Chapter 8
They were all nestled around the fireplace. The adults in chairs, the children on the floor, and baby Rose in a cradle at Laura's feet. Eliza Jane remained uncomfortable, sandwiched between Harv on her left and Mort on her right. She felt the need to count her words, lest she be accused of paying more attention to one than the other. A curious Laura glanced in Eliza Jane's direction. How did she get into this mess and who would she end up choosing — Harv, Mort, or neither? As the last notes of Silent Night flowed from Charles' fiddle the lids closed on Rose's blue eyes and the baby fell fast asleep.
"Why don't you go get your guitar Almanzo? You and Pa could play The First Noel," said Laura.
"All right," Almanzo replied and then dashed up to their bedroom.
He came back down and stood behind Charles. Their peaceful melody began and the group sang along.
When the song finished Mort glanced over at Eliza Jane and smiled. "Gosh Eliza Jane, you certainly have a beautiful voice."
She blushed. "Why thank you Mort," she replied, looking into her lap.
"I was just gonna say the same thing," piped in Harv.
Eliza Jane jumped out of the chair and looked at them. "Stop it!" she screamed, then ran into the downstairs bedroom slamming the door behind her.
Laura rose from her chair, but Caroline placed a hand on her arm. "Let me," she told her daughter.
Caroline knocked. She found Eliza Jane dabbing the tears with a handkerchief.
"Would you like to talk?" asked Caroline in her gentle voice. Eliza Jane nodded.
"I don't know what to do Caroline. Harv asked me to marry him and now Mort shows up…" Her eyes became moist again.
Caroline smiled. "Do you love Harv?"
"Oh, I don't know," cried Eliza Jane. "If you had asked me that before my visit here I would have said yes." Eliza Jane stood up and walked across the room. "But now…" she said staring out the window, "now I'm just not sure."
"Well, how do you feel about Mort?"
Eliza Jane laughed. "I'm not sure about that either. He can be so annoying and goofy sometimes — especially if we're in a group, but the few times we were out alone he was intelligent and funny. I know Mort cares about me. He has since we first met, but…" She fell silent and leaned against the cold window.
"But you don't want to be hurt again," Caroline stated.
Eliza Jane looked across the room, her eyes telling Caroline all she needed to know. Caroline strolled over to the window and embraced her.
"Oh Caroline," she cried. "What am I going to do?"
Laura and Mort stood by the dining room windows watching the snow fall.
"I'm sorry Laura. I didn't mean to ruin Christmas for everyone, especially not for Eliza Jane."
"You didn't ruin anything Mort. It was a tense situation before you arrived."
"Oh?" replied a curious Mort.
"Harv and Eliza Jane had an argument in the middle of town the other day and then he asked her to marry him."
"I didn't know Harv proposed," said Mort removing his glasses. "I wouldn't have come if I knew." Mort glanced down at his fingers which were fiddling with the glasses.
"But you didn't know Eliza Jane was here," a confused Laura stated.
"Yes I did." Mort sighed. "I came back from visiting my folks in Wisconsin a few days after she left for Walnut Grove. I thought coming here would be the perfect opportunity for me to give it one last try."
"What do you mean one last try?"
"There's only so much rejection a man can take Laura. I know Eliza Jane loves Harv, but I thought I might be able to win her over." Mort placed the glasses back on the bridge of his nose and looked at her. "It was a silly plan really…thought I could show off my charms." Mort laughed at his own ignorance. "But who am I kidding Laura, she would never choose me."
"I don't think it has so much to do with you as it does with Eliza Jane not knowing what she wants. I'm sure she never expected to be in the middle of all this," explained Laura.
"That's why I've tried to be nice to Harv." Mort looked around, leaned in close to Laura and whispered, "But man, I really do hate him."
They laughed. Laura put an arm around Mort's shoulder. "Mort, did I ever tell you about Christie Norton?"
Almanzo and Harv stood alone in the kitchen. Almanzo pretended to be occupied with pumping water into the coffee pot, but he was searching for the right words for his friend and possible future brother-in-law.
Harv couldn't take the silence any longer. "I'm sorry about all this Manzo," he blurted out.
Almanzo nodded. "I know." He began to pace the floor, hoping the motion would calm his nerves. "This has gotta stop Harv. Eliza Jane can't take much more of this competition between you and Mort."
"Ya know, when I showed up here I was sure Eliza would say yes the minute I proposed. It was silly. I didn't think about the heartache she was carryin around with her. She told me about this Mort fella once. Don't know why, but she did. That's what got me to thinkin on how I felt about her. So ya could kinda say I was scared of Mort before I met him."
"Did I ever tell ya about my brother, Perley Day?" Almanzo asked. Harv shook his head. "It's Perley Day who got me to thinkin about Laura. When Beth and I first met she was just a schoolgirl. We became friends but she was just a kid and I was a man with a job and a farm to run." Harv listened intently. "I never really saw the change in Laura — her hair, her body, how she acted. I just kept seein her as a young friend." Almanzo shook his head. "Well then Perley Day blew into town and my whole world was thrown upside down. He started talkin about how grown up she was and how she was almost sixteen. She sure taught me a thing or two about horses." Almanzo chuckled.
"So how did you two get together?"
"Perley Day isn't the most responsible person. He raced Barnum, almost crippled him. Charles helped me take care of him over at his place. Beth stayed up all night helpin us. I realized Perley Day was right…she wasn't a kid anymore." Almanzo looked up at the ceiling, thinking about how he almost missed his chance with Laura. "Then I started bringin her back and forth to school in Curry and she looked so different to me. I knew I felt more for her than just friendship. Charles was against it at first, thought I was too old for her. But he came around eventually."
"Look at the two of you now. You've got each other and now Rose. Ya must be real happy," said Harv."
Almanzo nodded. "I wake up sometimes thinkin it's all a dream." He paused. "There was a lot goin against Laura and me bein together. I was probably the biggest problem." He fell silent. After a few seconds he gave up on trying to find words of wisdom for his friend and spoke right from his heart. "Listen Harv, all I'm tryin to say is if you and Eliza Jane are meant to be together, ya will. Ya can't force it. Ya just gotta let nature take its course."
"I dunno if I can do that Almanzo. And what if Mort sends nature off in another direction?"
When they all returned to the front room they found Charles, Mary, and Adam on the floor talking with the children about what Santa might bring. Mort made a point of choosing a chair at the opposite end of the room from where Eliza Jane sat down. No one spoke of the fuss, but an air of discomfort filled the room. Mary stood up and brushed off her dress.
"Did anyone ever tell you guys about our first Christmas on Plum Creek?" Mary asked the group, hoping to lighten the mood.
"I don't even think you've told me that story," replied Adam with feigned sarcasm.
After the laughter died out, they settled down to listen to Mary tell a story of hidden secrets and Carrie's special gift to baby Jesus. As the blizzard raged outside each person shared a special memory of Christmas. The storm brewing inside the house seemed to subside, but it wouldn't be long before emotions stirred things up again and engulfed them.
