A Promise For Christmas (Historical Holiday Romance)

by Lynn Landes

  “I see. I’ll speak to her.” Sebastian follows Tinley into the great room and sits next to her on the chaise. Aiylin hurries after them and stops inside to listen.

  Tinley is hiding her face in her arms and sobbing her heart out. “Why doesn’t she like us?”

  Aiylin covers her mouth with a hand and rushes to them. She drops to her knees in front of Tinley. “I do like you! All of you!”

  Tinley lifts a tear-stained face, “Then why are you leaving?” she demands.

  “I’m not leaving yet. The snow won’t be melted for days, but I have a family who needs me, a job…” a life to get back to she almost says but the words don’t hold the meaning they once did.

  “We need you,” Tinley declares and throws her arms around Aiylin.

  Tears fill Aiylin’s eyes as she hugs the weeping child. Her heart is breaking at the thought of leaving them. Sebastian stares at her and feels the weight of his daughter’s words. “Aiylin is going home, but I promise that we will see her again.”

  “You promise,” she hiccups and looks up at her father while Aiylin rubs her back.

  “I promise,” he murmurs, looking at Aiylin who gives him a smile that could rival the stars.

  Tinley sighs heavily and pushes away from Aiylin. Slowly walking away she mumbles, “This is not how my wish was supposed to go.”

  They wait until she is out of earshot before bursting into laughter. Sebastian helps Aiylin stand. “I meant what I said, Aiylin. We will see you again.”

  “I’ll hold you to that promise, Sebastian.” He reaches for her, but she steps back, pointing at him. “You promised us trees today. We need to eat breakfast before we head out.”

  “Food is not high on my priority list. Not when you look so beautiful, Aiylin,” Sebastian growls and reaches for her again. Aiylin backs up with a nervous giggle and bumps into the wall.

  “Why are you always running from me?” He steps close to her, pressing his body against hers and murmuring in her ear.

  Her swift inhale, has him grinning as he nibbles her sensitive lobe. Aiylin presses against his chest, and he grabs her hands. “Sebastian, you make me believe in magic,” she whispers, and before he knows her intentions, she turns and kisses him senseless.

  “Well,” a voice says behind them. “I’ll just come back,” Elizabeth says, laughing and hurries from the room.

  “Mother,” Sebastian growls, and Aiylin hides her face in his neck.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmurs.

  Sebastian lifts her chin to look into his handsome face. “Never be sorry, Aiylin. You're giving me my own Christmas magic.”

  Tears have her eyes shimmering as he kisses her again. “Now, can we go get our Christmas trees?” she asks.

  “After breakfast.”

  Elizabeth is in the dining room when they walk in for breakfast.

  “My granddaughter tells me you are plotting to leave us,” Elizabeth says sternly.

  “I, it’s just that…”

  “I don’t suppose either of them bothered to ask you if you’d like to spend Christmas with us?” Elizabeth says, walking forward and taking her hands.

  Sebastian glances at his mother with a surprised look. “I’m an idiot,” he murmurs. Elizabeth shrugs and Aiylin has to cover a laugh.

  “You are more than welcome, Aiylin, to share our home and our holiday. Don’t answer right now,” when she sees the doubt flash across Aiylin’s face. “Think about it.”

  “Please, think about it. We’d love to spend more time with you,” Sebastian grins.

  “You're very kind, but don’t you think it will only cause more damage in the end. The separation will only be harder the longer I stay.” She excuses herself and hurries to her room. Her hunger has faded as anxiety presses in on her.

  “How can I say what it will do to my heart to leave them?” Going home has lost its appeal. It’s not that she doesn’t wish to be with her own family, but here she is simply Aiylin.

  Elizabeth smiles smugly at Sebastian as he pushes his food around on his plate. “How can you be so happy, mother? You heard what she said.”

  “I heard her loud and clear. Did you?” Elizabeth grins when he glances at her.

  “What are you talking about?” he demands.

  “She wasn’t talking about Tinley but her own pain. Sebastian, the poor girl, is protecting her own heart.” Elizabeth sighs and slaps her cup on the saucer. “And you need to give her some physical space. Court her, don’t seduce her!” she hisses.

  “Mother!” Sebastian flushes when he realizes she is right.

  “I’m right. What have you offered her so far? She’s running scared, as she should be.”

  “What did you expect Mother? That I’d ask a woman I’ve only known a few days to marry me?” he snaps.

  “No, of course not, but don’t let your own fear of being hurt again push her away.”

  Sebastian sits back to think and runs a hand over his face in frustration. “I see your point. How did I get so lucky to have such a smart Mother?”

  “You were blessed,” she laughs with him.

  “I will beg forgiveness later, right now we need to go cut down our trees.” Sebastian excuses himself and hurries to find Tinley.

  Chapter 19

  Langdon watches from the shade of some trees as they walk through the snow pulling a sleigh behind them. Aiylin is smiling at a man as though he hung the moon. He hisses in rage when the man leans over and steals a kiss. The loving stroke of her hand on his cheek has Langdon reaching up and touching his own face.

  “Betrayer,” he trembles with indignation and fury. How dare she choose someone else! She will pay dearly now.

  Aiylin is unaware of the vile thoughts of the man watching her. All she knows is joy. The fun of choosing a tree to decorate and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Together they pick a tree and then laugh as Sebastian cuts it down. Aiylin holds the little girl in her lap as they sit on a log.

  “Hurry Daddy, Oma’s making hot chocolate!” Tinley calls.

  When the tree falls, they cheer for him, and he looks proudly at the large tree. “Let’s see if we can get in on the sleigh.” Sebastian drags it over, and Aiylin helps while Tinley jumps around excitedly.

  Langdon is livid. He spent four days in a miserable hotel, alone, bored and planning. Then had to stop at the general store for directions. The woman was rude and almost didn’t give them to him. Only to come here and find her throwing herself at some man! He slips the bottle from his jacket and takes a pull. The drops will help calm him and allow him to think clearly. “Don’t react, Langdon. Patience.”

  Aiylin is whispering to Tinley, and they hurry to make the snowballs before Sebastian is finished tying the tree down. Tinley giggles and Aiylin nods at her.

  “Daddy, look!” Tinley calls out. Sebastian straightens and turns only to be struck by multiple snowballs.

  “What! Betrayed! By my only child,” he crouches and quickly makes a large snowball before advancing on them.

  “Help, Aiylin, Daddy’s going to get me!” she screams and runs behind her.

  “Sebastian,” she giggles and points at him trying to sound stern. “We can talk about this,” Aiylin tries to back up, but Tinley is behind her hiding in her skirts.

  He grins and throws the snowball with a soldier’s accuracy. It explodes, against her shoulder, raining snow over both girls.

  The resulting squeals of indignation have him laughing out loud. “Get him, Tinley!” Aiylin shouts and reaches out, taking the child’s hand. They run straight at him, causing him to shout, but they are surprisingly fast. He grabs them both and falls backward into the snow laughing.

  Tinley rolls away and shouts, “Snow angel!” and attempts to make one a few feet away.

  Sebastian is smiling up at Aiylin, and she is glowing with joy. “That, Mr. Becker is how you play in the snow,” she laughs and kisses him spontaneously.

  He takes the gift and savors the moment holding her loosely and sighing with cont
entment.

  “Daddy, I’m cold,” Tinley says from the other side of the sleigh.

  “I think that’s our cue to go get hot chocolate,” Aiylin says, rolling off him and waiting for him to help her up.

  “Oma makes the best hot chocolate, Aiylin,” Tinley says.

  “I can’t wait to taste it,” she smiles at the little girl and tugs her scarf off, wrapping it around her neck.

  “Here this will help keep you warm,” she smiles.

  Langdon watches as they walk back together to the house pulling the sleigh like a perfect little family. Rage pushes him to his horse and back to his hotel. He needs a new plan, he thinks as he drinks from his bottle again.

  Chapter 20

  Sebastian and Stanley build a tree stand out of wood, and finally, the tree is in the family room. The scent of pine mixed with the wood in the fireplace reminds Aiylin of Christmas.

  Tinley is tucked in next to her with a blanket over her legs and sipping on her hot chocolate.

  “I had fun today,” Aiylin says as she accepts a cup of chocolate from Elizabeth.

  “I remember going to pick our tree as a child. It was one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Besides going to Christmas service. If the weather was bad, Daddy would read to us from the Bible.”

  “Papa does that too,” Aiylin smiles and glances down when she feels Tinley stiffen.

  Sebastian listens as they finish removing the rope holding back the branches of the tree.

  “I was thinking today that I would hate to miss Christmas with you. If the offer still stands, I would be honored to spend Christmas with you all.”

  Tinley squeaks, “Really?!”

  “If your daddy says it’s okay,” she replies.

  Aiylin glances at Sebastian who is now smiling broadly. “Aiylin, I could think of nothing I’d like more.”

  “Wonderful, it’s settled then. Now we will decorate the tree tomorrow. I’m much too tired to try to do it tonight,” Elizabeth says.

  “I agree,” Aiylin stands and stretches. “I think I will need to go to town to see Sheriff Dane. Hopefully, they’ve found my bags. I’m in desperate need of a new dress,” she teases.

  “We will make a date of it,” Sebastian suggests as he walks towards her. “We’re having our annual Christmas market in a few days if the weather gives us a break. I’d be happy to take you to town so you can send a telegram to your family and perhaps do some Holiday shopping.”

  Aiylin lights up, “I don’t know if you can keep up with me, Sebastian. I’m a professional when it comes to shopping.”

  Her grin is contagious, and he rises to the challenge. “I love a challenge, Miss Miller.”

  “Tell me about the Market, Elizabeth,” Aiylin says, ignoring his taunting smile.

  “It’s lovely. Crafts, treats, clothes, toys, it’s wonderful! We will take two separate carriages. That way, you two can stay. I need to do some shopping as well. Christmas is only a week and half away!”

  Sebastian glances at the couch behind Aiylin and smiles at Tinley. “She’s worn out, excuse me,” he lifts his sleeping daughter and carries her from the room.

  “Poor lamb,” Elizabeth smiles and watches the way Aiylin’s eyes follow him from the room.

  “Aiylin come sit with me and tell me exactly what my sister has been up to,” Elizabeth asks.

  “I don’t like to speak ill of others, Elizabeth. That’s for Patrick to tell you.”

  “Yes, well his letter spelled out quite a few incidents. What do you think about her behavior?” Elizabeth asks.

  “Patrick believes that the loss of her husband and son was too great and that she clings to him for fear of losing him.”

  “You don’t believe that?” Elizabeth asks and watches her closely.

  “It isn’t that I don’t believe it, Elizabeth. Mena knows that loss. The pain almost killed her. Yet she remained faithful to God’s promise that he never allows suffering without reason. It could have been the thing that brought them closer, not pushed them apart. Perhaps, I’m too jaded to understand,” she says.

  Sebastian listens from the hallway not wanting to disturb them and hoping to gain some insight into the woman he is getting to know.

  “Jaded how?” Elizabeth asks.

  “I’ve been alone so long that I fear I don’t know how to love like that,” she murmurs.

  “Nonsense. Lonely and loss are both a kind of death for the soul. I’ve felt both, and I don’t care what age you are neither is fun to walk through. Taking a chance with our heart is terrifying but no less terrifying than living an entire lifetime with the cavern depths of loneliness.”

  “That’s true,” Aiylin says. “Your sister is dealing with both.”

  Sorrow fills Elizabeth’s soul. “Grief hits us all differently.” she glances out the window thinking about her husband. “I lost my Asher five years ago. I ache for him with every breath and death no longer scares me.” She glances at Aiylin, “In fact sometimes I long for it.”

  Sebastian jerks and starts to hurry to his mother but stops at Aiylin’s voice.

  “Don’t say that! Sebastian and Tinley need you,” Aiylin insists.

  “No, child. I hope to see him happy before I go. To make sure Tinley knows the love of a mother. I understand my sister’s pain, and perhaps she doesn’t know that she’s hurting Patrick. I will speak to her.”

  “That’s kind of you,” Aiylin watches as Sebastian steps into the room.

  “Tinley didn’t move when I put her to bed. We wore her out today,” he smiles as he sits next to his Mother and presses a kiss to her forehead.

  “I imagine so. She described her snow angel in great detail,” Elizabeth says with a laugh.

  “How will your family feel if you don’t come home straight away, Aiylin?” Sebastian asks.

  “I imagine they will be relieved,” she laughs and hurries to explain at the look of shock on their faces. “You must understand Patrick and Mena will be away until the week before Christmas. That means my parents will have the house to themselves for two weeks,” she grins in delight thinking of their love.

  “Surely they’ll miss you,” Elizabeth tries to reassure her.

  “A little, but I’m sure they didn’t plan on having me live with them for so long. In fact, I’ve been saving for a home of my own.”

  Sebastian’s mouth falls open in surprise. “How?” he asks.

  Aiylin looks at them and decides this is one of those moments where you must choose to trust. “I’ve been selling my music,” she says it so softly that Sebastian has to lean forward to hear her.

  Neither of them speaks for a moment, and then Sebastian smiles at her. “Of course! Your talent is obvious. Only a fool would let that pass without buying it. Which pieces? Will you play one for us?” he demands.

  Elizabeth grips his hand, calming him. Aiylin stares at him in surprise, and a tear slips down her cheek. Instantly he moves to sit next to her.

  “What did I say?” Sebastian asks.

  “It’s just that I haven’t told anyone, and you’ve surprised me.” Aiylin smiles and wipes her tears. “I hadn’t realized what a burden it was to keep it a secret.”

  Sebastian grips her hand gently, “Thank you for trusting us.”

  “How many pieces have you sold?” Elizabeth asks.

  “Fourteen,” she replies.

  Sebastian chuckles. “That’s more than a few, Aiylin.”

  “Who is buying them?” Elizabeth asks.

  “At first it was simple parlor music. I send it to my publisher, and he sells them,” Aiylin explains.

  Sebastian listens and observes her. It’s incredible how quickly he’s come to understand the nuances of her speech and body language. “At first, you say, and now?” he inquires.

  Aiylin smiles and pulls her hand away from his. “I’ve been composing pieces for multiple genres. Symphonies, orchestra, choirs, and more. It pays surprisingly well.”

  Elizabeth laughs loudly shocking them both. “Aiyl
in you are amazing, who knew we have a female composer in our midst?”

  Aiylin blushes and covers her face. Sebastian pulls her hands away from her face. “You should be proud of your accomplishments, why do you hide from it?”

  “My family has been clear that it is my duty to marry. When it didn’t happen, they were a little disappointed. It was never my intention to publish, Sebastian. I only did it as a way to take care of myself. Now, I have to wonder how my family will feel about it. Will they think I didn’t trust them with my future? How will I explain it to them?” she jumps and paces in front of the fire.

  “That’s easy, Aiylin,” Sebastian steps in front of her and stops her gently, gripping her upper arms. “You tell them the truth. That music is in your soul and that God didn’t give you such a gift to hide it.”

  “Sebastian,” she stares at him in astonishment and any doubt lingering in her mind about trusting him disappears. Elizabeth nods in agreement and pride.

  “What are your plans for your music, Aiylin?” Elizabeth asks distracting her from him

  “Plans?” she asks.

  “Yes, do you plan to travel and play your music?”

  “No,” she says quickly and shudders at the thought. “I made sure it was in my contract that it be published under a pseudonym.”

  “You don’t wish to play for live audiences?” Sebastian asks.

  “No. That was never my intention. I write because I have to,” Aiylin insists. Selfishly Sebastian is relieved to hear her say that, but he does wonder if she will regret it in the future.

  “Will you play for us?” he walks over to the chaise and lifts her guitar case from behind it with a grin.

  “I will play for you,” she laughs.

  The moon is casting a soft glow turning the snow-covered ground into a sparkling sea of diamonds. The lantern glows softly, calling him to its side. It is midnight, and the house is asleep.

  Sebastian glances at the lantern and frowns as he slowly starts to walk towards its warm light. Every step has it growing brighter.