Thankfully he received the cup of coffee. A warm cozy feeling spread in the small place. Jay didn't need presents. His present was the company he was in. Weedy wanted more. He was excited about getting a present.   "I'm very happy to be here in such excellent company. Merry Christmas."   Jay took one of the small baked goodies. With a large smile he chewed. "Did Santa come last night?" Hopefully Addy had taken care of that.

Addy's nose wrinkled up -- she hated change, but she knew he was right -- then she nodded.  "Yer right.  I got change given ta me, an' I'm grateful ta be able ta help th' boy, an' ta do that, we'd need a proper home."   Didn't need to be big, just two bedrooms, besides the kitchen and common room.  "He'd be thrilled, I think, ta have his own place.  Might be th' first time he's had somethin' like that, I don't allow as he ever had a proper house with his Ma."  Yeah, she could get more comfortable with the idea looking at it from that angle, and honestly, it might be nice to have more than one room, and room to move around.  "I'd appreciate yer help on that.  Thank ya, Speed, this ain't been easy."   @Flip

"There you have it!" Emeline declared with a laugh, "Bridget will help with the cooking, and Barnabas can try our efforts to make certain that they are as good as they should be."  Then she added with a playful grin, "And Mr. Pike can do the dishes as well, he's quite the expert at that!"   She laughed again and gave Barnabas a quick kiss on the cheek.  "Or you can just make certain that we behave ourselves and don't burn down the kitchen!"   Then she patted Bridget on the arm.  "Don't worry one bit, we will have fun, we won't do any harm, and we can make whatever you like...well, so long as I know the recipe!"   @Javia; @Flip

Leah & Jonah   “It is a great opportunity to tell the ladies what the plans are, how it will affect the town, and that it was not conceived, nor was it arranged by anyone on the Town Council, which is what I believe their plan to be.” She paused s if to catch her breath. “I’m sorry, I am just ready to fight them for what they owe the town, and that has nothing to do with who arranged what or when.”   "All the more reason to get to the ladies early," Jonah commented, "so they know where the ideas are coming from, and are in the groundwork, so they feel like they have a stake in things."    But this was a party, a time to have a good time and set that sort of thing aside.  "Tell me, just how modern is Helena?  In comparison to, say, St. Louis?  I wouldn't mind getting away for a day or two, maybe see a play or an opera."   As much as Kallispell suited his needs, he was craving a little civilization!   @Flip

Brendan, Arabella (and Charlie and Clara)   "Yes, I am, very much so!"   Clara and the other man were off away from them again. Brendan grinned at Clara's flustered reply to him and at Arabella's mock indignation.   “Whoa Cowboy! You’re meant to be smiling at me not … in again, in, in, in, out, out, out … not a-grinnin at the opposition!! Two more o’ these, then the jig!”   "Sorry," he said as they moved through the motions of the dance, "but she ain't the opposition, really. Here..." He smiled down at her. "There...happy now? Ooop..."    They moved into the jig and he almost started going the wrong way, but stopped in time because he was watching Arabella's eyes. He could tell a lot about an animal from its eyes, but when it came to people's eyes he couldn't tell much except which direction the person was looking in. During a dance, that was quite helpful.   The dance was not as scary as Arabella had made it out to be, and now that he had gotten the hang of it, he didn't really want it to be over - even though he would be out of breath and ready for a rest by the time the musicians stopped. He needed to make a visit to the beer tent soon.   He glanced over at Clara and her partner again and met the eyes of the man she was dancing with - just for a second before both couples turned and he was looking back at Arabella. Why was the man watching him? It wasn't as if he had insulted Clara or anything.   @Javia @Wayfarer @JulieS