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Chapter Seventy-one

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Dinners Much Delayed

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In Hope Valley, Rosemary put the final touches on dinner as Lee entered their home. "Did you see Elizabeth? She said they would be right over."

Hardly finishing her sentence, a knock sounded and the Coulter's could hear voices on their front step.

"Come in, come in!" Lee welcomed Grace, Elizabeth, Jack, and Bill. "So glad you could join us tonight. It has been too long!" Between Lee and Bill, all the coats were collected and hung and Jack was tugging on his Uncle Lee's leg.

"We brought dessert as promised, Lee. Shall I go out to the kitchen?" Elizabeth offered.

"Yes, please. Rosie is in there."

Once everyone was settled at the table, admiring the pork loin, winter squash, salad and potatoes, Lee invited Bill to pray the blessing. At the "Amen," everyone began to pass the serving dishes and conversations began.

"I have missed our dinner gatherings. It has been so long." Elizabeth began.

As others nodded, Rosemary spoke up. "Yes, it has." She passed another serving dish. "Your speech was lovely, Elizabeth. Heartfelt and lovely."

"Thank you. I hope it was appropriate? Bill approved it beforehand." Elizabeth explained.

"It was a great time to share, Elizabeth. After all you've been the school teacher for a long time, so I'm guessing everyone was relieved to see you and to hear your words." Lee cut his meat with fork. "Rosie, this is so tender! I don't even need a knife!"

"Thank you, Sweetheart." Rosemary blew a kiss from her end of the table to Lee before addressing Elizabeth. "Did you see the special bulletin board the students prepared for you, Elizabeth?"

"I did. It was a lovely surprise and Katy promised to collect all the notes for me when she removes the board. Isn't the school wonderful? I can only imagine all the new experiences the children can enjoy with the additional space and separation of ages. It is exciting."

"Are you considering returning to teaching in the near future, Elizabeth? Sorry, that is just a friendly question, not voiced from my position on the school board." Lee chuckled.

"I am still uncertain, Lee. Right now I am leaning against returning, at least for the foreseeable future. I have so many book ideas, both the stories for little ones like Jack and for older girls, like Allie." Elizabeth didn't even think about who she mentioned, but others took note and gave each other meaningful glances when she wasn't looking. "I am trying to devote a couple hours to them each day right now."

Grace spoke up. "Elizabeth has been busy and from the ideas she has shared with me, the stories are delightful. I imagine there is a market for them all."

"Thank you, Mother, but you are biased!" Elizabeth laughed. "How are things at the newspaper, Rosemary? Any new and exciting articles in the works?"

Rosemary glanced at Lee before answering. "I am advertising for a full-time assistant to assist Lee so I can just concentrate on one editorial for each edition." She coughed and placed her cutlery on her plate, holding Lee's gaze.

He nodded. "We have some news to share."

All eyes went from Lee to Rosemary and back until Rosemary coughed again.

"You know the Brookfield Orphanage is empty right now? Well, one little boy was staying with a family whose oldest daughter took seriously ill. They decided not to adopt at this time, although they are keeping the child with them until some arrangements are made." Rosemary paused. "Lee and I waited too long to inquire about adopting a child and when we got to it, all the children had been placed. But Lillian called a couple days ago to tell us about little Patrick." She nodded at her husband who picked up the story.

"Patrick was the little boy we had considered adopting a few months ago, so it didn't take long for Rosie and me to agree to adopt the little fella now."

Gasps and joyful exclamations filled the dining room before Lee continued. "Lillian has the papers in the works and we will go pickup Patrick early next week!"

Elizabeth's eyes filled with joyous tears as she rose and went to the foot of the table to hug Rosemary. "I am so happy for you both! This is just the best news tonight! Patrick gets a wonderful Mommy and Daddy and you get a son!"

Weeping quietly, Rosemary hugged her friend. "We are so excited! Patrick is almost Jack's age, so they can be playmates! Well, assuming all goes well. We are heading to Brookfield tomorrow, to meet and talk to Patrick and be sure he is okay with us being his parents. If he is, then the papers will be filed!"

Lee cleared his throat. "Elizabeth, maybe you as well Bill…I don't know... Do you recognize the significance of his name?"

Taking a moment, the realization suddenly hit Elizabeth. "Patrick was your little brother who died!"

Now Lee's eyes filled as he shook his head. "We feel it is Providential. God-planned."

By now, Bill had stood and opened his arms to Lee. "Congratulations, my friend. You deserve this happiness and you will both be wonderful parents! We've all seen you with young Jack here, so we know it's true!"


Allie opened the Cottage door to welcome the Bests into their home on Wednesday evening. As greetings were shared, she took the basket from Esther while Nathan hung the guests' coats. Allie waved for Naomi to follow her to the kitchen, then they returned arm-in-arm.

"What a charming little home! It reminds me of some of the shore cottages, just a bit less colorful!" Isaac chuckled. "Our houses are painted in pastel or even brighter colors! A white house is rare!"

"Wow! That sounds pretty." Allie enthused. "What color is your house? No, let me guess! Pink? Lavender? No, I think pink!"

"Good guess. It's pink!" Naomi giggled then smiled brightly.

"Dad? May I give them the tour?" Allie pleaded.

"You may, Honey. If any of you want the tour, your guide awaits!" Nathan announced.


Nathan peeked in the oven and seeing the biscuits ready, pulled them out, laid a linen towel over them and turned the oven off, setting the potpie on a trivet to cool. He then surveyed the table settings and followed the guests on their tour.

Allie was proudly showing her mother's oil paintings and, in her room, added the now framed drawing Uncle Zach had sent for her birthday.

"Who painted this, Allie?" Esther pointed to a watercolor on top of Allie's desk.

"I did." Allie explained shyly.

Nathan spoke up from the doorway. "Allie is an artist who may rival her mother someday. I guess it runs in the females in our family!"

"No Dad. Uncle Zach draws and you and Grandpa carve and Grandmom knits. So really we all are artists of some kind!"

"Sounds like a creative family! Didn't I see a guitar when we walked through the parlor?" Enquired Isaac. "Who is the musician?"

"Dad plays, but I'm learning. We both sing and," Allie grinned at her father, "that runs in the family too!"

After everyone had enjoyed the tour of the bedrooms, they returned to the front room and, while Allie pointed out various items including the mantel clock they had received, Nathan disappeared into the kitchen. He placed the hot biscuits in a linen napkin in a basket, then carried the pot pie to the table.

"Please join us at the table, my friends? Allie can you help me and bring in the biscuits while I get the teapot? Thanks."

Settled with fragrant, piping hot foods set before them, Nathan gave thanks for the Bests, the meal and God's many blessings, including one of friendship.

As the potpie was served, Esther made mental notes of the ingredients. "Is this a traditional recipe, Nathan?"

"This is our family recipe, but these potpies are familiar in both Canada and the United States as I understand. It's not difficult to prepare at the last minute if you bake and bone the chicken in advance."

Naomi giggled. "We are having pie for dinner and pie for dessert tonight!"

"Oh? What kind did you bring?" Allie asked, always on the hunt for new recipes.

"I made Barbados Sweet Potato Pie. It's a recipe for which most of the ingredients are available here in Regina. A couple items are canned, so I ordered a quantity last month so we can continue to enjoy some familiar favorites. I hope you will enjoy it."

"When it comes to desserts there are few, if any, that Allie and I wouldn't like." Nathan confessed.

"Yes." Allie giggled. "Desserts are Dad's favorite meal."

"She's right. I can't deny my sweet tooth!" Nathan chuckled changing the subject. "So Isaac, are you finding your time here at Depot informative and helpful?"

"Informative, yes. Helpful? That's still to be determined. So much of what you do here in Depot relates to colder weather, smaller populations, wide, open spaces, and a freedom to make your own choices about the best ways to accomplish a task. On the Island, the weather is hot, so that determines our care of the horses, the length of parades and our schedules. Our population is more concentrated and the flora is dense so tracking is extremely different. Our criminal challenges are also different and some relate to the Island's history."

Isaac continued. "Also, the contrast of how to make decisions is stark. It appears that you have a lot of freedom to make changes in procedures if something isn't working. At home, we are more closely regimented, tied to how things have always been done. There is less innovation or vision for improvement in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, our traditional system is working fine, it is just so different from here in Regina!"

"Could it be that we are in the western frontier? Maybe traditions are more important to the larger cities out east? Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal? I would guess their procedures are well-established compared to ours!"

"Exactly. At this point, while recognizing these differences, I am endeavoring to take notes on everything I can, so when I return home we can lay everything on the table and take what we can adapt for ourselves." Isaac sipped his water. "By the way, I observed the funeral procession exercise. Now those formal occasions are almost identical! Only difference is that you freeze and we melt!"

Esther laughed along with everyone else. "This winter is going to be a challenge for us, Nathan. I confess, I already am challenged to keep warm at home and this is only November!" She gave a wide smile. "So far, my solution is to keep the oven on and bake! We have to be careful of that though as we want to still fit our clothing when we return home next year!"

"Are there special foods you make to remind you of home, Mrs. Best?" Allie asked.

"There are, but not always intentioned to remind us of Barbados, just because that's the way I know to cook! The availability of certain foods is my biggest challenge though. A tropical island cannot be compared to the open prairie in winter!"

"We solve the problem of our cold winters with lots of soups, right Dad?" Allie offered.

"We do. Although Allie is more adventurous than I am, we manage to create some interesting original recipes, again dependent on what's available at the market." Nathan turned to Naomi.

"Now, tell me, Naomi, what are your favorite things about St. Anne's Academy?"

Giggling, Naomi looked at Allie. "Allie and our friends!"

Chuckling, Nathan responded. "Well, that is certainly not the answer I was expecting!"

Isaac grinned. "You thought math or history or literature or even home economics? No, sir. At our dinner table we hear all about the young ladies!"


Later as the Bests lay in bed discussing their day and dinner, Isaac pointed out. "That was an enjoyable evening. Did you notice Nathan asked Naomi about school? Most adults don't engage with the young people, but Nathan did a few times. You can tell he is a good father to Allie."

"I noticed and I think Naomi did as well. She seems quite taken with Sergeant Nathan Grant!"


Author's Note: When in Barbados in the 1990s, I found the country to be very traditional and holding strong ties to the British monarchy. Personally, I loved that!

I know the country is now independent, but I imagined that in 1920 there would be a progressive freedom in frontier Canada that may have contrasted with the established ways of the Island. My apologies to my Bajan readers if this is not entirely accurate. It is fiction!

The Barbados Sweet Potato Pie is authentic though! :)

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