Love Finds You in Frost, Minnesota
Page 20
“I apologize for the confusion today. I have no devious plan for Frost. Until recently, I had no plan whatsoever because I didn’t know what my non-business-savvy relatives had done.
“It appears my great-grandfather, who owned much of the land around Frost, allowed his friends to farm the land and keep the profits. They paid the property taxes and lived on his largesse. Still, his name was on the deeds. Somewhere along the line, errors were made and the following generations were led to believe that they owned the land, not my great-grandfather. When my father died recently, I discovered that I was heir to land in Minnesota. In an effort to untangle the titles, we discovered the recording errors and have made steps to correct them.”
“Yeah, so? That still means you’re planning to take away our land!” Harry Conner shouted.
“And our hometown!” That was Regina Olsdorf.
The worried muttering increased. Jack held up his hand. “Here’s my plan: No one has to leave their home or the land they’ve been farming. Granted, we’ll have to work out rental agreements with my cousins, but I plan to be more than fair. Your houses will be put in your own names. You will own your own homestead so no one will be put out. Most of my share of the inheritance will be given back to the people of Frost. Anyone who is living in a house I own can have it. Vince will take care of that. And what is Frost family property is considered businesses, and they will be deeded to the city to do with as they wish. I know it may not be what you want to hear, but it’s the best I can do at the moment.”
Jack scraped his fingers through his dark hair. “I want to work with you, not against you. Give us time to sort this out and feel free to ask Vince as many questions as you like.” He heard Vince groan. Jack didn’t care. It served him right for the trouble he’d gotten them into.
“One more thing. I apologize to everyone who’s been hurt by this. That was not my intent. I mean to make it right.”
The wind had been taken out of everyone’s sails. Vince was busy answering questions, but much of the crowd faded away now that they were reassured he was not going to do something dreadful. Townspeople even came up and thanked him for giving Main Street to the city and for saying they would get to keep their houses free of charge.
Hildy walked up beside him. “Well, you dodged a bullet there.”
“I may have, but I think the cannonball is still coming.”
“Merry?”
“I’ve decided that if she won’t come out of that house for me willingly, I’m not going to go in after her. If she trusts me so little that she believes I could toss people out of their homes, then we have no foundation for a marriage.”
“So you asked her then?” Hildy smiled. That suffering look in her eyes was gone again.
“A lot of good it did me.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure.” Hildy’s gaze fell on the last row of chairs at the back of the room.
Looking frail and teary, Merry sat with her coat clutched to her chest, misery oozing from every pore.
“How long has she been here?” he asked.
“She slipped in when Vince started talking. She hid in the shadows in the back for a while, listening.”
“So she heard everything?”
“It would have been hard not to.” Hildy patted his arm. “I’m going home now, Jack. You’re on your own.”
Slowly he made his way to the back of the room. Merry sat there shivering like a frightened rabbit. His heart nearly broke as he moved toward her. Jack spun a chair around so he could face her.
They sat in awkward silence until Merry broke the hush. “I’m not going to live in that house without paying you for it.”
Jack’s mouth dropped open.
“Here.” She pulled a dollar bill out of her pocket and thrust it at him. “Don’t say I don’t pay my way, Mr. Jack Frost!”
“You mean . . .”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t let you explain. You have every right to be upset with me. And though it breaks my heart, I even understand if you don’t think we have enough trust in each other to make a marriage.” Tears rolled from her eyes and down her cheeks. “I really didn’t lose trust, Jack, but I couldn’t make sense of it either. I needed to talk to God about it.”
“What did He say?”
She hung her head. “‘I’ll be there.’”
“What does that mean?” He took her hand and stroked the palm with his thumb.
“That if I never saw you again, He’d still be in my life. And if I did see you, He wouldn’t leave me alone. I just knew that either way, God would support me.” She smiled through the tears, a rainbow after a storm. “After that, everything in me screamed that I should go to you . . . and here I am.”
It was as though he could see clear through her. She’d laid herself bare to him. She’d accept his decision, he, who didn’t feel he even deserved a say after what had happened.
“I can’t live without you,” he said flatly. “You are the first sunshine I’ve had in my life since I was twelve years old. I won’t go back to living in that half-dead place, Merry. You have to stay with me. Please?”
She touched his cheek so lovingly, so tenderly, that it was as if a butterfly had rested its wings there.
“I will, Jack. Forever and ever.”
“Forever. That will have to do.”
Epilogue
• • • • • • • • • • • •
“You got your work done I see,” Merry said brightly. On each hip, she carried a chubby baby with curly black hair and a thumb in its mouth.
Jack looked up at the trees with their brilliant yellows, vibrant oranges, and vivid reds. It was a perfect Minnesota fall day.
“It took Jack Frost quite a while to paint all those trees with frost, but I did a good job, don’t you think?”
“Magnificent.”
Jack took one of the babies from her. He held him up and stared into his eyes. “Hi, Jack Jr.” The baby beamed at him. His father’s attention was soon drawn to the other baby, who was holding out chubby hands to him. Jack handed the little boy back to Merry and took the girl.
“I wonder if my brother would mind if he knew I’d named a girl after him.”
“From everything you’ve told me about him, I know he would have been pleased.”
“I hope so. At least from now on I’ll always associate the name Jamie with happy thoughts.”
Merry put her hand to his cheek. “Have I told you lately how happy I am?”
“Not since this morning.” He put his arm around her shoulders, and the babies gurgled to each other.
One of them spotted Peppy dashing across the yard, and suddenly they were both struggling to get out of their parents’ arms. When they were put down, Peppy gave them each a proper face washing and flopped on the ground between them.
“Now I have another male that my dog and cat approve of.” Merry tipped her face to the sun. “Plus, we have the perfect arrangement: October through January in Minnesota running the shop, and the rest of the time in California.”
“Do you miss teaching school?”
Merry tipped her head toward the babies, who were stuffing their mouths with grass clippings. “I feel like I’m just getting started.” She leaned down and emptied the two little mouths with her finger. “I wish your brother could have had children of his own. Maybe he would have had twins too.”
“Maybe, but I think Jamie’s carbon copy might be right here in Jack Jr.” The child had already managed to refill his mouth with clippings.
Now that Jack had opened up, Merry was hearing derring-do tales about him and his twin nearly every day. She dropped to the grass with her children. “You are my hero, Jack. You’ve been very brave, and look how you’ve healed.”
Jack lay down and rested his head in her lap, and the children began to crawl on him like ants at a picnic. “Not me. God. He’s the greatest healer. He proved it with me.”
Merry looked at the twins and her heart swelled with happiness. “And these two
are just what the doctor ordered.”
About the Author
• • • • • • • • • • • •
JUDY BAER is the author of more than eighty books in numerous genres: women’s fiction, romance, young adult, and non-fiction. A winner of many awards including the Angel Award, she has also been a three-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.
Born and raised on the prairies of North Dakota, Judy is well acquainted with small-town life. She now lives in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area with her husband. She is the mother of two and stepmother of three.
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