for the children to cuddle.” When Pearl had first broached the idea, Amanda had imagined the children holding the lambs and perhaps even taking them home.
“Cuddle? I thought this was a depiction of the nativity.”
Amanda bit her tongue. Garrett was right. This was a holy, solemn moment. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. But how will we make them look like the animals? I don’t know anyone with paints.”
“I do.” Fiona swept into the room. “The moment Garrett told me about the project I sent for my painting supplies. They should be on the next mail boat from Chicago.”
“You paint pictures?” Amanda had to shut her gaping mouth.
Fiona smiled indulgently. “Singing is not my only talent. In the theater, one becomes accomplished in many arts.”
Amanda wondered why she’d never mentioned this before, especially when watching Sadie, who loved to draw.
Fiona had turned her attention away from Amanda and lavished it on Garrett. “You look quite handsome tonight.”
For the first time, Amanda noticed that Garrett was wearing his Sunday suit and good coat. He carried a felt bowler rather than the cap he wore when working in cold weather. His hair was combed into place, and he’d shaved.
He extended an arm to Fiona. “Shall we?”
“Of course,” she purred, casting a triumphant glance at Amanda. “We wouldn’t want to be late.”
Amanda turned back to her sewing and pretended to work. Almost immediately the bobbin thread snarled. Still, she worked the treadle, making the knot worse and worse. Only when she was certain Garrett and Fiona had left did she stop. The mass of knotted thread would take forever to untangle, but not as long as her foolish hopes.
* * *
Garrett felt awful from the moment he stepped into the boardinghouse and Mrs. Calloway sent him to the writing room. The woman clearly thought he was there for Amanda. The fact that she was working on curtains for his house only made things worse.
He should have explained that he’d agreed weeks ago to escort Fiona to her Saturday concert, when Sawyer Evans, her accompanist who usually walked her to the hotel, asked him for the favor. Sawyer had left this morning for Chicago to meet up with family ahead of the holidays.
“I don’t trust anyone else,” Sawyer had told him when Garrett hesitated.
The man must not have realized Fiona’s ambitions toward Garrett, or he would never have asked the favor.
At the time, Garrett couldn’t find a single reason to object, so he’d agreed. It wasn’t that he felt anything for Fiona. True, they’d dined together on occasion at the hotel, but they were just good friends. At least that’s what he told himself.
Fiona’s actions revealed just how wrong he was. She’d made a point of besting Amanda over the animals for the nativity play. Maybe he should have agreed with Pearl’s idea to make stuffed animals, but it had seemed like far too much work for Amanda, who was already helping at the school, working for him and making the costumes for the play. He’d wanted to ease her burden, but instead he’d paved the way for Fiona to triumph over Amanda.
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