by Jillian Hart
“Okay.” She wouldn’t have many more chances to spend time with her friends. She took a ragged breath, squared her shoulders and followed Lila through the doorway. She could do this. If she didn’t look at Lorenzo not even once, then she would be just fine. It would be like he wasn’t even there and she could stay numb. Pretend her heart wasn’t decimated.
“Ruby.” A man’s baritone rang with surprise.
She jumped, pulse racing, before she realized it couldn’t be Lorenzo. Dr. Hathaway ambled in her direction. “How’s the wrist?”
“Healing. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Excellent. I’m glad to see you’re improving.” He glanced at her friends, her protectors, who didn’t move from her side. “I’ve never been caroling before, so this ought to be a fun experience. Is there any chance you might want to walk with me tonight?”
“No, thank you, but that’s kind of you to ask.” She said the words as gently as she could, realizing he really was interested in her. Bashful, she dipped her chin. “I hope you enjoy the singing, though. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” He tipped his hat, smiled briefly and ambled away.
“Look at you. Popular. In demand.” Earlee squeezed her arm.
“Now we finally know he wasn’t the one leaving the gifts,” Meredith added as she joined them. “Who thinks Ruby is going to be the next one getting married?”
Ruby rolled her eyes at the numerous “I do’s!” that rang around her. Her friends, honestly, they had romance on the brain. Or, maybe they were simply trying to make her feel less hopeless.
Reverend Hadly clapped his hands, pitching his voice over the din in the church. “Time to gather, everyone. Let’s get warmed up!”
“Rags.” Narcissa stepped in front of her and gave her curls a toss. In an expensive, wool dress, glittering jewelry and the finest shoes, Narcissa should have been a vision, except for the ungracious twist of her mouth and the sour look in her eyes. She said nothing more as she flounced by, but her malice and disdain spoke louder than any words.
Instead of feeling the brunt of it, the meanness bounced right off. Ruby watched her nemesis go, surprised at the pity she felt for the rich girl. Narcissa had everything a person could want—family, friends and a comfortable life full of beautiful things—but no happiness. She would spend the rest of her life putting down others because it made her feel better about herself, but it would never truly work. Unless she changed, Narcissa was doomed to a life filled with misery of her own making. She would never have what mattered most.
“Lorenzo,” Scarlet whispered in her ear.
Lorenzo? Ruby fisted her hands, suddenly feeling the need to escape. She couldn’t face him. Heartbreak battered her like panic. Before she could hurry out of the aisle, his presence washed over her like a sun break on a stormy day, changing everything. If she hurried, she could put enough distance between them before he came any closer and she wouldn’t have to see the hurt in his eyes. She wouldn’t have to feel her heartbreak. Why wouldn’t her feet move an inch?
“Tell him, Ruby,” Kate whispered.
“I can’t.”
His boots tapped a familiar rhythm up the steps, getting closer, each knelling footfall echoing in the evening’s darkness. Her pulse thundered in her ears. She felt her friends leave her one by one, with a squeeze of her hand, a touch to her shoulder, a murmur of encouragement, but they were leaving her. Suddenly, she was alone with Lorenzo striding toward her.
He didn’t smile. His gaze had shuttered, his face was stony. His mile-wide shoulders braced. Every shield he had went up. No caring radiated from his heart to hers. Just quiet apology as his eyes met hers.
It was too late. He no longer loved her. Fine. That was probably for the best but it hurt, how it hurt. Wretched, she spun on her heels, fleeing for the company of her friends.
Reverend Hadly clapped his hands. “Excellent. Great warm-up. Let’s start on the corner of Main, and we won’t stop until we’ve sung to every house on every street in our wonderful town. Now, bundle up and let’s go caroling.”
Cheers and comments rang out from the group as they broke apart. Somehow Lorenzo was in her peripheral vision, hands in his pockets, head down, already walking away fast, ahead of the crowd. Integrity and dignity radiated from him, unmistakable. A little sigh escaped her; she realized it too late to hide her adoration of the man. Love she could not stop cascaded through her with the force of a mountain avalanche.
Please. She thought she could feel God lean down closer just to listen. Please take good care of him. Lorenzo was not hers. He would never be hers to love. But she would always love him.
“Ruby?” Kate looked over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
“What?” She glanced around, realizing she was still standing in place. Everyone else was leaving. She rushed to Kate’s side, and her circle of friends closed around her.
“I couldn’t believe it. He barely looked at you,” Earlee said sympathetically. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. She would be.
“Maybe it will just take time,” Lila agreed. “I think he’s very committed to you. You just can’t see it because you are afraid.”
She hadn’t realized how great his love for her felt, how it filled her world, until it was gone.
“We’re right here with you,” Meredith added.
Tears filled her eyes. Oh, what would she ever do without her friends? She set her chin, determined to handle this the right way. She did not want sadness to mar this wonderful evening of singing and joy. It was Christmas Eve. This night would make a memory she intended to cherish forever.
“Why don’t we just have fun,” she said, reaching out to take Kate’s hand and then Scarlet’s. “We are together.”
The vestibule was crowded since they were the last of the carolers to amble in. Ruby spotted her coat and snatched it from the table. An envelope stuck out of one pocket with her name on it. In Lorenzo’s handwriting.
Her knees turned to jelly. Her hands shook. She stared at it in dread. What could it be? Had he written her a goodbye letter? Agony cut her like a dagger. But what if he had written asking her to stay? It would only be proof he didn’t understand. Pain took root, and she couldn’t move. She was a mess. Singers filed out into the starry night as she slipped shakily into her coat.
“Hurry, Ruby.” Earlee gave a little waving gesture from the doorstep. “We’re waiting, but everyone else is leaving without us.”
“You all go on. I’ll be right behind you.” She waited until Earlee was out of sight before tugging the envelope out of her pocket. Her fingers felt wooden, and she had a hard time pulling out the thick piece of paper folded up inside.
It wasn’t a letter. It was some official document. It looked like—no, it couldn’t be. Denial snapped through her as she straightened out the heavy parchment. The words on the paper were blurry. She blinked, realizing there were tears in her eyes. Tears that streaked down her cheeks and dripped on the hem of her coat and plopped on the toes of her shoes.
It was the deed to her family’s farm. Lorenzo. He had done this. She stumbled through the doorway, swiping the wetness from her cheeks with her coat sleeve. In the fading starlight, she clearly read the property number. Lorenzo had bought the land and given it to her.
“I see your secret admirer struck again.” His voice broke from the shadows, where his substantial silhouette separated from the darkening night.
“Yes. This is quite a Christmas gift. It’s so unbelievable. I don’t know how to thank him.” She carefully folded the deed into the envelope and slipped it into her pocket. What did she say to thank a man for saving her father’s dream? “I’m not sure Pa will accept it. He is a proud man. He doesn’t let anyone pay his way.”
“Not even his son-in-law?”
“His son-in-law?” Her mind whirled, spinning in place over his words. She sputtered. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t speak. Did Lorenzo still love her? He couldn’t mean to marry her?
Could he? She shook her head. No, that simply couldn’t be right.
He strode toward her, as mighty as the darkly gleaming mountains at the horizon behind him, as stalwart as the ground at her feet. No man ever had looked as committed as when Lorenzo took her hand. He tugged her gently down the steps until they were face-to-face, hand in hand, alone beneath the dark sky.
“I love you, Ruby.” In his voice, in his eyes, in his touch lay the truth. The proof of an infinite love that nothing could defeat—not time, not hardship, not even death. “From the moment I first set eyes on you, I fell hard. It was as if God touched my heart. Your family is my family. Your happiness is my happiness. There isn’t one thing in this life that can ever mean more than you. Be my wife, Ruby. Please. You are everything to me.”
Could this really be happening to her, Ruby Ann Ballard? She blinked, but the moment didn’t vanish. It remained, real and true. There had never been a more beautiful night or a more amazing man. She wasn’t imagining this, for Lorenzo’s hands cradling hers felt real. So did the snow at her feet. Not far away, Poncho nickered, as if urging her to believe. A single snowflake swirled in the air and brushed cold against her cheek.
“You’re proposing to me?” It was so hard to accept. She remembered how stony he’d looked in the church, and now she realized why. His hands trembled around her own. This moment was a great risk for him. He was offering her his world, all he was and all he would ever be.
“You are the one for me. The only one. Let me spend my life showing you. I love you so much. Every little thing about you.” A muscle tensed along his jaw. His whole, vulnerable heart shone in his eyes. “Please say you love me, too. That you want to be my wife.”
This was really happening. God was giving her this great chance at a once-in-a-lifetime love, and she was not going to let it pass her by. This man loved her family and had gone out of his way to show her how much he cared. She was not alone in that cherishing affection. She opened her heart fully, believing in her dreams.
“Yes.” Joy lifted her up until she wasn’t sure her feet touched the winter ground. All she could see was the matching joy on Lorenzo’s face, lighting his eyes, filling his heart. They were connected, soul to soul, and would always be. “I love you more than I know how to say. I want to be your wife more than anything.”
“Then I want you to have this.” He knelt down in the snow to slip a ring on her finger. The golden band was warm from his pocket, and the gem as big as her thumb-nail gleamed without a single light touching it. Snowflakes brushed the faceted surface. Never had she seen anything as stunning as his engagement ring.
“It was my grandmother’s,” he explained, standing again to tower over her, to shield her from the brunt of the rising wind. “The stone is a ruby.”
“A r-ruby?”
“See? We were always meant to be.”
Yes, that is just exactly how it felt when his lips met hers. Destined, as if God had led them every step toward each other, toward this perfect moment. In Lorenzo’s flawless kiss she saw a glimpse of their future. Loving and happy, raising a family, growing old together, cherishing one another. They would be the wealthiest people she knew, rich in their priceless love for one another.
“I hear singing.” Lorenzo broke the kiss, his gaze one of fathomless tenderness. In the distance rang the rise and fall of caroler’s voices. “They have started without us.”
“Then we had better hurry.” Think of all the happiness to come, so easy to believe now. They walked down the street, together forever at last, in perfect harmony.
Heaven felt so close as the storm began in earnest. Snowflakes twirled like airy dreams too fragile to touch and floated on gentle breezes. They fell like Christmas Eve blessings over the happy couple as Lorenzo pulled his snowflake bride into his arms and reverently kissed her one more time.
Epilogue
Christmas Day
“Rupert! You made it.” Ruby launched herself across the Davis’s toasty parlor, ran past the sparkling Christmas tree and into her brother’s arms. Happiness lifted her up as he swept her into a quick hug. Oh, it was good to see him. To have him back where he belonged.
“It’s great to be here.” He stepped back, grinning wide. “I caught a break and found a job working at a dairy near Helena. The Good Lord provides.”
“He surely does.” Gerard Davis gripped his cane, limping over with a welcoming smile. “So this is the brother Ruby has gone on about. I’m pleased to meet you, Rupert.”
“Good to meet you, sir.” He couldn’t stop smiling. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
“They certainly are.” Selma Davis circled around the sofa, sweeping up in her lovely Christmas dress. “Welcome to the family, Rupert. I don’t have to tell you how much we already love Ruby.”
“That’s because they don’t know me yet,” she spoke up, blushing. Honestly, she wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong with the Davises, but they were easy to love. Already they felt like family.
“Rupert, you look half frozen.” Selma took charge, always concerned for others. “Come get warm by the fire. Bella, pour him a cup of hot tea. You’re just in time for Christmas dinner.”
“Glad you could make it.” Lorenzo came up to shake Rupert’s hand. “Did you have a chance to check on Solomon on your way here?”
“I did. He’s looking stronger. We have many blessings this Christmas.”
“Very many,” Selma agreed, giving Ruby’s hand a squeeze. It was like already having a mother. A real mother. “I’m going to check and see how Cook is coming with dinner. Oh, Lucia. There you are. Is the meal ready?”
“Yes. Please come into the dining room.” With a festive smile, Lucia tapped away.
“I hope you’re hungry.” Lorenzo sidled up to her. “It’s the Christmas ball buffet all over again.”
“I know, since I helped to cook it.” She laughed, feeling light and incredibly hopeful. Happy didn’t begin to describe it. Joy? Even that was too small of a word. Her engagement ring sparkled on her left hand, a symbol of his love. She thought of all the Christmases to come, of family gatherings and of their life ahead. All so wonderful. “Thank you for everything. I love you so much, Lorenzo.”
“Not nearly as much as I love you.” He kissed her sweetly, her husband-to-be. He noticed her father hanging back. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.”
“Thanks.” She squeezed his hand, loath to let go of him. Her soul felt ripped apart as he left. Yes, God had been incredibly gracious to bring her here, where loved reigned.
“You look happy, Ruby-bug.” Pa ambled over, looking bashful, looking proud. “That’s the best Christmas present a father could want.”
“Thanks for accepting Lorenzo’s gift of the farm.” She fussed with his collar. It was a little crooked. Then again, maybe it had more to do with her sewing. “I know it was hard on your pride.”
“It was his gift for you, Ruby, and so it was easy to accept. I’d do anything for you, sweetheart. Anything at all.” He brushed a kiss to her cheek. “Now, go to Lorenzo. He’s waiting for you. And be happy. Grab all the happiness you can.”
Bliss. That was the word. That described how she felt as she stepped into the hallway and into Lorenzo’s loving arms. Some dreams were meant to come true, and this was just the beginning.
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to Angel Falls. Snowflake Bride is the fourth book in my Buttons & Bobbins Series. After reading these pages, I hope you felt as if you revisited old friends. I know I did. The Buttons & Bobbins girls are grown up and making their way in the world. Fiona is expecting a baby. Lila is a newlywed. Meredith is planning her wedding. Earlee is teaching school.
As you know, Ruby is the newest member of the Buttons & Bobbins girls. When I first met her in the schoolroom in Meredith’s book, I fell in love with her meek and gentle sweetness. Ruby has a good heart, and I hope you came to love her, too, as God led her tenderly and surely toward the true happily-ever-after He intended for her. This Ch
ristmas tale reminds me of Cinderella with its Christmas ball, poverty-stricken heroine and a prince worthy of her. I hope Ruby’s romance touched you the way it did me. Scarlet’s story is next.
Thank you for choosing Snowflake Bride.
Wishing you peace, joy and love this holiday season,
Questions for Discussion
What was your first impression of Ruby? How would you describe her? What do you like most about her character?
How would you describe Ruby and Lorenzo’s first meeting? Have you ever felt that shy with a handsome man? How did you handle it?
Why does Ruby believe Lorenzo would never be interested in her?
How would you describe Lorenzo’s character? What trait do you like most about him? How has his family contributed to who he is?
How would you say Ruby’s past has influenced her and made her who she is?
What does Ruby fear most?
What is the story’s predominant imagery? How does it contribute to the meaning of the story? Of the romance?
In what ways is Ruby poor? In what ways is she rich? What role does her poverty play?
Do you see God at work in this story? Where and how and what meaning do you find there?
How would you describe Ruby’s faith? Does it change through the course of the book? How would you describe Lorenzo’s faith? Does his change through the course of the book?
What role does Ruby’s friendships play in the story and the romance?
What does Ruby learn about herself? About her friends? About Narcissa?
What does Lorenzo learn when he finds the homeless family? How does that affect him?
What do you think Ruby and Lorenzo have each learned about love?
There are many different kinds of love in this story. What are they? What roles do they play in the meaning of the book? In Ruby and Lorenzo’s romance?