“I think the baby and I would prefer the warmth of the house, but you boys do as you see fit.”

“Very well. After lunch, then, Master JT. We’ll go and conquer a few hills. Do you have a sled?”

JT nodded. “A really fast one. Papa helped me make the runners really smooth. I’ll show you.”

“Excellent. I’ll be back shortly, and you can do exactly that.”

“After you change your clothes,” Gloriana instructed.

Inside, she built up the fire and then unwrapped the baby. Sally kicked and squealed. She was becoming such a force to be reckoned with, and her personality was more apparent every day. Gloriana often tried to decide who she looked more like, Sally or Scott. Always she came to the same conclusion. The baby had Scott’s mouth and chin, but Sally’s eyes and nose. She was the perfect combination of both.

Gloriana checked on their lunch and then warmed the baby a bottle. She thought about the adoption and what it would mean for the future. She had always known that she had no legal rights to the child, but Luke could have at least discussed his plans. It was hard to learn it from Mrs. Sedgwick. No doubt the rest of the congregation already knew as well. News traveled very fast in Duluth.

JT bounded back into the front room, doing up the buttons on his play shirt. “I put on long underwear and will wear the sweater you made me.”

“Wear double socks too. You know how cold your feet get, even with those good boots.”

It wasn’t long before Luke returned. His cheeks were red from the cold, but he seemed no worse for wear. “You were right. It’s starting to snow again.”

“I’ve lived here all of my life. It seems only right that I should understand the weather. Now, as soon as I finish giving Sally her bottle, we can eat our lunch.”

The baby didn’t appear even the slightest bit tired, so once she was fed, Gloriana spread a blanket on the floor near the table and gave Sally a cloth doll to play with while the boys took their seats.

“She’ll be sitting up and crawling before we know it.”

“Babies change fast,” Gloriana admitted. “The first year is a whirlwind of mile markers, Mama used to say.”

Luke said grace, and then he and JT began to pass the food. Gloriana took a meat pie and drenched it in gravy.

Luke took two of the pies. “They look wonderful. I haven’t had meat pies like this since I was a boy.”

“Gloriana puts vegetables inside with the gravy,” JT explained. “I don’t like those as much as the meat, but I eat them anyway. Papa always said vegetables were good for my const . . . consti . . .” He looked at Gloriana.

“Constitution,” she relayed.