Christmas in a Snowstorm

by Lois Richer

  Sam caught his breath, squeezed his eyes closed and breathed, “God?”

  * * *

  “Evan is doing what?” Joy gaped at her friend.

  “He’s calling a meeting to discuss running Sam out of town,” Grace repeated.

  “Can he do such a thing?”

  “Technically, no. But he can make it very miserable for Sam. I’m worried,” she admitted. “Those men have grown mean and so bitter with their hate. Now they’re trying to draw others in, and some, particularly those retail folks who never got on the bandwagon with Experience Christmas, have just enough sourness to listen to Evan.”

  “Well, it’s sad, but it’s not any of my business. I’m the newcomer. I have my own issues,” Joy protested.

  “You’re part of this town, dear. And such animosity hurts everyone,” Grace protested sternly. “I’ve argued long and hard, but no one will listen to me anymore. It’s going to take a fresh voice. You have to help. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem, Joy. Sam needs you now more than ever. He stood up for you.”

  He’d also shown her kids how to really live Christmas every day. God had brought him to Sunshine for a reason. And this was a matter of trust. Would she give or withhold it?

  The truth smacked Joy head-on. She’d held on to her anger and her betrayed feelings just like Evan. She’d refused to trust that God would heal her heart. Refused to believe Sam, too.

  Because she was afraid.

  But God was in charge. Not Evan Smith. Not even Sam.

  “God works through people, dear,” her friend chided her very quietly. “He could work through you if you make yourself available.”

  Joy made one of her split-second decisions. But she knew she would never regret this one.

  “I gave Honey the afternoon off. I’ll have to lock up, even though I’ve got a bunch of fudge orders some kids are supposed to pick up,” Joy said, mentally reorganizing her work. “Guess I’ll have to deliver them.”

  “Don’t be silly. I’ll stay here. I might even sell out what’s left.” Miss Partridge grinned. “Go on, dear. Go tell them the truth. I’ll be right here, praying for you.”

  “You’re sure—”

  “I’m positive,” Grace insisted. “He is far greater than we can even ask or think, dear. Trust Him.”

  There were so many people in town and so much traffic that Joy decided it would be quicker to go on foot. She half ran through the streets, hoping she wouldn’t be too late. She pushed open the door and walked into the community hall, where angry words and accusations against Sam spilled like raindrops.

  I can do this, she prayed silently. With Your help.

  “What do you want here?” Evan Smith demanded. “You were not invited to this meeting.”

  “Why wasn’t I?” Joy calmly slid her coat from her shoulders and placed it on an empty chair.

  “Because you’re a friend of Sam’s.”

  Joy couldn’t help it. She started laughing and couldn’t stop.

  A friend of Sam’s? Yes, indeed.

  And so much more, Lord, if You can manage it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Startled by the number of cars still gathered around the community hall when he knew there were no event scheduled there until the potluck tonight, Sam decided the run-me-out-of-town meeting scheduled for earlier must still be going on. Taking a deep breath, he went to investigate.

  He stepped through the side door, but at the sound of Evan’s voice he wheeled around, prepared to get out and avoid another confrontation. Until he heard Joy.

  “I must say, I don’t understand your attitude, Mr. Smith,” she said.

  Sam edged his head around the corner and just managed to catch a glimpse of her, covered in her bakery whites, slim and defiant as she addressed the former mayor.

  “You’re like a bear with a sore paw, Evan. You won’t let anyone fix it and you won’t do anything to help yourself. Instead you go around picking on those around you, making their lives miserable so they can join in your misery.”

  Muffled snickers filled the room. Sam couldn’t suppress his own grin.

  “You list grievance after grievance, but you never list anything kind or good, even though your burger stand has profited a lot from Experience Christmas. Most evenings and weekends your place is packed. You’ve benefitted from the other events Sam planned, too, and from the work everyone in town has put into making the festival work. Everyone, that is, but you.” Sam peeked again and saw her studying Evan, hands on her hips. “When do you ever contribute to this town? Or do you just keep taking?”

  “Now, just a minute!”

  “No. I am going to have my say because I’m sick and tired of the undercurrents you cause in our town. Your animosity is hurting everyone in Sunshine. It’s time it stopped.”

  No one spoke; no one told Joy to sit down or be quiet. Sam had a hunch the fire in her words matched the fire in her eyes. He’d never been prouder.

  “Sam came home to Sunshine, probably to rest and relax with his family and friends after a grueling time in the Middle East. He didn’t ask you for anything. He didn’t even ask you to put up funds to repair the community hall that all of you have neglected for years.”

  “He told us to take out a loan,” Evan blustered.

  “Which he backed from his own pocket. Did I miss hearing you offer to chip in, Mr. Smith?” Joy paused only a second. “Then Sam got to work planning, conceiving and carrying out the finest event this town has ever seen. He never asked you to pay him. He never argued when you wouldn’t agree to his suggestions. Sam simply got on with trying to make this town, our town, better.”

  Sam could hardly believe what he was hearing. Joy was defending him. As if she cared about him.

  “Sam only did it to win approval,” one of Evan’s supporters called out.

  “Really?” Joy turned on him in a flash. “One wonders why Sam, an award-winning journalist with years of reporting hard-hitting stories from some of the most neglected places on this earth, should need your approval, sir?”

  Sam wanted to tell her to stop, but he couldn’t speak. He was too fascinated by Joy’s defense to interrupt. Besides, he wanted to hear more. Maybe then he’d be able to tell if she really, truly did love him.

  “What about that last story?” Evan said, a sneer on his face.

  “Yes, let’s talk about that story,” Joy said pleasantly, moving to stand directly in front of the disagreeable man. “I’m guessing you didn’t know, maybe because you didn’t ask, that Sam was trying to ascertain the truth of information he’d received about a crooked official. So you also probably didn’t know that he was captured, held against his will, without his embassy, his employer or anyone else knowing because he was kept in isolation.”

  “How do you know that’s true?” someone called.

  “Because Sam told me and I believe him. Why would he make it up?” She gave Evan a scornful look then moved to the front. “But you didn’t ask. So you certainly wouldn’t know why Sam was forced to file that false story. Of course he knew it was false, as would any journalist who has been around as much as Sam would know, so it follows that he must have also known that releasing it would cost him all credibility. But that didn’t stop him,” she whispered, the words clearly carrying in the now-silent room.

  Joy was a natural at public speaking, Sam decided. Or perhaps she was too engaged in what she was saying to realize she held the crowd in the palm of her hand.

  “But why didn’t he?” Evan asked in a quieter tone. “Why would he let it stand?”

  “Why indeed? For some higher good? Maybe. Or perhaps he did it because he’s Sam,” Joy told him with a smile. “Because there were issues at stake which he deemed more important than his own career. Because he has integrity.”

  Nobody said anything. Everyone was staring at Joy
.

  “Don’t you get it even yet?” she asked, her voice louder, angrier. “Why did Sam come to Sunshine and do all he’s done for you and for me, and for the many people who’ve come here to celebrate the meaning of Christmas?”

  “You’re going to tell us,” Evan snapped.

  “Someone needs to,” Joy replied scathingly. “You obviously can’t understand that Sam doesn’t need your approval in the least. But he does deserve your respect for trying to make the world he inhabits a better place. What are you doing about that?”

  Applause started in one corner of the room and grew as those clapping rose to their feet and yelled, “Bravo, Joy!”

  She blinked, obviously startled. Her head swiveled to stare at those who remained in their seats, unwilling or unable to understand what Christmas was about. She flushed a deep, dark red before she grabbed her coat and headed for the door. That was when Sam stepped out of his hiding place and stood directly in her path.

  “Oh,” she whispered, her green eyes huge, her crisp strawberry blond curls bouncing at her abrupt stop. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself. Thank you, Joy,” he said, for her ears alone.

  He wasn’t sure why she kept staring at him or what she intended. All Sam knew was that she grabbed his hand in hers and clung to it like a lifeline while she faced the room.

  “This is the man I’m going to marry,” she announced very clearly. “If that means you don’t want us here, that you want us to leave Sunshine, we will. But it will be your loss because Sam has great plans for next year. So do I.”

  A second later Joy was kissing him. It took Sam a second before he kissed her back, right in front of everyone. She drew back too soon.

  “I have to get my kids,” she told him, still red-faced, but now smiling.

  “Then let’s go.” He took her hand and rushed outside with her, skittering through the snow-covered streets like a pair of giddy children to the department store where Sam said he’d left his car so he could pick them up before closing.

  Once the children emerged and were settled inside, their gifts secured in the trunk, Joy looked at Sam.

  “Do we have time to go home and put their gifts under the tree and for me to change before the potluck?” she asked.

  “They want to drop off their gifts at Grace’s first,” Sam said.

  “Oh, no.” Joy clapped her hands to her cheeks.

  “What’s wrong now?” Sam asked wearily, wondering if they’d ever get a moment alone.

  “Grace. I left her by herself at the bakery.” Joy made a face. “She doesn’t have a key to lock up, so she’s still stuck there. Come on.”

  The bakery looked empty. Only a small light on the counter lit up the area. The shelves were completely empty. They found Grace seated at a table, patiently waiting.

  “Hello, dears,” she said, smiling at their clasped hands. “All better now?”

  “I love Joy,” Sam said.

  “I love Sam,” Joy said.

  “I know.” Grace Partridge checked her watch. “It’s time for the potluck.”

  “I think I have a clean shirt in my office. I’ll just take a minute,” Joy assured them.

  She took a few more, but no one minded. They had to wait at the community hall anyway. The line for the potluck was very long. Over and over, visitors came to tell Grace how wonderful she was in the ads, how they appreciated her work as the Christmas lady. She, of course, tried to defer to Sam, but he waved off her attempts.

  “You deserve it. Enjoy it, Grace,” Sam said. “You were the busiest, best coworker I’ve ever had.”

  “Thank you, dear. Now I must go. I believe I’m on coffee duty.” She left to help out somewhere, because that was what Grace Partridge did. She helped.

  “When things settle down, we’ve really got to find someone for her to fall in love with,” he told Joy.

  “Yes, we do,” she agreed, squeezing his hand under the table.

  “By the way,” he murmured in her ear, “I’ve got something to tell you.”

  Joy smiled as if she knew exactly what that was. “I’ve got something to tell you, too.”

  “No, but—” Sam gave up when the pastor rapped the table for silence.

  “If you could all help us clear up, we have something important to share. Please gather in the church sanctuary as soon as you are able.”

  “I need to explain—”

  “I love you, too, Sam. But I think we’d better save that for later, until we’re alone,” Joy told him, her green eyes glowing. “There’s something happening here.”

  “That’s what—I was going to tell you,” he finished when she hurried away with their soiled dishes. “I wanted the rest of that pie,” he said mournfully.

  “You’re in love with a baker, Sam.” Evan stood beside him. “From what I saw, she’ll bake you one whenever you want.” The other man thrust out his hand. “Merry Christmas, Sam. And my deepest apologies.”

  “None needed, Evan. Merry Christmas.”

  * * *

  Joy sat in the sanctuary beside Sam, her hand tucked in his. He was happier than he’d ever been.

  “Church looks pretty good in its Christmas finery, doesn’t it?” he whispered.

  “It looks amazing. But I wonder why the screen is down. It blocks out so many of the decorations.” Joy frowned as if she wanted to go wind the thing up herself.

  After her performance this afternoon, Sam figured she would do it, too. So just to be safe, he tightened his hand around hers and hung on.

  “Welcome here tonight,” the pastor said, his smile huge. “Before we begin the service, we have two orders of business to take care of. First, we’re going to draw the name of the winner of our Experience Christmas festival. As you all know, the prize is a trip to the Rose Bowl Parade and a feature segment with Adelia Forsyth before the parade.”

  The draw was made by the mayor and everyone clapped for the winner.

  “Evan Smith? He had the nerve to put his name in the draw?” Joy couldn’t believe it.

  “I think it’s great.” Sam smirked. “He’ll have no excuse for not helping us out next year, right?”

  “I guess,” Joy said, obviously still disgruntled.

  “Now to our second order of business,” the pastor announced. “Adelia Forsyth has sent us an exclusive partial clip of a newscast that will air in the new year. Let’s watch.”

  Sam put his arm around Joy’s shoulders and hugged her against him as Adelia appeared on-screen.

  “Join us as we share world-class reporter Sam Calhoun’s moving story about a harrowing trek into the Middle East to expose a corrupt president. The only reason we’re finally able to hear this story is because Sam’s source has now escaped the regime and is safe with his family in an undisclosed location. But I’ll let Sam tell you a little about what to expect.”

  Sam and Adelia had done Sam’s hurried interview via Skype right after the burner phone had freed him from his obligations. Adelia’s videographer had then impressively amassed archived bits of video from Sam’s career for this promo piece. He sat immobile, listening to his own recorded voice explain how he’d verified each point of his informant’s claim but was unable to release that story because he’d been captured. For this clip Sam had deliberately downplayed the pain and suffering he’d gone through, not wanting to spoil Christmas Eve.

  “I’m truly sorry I reported an untrue story,” he heard himself say. “But at the time, I had no other alternative. I could not give my source’s name. I could not allow him or his family to be captured and probably killed by such an evil man. Telling that lie was the only way I could gain my own release and keep my friend and his loved ones safe. I am so very glad they are now able to enjoy Christmas together. Though is has been a traumatic time for me, the end result is that what my enemies meant for evil, God meant for good. This is Sam Cal
houn reporting from Sunshine, Montana, wishing you a very Merry Christmas.”

  The clip was short to encourage viewers to tune in to the whole story in the new year. Sam felt nothing but relief when the organ sounded and the candles were passed out so the service could finally begin.

  Once, he’d sought the limelight. Now he preferred the privacy his hometown offered.

  Together the town celebrated the night of Christ’s birth together in a reverent, hallowed service, with peace and calm and joy. Sam felt a oneness with his Lord that he hadn’t experienced for years. He could tell by Joy’s shining face that she felt the same.

  When the ceremony was over, they and the children left as quickly as possible because he and Joy wanted to celebrate their first family Christmas at the ranch. Once again, someone needed to borrow Sam’s car, so they all walked to the bakery and rode to Hanging Hearts Ranch in Joy’s van.

  The mood was festive as the kids teased him about being on television. But the three youngsters were weary from all their labors and went to bed early, in eager anticipation of the next day.

  Finally Joy and Sam were alone.

  “I don’t know how to thank you for what you said in my defense, Joy,” he told her, holding her hands in his. “It was an amazing speech. I couldn’t believe it. You were awesome.”

  “Yes, I was,” she said and then laughed. “I couldn’t believe I did it either, but some sort of righteous indignation just took hold of me and spilled out.” She squeezed his hand. “Anyway, I owed you some public recognition. You’ve been so patient while I fought through the doubts and fears about my mistakes. It took those men and their scheming to make me realize that my trust is just words if I don’t act on it.” She pressed a kiss against his lips. “I love you, Sam. And I trust you.”

  “Ditto, Mrs. Baker.” He kissed her back, until they were both breathless. Then they sat, arms around each other, content to watch the fire and go over everything once more.

  “It’s late. I need to go home.” But Sam didn’t move. Instead he studied her for so long that she shifted under his scrutiny.