With Christmas Eve less than two weeks away, every day seemed to be filled with wonder. What had his life been like before two little girls appeared and turned it upside down?
Jess didn’t want to remember.
Now they were bringing home art projects from school that Abby taped all over the kitchen: lacy cutout snowflakes. Construction-paper reindeer with red noses. Chalky drawings of snowy winter scenes. Tipsy-looking cotton-ball snowmen.
And the baking continued every day, filling the house with tempting aromas. Sometimes Darla came over and helped Betty, Abby and the girls make Christmas cookies he’d never seen before, each more colorful and delicious than the last. All meant to give the girls more memories of a warm and happy kitchen where they were loved and treasured.
It had been six weeks since Lindsey’s call and her promise to come by Christmas, and it felt as if a clock was ticking away the hours and days way too fast.
Jess had left church early that morning—right after the sermon and offering—to meet an out-of-state horse-training client traveling through Montana who wanted to see the progress Jess was making with a three-year-old mare.
After the man left, Jess went back to the chores he’d started at dawn. If only he could find a good, decent ranch hand.
A few minutes later his cell phone chimed.
The screen showed an unfamiliar number from out of state. Probably not my perfect ranch hand, he sighed as he answered the call. “Broken Aspen Ranch, Jess Langford speaking.”
“Good. This is Alan Halliday.”
Jess had never met the guy, but the cloying, smug tone in the man’s voice and his arrogant manner set Jess’s teeth on edge. “Can I help you?”
“I understand Abby is at your ranch. Just like old times?” The innuendo in his voice came through loud and clear.
Did he imagine Abby had come to Montana to pick right back up where things had ended twelve years ago? “She’s working here, yes.”
Alan laughed. “She’s quite a gal, as long as you watch your back. You know, she dumped me when my health got rough. Pretty shallow, really. But maybe you’ll have better luck.”
Jess bit back a sharp response and counted to ten. “I’m not sure why you’ve called. But—”
“She had second thoughts after she left, and begged me to take her back. But of course I wouldn’t,” Alan said. “At least not then. Just tell her something for me.”
“And that is...?”
“I’ve learned that our divorce wasn’t actually finalized after all...thanks to my stupid lawyer, who didn’t properly file the papers. But tell her that I’ve been thinking that maybe this was a message from above, and I’ve been considering giving her another chance. Tell her to call me.”
He rattled off a phone number and hung up.
Aghast that this man would share so much personal information with a stranger, Jess stood staring down the barn aisle, his hands shaking. If Alan had been telling him these things about Abby in person, it would’ve been hard to keep from throttling him.
Jess had known Abby throughout grade school, high school and college. He’d loved her then and he loved her still. How could Alan be so totally wrong?
And how on earth had Abby stayed with someone like him for so long?
At the sound of a familiar vehicle pulling to a stop, Jess went outside. “Abby—can I talk to you a minute?”
Betty and the girls waved to him and went on to the house. Abby waited, her long blond hair waving down the back of her red jacket like a waterfall. “What’s up? Is anything wrong?”
“You had a phone call from Alan. He wants you to call him.” He held out a piece of paper. “Here’s the number, if you need it.”
She eyed it like it might be a rattler ready to strike. “Thanks, but no.”
“He claims his lawyer botched something with your divorce paperwork, and says it isn’t final.”
She looked at him with horror. “What? But that’s not possible.” She bit her lower lip. “At least I don’t think so.”
“I don’t know him,” Jess said, carefully choosing his words. “But after talking to him for a few minutes, I think you might want to check with your lawyer first.”
“If there’s really a problem with the divorce, my lawyer can handle it. She can also remind Alan’s lawyer that I want no further contact. Period.”
Jess hesitated, debating about how much to say. “Well, just so you’re prepared, I don’t think he was joking when he told me that the paperwork problem might be a sign. He said that he might give you another chance.”
She stared at Jess for a moment, then laughed. “Over my dead body. Honestly, what is he thinking? He’s the one who demanded the divorce, not me.”
“One other thing. He seemed happy that I was the one who answered the landline phone, and then he proceeded to share some negative things about you.”
“Something must have happened between him and his new girlfriend. And now he’s trying to make sure that he gets his breadwinner back. Me.” She turned her gaze to the sky, as if looking for answers. “It will never happen. Have you ever wondered how you could have been so incredibly blind about someone?”
“Yes, I have.” He’d been blind to the treasure in his life, the girl he’d lost, who was now standing before him. “I want you to know that I don’t believe a word of what Alan said. He doesn’t deserve someone like you.”
She rested a hand against his cheek. “Thank you, Jess,” she whispered softly. “I’d honestly forgotten what it’s like to have someone believe in me.”
* * *
Every day after school, the twins helped decorate the house until every surface seemed to be adorned with wreaths, Christmas figurines, snow globes and Betty’s collection of nativity sets. Christmas stockings hung by the fire.
Jess continued to string lights outside until the house and the entire yard twinkled. Pine boughs wrapped with Christmas lights covered the railings of the wraparound porch, and Jess had even hung a giant wreath above the wide sliding door of the horse barn that Abby could see from the living-room windows.
Abby cleared the lunch dishes from the table, then went to find Betty and the girls.
Betty looked up from the card table she’d placed in front of her chair by the fire. “One left. For now.”
Abby laughed. “Another one?”
“Tradition,” she said firmly. “One can’t have enough.”
Betty had been busy this week creating pretty little clusters of mistletoe to hang above the top step leading into the covered porch and in every doorway. There was mistletoe everywhere, and her intentions were clear, even if she continued to deny them with an innocent smile.
Abby felt a rush of cold air come billowing in from the kitchen as Jess came in the back door. “I’ve got my SUV warming up. Who’s ready to go to town?”
The twins came running for their coats and boots.
Betty shook her head. “I think I’ll stay nice and warm right here.”
“But, Gramma,” Sophie cried, coming back to tug on Betty’s hand. “You hafta come. Santa is there. And Uncle Jess says everything will be pretty.”
“I’ll be at your Christmas program at church tomorrow, I promise. I’m just not sure I’m ready to face the slippery sidewalks in town just yet.”
“You’re sure?” Abby brushed a kiss against Betty’s parchment cheek. “I can hold on to you.”
“I have a feeling those girls will be mighty excited to see the window decorations and meet Santa, so you go along. You can text me some pictures, if you like.”
By the time Jess found a parking spot near Main Street, the sidewalks were filled with shoppers. Wreaths and ribbons festooned all of the lampposts, and every shop window had been decorated. Christmas carolers strolled the street, filling the air with their music.
“This is really beautiful,” Abby said with wonder. “I don’t remember any of this when I was growing up.”
Jess nodded. “The town has a lot more shopping on Main now. The Saturday before Christmas is the biggest celebration of the year.”
They followed the girls as they ran from one shop window to the next. Most of them displayed pretty winter and Christmas scenes, with figures that moved and trains that chugged on their tracks through the display. In some of the doorways, clerks dressed as holiday characters passed out candy canes.
Snow started falling, and the twins stopped to tip their heads back to try to catch the flakes on their tongue.
“I wonder if they’ll remember the snow?”
Abby looked up and caught a hint of sadness in Jess’s eyes. She threaded her arm through the crook of his elbow and lowered her voice. “You don’t know for sure that they’ll go back to California. Lindsey might not even come. Maybe you can pursue custody. But either way, they’ll always remember this, Jess. No matter what happens. They’ll look back and remember that this was a wonderful year.”
“I hope so.” He looked down at her. “I know that I’ll never forget.”
He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but Bella and Sophie had reached the next corner and were shouting and waving at them. The moment was lost.
Across the street, an empty lot had been turned into a North Pole village, with a red-and-white-striped Santa house adorned with bright green pillars in front and a reindeer pen to one side. Santa sat in a chair in full regalia, with a line of several dozen children waiting to talk to him.
Sophie slipped her mittened hand into Abby’s and looked up at her. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Abby crouched down in front of her. “Of course you can.”
“My momma said she doesn’t believe in Santa. She said nothing ever good happens, even if you ask. ’Cause he isn’t real.”
Abby glanced up at Jess, then cradled the child’s cheek in her hand. “But you still want to go see Santa?”
“And Bella, too. We both have to. But we can’t tell you what we ask for.”
“Then that’s what we should do. Right, Uncle Jess?”
He nodded and took Bella’s hand, and they crossed the street to get in line. When it was the girls’ turn to see Santa, Abby took out her phone to take pictures and texted them to Betty.
On the way back to the SUV, they stopped at each store window on the other side of the street.
“Do you girls see anything you’d like for Christmas?” Abby asked, pointing at an array of lifelike dolls. “Something like that?”
The girls shook their heads.
“What about that big dollhouse? Or that art set?” No matter what Abby pointed out, they only shook their heads. By the time they reached the SUV, she’d given up. “Well, then, can you tell me what you would like for Christmas? It’s only a few days away, so you need to decide.”
“It’s a secret,” Bella said. “But Santa knows. And he said our wish would come true.”