Chapter 3 #2
The kids hastily retrieved the wagons, parked them haphazardly near the stainless steel island occupying the middle of the kitchen, and helped position the goodies one at a time with a sense of pride.
When the carts became full, Noel said, “Let’s run upstairs to change outfits for the community Thanksgiving feast.”
“I want to wear my Christmas pajamas,” Levi pleaded with folded hands and a cheesy grin.
“Me too,” Laney begged.
This request didn’t surprise Noel. “I think we might look a little out of place showing up for Thanksgiving lunch wearing Christmas outfits, especially pajamas,” she pointed out. “I will make a deal with you. You have to change out of your pajamas, but you can wear your Christmas hats.”
Laney and Levi looked at one another as if trading their deepest thoughts. “Okay,” both giggled and ran up the stairs.
“I set out outfits for each of you on your beds,” Noel called up the staircase as she walked in that direction before turning to Mrs. Madelyn. “Would you like to come up and relax while we change?”
“No, thanks. With these old hips, I don’t want to climb those stairs more than necessary,” she laughed. “I will wheel the carts up front and straighten a few things around the register while you all freshen up.”
“Thank you,” Noel replied with a genuine smile. She didn’t know what she would have done without this woman.
Noel skipped up the steps and hustled into her bedroom.
She wanted to be early so the desserts and candy could be set on the serving tables before the guests arrived.
Even though dessert traditionally came after the meal, experience taught her that plenty of hands would want first dibs on the baked goods, and little hands would find the candy quickly.
While changing into wide-leg chocolate brown linen pants, which Noel bought for the color name, and because they looked cute, of course, she studied her body in the bathroom mirror.
Unsure whether her diet or lack of appetite helped her keep a slim waist, she found herself thankful that she could eat more than her share today and not fear the consequences.
Fletcher always told her how beautiful she looked no matter what she wore or if she gained or lost ten pounds.
She sure missed his words of affirmation.
Noel didn’t feel unpretty now; however, she lacked the confidence she once possessed.
She missed walking into places like today's festivities with her arm anchored around her husband’s.
Noel wrapped a belt through the loops circling her waist and then pulled on a tan long-sleeved turtleneck.
Adjusting her hair, she clasped a gold necklace with a turkey pendant around her slim neck and added the matching earrings.
Lastly, she spent a few minutes fixing her hair before stepping into a pair of shoes for the occasion.
Prior to walking downstairs, she called for Levi and Laney, but neither answered.
She then glanced out the back windows and spotted a colt standing beside his mother on Carrot Island.
The view that had been a lifesaver after the accident kept her occupied for a few moments.
When Noel made it down the steps, she found the children near the front door being silly with Mrs. Madelyn, and when she took in the sight of their outfits, a large grin stretched across Noel’s face.
“Don’t you two look adorable?”
Noel picked out a brown dress with a white undershirt for Laney and brown pants and an apple-red collared shirt for Levi. The Santa hats topped off the outfits brilliantly.
“Mrs. Madelyn said she will wear her Santa hat to the feast if you do,” Laney announced.
Noel’s smile shone through her green eyes. “Of course I will,” she agreed, “but one of you will have to run upstairs and get it for me; I left it on my bed.”
Without a single word, the race began. Each kid took a different route through the candy shop, and Laney made it up the stairs first. Running indoors wasn’t allowed anytime the store was open for business, but Noel’s father always let her and her brother play freely when the closed sign hung; she permitted the same for these little ones.
Somehow Levi made it down with the hat dangling from his grip.
“Levi took the hat from me,” Laney complained with a frown.
“Did not, we both grabbed it.”
“I had it first, and then you yanked it from my hand.”
Analyzing the situation, Noel studied their faces. “I know who made it up the stairs first,” she announced glaring at Levi. “Did Laney have it to begin with?”
“Maybe,” he answered, “but she dropped it and I got it then.”
“You two are a team,” Noel reminded them. “You need to help each other rather than work against the other.”
“I did. I picked up the hat for her.”
“Wouldn’t a team player hand it back?” Noel asked.
Levi shrugged his shoulders.
“How about you hand it to Laney now,” Noel recommended, “and, Laney, you can put it on my head like I did yours.”
“I get to crown you like a queen?” Laney asked as the corners of her lips swiftly turned upward.
“Yes,” Noel replied.
Levi handed it over with a slight hesitance, and Laney beamed as she slid it onto Noel’s hair causing it to curl out more than before.
“You three get together for a picture,” Mrs. Madelyn suggested while pulling her phone from the enormous purse draped across her forearm.
Standing behind the little red wagons staged for a photo shoot, each kiddo wrapped an arm around Noel while Mrs. Madelyn snapped several pictures. Then Noel talked her into getting into a shot, and Noel held out the phone and took a selfie of the whole gang.
After Noel twisted the lock, the four of them walked down the sidewalk with the kids in charge of the wagons.
Noel and Mrs. Madelyn played the role of the caboose in case anything fell out since Levi and Laney knew the best route to the feast as well as anyone.
They played on these streets nearly every day after school and during the summers; the two roamed Beaufort like pirates once did.
Nowadays it was a safe town, low in crime, and high on the phrase it takes a village.
The one rule the children must abide by was staying together at all times.
They also kept high-powered walkie-talkies to report back to Noel and to allow her to check in on them.
When they entered the grassy lawn between two buildings where the community Thanksgiving feast took place each year, a large circus-style tent covered a slew of chairs and tables for dining, and a few buffet bars occupied the far corner.
Although the sun shone brightly, a regular breeze blew through the trees that dotted the park-like area.
Noel instantly spotted a cluster of volunteers with familiar faces who quickly made their way with Thanksgiving greetings, hugs, and outstretched arms. She loved and appreciated all of these folks—or at least most of them—but she wondered when the extra emotional support for the poor, pitiful widow and children would end.