Trusting the Rancher with Christmas, page 21
Tess lifted a hand-stitched Mrs. Claus from the box. Mrs. Claus’s sequined apron and beaded white cap sparkled. “It doesn’t feel right to keep these.”
“How about this?” Paige braced her palms on the counter. “What if I promise to come back next year for Christmas? And then we can put them on the tree together.”
Abby watched her.
Tess looked hopeful. “You mean it?”
“Yes.”
“What about work?” Tess asked.
“I’ll figure it out.” If the partners sided with Paige, she’d arrange for a long-overdue holiday vacation next year. If she opened her own practice, she’d figure that out too. Work would always be a priority, but Tess and Abby deserved better from her. “Family first.”
Tess’s broad smile swept some of the happy back into Paige, scattering her sadness. Tess repeated, “Family first.”
Abby wiped at her tears. “I love you guys.”
Paige walked around the counter and hugged both her sister and cousin at the same time. She pulled back. “Just to be clear. We agree the ornaments are staying here, right?”
“If they bring you back here for the holidays, then they stay,” Tess said with conviction, rubbing at her eyes.
Abby pointed at Paige. “But know that we aren’t above coming to get you for the holidays. A promise is a promise. And next year, I won’t be pregnant. I will chase you down if I have to.”
“I’ll be here.” Paige hugged Abby again. She knew another pair who would be here too, but she couldn’t make Evan or Riley any promises. Couldn’t ask Evan to make any of his own. So much could happen in a year. So much had happened in less than two weeks. Her goodbye with Evan should be final. Two different worlds. Two different states. Impossible situation. The distance on several levels was too much to conquer. But that was for tomorrow. Right now belonged to her family. “Tess, you texted that you needed help in the store this afternoon. I’m ready to set aside the tears and get to it. What are we doing?”
“Well, I have it on good authority that it’s never too late to decorate and embrace the full spirit of Christmas.” Tess grinned and opened a deep bottom drawer in the shelving unit behind the counter. She pulled out a binder and opened it, revealing black-and-white and color photos. “I want to put up the entire Victorian village that Grandma and Grandpa always told us about. I’ve been going through their old photo albums for pictures of what it looked like in the front window.”
“I always wanted to live in that village after hearing Grandpa describe it.” Paige slipped a picture of her grandparents out of the plastic protector. Their hair had not turned gray yet. Laugh lines were still settling into their faces. They stood, arms linked around each other, behind the village, their gazes gleaming, their smiles proud. They had always been stronger together. She’d always wanted what they had shared. Perhaps it was enough that she lived her life to the fullest like they had. “You want to re-create the village to look like this?”
“Yes.” Tess hesitated. Her gaze locked on Paige. “And I want to keep the village out all year long like Dad taught us to do.”
“Wait.” Abby glanced from Paige to Tess and back. “What did I miss?”
“Our dad told us to keep a piece of Christmas out all year long so we could keep the spirit of the season alive the rest of the months.” Paige took her sister’s hand. “It’s a lovely tribute to our grandparents and dad. The trains were always his favorite part. I’ll build the tracks.”
Tess squeezed Paige’s hand.
“Why am I only now learning about this tradition?” Abby steepled her fingers under her chin. “I have no idea what I’ll keep out. Can I keep it all out?”
Tess and Paige laughed. Paige shook her head. “Only one thing.”
“That’s going to take some thought. It’ll come to me.” Abby reached for the photo album. “But first, we need to build a village.”
Paige picked up a photograph of Grandma Opal behind the counter, hands on her hips, a Santa hat on her head. Her face was tipped upward as she laughed. Paige could practically feel her grandma’s joy. She moved the photograph closer as if bringing it closer strengthened her connection. Then she sucked in a breath. Waited a beat. And exhaled the words, “It’s real.”
“I hate to point out the obvious.” Abby’s voice was bland. She pointed across the store. “But all those boxes marked Village are proof it’s real.”
“Not the village.” Paige thrust the picture at Tess and pointed her finger at it. “The silver coin.”
“What?” Tess took the picture.
“It’s behind Grandma on the wall.” Paige wanted to jump up and down like Riley. “You’re standing in almost the exact spot Grandma is in that picture.”
Tess spun around and stared at the empty wall behind her.
“Let me see that.” Abby swiped the photograph from Tess’s fingers and gasped. The picture floated to the counter.
“I believed Boone and Sam.” Paige waved her hands around as if she was gathering the right words. “I really did.”
“But seeing it, even in an old photograph, makes it truly real.” Tess pressed her palm against the wall where the frame would’ve hung.
“Exactly.” Paige liked that her sister understood so quickly what she couldn’t quite put into words.
“This makes it...” Abby voice’s trailed away. Excitement and wonder brightened her gaze. “Now we know exactly what we’re looking for. And when we find it, we might discover the map that will lead us to a centuries old treasure.”
“Which will be returned finally to the community of Three Springs like the McKenzie sisters had always intended,” Tess said.
“I want to search for it right now.” Paige rubbed her hands together and bounced from one foot to the other. “And build the village.”
“Maybe the coin is in the village boxes,” Tess suggested.
All three women turned to look at the boxes. Dozens and dozens of boxes lined the far wall. All marked Village. Abby sighed. “Wouldn’t that be something if it was in there the whole time.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Paige moved toward the boxes. “Let’s get started building a village.”
* * *
WHAT WAS LEFT of the evening’s pizza had been pushed aside. The three women stepped back from the completed display. Paige held her hand over the train’s power button. “Ready?”
Abby and Tess nodded. Paige pressed the button and steam puffed from the locomotive as the model train started its run. Lights blinked in the houses and stores. The three women cheered, high-fived and watched the train ease across the bridge and around a mountain. Paige set her head on Tess’s shoulder. “It’s better than I ever imagined.”
Tess squeezed Paige around the waist. “So much.”
Abby took a series of pictures with her phone. “These need to be posted on the general store’s website.”
Paige pulled out her own phone and tapped on the internet app. “We’re missing something.”
“What could possibly be missing?” Tess studied the display. “We have a pond. A bridge. Mountains and snow. More shops than Three Springs.”
“A fourteen-inch prelit Christmas tree for our town square.” Paige turned her phone and the photo toward Tess. “In honor of Abby. I’m ordering it now.”
“And in honor of Tess, a book exchange box for outside the library.” Abby beamed and quickly tapped on her phone screen. “Located and ordered.”
Tess wiggled her fingers for Abby’s phone and swiped across the screen. “And in honor of Paige, cattle for the pastures. Lots and lots of cattle.”
“Perfect.” Paige grinned, her heart full.
The trio refilled their wineglasses and toasted a successful day. Paige added a silent thank-you to her grandparents for bringing the women together again. They hadn’t located the silver coin. But they’d built something special and lasting. There was something precious and priceless in that. Something worth holding on to.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“PAIGE.” EVAN STOOD in the back doorway and took in the suitcase on the step. His stomach dropped. “Come in.”
He moved to let her inside, but rammed face-first into the truth. Paige was leaving. Time had run out. There would be no more mistletoe kisses. No more late-night nightcaps. No more Paige to turn to. To laugh with. To share the day with. He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and paced around the kitchen island.
“I’m...” She lost her voice. Inhaled. Waited a beat. Then another. Exhaled, her words rushing out as if she had only a little strength left. “I’m leaving. I’ll stay at Abby’s tonight with the puppies. Then I fly out in the morning.”
“Abby and Wes are really adopting Ginger and Tyne?” Evan thought of the puppies rather than the elephant in the room. The goodbye he didn’t want to give. There was nothing good about it.
“Yeah.” Paige dropped the key to the guesthouse on the island. “They know it’s a lot with the baby coming. But they have great help. Boone has already volunteered for puppy-sitting duty. And Tess babysitting duty.”
“It’s all worked out, then.” And yet nothing was worked out. Not between them. He could ask her to stay, but then what? Fall for her even more only to have to face a more heart-tugging goodbye later. He had to let her go. He had to let go. “I’m not going to find your fruitcake in the back of the guesthouse’s freezer, am I?”
“It’s in my carry-on.” Her smile flashed. There and gone like a firefly’s light. “It’s quite good crumbled over vanilla ice cream.”
“I’ll have to try that.” After I ask you to give up your life and all you’ve worked for. For me. For us. He squeezed the back of his neck. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—ask her to choose. This was where he let go. “Paige...”
“I almost forgot.” She lifted two gift bags and cut him off. “These are Riley’s. For Project Gumdrop. One for you. One for Riley’s mom. They’re marked.”
Another hard conversation he hadn’t yet had. When had he become such a coward? “Thanks.”
She nodded and set the bags on the kitchen table. “Have you talked to Riley yet about her mom?”
He shook his head. “I will. Soon.”
“I should...”
The back door swung open. Riley rushed inside and pointed out the open doorway. “There’s a suitcase out there.”
“It’s mine.” Paige tugged on her ponytail, then her ear as if searching for that magic fairy dust that would make it all better. Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking on his part. Paige added, “I brought your Project Gumdrop over for you. Now it’s time for me to leave.”
“You can’t!” Riley pushed the back door closed with a hard shove and ignored the gift bags on the table.
“Ms. Paige needs to go home.” Evan rubbed his hand over his mouth as if pulling his words free. “We all knew that she was only visiting.” A temporary guest. The same as his feelings for her were supposed to be: temporary. Although, there was nothing fleeting about the dull ache in his chest.
“But you’re happy.” Riley’s hands fisted at her sides. She stomped one booted foot. “And all my wishes were coming true.”
“I’ve always been happy.” Perhaps not always, but enough. That counted. And he would be happy again. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon. And if he wasn’t, no one needed to know. That was for him to deal with. “We need to say goodbye.”
Riley shook her head, quick, angry jerks of her chin. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and closed herself off. Defiant. Unreachable.
Where was his sweet little girl? He ached for her. “Riley—”
“No! She can’t leave.” Tears filled her eyes. Was it her anger that kept them from falling? “You won’t be happy then. And my wishes won’t come true.”
Evan’s knees buckled. He knelt on the floor, kept his gaze fixed on his daughter. Searched for hope, reached for that last thread of magic. “Santa won’t be here for five days.”
“Ms. Paige makes you happy, not Santa,” Riley charged. One more frustrated stomp. The thud echoed in Evan’s chest. Riley rounded on Paige. “You can’t leave.”
“I’m so sorry, Riley.” Paige swiped at her cheeks, lowered to one knee. Her voice trembled. “I wish I could stay, but this isn’t my home.”
“Then wish harder so it comes true,” Riley begged. A tear escaped. Smeared her freckles, slid down her pale cheek.
That single tear surged inside Evan. The lies swelled. So many that he choked. It shouldn’t have come to this. His gaze locked on Paige’s. The pain—everything he’d wanted to avoid—came through in her eyes. Paige had warned him. He’d put it off. That hard conversation swelled. It would crash around him, knock Riley’s world sideways.
Now. It had to be now. He was out of time. He was out of words. And he couldn’t stop it. But he could be there after the fall.
Tears, unrestrained, ran down Paige’s cheeks. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.”
“Wishes don’t come true, do they?” Riley whispered.
His daughter’s cheeks were too dry. Her voice too clear. Too steady. Only her chest heaved up and down. One bitter breath after another.
Evan wanted to release the shout curdling in his gut. He was supposed to protect his daughter. Keep her from getting hurt. He wanted to cover Riley’s ears, hide her and himself from the truth, make even more impossible promises. He ground his teeth together.
Riley fixed her suddenly too-wise gaze on Evan. “Mom isn’t coming home for Christmas, is she?”
That tidal wave crashed over him, stealing his air. He struggled to breathe. To fill his chest. He’d never wanted this. Wanted to blame fate. Curse his ex. But he was the only one at fault. “I can explain.”
“I hate Christmas,” Riley yelled and launched herself toward the kitchen table. She tore into the gift bags Paige had delivered and threw two glass ornaments onto the floor. The bulbs shattered. Riley fled from the kitchen. “I hate Christmas and everyone.”
Evan slammed his hands over his face and wrestled with his emotions. His tears sealed his palms to his cheeks. There was so much he hated. He wasn’t sure where to begin, except with himself. He scrubbed his hands into his hair, then wiped his palms on his jeans. He stood and looked at Paige.
Her own cheeks were damp. She looked lost. Alone. So out of reach.
But she’d never been his. Never been within reach. Not really. And he couldn’t protect his own daughter’s heart. He broke hearts. He refused to do that to Paige too. He’d already caused enough damage in his own home.
She cleared her throat. “You should go check on Riley.”
He nodded, yet never moved.
“You belong with Riley.” Her voice was deep and scratchy. “I belong in Chicago. We always knew that.”
He no longer knew what he knew. Other than he despised inevitable goodbyes and shattered hearts. Words failed him. He held his arms out.
She threw herself into his embrace. Hugged him quick, but so very tight. Then she was gone. Out the door and out of his life in less than a breath. Less than a heartbeat.
And it officially became the worst Christmas ever.
* * *
OUTSIDE IN THE DRIVEWAY, Paige loaded her suitcase into the trunk of the rental car. Then she took the puppy box from Ilene and secured it in the back seat, before falling into Ilene’s embrace.
Ilene hugged her and framed Paige’s face in both of her hands. “You’ll text me when you get to the airport. Then again when you get to your town house.”
Paige nodded and held on to the dear woman. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“We owe you the thanks.” Ilene lowered her hands, then took Paige’s cold fingers in hers. “You saved our ranch.”
“I can’t say goodbye.” More tears spilled free. Her voice caught on the evening breeze.
“Then we’ll say for now.” Ilene squeezed Paige’s hands. “You’ll keep in touch. You might not be here, but you will still be in our hearts.”
And they would be in hers. Paige walked to the driver’s side and glanced up at Riley’s bedroom window. A shadow moved in the windowpane, setting the paper snowflakes swaying against the glass. Paige lifted her hand as if she wanted to catch the pieces. She wanted to rush back inside the house, straight into the little girl’s room, and soothe her hurt. But that was for Riley’s father to do. His job, not Paige’s. Besides, she wasn’t quite sure how to fix her own broken heart. How could she possibly help Riley?
Ilene gave Paige’s shoulder one last squeeze and walked back inside the farmhouse. Paige lingered and watched the farmhouse door. Waited for it to open. Waited for Evan to appear. Waited for him to... She got in the car and slammed the door. He had a life in Texas. Hers was in Illinois. She could stand there and wait all night. But anything her heart wanted to hear only complicated things further. It was better like this. Unspoken. And deniable.
The tears never slowed on the drive to her cousin’s house. And only increased when Abby opened the front door and her arms. Paige clung to her cousin. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Abby guided Paige to the couch while Wes carried the puppy box from the car to the kitchen. Abby pressed an already steaming cup of tea into Paige’s hand and asked, “What was it supposed to be like?”
“I don’t know.” Paige sniffed and wiped a tissue against her eyes. “But not like this. I came here to cool off. To regroup and reset.” Not to fall in... She shut down that thought.
Love wasn’t ever part of the conversation. Or any conversation for that matter. Of course, she was sad. She’d reconnected with her sister and her cousin. She had a niece or nephew arriving in the spring and she’d miss out on the baby’s special moments by not living in town. And she’d miss her new friends and Three Springs. The community that had welcomed, accepted and supported her as if she’d always lived there. As if she’d always belonged.
