Let Me Call You Sweetheart Chapter 3, Page 23
Monday in December and time was now going full speed. There were several fun events coming up in Hope Valley shortly. With Advent started, there was quite the excitement in the air. The Christmas pageant and the town Christmas tree lighting was on the agenda. Flo and Ned were busy ordering gifts for parents to wrap to go under their Christmas trees. Townsfolk were searching for trees to decorate inside their homes and children were making decorations at school and learning Christmas Carols to sing.
Clara was getting so big that she had to sit down every few minutes. She waddled to serve in the Café, but she didn't cook over the hot stove as she was always hot even in the cold weather. Minnie didn't mind as she enjoyed cooking, but soon Clara would be busy being a mama, so Bill would have to hire someone to help her.
"Oh, my back is killing me!" Clara moaned. "I wish this little one would move over."
"If that baby drops, you'll have your wish in your arms!" Minnie smiled.
"That's just fine with me. All the ladies from the sewing circle helped me get the nursery ready. So, anytime is fine with me." Clara heaved a sigh.
"You'll know when it's time." Minnie nodded. "In the meantime, you just relax when you can and leave the rest to me."
Emily came in the side door with her bakery goods that she just took out of the oven. "Guten morgen ladies! I brought some cinnamon raisin muffins to sell."
"Thank you, Emily! Mmm, they smell wonderful!" Clare complimented her.
"You look tired, my dear. Are you feeling well?" Emily asked.
"Like a beached whale!" Clara complained
"Why don't you go upstairs and lay down. I'll help Minnie." Emily offered.
"That's okay, I don't have to lay down." Clara said as she got up. Minnie and Emily watched her hold her back as she waddled to get the coffee pot.
Emily took the pot out of her hands, saying, "Now go up and get some rest. When your little one comes, you'll have no time to rest, so get some while you can."
Clara smiled and thanked Emily, then slowly went up to her room.
"Now, Minnie, do you have a spare apron?" Emily grinned.
Faith and Molly were in the infirmary discussing the party Saturday night. As long as there weren't any patients, they were enjoying a brief break. "It really was such a surprise for Dee to see her family there, wasn't it?" Faith asked.
"Dee was crying, she was so happy!" Molly agreed. "The night was heavenly!" Molly was thinking about all the dances she had with Bill.
"Well, I wouldn't say, heavenly." Faith began, "I really hoped that Carson would've been there, then I'd agree."
"I'm sorry. Have you heard anything lately?" Molly inquired.
"Just a letter last week, but no phone call Sunday. I don't know why." Faith was worried.
"Let's get some Christmas decorations up!" Molly suggested hoping Faith would cheer up. "There's a box on the top shelf in the supply closet."
"Sure. That's fine, go ahead and get it. We can hang the wreath on the door, and put out the nativity set on the table by the window." Faith suggested.
Molly got the box and handed it to Faith. When the two of them opened the box, they found a smaller container inside. Opening it up were ornaments for a Christmas tree.
"Oh look," Faith said with a huge smile spreading across her face. As she reached in, she lifted a beautiful angel with blond hair in a long flowing white dress. "This was a gift from Carson last year. He bought it for me when I was in Chicago studying and then surprised me with it. I'll always think of him and treasure this!" She held the angel against her heart and closed her eyes.
"That means we have to get a tree in here so we can decorate! I'll ask Bill to take me to get one for here." Molly said happily.
"You're right, Molly. Thank you for being such a great friend."
Meanwhile at the library, Rosemary was pouring through the books looking for ideas on making costumes for shepherds, sheep, donkeys, kings and a stable. She already had her own ideas of course, but she wanted the pageant to be professional. After all, she was an actress in her former life. However, her quest was rather disappointing. It seemed the library was filled with mainly fiction. "Hmm, I guess I'll have to just rely on my instinct. It's never let me down before." she said out loud to herself.
With that Rosemary shut the library door behind her and muttered something to the effect that they better bring up to the town council to purchase more books, "learning books" as she referred to them. She stopped by Nichols and Dimes to tell Fiona what she thought was a dire need.
Fiona was outside decorating the shop with garland with Mike's help. "There is nothing a woman can't do." she was saying from the top of the ladder where she had strung up the garland. Then she climbed down the ladder and brushed off her hands. "Thank you, Mike, for handing me the garland. How does it look?"
Mike left and Rosemary walked over and looked up. "Looks great Fiona!"
"Thanks, now I have to decorate the inside of the shop. Can I help you Rosemary?" she asked.
"When is the next town council meeting Fiona?" Rosemary inquired. "We need to set aside funds to purchase some 'learning' books for our library." Rosemary went on to tell Fiona why she asked.
"Rosemary, first of all, we are not having one until next year, after Christmas. Secondly, we have plans to discuss for expansion of the town. If we have time we can mention the library needs, but it was Lucas who bought most of the books and he's long gone." Fiona explained.
"Well, I'll just have to put something in the Valley Voice and see if we can find a donor. I love the arts and we need more creativity for this town. Movies, art, drama and the like." Rosemary declared.
"That sounds like a good starting point." Fiona said.
"I got to let you go. I've got dresses to alter and decorating to do. Talk to you later Fiona!" Rosemary left Fiona shaking her head and wondering what Rosemary was up to.
