Read Online A Log Cabin Christmas by Wanda E. Brunstetter - Free Book Online Page A

the distance, no doubt making their southward journey. She could almost feel their excitement as they flew to warmer territories. It never failed, spring or fall; hearing geese high in the sky stirred a thrill deep in her soul.
    When a knock sounded on the door, Elizabeth turned and called, “Come in.”
    The door opened, and Elizabeth’s friend, Helen Warner, entered the room. Her coal-black hair, worn in a chignon at the back of her head and covered with a silver net, stood in sharp contrast to Elizabeth’s golden-blond hair, which she wore hanging loosely down her back today. But then, Helen, who’d recently turned twenty, had always been the prim and proper one, often wearing highneck dresses with perfectly shaped bustles, like the one she wore today. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was the practical type and preferred full-skirted calico dresses, which were more comfortable when one was cleaning or working around the house. She felt rather plain next to Helen, but fortunately their friendship was based on more than the clothes they wore or their differing opinions on some things.
    Elizabeth’s meticulous friend was outgoing and always seemed to have an air of excitement about her. Maybe Helen’s confident demeanor came from being the daughter of an esteemed minister of the largest congregation in Allentown, for she had a certain charisma that glowed like a halo around her. To Elizabeth, it was most invigorating, even though she, herself, was more down-to-earth.
    “I thought you were going to help me clean the cabin today, but it doesn’t look like you came dressed for work,” Elizabeth said.
    “I was hoping you’d change your mind and go shopping with me instead.” When Helen took a seat on the feather bed, her long, purple stockings peeked out from under the hem of her matching dress.
    Elizabeth’s brows furrowed. “There’s no time for shopping right now. If David and I are to be married on Christmas Eve, then it doesn’t give us much time to get the cabin cleaned and ready for the wedding.”
    Helen’s brown eyes narrowed, causing tiny wrinkles to form across her forehead. “It’s one thing to have the ceremony in the cabin, since you’re only inviting family and close friends, but are you sure you want to live in that dreary little place? It’s so small, and far from town.”
    “It’s not that far—only a few miles.” Elizabeth took a seat beside her friend. “The cabin has special meaning to me. It was the first home of my mother’s parents, and soon after Grandma and Grandpa moved to Easton, Mother married Daddy, and they moved into the cabin to begin their life together. They lived there until …” Elizabeth’s voice trailed off, and she blinked to hold back tears threatening to spill over. “After Mother died of pneumonia when I was eight years old, Daddy couldn’t stand to live there any longer, because everything in the cabin reminded him of her.” Elizabeth may have been young, but she remembered how empty and lifeless the cabin had felt once her mother was gone.
    “So you moved to town and lived at the Main Street Boardinghouse, right?”
    Elizabeth nodded. “We stayed there until I was ten, and then when Daddy got his shoemaking business going well and married Abigail, we moved into the house he had built.” She smiled and touched Helen’s arm. “Soon after that, I met you.”
    “So you’re used to living in town now, and just because your parents and grandparents lived in the cabin doesn’t mean you have to.”
    “David and I want to begin our life together there.” Elizabeth sighed. “Besides, he’s just getting started with his carriage-making business and can’t afford to have a home built for us here right now.”
    “I understand that, but can’t you continue living with your father and stepmother or even at the hotel David’s grandfather owns?”
    “I suppose we could, but it wouldn’t be the same as having a place of our own to call home.”
    Helen