by Nancy Naigle
“Emma isn’t the only one who is special. I’m proud to be your son. I love you, Mom.”
“I know. All those things I just told you about—it was the only way I knew to bring some kind of spark of light to people who were going through hard times. The patients and their families. Some were going through things that would change their lives forever. We’d take patients to that end waiting room and let them look out the window when the nurses went out each night to sing. I wish they still did that, but I know people are busy.”
“Too busy for the little things that mean the most. I hope I never get that busy.”
“You’re a good man, Ben. If any of my kids will always keep things in perspective, I think it will be you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“You really do like this girl. I don’t think I’ve seen you this way in a long while. It’s nice.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. It’s not going anywhere.”
“No?”
“No. I admit that I was attracted from the minute I saw her. Should’ve known she’d be a bigwig city girl with a big job. Don’t I always fall for those? Always the wrong ones.”
“You just haven’t met the right one yet. I don’t think where she’s from has anything to do with it.”
“Well, if it’s not them, then it must be me that’s the issue.”
“Don’t be silly, Ben. You’re a catch. Any woman would be lucky to be with you.”
“No offense, but that doesn’t mean much, coming from my mother.”
“Well, it’s true.” She picked up her pastry bag and went back to work.
“I’m not going to repeat my mistakes. I just wondered if you remembered the situation. When Ruby mentioned it today, it got me thinking that I didn’t really know why you changed careers. I guess I always just thought that baking was your real passion. That maybe you’d done the nursing thing because it’s what your dad had wanted.”
“Oh, he did. For sure. But sometimes you have to let life take you where you’re supposed to go. I don’t have any regrets. Those experiences made me who I am. And I needed those field-dressing skills for as many times as you got banged up as a kid. You were always getting hurt.”
“You make me sound like a klutz.”
“No, furthest thing from it. You were fearless.” She lifted her eyes and met his gaze. “Maybe you should consider being a little more fearless when it comes to love.”
Chapter Twenty-five
After Joy dropped Ben off at his truck, she drove to the other side of town to pick up some feed for the livestock. She drove up to Hoff’s Feed & Seed just before it closed. Thank goodness Ruby had an account and a standing order, so the boys knew exactly what she needed, because Joy had no idea there would be so many choices when it came to feeding farm animals.
With the back of her Prius loaded with chicken mash, rabbit pellets, goat chow, and horse feed, she was thankful she didn’t have anything else to pick up, because the only room left was the passenger seat.
Now, if Ruby would just quit texting her more things to do, she’d already have completed everything on her list for the day. No sooner had she crossed off “grocery store” from her list, and enjoyed just a quick moment of satisfaction, than her cell phone signaled another text from Ruby.
She read the text as she got into her car. It simply read: Call me.
Joy stared at the text. Now, why in the world hadn’t she just called? She pressed the button to dial Ruby. “Hi, Ruby. What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Yes, dear. I forgot to tell you when you were here earlier. I’d promised Molly she could wear my pearls at her Christmas pageant this year. Would you make sure to make that happen for me?”
“Of course.” Joy didn’t have to ask where the pearls were. She’d played jewelry box on Aunt Ruby’s bed so many times, she could probably list off the contents by memory.
“Thank you. I kept forgetting to mention it. Also, I was thinking about this year’s wreaths.”
Joy slumped in the driver’s seat. She hadn’t discussed the details of all her ideas with Ruby, because she’d wanted to surprise her, but she was nearly done with the wreaths. Even gone the extra mile to buy supersized ribbon and decorations for the giant forty-two-inch-wide wreath she’d seen in the first stall in the barn, lodged between the feed barrels and a roll of fence wire. From everything she could find, it looked like Ruby usually hung just the greenery wreath over the barn door. This year it would match the others.
“You know,” Ruby continued, “I usually do something unique for the front door. If you look for a box in the attic labeled SNOW CONES, you’ll find some ornaments from a long, long time ago. It’s not snow cones like the summer treat. You’ll see. They were so pretty. I think you could reuse those. That would make it easy on you.”
Relief flooded over her because she was already using those in her design. “Thank you, Ruby, that’s so thoughtful.” Joy had seen the contents of that box already. How did you not look inside a box from the attic that says SNOW CONES on it?
It was exciting that Ruby had fond memories of those. Joy had a feeling Ruby was going to love what she had done with the box of bleach and sparkly snow-dusted pinecones.
“And will you stop by the department store and pick up one of those giant buckets of individually wrapped peppermint puffs? Folks love those, and they’ll look pretty next to the peppermint wreath in a big glass punch bowl next to the door when folks walk in. And a couple peppermint candles. Smell is just as important. Did I tell you that before?”
“Yes, ma’am. You’ve mentioned it.” Joy tried not to sound impatient, but she was tired. All that talk about Mom today had made her feel a bit fragile—plus, every time she thought she was done, Ruby added one more thing to her never-ending list. She grabbed her pen and added the two new items to her list.
“Will you send me some pictures tomorrow?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“I’m too old for surprises. I could have a heart attack and die!”
“You are not old. You’re in better health than most of us.”
“That’s all a benefit of country living. You should try it.”
She couldn’t disagree, and she did feel better since she’d been here at the farm. Probably all the fresh air and exercise she was getting. And even now, exhausted and fragile as she faced the past she’d avoided for so long … this place made it seem doable.
Joy made what she hoped would be her last trip to a department store this season. The aisles were crowded with families. She found the peppermint puffs Ruby wanted and picked out candles to fit the theme. On an endcap there were stacks and stacks of wire ribbon on sale. She picked out a design in a satiny sheen that would offset the natural features in her designs, and loaded every single spool they had into her cart with the other items. This year’s decorations were going to blow Ruby’s socks off.
Socks!
She swerved the cart around and headed to the ladies’ department to pick out some fun holiday socks for Ruby and herself. And some for Molly, Renee, and her girls too—a new tradition. And before she made it to the checkout, she grabbed a pair of velvety soft red pajamas. If that wouldn’t put a girl in the mood to decorate and bake for the holidays, nothing would.
With one last check mark, every single to-do was officially a ta-da. Finally.
She pushed the start button on her car and headed to the farm. If she weren’t so tired, she’d stay up late tonight so she could have everything staged to get the rest of the decorations up this weekend. But if she got up early, she should still be on schedule. That would leave next week when she got back from the gala to put the final tweaks on things and bake cookies.
Christmas music filled the car. Even though she was in the Christmas spirit tonight, Joy wasn’t ready for the angelic glow of color that softened the darkness as she drove around the last curve before she got to the farmhouse.
She leaned forward over the steering wheel. “Ben.” He’d b
een busy.
White lights edged every angle of the house, and the fence line twinkled a path all the way to the barn, where big red bulbs lit the outline of the peaked roof. The shrubbery around the house glowed bright green, but the other trees dazzled in multicolored strands from the tippity-top to the lowest limbs.
Ruby was right—Joy could never have been able to replicate this light display without Ben’s help.
She sat at the edge of the driveway, her car running, still staring in awe. Her lips were dry from the wide smile that had spread across her face. She couldn’t wait to see Molly’s reaction to this. It was beautiful, and happy, and inspiring. Yes, definitely inspiring—because although she’d come home feeling tired and ready to crash, now she was eager to complete everything on her list and up her game to be sure that what she’d planned stood up to Ben’s contribution. So maybe she was a little competitive. Was that so bad?
She pulled her car up to the house, then backed up to the barn to unload the bags of feed.
The guys at Hoff’s Feed & Seed had lifted them and set them in the back of the car like they weighed nothing, but they weren’t light. She pulled the top bag out of the car and put her foot under it, lifting with her arms and kicking the bag forward a step at a time into the barn close to the feed bins. The huge barrels were nearly empty, and filling them wasn’t going to be quick. The animals bleated and nickered, begging her to feed them first. “I’ll get to you as soon as I get these unloaded,” she said.
The fifty-pound bag was too heavy and awkward for her to lift and pour into the barrel, so she grabbed a large feed scoop and five-gallon bucket and began moving the feed from bag to bucket to barrel, until the bag was light enough for her to lift.
She hoisted the dusty bag, balancing it on her hip, then tilted the contents until it spilled into the barrel.
“Let me help you with that.”
Joy jerked around at the sound of Ben’s voice. Her heart fluttered. He’d carried two of the other bags over at once. Making light work of it. His muscles flexed, and that made her want him to wrap them around her. She’d kissed this man, and that kiss still made her tingle.
He grabbed the sack and shook the last pellets out of it, then folded the bag flat. “Ruby will get a rebate for each of these bags she takes back to the feed and seed to get refilled.”
“They didn’t even mention that.”
“Guess they didn’t mention they usually deliver her feed and put it away for her either.”
“No. They did not.”
“Lazy kids. I’ll help you. Open the barrel for the chicken mash.”
Joy lifted the top and held it as Ben let the powdery mix flow. “You want to be sure the goats never get into the laying mash. It’ll bloat them right up.”
“Is that bad?”
“It can kill them.”
“Goodness. That’s all I need.” Ruby would probably never forgive her if that happened. She put the lid on the barrel and opened the next one.
Ben poured until the bag was about half empty. “Here, hold this bag steady, it’s almost empty now, and I’ll get the last bag.”
She moved into position and finished, folding the empty sack just as he had, and stacked it with the others that were inside another bag by the door.
“Thanks for your help,” she said as he walked up with the last bag. “Perfect timing.”
“Happy to help.”
“The place looks beautiful. When I drove up tonight, it was … really amazing.”
His smile spread wider. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I was shocked. I swear it took my breath away when I came around the corner. Every light is strung so perfectly, and I love the way you switched up the colors for different parts. Red for the barn. White on the house. It’s all great.”
“It’s what I do,” he said with a wink.
“What? Rescue women with your handiness?”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
And it was one. She’d never really known anyone quite like Ben before.
The goats climbed up on the fence and bleated.
“Have you fed them yet?” he asked.
“No. But they’d act that way whether I had or not.”
“That’s why I asked. Why don’t I feed them while you get changed? I thought maybe we could get all the trees in their stands tonight.”
It still hit her a little wrong when he seemed to know more about this place than she did, but it was her own fault she hadn’t spent much time here over the years. But she could change that going forward. “Deal.”
She turned before he could change his mind. She wouldn’t miss that donkey nibbling and slobbering on her hair every time she walked by him. That was aggravating. And Nanny and Waddles jumped and pushed their faces in the food scoop. It was like being an offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins. Only she wasn’t very good at it.
By the time Joy got changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and came down the stairs, Ben was wrangling the half tree into the living room.
Joy took the last few steps two at a time and ran over to hold the door open. “That tree looks pitiful.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“I hope you’re right.” He slid past her.
She shut the door and followed him over to the corner of the room. “Let me get the stand. It’s right over here.” She disappeared through the kitchen and came back with the plastic stand. “These things are huge. Sure seems like overkill.”
“I bought them for Ruby last year.”
Of course you did. Suck-up.
“Ruby was having trouble stooping down to add water to the trees every day, and a dry tree is a recipe for disaster. Especially in an old place like this.”
A hero. Again. Was there anything he didn’t think of? “That was really thoughtful of you.”
“You’d have done the same thing.”
The unspoken if you’d been around poked at her.
She got down on her knees and slid the stand toward the corner.
Ben dropped the base of the tree into the stand, and Joy started twisting the screws to hold it in place.
“Not too far,” he said. “Step back and see if we have the right side out to hide where the goats went wild. Then, we’ll straighten it up.”
She stood back toward the center of the room. “Twist just a smidgen to the left.”
He turned the tree.
“Whoa. Perfect.” Joy held her hands up. “You’re right. No one will ever know. This is great.”
“Is it straight?”
She cocked her head to the left and to the right. “A little more toward the kitchen?” After he made the adjustment, Joy clapped her hands. “Yes. That looks great. Let me tighten it up.” With a few twists of the eyebolts, the tree stood sturdy and tall. “All set.”
Ben let go and eased away, joining Joy in the center of the room. “Looks good. I’ll help you with the lights. That’s always easier with two people.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s fun. I don’t mind.” He took his worn jean jacket off and placed it on the ottoman. “What kind of lights do you want to put on this one?”
“All gold. I found a whole box of tiny gold lights. I’m not sure they’ve ever even been opened.”
“Not surprised,” Ben said. “Ruby loves shopping the sales after the New Year. I think she forgets what she’s bought by the time the next year comes around.”
They unpacked the lights and made short business of lighting the tall tree. Every time she stretched her arms around the back and he caught her hand and took the string from her, a giggle swelled inside her.
When they finally reached the very bottom row of branches, Ben held her hand and pulled the branches back, smiling. “You ready?”
She was so ready, and not just for the lights. “Yes.”
Ben plugged the lights into the foot switch plug that came with the tree stand, then tapped his foot on the button. There was a soft click and the tree l
it. The gold cast was warm and soft. Even prettier than white or colored lights.
“Remember you asked me before if I liked white or colored lights?”
“I do. Sorry about the lecture.”
“No. You were right. It’s kind of an occupational hazard, I guess, or maybe it’s a nervous habit, but I tend to spout facts when I get anxious. But I didn’t have an opinion on my own.”
“And you do now?”
“I do. I like gold lights the best.”
He stepped next to her and pulled her close. “They really are beautiful.”
“And I like lights that I’ve put up with you. Thank you for your help. This has been the best Christmas I’ve had since I was a kid.”
“Christmas isn’t even here yet.” He playfully tapped his finger on the tip of her nose. “Just wait. If you give Crystal Falls half a chance, you might make the best memories of all, and some new traditions.”
“I’d like that.”
He touched her cheek, and her phone sounded.
She lowered her gaze, grabbing her phone. “That’s Ruby texting. I better get that.”
“Just proves what I was going to say next is true.”
“And what is that?”
“That Ruby will love you being here too.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the tree. “Come here. Let’s send her a picture. It’ll make her night.”
Joy hesitated. She’d planned to surprise Ruby with the tree decorations, but being snuggled up to Ben seemed more important at the moment. What would one little picture spoil?
“Come on. It’ll be fun.” He waved her over, his phone already outstretched in front of him in selfie-mode.
She moved in next to him, and they scooched in closer so they both fit in the frame with the lit tree behind them. He clicked off three pictures, then turned his phone for her to look at them.
“That’s funny. Send the second one.”
“What’s her number?” he asked as he pressed a few buttons.