The Christmas Room

by Catherine Anderson

  Caleb got off the bed and retraced his steps to the living room. “I’m glad the two of you made up,” he said. “Now we can have a really wonderful Christmas.”

  Sam nodded. “Yes, and we’ll celebrate as a family.”

  Just then Kirstin rushed into the house, carrying a large white box. “Mrs. Tamarack pulled it off!” she cried. “My gown is fixed!”

  Gram clapped her hands. “Oh, how wonderful. Can we see it, or are you keeping it under wraps until the wedding?”

  Kirstin laid the box on the sofa beside her dad. After lifting the lid, she swept the gown from folds of tissue paper and held it against her body. Maddie exclaimed that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Sam nodded and smiled.

  To Caleb it was still only a stupid dress, but it sure was pretty. His dad came up behind him and settled a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so glad it’s fixed that I’m tempted to light some candles at church.”

  Caleb chuckled. “I’ll bet you’re glad that part is over.”

  “You have no idea,” his dad replied. “I was starting to have nightmares about it.”

  • • •

  Sam invited Maddie out to dinner. He knew of a snazzy joint on Main Street that served good food. He hadn’t been there in ages, but he suspected it was pretty much the same. In Rustlers’ Gulch time passed but not much changed.

  “But Gabriella has fixed a wonderful dinner for us,” Maddie reminded him.

  “The kids can eat it,” he replied. “We planned to go out, remember? And we never have. I’d like to celebrate with you tonight.”

  Her cheek dimpled in a glowing smile. “What are we celebrating?”

  “Mending our fences, for one thing. Knowing that we can’t be happy without each other. I can’t tell you the other reason out loud.”

  Maddie went to her room to dress. Sam took the stairs two at a time, hoping he could find a Western sport coat. He hadn’t slicked up since Annie’s funeral, and the suit he’d bought for the wedding wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow. Once in his bedroom, he went to the dresser and opened Annie’s old jewelry box. Except for dusting, it hadn’t been touched in years, but just as he remembered, a pink net bag lay inside. The funeral home had taken off Annie’s rings after the memorial service and given them to Sam. He’d kept them here. Tears stung his eyes as he tugged his wedding band off his finger.

  As he opened the small pouch to stow it with Annie’s rings, he whispered, “I’ll always love you, Annie, but it’s time for me to move forward, and I can’t do it with one foot planted in the past.”

  No, of course you can’t. Love her well, Sam. Be happy.

  Sam stiffened at the familiar sound of his dead wife’s voice. Had he imagined it? Was he losing his mind? He stood still and listened. She said nothing more. Finally, Sam smiled. Whether it had been all in his head or not, he liked to believe that Annie had just given him her blessing.

  Maddie whistled when she saw Sam coming down the stairs. At the bottom, he held out his arms and did a slow turn for her. “Do I pass muster?”

  “You look fabulous, so tall and handsome. But where’s your burned hat?”

  “Retired. It’s time for me to pick a new favorite.” He tipped the brim of a black Stetson to her. Then he walked a slow circle around her, admiring how she looked in a Christmas green dress. It was too large for her, but the loose, flowing style allowed for that, and she wore a red belt to cinch in the waist. “Wow. You’re beautiful.”

  She blushed and fiddled with her hair. “Beautiful is for younger women.”

  “I’ll decide what’s beautiful and what isn’t.”

  He helped her into her coat. Caleb dashed downstairs just then. “If you’re going to a movie, I want to come.”

  Sam patted his shoulder. “Sorry, partner, but it’s a fancy dinner for two. We’ll invite you when we’re going to see a film.”

  Maddie wore dainty red shoes with short heels. If Sam recalled correctly, they were called pumps, which had never made any sense to him. His name for them was impractical, at least on the ranch. He touched her shoulder with a staying hand and hurried down the steps to open the passenger door of his truck.

  When he returned to the porch and swept Maddie up in his arms, she shrieked, which made him laugh. “Easy. I won’t drop you. The snow has been shoveled, but it’s still slick. I don’t want you to slip and hurt yourself.”

  Once Maddie was safely deposited on the seat, Sam claimed her rosy lips with his own. A zap of desire shot through him, and judging by her dazed expression when he drew away, she’d felt it, too.

  “Oh, dear.”

  Sam chuckled and fastened her seat belt. “Oh, yeah.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  As Sam drove past the MCLendon property, he caught a flash of red light coming through one of the workshop windows and stepped on the brake. Maddie followed his gaze.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  There came another flash. Sam had no idea what was causing it and he really didn’t want to interrupt their evening by investigating, but he couldn’t just ignore it. “I’m not sure. It won’t take but a second for me to check it out.”

  Sam pulled over next to the huge building, put the pickup into park, and swung out of the vehicle. Because it was cold, he closed the door behind him, not wanting Maddie to get chilled. He walked inside and what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

  • • •

  Maddie had no idea what Sam had seen, but he looked stunned when he opened the passenger door. “Brace yourself to be carried again. This snow hasn’t been shoveled, and there’s something inside that you have to see.”

  Maddie clung to his neck as he took her to the shop. Once inside, she could only stare at the huge room through tears. The nativity scene that had been in her mother’s family for three generations was set up on a hay-strewn tabletop. A towering blue spruce, strung with lights and beautifully appointed with decorations she had treasured for years, stood along the opposite wall. The red flashes came from the star at the tip-top of the tree. Two rectangular folding tables were covered with disposable green tablecloths and adorned with Christmas place mats that sported place settings of her favorite tea rose china. Golden reindeer sat on her coffee table. Candles inside globes stood ready to be lighted. There were even area rugs on the concrete floor.

  “It’s like entering a Christmas fantasy,” she whispered.

  Sam carefully set her on her feet. “Pretty amazing, huh?”

  Maddie nodded. “Caleb did it. I’m fairly certain, anyway. He caught me by your tree when I was in tears, and I wished aloud for some of my own Christmas treasures.” She met Sam’s gaze. “I felt out of place at your house after we quarreled.”

  Sam flicked his gaze over the room, taking in details. “So he created you a new home. Look at it, Maddie.”

  Her throat had gone so tight that it was difficult to talk. “He must have worked for hours, Sam. He created a Christmas room. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

  Sam nodded. “Hard work and Christmas, spun together with memories and love.”

  Maddie brushed a tear from her cheek. “What are we going to do? I no longer feel uncomfortable at the ranch. Caleb realizes that. He must think he did all of this for nothing.” She pointed at the tables. “We all talked about serving Christmas dinner to those we know who might spend the holiday alone. He even prepared for that. I don’t know how he planned to pull that off. Maybe he hoped that his father would help him get it all set up. We have a barbecue smoker and a propane stove. We could cook, if need be.”

  Sam curled an arm around her. Maddie leaned into him, comforted by his warmth. “Well, we clearly need to bring everything over here tomorrow for Christmas Eve. He put a lot of his heart into this, and it’s too precious to waste.”

  “Dinner and everything?” Maddie couldn’t b
elieve he meant it.

  “Absolutely. Gabriella and Miguel will help bring the food. While we eat out tonight, we can make a list of people who may be alone tomorrow and invite them by phone to join us for a holiday meal. I can taxi them in.”

  Maddie could almost envision this huge area filled with people. What a beautiful and meaningful way it would be to celebrate Christmas.

  • • •

  Later that evening, Caleb stopped dead as he entered the living room. Earlier there had been piles of gifts under the Christmas tree and now they were gone. Gram sat beside Sam on the sofa. When Caleb looked at her, she smiled and pushed to her feet.

  “We found the Christmas room, Caleb. That’s one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. It’s a gift I’ll always remember.”

  Caleb felt foolish. He shrugged. “You don’t need it now. I did it to make you feel happy on Christmas.”

  “And I do.” She slipped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Sam and I were utterly amazed when we found it, and we’ve decided we can’t allow all your hard work to go to waste. I have several elderly lady friends in my book club who will be celebrating Christmas alone, so we’ve invited them to your Christmas room for dinner. Sam has some friends who have no family arriving for the holiday, so he invited them to come as well. We’ll start cooking early in the morning. Then we’ll cart over the food. Gabriella and Miguel are happy to help. Your dad has gone to the storage units to get more chairs so we’ll have plenty of seating. He’s also going to pile up all the building scraps to have a bonfire. It will be a Christmas we’ll never forget.”

  “A bonfire? On Christmas?” Caleb imagined how bright and welcoming a fire would be. The ghost town would become a home again. “That’ll be so awesome. I need to cut some logs into stumps so we’ll have more seats around the fire. Plus, I can gather more wood to keep it going. And I should shovel around the pit so none of the old ladies slip and fall.”

  Gram laughed. “I told them all to bring snow boots. They’ll probably love it.”

  • • •

  Christmas Eve morning, the ranch house was full of activity. Gabriella had so many helpers in the kitchen that she could barely work. Miguel and Rickie took the Alvarez family’s gifts over to the Christmas room, and then they took over treats that Gabriella had made in advance. While all of that went on, Caleb shoveled snow, creating pathways for their guests and a circular seating area at what would be a huge fire pit later.

  Sam took charge of the music, the one thing Caleb had forgotten. A boom box was commandeered from Caleb’s room, and CDs from Sam’s collection of Christmas carols were also collected. The slight echo inside the shop area made the music resound, lending it a magical quality it might have otherwise lacked.

  When the food had been prepared for the meal, it was left to stay warm in Sam’s kitchen while everyone went over to the Christmas room to open gifts prior to the arrival of guests. When the three families had gathered around the beautiful blue spruce, Caleb and Rickie were put in charge of distributing gifts. Maddie wore the shawl Sam had already given her. Tears came to her eyes when Caleb presented her with a handmade bookrack to stand beside her writing chair. She smiled with delight when presented with a professional photograph of Cam and Kirstin in a gorgeous wood frame, which they referred to as their first family portrait. Cam gave Kirstin a gorgeous gold necklace. Rickie got his first cell phone and smaller gifts from both his parents and new friends. Gabriella squealed in delight when her gift from her husband was an e-reader, which she could use for practicing her English or to read books in Spanish for pleasure. Sam got a new tan Stetson from Maddie, an exact replica of the one Annie had given him for his birthday years ago. Miguel got a new pocketknife and an ax.

  Except for the earbuds Maddie had wrapped for him, only Caleb received no gifts.

  Cam watched his son with forced solemnity. Sam got up and went into Maddie’s as-yet-unfinished apartment. He emerged carrying the most beautiful hand-tooled saddle that Caleb had ever seen. Sam set it in front of Caleb where he knelt by the tree. “Made to measure for Latigo,” he told the boy. “In years to come, it’ll probably fit another horse just fine, though. It should last you a lifetime.”

  Caleb couldn’t believe it. “You shouldn’t have gotten me something so fine, Sam. All I got you was gloves!”

  “Which I’ll use constantly. Go saddle him up and then bring him over so we can see how he looks in his new gear.”

  Caleb was so excited that he was shaking. The saddle gleamed in the winter sunlight and slid onto Latigo’s back as if it had been made for him, which it had. When Caleb returned to the shop, cell phones flashed as pictures were taken of the horse wearing its new saddle.

  On the way back to the pasture, Caleb walked so Rickie could have a turn riding. “Wow, this is a super-great saddle!” The younger boy’s dark eyes sparkled with excitement. “Someday my dad is getting me a horse,” he told Caleb. “A really nice horse, too! He just can’t afford to yet.”

  Caleb smiled. “You’ve got a good seat. Someday you’ll be a talented rider.”

  “Sam said he’d give me lessons. My dad says Sam’s the best horseman he’s ever met, so I’ll be in good hands.”

  As they reentered the shop, Caleb stopped to admire his handiwork. He was glad he’d created the Christmas room. His special gift to Gram would be shared, and that made him feel good.

  Gram, sitting on the tan sectional that would eventually go in her downstairs apartment, smiled up at Caleb as he and Rickie came to stand beside the tree. Caleb’s dad, who sat beside Kirstin on a love seat, was also smiling. “Except for the saddle from Sam and earbuds from Gram you haven’t gotten any presents, Caleb.”

  Caleb had noticed that. He knew better than to believe his dad or Gram had forgotten to get him something fabulous. He figured they had gotten him something special and were waiting to surprise him with it after everyone else had opened their gifts. Not a violin, Caleb prayed. Please don’t let it be a violin. Now that he’d made friends, he no longer liked playing one.

  His dad inclined his head at the tree. “There’s something hanging on the tree for you. Gram and I went in together on it.”

  Caleb turned to look, relieved because something small enough to hang from an evergreen bough couldn’t be a string instrument. With that thought, he wondered what they had gotten him. Something really small, for sure, and that was disappointing. On Christmas he usually got big things that he’d been wishing for.

  “I don’t see anything,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Keep looking,” Gram told him.

  Rickie began helping Caleb search. “Keys, Caleb! They got you keys!”

  Caleb saw them then. With a shaking hand, he collected them from a drooping branch. He stared down at the black remote lying on his palm. The white outline of a ram’s head shone up at him. “A truck? You got me a truck! Where is it?”

  • • •

  Everyone exited the building to watch Caleb search for his Christmas present. Sam kept one arm firmly around Maddie so she wouldn’t slip on the snow. Feeling her warmth beside him gave him a sense of peace. Whether she survived the battle against cancer or not, he would treasure every moment he had with her. She had been such a special presence in his life, truly a light in the darkness for him. Nothing under the tree could please him more than this sweet, courageous woman. If not for her, he might have lost his daughter. All of his cattle might have died in the high country. She’d also brought his friends back into his life.

  Dashing first one direction and then another, Caleb led them on a merry chase to find his new truck. Sam absorbed the sound of voices and laughter. When Caleb finally found the Christmas-red truck Cam had hidden behind Maddie’s trailer, he froze in his tracks and just stared.

  “Brand-new?” The youth’s voice rang with wonder. “Not a used one?”

  Cam, who sto
od with his arm around Kirstin, said, “It needs to last you through high school and college.”

  Caleb drew open the driver’s door. “Oh, man! This is so awesome.”

  “Look on the backseat,” Kirstin called.

  Rickie ran to open the rear passenger door. “My present for you is back here. We all got you truck stuff!”

  “You knew?” Caleb sent Rickie an accusing look. “And you didn’t tell me?”

  Everyone laughed when Rickie replied, “It was a secret!”

  Sam felt Maddie shiver and drew her closer against him. Together they watched her grandson tear the wrapping off gifts from Kirstin and the Alvarez family. Caleb received a solar cell phone charger for his dash, a wool lap robe, a steering wheel cover, and two thermal travel mugs.

  Everyone trailed back inside while the two boys took the truck out for its first spin.

  • • •

  Preparations for dinner began next. Kirstin and Maddie made sure there were enough place settings at the tables. Gabriella went with Sam and Miguel to collect the food. Cam lighted the bonfire, burned the mountain of wrapping paper, and arranged seating. The two boys drove to pick up the elderly ladies who would be their guests.

  “Make sure they bring boots!” Cam called after his son. “And don’t let anyone slip on the ice!”

  Kirstin emerged from the building just then. She came to stand with Cam by the fire. He looped his arms around her and drew her against him.

  “This is the best Christmas ever,” she said. “Tomorrow we’ll be married, Cam. Can you believe it?”

  Cam watched the flames lick up through the wood. “It’s pretty incredible. Not so long ago, I could only hope to meet my own special someone, and now here you are, in my arms. I’m a man who has everything—a fabulous mom, a wonderful son, and now the woman of my dreams.”

  She turned to press her lips against his. Then she looked up at him. “And I have the man of my dreams. It’s amazing.”