There were so many children that her head was spinning.
“I’ll bring Aiken out to the minivan,” Joy offered.
“Minivan?” Kate asked.
“Tabby and Adam had a minivan,” Pastor Jacob explained. “I suppose it’s yours now.”
Kate would be expected to drive a minivan? She had her driver’s license, only because she’d needed one when she was in high school, but she hadn’t driven once since moving to New York.
“I’ll drive the minivan over to the house,” the pastor said as he led the way out of the mansion, all the children following them, talking and laughing. Pastor Jacob had to raise his voice to be heard over the noise. “I walked here earlier.”
“Ryan,” Joy called out, “can you grab the big suitcase, and, Jordan, can you get the smaller one?”
“What can I carry, Mama?” the youngest boy asked.
“You may carry the diaper bag, Kodi. It’s that one by the door.”
The little boy grabbed a backpack, a grin on his face.
A silver minivan sat beside the house and Pastor Jacob pulled a key fob from his pocket. He pressed a button and both of the side doors opened.
After all the babies were settled, and Carter made his opinion known about being tied into the car seat, Kate turned to Joy. “Thank you.”
Joy leaned over and hugged Kate. “You have my cell number. Do not hesitate to call, no matter the hour.” She pulled back and leveled a no-nonsense mom-look at Kate. “I’m serious. You call me if you need me.”
Kate couldn’t help but smile, the first since she’d arrived. “I will.”
“Good.” She clasped her hands and put them up to her lips. “I’ll be praying for you—and I’ll bring some breakfast tomorrow morning when I come.”
Pastor Jacob held the passenger door open and Kate got into the van.
“Everyone back inside!” Joy called to her brood, as she ushered them into the house and turned to wave one final time at Kate.
Pastor Jacob closed Kate’s door and went around to the driver’s side. He got into the minivan, and then paused as he looked at Kate. “Are you ready?”
“No.”
He laughed, his kind eyes softening at the edges. “I don’t blame you.”
With the boys babbling in the back, and a stranger at the wheel, Kate gripped her purse on her lap once again. She wasn’t ready—but life had taught her that it didn’t matter.
* * *
Jacob turned out of Bee Tree Hill estate and onto Main Street, very aware of the young woman beside him. It took a lot for him to get nervous or feel self-conscious, but from the moment Kate LeClair had stepped into the music room at Bee Tree Hill, he’d felt like a bumbling idiot.
She couldn’t be more than twenty-three or twenty-four, and despite the sleepless circles under her eyes, she was stunning. Her hair was thick and wavy and a dark shade of blond, but it was her eyes, which were large and expressive, that he had noticed first. He couldn’t place the color, since they were almost the same shade as her hair.
The silence had gone on for too long as Jacob tried to pull himself together. He was a pastor—a professional—not a schoolboy who didn’t know how to act in front of a pretty girl. He was helping her because it was his job and nothing more. “So, you’re a Broadway performer.” He’d been amazed when he’d learned about Kate’s profession from Tabby a while ago. He never thought he’d actually meet her. “I’ve never known a professional actress.”
Kate nodded as she took in the quaint downtown street. Row after row of brick buildings, large plate glass storefronts and flower baskets with mums filled Main Street.
“Is that something you’ve done for a while?” he asked, trying to keep her mind on something that was safe and familiar—and not the three toddlers in the back seat. They’d consume her attention soon enough.
“I started acting in grade school,” she said, finally looking at him. “I knew I wanted to be on Broadway when I was in high school, so I moved to New York after—” She paused and looked down at her purse. “It took me a long time to finally get a small role on Broadway. But it wasn’t until last year that I started touring with Les Misérables as the character Fantine. We’ve been on tour for eleven months now.”
“Wow. That’s a long time to be away from home.”
“The road becomes home, in a way,” she said wistfully. “I travel with almost a hundred people, from actors to directors and stage crew. Many of them are as close as family.”
Jacob shook his head at the thought. “It must be an amazing life.”
She looked back at the downtown. “It can be.”
What would she think of small, unassuming Timber Falls after she’d seen some of the biggest cities in America?
He came to a stop at the downtown intersection and flipped his blinker to turn right. “This is our Broadway,” he said with a self-conscious smile. “Not quite the same as yours. This one runs across the Mississippi River and connects the west side of town to the east side.” He turned east. “And there are no theaters on this street—but it is home to Timber Falls Community Church, which is pretty special to me.”
“Tabby’s house is near a church, if I remember correctly,” she said.
“Yes, right behind it, actually.” Jacob tried to sound nonchalant, though his pulse started to speed up. “We had been trying to get Tabby to sell the house to the church so we could expand.”
Kate turned and studied Jacob. “But she wouldn’t?”
Jacob shook his head. “It’s been in your family since it was built, apparently, and Tabby had no plans on selling.” Her refusal to sell hadn’t sat well with the church elders, though they had offered more money than the house was worth. The whole ordeal had almost caused Tabby and Adam to leave Timber Falls Community Church, but Jacob had been the one to finally convince the elders to think of other options, though they hadn’t agreed on one yet. There really weren’t any to choose from.
“Why do they want to buy the house?” Kate asked.
“To expand the church. There is a need for a Christian school in Timber Falls and our church, with its central location, is the ideal spot.”
“So why not buy one of the other houses around the church?”
“There are no other houses,” Jacob explained. “The church faces Broadway and sits on two city lots, wedged between Third and Fourth Street. Behind it are two more city lots. The historic Carnegie Library occupies one and your family home occupies the other.”
“I think I remember now,” Kate said. “I visited Timber Falls one summer when I was ten. I went to the library with Tabby almost every day.” She rubbed her temples and squinted against the sun. “It was so long ago, some of my memory is fuzzy.”
“I didn’t know you were here before.”
“It was only for a week.” She glanced over her shoulder at the boys who had quieted for the car ride. They were now old enough for forward-facing car seats and Jacob could see each of them in the rearview mirror. “That was the only time I ever spent with Tabby,” Kate continued. “We wrote letters back and forth through high school, but then—” She stopped again, just like she had before and seemed to reroute her conversation. “After high school we lost touch. Recently, I tried finding her on social media, but I don’t think she was there.”
“No.” Jacob shook his head. “We had several conversations about social media.” He smiled. “Tabby was not a fan.”
“I do remember she was a private person.” Kate chuckled to herself. “Far different than my life.” She paused for a moment. “I’m surprised the social worker was able to locate me. It’s been years since Tabby and I spoke.”
Jacob smiled. “Tabby knew exactly where you were all this time. She was very proud of who you became. She spoke of you often.”
Kate bit her bottom lip, but did not respond.
&nbs
p; “She had you listed as her next of kin in her will, so it wasn’t hard for the social worker to find you.”
He turned onto Third Street, a little pride swelling his chest. “There’s the church,” he said, pointing to the large Gothic-and-Tudor-style building. “It was built by the Asher family over a hundred years ago.”
“Joy Asher’s family?” she asked in amazement.
“Her husband’s family, but yes, the same Ashers.”
Jacob pulled the minivan to a stop next to the curb in front of the house. “And here’s your family home. According to Tabby, it’s been here just as long.”
Kate looked out the window, shaking her head. “It’s as lovely as I recall.” She let out a sigh. “So picturesque. I remember how much I wanted to live in Timber Falls when I came to visit. I was so jealous that Tabby and her mom lived here when I was in a one-bedroom apartment in Chicago with my mom at the time.”
“Were your mom and Tabby’s mom sisters?”
“First cousins. If I remember correctly, it was their grandparents who built the house.”
The Craftsman bungalow had been meticulously cared for by Tabby and Adam over the years. It was painted a dark gray and had a large dormer window facing the front. A covered porch, thick white trim around the doors and windows, and charming flower boxes filled with red mums were only some of the delightful characteristics of the big house. A white picket fence encircled the landscaped yard, and a two-story brick carriage house, used as the garage, sat near the alley, directly between the home and the library.
“And you live nearby?” she asked, turning to look at Jacob.
He pointed across the street at the blue Queen Anne Victorian-era home with its bay windows, tall gables and wraparound porch. “I live there with my seven-year-old daughter, Maggie. It’s way too big for us, but it’s the parsonage, so that’s where we live.” He loved the home, but it only reminded him that he and Maggie were alone in the world.
Instead of focusing on what he didn’t have, though, he decided to change his course of thought. “Maggie’s really excited to meet you. She wants to be an actress one day.”
Kate offered a pretty smile. “I’d like to meet her, too.”
Jacob was blindsided by the smile and struggled to find his voice.
One of the boys started to cry and wiggle to get out of his car seat.
“Should we get the boys inside?” he asked.
Taking a deep breath, Kate nodded. “It sounds like they’re ready, even if I’m not.”
Jacob pressed the buttons overhead to open the side doors and then he and Kate stepped out of the minivan.
“Just pinch those two buttons,” Jacob said when he noticed she was struggling to get Carter out of his car seat. The little boy was straining against the harness holding him in place, causing Kate to clench her jaw.
“Here?” she asked.
Jacob nodded as he stepped into the minivan, which wasn’t an easy feat, given his height, and unbuckled Bryce from the back seat. He moved backward to exit the vehicle, knowing he probably looked like a giant getting out of a clown car, and then worked with one hand to free Aiken while still holding Bryce.
“How in the world did Tabby and Adam manage?” Kate asked, as she yanked on the harness to no avail.
“She didn’t go out much,” Jacob said matter-of-factly. “Though she was getting out more in the past couple of months since the boys were a little more manageable.”
“This is manageable?” Kate shook her head, her eyes wide.
Carter was now throwing a fit, wanting out of his car seat.
Jacob rushed around the minivan and handed Aiken over to Kate. “Here, let me help.”
Kate took the little boy, tears rimming her eyes. “I can’t do this.”
He pushed the button and the boy was free. Jacob scooped him up in his arms and Carter immediately settled.
“See?” Kate said. “I can’t even get him out of his car seat. How am I supposed to take care of them when I can’t do a simple thing like unhook a seat belt?”
“Remember, I’ve had years of experience.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “You’ll feel better when you get some rest. And I’m just across the street at any time.”
She took another deep breath and nodded.
He admired her determination.
“I’ll come out and get your luggage later.” Jacob managed to press the sliding-door button on the key fob, thankful for the modern technology that made it possible to hold two squirming eighteen-month-old boys and close the minivan doors at the same time.
Kate unlatched the front gate and the five of them walked up the path to the enclosed porch.
“The key should be under the welcome mat,” Jacob said to Kate.
“Seriously?”
He nodded.
“I thought people only did that on television.” She shook her head. “Why lock the door if people know there’s a key under the mat?”
“Since moving to Timber Falls, I’ve realized that locks are merely a formality.” He grinned. “But the town is safe and most people don’t have a need for them.”
She leaned over, pulled aside the welcome mat and lifted up the key. “I’m starting to remember why I wanted to live here when I was a child.”
“And now?” he asked. “Do you still feel that way?”
“I worked really hard for my life in New York.” She let her gaze wander down Third Street where most of the homes were either Craftsman or Victorian. The mature trees reached across the street and touched, their branches intertwined like clasped hands. Children played in a nearby park, parents pushed strollers toward the library and the church bell chimed five times, letting the kids know supper would be on the table soon.
Kate sighed. “I have so many decisions to make.”
“Once you live here,” Jacob said, “it’s hard to leave.” He knew that firsthand. He hated to think that he and Maggie would have to leave if he didn’t fulfill his promise to start a school at Timber Falls Community Church within the year. It had been one of the stipulations the elders had given him when he’d been hired two years ago. They had given him a three-year plan, and in it they’d included the school. If it weren’t built and ready to go by next September, he would be replaced. He needed to have a location ready by the first of the year, or they’d never have enough time.
That didn’t give him long to convince Kate LeClair to sell—but now was not the time to ask.
Copyright © 2020 by Gabrielle Meyer
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ISBN-13: 9781488060472
Alaskan Christmas Redemption
Copyright © 2020 by Sandra Calhoune
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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