She seemed startled at first, but then she softened and hugged him back. “I always wanted a big brother,” she said, looking him in the eye, then past him at the other two. “Looks I got three of them now.”
Vidalia’s paralysis broke as her youngest pushed through the double doors, and she lunged forward, caught Selene’s shoulders, and held on. “Honey, wait. You don’t have to do this. To risk–”
“I’m doing it, Mom.” She smiled broadly, kissed Vidlia’s cheek. “Merry Christmas.” Then she looked back at her four sisters and stuck out her tongue. “Top that, bitches.” She winked and sashayed through the double doors that closed behind her.
Vidalia sat down, suddenly aware that everyone in this room now knew the secret she’d been so afraid of for so long. They all knew she’d been unfaithful to her husband. They all knew she’d sinned, given birth to another man’s child and lied about it. They all knew she wasn’t perfect.
Melusine pressed a styrofoam mug of cocoa into her hand and sank into the chair beside her. Edie sat in the one on other side, leaning on her shoulder. Maya and Kara knelt in front of her, holding her hands. “It’s okay, Mama,” Maya said.
“It was such a long time ago,” Kara added.
“And our father had kids by two other women,” Mel said.
“That we know of,” Edie added. “And he was secretly married to one of them.”
“It’s really okay, Mom. We love you. Nothing’s changed,” Maya said.
“Something’s changed,” Mel said. “We know you’re human now, like the rest of us. Frankly, I like you better with a few flaws.”
“And it explains a helluva lot about Selene,” Kara said.
“Really. I thought she was left by Gypsies, not McIntyres,” Edie added, and they all laughed.
Vidalia sighed, and a good deal of the tension that had been pulling at her back and shoulders melted away. She looked toward the ER doors and waited, and prayed.
Then, remembering, she dipped her hand into her pocket, where she’d dropped the small black velvet box Bobby Joe had worked so hard to fish out as he lay there on her living room floor. She had a pretty good notion what was inside, and it made her throat tighten till it was hard to breathe past her tears.
She wasn’t going to open it and look inside. She was going to wait for Bobby to show it to her himself. Until then, she needed a little one-on-one time with the Lord.
“I need to find out if this place has a chapel,” she whispered.
“I’ll find out, Vi,” Cory said softly, and he went to the nurse’s desk to ask.
Vidalia knelt in the hospital chapel in front of a stand with a statue of Jesus, who looked down at her with his serene, wise eyes. There were other statues, symbols of other faiths all around this room. But Jesus was her guy. Always had been.
She knelt in front of Him, bowed her head, folded her hands, and let her tears flow. She couldn’t talk. Not for a long, long time. But her sobs seemed to dissipate when she heard, off in the distance, a clock striking the hour. On and on it struck. Midnight.
She blinked her eyes dry. “It’s Christmas. It’s the perfect time for a miracle. Oh, I know, Lord, I know—I was wrong to keep this secret. And now to find out that telling it was the only way to save him. Could’ve saved him long before now, too. Oh, please don’t let it be too late. Please let it be in time. I am a good woman, Lord. I am not a perfect woman, but I am a good woman. I’ve never asked you for much. For anything really, at least not for myself. I deserve this. You make sure my Selene is okay through this, Lord. And if you can find it in your heart, let Bobby and me have our time together. And when you have to call us home, call us home together, too. We’ve spent way too much time apart. You made us for each other, after all. I’m just sorry it took us so long to realize it.”
A car passed by outside, and the headlights blinded her. But as they faded, their light passed slowly over the face of the statue. And for the barest moment, she could’ve sworn He’d smiled at her as, from the distance, church bells rang in Christmas.
“Mama!”
Vidalia didn’t turn at the sound of Kara’s voice in the chapel doorway. She stayed perfectly still, and maybe braced herself a little for what was to come next.
“Mama, you have to come.”
Blinking away her tears, she took a deep breath. “Thy will be done,” she whispered. “Amen.” Then she got to her feet and was surprised how hard it was to straighten her legs. She’d been kneeling there far longer than she had known.
Kara put an arm around her shoulders, holding her close and walking her out of the chapel and through the hospital corridors. When they reached the waiting room, Edie came to her other side, also holding her, and Mel and Maya crowded close too. “A nurse said to gather everyone. Said the doctor would be out to talk to us momentarily,” Maya whispered.
“She didn’t say anything else?” Vidalia searched the eyes of each of her daughters, but they all just shook their heads.
A small group of people passed by, carolers, all dressed in Victorian garb and carrying songbooks and looking a bit lost. Vidalia barely noticed them because the doctor came out through those double doors then and met her eyes.
“They both came through the surgery just fine,” he said, smiling a little. “Your daughter is a strong woman, Mrs. Brand. She’s already in recovery and arguing with the nurses.”
“I’ll go calm her down,” she said, softly.
“You’re not allowed–”
“In the recovery room. I know. I’ve broken that rule anytime one of my brood has been in there, and you’d better believe I’ll be breaking it again momentarily. Now tell me, doctor, Selene is fine, thank you Lord. How is Bobby?”
The surgeon’s exasperated smile turned more serious. “Bobby’s condition was pretty serious going in. He was weak. But the transplant should stop his disease from progressing any further. And in a few days, when Selene’s marrow starts producing healthy new cells in him, we’re gonna see rapid improvement. Right now, he’s still critical. Keeping him alive long enough for those cells to do their work is our mission now.”
She sniffled a little, nodded hard. “I’ll go into that recovery room now.”
“You’re really not supposed to–”
“There’s no point, Doc. She’s going,” Maya said.
“Might as well lead me to a sterile gown, one of those hideous hats, a mask, some gloves. And don’t forget those bootie things to go over my shoes.” The doc blinked at her, but she reached out a hand and clutched his arm. “And Doctor, thank you. Thank you more than I can ever say.”
“Merry Christmas, Miz Brand.”
“So far, it’s just that. Let’s hope it continues to be.”
Vidalia walked into the recovery room to see Selene, standing beside a patient’s bed, muttering something softly under her breath. A charm, a prayer, a healing rite...she didn’t know which, but she appreciated it, whatever it was. A nurse was heading her way, stern eyed, but Vidalia picked up the pace and stepped into her path. “Leave her be,” she said. “I’ve got this.”
“She shouldn’t be up–”
“It’s Christmas. That’s her...that’s her father. You let it be.”
The nurse seemed to hesitate, but then sighed and threw her hands in the air, turning and walking dramatically away. Smiling, Vidalia went to stand by Selene’s side, slipping an arm around her middle.
“We sure do have some mighty big Christmases in this family, don’t we? The twins, in the middle of the holiday blizzard. Little Tyler, coming into the family. And now this. You got yourself a father.”
Bobby lay in the bed. His skin was pale and his hair mussed. Vidalia smoothed it with one hand, thinking he’d be embarrassed to be seen looking like an upset rooster. “Are you very mad at me, Selene, for not telling you sooner?”
Selene kept her eyes on Bobby’s face as well. “You didn’t really know.”
“I had an inkling.”
“Things happen the way
they’re supposed to, Mom. Everything worked out just fine. And I love you even more knowing you haven’t always been perfect.”
“I’ve never even been close.”
“You have a giant family out there who’d argue that one.” Selene leaned in and kissed her cheek, she wobbled a little on her feet.
“That’s it, daughter. Back into bed you go. Come on now.” Turning Selene around, Vidalia helped her back to her bed, which was right beside Bobby’s. She helped her sit on the edge, then picked up her legs for her, and tucked the covers over her. Her light blue eyes kept falling closed, then popping open over and over, before she even hit the pillow. “I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too, Selene. You rest now.”
“He’s gonna be okay. You don’t have to worry,” she said, finally letting her eyes fall closed and stay that way. “I talked to my guides. He’s gonna be just fine.”
“And he’ll probably start dancing under the moonlight, what with your marrow in him now.”
Selene’s lips curved upward, but just barely. “That would be so cool.” Then she was asleep, and she needed it. Vidalia patted her hands, then turning, went to stand beside Bobby’s bedside.
To her surprise, his eyes were open when she looked at him.
“Well, hello cowboy. You finally decide to wake up?”
He moved his lips, made a face. Vidalia got the water from the bedside, and held its straw near his lips. “Just a little now,” she told him.
He sipped, then let his head fall back onto the pillows. “I’m sorry, Vidalia. I thought...I thought there would be...more time.”
“Oh, there is. There’s lots more time. Take a good long look at the girl in the next bed, will you Bobby Joe?” And she stepped aside as she said it.
Bobby turned his head, then he frowned harder. “Is that your Selene?”
“Turns out she’s actually...your Selene too.”
“She...?”
“Bobby, she’s yours. The doc told us you needed bone marrow and that none of your boys were a match. Why on earth didn’t you say something when I told you she might be yours?”
“I didn’t want to know so I could take her bone marrow, woman. I wanted to spend time with her, while I still had time to spend.” Then he blinked, tearing his eyes from the sleeping blonde and fixing them on Vidalia again.
“Selene...?”
“Is a perfect match. And so you, my love, are cured. Oh, the doc is making noises about having to keep you alive long enough for the new bone marrow to start doing its job, but I have my sources and Selene has hers, and they both agree, you’re gonna be fine.”
“I’m not dying?”
“Not anytime soon,” she told him.
“Are you...sure?”
She looked past him briefly, then got stuck there, her eyes on the window. “I am now.”
He looked where she was looking.
Soft snowflakes fell past the darkened window, dancing and spinning as they drifted to the ground. “It’s Christmas,” she told him. “It’s snowing. And you’re alive.”
He dragged his stunned eyes back to hers again, as, from just outside the doors, a group of voices sang Silent Night in perfect four part harmony. They sounded just like angels.
Then his hand moved, as if in search of his pockets, only he no longer had any. “Your present. I had it in my pocket.”
“I know.” She pulled it out of her own pocket. “I thought it might be for me, but I didn’t look. I wanted to wait for you.”
He took the tiny box from her, and turning it to face him, he opened it. “When I came back here, I thought my time was running out. And I made a decision to live what was left of my life doing what was important. Doing what was right. I wanted to spend my time with my boys, building something I could leave behind for them. And I wanted to spend it with you, basking in you the way I should have been doing all along.”
He gripped the bed’s rail and shook it. “Lower this danged thing, will you?”
“You’re not getting up!”
“Gonna start bossing me around already, woman? Lower it or I’ll climb over. I’m gonna do this right.”
She lowered the rail. He sat up, put his legs over the side, and then pushed off the mattress before she was even ready. His feet hit the floor, his knees bent, and he went down onto them so fast she couldn’t stop him.
“Mr. McIntyre!” a nurse shouted.
He held up one hand and sent her a silencing look. Then he lifted his head, and the little black box, its lid open now, the ring winking and twinkling inside. “Sweet Vidalia, you are the love of my life, and I refuse to live another day without you. Will you marry me?”
Her tears were streaming. The carolers had just broken into the third verse in the hallway, and even the nurse was sniffling.
“Say yes, Mom,” Selene whispered. “Make me legitimate.”
Vidalia dropped to her knees too, pressed her hands to Bobby’s cheeks, and kissed his mouth slowly. When she finished, she spoke so close her lips brushed his as she told him, “You bet I will.”
He grinned, plucked the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. A loud cheer broke out, and they both turned their heads to see a number of faces vying for a spot outside the door’s glass windows, her daughters and his sons, all of them smiling so wide it was blinding.
They kissed again, kneeling there in front of the window with the snowflakes as their backdrop, and Vidalia knew that her fondest wish, her very own Christmas miracle, had been delivered right then, that very night, on the Christmas when her life began anew.
-THE END-
I hope you enjoyed the Oklahoma Brand Series. If you missed any of the books in the Brand series, you can find them here:
The Brands Who Came for Christmas
Brand-New Heartache
Secrets and Lies
A Mommy for Christmas
One Magic Summer
Sweet Vidalia Brand
The Littlest Cowboy
The Baddest Virgin in Texas
Badlands Bad Boy
Long Gone Lonesome Blues
The Lone Cowboy
Lone Star Lonely
The Outlaw Bride
Texas Angel
Texas Homecoming
Also Available:
Annie's Hero
Witch Moon
Dr. Duffy's Close Encounter
Miranda's Viking
Forgotten
Musketeer By Moonlight
The Bride Wore A Forty-Four
Fairytale
Forever Enchanted
Once Upon A Time
Everything She Does is Magick
The Fairy’s Wish
The Bad Ass Brides Collection
The Witch Collection
Gingerbread Man
Eternity
Infinity
Destiny
Eternal Love: The Immortal Witch Series
Zombies! A Love Story
And MAGGIE'S NON-FICTION
Shayne On You
Magick and the Law of Attraction: A User’s Guide
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Maggie Shayne has published more than 50 novels and 23 novellas. She has written for 7 publishers and 2 soap operas, has racked up 15 Rita Award nominations and actually, finally, won the damn thing in 2005.
Maggie lives in a beautiful, century old, happily haunted farmhouse named “Serenity” in the wildest wilds of Cortland County, NY, with her soul-mate, Lance. They share a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer & Daisy, and a little English Bulldog, Niblet, and the wise guardian and guru of them all, the feline Glory, who keeps the dogs firmly in their places. Maggie’s a Wiccan high priestess (legal clergy even) and an avid follower of the Law of Attraction
Connect with Maggie
Maggie's Website
Maggie's Bliss Blog
Maggie’s Coffee House Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Table of C
ontents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Sweet Vidalia Brand Page 12