Johnny nodded for Sadie to go first, and she gratefully stepped into the warm kitchen. The soft scents of freshly baked biscuits and lemon cake enveloped her. Sugar was too expensive for wasting on baked goods and needed to be saved for money-making mash. However, at Christmas her mother often skimmed a little extra sugar off the top and baked a buttermilk pie. Sadie’s stomach grumbled as she thought about that warm pie waiting for her. “Where would you like us to put it?”

“Right on the counter,” Mrs. Fritz said.

Johnny set his crate beside Sadie’s and pulled off his hat. “We appreciate the business, Mrs. Fritz.”

“You never let us down. The dearly departed Dr. Carter always thought highly of you and your father.” Mrs. Fritz reached in her skirt pocket and pulled out several bills neatly folded over each other. “Mr. Carter said I owe you five dollars.”

As she held out the money, Johnny frowned. He was too polite to remind her the price was six dollars.

Sadie, however, was not the least bit shy about pointing out the error. “Mrs. Fritz, we always get six dollars at Christmas.”

Color rose in Johnny’s cheeks. “My sister is right about that.”

“That’s not what Edward Carter told me,” Mrs. Fritz said.

Johnny’s jaw pulsed, and Sadie could see he was swallowing a good bit of anger right now. He was worried more about hanging on to the bird in the hand than going after the one in the bush. He shook his head and reached for the money. “It’s okay, Sadie.”

“But Dr. Carter Sr. always paid us six dollars if we had his delivery by Christmas Eve.” Sadie smiled, hoping it took some of the bite out of her tone. “I know the Lord called him home this past spring, but the order was placed last Christmas.”

A door down the hallway opened, and music from a phonograph tangled around male and female laughter as it drifted toward the kitchen. Hurried footsteps raced down the tiled hallway seconds before the door opened.

Standing in the doorway was a young woman barely out of her teens. She had dark hair that curled gently around her heart-shaped face and down over her slim shoulders. Full lips painted a bright red looked vibrant against ivory skin. Her dress was an emerald green with a hem that fluttered just below the knee and drew attention to silk-stocking legs and shiny patent leather heels.

For the first time in her life, Sadie was fully aware of her own appearance. She knew her overalls did not fit her right, and her coat was one of Danny’s old ones. Her scuffed boots had come from the church poor box.

When she saw the fancy women in the magazines, she did not feel so plain and, well, country poor. But now she felt every bit of both. She brushed a stray curl from her face and then, noticing her coat’s threadbare cuff, dropped her hands to her side. She curled her fingers into a fist to hide her dirty nails and calloused palms.

Standing behind the woman were two young men. She recognized one of the two as Edward Carter. He had always been a fixture at the county fair when his mother and father had been alive. Girls in town whispered that he was as handsome as Cary Grant, but she reckoned Carter was better looking. He had been in England studying medicine when his father died last spring. Folks were still talking about him missing his father’s funeral, as if he could have crossed an ocean just like that.

The man beside Dr. Carter was a little shorter and his frame softer and rounder. And if she had to say he looked like an actor, it would be along the lines of Mickey Rooney. Not handsome but right pleasant to look at.

Each man had waxed-back short hair and sported fine dark suits, white shirts, and bow ties fit for a movie premiere.

The trio stared at Sadie and Johnny, but it was Edward who thrust out his hand first. “Johnny, you made it. I was worried you’d not be here by the holidays. Father always loved the honeysuckle moonshine, and we were all hoping to raise a toast to him in his memory tonight.”

“Thank you, sir,” Johnny said.

Sadie smiled, speaking quickly before Johnny could shush her. “Mr. Carter, sir, that seems like a real fitting tribute. I will say, sir, that your dearly departed daddy always paid Johnny six dollars for a Christmas delivery.” She thought the addition of sir was a deferential touch. “Mrs. Fritz isn’t sure of the price.”

Mrs. Fritz squared her shoulders. “You gave me five dollars, Dr. Carter.”

“That’s the going rate in the summer,” Dr. Carter said.

“It is, sir,” Johnny said. “But your daddy always paid six dollars at Christmas.”

“An extra dollar?” Dr. Carter said.

“Yes, sir.” Johnny had a way of speaking that did not stoke tempers. Sadie, on the other hand, had a tone that riled up folks no matter how much she smiled or how many sirs she sprinkled around.

“Well, if that is what my father agreed to, then, Mrs. Fritz, please give them an extra dollar,” Dr. Carter exclaimed.

Mrs. Fritz turned toward a cookie jar shaped like an apple and, after lifting the lid, rooted around inside until she had a crisp dollar bill. She handed it to Johnny.

Her brother’s face was a shade or two redder, and Sadie could not tell if he was embarrassed or relieved. “Appreciate it.”

Dr. Carter pressed his hand to the woman’s back. “This is my wife, Olivia.”

Johnny nodded. “We heard you had married. Our best wishes.”

“Thank you, Johnny,” Dr. Carter said. “We’ve been married a full three months now.”

Miss Olivia smiled sweetly but did not extend her hand. “It’s a pleasure.”

Her voice was soft and had a different kind of sound that Sadie supposed was the way it was back in England.

“This is my cousin, Malcolm Carter,” Dr. Carter said. “He’s spending the holidays with us and celebrating our nuptials.”

When Malcolm grinned, it made him all the more like Mickey Rooney. “Pleasure.”

“Again, our congratulations to you, Dr. and Mrs. Carter,” Johnny said. “We’re happy for you both; isn’t that right, Sadie?”

“Yes, sir. Real happy.” Sadie noted the woman was looking at her. The polite thing to do was to drop her gaze, but Sadie was not feeling so polite right now. They had almost been shortchanged on Christmas Eve of all days.

“Johnny’s family has lived in the area for as long as the Carters,” Dr. Carter said to Malcolm and Olivia. “What is it you do, Johnny, now that the soapstone plant closed?”

Sadie wanted to point out that the plant had closed nine years ago and that Johnny had never worked there. But her brother’s warnings of staying silent kept the words bottled up.

“Working in the machine shop in Waynesboro when I can get the work. But I’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks. I’ve enlisted in the army.”

“Army?” Dr. Carter said. “My wife, Olivia, and I experienced the war firsthand when we were in London. The Blitz was a terrible thing.”

“What’s a blitz?” Sadie asked.

“They are bombing raids,” Dr. Carter explained. “The city endured nightly bombing raids for eleven straight weeks. My wife was nearly killed in one of the explosions last summer.” He rubbed his hand over his leg. “I would be signing up for military service if I hadn’t also been injured in one of those raids. My leg will never be the same.”