The McRae Series 01 - Twelve Days Sam and Rachel

acceptable, and dress shoes that left him grumbling.
    "Dress up?" he asked. "Why?"
    "In case we go anywhere... nice," Rachel said. "Where people dress up."
    He frowned down at the still shiny shoes on his feet, clearly not seeing the appeal.
    "Don't worry about it, Zach," Mary Jane said, ruffling his hair. "You can wear the boots today."
    Which was enough for him. He set off to the corner of the store where Mary Jane had a collection of toys for kids to play with while their parents shopped. Grace was easy. They just measured and put the shoes on her. She had no opinion whatsoever about them. But Emma seemed uneasy about the whole process. She seemed ready to accept the snow boots but didn't want to try on anything else.
    "Emma, you've got to have more than boots," Rachel insisted.
    "You've outgrown what you're wearing. I know they have to be uncomfortable," Mary Jane added.
    "They're fine," Emma insisted.
    "Just try these." Mary Jane held a pair of shiny brown leather shoes.
    Emma glanced at them and shook her head. Rachel had never seen her so stubborn. "One pair is plenty," she said. "The boots are fine."
    "They're fine for the snow and the rain, but your feet will roast in them once spring comes," Rachel said, and she might not have anyone to buy them for her then. "You'll need sneakers when the snow melts, and if we go somewhere nice and you dress up, you'll need dress shoes."
    "We don't have any money," Emma whispered urgently, her eyes big and sad and pleading with Rachel.
    "That's all right. I do. I want to do this." In truth, Rachel had been shocked by how little the children had and the shape their things were in. It was amazing to think of having so little, of being so alone. And this was one thing she could fix easily. "And don't worry. Miriam said the state will provide some money to buy some basic things for each of you, so..."
    "Oh." Emma's cheeks got red again.
    Rachel realized she'd made it worse. Eleven-year-old girls cared a great deal about their appearance, she remembered. But it would still be hard to think of the child welfare system buying your clothes, especially if you were proud and strong and brave and just eleven years old.
    She gave the girl a quick hug and said, "Let me do this, okay? I insist."
    And Emma gave in. She took the first things Mary Jane suggested and wore her new boots out of the store, too, carefully insisting that her old shoes go into the box and go home with them, as well.
    Rachel winced when Mary Jane rang up the total. She hadn't wanted to let Rachel pay at all, but Rachel insisted. And she'd spent a small fortune just on shoes. She wondered if Sam had any idea what kids' shoes cost.
    But truly, it would be no hardship to her and Sam. She and Sam would never be considered wealthy. Their early years together had been rough financially. There had been years when they'd plowed nearly everything they had either into the house or the business. But the business had taken off in the last few years, and neither one of them had ever been big spenders. These days, if they ever truly needed anything, the money was there. She'd never imagined needing a warm coat for a child and not having the money. True poverty had always been an abstract concept to her until she'd met Emma, Zach, and Grace.
    "You know, those kids deserve to have the best Christmas ever," Mary Jane said.
    "I know. I bet most Christmases, they get so little. It won't make up for not having their mother, but I want to spoil them this year." If it brought them some temporary pleasure in this big bad world, it would be well worth it.
    She thanked Mary Jane and off they went through what seemed like the entire downtown. They were on their last stop, a store specializing in things for babies, when she ran into her sister Ellen, who was forty-two and just going gray, looking more like their mother every day. Ellen had teenagers and a husband, Bill, of twenty years who seemed to adore her and now a thriving second career selling real estate. A seemingly perfect life.
    Rachel introduced the older children to her sister, and then when Emma took Zach off to play in the corner of the shop where there were some toys set up for children, let Ellen fuss over the baby.
    "What an absolute doll!"
    "Isn't she?" Rachel relinquished the baby, as her sister demanded without a word merely by reaching for her.
    "Oh!" Ellen held Grace close and smelled her hair. Even though Rachel hadn't had any baby shampoo or lotion to use, Grace