“That shocked us all at first—we thought he was losing control. Then he saw the looks we were giving each other, and seemed to read our thoughts. With that old smile, he assured us, ‘Don’t worry, I’m as clear-headed as a dying man can be, Nathan. It may be that none of you heard her—but I did.’
“I asked what she said, and he just smiled again and shook his head. ‘I’ve missed her so much,’ he whispered. ‘It won’t be long now.’
“Father laid back with his eyes closed, and I thought he was gone, but then he opened them again and began to talk. He told story after story of the Winslow family, how each one of the Winslow clan had added to the legacy of the family name. When his own father died—Miles Winslow was your great grandfather, Christmas—Father said, ‘My father had always loved Charles best, but when he died he whispered to me, “You are the best of the Winslows, Adam!”—it wasn’t true, of course!’ Then he told us how proud he was of us all—and I especially want you to know what he said about you, Christmas: ‘Chris has been a grief to you, Nathan, but he’ll be a man that you and all the family will hold up with pride!’
“That was almost all, son. He closed his eyes and seemed to be resting. Ten minutes later his lips moved, and when I bent down, I heard him say, ‘I’m coming...!’ and when I looked up, he was gone.”
Chris stopped reading and refolded the letter, replacing it with hands that were not quite steady. Putting his hands on the table, Chris rested his forehead on them, saying, “I’ve given Father a lot of grief—and all the rest of them as well!”
Missy rose and went to him, putting her arms about him and pulling his head to her bosom as she might have done with Asa or with a hurt child. His shoulders shook with grief, and she stroked his hair, making comforting sounds. When he grew still, she released him and lifted his chin, his cheeks still wet with tears. “Adam Winslow was a very wise man, Christmas,” Missy murmured quietly. “And he was very proud of you.”
Laughing shakily, Chris did not try to refute that. “You’re a strong woman, Missy.” He studied the tabletop for a moment before looking up, where she was again seated across from him. “I’m going to Virginia,” he announced. “It’s too late to see grandfather—and I couldn’t go back when Charles died last year—but I need to spend some time with my family. When I come back, I’m going to be pastor of the Pineville church.”
“You’re not going to ride the circuit?” she asked in surprise.
“No. The bishop asked me to take the church. He says I may go on the circuit later, but he thinks I need experience as a pastor first.”
“It’ll be different,” she responded. “But you’ll be close, so we can see more of you.”
He rose and paced the floor, deep in thought. Then as though a decision had been made, he stopped by her chair and put his hands on her shoulders. Missy looked up at him, not knowing why he did that until he asked her, “Would you go with me, Missy—to Virginia?”
“To Virginia?” Her head swam in a confused muddle. “Why do you want me to go to your home?”
His grip on her shoulders tightened. “The bishop thinks a pastor should be a married man.”
The room seemed to shift, and Missy reached up and grabbed onto Chris’s arms to steady herself. Once in her life she had fainted, when one of her friends had cut herself badly—and she had that same lightheaded feeling as she looked at him. Her thoughts raced wildly, and she could only stare at him, sure that she must have misunderstood what he said.
“Missy,” he urged quietly, “I know it’s crazy, and I don’t have any right to ask a young woman to share the life that’s in front of me. Will you let me tell you what’s happened?”
“Chris—I don’t know...!”
He put his finger on her lips, saying soberly, “I had a wife once—and I never thought I could love another woman. And when I left to go to Yale, in my mind you were just a little girl. Even when I came back, that was what I thought. But something happened the evening we took a ride to the creek.” He shook his head. “When I put my arms around you that night and held you close, I did it because I was sorry to see you so unhappy, and wanted to comfort my little girl. But at that point I realized something: you were not a little girl anymore! You remember how I told you that to me you were everything a girl ought to be, Missy? I’d like to change that now—to me you’re everything a woman should be.”
She looked up at him with trembling lips and whispered, “I’ve always loved you, Chris!”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently, and they stood close together for a long time, lost in the wonder of it all. Finally she drew back. “But I—I can’t marry you. Not with Mother so sick.”
“I know. I can wait, if you’ll have me.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure you want me?”
“Yes. I’ve fasted and prayed about it for months!”
She smiled and asked mischievously, “When did all this fasting and prayer take place—while you were running around with Ellen Jennings?”
“I’m a handy man, Missy,” he protested innocently. “I can do lots of things at the same time.”
“You just want to marry me because the bishop said you had to,” Missy teased.
“That’s better than the reason you’re marrying me!”
She looked puzzled and he laughed. “You just love me because I’m tall!”
They stood there for a long time, talking lightly, happily. Missy finally said, “They’ll think we’re both crazy, Chris.”
He grinned and bent down and kissed her again. “Maybe we are. I’ll have a word with your father as soon as he gets back. He’ll probably run me off with his shotgun.”
“No. He thinks there’s nobody like you.” She touched his cheek and whispered, “That’s what I’ve always thought, too—but I never believed it would turn out like this!”
He stroked her hair, loving each moment. After a while, he murmured softly, “I don’t want to leave, but I must. I’ll see you tomorrow, Missy.”
Three days later her father came home, and when Chris walked in that evening after supper, Missy’s heart skipped a beat. Her mother was asleep and Asa was off running a trout line, so only Caroline was there.
Chris drank coffee while Dan filled him in on the details of the meeting. He was nervous, and Missy found that she could barely sit still. Caroline got up and took some sewing out of her box. Returning to her seat, she sat quietly, listening but not entering into the conversation.
Dan wound up his story, saying, “Well, it was a grand time—a grand time! The Lord moved in power, and I found myself wishing you were there.” Then settling back comfortably, he asked, “What have you been doing, Christmas?”
There was an awkward silence, and Caroline looked up swiftly. Her hands grew still as she saw the tense look on Chris’s face, and Missy had an overwhelming urge to jump up and leave the room.
“Dan, I—I’ve got to tell you something, and it’s not easy,” he began. After a pause Chris went on hurriedly, “I’ve asked Missy to marry me, and she’s agreed if you approve.”
The silence was almost palpable, and Missy shut her eyes, clenching her hands into fists. She had seen Caroline’s face go pale as paper, and could not look at her again.
Dan stared at Chris as if he could not believe what he had heard. “Why—it’s pretty sudden, isn’t it?”
“Not as sudden as it seems, Dan. I loved White Dove so much that when I lost her, it tore something out of me. I had no notion of marrying again. But something happened.” He smiled and looked across the table at Missy. “I found a woman who filled that empty spot. I love Missy, and I always will.”
“Missy?” Dan looked at his daughter, noting the pale face and the nervous hands. “Is this what you want?”
“Yes.” For the life of her, Missy could say no more, but she managed a tremulous smile at her father.
Dan looked down at his hands and thought hard, while the others waited. When he lifted his head there was a smile on hi
s lips. “Every father wants his girl to get a good man—and as far as I’m concerned, you are the best man I could trust with Missy.”
“Oh!” Missy leaped up and flew to her father, nearly knocking the chair over as she flung her arms around him.
“Well—don’t strangle me, girl!” he protested helplessly. Pushing her off, he got to his feet and put his hand out. “She’ll be a helpmeet to you, Chris.”
Caroline put her sewing down, came over to Missy and put her arms around her, saying evenly, “You’ll be very happy, Missy.” She turned and looked at Chris, speaking in that same tone. “She’ll be a good wife to you, Chris.” Then she walked back to her chair and picked up her sewing. “I’ll see if Mother is all right.”
When she left, Chris remarked, “Caroline is a fine girl. I wonder why she’s never married?”
Missy’s eyes met her father’s, and she knew they were thinking the same thought: He really doesn’t know that Caroline loves him. But when she started to say something, Dan gave her a warning shake of his head and said, “Someday I think she’ll find the right man. But when have you planned to marry?”
“When Anne gets better,” Chris replied. “Missy won’t leave until then.”
Dan shook his head and said with characteristic honesty, “We all know that Anne will never get off that bed unless God performs a miracle. You two have a work for God, and it would be a mistake to put your wedding off for any reason. And you mustn’t feel guilty, either of you. God puts men and women together, and that’s all there is to it.”
“I’d like Missy to spend some time with my folks,” Chris told Dan. “I’ve let them down so much that it would mean a lot to me to show them I’m doing this thing right.”
“I believe they would be very pleased—”
“But I can’t leave my mother to go for a visit,” Missy broke in.
“Then they’ll have to come here,” Chris decided. “In fact, I think Mother would jump at the chance—and that means Father will agree too.” He rose and walked to the door. Turning back, he said warmly, “You’ve always been like a family to me. Now I’ll be a real member.”
After Chris left Dan said to Missy, “It’s the most wonderful thing I could have wished for you—but...”
“I know. What about Caroline? I—I wanted to say no to Chris, but I love him so much!”
Dan put his arms around her, and his eyes filled with pity. “Every one of us has to carry a special load of grief. I’m carrying mine now with your mother. Someday, Missy, you’ll have yours—but now it’s time for Caroline to bear hers. Scripture tells us that ‘the heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger does not meddle therewith.’ Love Caroline—more than you ever have, Missy. God will see her through. She loves Him, and He honors those that honor Him!”
If a bomb had gone off in the church, it could not have caused more excitement than when Rev. Greene stood up and announced the engagement of his daughter Melissa to the Rev. Chris Winslow. An audible gasp rippled across the room, and when the crowd was dismissed, they swarmed around Missy. Martha Shipton’s eyes were reproachful as she gripped Missy’s arm and hissed, “I hate you, Missy! Not a word to me, your best friend!” Her mock-scowl was replaced with a smile as she hooked her arm in Missy’s, saying contentedly, “But now you’ll tell me everything!”
Poor Tom Cantrell looked as if he’d lost his life’s savings, but he put up a bold front, coming up to say, “Well, you picked a big one, Missy. I always knew you’d find someone more your size than I am!”
Missy laughed out loud and gave Tom a better hug than he’d ever gotten in the two years he had doggedly pursued her. “You do have a way with words, Tom!”
She was relieved to see Caroline come to stand beside her, smiling slightly as she spoke of the match. Missy managed to give her a hug, saying, “Caroline, I—I’m so happy.” Then the bride-to-be was pulled away by a group who were demanding the right to have a bridal shower for her.
When Chris came over the following Tuesday, he grinned when Missy asked him how his congregation had taken the news.
“I suppose ‘mixed emotions’ would best describe it. The elders were all relieved, the mothers with eligible daughters were affronted, and the eligible daughters mad as hops.”
“Oh, Chris, how awful!”
“I suppose—though your father warned me that it would be like that.” He grinned again, a twinkle in his eyes. “It’s nothing, though, compared to what’s in store for you!”
“Christmas Winslow—whatever do you mean?”
“My parents will be here in less than a month.”
“Oh, Chris! I’m scared to face them!”
“You should be, stealing their firstborn!” he teased. “No, seriously—you’ll do fine. The funny thing is, Mr. Jennings practically forced the church to buy a nice old house for a parsonage last month.”
Her eyes sparkled and she laughed in delight. “I’ll bet he had the lady all picked out who was going to live in it!”
“Couldn’t say—but the lady who is going to live in it is far more beautiful than the lady Mr. Jennings had in mind!”
Missy laughed, and with a warm feeling of possession, she reached up, pulled his head down, and kissed him. “You are a charmer, Brother Winslow!”
He squeezed her in response. “As I started to tell you, my folks can stay in the parsonage—and you and Mother can fix it up. They’ve got plenty of money, so soak them for all the traffic will bear!”
“You’re awful!” she scolded.
“I have always been pretty awful,” he agreed. “But I’m tall!” And he smiled at her, saying, “It’s going to be fun being married to you, Missy!”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
OUT OF THE PAST
“It’s beautiful, Missy,” Julie said, standing back to admire the two-story house shaded by three towering elm trees. The two women had been to the general store to pick up the curtains that Julie had ordered from Lexington. For weeks they had worked on the house, ever since Nathan and Julie had arrived.
Standing at the white picket fence, Missy looked with pleasure at the house, and slipped her arm around Julie, saying, “How can we ever thank you for all you’ve done for us?” She laughed and added, “I’m not good enough for Christmas—but you’ll have to put up with me anyway.”
“Nathan and I are so happy about it, Missy. God gave me a word when Chris was born that he would be a preacher.” She sobered and Missy saw the fine features, still youthful, grow pensive. “It’s been a long wait, but I praise the Lord for calling him—and for giving him a good wife to share his labors.”
“It’s been good to see Chris and his father together.”
“Another miracle,” Julie remarked, and looked with a smile toward the side of the house where the two men were putting in a new bay window for the dining room. “Nathan’s been a new man since Chris changed. I’ve never seen him so happy.” Then she laughed and said, “Well, if we’re going to get these curtains up before the wedding, we’d better get at it!”
“Oh, it’s a long time yet—almost two weeks!”
“Slow as I am, it may take that long.” The two women went inside and worked steadily on the curtains for the next few hours. At noon they all paused to eat lunch under the large apple tree in the backyard. It was late July, and no rain had fallen, so the cool shade was welcome. They dined on cold chicken, potato salad, biscuits dripping with yellow butter, and cool milk chilled in the spring, topping the delicious meal off with a fresh peach pie that Julie had baked.
Chris licked his fingers, leaned against the tree, and said, “I hope you’ll stay around long enough to teach Missy to cook and bake, Mother. Why, last week I gave the dog a piece of bread she had made, and he wouldn’t even touch it!”
“What! How can you say such things—after all the awful stuff you ate in the mountains?”
“What awful stuff are you talking about?” Chris winked at Nathan and went on innocently. “We ate good food all the time.”<
br />
“Good food! You ate raw liver—and buffalo tongue, and all sorts of terrible things.”
“Sounds all right to me,” Nathan replied good-naturedly. “Never had any buffalo tongue, but it sounds tender. Wonder why we don’t eat the cow tongue? Might be the best part.”
“He’d eat shoe leather if you put it in front of him. He was always that way. Knox was the finicky one.” Julie was able to say her son’s name easily now, Missy noticed, and was touched by it. It had not always been that way, she knew. Chris had told her about Knox’s death, and how the whole family had been devastated by it—especially Chris, who had struggled with feelings of guilt that intensified his grief. It took years before he was able to forgive himself for his brother’s death.
“He was pretty picky when we were growing up, but in the mountains he ate like everybody else,” Chris told them. “Once we ran out of grub in the middle of winter, except for some deer that had spoiled bad. We finally had to eat it, even though it was downright green—”
“Hush up, Chris!” Julie cried, throwing up her hands. “I don’t want to hear such things!” She looked at the house and sat back, smoothing her dress over her knees, a contented expression on her face. “The congregation has done a lot to get this house together. It shows how much they love their pastor.”
“And they’ve taken to the pastor’s bride-to-be,” Nathan smiled. “Even Brother Jennings and Sister Smiley have had to give in.”
“Sister Smiley could talk the legs off a stove!” Julie commented tartly.
Chris snorted. “You two have learned more about this congregation in a month than I have since I’ve been here.”
“People are alike, Chris,” Julie said. “Every church has its saints and its sinners. Those you think are worthless will sometimes prove to be pure gold; others who are prominent will pull the wool over your eyes and you’ll be fooled. Of course, there will be those who are merely religious, but they will fold when the trials come.”
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