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Love in the Seams

By Jodie Wolfe

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Chapter One

October 1875, Calder Springs, Texas

"Will you be my new mama?"
Mae Stafford startled at the small child standing beside her elbow and nearly dropped the garment she'd been sewing. She hadn't heard the bell chime on the door to her dress shop. Golden strands slipped free of the single plait running down the girl's back. "Why, I…"
"Nein, mein tochter."A towering blond man placed a hand on the pixie's shoulder. The gruff sounds of his language were somehow soothing. "You'll have to excuse my daughter." His gaze didn't quite meet Mae's. "Sometimes she forgets—"
"But, Papa. She's the lady we saw a few months ago with the beautiful white dress."
Warmth flooded Mae's cheeks, and she cleared her throat. "You must be thinking of my twin sister, Ellie. She, uh, got married in the beginning of summer."
"What's a twin?" Her nose wrinkled.
"It means that both my sister and I were born at the same time. We look alike, although not all twins do." Mae refrained from touching the child's shoulder.
The girl leaned against Mae's leg and stared at her face. "Do you have a husband and children?"
"LillyAnn!" The man's voice took on a slight edge.
"What, Papa? How will we know if she can be my new mama if we don't ask her ques-tions?" LillyAnn fingered the hem of a dress that was far too short despite her youth.
The man blew out a sigh and knelt beside the girl. "We've talked about this, little one. You can't ask every woman we meet to be your new mama."
"Why not?"
Mae heard a small sigh escape the man's lips, and she bit back a smile.
"We'll talk about this at home, ja?"
"But…"
The man's stern stare stopped his daughter from saying more. He patted the girl's cheek as he stood. His face lost the hard lines and the muscles in his cheeks relaxed. He turned to-ward Mae.
"I apologize for my daughter's lack of re-straint." His deep blue eyes studied her for a moment. "It's not been that long since—"
"Mama died and my baby brother too." Moisture pooled in LillyAnn's eyes, the same clear blue as her father's.
Mae crouched down and hugged the tyke. This time she couldn't resist lending comfort through her touch. "You poor dear. I lost my parents when I was quite young."
A tear trickled down the girl's cheek. "You did? You know what it's like, then."
"Indeed I do." Mae's heart wrenched at LillyAnn's plight.
The man cleared his throat.
Mae forced a bright smile and stood back up. "Now then, what can I do for you two to-day? Forgive my manners, I'm Miss Mae Staf-ford."
The handsome man clicked his heels to-gether. "I fear I'm the one in need of apologiz-ing. I'm Johannes Mueller, and this is my tochter, LillyAnn."
"English, Papa." She giggled.
"Ah, I forget, forgive me. She's my daugh-ter, and here in America I'm known as John."
Johannes. Somehow that name suited him better.
"As you can see, my daughter is in need of some new dresses, and I fear I will never learn how to sew like my wife did." He bit his lip. "I struggle to sew on a button or to patch a small rip."
LillyAnn's eyes twinkled. "Papa says but-tons are new cents."
"New cents?" Mae's eyebrow rose as she studied him.
Color flooded the man's cheeks. "A nui-sance."
Mae chuckled and met the girl's gaze. "Let's see what we can do about making things easier for your papa."
Johannes's shoulders relaxed. "She's out-growing almost everything as you can see. I'm sure you know better than I do what she needs."
"How many dresses would you like me to make?" Mae shifted the garment she'd been working on until she found her tape measure and draped it around her neck.
"A Sunday dress. Perhaps a couple for school." Johannes's slender fingers tapped his chin.
LillyAnn tugged his pant leg, and he bent down. She whispered in his ear.
"Oh yes, also a new nightgown and uh, un-dergarments." Pink tinged Johannes's ears.
"Of course. Did you have particular fabrics in mind?" Mae walked toward the bolts of ma-terial on display.
The man glanced toward the door. Poor fellow. Probably wished he could escape.
"If you'd like, I can take measurements and pull out some fabric for you to choose from. You could wait in one of those chairs over there until I get things situated."
Relief flooded the man's face. "Most ac-ceptable." He crossed the room without anoth-er word and sunk into the straight-back chair.
LillyAnn leaned close, cupped her mouth, and whispered, "Papa's the new school teacher. I'm five, and I'm finally old enough to be in the classroom."
Mae had noticed the pair when they'd first arrived in town a few months ago but hadn't seen much of them since then. Her landlady had rented them a room for a single night be-fore they found somewhere else to live. Rumor had it he'd found a small place outside of Cal-der Springs, close to the one room school-house. With the harvest almost over, school would resume in a week.
LillyAnn fingered a blue-checked gingham. "Mama had a dress like this."
Mae smiled. "You have good taste, LillyAnn. I'm sure it would make a perfect dress for school." She would do whatever she could to create a garment that would remind the child of her mother and ease the orphan's pain. Hopefully her papa wouldn't mind.
The girl's eyes shone as Mae place the bolt on the countertop.
Next they found a pink broadcloth that would make a suitable church dress. They con-tinued until they had quite a stack of fabric along with matching ribbons and lace.
Mae hoped the child's father wouldn't deny the girl the special trim that would make the garments more unique.
LillyAnn skipped across the room. "Come see, Papa. We have the most pretty materials you ever saw." She tugged his hand.
"Prettiest you mean." He stood and gath-ered the girl in his arms.
"That's what I said, Papa."
His laughter resonated throughout the small shop. His eyes sparkled as he tickled his daughter.
An ache filled Mae as she watched the pair interact. A lump closed her throat. She swal-lowed and dipped her head lest they see the tears that had sprung to her eyes.
By the time they joined her, she had com-posed her wayward emotions. She shoved the thoughts of if only away. It didn't do any good to long for what her sister had.
***
John set his daughter back on the floor. As he did he caught a glimpse of the brown-haired seamstress. Hurt flashed across her deep brown eyes before she busied herself with something on the counter. John knew that look. Something haunted her.
Her arm swept across the top of the pile. "As you can see, this is what we came up with. I know it may seem like quite a lot, but you have linen for undergarments and nightwear." A soft pink splashed across her cheeks. "The broad-cloth is for church, and these other ones should be suitable for school and play."
"Isn't the lace be-uu-tiful?" LillyAnn ran her fingers across the white trim with a blue ribbon running through it.
"It is, but I'm not sure you need such fine accessories on your dresses."
LillyAnn's lips puckered.
Miss Stafford squeezed his daughter's shoulder and chucked her under the chin. "Sometime a little girl needs special finery on her clothes." Her gaze implored him to relent.
Curious. Why would she care about a child she'd just met? Perhaps she only thought of the extra pennies she'd make from the purchase.
Silence fell upon the shop as he studied the two. LillyAnn turned hopeful eyes toward him while the seamstress dipped her head and fidg-eted.
"I'm sorry," the woman said. "I spoke out of turn. Of course it's your decision of what you feel your daughter needs." She reached for a pair of shears. "If you tell me which things you are interested in, I'll start cutting the lengths needed."
He almost felt disappointed that she hadn't tried again to convince him. John shook his head. It was crazy to think he'd failed her in some way. The quicker they finished business and he left the shop, the better.
"Everything appears to be adequate. I'm sure you know best what she requires." He reached into his pocket. "How much do I owe you?"
"So you desire the trim as well?" Her lips pursed.
"I'll never understand why women need all the frippery, but yes, we'll take everything."
A smile surged across the seamstress's face, and his heart lightened a little to think he'd helped to put it there.
Craziness. He needed to get out of the shop before his brain turned completely to mush. Being surrounded by all this feminine stuff had him totally out of sorts. The quicker they fin-ished here, the quicker he'd be able to get away from reminders of his wife and thoughts of the pretty young woman before him.
Miss Stafford started to measure and cut lengths of fabric and bric-a-brac and placed them in a growing pile. Next she slipped the tape measure around his daughter and jotted notations on a slip of paper.
He drummed his fingers on the counter as he waited.
"There, I think that's everything." She tapped the pencil against her lips.
He glanced away.
She named a sum, and he laid the bills on the counter. "How soon until you'll have one of the dresses completed?"
"Will I be able to have a new dress for the first day of school, Papa?" LillyAnn bounced on her toes. "Please, Miss Stafford?"
He clamped his daughter's shoulder. "I'm sure she has many other projects to work on."
The seamstress knelt beside LillyAnn and gripped her hand. "I'll do what I can to make sure that happens, don't you worry."
"There's no need for you to work overtime on the garments." John rubbed his stiff neck.
Miss Stafford stood and smiled. "I remem-ber what it was like to be the new girl in school. Sometimes having a new dress makes all the difference. I'll be sure to have it finished before next Monday."
"Oh, thank you, Miss Stafford." LillyAnn hugged the woman's legs.
"Yes, well, we should get going." John reached for his daughter's hands and pulled her away from the seamstress. "Thank you for your time, Miss. It was nice meeting you."
"The pleasure was mine."
Heat soared on John's neck. When he peeked at the woman, he noticed her eyes were only focused on his daughter. He released a small breath. What made him consider she'd been thinking about him?
The bell above the door rang out as they left the shop. John prayed that by the time he had to return, he'd have a better handle on his roiling thoughts. The woman had been nice, and was certainly pretty, but in spite of LillyAnn’s wish, he had no interest in finding a new wife. No one would ever replace his Anna.

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