Page 35 of A Joyful Ring
Risa brushed the nut remnants from her hands and stood as the clock struck noon.
Mrs. Baldwin stood and lifted the bowl of walnuts. “Now that we have that task finished, let’s—”
The sound of the front door opening and muffled voices interrupted whatever Mrs. Baldwin had been about to say. They weren’t expecting anyone to be there until the boarders returned that evening.
“Aunt Gertie! I’m here!” a feminine voice called from the entry.
“Oh! It’s Candi!” Mrs. Baldwin plopped the bowl back onto the table and rushed from the room with more speed than Risa had ever seen the woman move.
Risa quickly wiped her hands on a dish towel, then hurried out of the kitchen and up the hallway to the entry where a trunk stood near the open door, and Mrs. Baldwin had engulfed a vision in pink in a tight embrace.
“Candi, darling!” Mrs. Baldwin pulled back, then hugged her niece again. “I can’t believe you’re really here! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“I wanted to surprise you, Aunt Gertie.” The young woman threw her hands in the air. “Surprise!”
Mrs. Baldwin laughed and settled her armaround the girl’s impossibly tiny waist. “Candace Westcott, I’d like you to meet Risa Hoffman. Risa is the reason I can keep the boardinghouse running because she cleans the rooms and helps cook the meals. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
“Hello, Miss Hoffman. It’s lovely to meet you. Aunt Gertie has written of you with such fondness in her letters. I hope you’ll call me Candi. All my friends do.”
Risa didn’t know when a name had so aptly fit the person bearing it. Candi looked like a spectacular confection with her glossy black hair pulled up in a fashionable style beneath a pink hat adorned with raspberry silk roses and pink and cream velvet ribbons. She whipped off a cream woolen cloak lined with raspberry-hued velvet to reveal a pink and cream striped gown that looked exactly like one Risa had seen in an issue of Mrs. Baldwin’sGodey’s Lady’s Book, from the thick lace at the collar to the ruffles flowing down the back beneath the bustle.
Candi oozed elegance from her pink mittens to the tips of her cream fur-lined boots.
A man stepped inside and set another trunk next to the first.
“Oh, this is Mr. Levi Stanton,” Candi said, smiling at the man who politely doffed his hat. “I hired him to bring me from Baker City. My gracious, I forget every time I come what a long trip it is. I think, if you don’t object, Aunt Gertie, that I’ll stay a month or so.”
“Stay all winter and spring, and forever if you like, darling.” Mrs. Baldwin beamed at her niece.
Candi laughed and hugged the older woman again as Mr. Stanton went out to retrieve her last bag.
“Oh! I just had a thought!” Mrs. Baldwin gave Risa a long observant look. “Oh, yes. It’s a grand idea.”
“Care to share?” Candi asked as she looped her arm around Mrs. Baldwin’s.
“In a moment.” Mrs. Baldwin focused her attention on Mr. Stanton when he returned with two bags and set them on top of the trunks.
“Mr. Stanton, I insist you join us for lunch. It will give you an opportunity to warm up before you head back to Baker City. I won’t take no for an answer. If you’d like to drive over to the livery, Silas Evans will take good care of your team while you eat lunch. Just tell him Mrs. Baldwin sent you.”
“Well, that’s right kind of you, ma’am,” Mr. Stanton said. “I’d be pleased to join you and have a chance to warm up my toes and fingers.”
“It’s settled then.” Mrs. Baldwin clapped her hands together like a delighted child. “Risa, would you be a dear and set the table for four. We can warm a loaf of bread to go with the soup, and there are plenty of cookies to eat.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Risa said, turning to make her way back to the kitchen. She couldn’t hear what Mrs. Baldwin said in a quiet tone to Candi, but the young woman squealed excitedly.
Risa hurried to slice bread and butter it, then slid it into the oven to warm. She opened a jar of pickles and another of spiced pears from the shelves that lined the large pantry. After slicing awedge of cheese, she cleaned the remnants of their walnut cracking off the kitchen table. She made a fresh pot of coffee and set the tea kettle on to boil, in case Candi preferred tea.
Before she could set the table, Mrs. Baldwin and Candi arrived in the kitchen. Candi had removed her hat and the jacket of her ensemble. The shirtwaist she wore, dripping pink lace, only accented her delicate pink features and her unusual violet eyes.
“We’ll set the table, Risa, if you don’t mind dishing up the food.”
“Of course, Mrs. Baldwin.”
She caught Candi giving her aunt a knowing look, but had no idea what it meant.
Risa had just filled the soup tureen when there was a loud rap at the front door.
“That’s likely Mr. Stanton. I’ll be right back,” Candi said and dashed out of the kitchen. She returned a moment later with her driver.
