Free Raising Faith by Melody Carlson Page B

can get awfully cold in the winter.”
    So Morgan felt a little encouraged as they rode home. Maybe her socks would be a success after all. That is if she ever got enough time to sew them all. She knew that tomorrow afternoon was for trying on their elf outfits again — at least the skirts were finished now. Maybe her best bet would be to kick in the afterburners on Friday. She could stay up as late as she liked since it wasn’t a school night. She considered asking Emily to help her with the sewing and cutting, maybe even to spend the night, but then she remembered Emily’s babysitting gig on that same night.
    “How many pairs of socks have sold at your store?” Morgan asked Mom as they went into the house.
    “I forgot to check,” Mom admitted. “But Maureen said it’s been slow.”
    “Oh …”
    “Things should pick up this weekend. What with the Christmas parade, as well as people counting down the shopping days until Christmas.”
    “And there’s the bazaar,” Grandma reminded her. “You do plan to sell socks there, don’t you?”
    “Yeah,” said Morgan. She just hoped she’d have some socks to sell. She was tempted to get the ones from Mom’s shop, but then she would miss out on the traffic in town. She was also tempted to stay up past her bedtime to sew, but she knew that Mom would not approve. Besides, she was tired. And she was tired of sewing too!
    The next day, Chelsea’s mom picked up all five girls after school. They went to Chelsea’s again to try on the outfits, along with the skirts.
    “You did a wonderful job on these skirts,” Mrs. Landers, told Morgan as the girls lined up on the stairway, posing for a photo. “You girls will be the cutest thing in the whole parade. Now let’s get you by the Christmas tree.” The Landers’ Christmas tree was huge, reaching up to the peak of their high ceilings. Morgan couldn’t imagine how they’d gotten it into the house. It reminded her that herfamily didn’t have a Christmas tree yet. Usually, Grandma took care of that, but with her feeling so rundown these days … maybe Morgan should take up Carlie’s offer to go into the woods with her dad to get a tree on Sunday.
    “All right,” said Mrs. Landers, “You girls know where the staging area for the parade will be. And you need to be there by 12:30. Hopefully it won’t rain, but just in case, you might want to dress warmly underneath the costumes. We don’t want anyone getting hypothermia.”
    “Looks like we’ll have to wear our elf outfits to work at the bazaar, Morgan,” said Emily.
    “Maybe that’ll help to sell things,” said Amy.
    “Now if anyone needs a ride,” said Mrs. Landers, “I’m going back to town in about fifteen minutes.”
    “Not that you all have to leave yet,” said Chelsea. “Anyone who wants to hang here is welcome.”
    “I have to get to the restaurant,” said Amy.
    “And I’m babysitting again,” said Carlie.
    “I’ll stick around,” said Emily. “How about you, Morgan, why don’t you stay too?”
    “I need to go home and sew socks,” said Morgan.
    “You
sew
socks?” asked Mrs. Landers.
    “They’re polar fleece socks,” Emily explained.
    “Oh, what a good idea,” said Mrs. Landers. “I might like some of those for myself.”
    “My mom has some at her shop,” offered Morgan hopefully.
    “Cleopatra’s, right?”
    “Yes,” said Morgan. “Eight dollars a pair.”
    “I’ll make a point to stop by this weekend.”
    Morgan felt hopeful as Mrs. Landers drove the girls home. Still, she felt slightly jealous that Emily stayed behind. It was nice of Emily to invite Morgan to stay too, but it would’ve been nicer if Emily had come home with them and maybe even helped Morgan with her sock project. Still, Morgan hadn’t asked Emily. And why would Emily want to help Morgan when she could stay at Chelsea’s and just hang and have fun?
    Morgan thanked Mrs. Landers for the ride, told Amy and Carlie good-bye, and then went into her house.