His Frontier Christmas Family Read online

  “I know that,” Sutter said, making a face. “I’m not stupid, contrary to what some folks think.”

  “None of you is stupid,” Levi assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  Callie seemed to be avoiding his gaze. “Some folks may not think you’re so smart, preacher, bringing us to live with you like this.”

  Levi bent to put his eyes on a level with hers. “As I heard from someone I know, don’t much care what others say.”

  He thought he saw a smile tugging at her lips. She had a pretty mouth—pink-lipped, warm, soft-looking.

  “You’re here!”

  His sister’s cry forced his gaze away from Callie. Levi drew in a breath. He had to get control of these wayward thoughts. He and Scout had bragged about the number of hearts they’d break once they were rich. Well, he’d bragged. Scout had merely smiled dreamily. That had been years ago. Surely Levi was a gentleman now. He’d become a minister. He wasn’t supposed to notice that his new ward’s lips looked as sweet as strawberries.

  But he couldn’t help noticing how her eyes widened as Beth approached.

  His sister was an acknowledged force of nature in Wallin Landing. Anyone looking at her artfully piled blond hair and frilly pink dress topped by a fur-trimmed short cape would think she had nothing to do all day but pamper herself. The truth was that Beth generally had a hand in anything good that happened at Wallin Landing. Though she was only a couple years older than Callie, she managed the food and lodging for the logging crew, took care of her cabin, helped teach at the school and care for the youngest ones with his sister-in-law Nora and had staked her own claim at the north of Wallin Landing.

  Now she advanced on them, hands outstretched as if she meant to gather them all close. Sutter must have seen the gesture, for he beat a hasty retreat to the parsonage with Mica. Callie took a step back as well, as if she would follow.

  Beth didn’t give her a chance. She enfolded Callie in a hug. “Welcome, welcome! I’m so glad you’re here! You can’t imagine how long I’ve wished for someone closer to my own age. Dottie’s not too far, of course, but she’s a wife and mother. You and I can’t be more than a year or two apart, so that’s neither here nor there. You must tell me everything about you. I can already see you’re wonderfully practical—trousers must be so much easier to work in.” Beth drew back, beaming as widely as the baby.

  Callie stared at her a moment, then looked to Levi.

  “This is my sister Beth,” Levi explained. “She lives near the parsonage.”

  “Not far away at all,” Beth agreed. “It’s an easy walk. I’m sure we’ll find all kinds of reasons to visit—to share recipes, compare sewing patterns, prepare for Christmas. Oh! Have you read the latest issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book? That pink-striped walking dress would be perfect on you.”

  Callie took another step back. “Thank you, but I have a baby and two boys to care for. Excuse me.” She turned and ran for the house.

  Beth’s face fell. “Oh, Levi, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare her.”

  Levi shook his head. “It’s not your fault. She’s skittish as a fawn, Beth. You can’t understand what it’s like to live in the gold camps, the only girl surrounded by rough men.”

  Beth put her hands on her hips. “No, with five older brothers and a logging crew for company, I couldn’t possibly imagine.”

  “Five older brothers and a logging crew who adore you,” Levi corrected her. “I get the impression Callie Murphy has had to kick and fight for everything she has, and she’s taken her share of punches.”

  Beth dropped her hands with a sigh. “Then how can we make her feel at home?”

  “I’m not sure,” Levi admitted, eyeing the parsonage. “But I promise you I won’t stop trying.”

  Chapter Five

  Callie shut the door and leaned against it, heart pounding faster than it should. She ought to have known the preacher’s sister would be a perfect young miss. Their family owned a whole town! Was it possible someone like that, all bows and smiles, could be friends with her? She may have kept her family together, but she wasn’t a perfect young miss. She didn’t have recipes. She just threw what she had in a pot. And as for reading a book...

  Noise and movement suddenly pierced her panicked mind. Frisco and Sutter were down on the floor, rolling and punching, while Mica sat on the rug to one side, clapping her hands as if encouraging them.

  Callie shoved off the door and waded into the fight. “Enough! Both of you!” She grabbed Frisco by the collar and heaved. He broke away from Sutter, kicking. Sutter rolled out of reach.

  She released Frisco and pointed to the farthest corner. “Go on, git! You stand there a moment and think.”

  Sutter stuck out his tongue at Frisco as his twin slunk away.

  Callie pointed to the opposite corner. “And Sutter, you get over there. You have some thinking to do, too.”

  Sutter’s jaw tightened, but he loped to the corner and set his back to her.

  Callie went to pick up Mica. The baby gurgled a welcome, seemingly as content to be in Callie’s arms as watching the wrestling match before her. Callie shook her head.

  “What am I going to do with you?” she asked her brothers. “It was bad enough you fighting at the claim. Wasn’t much there you could hurt except each other. The preacher and his family are used to nicer things. They won’t appreciate you behaving like a pair of bear cubs in the spring.”

  Frisco sniffed, gaze on the log wall. “Never said I wanted to come.”

  “Me, neither,” Sutter reminded her.

  “Well, we’re here,” Callie informed them. “And it’s up to us to make the best of it.”

  Her brothers’ silence said otherwise.

  Cuddling Mica, she glanced around the room for the first time. This was the cabin Adam should have built. The log walls were planed to fit tightly together; the chinking, where it was needed, was firm and clean. She couldn’t feel any breeze coming through the plank floor, couldn’t see an ounce of sunlight peering in except through the windows. And there wasn’t a trace of smoke staining the stone fireplace at one end.

  Sutter stood near the hearth, nose to the wall. Behind him was a plank table flanked by benches, and beyond him, marvel of marvels, sat a stove. She’d only seen one before, in a high-price cookhouse in Vancouver. She caught Sutter glancing at the black-and-silver beast as if just as awed by it.

  At the opposite end of the room, Frisco stood stiff-backed near open stairs leading up to the loft. Several wood chairs and a carved bench were clustered close by on a colorful rag rug. Quilted cushions covered the seats. Behind them, three windows looked out onto the lake. They had shutters that could be closed against the night, but they were surrounded by red and white curtains, tied back with bows.

  Of course.

  Behind her, the door opened, and Callie stiffened. Turning, she was more than a little relieved to find Levi alone. He brought in the last pack and her rifle, moving slowly as if he thought she might bolt otherwise. He wasn’t far off.

  His smile faded as he glanced from Frisco to Sutter. “Everything all right?”

  “Just fine,” Callie told him. “Frisco, Sutter, help the preacher bring in the quilts.”

  Her brothers ran for the door, no doubt eager to escape.

  “Don’t let them out of your sight,” she warned Levi.

  Brows up, he left the pack and gun and hurried after her brothers.

  They returned immediately with the quilts, dropping them at Callie’s feet. Then Frisco grabbed the pack with his and Sutter’s belongings. “Where are we bunking?”

  Levi nodded to the stairs. “In the loft. Why don’t you go look around while I show Callie the rest of the house? Leave space for me to sleep.”

  The last was said to air, for her brothers were already hal
fway across the room, Sutter’s arms filled with quilts.

  “They’re high-spirited,” Callie told him, hearing a defiant note in her voice.

  “So was I.” Levi turned his look to her with a smile. “Welcome to your new home. This is the main living area.” He nodded toward the stove. “The door by the hearth leads to a covered walkway to the church.”

  Apparently the people of Wallin Landing didn’t want their pastor to get wet. Mica nodded as if she approved.

  He turned toward the stairs again, taking Callie under them to where a door opened to another room. “This is where you and Mica will be sleeping.”

  Callie ventured inside. The space was easily three times the size of the tent Ma and Pa had shared and nearly as big as Adam’s entire cabin. An iron bedstead rested against one wall, with a wooden chest at its foot. There was even a little table beside the bed with a glass lantern on it. The quilt was purple, blue and white, like waves on a wind-tossed sea, and purple curtains hung at the window. It was fancier than the best hotel room Pa had ever rented for them.

  Callie’s throat felt tight. “You sure you want to give this up, preacher?”

  His smile was prettier than the first show of color in the creek. “For you and Mica, of course.”

  Now her eyes felt hot. Callie blinked against the tears building.

  “Will it do?” he asked, head cocked.

  Callie could only nod, afraid her voice would betray her.

  His smile deepened.

  “You’ll probably want your own quilt on the bed,” he said, moving forward to tug at the covering. “Ma sewed this one for me. I can’t believe it made the journey to Vital Creek and back.”

  “I can’t believe someone didn’t steal it from you,” Callie said, fighting a pang at the sight of the quilt being bundled up in his arms. “Vital Creek was mighty cold, even in the summer.”

  He chuckled. “It was at that. I didn’t bathe for months.” He seemed to recollect himself, for pink tinged his high cheekbones. “If you’ll tell me what you want in here, I’ll leave you to settle in.”

  Callie pointed through the door to the pack, rifle and quilts, and he carried them into the room and bowed out. She shut the door behind him. Swallowing, she glanced around again, then her eyes lit on the door latch. She raised a brow.

  “No lock,” she told Mica. “Guess we’ll have to shove the chest over the door every night.”

  Mica nodded.

  Callie ventured to the bed and lay the baby down on it. Mica immediately righted herself, wiggling on the surface as if she loved the feel of her new bed. Was it really as soft as it looked? Callie bent, braced her hands on either side of Mica and pushed down. Mica positively bounced. Something squeaked.

  Callie frowned at the noise, but Mica grunted, eyes on Callie and chin tipped as if asking to bounce again. Callie obliged her. Mica collapsed in a fit of giggles.

  Callie was more interested in what had caused that squeak. She’d done her best not to share her bed with mice over the years, and she wasn’t about to start now. She bent and peered under the bed. Not even dust marred the plank surface. In the shadowed light, however, she could see what appeared to be a net of metal under the mattress, holding the bed in place.

  She straightened. “Well! What do you know about that?”

  Mica wiggled, asking to be bounced again.

  Callie gave her one more, then set about unpacking. Ma’s quilt, worn as it was, didn’t look nearly so pretty on the iron bedstead, but at least it made the place feel a bit more like home. And who was she to complain? A real cookstove, a room all to herself and Mica and a bed with springs. It was more than she’d ever dreamed of.

  There has to be a price.

  She shook the thought away. Just because everything good had cost too much on the gold fields didn’t mean she had to pay here. So far, Levi had been good to his word. This was a great deal better than their claim.

  Perhaps that was why, when her fingers brushed the smooth shell of her mother’s comb and the fabric of her dress at the bottom of the pack, she hesitated. It was the last dress Ma had owned, other than the one they’d buried her in. Callie had been saving it to cut up for Mica. Maybe there was a better use for it, for the time being.

  Maybe it was time she thought about trying to fit in again.

  * * *

  As soon as Callie shut the bedroom door, Levi drew in a breath. She’d liked the room. He wasn’t sure why that pleased him so much. But he’d seen the tears come to her eyes, the way she’d gazed about as if awed by her surroundings. It seemed all she needed was a little peace and quiet. Surely he could give her that. He’d already convinced Beth to come back tomorrow. He could handle this.

  Something thumped outside, followed by a knock at the door. Levi hurried to answer.

  His brother John stood there, tall infant chair beside him. John was his closest brother in age, though he’d flourished under Drew’s leadership where Levi had challenged their older brother at every turn. Slightly shorter and stockier than Levi, with mahogany-colored hair and their mother’s green eyes, he had never looked happier since marrying a few months ago.

  “Dottie thought you might need this,” he said, giving the chair a push. It rolled forward and bumped against the threshold.

  “Is that Drew’s high chair?” Levi asked, eyeing it.

  “It was,” John acknowledged. “He loaned it to Dottie for Peter, and I made a few improvements. But Peter’s big enough that he prefers to sit at the table with us now.”

  The pride in his voice was unmistakable. Though the little boy was Dottie’s son, John had fully entered into the role of father, even before their marriage.

  “I’m sure Callie will appreciate it,” Levi said, lifting the wheeled contraption into the house. He leaned closer to his brother. “Listen, John, would you tell the others to wait a few days before welcoming Callie and her family? They’re still accustoming themselves to the changes.”

  John, always the peacemaker, nodded sagely. “Of course. If a book would help, I’d be happy to bring some from the library. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal and Robinson Crusoe for the boys, perhaps. The Courtship of Miles Standish for Miss Murphy. That was always Beth’s favorite.”

  Courtship? “I’ll pass along your offer.”

  With a nod, John strode off, whistling.

  Levi shut the door. John was a hopeless romantic, devouring the adventure novels their father had left them. He’d recently finished building and equipping the community library he hoped to open after Christmas. But somehow, Levi didn’t think Callie would be interested in reading about someone else’s courtship. He could only hope it was his brother’s kind nature that had prompted him to suggest it, and not an attempt at matchmaking.

  He stepped back into the room and wheeled the little chair over to the table. He could imagine Mica smiling from it. She smiled at everything.

  Unlike Callie. Her smiles were so rare that they were like the sun coming out after the rain. What would it take to make her smile more often?

  There was a perfunctory tap on the door before his brother James strolled in.

  “I saw Lance and Percy from the store, so I thought I’d fetch them,” he announced, glancing around. “Where’s your new family?”

  Levi hurried to intercept him before James could wander any farther into the house. “Getting settled and needing a little time to get used to things,” Levi told him.

  “Ah.” James wiggled his brows. Though James was older, he resembled Levi the most, from his dark blond hair and deep blue eyes to his slender build and tall height. The main difference lay in their hair. Where James’s was straight and short, Levi’s was longer and curlier. That had always seemed odd to Levi. James was the tease, the jokester in the family. Somehow it seemed as if he should be the one with curly hair.


  “Perhaps I should warn you,” he said now. “Rina would like to evaluate the boys so she knows where to place them in school.”

  Levi glanced at the empty stairs, already concerned about the silence from the loft. “Give them a day or two.”

  “I’d be happy to give them all the time in the world,” James assured him, “but I bow to my wife, who knows far more about educating young minds than I ever will.”

  “I’ll speak to her,” Levi promised, taking his arm and attempting to escort him to the door.

  “Do you have everything you need?” James asked, resisting and glancing about as if hoping to catch a glimpse of Callie and the boys. “What about a cradle for the baby? Dottie gave us ours back recently.”

  “Tomorrow,” Levi said, pulling a little harder.

  He thought he heard the squeak of James’s boots against the plank floor. “I could bring you something from the store—an extra set of dishes? More flour? A bear trap?”

  “We’re fine,” Levi assured him, straining to wrestle his brother over the threshold.

  James planted his hands on either side of the open door, eyes widening as he looked past Levi. “Yes, I can see that you are. Quite fine indeed.”

  What was he talking about? He was fairly sure his brother was just teasing him, but Levi couldn’t stop himself from glancing over his shoulder just in case.

  Callie had come out of the bedroom. Gone were the slouch hat and the rough buckskin coat. Her honey-colored hair was held up behind her by an abalone comb and flowing about her shoulders in waves. The blue printed calico dress was likely too cold for a winter’s day, but it outlined her form and brought color to her cheeks. Or perhaps it was Levi’s and James’s approving looks that made her blush.

  She raised her chin and marched toward the stove, Mica waving a greeting from her arms.

  “Isn’t it time to get supper started?” she asked with a look to James.

  Levi’s brother cleared his throat. “Not until I properly welcome you, dear lady.” He removed his hands from the doorjamb and sketched an elegant bow. “I’m Levi’s brother, James. And you must be the lovely Miss Murphy.”