Make It Home For Christmas [COMPLETE]

Chapter Two

The cows were milked, the chickens fed, the long list of a million little things Frankie did on the farm before ten o'clock in the morning complete. Frankie could smell the coffee from the barn, telling her it was time for a break.

Leaving behind the warmth of those animal-infested four red walls, Frankie stomped her feet on the hard-packed earth as she crossed the Stephens's yard and entered the kitchen through the back door. A wave of warmth rushed out to greet her and forced her out of her jacket, her beanie off.

Coffee was the first thing on Frankie's mind and she moved on autopilot to the cabinet, grabbing her mug and filling it to the brim with only enough space left for a dash of milk. It was only after the first long sip that she recognized the source of intense heat coming from the stove.

And then the person in charge of warming the chocolate-milk mixture. It took two sips for Frankie's brain to register the third person in the room.

Hannah and Johnny were sitting at the kitchen table, Johnny barely awake, his hair a mess, and his eyes half-opened. Frankie glanced at the clock over her third sip and swallowed down her rush of judgment. Ten o'clock. Frankie had been up since five.

"I'll get you another cup," Hannah spoke in a soft, warm tone.

Frankie turned her back on the idyllic scene between a mother and her son as Hannah reached forward and placed a gentle hand on Johnny's face. Frankie turned her eyes instead to the view out the kitchen, watching the farm's golden retriever as she chewed on a stick she had found.

"Good morning, Frankie."

Hannah placed a welcoming hand on Frankie's shoulder and Frankie felt it safe to turn back again.

"Morning. Smells good."

"Joe says the store's all out of fudge. We can't have that now, can we?"

Frankie smiled over her coffee mug and sipped again. Hannah's green eyes were glowing. Her smile was wider than Frankie had ever seen it before. Frankie had never seen Hannah when her youngest son was home.

It made all those hours Frankie spent cleaning the house feel worthwhile if Hannah's smile was the result. Frankie had spent those long hours wondering why they even bothered to get things ready if Johnny was just going to cancel on them. Again. But he had shown up, to Frankie's surprise and Hannah's delight.

"What are you up to today?" Hannah asked, blowing a stray strand of gray hair out of her eyes as she stirred her fudge.

"Pick-ups. Nina Griffith down Old Peabody road has a new set of stationery for the store. Dorothy on the other side of town has a new batch of quilts all ready to go. A few others, then into town to the Williams. They've caught candy for me."

"You're headed into town?" Hannah turned back to her son who was barely sitting upright in his chair, a long yawn exiting his mouth while his mother spoke. "Johnny, you wanted to head into town later. Frankie's going that way. She could give you a ride if you want."

Johnny's half-opened eyes looked Frankie's way just as Hannah's did, too. Frankie swallowed hard, then tried on a tight smile and nodded before retreating behind her coffee. She waited while Johnny made up his mind on whether or not to spend the whole day with Frankie, driving from one house to the next, chatting with old folks and drinking lots of tea, just so he could get a ride into town, which was a ten-minute walk away.

"I'm good," he said, clearing his throat before speaking. "It's not that far of a walk."

Frankie nodded, then looked to Hannah to gauge her reaction. Hannah shrugged at Frankie then reached for the coffee pot to refill Johnny's mug, the reason she had gotten up from the table in the first place.