Authors: Florence Osmund
Daughters (46 page)
“I’ll get her!”
Sleepy-eyed Olivia, who Marie was certain had just been awakened by Rachael seconds before, eyed the presents and squealed. “
¿Para quién son éstos?
”
“
Para ti.
”
“For me?” she said.
“Just some of them are for you,” Rachael explained. She handed one to Olivia that she had helped pick out. Olivia ripped off the paper and hugged the stuffed monkey she had talked about for the past month after seeing it in the
Sears Wish Book
. The monkey had a serious, almost scary face, and Marie wondered why she’d wanted it, but she bought it anyway. Rachael helped her unwrap a larger gift. When Olivia saw the dollhouse, she ran into her room to get her Betsy McCall doll, which was about a hundred times too large for the house.
“Olivia, look inside. There are little dolls in there,” Rachael told her. Olivia tossed Betsy to the side for the time being while she placed and replaced the two small dolls in each room of the house, looking at Rachael and Marie for approval with each move.
Rachael had asked for jewelry, and when she opened the small box with a watch and gold earrings, Marie thought she was going to cry. She got up from the floor and hugged Marie hard.
Two presents from Marie were addressed to both Olivia and Rachael. One contained a set of flash cards to help Olivia with her English, and the other one a Candy Land game. Rachael glanced up at Marie and said, “These are cool.” Then she got up and went way under the tree and pulled out an envelope. She handed it to Marie.
Marie opened it up and pulled out a piece of construction paper. On it was written,
For the best mom two girls could ever ask for
Love,
Rachael and Olivia
Inside the envelope was a gold chain with a heart-shaped locket. Inside the locket was a picture of Rachael on one side and Olivia on the other.
“Karen helped us with it. Do you like it?” Rachael asked.
Olivia pointed to her name on the card. “O-l-i-v-i-a. Olivia!”
Marie scooped up both girls in her arms and thanked them through tears. “You couldn’t have given me any better present.”
She cooked the girls’ favorite meal for Christmas—pot roast, browned potatoes, and corn. Halfway through dinner, Rachael asked Marie where Barry was.
“He’s having dinner with his family, but he’s coming over later for dessert.”
“His horses too?” Olivia asked.
“Well, no he’s not bringing his horses, silly.”
She looked disappointed. Marie threw up her hands. “They won’t fit in our house!” she said with a funny face, making Olivia laugh.
“When will he be here?”
Marie glanced at her watch. “In about an hour.”
“So what are you giving him for Christmas?”
Marie had given a lot of thought to it. They had been on only two dates, and one of those was with the girls. She wanted to give him something, but nothing too personal and nothing that suggested she was further along in this relationship than he was. He had mentioned his love for camping and fishing on their first date, so she bought him a subscription to
Outdoor Life
. As a joke, she included a copy of an article she had found at the library titled “Understanding Henry VIII.” On top she placed a picture of a little girl and a cat Olivia had colored for him.
“He’s here!” Olivia shouted while Rachael and Marie finished doing the dishes.
Rachael grinned. “She’s a good lookout.”
“You put her up to that?” Marie asked.
“Well, sure. We need a little notice to get ready for him.” She pointed to Marie’s hair. “I’ll let him in while you fix that.”
When did she become my coach?
Barry came in with an armload of gifts. The girls cheered. Marie shook her head. He handed Rachael and Olivia each a present but kept the third one in his lap while he watched them open the gifts.
Rachael pulled out a wide western concho belt. “Cool!” She got up and headed toward her bedroom.
“Where are you going?” Marie asked.
“To see if it fits in my jeans for the next time I go riding.”
Olivia tore the paper off her present—a child’s book on horses. “Horsies!”
Marie looked at Barry and mouthed
thank you
before she opened her present. Inside was a pair of deerskin riding gloves.
“Looks like you’re appealing to our love for horses,” she said.
“It would appear that way.” His smile was soft and sincere. She handed him his present.
His face lit up at Olivia’s picture. “Why thank you, Olivia. I’ll have to hang this in a very special place.” He laughed at the Henry VIII article and glanced up at Marie. “This may come in handy.” He picked up the issue
of Outdoor Life
. “Hey, this is great. I pick one up every once in awhile, but I don’t have a subscription. Thanks, everyone.”
Rachael walked over to him and handed him a sheet of paper. What was she giving him? Barry turned it over and stared at the paper before sporting a wide grin. “Did you draw this?”
Rachael nodded. Barry glanced at Marie. “This is really good. You never told me she was an artist.”
“May I see it?”
He handed it Marie. She stared in disbelief at the pencil sketch of Barry, Marie, and Olivia on horseback, Rachael’s perspective for the drawing being that she was the last one in line on the trail.
“Rachael, this is amazing. Where did you learn to draw like this?”
She shrugged. “Nowhere, I guess.”
“Talk about hanging this in a special place. I’m going to have it framed!”
“Well, I’m glad you like it, Barry, but I didn’t think you were going to go ape over it.”
“I don’t know about the ape part, but it’s darn good.”
Rachael looked back and forth among Marie, Olivia, and Barry. Her gaze paused on Marie. “Just think,” she said, “if I didn’t have to piss so bad that day coming home from Olathe, these two wouldn’t even be a part of our lives right now.”
“Rachael!”
“What?”
“Your language.”
“Sorry. Piss so badly.”
Good grief.
“You know, if you and Barry want to go out on New Year’s Eve, I’ll babysit Olivia,” Rachael offered.
Marie glanced up from her newspaper. “Thank you, sweetie, but Barry hasn’t said anything about New Year’s.” They had talked on the phone a few times since Christmas, but he hadn’t asked her out again. She went back to reading the paper when an article about the hayride fundraiser they had attended caught her eye.
“The annual fundraiser had its biggest success ever, thanks to the generosity of Barry Stone, son of Jeremy Stone, former state representative of Kansas,” she read.
Former state representative?
Looks like our Mr. Barry hasn’t told me everything. I wonder just how much he contributed.
The phone interrupted her thoughts. It was Barry. “I know this is last minute, but would you like to get together New Year’s Eve? That is, if you don’t already have plans.”
“No, I don’t have plans.”
“This may sound lame, but I’m not big on going out on New Year’s Eve. Too much hoopla for me. What would you say we cooked something at my house?”
“Okay, sure.”
“I was thinking, maybe the girls could come too.”
She hadn’t expected that. “That would be great.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Can you cook?”
“Yes, I can cook.”
“I mean, will you do the actual cooking?”
Marie laughed. “Sure. I’ll cook. But you have to help.”
“That I can do…well, maybe.”
Barry’s awkward invitation made Marie smile the rest of the day.
They arrived at Barry’s at five o’clock. The plan was to put the pork roast in the oven and then go on a ride. But shortly after arriving, Olivia announced she had a
dolor de estómago
, a tummy ache. Barry showed them to a spare bedroom where Olivia could lie down. After Marie talked to Olivia about what was bothering her, she joined Barry and Rachael in the kitchen.
Barry had poured a glass of ginger ale. “This may help her stomach,” he said.
“That won’t be necessary. Rachael, may I see you in the other room?”
Rachael followed her into the living room.
“Okay. ‘Fess up.”
“What?”
“Olivia told me everything, and now she’s upset.”
“Oh.”
“Rachael, look, I know your intentions were good, but there is no need to play games. And to involve your sister is just not acceptable.”
Did I just say your sister?
Rachael hung her head. “I’m sorry.”
“You go in there and tell her you made a big mistake by asking her to fake being sick so Barry and I could be alone. And when you’re done, both of you come out and join us in the kitchen.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And Rachael?”
“Yes.”
“Just so you know, our plan was to bring you two back to our place after dinner, and then we were going to spend the rest of the evening here—alone.”
Rachael smiled. “Cool.”
“Go.”
Rachael saluted.
Marie explained to Barry the plan Rachael had hatched. “You can’t be too mad at her, right?” he asked. “She was just thinking of you.”
“Barry, that’s not the point,” she whispered. “I’ll explain it to you later.”
“I guess I’ve got a lot to learn about kids.”
Marie smiled. “Me too. Believe me.”
Rachael and Olivia entered the kitchen. “We’re sorry,” Rachael said.
Olivia burst into tears, ran over to Marie, and hugged her. Marie scowled at Rachael.
See what you’ve caused?
she mouthed.
Rachael scrunched up her mouth and bit the inside of her cheek. “I’m really sorry.”
Marie sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and pulled Olivia up on her lap. “Don’t cry, honey. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Rachael said I did.”
“Rachael gave you bad advice. You, my dear, didn’t do anything wrong. And you know what? Barry is going to take you on a horsie ride while Rachael and I have a little talk here in the kitchen.” She wiped Olivia’s tears from her cheeks. “Would you like that?”
Olivia nodded. Barry fetched Olivia’s coat, hat, and mittens. For the next half hour, Marie and Rachael talked about the consequences of being deceitful, regardless of intent, while they prepared dinner.
“Marie? I wanted this day to be so perfect, and now I’ve screwed it all up. I’m sorry.”
“Why was that so important to you?”
“‘Cause it felt so much like being part of a real family.”
Her words resounded with a truth that Marie had not yet admitted to herself.
Barry and Olivia came back red-faced from the cold. He took off her outerwear and led her into the living room where he built a fire in the fireplace, letting her help by handing him the smaller kindling. Marie sent Rachael in to let Barry know he was wanted in the kitchen.
“You’re not going to get off without helping with this meal, mister,” Marie said to him.
“Just tell me what to do. I’ll be your slave.” After he said it, his face dropped. “Was that an insensitive thing to say? I’m sorry. Sometimes I don’t think before I speak.”
Marie smiled. “No, you’re okay. But if it were the other way around, I might have had an issue with it.”
“Really?”
“No, not really.”
“You’re confusing me, Marie.”
“Shut up and get to work.” She walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss. “Do you know how to peel a carrot?”
“No, but I’m trainable.”
“This is going to be a long evening.”
“Promise?”
