though it had to be sturdy enough to hold Luke’s weight, the way it creaked as she made her way up made her stomach churn. She would get used to this.

The tiny loft was lit by a small window in the eaves, and the space was nothing but wall-to-wall bedding. Which, based on the smell assaulting Nellie’s nostrils, hadn’t been washed in some time.