Sheriff Hawkins shook Matthew’s hand and glanced at Simon. “Well, if you need me for anything, you know where to find me.”
Simon nodded. “I do. Thanks again, Frank.”
Matthew walked the sheriff to the door, then turned back to Simon. “Maybe we’ve seen the last of Wade Campbell around here. But I sure hate to hear that George is mixed up with him.”
“Me too. Pete’s been worried about him for months.”
“I don’t understand how George could suddenly turn his back on everything he’s always known. Do you think he did it because Rani wouldn’t marry him?”
Simon sighed and sank down on the bench that sat to the side of the fireplace. “I thought so at first, but Pete tells me they’ve had trouble with George for a long time. That surprised me because nobody in the Cove would have believed it. He seemed like the perfect son.”
Matthew sat down beside Simon. “I wish I could talk to him. I’d like to share with him what you’ve helped me to see these past few months.”
“That’s what serving the Lord is all about, Matthew. Once we turn our lives over to Christ, we want everyone else to know the peace He brings us. I’m glad you’ve come to understand that.”
Matthew stared into the fire for a moment before he spoke. “I wish I could tell Rani what’s happened in my life. I know she probably hates me after the way I’ve hurt her, but I just want her to know I’m finally at peace with my past. I thought maybe she would come home for Christmas, and I could talk to her.”
Simon sighed and slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m afraid you won’t get to do that. She’s staying in Maryville for Christmas. We sure are going to miss her.”
Matthew’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He’d thought she wouldn’t miss Christmas in the Cove. He must have hurt her a lot more than he realized for her to stay away from her family at such an important time. “I’m sorry, Simon. I guess this is my fault too.”
Simon shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. She’ll have to come home sooner or later. I just wish she’d hurry up and do it.”
Matthew and Simon sat in front of the fire, each lost in their thoughts. Matthew closed his eyes and thought of how Rani had looked in front of the mountain laurel bush the first day he’d seen her.
He wished she would come home soon. He wanted to beg her forgiveness for hurting her and to tell her he’d never stopped loving her. It was too much to hope that she might still return his feelings, but that didn’t matter so much. He only wanted her to be happy.
Anna set the last of the clean Christmas dinner dishes in the cupboard, untied her apron, and hung it on a peg next to the stove. She turned and smiled at Granny, who was sitting at the kitchen table. “Did you enjoy our Christmas dinner, Granny?”
Granny’s eyes twinkled. “You outdone yourself this time, darlin’. Ev’ry year I wonder how Christmas can get any better, but it does. Maybe it’s because I’m gittin’ older and don’t have as many left as I’d like.”
Anna laughed and shook her finger at Granny. “Now, now, none of that talk today. This is the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord, and we have a lot of blessings to thank Him for.”
“We have been blessed this past year,” Granny said. “The crops were good in the Cove, Matthew came home, and Stephen got to start to school at Vanderbilt. Rani’s going to have her pottery in an art show in a few months, and the good Lord sent a lot of laughter back in this house when Noah come to live with us. The only thing that would have made today better was to have Rani and Stephen at home.”
Anna sighed. “You’re right about that. I’ve been thinking about all my family today. My mother isn’t doing well right now. I thought I might take Noah to Strawberry Plains for a visit with her and my brother’s family in the spring.”
“Maybe you can go when Rani’s in Knoxville and go to her art show. Noah would love that.”
Anna shook her head. “I don’t know. There are several babies due at that time, and I may not be able to get away.” She laughed and walked over to help Granny to her feet. “I should have realized before I took over for you that a midwife’s life is controlled by when a baby decides to make an entrance into this world.”
Granny arched an eyebrow and grunted as she rose from the chair. “If I remember right, I told you that when you first come to the Cove.”
Anna laughed. “I think you did too.” She guided Granny toward the door to the front room. “Let’s see what the menfolk are doing.”
Granny snorted and hobbled toward the door. “They’re prob’ly sleepin’ in front of the fire. I declare I never seen two grown men put away as much food as Simon and Matthew did.”
As they stepped into the room, Noah jumped up from his chair by the fire and ran toward them. “Is it time to open presents yet?”
Simon turned a bleary-eyed stare in Noah’s direction and smiled. “Not just yet.”
As Anna guided Granny to her chair, she glanced at the small tree Simon and Noah had cut in the woods and brought home. The decorations they’d used for years hung from the limbs of the little fir tree. There were the paper stars Stephen and Rani had made when they were children and the tinsel she had bought years ago and carefully wrapped away each year after Christmas. This year Noah had added his contribution by helping her string the popcorn that looped the tree.
The most precious ornaments of all, though, were the pictures of toys Willie had cut from the Montgomery Ward Catalog the last Christmas of his life. He had brought them to her and told her someday he would make a lot of money and buy himself all the things he’d wished for in the book. Anna blinked back a tear, and let her hand brush against several of the pictures as she led Granny to her chair.
Then she settled on the sofa and motioned for Noah. “Come sit by me while Simon reads the Christmas story, and then we’ll see what’s under the tree.”
Noah climbed on the seat beside her and snuggled close. For a brief second she closed her eyes and remembered other times Willie had done the same. Then she opened her eyes and smiled down at the child who’d brought so much joy into her life in the last few months. She hugged him close as Simon began to read.
“‘And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed…’”
Anna’s mind wandered to Christmases past and the three children who were no longer here. The years had passed too quickly. It seemed only yesterday that they were all at her feet. How she longed to have them all back again. Next to her Noah stirred, and she pulled him closer and rested her cheek on top of his head.
Simon’s voice quieted, and she glanced at him. He smiled at her from across the room, and she realized he knew what she was thinking. He too longed for days past.
She released Noah from her arms with a smile. “Are you ready to see what’s under the tree?”
Noah jumped to his feet, his eyes round. “I sure hope there’s something for me.”
Anna laughed, reached down, picked up a brown paper package, and handed it to him. “I think this is for you.”
Noah ripped the paper apart and sucked in his breath. His lips moved as if he was trying to speak, but no sound came out. As if he held the greatest treasure he’d ever seen, he stared at the baseball glove and ball in his hand. After a moment he turned to Anna and swallowed. “Is this really for me?”
She smiled and nodded. “It is.”
He turned his head to stare at Simon. “I ain’t never had nothin’ like this before.”
Simon blinked from the tears in the corners of his eyes. “They belonged to our little boy a long time ago. Now they’re yours.”
Noah cradled the gift to his body. “Just for me?”
“Yes. I have a bat I used when my brother John and I were boys. I’ll teach you how to catch and bat. By next spring you ought to be able to hold your own with any of the boys in the schoolyard.”
Noah jumped up, ran to Simon, and hugged him. Then he hurried to hug Anna.
When he pulled away from her, he looked up into her eyes, and for a fleeting second it was as if she looked into Willie’s face again.
“You ain’t never told me what to call you.”
“No,” she said. “I thought I would let you decide on your own.”
His forehead wrinkled, and a serious expression clouded his eyes. “I reckon I cain’t call you Ma, but maybe I could call you what Miss Rani calls you. How about Mama?”
She squelched the hiccup of emotion that rumbled in her throat. “I think Mama sounds fine.”
He turned to Simon. “What does Miss Rani call you?”
“Poppa,” he said.
Noah smiled. “Mama and Poppa. That sounds good. Now I guess I’m a part of the fam’ly.”
Anna laughed and hugged him again. “I guess you are.”
Grinning, he sat down on the floor and slipped the baseball glove on his hand. Anna watched him for a minute before she reached down, picked up a few more packages she had placed there, and handed them to each one.
Smiles lit the faces of Simon, Granny, and Matthew as they tore their brown packages open. Simon grinned as he pulled out the muffler she’d knitted. “This will keep me warm all winter.”
Matthew pulled out one like it. His fingers caressed the wool. “Thank you for making this for me, Anna. I haven’t had a Christmas present in years. I’ll think of you when I wear it.”
She smiled. “And I’ll feel your good thoughts.”
Granny chuckled. “Well, would you look at this? I got me one too. I ’spect Anna means for us all to be warm this winter.”
Anna laughed. “Or it means it’s the only thing I can knit.”
Granny waved her hand in dismissal. “No it don’t. I reckon I taught you right well.”
Simon cleared his throat. “Since I can’t knit or sew, I couldn’t make anything for you. But when John went over to Pigeon Forge a few weeks ago, I asked him to pick up a few things for me.” He handed a package to Anna. “This is for you.”
“For me?” She directed a stern glare in his direction. “You didn’t spend money we don’t have on something for me, did you?”
He laughed. “Open it and see.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled a leather journal from the paper. She ran her hand over the smooth cover and blinked back tears. “A new journal. Oh, Simon, you knew I had filled up the other one.”
He nodded. “I figured you could use a new one.” He glanced over at Matthew. “Anna started writing in a journal when she first came to the Cove, and she’s filled up a lot of them through the years. But I have some other things too.” He handed a small sack to Granny, one to Matthew, and another to Noah. “For the three of you, I have something for your sweet tooth.”
Noah’s eyes lit up. “Candy too? This is the best Christmas I ever had.”
Granny’s eyes grew wide. “You sure do know what I like too.”
Matthew grinned. “Thanks, Simon. But I feel bad. I don’t have anything for all of you.”
Granny reached over and patted his arm. “You done given us the best present you could when you come home to us.”
Anna nodded. “You’ll always be like a member of our family, Matthew. We want you to remember that.”
Tears pooled in his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered.
Granny straightened in her chair. “Well, if truth be told, I ain’t really no member of this fam’ly, although I’d fight any man who said I wasn’t. So I have a gift to give to Simon and Anna, my son and daughter.”
She pulled an envelope from her apron pocket and handed it to Simon. He and Anna exchanged surprised glances before he tore into the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper. His face grew pale as he read what was written on the page.
“Oh, no, Granny, we can’t accept this.”
Anna stepped closer and peered down at the paper. “What is it?”
Granny settled back in her chair and crossed her arms. “It’s the deed to my farm. I’m a-givin’ it to you. I wrote Robert, and he took care of ev’rything for me at the courthouse. It’s all legal, and now my land belongs to you. I feel like we ought to keep it in the family.”
Anna knelt beside Granny’s chair and clasped her hand. “Thank you, Granny. I don’t know what would have happened to Simon and me if you hadn’t been by our sides all these years. We love you.”
Granny’s eyes filled with tears. “And I love all of you, darlin’.” She sniffed and straightened in her chair. “Now I know you just got them dishes washed, but I sure would like to have another piece of that chocolate cake you made. I ain’t never tasted anything like it. How about you, Noah? Want some more cake?”
Clutching his ball and glove, he jumped to his feet. “I’ll race you to the kitchen, Granny!”
She frowned. “Well, hold your horses, boy. I ain’t as spry as I used to be. You can help me up, and we’ll go together.”
Anna laughed and pushed to her feet. “Everybody come back in the kitchen, and we’ll all have another piece.”
She hurried back to get the cake and some plates out of the pie safe. She set it on the table and began to place slices on the dishes. As she did, she closed her eyes and thought once again of her children and Christmases past.
She glanced around the kitchen. To some people their small cabin might look like something only the poor could call home, but to her it was the castle her prince had brought her to over twenty years ago. She had never regretted her decision to stay here instead of going to New York. She closed her eyes.
When I came to the Cove, Lord, I didn’t know what You had planned for me. Thank You for my wonderful life with Simon and Granny. You gave me three wonderful children, and I thank You for each one of them. I pray that Rani and Stephen have had a wonderful Christmas, and let them know I’m thinking of them. Lord, You’ve heard my prayers of heartbreak through the years for the loss of Willie, but I’ve always felt Your strength flowing through me. Now You’ve sent me another child, and I find he’s healing the hole in my heart. Help me to be worthy of Your love.
Movement at the door signaled the entrance of someone from the other room. She opened her eyes and smiled at Noah leading Granny into the kitchen. He glanced up at Granny and grinned. “Look, Granny, Mama’s already got the cake cut for us.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I sure do, son.”
Simon and Matthew followed them into the room, and Simon walked over and put his arms around her. Together they watched as Noah sat down and began to devour the cake in front of him. Simon’s arms tightened around her.
“Merry Christmas, Anna.”
She looked up into the face that was still as handsome as the first day she saw him and smiled. “Merry Christmas, Simon.”
Mrs. Miller set the silver tray on the parlor table and glanced over at Rani, who was sitting on the sofa. “Miss Rani, here’s the coffee and my special Christmas cake. Do you want me to cut it before I go?”
Rani scooted to the edge of the sofa and frowned. “Where are you going?”
“Home. I don’t want to be in the way.”
Rani stood up and pointed to a chair. “You are not in the way. You are going to sit down in that chair and have dessert with us. I won the battle to make you eat dinner at the table with us, and I’m not going to give in on this, either.”
Mrs. Miller smiled. “Well, if you think Doc wouldn’t mind.”
Uncle Charles and David walked into the parlor at that moment from the dining room. “Uncle Charles, tell Mrs. Miller we want her to have dessert with us.”
He directed a shocked look in his housekeeper’s direction. “Why would you not want to join us?”
“I didn’t want to intrude.”
Uncle Charles took her by the arm and guided her to a chair. “You are not intruding. Now have a seat.”
David laughed and plopped down on the sofa next to where Rani had been seated. “I don’t know about you, Mrs. Miller, but I can’t wait to get a bite of that coconut cake you made. I ha
ven’t eaten any since I was a boy.”
Mrs. Miller frowned. “Then at least let me serve everybody.”
When everyone had been served, Mrs. Miller took a seat opposite the sofa and joined in the conversation. Rani smiled and nodded from time to time, but her mind kept wandering. She imagined her family gathered to read the story of Christ’s birth. She could see Granny nodding in her chair as she listened, and she wondered if they had invited Matthew for Christmas dinner. She hoped so. He probably hadn’t celebrated Christmas in years, and she wanted his first one back in the Cove to be a good one.
Later, when the dishes had been cleared away and Uncle Charles and Mrs. Miller were in the kitchen, she turned to David. “I hope you aren’t missing your family too much today.”
He shook his head. “I’m not, but I imagine you are. You haven’t been away from home as long as I have.”
“I have had a few moments when I wished I was home, but I’ve really enjoyed being with you.”
He smiled. “I’m glad.” He pulled a small package from his pocket and handed it to her. “I wanted to get you a present to let you know how much I appreciate all the help and encouragement you’ve given me as I’ve prepared for the show. And also to let you know how important you are to me.”
She stared at the box wrapped in white tissue paper with a red bow on top. “I’m the one who should be thanking you for all you’ve done for me. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. It’s not much, just something I saw and thought you would like.”
She tore the paper from the box, opened it, and stared in wonder at the gold locket nestled on black velvet. A four leaf clover made from small emeralds decorated the front, and small diamonds sparkled at the top and bottom of the clover. She shook her head. “I can’t accept this. It’s too expensive.”
She started to hand it back to him, but he shook his head and reached inside the box. He pulled out the necklace. “No, I want you to have it. Let me put it on you.”
She hesitated for a moment, but the look on his face told her he wouldn’t give in. With a sigh she turned away from him and lifted her hair off her neck. As he slipped the necklace around her neck and fastened it, his breath fanned her back. A tingle ran down her spine at the touch of his lips grazing her skin.
Mountain Homecoming Page 24