At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories) - By Barbara Bretton Page 0,95

today. He decided to start right after breakfast so they'd have a shot at making it to the restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner at three o'clock.

And it was a good thing he had because it seemed just combing her hair might take most of the day.

She had pulled another one of those disappearing acts last night that aged him another five years. Not at the First Thanksgiving re-enactment where Sophie had been enthralled by the Pilgrims with their shiny shoe buckles and exaggerated manners, but at the Gazette again. They had stopped at the office so he could knock out his column and when he looked up she was gone. She had left her shoes behind, her coloring book, her sweater, and disappeared. One of the local cops found her peering in the window of Samantha's Bridal where Noah caught up with them..

After the cop left, Sophie took Noah's hand without any prompting and he understood again why parents would lay down their lives to keep their children safe.

He had a clear vision of Gracie at that age, reaching up for his mother's hand on the way home from kindergarten. She had looked uncertain at first, then hopeful, and then when his mother took her hand, almost giddy with delight. It hadn't made sense to him at the time. What was so special about holding his mother's hand anyway? His mother's hand was always within reach. It wasn't until he was sent away to St. Luke's that he began to understand what Gracie and Sophie had known almost from birth. The parent-child connection was as deep and wide as the ocean, as mysterious as heaven, as impossible to explain as love. The best he could do was follow his heart and pray.

"Papa!" Sophie squirmed out of Noah's reach. "Ow!"

"Sorry, Soph." He kissed the top of her head. "I'll be more careful."

Her perfect little face contorted into a scowl. "I'm a girl," she reminded him.

"I know that," he said, barely containing a chuckle. He knew his fierce little girl wouldn't appreciate that one bit. "Hair is very important to girls, isn't it?"

"Very," she agreed. She twisted around in her chair, trying to see his progress in the mirror.

"Not bad, huh?" He wasn't above soliciting compliments wherever he could get them.

She shrugged and he had the feeling she was almost disappointed to see he could cope with a French braid.

"You know, Soph, your curly hair is so pretty it seems almost a shame to scrape it back into a braid."

"I like braids," she said. "Marla at school wears her hair braided and everybody likes her."

Dangerous parenting territory dead ahead. "I'll bet Marla doesn't bite or kick."

"Maybe she does," Sophie said. "I only met her last month."

"I remember when I was your age. The popular kids never bit anybody."

"That was a long time ago."

"That's true," he said, "but I'll bet it's the same at your school too. I'll bet your friends don't like it when you kick them."

"No," she said. How a five-year-old managed to sound like the Queen Mother was a mystery to him. "I think they like it quite a bit."

Okay, so he wasn't Dr. Spock but it was a start.

#

The first person Gracie saw when she stepped into Rachel's kitchen was Noah. He was sitting at the counter with Sophie on his lap and the two of them were topping and tailing string beans. She pulled Laquita into the alcove. "I thought you said he wasn't supposed to be here."

"He wasn't," Laquita said, looking as surprised as Gracie felt. "Ruth must've changed her mind about going out."

She forced herself to walk over to father and daughter and say hello. "Is this your first Thanksgiving, Sophie?" she asked, making sure she was out of kicking range.

Sophie nodded. "Uh-huh. The Pilgrims bought the turkey from the Indians."

"Or something like that," Noah said.

"I like your dress, " she said to Sophie. "You look very pretty." She looked more than pretty. The child was beautiful with her huge blue eyes and blond curls, both set off perfectly by a sapphire blue velvet jumper and lacy white blouse. Noah's child. The range of emotion she felt made her dizzy.

"Gracie paid you a compliment, Sophie. What do you say?"

Sophie thought about it for a moment. "Thank you."

Rachel motioned to her from across the room. God bless the woman's timing. She offered a fake smile to Noah and his daughter. "Looks like I'm being called to KP duty," she said, then hurried away before either one could say