A Creed Country Christmas
Stillwater Springs, Montana December 20, 1910
The interior of Willand's Mercantile, redolent of saddle leather and wood smoke, seemed to recede as Juliana Mitchell stood at the counter, holding her breath. The letter had finally arrived.
The letter Juliana had waited for, prayed for, repeatedly inquired after—at considerable cost to her pride— and, paradoxically, dreaded.
Her heart hitched painfully as she accepted the envelope from the storekeeper's outstretched hand; the handwriting, a slanted scrawl penned in black ink, was definitely her brother Clay's. The postmark read Denver.
In the distance, the snow-muffled shrill of a train whistle announced the imminent arrival of the four o'clock from Missoula, which passed through town only once a week, bound for points south.
Juliana was keenly aware of the four children still in her charge, waiting just inside the door of a place where they knew they were patently unwelcome. She turned away from the counter—and the storekeeper's disapproving gaze—to fumble with the circle of red wax bearing Clay's imposing seal.
Please, God, she prayed silently. Ple ... read full excerpt from: A Creed Country Christmas ebook
