Vada waited until she was sure that Theron was sound asleep before she crawled out of her bunk and tiptoed across the cold floor. She pulled a warm blanket from the back of the sofa, sat down and covered her feet with it, then opened the video on her phone and watched it a half dozen times.
“Having trouble sleeping?” Lucas asked as he came out of the bedroom. “Beer?”
“Love one,” she answered, “and yes, I couldn’t sleep, so I got up to look at the video you sent, and to think about what’s next.”
“What do you mean by next?” Lucas asked.
“I’ve never seen my son act like kids his age,” she answered. “He loves it here, and he is opening up in ways I never thought possible. He actually wants to go outside, and before we went to sleep, he said that he wanted to walk out to the barn by himself tomorrow to talk to the animals.”
“Do I hear a ‘but’?” Lucas sat down on the end of the sofa and pulled her feet over into his lap.
“You do,” she said with a nod. “I like you, Lucas, and Theron thinks you are a superhero, but what happens when we go home? What happens when…”
“What if that never had to happen?” he asked.
“We can’t stay here forever,” Vada said.
“Why? I like having company, and you’re a fantastic cook. I could hire you, and Theron could be my sidekick,” he said. “Why don’t we leave the end date open. You can stay as long as you and Theron want.”
“That’s very generous of you.” Vada smiled. “I just keep thinking that if he’s come so far in less than a week, what could happen if he has more time.”
Lucas reached under the blanket and began to massage Vada’s feet. “We can give him all the time he needs.”
“Thank you for that,” Vada said. “Can you imagine being in college when you were only twelve years old?”
“No, I couldn’t imagine being in college when I was eighteen. That’s why I went to work on a ranch,” Lucas said. “I wasn’t book smart like my brothers, but I loved ranchin’. Still do. I was serious, Vada, about you staying on. You can do your work here. I’ll find a desk somewhere on the ranch for you, and you can cook for me and Theron to pay your way.”
She groaned and then clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Does that mean you hate the idea?” he asked.
See there, you didn’t do it right, the niggling voice in his head said. You should have been more romantic—told her that you wanted her to stay because you have feelings for her, not because you like her fried chicken.
“No, it means that I’ve never had a foot massage before. That is downright glorious,” she muttered.
“Never?” he asked. “Have all the men you’ve dated been idiots?”
“I haven’t dated in years. Theron has…well, you know,” she said.
Lucas slowly shook his head from side to side. “A man would be lucky to get to know that boy. He’s so smart and has such a big heart. He just wants someone to accept him just like he is.”
“Yep, but there aren’t many men like you out there,” she said.
“Don’t I know it,” he said with a sigh.
Vada pulled her feet back and scooted over next to Lucas. She laid her head on his shoulder and said, “Lucas Ryan, I have never met anyone like you—and I like you a lot.”
Lucas slipped an arm around Vada’s shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. It felt oh, so right to sit there in a simple bunkhouse with her in the semi-darkness with a ten-year-old boy sleeping soundly across the room in a top bunk. If this was what having a family of his own felt like, then he wanted to hold on to Vada and Theron forever.
* * *
The air was so crisp that it looked like smoke came out when Vada exhaled. Her face was chilled by the time they’d gone a hundred yards from the truck, but she could still feel the warmth of Lucas’s kiss on her forehead from the night before. She hadn’t known what to expect when she awoke that morning, but he had acted like nothing had happened the night before.
Enjoy the day and stop trying to analyze everything, her grandmother’s voice seemed to float on the cold wind.
“Yes, ma’am,” she muttered.
“I’m not a ma’am,” Theron said, “Who are you talking to?”
“I was thinking about something my grandmother said,” Vada answered. No way was she telling Theron that occasionally her granny popped into her head. He would be researching the issue of hearing voices and what it meant.
“What did she say?” Theron asked as he eyed a cedar tree.
“She said for me to enjoy the time I have with you and Lucas while we’re picking out a Christmas tree,” Vada said.
Theron eyed her carefully, “How did she know we were picking out a tree today?”
“She didn’t, but I just figured since she used to tell me to enjoy the day, that she would want me to have a good time today,” she answered. “Are you having a good time?”
“Yes, I am,” Theron answered. “I think this tree would be just right. It’s about four feet tall, and not too big around.”
“How do you know how tall it is?” Lucas asked.
“The sun is right there,” Theron pointed, “and the tree is throwing a shadow over there,” he moved his finger, “so if you do the math, then the tree is four feet tall and about two and a half feet across. That’s unusual for a cedar because they are most usually kind of round.”
Lucas set his tool bag down and removed a small chainsaw. “This will get noisy, but it won’t take long.”
“You should leave as much trunk on as you can, and then we have to put it in a container that will hold water,” Theron said.
Vada still had trouble believing that this child was her son.
Lucas fired up the chain saw and cut down the tree in a matter of minutes. When it had fallen away from Theron and Vada, he put the saw back into the bag. “You want to help me take this to the truck, Theron?” he asked. “You grab up the end and I’ll take the trunk.”
“I can do that,” Theron said. “I’ve never decorated a tree before, and I forgot to do research last night before we went to bed.”
“You didn’t help your mama trim the tree?” Lucas asked as they started back toward the vehicle.
“No, sir, I did not,” Theron answered. “I’m not really religious, and I don’t believe in Santa Claus. It’s hard to believe in something I can’t see.”
“What changed this year?” Lucas asked.
“Buttercup did,” he answered. “I talked to her and figured out that this can just be a holiday where families get together. It doesn’t have to have a lot of meaning, and Buttercup and you and Tex and now the alpacas, especially Dixie, are like family to me. I want to share this holiday with all of them. Can we put a tree in the barn?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lucas pointed toward a small cedar only a few feet from the truck, and asked, “Is that one big enough?”
“I think so,” Theron answered. “They will like having a tree of their own, and I will tell them all the stories about Christmas, from Jesus to Santa Claus.”
“That’s a good reason, and I’m sure they’ll like having a tree of their own in the barn,” Lucas said as he dropped his tool bag and took out the saw.
Vada’s eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back.
When both trees were in the back of the truck, Theron hopped into the back seat and fastened his seat belt and began to hum. Vada cocked her head to one side and tried to pick up the tune. She’d never heard him hum or sing, either one. His first therapist suggested having soft classic music playing in the house, but that seemed to agitate him even more than normal. Vada loved country music, so she listened to it with her earphones as she worked most days.
“What song you got going in your head?” Lucas asked.
Theron stopped humming and said, “That will be ‘Everything’s Gonna be Alright,” by David Lee Murphy. When we drove to the barn it was on the radio, so I looked it up, and found out that I like country music, so I’ve been listening to it on my phone. I let Buttercup listen to a couple of songs and she seems to like it, too.”
“So do I,” Lucas said.
“And me, too,” Vada chimed in.
“That’s interesting,” Theron said. “Three people in a car, and we all like the same kind of music. Very unusual.”
Lucas glanced over at Vada and winked. A surge of happiness filled her breast. These feelings were crazy, she thought. Sure, she’d known Lucas in high school, and she had felt some chemistry last night when he kissed her on the forehead, but she had been around him only a week this time around. Was it even possible to feel the way she did in such a short time?
She remembered a plaque she’d seen several years ago that said, “The heart knows. Listen to it.”
“Penny for your thoughts,” Lucas whispered.
She told him about the plaque and what was written on it.
“Amen!” Lucas said. “If we paid attention to what our heart tells us, we wouldn’t make nearly as many mistakes.”
“What is your heart telling you right now?” Vada asked.
“That’s a silly question,” Theron piped up from the back seat. “A heart pumps blood. It doesn’t talk.”
Lucas winked again, and Vada smiled. Just having someone who understood and accepted her child was beyond any miracle the universe could boast about.