The O'Neal Girls Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Joe joined the family for dinner too. He was given Lillian’s usual seat beside Danielle and Paul. Cassandra chattered the entire meal while Belle stayed silent. Joe talked with everyone and fit in nicely. After supper was finished, Danielle took Lillian’s supper to her while Cassandra and the twins went to do the dishes. Hannah and Jinger were working on making dresses for Lynn, Megan, and Nadia’s dolls and the little girls were playing checkers in the parlor while Paul went over his bills. Joe called goodbye and left the room. 

​“I’ll see you off,” Belle said. She didn’t dare look at Cassandra, who was probably gloating. 

​“Alright,” Joe nodded opening the door for her. 

​The two stepped into the cool night air and walked slowly to the barn where Joe had left his donkey. 

​“I need to speak with you,” Belle said once they reached the barn. 

“Okay,” Joe leaned against the side of the barn. “Go ahead.” 

​“Caleb Carter is courting me.” 

​A puzzled look swept over Joe’s face. “Uh…okay…” 

​“I wanted you to know.” 

​“Um…sure.” Joe’s voice was slow and confused. 

​“Are you okay with that?” 

​“Why do I matter?” 

​Belle bit her tongue. “Well…Danielle and Cassandra said you liked me!” Belle said finally. 

​“What? I never said any such thing!” 

​“Danielle and Cassandra never lie to me.” 

​“I told Danielle I liked one of her sisters. I never named one!” 

​Belle opened her mouth to spit back another sentence but stopped. “You don’t like me?” 

​Joe turned bashful. “I think you’re nice and all…but I don’t feel anything…like that for you.” 

​“Oh.” Belle sighed with relief. 

 “Cassandra’s the one I like.” 

​“Really?” 

​“Yeah…does she like anyone?” Joe shuffled his feet nervously. 

​“Yes.” 

​“Oh.” Joe’s face fell. 

​Belle smiled at Joe. “She likes you.” 

​“Oh!” Joe said with a grin. He felt a happy spirit come over him like a warm blanket. “I think I’ll see if Mr. O’Neal will let me court her.” 

​Belle smiled. She had been so nervous all day and it turned out Joe likes Cassandra. Joe was a very sensitive boy and asked a few more questions about Cassandra—the things she liked, the things she did, and a couple other things. Joe mounted his little, gray donkey and rode down the road. 

~~~

 Belle returned to the house and was pounced on by Cassandra. “So, what did he say?” 

​Belle smiled playfully. “He said a lot of things.” 

 “About…?” 

​“You!” Belle said pointing a finger at Cassandra. 

​“Me?” Cassandra squeaked. 

​“Yes and he wants to court you.” 

​Cassandra gawked in surprise. “But-but Danielle said h-he l-l-liked y-you,” she stammered. 

​“Danielle,” Belle called.  

Danielle walked over from the parlor. “Yes?” 

​“Did Joe name who he liked?” 

​Danielle frowned. “Well…I don’t think he did. But he said that the sister he liked was ‘pretty and nice and smart and gentle.’ I figured it was Belle!” 

​Cassandra slapped Danielle on the arm. “I’m those things too!” 

​“That’s what you think,” Danielle replied smartly. She carefully dodged another slap. 

​“Danielle,” Belle said sternly. 

​“Sorry.” 

​Cassandra smiled brightly and went back to scrubbing the dishes. Belle grabbed the broom and began sweeping. Danielle went to work on her homework. Even though Lillian was sick, it didn’t keep Danielle from her studies. The evening came to a close and the girls said goodnight to each other and climbed into their beds.

~~~ 

 The long week for Lillian finally came to an end. Thursday morning dawned and Belle went to help Lillian out of bed and find a nice dress to wear. Danielle and Cassandra were busy making pancakes in the kitchen and Elsie and Faith were helping Paul outside. Hannah and Jinger were braiding Lynn and Megan’s hair while Nadia set the table. Paul and the twins opened the door and came walking in. 

​“The winter is comin’,” Paul boomed whipping of his hat. 

​“All the trees are bare,” Elsie added walking into the kitchen. 

“I can’t wait for the snow!” Nadia cheered. 

“Me either!” Megan echoed. 

“We can make snowmen and snow-angels and snowballs!” Lynn smiled. 

​Cassandra began moving the breakfast onto the table. “Breakfast in two minutes!” 

​Everyone scrambled to the table. Paul hurried to his bedroom. Belle had just exited the room with Oakley. 

​Danielle slid into her seat. “Hurry up! I’m starving.” 

​“Calm down,” Belle said placing Oakley in his chair. 

​The last of the food was set on the table and the sisters gathered around. A laugh made the girls turn around to the parlor. Paul departed from the bedroom with Lillian, laughing and smiling, in his arms. He brought her over to her chair and placed her down gently. Lillian thanked him and looked at the food before her.

​“Belle…Cassandra…Danielle…oh girls, you did so much. Thank-you!” Lillian smiled tenderly at each girl. Paul sat at the head of the table and waited for each girl to find their place. Danielle sat beside Lillian—on the right side of Paul—, Cassandra sat beside Danielle, then Faith, Elsie, Jinger—at the other end of the table—, Hannah, Megan, Nadia, and Lynn. Paul prayed over the food and everyone began eating. 

​“Hey! My pancakes aren’t burnt!” Megan cried out happily. 

​Everyone laughed as Cassandra and Danielle shot angry looks at the young girl. 

​“Well, Cassandra made them,” Danielle shrugged. 

​“Danielle!” Cassandra said. “You helped make them too.” 

​“Yeah, but—” 

​“Lillian,” Paul said with a wave of his hands. “Didn’t you miss all of this?” 

​Though everyone giggled at his joke, Lillian kept a serious face. “I did miss everyone. It was a long week.” 

​“And we’re glad to have you back,” Faith said for everyone. 

~~~

Lillian recovered steadily. The week of complete rest helped a great deal. By the end of her second week, Lillian was cooking, cleaning, and ordering the girls around. 

​“It was more fun when you were sick, Lillian,” Danielle grumbled as she followed Lillian outside with an empty basket. 

​“Of course it was more fun!” Lillian said beginning to take down the clothing from the clothes line. “You didn’t do anything.” 

​“We did stuff,” Danielle said pushing back her braids. 

​“Like what?” 

​“Fun stuff,” Danielle grinned. 

​Lillian shook her head; lush, strawberry blonde tendrils of hair falling down from the neat bun on her neck. She proceeded to fold each piece of clothing.​ 

​Paul and Joe walked towards the house. Lillian and Danielle looked up and waved. The two men picked up their pace and stopped by the women. Paul greeted Lillian with a kiss. 

​“Paul!” Danielle moaned as she and Joe turned away. 

​“What? I have a right to kiss my wife,” Paul said. “If you don’t want to watch, that’s fine with me.” 

He put his arms around Lillian and leaned down for another long kiss. Lillian blushed in delight while Paul grinned and trekked off to the barn with Joe following. 

​“That was disgusting,” Danielle said once the men were out of earshot. 

​“You’ll enjoy it someday,” Lillian replied with a smile. At sixteen, Lillian was surprised Danielle wasn’t interested in having a beau. Belle and Cassandra both had regular beaus now. Lillian knew Danielle would eventually find someone. 

​“I don’t mind that you and Paul do it but do you have to do it front of me?” 

​“I don’t know when Paul is going to kiss me and when he isn’t,” Lillian laughed. 

​Danielle didn’t respond after that statement. Together they and finished the laundry and headed back inside. Belle and Cassandra were inside cooking dinner. Elsie and Faith were busy sweeping the parlor and Hannah and Jinger were dusting. Lynn and Megan were finishing some Christmas break homework and Nadia was setting the table. 

​Cassandra walked out of the kitchen. “Are Paul and Joe back?” 

​“Yes, they’re in the barn,” Lillian said going into her bedroom to see if Oakley was awake. 

“Good!” Cassandra exclaimed hurrying to her room in the loft. 

​“What is she so happy about?” Elsie asked. 

​“She and Joe are going to town tonight,” Jinger replied. 

​“Really?” Faith said looking up. 

​“Yeah, he asked her last night,” Hannah supplied. 

​“She’s been thinking about it all day,” Belle said rolling her eyes. 

​“You have no authority to say that Mrs. Caleb Carter,” Danielle teased. 

​Belle flushed and returned to the stove. 

​Lillian and Oakley emerged from the bedroom. She asked Elsie to watch him while she went to the kitchen to help Belle. Elsie eagerly accepted and played with the little boy. Paul and Joe entered the house. Joe was dressed in a freshly cleaned white shirt and navy blue slacks. A matching bow-tie rounded his neck. While he waited patiently for Cassandra, Joe chatted with the younger girls.  

Cassandra hurried down the stairway leading from the loft to the parlor. Her chocolate hair was pulled up in a barrette with some strands hanging down past her shoulders. She was wearing her best white dress with the black sash around her waist. Cassandra was glowing with excitement as she walked over to Joe. 

​“We’ll be back at eight,” Joe promised as he escorted Cassandra outside. 

​“Have a good time,” Paul called. 

​The rest of the family sat down to eat their meal and an hour later, the girls were working on the last of their homework. Paul was looking over mail and bills in his chair and Lillian pulled out a skirt she was working on and Belle pulled out a shirt. Danielle flopped down on the couch like she usually did; trying to get out of helping the women sew. 

​“Danielle,” Lillian called motioning Danielle over. 

​Danielle reluctantly dragged her body over beside Lillian’s chair. Lillian, Belle, and Cassandra were doing their very best to turn Danielle into a successful woman. It was working, but slowly. 

​“Yes?” Danielle sighed. 

​“See this here,” Lillian pointing to a place on the fabric. 

​“Yeah.” 

​“Can you sew this together?” 

​“I can but I don’t really want to,” Danielle responded slyly. 

​“Danielle!” Belle groaned from her place on the couch. 

​“What? Paul and Lillian expect us to tell them the truth.” 

​“Danielle, sew the skirt,” Lillian said firmly. She handed Danielle the skirt. 

​Danielle took the skirt, a needle, and some thread and headed back to the couch. The women worked steadily for a half hour. Carriage wheels rolled up the road noisily at exactly eight.   

Cassandra came inside all aglow.

Belle looked up. “So, how’d it go?”  

Cassandra smiled, “It was a lot of fun and we got to discuss some things.” 

“What kind of things?” Belle asked. 

“Our standards,” Cassandra explained. “We discussed our limitations and things.” Cassandra looked around the room. 

“That confirms that he is the good man I thought he was,” Paul said standing up.

“I talked with Lillian and Belle about it and we determined some standards and I want my wedding to be the first time anything spectacular happens!” Cassandra spread out her hands and sighed before heading upstairs. 

“And Cupid strikes again,” Danielle muttered from the couch.   

“Oh, Danielle, don’t be such a grouch,” Belle said cleaning up her sewing utensils.  

“Go ahead and go to bed,” Lillian told her daughters.  

​Danielle and Belle finished up their projects and tossed them back into the basket. 

​“Goodnight, Paul,” Danielle said. 

​“Night,” Paul called. 

​“Goodnight, Lillian.” 

​ “Sleep well,” Lillian replied.