Rebecca (Angel Creek Christmas Brides #15) - Lily Graison Page 0,22

life here. One filled with all the things she’d always dreamed about but knew she’d never get. Here, she could.

Saying goodbye to Cassie, she followed Amanda outside and down the street past a row of houses, one of which Amanda said belonged to Reverend Carroll, the local preacher. Her thoughts went back to Caleb and what he’d said about them waiting to get married. What other things had he and Diana Hale discussed? It wasn’t as if she could ask him. Doing so might make him question why she was asking and the last thing she wanted was to make him doubt she was who she said she was. The moment any of them found out she wasn’t Diana, she’d be out on the streets again only this time, she’d freeze to death for sure. Charleston got cold in winter but she was sure it was nothing like winters in Angel Creek.

They made it home and were hanging their coats when Agatha wheeled her chair from the hallway. “How was the outing?”

“Good,” Rebecca said. “I got to see where Caleb worked and Amanda introduced me to half the town.”

“Oh, well I’ll assure you there are a lot more people than those you saw. There are several ranches and farms outside of town so there are at least a dozen more families to meet.”

Amanda hung her cloak and said, “You’ll get a chance to talk to them at the town Christmas Party.”

“Christmas party?”

Amanda grinned. “Uh-huh. There’s one every year on Christmas Eve. The entire town shows up, even those who live out on the prairie.”

“I've never been to a Christmas party.”

Agatha and Amanda shared a look before Amanda said, “Oh, they’re the best fun. Pa always gets me a new frock to wear and all the ladies bring in food and baked sweets and there’s music and dancing and one year, there was even a wedding!”

“It’s the biggest social event of the year,” Agatha added.

“It sounds like fun.”

“All the kids in town look forward to it,” Agatha said. “Most of the adults too.” She laughed and wheeled herself to the spot by the window where she liked to sit. “Can’t say I blame them. Life out here can be hard. It’s nice to let loose and forget about your problems for a few hours and just enjoy yourself.”

Agatha nodded to the jar of apples in Rebecca’s hand. “What do you have there?”

“Apples.” She held the jar up. “Amanda wanted to bake a pie for Caleb but I’ll admit to not knowing the first thing about baking.”

Something in Agatha’s expression told her she’d just messed up. Surprise filled the woman’s eyes and Rebecca’s pulse leaped, her heart thumping before the old woman said, “It’s not too difficult. I can show you how.”

Rebecca gave her a forced smile. She needed to be more careful about what she said in the future. “Thank you. I’d like that.”

Agatha ushered them into the kitchen, directing her and Amanda to gather what they needed for the baking which required going down into the root cellar. She rubbed her bare arms, the chill causing goosebumps to pimple her skin. She needed to think about what to fix for supper too. It was early yet but she couldn’t put it off all day and if she wanted to convince Caleb to marry her, she needed to make sure she was exactly the type of woman he wanted, and being the perfect wife was the first step.

Chapter 7

The sound of laughter spilled out of the house. Caleb paused at the door and listened. How long had it been since he’d heard his daughter laugh like that?

He let himself in, shutting the door behind him, then hung his coat and hat. Amanda and Diana were at the table, both of them covered in flour. They were kneading dough and in all his years, he’d never seen anyone look so happy doing so little.

Diana was the first to see him. She stilled, the smile on her face as bright as he’d ever seen. Fine tendrils of hair hung around her face, a few sprigs stuck to her neck. She raised a hand and brushed a curl from her eyes with the back of her wrist, her cheeks turning pink as their eyes met.

“You’re home early,” she said, dusting the flour from her apron.

“There wasn’t much going on so Willie let me go.”

“Pa!” Amanda said jumping down from the chair she’d been standing on. “We’re making a pie.”

He grinned and leaned a shoulder