Christmas With the Colburns by Keely Brooke Keith Read Free Book Online Page A

Connor being that dopey
when he was first in love with her. Nicholas was a nice enough fellow, handsome
even, but Lydia had the overwhelming urge to screen her trainee’s potential
suitors. “He’s intrigued with you.”
    “Yes, I realized that.” Sophia had already returned her
attention to the microscope. “How do you adjust these lenses?”
    Lydia reached for one of the dials and turned it as Sophia
looked through. “It’s not my business really if you plan to court anyone, but I
assumed since you want to train with me, your work would be your priority. Not
that you aren’t allowed to court while you’re in training… I just didn’t
consider it before I brought you on.”
    “Would it have made a difference to you?”
    Lydia shrugged. “It will make a difference in how accustomed
I allow myself to get with having you around.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “If you fall in love and get married and have babies, that
would likely end your work here, wouldn’t it?”
    Sophia let go of the microscope. “I hadn’t thought of that. I
hope to get married someday and when I do… yes, I want to make a home of my
own. I’m not sure how much work I’d be able to do while having a family to take
care of.” She furrowed her brow. “How did you plan your life that it works so
well for you?”
    “Oh, I didn’t plan it like it is,” Lydia laughed. “All I
wanted was to be a doctor and care for the village and explore all the
medicinal potential of the gray leaf tree. There is only one bedroom upstairs
because I was quite adamant that I would not marry and have children. But when
Connor came along, everything changed for me. He assured me that it was
possible for me to continue my work and raise a family.”
    “Was he right? Is it possible?”
    Lydia glanced out the window at the Colburn house. Her son
was in there napping while Bethany babysat him. Her father was behind the
chicken coop, taking care of their dinner. “It has been possible so far, but
I’ve had my family’s help.”
    Sophia picked up a sample of the gray leaf. “I haven’t been
in Good Springs very long, but from what I know of your family, it seems like
they would make anything possible.”
    Lydia wasn’t so sure any more. Bethany would soon marry and
move away, her other siblings no longer wanted to come home for Christmas, and
her father was getting older. Could she still count on her family?
    She wanted to talk to someone about the way she felt, but not
her young trainee. Mandy was her best friend, but as Levi’s wife she was now
extended family and part of the problem. Aunt Isabella had been her confidant
when fear and doubt crept in, but she was gone now. Maybe that was why Isabella
gave her the little journal—as one final word of encouragement written by
the only person Lydia always trusted: her mother.

 
    Chapter Nine

 
    At midnight Lydia crawled into bed, weary from a long day.
Raindrops hit the window with an arrhythmic tink
tink tink that made her wish it would either commit to downpour or stop
altogether. Instead of putting out her lamp, she slid it close to the edge of
her bedside table and opened her mother’s journal. So far, the sadness of her
mother’s predicament had only reinforced her own. Still, she yearned to read
another page of the story.

 
    Mrs. Colburn handed me
a beige apron that had a pink rose embroidered on the collar. She said it was
mine to keep and insisted I call her Violet when the men weren’t around. She
was always busy in the house or the garden or the kitchen and kept me with her
from chore to chore.
    I liked the work. She
had a tip or trick to make everything easier or better. At first I thought she
was inventing projects to keep me occupied so that I’d forget about my
troubles, but she wasn’t. She did everything out of genuine love for her family
and her home.
    Two days before
Christmas, she started preparing the food. She said she made the same feast
every year, even when it would be