“Do you think it has anything to do with Ray?”
Luke shrugged.
They started down the driveway, and Jean stepped onto the porch. “I was about to send a search party,” she quipped. “Come on in.” She peeked at the baby as Mattie passed.
“Mattie, there you are,” said Celeste and hugged her. “I'm really sorry about your grandmother.”
“Thank you.” Mattie gazed around the crowded room. It was packed with friends. In the last few years her grandmother hadn't gotten out much, but the people of Palmer hadn't forgotten her. Many had visited her, often bringing something she might need. How could I have thought the people here were unkind?
The kitchen table was laden with food, and the guests were mingling. Affia joined Mattie and Jean. “It was kind of you to have the reception here,” she said. “I know it was a lot of work. Thank you.”
“I wanted to help.” Jean circled an arm around Mattie and the baby. “I was glad to do it.” She gazed down at the infant. “You are a beautiful child.”
“Grandma says...said she looks like Mama.”
“She does, and like you too.”
Her eyes tender, Jessie joined them. She took Affia's hand. “If you need anything, anything at all, you call me. I'm not far.” Her eyes misted. “It always hurts to lose someone we love.” She paused, then held out a book. “This is for you.” Affia accepted the gift. “It's the book Laurel and I have been working on all these years.”
“You finished it? How wonderful!” She ran a hand over the dark blue binding.
“Your mother always wanted the outside to know her Alaska.”
“Thank you. It's a beautiful book.” Affia turned it over, then thumbed through several pages. It contained photographs and pictures of Jessie's paintings. “It's wonderful! Thank you.” She offered it to Mattie.
Taking the book, Mattie examined it. So much of what her grandmother loved and believed in lay within the pages. “It's a wonderful thing you've done. I'll need several copies for my children and their children.” She hugged Jessie and then Laurel, who'd just joined the cluster of women.
“Some of your grandmother's stories are in it,” Laurel said.
“They are?”
“Yes,” Jessie said. “She told them to my husband many years ago. You will also see a couple of pictures of her and yourself when you were just a baby.”
“Me?”
Jessie gently took the book, opened it, and turned to a page with a photograph. “Here's one.” Pointing at a picture of a round-faced native girl, she said, “That's you.”
A mix of joy and sorrow pulsed through Mattie as she looked at the picture of her mother with a child in her arms. A tiny native woman, her grandmother, stood beside them. She and her grandmother had shared many days. Their time together had been a gift.
Luke and Mattie were the only guests still remaining when Ray said, “We'd like you to stay a while so we can talk to you about something.”
“Sure.” Luke cast a questioning glance at Mattie. They sat at the kitchen table while Jean went to fill cups with coffee.
“You need to get off your feet,” Ray told her, taking the cups and the coffeepot. “You sit. I'll take care of this.”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a smile and took a chair beside Luke. Gazing at Mattie, she said, “You look tired, dear.”
“I am, but I know I'm not as tired as my mother. I'm glad her sister's here. It will be good for her to have company.”
Ray set coffee in front of Luke and Mattie, then poured a cup for himself and one for Jean. He set the coffeepot on the stove and returned to the table with the drinks. Lowering himself into a chair, he let out a long, slow breath. “It's been quite a day.” He sipped his coffee, glanced at Jean, then looked at Mattie and Luke. “We asked you to stay for a reason.”
Luke kept his eyes on the big man.
“We've been thinking about the living arrangements over at your mother's, Mattie. You must be real crowded with the baby.”
“The cabin is small, but we've been fine. We can't move into the house. With the baby plus Luke and me, it would be too cramped. It only has two small bedrooms.”
Luke's expression had become wary, and he tapped the floor with his foot. Mattie clasped his hand, hoping to steady him.
“Well, what we were thinking,” Ray continued, “is that we've got more room here than we need, and we'd count it a privilege if you two and the baby would move in with us.” His eyes settled on Luke. “I could use some help, what with hunting season just starting. I've got several trips lined up and won't be here much for a while, and if all the signs prove right, we'll have a good year for trapping. I'll probably need some help on that too. I figured we could split the proceeds.”
“I don't know,” Luke said.
“I was also thinking I could use a hand with the dogs. Brian's a big help, but I remember how good you and Alex were that one year, and I figured that having you around would be good. If you have a mind to, you could work with them, do some training.”
“I don't know that much.”
“You know more than you think. I've seen you with them.”
Jean reached across to Mattie. “Your mother told us that her sister's planning to stay on for a while. That means there isn't possibly enough room for you to move into the house. I'd like to have another woman here with me. I'd like to have a woman's company, and Brian and Susie would love to have you here too.”
Mattie liked the idea of living in a larger house, and she'd always loved Jean. She looked at her husband. “Luke?”
“I'll have to think on it,” he said, pushing away from the table. “Thank you, Ray, for thinking of us.” He grabbed Mattie's coat. “We better get going. It's nearly dark, and we've got quite a walk.”
“I'll drive you,” Ray offered.
