Lily extracted one hand from his and held it up, her head spinning. “Wait. Rewind. Did you just say you want a relationship with me?”
“I did. I do.”
“Because of the girls?”
He shook his head back and forth slowly, a gentle smile coming over his face. “I’m thrilled that the girls love you so much, but that’s not the reason. You’re kind, and beautiful, and you fascinate me. I want to get to know you, and keep getting to know you, for the rest of my life.” He held up a hand. “I know I’m getting way ahead of myself. I know we’re just starting to reconnect. But I can’t help telling you that for me, this is it and this is real.”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears, and she took deep breaths, just trying to stay calm and absorb what he was saying.
He took a step closer. “I’m not even the jealous type, but I get jealous whenever I think of other men looking at you. Because I want you. I want you because of your smile and the way you treat other people and that strength you’ve shown to get through the hard times in your life.” He tilted his head to one side and his eyes clouded. “Do I have a chance, Lily? Do you think that, with time, you might be able to come to care for me? Even to, maybe, become part of my family, with me and the girls?”
She couldn’t restrain the tears now, not completely, and she felt one leak out down her cheek as she looked up at him. Neither could she restrain the smile that broke out across her face. “I care for you. A lot.”
His expression brightened, sunshine after clouds. “That night when we kissed,” he said, “you felt so right in my arms.” He took a step toward her, and his hands cupped her face, a thumb brushing aside her tears. Gently, he lowered his face to hers and brushed her lips with his. “I know it’s early and I know we have a lot to talk about, but...can we try?”
Her throat was too tight to speak, so she just nodded. And smiled. And wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down and kiss him again.
Epilogue
Carson straightened his tie and checked his cuff links, then glanced once more at the clock.
“We’re ready, Daddy!” Sunny and Skye came running into the kitchen of the parsonage, dressed in identical green Easter dresses. They’d worn them to church this morning and hadn’t wanted to take them off, which had fit in just fine with Carson’s plans.
Trouble was, he was now questioning those plans.
Lily was fifteen minutes late to the home-cooked Easter dinner, which wasn’t like her.
“Look, Basie and Boomer are ready, too!” Skye squatted and clapped her hands, and Sunny released the two dogs into the kitchen, both sporting green ribbons around their thick necks.
The dogs were still a bit odd-looking, and the frilly bows didn’t change that. But they’d made the girls ecstatically happy, and Carson found himself enjoying their antics, too, and not minding the extra work they created.
He felt calmer and more peaceful generally. He’d laid memories from the past to rest. More than that, he and the girls had been spending a lot of time with Lily, working toward a future together.
Tonight, he would cement that. If she ever showed up.
“There she is!” Sunny spotted something out the window and ran to open the door for Lily, who was weighed down with a big armload of packages.
“It’s like Christmas again!” Sunny crowed, and Skye clasped her hands together, her eyes excited.
Lily gave them a big smile and then dumped her bag of presents out onto the couch. “Okay, girls, you need to figure out which ones are for you and which are for the dogs.”
She’d written names on the labels, and Sunny and Skye immediately discovered their own names and, after a nod from Carson, tore in. “Summer pajamas!” Skye said, holding up a pretty cotton pair.
“Look at mine!” Sunny’s were brighter and louder, just like the child herself.
“And there’s a book, too!”
“In mine, too!”
Of course, she’d bought them books, too. She was such a good influence, encouraging them to learn and grow.
But mostly, she was a loving influence. The girls were becoming more confident in her affection, in the fact that she’d be a part of their future.
The trouble was, Carson still wasn’t sure she’d be willing to make it permanent. But he didn’t want to wait, and Easter seemed like the right time for new beginnings.
“What are these packages?” Skye asked, indicating two more large packages on the couch.
“Read the labels to find out,” Lily said, and they studied the labels until they were able to read the dogs’ names. “Open them,” Lily urged, and the girls ripped in.
“Dog coats!” they cried and rushed to fit them on the dogs. Which had to be almost impossible, since the dogs were long like dachshunds, but bigger around.
“I made them,” Lily confided, glancing up at Carson with a smile. “Because these dogs can’t exactly do ready-to-wear.”
“There’s one more package, Daddy,” Skye said, bringing over a flat package to Carson.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Should I open it?”
“Of course.”
When he did, he couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a framed photo of him, the girls and Lily on the sledding hill, that first Christmas they’d spent together. “Where did you get this?”
“Who knew that Long John was snapping photos with his camera?” She smiled at him. “I was so happy to see it. I thought you and the girls might like a copy, too.”
It was the perfect segue into what he wanted to do. He pulled her toward the couch in front of the fire he’d built. “Sit down,” he urged her, “so I can give you my Easter present.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything. I know you’ve been busy.”
“Close your eyes!” the girls shouted.
“Well...okay.” She did, and he and the twins got into position.
Carson’s hands were sweating as he pulled the small box out of his pocket, and he shot up a quick prayer: Not my will, but Thine.
And please, make our two wills go together this time.
He held the red velvet cushion they’d found at a thrift store and nodded to the girls. “Open your eyes,” he said.
She did and stared at the red cushion with the little box in the center.
“Lily,” he said formally, “we would like to ask you to be part of our family.”
He nudged Sunny.
“You could be part of it just by being our friend,” she said, as coached.
“Like an aunt,” Skye said.
“But we hope you’ll be our mom!” Sunny blurted the words out and then clapped her hand over her mouth. They weren’t supposed to put pressure on her.
“Now you know what to do,” he told the twins.
“Do we have to, Daddy?” Sunny asked.
“We have to!” Skye grabbed her twin’s hand and tugged.
“You might find some Easter candy up in your room,” Carson said.
That was motivation enough, and they ran upstairs.
Leaving him alone with Lily. And very insecure about what she might be thinking. He looked at her, still on his knees, trying to read her face. “I love you so much, Lily,” he said. “You’ve shown me the way to a new life with more happiness than I ever dreamed I could have.”
She pressed her hand to her mouth, looking at him, eyes shining with what looked like tears.
“I hope you’ll be their mom, too,” he said. “They love you so much. But most of all, I hope you’ll be my wife.”
She reached down to put her hands on his shoulders, then leaned forward to press her lips to his.
A moment later, his head spinning, he let go of her enough to pick up the ring box that had fallen to the floor. “You... Wow.” He shot her a smile. “You didn’t even see the ring yet. I hope you like it. I... Was that a yes?”
She laughed, a joyous sound, and then there was a clatter of footsteps on the stairs that told him their time alone was over.
He had to know. “Lily?”
“It’s a yes,” she said. “Oh, Carson, it’s my dream come true.”
And as his girls threw themselves on both of them, all giggling happiness, he looked over the two blond heads and met Lily’s eyes. “It’s my dream come true, too.”
* * * * *
Don’t miss Finn and Kayla’s story
in the first book of Lee Tobin McClain’s
Redemption Ranch miniseries:
The Soldier’s Redemption
Available now from Love Inspired!
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Keep reading for an excerpt from Montana Mistletoe by Roxanne Rustand.
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Dear Reader,
I love Christmas! Carols and decorations, kids’ excitement, Christmas Eve services—all bring joy. And what better place to experience Christmas than at a snowy ranch in Colorado?
Lily and Carson do experience Christmas joy, but they have pain to overcome before they can open themselves to love. The loss of his wife, Lily’s friend, leaves them both with unresolved issues to overcome.
The topic of suicide is a very painful one, but it is a reality that touches many lives, my own included. I have tried to portray fairly both the depth of misery that can lead someone to take their own life and the guilt that remains with survivors. Help is available: the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, offers free and confidential support 24/7. As the gospel tells us in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
That is my wish for you and yours in this Christmas season: abundant life.
Thank you for visiting Redemption Ranch! Sign up for my newsletter if you’d like notification when the next book comes out: www.leetobinmcclain.com.
Warm Christmas wishes,
Lee
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Montana Mistletoe
by Roxanne Rustand
Chapter One
Jess Langford stopped outside his grandmother’s room at the rehab center and dropped to one knee. “Okay, girls. Do you remember what we talked about in the truck?”
The five-year-old twins bobbed their heads vigorously, their long, curly blond hair bouncing, though even now Sophie was edging toward the door, her bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
“We gotta be real quiet, so Gramma gets better and comes home.” Bella wrapped a long strand of her silky hair around a forefinger. She was edging toward the door, too. “And we can’t make her bed jiggly or she might cry. ’Cause she hurts.”
Jess sighed as he stood. Betty wasn’t hooked up to tubes and wires any longer, so those hazards were over, and she was made of much tougher stuff than anyone he knew. But the rambunctious twins had enough energy to wear anyone out—especially a seventy-seven-year-old woman who had been through surgery two weeks ago for a broken hip.
“Remember the rules? No running, no climbing on her bed. Promise? And indoor voices only, or we’ll have to leave.”
The girls raced into the dimly lit room and flung themselves against the side of the bed, chattering excitedly about their day in kindergarten. The pretty new layer of snow outside that looked like the sparkly real diamonds on their favorite Barbie dresses. Their latest adventures with their hay fort in the horse barn...which they currently called their princess castle.
Jess leaned against the door frame and stifled a yawn.
Last week, his only ranch hand had quit without warning, saying he’d had it with Montana’s winters and was going back to South Texas, which left Jess alone to run a horse-and-cattle ranch. Amid all of that, he’d been taking care of the house, laundry, meals and the girls, and getting them off to school. These days, even four hours of sleep was a blessing.
But he hadn’t been able to say no when Betty called at supper time and begged him to bring the girls for a visit tonight because she missed them so much. He owed Betty the moon and stars for all she did to keep the household running, so how could he refuse?
Seeing their joy and the love in Betty’s eyes made the trip worthwhile every single time.
Jess straightened and moved to Betty’s bedside to kiss her cheek. “How’s my favorite grandma?” He teased. “Better since yesterday?”
“Getting better all the time,” she retorted, spunky as ever. “I should be out of here in just a few days.”
“I sure hope so. We all miss you.”
He hadn’t done much praying in years—he and God hadn’t been on the best of speaking terms since his little sister, Heather, died when he was nine and his mom passed a year later, but since Betty’s fall he’d been trying a lot harder. Hoping God was listening, he briefly closed his eyes and sent up yet another silent prayer for Betty’s full recovery.
From the other side of the bed, Bella craned her neck to look at something in the shadowed corner of the room. “Who are you?” she chirped.
Jess looked over his shoulder, expecting to see a nurse or a tech of some kind. A frisson of awareness ran through him when his gaze landed on a woman in jeans and a sweater sitting stiffly on the edge of an upholstered chair, not someone in blue hospital scrubs.
Though he couldn’t make out her features, the woman’s long, honey-gold hair and slender build instantly sent him twelve years back into the past. “Abby?”
She rose slowly and stood there like a startled doe ready to flee, tension radiating from her. “Jess,” she said quietly in the sweet, melodic voice that had haunted his dreams for years.
He blinked and swiveled his gaze to Betty’s smug expression before turning back to the woman he’d once loved with all his heart. The heart she’d ripped out and crushed beneath her dainty Tony Lama boots. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“She’s here because I want you to hire her,” Betty announced. “I asked Norma and Frieda from the senior center to put notices all over town. This young gal saw one and she needs a job. So now you just need to find a new ranch hand and we’ll have the help we need. Isn’t this just perfect?”
Perfect. Not the word he’d use. He blinked again, shell-shocked, as a flood of bittersweet memories tumbled through his thoughts.
She’d tried to stand in the way of his dreams. She hadn’t believed in him. And her unexpected defection had left wounds that took years to heal. And yet here she was, thinking she could waltz back into his life and work at his ranch.
&nbs
p; Not in this lifetime.
“I...thought you were married,” he managed after a long, tense silence. “Right after we broke up. Then you moved away. Chicago, right?”
She nodded, then tilted her head toward the twins and seemed to consider her words carefully. “Honestly, when I inquired about the job, Betty’s phone number was on the flyer, but not her name. And I had no idea that it was at your ranch. I can see this isn’t going to work out, so I’ll just be on my way and—”
“No,” Betty said sharply. “You two just need to get over whatever happened between you, and think of this as business.” Her narrowed gaze swung between Abby and Jess. “I’m being discharged the day after tomorrow, which means I can come home. But I’ll still need to be driven back into town for therapy a couple times a week, and I will not be capable of cooking, laundry, meals and caring for the girls. Not for months. Well into calving and foaling season, Jess, when you’ll need to be outside 24/7. Abby says she’ll gladly work until the summer—”
Abby’s startled expression suggested that Betty’s assumption about that length of time wasn’t quite true, but Betty barreled on regardless.
“—and by then, I’ll be in fine shape.” Betty leveled a stern look at Jess, daring him to contradict her. “But without Abby’s help, I am not going to come back to the ranch and be an even greater burden to you.”
Yes, Jess needed help. But Abby? “I just don’t think—”
The older woman folded her arms over her ample chest. “You haven’t found anyone else to help out, and Abby is in a bit of a pickle. So if you don’t hire her, I’ll be moving to the senior citizens’ home over in Waveland, where I’ll be out of the way. For good.”
“Gramma,” Bella cried, scrambling up the side rails of the bed and curling up against Betty before Jess could stop her. “You hafta come home. Then our puppy can come home, too. Please.”
Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “We need Gramma. I don’t like it when she’s gone.”
Abby watched the girls for a moment, her expression inexplicably sad, then looked up at Jess. “This is awkward for both of us, but it’s true that I could use a job for a few months, until I go back to graduate school. And it does sound like you need help.”
The Twins' Family Christmas Page 18