Love Comes Home Read online

  She raised her head to peer at the tree. The floor under it was bare with not a present in sight. Her gift for him was in hiding under the bed. No present waited there for her either, but she didn’t care. His voice in her ears was enough.

  “Doesn’t look like it.” She smiled up at him. “Did you believe in Santa Claus when you were a kid?”

  “Nope. Not after my mother died. Never saw the first bit of evidence to support any jolly old elf at Christmastime.” He was quiet a few seconds before he went on. “I didn’t believe in anything then.”

  “How about now?” She ran her fingers over his hands. Strong hands that she loved touching her. Hands that would help her raise their children.

  “Still got plenty of doubts about that old guy in red, but then again, I did see him down at the dime store yesterday. So I could be wrong.”

  Kate laughed. “That poor guy needs a new beard. Even Samantha would know he was a fake.”

  “The magic of belief covers up a lot of fake beards.”

  “But the magic of Christmas isn’t Santa Claus. It’s love.” Kate pulled his hand up to her mouth and kissed his fingers.

  “Do you remember when you quoted that Scripture verse to me? About perfect love casting out fear. I never forgot that.”

  Kate cringed a little at his words, remembering. “I shouldn’t have. The only love that’s perfect is the Lord’s.”

  “And so we find Christmas. Perfect love in a manger.”

  A little shiver went up Kate’s spine. She’d never really known this Jay. This man who believed enough to talk about the Lord with her. “Daddy will be reading the Christmas story this morning.”

  Jay rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Do you wish you were there?”

  She shut her eyes and thought about her father sitting in his chair with the Bible on his knees, but barely looking at it as he recited the verses. This was the first year she wouldn’t be with her family as Christmas morning dawned. “A little. In some ways, but in a more important way I want to be here with you. Wherever we are together is home now.”

  “We could have slept on the floor in front of the tree at your house.”

  “We could have, but instead we slept by our own Christmas tree. A new family needs new traditions.”

  “If waking up with you and watching the lights on a Christmas tree are traditions, I’m all for that.” Jay kissed the top of her head.

  “And think. Next year we could have a baby to enjoy the lights. Samantha loved the Christmas lights from the very first.” It was the new prayer of her heart. Oh dear Lord, please, a baby to make their family complete.

  “Don’t be in such a hurry, Kate.” Jay’s arms stiffened a bit around her. “Can’t we just enjoy the moment?”

  “This moment here, I am enjoying very much.” She twisted around to kiss his chin. He hadn’t shaved yet and his beard was scratchy against her lips.

  His arms tightened around her again. “A fine moment to enjoy.”

  She leaned against him, matching her breathing to his. “But I like thinking about the future too. What we’ll be doing in six months or six years or sixty years.”

  “Sixty years! I’ll be ninety in sixty years.” Jay laughed.

  “Then maybe we’d better not wait that long to have children.”

  His chin rubbed back and forth across her hair as he shook his head. “My Kate. Graham warned me from the very start you were a girl who thought you could fix things, but he wasn’t sure you could fix me.”

  “You were never broken.”

  “Oh, but I was, but then I came to Rosey Corner and found you.”

  “If any fixing was done, it was done by the Lord. Not me.” She didn’t like him talking about being broken. “Aunt Hattie’s always telling me to leave some things up to the Lord. I guess that’s what I need to do about starting a family.”

  “Aunt Hattie is a wise woman. Let’s enjoy this Christmas before we start thinking ahead to next Christmas.”

  “Evie’s in the family way.” The words slipped out. Kate hadn’t meant to tell him that until she was sure Evie had told Mike about the baby.

  “Having a family isn’t a competition, Kate.” He shifted behind her as though the headboard was suddenly too hard against his back.

  “Sisters always compete.”

  “Then Tori’s already won that competition.”

  “So she has, and a good thing. Samantha kept Tori from falling apart after she got the news about Sammy. She and Sammy were such sweethearts.” Kate brushed away a tear. “You could really think about them together in sixty years and going strong.”

  “No sad thoughts allowed here. We’re living in the moment, remember.” Jay pushed her away and swung his feet over the side of the bed. “And right now’s the moment to see if Santa Claus showed up last night.”

  “Santa must have missed our tree.” Kate got up and pretended to be hunting under the bed for her slippers but instead pulled out the package she’d hidden there. “Oh wait, here’s something he must have dropped. I think it’s for you.”

  He laughed as he tore the paper off the camera she’d bought him.

  “Do you like it? One of the guys at the paper helped me pick it out.”

  “It’s great.” Jay ran his hand over the camera, then pointed it toward her as he looked through the viewfinder. “Is it loaded?”

  “Don’t you dare take my picture. Not until I comb my hair.” She grabbed a pillow and held it up in front of her face.

  “I like your hair messed.” He pulled the pillow away to kiss her.

  She was ready for more kisses, but instead he jumped up and went to the tree. “Hey, I think I found something.” He pulled a small box out of the branches. “Maybe Santa didn’t forget you after all.” With a big smile, he handed it to her.

  Her breath caught in her throat as she flipped open the velvet-covered box. A diamond ring glittered against the black lining. “Oh, Jay, it’s beautiful.” She looked up at him, her heart swelling with love.

  “A beautiful ring for a beautiful girl.” He took the ring and slipped it on her finger. It was a perfect fit. “When I saw this, I had to get it for you. See the way it catches light?” He held her hand up so the diamond reflected the glow of the Christmas lights. “That’s the first thing I noticed about you. How your eyes seemed to capture the light and explode with life. I wanted to be part of that life.”

  “You are my life.” She slipped her arms around his neck. “I love you so much.”

  He wrapped his arms around her. “Do you hear the music?”

  “Oh yes,” Kate said.

  “Can I have this dance?” His eyes burned into hers.

  “This dance and every dance forever more.”

  When they were first falling in love, they danced to the music of the trees in Lindell Woods and then in the snow. Now their love wrapped them in joy as they glided across the floor to the sparkle of the Christmas lights. A prayer of thanksgiving rose inside Kate for this Christmas with Jay and all the Christmases to come.

  By the time they finally made it to Rosey Corner, breakfast was long over, but a plate of her mother’s cinnamon rolls waited for them on the table. Even if they’d been all gone, Kate wouldn’t have missed the morning’s dance for all the breakfast rolls in the world.

  Still, it was good to be home in Rosey Corner with Jay, who was as happy to be there as she was. Between bites of his cinnamon roll, he teased Lorena about peering out the window every five minutes to watch for Evie and Mike. Mama said they couldn’t open presents until they came.

  Lorena might be fourteen, but she still acted like a kid at Christmas. She would love the locket with a bird etched on the front of it that Jay had for her. He’d found them both the perfect gifts. The diamond on Kate’s hand caught the light, and its glitter made her feel so loved.

  Across the room, Samantha giggled at the story Kate’s father was reading to her. A warm feeling swept through Kate at the thought that next year Daddy might be h
olding her baby. Samantha clutched the doll the Weber children had brought her on Sunday. Tori said she rarely put it down. The edge in Tori’s voice warned Kate not to ask about Clay Weber. Not today on Christmas when Tori would miss Sammy so much. But after the first of the year, it might be time to encourage Tori to think about her future.

  What had Jay said? That Kate needed to enjoy the moment and not be forever looking ahead and trying to fix things. He was right. This was a Christmas to enjoy with the family around the Christmas tree. Her mother and Tori were on the couch, Mama for once not in the kitchen cooking. Graham was in the straight chair close to the stove with Chaucer at his feet, but Aunt Hattie’s rocker was empty.

  Not long after Kate and Jay got there, Fern stopped by to tell them Aunt Hattie wasn’t about to set one foot outside with snow covering the ground. Aunt Hattie hadn’t lived eighty years without having more sense than to dare fate by walking around on snow and ice.

  They tried to get Fern to come inside, but she stood in the door and let the cold air sweep into the room while she delivered Aunt Hattie’s message. But she smiled as much as she ever smiled when Lorena promised to bring her and Aunt Hattie Christmas dinner and their presents later.

  Fern let her eyes fall on Jay. “Bring him with you. Hattie likes him.”

  “Kate can come too,” Lorena said.

  “If she has to.” Fern tilted her head to peer at Kate from under the cap she wore. “But don’t be bringing that picture box with you.”

  Graham spoke up from across the room. “Fern, you need to go on if you’re going. You’re letting all their heat out.”

  “Merry Christmas to you too, Brother.” With that, she turned on her heel and stomped off the porch.

  “Bye, Fern,” Lorena called after her, but the woman didn’t look around. Perhaps she didn’t hear her with the ear flaps pulled down on her fur cap.

  “Same old Fern,” Jay said.

  “Not really,” Kate said. “The old Fern would have never come up on the porch.”

  “Hattie’s changed her,” Graham said.

  Kate didn’t contradict him, but she knew who had really changed Fern. Lorena. She had changed all of them. Even Jay.

  “Can’t we just go ahead and open one present?” Lorena begged Mama now. “Mike and Evie might not even come. You said you weren’t sure because of the snow.”

  “I think they’ll be here,” Mama said.

  “But it’s already past twelve. Everybody will want to eat again in a little while and then we’ll have to put off presents even longer.” Lorena looked at the gifts under the tree with longing.

  “The longer you wait for something, the better it can be, Birdie.” Jay got up off the floor where he’d been leaning back against Kate’s armchair. “And unless Mike’s changed more than I think, he’ll be here for your Mama’s fruitcake or whatever she spent all of yesterday cooking.”

  “Applesauce cake with caramel icing, but who cares about cake?” Lorena stuck her lip out in a pout.

  “Lorena.”

  Kate had heard that same warning in Mama’s voice plenty of times herself when she was younger.

  Jay laughed. “I know a girl who needs something to do. Get your boots on, Birdie. It’s snowman-building time.” Jay poked Kate’s knee. “You too.”

  “Go.” Samantha reached her hands toward Jay.

  “Okay, kiddo, come on. And your mama too.” He looked toward Graham. “How about you?”

  “I’ll watch out the window.” Graham scooted his chair a little closer to the stove.

  An hour later, a snow family with sticks for arms were lined up in front of the porch. Lorena had fixed the sticks to touch like they were holding hands. After Tori took Samantha inside to warm up, a snowball fight broke out. So when Mike and Evie got there, Jay barely waited until Mike was out of the car before he hit him square on the shoulder.

  “Don’t you dare throw one of those at me,” Evie yelled at Kate, making the temptation impossible to resist. But her aim was bad and the snowball hit the side of the car.

  Mike laughed, scooped up some snow, and sprinted after Jay. Lorena shrieked and joined in the chase. Scout barked and ran circles around them.

  Evie put her hands on her hips and yelled, “Good heavens, Mike. Stop acting like a child and help me into the house.”

  “Oh, let him have a little fun.” Kate went over to Evie.

  “But he’s got to bring in our packages.”

  “He’ll get them in a minute. Come on, I’ll help you inside if you need help.”

  “You can’t be too careful when you’re in my condition. Mike should know that.” Evie looked ready to spill a few tears. The girl could cry at the drop of a hat or a snowball.

  “So you told him.”

  “I told him.”

  “He’s happy?”

  “Jubilant.” Evie threw her hand out to point at him. “Look at him.”

  “And you? How are you?”

  “Just peachy. Never mind that I may throw up any second and my waistband is already too tight.”

  “So a ray of sunshine as ever.” Kate reached to take her arm, but Evie knocked her hand away.

  “Your glove is wet. How long have you been out here acting like a kid?”

  “I don’t know. A while. We were just playing around until you got here.”

  “Playing around.” Evie gave her that big-sister look Kate hated. “Don’t you think it’s about time you grew up?”

  Evie didn’t wait for an answer, but stomped toward the porch, keeping to the rock walk that had been cleared of snow.

  “Not if I have to be like you,” Kate muttered under her breath. She shook herself a little. It was Christmas. Jay was home. Presents waited under the tree and hot cider on the stove. Jay and Mike were still running around in the yard like two boys escaped from the schoolhouse. Lorena wasn’t with them now. Instead she was by the snowmen. She’d insisted they make a father, a mother, and two kids.

  A moment ago Christmas joy exploded out of her, but now she looked almost sad.

  “Are you freezing, baby?” Kate flexed her hands inside her gloves. “I can’t feel my fingers. Or my toes.”

  “Me either.” Lorena pushed a smile out on her face, but it slid away like the snow blowing off the roof.

  “What’s the matter? Christmas too long in coming?” Kate put her arm around Lorena.

  “No, my mother, not Mama, but my mommy from before, she told me that Christmas always comes. It doesn’t matter whether there are presents or not. She said Christmas is in a person’s heart.”

  “Your mommy was right.” Kate tightened her arm around Lorena. She couldn’t remember the last time Lorena had talked about her birth parents, although she continued to say her name every night the way her mother had told her to.

  Lorena sighed, and her breath hung in the air before the wind whisked it away. “I can’t remember what she looked like.” She ran her gloved fingers over the snow mother’s face. Bits of coal made the eyes and mouth, and a twig was the nose. Lorena had found pebbles to make her a necklace.

  She looked up at Kate. “I didn’t want to forget what she looked like. Or Kenton or Daddy. I was always a little afraid of Daddy. He wasn’t like Daddy now. But I shouldn’t forget what he looked like, should I?”

  Kate sent up a silent prayer for wisdom. “You haven’t forgotten them. They’re all right there where your mommy told you Christmas lived.” Kate touched Lorena’s coat over her heart. “They’ll always be there.”

  “But why didn’t they come back for me the way Mommy promised?”

  The girl’s words stabbed Kate. Hadn’t Lorena been happy all these years with their family? “I don’t know. Maybe they couldn’t. Maybe they still will. Maybe they knew we couldn’t bear to lose you after you became part of our family.”

  Lorena’s eyes flew wide open as she spun around to look at Kate. “You wouldn’t lose me. Never. You’re my forever sister.”

  “I am that.” Kate blinked away t
ears that were not completely from the chilly wind blowing.

  Lorena was taller than Kate, not a child anymore, but Kate saw the little girl she’d found abandoned on the church steps almost ten years ago. Beautiful then in her threadbare dress, bare feet, and tangled hair. Beautiful now with her black curls escaping her sock hat, her cheeks red from the cold, and those deep brown eyes begging Kate to understand.

  “But if you had a brother and another mother and father, wouldn’t you want to know them?”

  Kate met her eyes. She did understand. “Yes. Yes, I would.”

  Behind them, a car door slammed and Mike started for the house with a sack of gifts. Jay ran up behind them with Scout on his heels. “What’s going on over here? I thought somebody wanted to open Christmas presents.”

  Lorena’s smile came back full force as Jay grabbed their hands and pulled them toward the porch. But Kate noted her quick look back at the snow family. Maybe it was time to use her reporter skills to ferret out some information about the Birdsong family. Then again, Aunt Hattie said some pots were better not stirred.

  15

  Tori pulled her wool scarf tighter around her head as she walked toward the store. The wind spit snowy ice in her face. February had to be the longest month of the year. It didn’t matter if the calendar did count fewer days. Those days stretched out and mocked them by piling more freezing weather down on the winter weary. Now and again, the sun appeared, but not with any warmth before the clouds blew back in, darker than ever, to dash hope of an early spring.

  She’d caught a cold. She always had a cold in February. Her nose was rubbed raw from constant wiping, and she and her father had kept up a duet of coughing all through the night. Daddy’s cough was no better in spite of trips to the doctor and Aunt Hattie’s potions.

  “Spring will be here soon,” he told Mama when she worried over him. “Warm weather is the best cure.”

  But the sound of his coughs hung a pall over the house and made February even darker. This very morning he looked so tired at breakfast that Mama talked him into not going to his shop until later. Mama told Tori to stay home too and keep Samantha in out of the weather, but Tori couldn’t stay home every day. It was her job to help her mother at the store even if she hated waiting on people and listening to their complaints about every livelong thing from the price of coffee to the bananas being too ripe. Or not ripe enough. Still it was her job. A job she needed. She was an adult. An adult with a child. So she left Samantha with her father and headed to the store.