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Both girls shrugged.

He shook his head. “Very well. We can’t wait any longer if we hope to finish in time for judging.” He looked around the entry hall. “Now, how do we begin?”

“If we weave the laurel branches together, I believe we could use them as swags along the banisters and railings on the upper level.” Pippy motioned to the areas under discussion. “We’ll use the ribbon to affix a small bough with evergreen, ivy, and Viburnum where they are attached to the rail.”

“And don’t forget the kissing boughs,” Ari said, holding up two.

Pippy grinned. Ari was most adamant about that decoration. She’d mentioned it no less than a dozen times the previous day. “How could we forget those?”

Ari turned to her task, a smile on her face.

They all set to work, each of them working on their own part of the project.

Pippy hummed carols as she worked, and soon Freddie and his sisters joined her.

Once all the railings and tables were decorated, Pippy and Freddie stood back to look at their work. The gilded acorns and nuts shone in the candlelight, and the small dabs of white on the pinecones contrasted nicely against the different shades of green leaves and red berries.

“Nicely done, my dear,” Freddie said with his arms folded across his chest.

Pippy shook her head. “It still feels incomplete.” Her lips pushed out in thought.

“Perhaps if we did something with the statues,” Evie said uncertainly.

Pippy tipped her head to the side and nodded. “Yes, I think you may be right. They feel decidedly unfestive.”

“Unfestive?” Freddie chuckled. “And how does one make statues festive?”

“Perhaps they need some laurel and yew garlands. Look, that statue there could hold one in its hands,” Evie said.

“And we could form it into a wreath and put it on that one’s head.” Ari pointed to a stern-looking statue in the corner by the doorway to the saloon.

Freddie bent and picked up several laurel branches. “We’ll use what we have left and call it good.” He wove the branches together, forming them into a circle. Tucking a few twigs of hawthorn and some yew into the circlet, he turned it one way and then the other, looking for bare spots as Pippy had taught them. His lips pushed out, then he bent and picked up a small clump of white Hellebore, tucking it into the space remaining. He smiled at the finished product.

Pippy couldn’t help but grin as she watched.

She placed a wreath of ivy and holly—ribbons cascading down the front—in the hands of one statue, then stepped back. She was pleased with what she saw.

Mr. Hawthorne stepped into the entry hall and looked at their work, giving it a nod of approval. He smiled at Pippy. “You’ve done well.”

She sighed, looking at the decorations again. “Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne.”

He dipped his head. “I wished to thank you again for sharing the gold leaf. Competitions rarely bring out the charitable side of most people.”

Freddie stood beside her, but she made no move to acknowledge him. He need not know how attuned her body was to him and his nearness. It would ultimately be her undoing, she was certain.

She turned her focus to Mr. Hawthorne. “I’m pleased we could be of assistance to you.”

He gave their decorations one last look before he disappeared through a doorway.

She flinched when something settled on her head.

She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts—of him—that she’d not noticed what he was doing. A wreath he’d made sat atop her head. “Ah, I dub thee my Christmas Queen.” He bowed low. “Your wish is my command, Your Highness.”

Her face flamed, and she giggled. Giggled! What was wrong with her? She was three and twenty—long past the age of giggling. She composed herself, looking at her husband from beneath her lashes. She was fortunate; she understood that. Her husband was kind. And she believed they were actually becoming friends. Many did not fare so well in marriages like theirs. Especially one made in such haste. She truly had something to celebrate this Yuletide.

But Freddie didn’t seem to notice her giggles or her study of him—or perhaps he did but hid it well. His smile only widened. “If I’d known crowning you was all it took to make you happy, I should have given one to you days ago!”

“I want a crown,” Ari whined.