by S. L. Baum
Adeline came up beside them, fanning herself with one hand. “Phew, I’m out of breath. What are you two lovebirds doing over here?”
“Just toasting to a happy Thanksgiving,” Sam told her. “Why’d you leave Jim all alone out there?”
“He’s dancing with his daughter,” Adeline said. “So, how are you feeling, Krista? I haven’t seen you in days and days.”
“I’m fine,” Krista said as she brought her glass to her lips. She took a long, slow sip of her drink.
“What do you think about Marlene leaving with Ben like they did? Can’t believe it was so abrupt. Strange way to leave a town that has been your home for over ten years, don’t you think?” Adeline paused and then quickly continued. “Although I imagine Marlene might have mentioned something to you, seeing as you two were so close recently.”
Krista shook her head. “No. I’m just as shocked as you are. After I recovered from that horrible migraine, I was planning on going over to Marlene’s for our morning walk, but Doc told me they were gone. Strange, I agree.”
“Really is strange.” Sam nodded his head in agreement. “How are things progressing with Jim?” he asked with a wink.
Adeline’s cheeks flushed to an even darker shade. “They’re moving along.”
The song on the jukebox finished and Opal shouted, “Dinner time! Before those birds get cold.”
Krista grabbed Sam’s hand. “I’m famished. Aren’t you?” She started to walk toward the table and looked back at Adeline. She was staring at them and Krista knew what was on the woman’s mind: questions were there that Krista couldn’t truthfully answer. “Come on, Addy, let’s find a seat,” she said.
When they sat down, Krista made a point to grab the seat beside Pauline. Sheriff Tucker’s wife would not allow him to try to speak to Krista across her, she’d consider it bad manners, and Pauline would ask the fewest questions of everyone at the diner. Krista decided it was the safest spot at the table for her.
Albert Tucker attempted one comment. “I find it uncharacteristic of Ben Richardson to up and quit, leaving me short handed, and then take off in the middle of the night just because his family said they needed to be in Charleston immediately. Wilson Cooper will be sufficient until I can hire a new deputy, and he’ll enjoy being the official second man in charge. But Ben leaving like that, it just doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s not for you to make sense of, Albert. His family emergencies are not for us to dig into. Give him a poor reference if you must, but let it go,” Pauline told her husband.
“I won’t do that,” Sheriff Tucker mumbled as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes. “The man had exemplary performance on the job. Just strange is all.”
Pauline gave a slow nod of her head. “Won’t be the first – nor the last – strange thing to happen in Cedar Creek.”
“Ain’t it the truth.” Adeline said it more as a statement than a question, and she stared straight at Krista as the words left her mouth.
After that, Sam did his best to move the conversation along anytime someone tried to bring up Ben and Marlene, or Krista’s stay over at Doctor Baker’s house. Their friends were curious, but they seemed to be able to pretend to respect her privacy, though Krista was quite sure they’d talk about it all when she and Sam were not around.
Later that evening, as Krista, Sam and Abe walked toward Abe’s Caddy, Krista whispered to Sam, “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
“I thought it went pretty well,” Sam agreed.
“What are you two talking about?” Abe asked.
“I said I thought the evening went pretty well,” Sam told his uncle.
Abe took his car keys from his pocket and opened the Caddy’s passenger door. “It was a perfect holiday dinner. Glad to share it with the two of you this year.”
Krista got in the front seat and slid into the middle so Sam could sit beside her. As soon as Abe got in she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad I got to share it with you. I want you to know that I am thankful for your hospitality when I moved to town, for your confidence in me, and for your beef stew.”
Abe smiled at her as he started the car. “I’m thankful that you’ve brought light back into my boy’s eyes. You make him smile, and all an old man like me needs is to see his kin happy. You’re a special girl, Krista.”
Sam laced his fingers with Krista’s. “You have no idea,” he told his uncle.
When they got back to the house, Abe waved to the two of them over the top of the car after he shut the Caddy’s door. “I’ll see you two tomorrow. We are going to put up the Christmas tree, so I expect you over at a decent hour. Don’t sleep in too late.” He winked.
Sam blinked, slightly shocked at the comment. “Uh, sure thing.”
“Don’t look so shocked. I was young once,” he said as he walked toward the main house. “You two could barely keep your hands to yourself on the drive back,” he said over his shoulder. When he got to the door he paused and turned to look at them. “Have fun. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Happy Thanksgiving,” Sam and Krista chorused as Abe disappeared into the house.
Sam whistled. “Well, that wasn’t awkward at all.”
“Nope, not a bit,” Krista said with a laugh. “Well, let’s go have fun,” she added with a wicked smile.
“Gotta follow my uncle’s advice,” Sam said, grabbing her waist.
“He is a wise man.” Krista shrieked as Sam tickled her sides.
“Into the house, woman.”
“Stop tickling me and I will, man,” she huffed out the words, trying to catch her breath.
After Sam took his hands away, Krista ran up the steps and unlocked the door and he chased her into the house. Krista went into the bedroom and flung herself onto the bed. “No more,” she breathed.
Later, when their bodies were connected, their skin slick from perspiration, their breathing ragged, and their flesh tingling from every warm touch, Krista kissed Sam and breathed into his mouth, “More.”
It was nearly noon when Sam and Krista walked over to the main house, and by that time Abe had several strings of white lights sparkling on his tree. There were boxes of ornaments on the floor, and Abe was digging through one of them. “You missed the lights, but you made it for the ornaments,” he told them without looking up. “The star is in the bottom of this box, I swear.”
“Do you put the star on first?” Krista asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I do. I work from the top down,” Abe told her. He stood up, star in hand, and a huge smile plastered on his face. “Here she is.” He handed the elaborate tree-topper to Krista and pointed to the stepladder beside the tree. “Will you do us the honor?”
The star was made from delicate stained glass. Little red, green, and yellow patched panes were patterned together and pieced into the silver metal frame. Krista held the star securely in her hands and turned to Sam, “It’s a Webber tree. You should put this on the top. I’m afraid I’d get wobbly on the ladder.”
Sam kissed her check as he took the star from her. He climbed the ladder and placed it securely on the top of the Christmas tree.
Abe stood back and inspected the placement. “Perfect. Now, Krista, since you didn’t do the star, you need to put on the first ornament. Pick one out.”
Krista glanced into the ornament box near her and saw a delicate gold angel. She reached down and picked it up by the gold string that was attached at the back in the middle of its wings. When she held it up, the angel looked like it was flying in front of her eyes. “It’s beautiful.”
“Good choice,” Abe said as he touched one of the angel’s wings. “My momma picked this one out from a catalogue when I was a boy. She was pleased as punch when it arrived in the post.”
Krista stepped up to the tree and reached as high as she could, rising up on her tippy-toes, and looped the gold string over one of the branches. “There you go, little angel,” she whispered.
Abe looked at Sam. “You
got your angel right there, don’cha?”
Sam went up behind Krista and circled his arms around her middle, hugging her to him. “I do.”
Krista leaned back into him. Sam’s arms were strong and comforting, a feeling she hadn’t allowed herself for many, many years. Sure, she’d been with other guys. After she’d fully transformed into a Deathtaker, during her senior year in high school, she’d broken it off with her boyfriend at the time. They’d been together since sophomore year, but she knew she didn’t want the complication of a relationship as she was learning to deal with the sudden change in her being. After high school, she’d only allowed herself brief dalliances, from time to time, but none had lasted longer than a few weeks. She was tempted to, once, when she was working at a dialysis center in Northern California, but something held her back. The guy was nice enough, and the spark had been there, but she hadn’t felt anything close to the connection that she had with Sam.
Sam Webber had spun his way into her heart.
Abe looped several ornaments over his fingers and started placing them on the tree. A red apple, a beaded candy cane, a toy car, and a silver snowflake were evenly spaced around the angel. Abe was meticulous with his ornament placement.
Krista grabbed a heavy, red, glass ball and turned to the tree. She looped the ribbon attached to the ornament over a branch and it spun around as it settled in place. She hadn’t noticed the hand painted letters until then… Abraham’s First Christmas.
Krista placed her hands over her stomach. A strange flutter, a new scent. She counted back on her fingers. Two weeks. And, they hadn’t used protection the night before. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom,” she said and then walked out of the room.
When she got into the bathroom she closed the door, locking it behind her. Krista inhaled deeply through her nose, concentrating on the scent that was distinctly hers. A Deathtaker could smell death, but could also smell life. Fresh and sweet, airy and earthen; new life smelled like a delicate breeze coursing through a flowering meadow. It was only hours old, it was faint, nearly undetectable, but the scent was there. “Stupid, careless woman,” she scolded herself in a whisper. She didn’t need to wait for a pregnancy test, she knew immediately.
Krista sat down on the side of the tub, resting her elbows on her knees, and lowered her head into her hands. “Just what everyone wants in a new relationship.” She stayed that way for several minutes, letting it sink in. There was undoubtedly a new life beginning inside of her, barely divided but definitely coming into being, a future Deathtaker, her baby girl.
Sam knocked on the outside of the door. “You okay?”
Krista stood up, took another deep breath and then slowly blew it out, calming herself. She opened the door. “Just peachy, and just pregnant,” she stated while pulling at her lower lip.
“Just what? How? We are always careful.” His mouth dropped open and then he snapped it shut. “Except for…”
“Last night,” she finished for him.
“But there’s no way you could know that already.”
Krista dropped her hand away from her face. “I can and I do.” She shrugged. “We screwed up and now I’m having a baby.”
Sam took her hand and silently led her out of the bathroom and back to the tree. “You like babies, don’t you, Great-Great Uncle Abe?” Sam rested his arm around Krista’s shoulder, as Abe turned around, stunned.
“Great-Great?” He looked to Krista for confirmation.
Krista nodded her head, her eyes misting over.
Sam placed a kiss on her cheek, near her ear, and whispered, “I love you. We didn’t screw up, we just skipped a few steps.”
Abe wrapped his arms around the two of them. “This just turned into the best Christmas Decorating Day ever. Great-Great Uncle Abe.”
“It’s still super early, so could you maybe keep it a secret?” Krista asked. “You know, some women don’t tell anyone until they are showing… so it may be quite awhile.”
Abe pulled back and looked at her, a guilty expression crossed his face, as if he’d already broken his word, even before giving it. “I’m pretty darn awful at secrets. Eli can usually pull them out of me, but I can promise to do my absolute best. He would never suspect this one. Jumped the gun a little bit, didn’t you?”
Sam smiled at his great uncle. “Just a little bit.”
“I’m the bachelor kind,” Abe said, pointing to himself. “Decided that early on. You, on the other hand, are not.” He patted Sam’s arm. “I knew there was a reason you moved to Cedar Creek,” he told Krista. “By the way, I love babies.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Christmas is less than two weeks away,” Pete stated. He was sitting in front of the computer at the Cedar Creek Medical Center, looking at a calendar on the screen.
Krista sat on the edge of the front counter, swinging her legs back and forth. It was minutes before closing and Doctor Baker had already said his goodbyes. Krista hadn’t told Doc about the baby yet; she hadn’t told anyone. Abe had managed to keep their secret, but every day he exclaimed that it was getting harder and harder for him to do so. Eli had already told his friend that he looked like he was sitting on some important information and he thought he was holding out on him, but Abe just brushed him off.
She wondered what everyone would say when they heard the news. They were moving too fast. She had managed to nab her a Webber. Why was this newcomer globbing onto an established Cedar Creek family?
Sam and Abe kept asking her to move up to the main house, but Krista insisted that she wanted to stay where she was, at least until after Sam finished his studies. She didn’t want to be a distraction when he was close to getting his degree. But he had emailed his last paper to one of his professors that morning, so there were no more excuses. Krista liked the little guesthouse, especially because that’s where the baby girl growing inside of her had been conceived. She wasn’t sure she wanted to leave it, but she knew she wanted to feel like she was truly sharing her life with Sam.
Krista looked at Pete. He had a huge grin on his face. “Whatcha getting Opal for Christmas, lover boy?” she asked him. He looked like he was bursting to tell her something.
“I went to see my mother yesterday,” he said.
“Yeah, you told me. She made you a jellyroll. You won’t stop talking about how good it was,” she reminded him. “You could have saved a piece for me.”
“I didn’t exactly go there for my mom’s baking, though the jellyroll was spectacular. I went there for something else.”
Krista sighed and swung around so she was facing him. She rested her feet on his knees. “Spit it out.”
“I went for my grandmother’s ring. She left it to me when she died, for my future bride.” Pete said the words quickly and then looked away, pretending to read something on the computer screen. He didn’t want to see Krista’s reaction. He knew he and Opal were moving pretty fast; they’d only been together for two months. It wasn’t just fast, it was lightning speed.
“You did not!”
Pete nodded his head, still not looking at her.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously,” he confirmed. “Wait here.” He moved her feet and stood up.
Pete went into the storeroom, where his jacket was hanging, and put his hand into one of the pockets. He pulled out a small red velvet pouch and then went back to where Krista sat. Pete placed the pouch in her hand and then sat back down. He started rubbing his hands on the arms of the office chair.
Krista put her feet back on his knees as she opened up the red velvet pouch. She turned it upside down and the ring dropped into the palm of her left hand. On a thin gold band, a large, colorful opal was set. The oval shaped stone with shades of blue, green, cream, and gold, was completely encircled by little, sparkling, round diamonds.
“It’s an opal!” Krista exclaimed.
“I know. Cheesy or not?”
“It’s absolutely gorgeous, and she is going to love it. I promise you. How pe
rfect is it that your grandmother wore a precious opal stone on her finger and she wanted you to have it for your future bride? If that isn’t the definition of destiny, I don’t know what is. Awwww… it’s so sweet. I can’t believe it.”
Pete tried to picture Opal as he gave her the ring, but he was too nervous to finish the scene in his head. He couldn’t get past the unwrapping part, for fear of rejection. “You really think she’ll like it?”
“Pete, I didn’t say like it, I said love it. Opal is going to love this ring, especially after hearing that your grandmother left it for you. I promise,” she told him. “Christmas Eve, huh?” She carefully placed the ring back in its pouch and handed it to Pete.
“I’m going to spend Christmas Eve with Opal and Jim, and then Opal and I are going to have dinner with my family in Woodside on Christmas Day. You and Sam doing anything special?” he asked.
“Just Christmas at the Webber house. Eli’s meeting his son’s family in Florida to go on that cruise next week, so he won’t be around. It will just be the three of us. I’m looking forward to a quiet, low-key holiday.”
“No special gift?”
Krista jumped down from the counter. “He gave me something, I’m giving him something. We already know our gift.”
“So…”
“So, I’ll tell you after Christmas,” Krista told him. “It’s a good ring, Pete. Don’t worry about it.”
“I will, though, until I give it to her and she says yes.”
Krista gave her friend a hug. “Don’t worry too much, then.”
“I’ll try not to.” Pete didn’t sound very positive as he said the words.
When Krista got home, she found Sam sitting on the couch in the guesthouse. He had set up a small Christmas tree in the corner of the room while she was at work, and strung it with multicolored lights. Her face lit up when she saw the little shrub of a tree. “That’s so cute. I love it. It looks perfect in here.”
“I’m glad you like it. We needed some Christmas cheer in this house too, since you still haven’t moved your stuff into the main house.”