35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
On Christmas morning, Jacquelyn woke early, quickly got dressed, and went downstairs. She found Mildred in the kitchen, frying bacon.
“Good morning, Jacquelyn,” Mildred said with a bright smile. “I hope you’re hungry. I’m making a feast for you and the boys.”
Jacquelyn took a seat at the kitchen table. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Mildred turned and gave her a curious stare. “Are you feeling well?”
“Quite well. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know.” Mildred shook her head. “Since you came back, you seem different is all.”
“I feel different.” Jacquelyn let the idea sink in. “Very different.” Mostly, she was grateful to be home, but there was more to it than that .
“Very different, you say,” Mildred repeated. “Good or bad?”
“Good, I think.”
Mildred took her up on her offer to help, having her crack eggs into a bowl and stir them with a whisk. Jacquelyn had done this often as a little girl and remembered finding it satisfying. Why had she stopped? She couldn’t recall.
The aroma of bacon lured David and Eddie to the room. Both were surprised to see Jacquelyn bustling around assisting Mildred, and they were even more startled when she suggested they all eat together in the kitchen, rather than separating the group with the Sheridans in the dining room and Mildred and Eddie in the kitchen.
While they were gathered around the table eating breakfast, Jacquelyn remarked, “It’s awfully quiet here.”
“Bet it’s not quiet at the Sheridan Girls’ Home,” Eddie said with a grin. “Once Jane tells those girls about the presents, there’s going to be a stampede.”
“Presents?” She looked around the table. Eddie had a sudden guilty expression, while David looked like the cat that swallowed the canary.
“Oh yes, that,” her brother said smoothly. “I’ve been meaning to tell you. While you were away yesterday, we purchased Christmas gifts for the girls at the home.”
“You purchased gifts.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Where did you buy them?”
“At Gimbels. ”
“I see.” Everyone at the table was watching her to see her reaction. “And how many did you buy?”
“One for each, so fifty-two in all,” David said. “We delivered them yesterday, but Miss Shaw is going to keep them hidden until after church this morning.”
“Hmmm.” She could tell that her reaction was making her brother nervous.
He said, “It was completely my idea. You know I’ve suggested doing it in the past.”
She nodded. “I remember.” Back then the girls at the home were nameless, faceless ingrates. Now that she’d met them, she could picture their sweet faces and feel their excitement at getting Christmas presents.
Eddie piped up. “So what do you think?”
“I think it’s a splendid idea.”
She saw relief wash over her brother’s face. “You do?”
“Yes, I do. It’s very nice of you. I wish I could see the girls when they get their gifts.”
David said, “Actually, you could. If you’d like to drive up and be there when the gifts are handed out, it’s entirely possible. We have plenty of time.”
“If you’re going, I’m going too,” Eddie said.
“I’d so love to be there,” Mildred said, pleading with hands together. “Please bring me along.”
“Of course,” Jacquelyn said. “All of us will go. When would we have to leave? ”
“Ten thirty at the latest,” David said, explaining the logistics of the trip and the plan for the presentation of the gifts to happen after church.
“Perfect,” Jacquelyn said. “Then we have time to make one more visit before we go.”
“Visit? What visit?”
“You’ll see,” she said, nodding to her brother. “After breakfast, bring the car around to the front. There’s someone I have to meet, and I need you to drive me there.”