Jingle Bell Blessings

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“A fellow big-city native! I’m from Houston.”

Chloe was immediately curious. “How do you like living here?”

“It’s perfect,” she replied in a soft voice. “I love it.”

“Met her husband here,” Gordon added.

Grace blushed, a gentle pink. “Yes. You’ll meet him at church. He’s the choir director.”

“A musician?”

She smiled widely. “Actually, Noah’s a plastic surgeon who happens to love music. Works out well because I do, too.”

“Do you teach music?”

“Actually, I teach English.” Grace laughed again. “You probably think you’ve wandered into the land of Oz where nothing is as it seems. A choir director who’s a doctor and a musician who teaches English.”

Chloe liked Grace’s infectious smile and laughter. “I’m enjoying Oz just fine.”

“Are we in Oz?” Jimmy asked in a confused tone.

Chloe met Grace’s glance and broke into another round of laughter. Then she knelt down next to Jimmy. “Oz is a pretend place. It’s very colorful and full of surprises.”

With a child’s understanding, Jimmy nodded. “But the school’s real?”

“Very,” Gordon replied. “Do you like what you’ve seen?”

Jimmy nodded. “I don’t like big schools.”

“Me, either,” Grace confided. “I was kind of scared when I started teaching, but at this school, all the people are nice and welcoming. In no time, I felt right at home.”

Grace might teach upper grades, but she had the perfect touch for young children. Chloe was glad they had run into her. She mouthed thank you above Jimmy’s head.

“I know how it is to be new to Rosewood,” Grace continued. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a pen and notepad. She scribbled on one page quickly, then handed it to Chloe. “This is my cell number. I’d like to help you settle in.”

Chloe felt at a loss as to how to answer. Her position was so tenuous.

Gordon replied for her. “That’s mighty nice of you, Grace. And, of course, we’ll see you at church Sunday.”

Church. Because she spent every Sunday visiting her mother, it had been a long time since Chloe had been in a church. But their pastor visited at the care facility, mostly seeing her mom. Chloe’s faith had never wavered. Which was comforting, because she would need it now more than ever.

Chapter Five

Evan could scarcely believe he had been dragged into this fishing trip. With mountains of work waiting on his desk, he was standing on the shore of the river, casting into the flowing currents. He glanced over at his father. After breakfast, as the others were readying for the trip, his father had sat down suddenly, seeming out of breath. Gordon insisted he was all right. So much so that it worried Evan. Was it a ruse to make him go fishing as well? To spend more time with Jimmy?

His father refused to call the doctor or stop by the clinic, which was open Saturday mornings. Ruse or not, Evan couldn’t let him drive out to the river with only Chloe and Jimmy. She didn’t know the area. If something happened, they could be stuck, far from help.

Gordon’s last checkup had gone well, but he wasn’t a young man anymore. The thought chilled him. Once his father was gone, Evan would be the only one left. Feeling his gaze pulled as though by a strong magnet, Evan looked at young Jimmy. The only one left in his family.

Why had Spencer and his wife insisted on reopening that abandoned factory? Wainwright had told Evan that the newly refurbished machines ran on clean energy, apparently a fervent cause of Spencer’s. And, he intended to employ people who had been jobless through no fault of their own. It was a noble cause. But the cost?

Bailey nudged his muzzle into Evan’s hand. Absently, he petted the golden’s head. Next to the shore, Jimmy stood between Chloe and Gordon. The boy had taken a shine to Gordon. But then Jimmy hadn’t really had a grandparent relationship before. His maternal grandfather had died when Jimmy was a toddler, that grandmother suffered from late-stage Alzheimer’s.

And, Evan wondered if the child had ever even met his paternal grandparents. Obviously, Spencer’s parents hadn’t changed since Spencer was a child. Devoted to their archeological dig, they had tunnel vision when it came to anything else in life. He supposed they loved Spencer in their own way. But they had seen nothing wrong in letting him grow up virtually alone. When Evan was young, he had overheard his parents disparaging over why they had ever had a child since they didn’t seem to want to be parents.

His gaze roved toward Chloe. He had expected her to be a typical city woman, squeamish and ill at ease. Instead, she eagerly baited Jimmy’s hook and now stood next to the hill country river as though she’d done so a hundred times before. In the sunlight, her long hair gleamed like spun honey. And Chloe’s laughter was easy and often. Yet she still wore her mother-bear persona, keeping Jimmy under her watchful eye.

Only a week and a half before Thanksgiving, the mild hill country weather was holding true. The changing leaves proved autumn had arrived, but the bite of winter wasn’t yet in the wind. It wouldn’t be long though, bringing the holidays he now dreaded.

As Evan watched, his father sat down in his camp chair, something he usually didn’t do until he had fished for several hours. They’d only been at the river about two hours. Although Gordon’s fishing rod still rested in the river, he wasn’t casting it any longer.

Frowning, Evan studied his face. The niggling worry resurfaced. He walked casually over to Gordon’s side. “River’s running low. Probably won’t catch much today.”

Gordon nodded toward Jimmy. “Never know.”

Clearly, his father wanted Jimmy to have a good time and Evan knew better than to suggest they go home early. His father would dig his feet in and not budge. But if he helped Jimmy catch a fish…

Sighing, Evan reached for the thermos, poured a hot cup of coffee and handed it to his father.

“Thanks, son.” Gordon’s voice sounded weary.

There was a second thermos with hot cocoa for Jimmy, but the youngster was so absorbed in the new sport that Evan could tell he didn’t care about refreshments at the moment. Manners drilled in by a determined mother couldn’t be ignored. “Chloe? Coffee?”

Chloe turned, her mouth wide with a smile, sunshine illuminating her face. “Thanks, no.” Their gazes still connected, she hesitated for a moment before turning back to the river.

It was a terminally long moment, yet not nearly long enough.

Evan frowned, then shook his head. Trick of the light, he decided. Nothing more.

Yet he continued to watch as she gracefully arched her back as she prepared to cast her line into the river. It plopped into the water perfectly. She must have gone fly fishing with her father as well as ice fishing. It took time to learn to cast like that. Which was why they’d given Jimmy a pole instead. Although the boy had helped tie flies, he was still too young to master casting. Maybe in the spring when there was plenty of warm weather ahead…. Evan jerked his thoughts to an abrupt halt. No. Jimmy wouldn’t be here in the spring.

Reminded that the boy needed to catch a fish so they could get his father back home, Evan paused. His own gear lay in the yellowing grass. He had brought it along only to appease his father. But it gave him an excuse to help Jimmy.

Evan walked to the shore quietly so he wouldn’t startle the boy. Studying his wobbling line, Evan remembered his own father teaching him to fish. Then he remembered the times he had brought Sean to this very shore, the bubbling excitement of his son’s animated face. Evan had expected someday to be the one sitting in a camp chair while Sean taught his own child the sport.