Christmas morning dawned bright, clear, and sunny. Jed was in no hurry to do anything. He was struggling not to be depressed over being stranded on Christmas. He walked outside and carried wood into the lodge and filled the wood boxes while acorn coffee brewed. Lizzie, still not much of a morning person, wandered from her room and poured each of them a mug and added honey.
When Jed finished filling the wood boxes, he shrugged off his parka and gladly accepted the coffee. “It’s cold out there!”
When they sat down for breakfast, they each pulled out their Bibles. Jed read the Christmas story from Luke and then also read Matthew’s account. When they finished reading, Lizzie said, “Wait right there and close your eyes. I have something for you, but I didn’t have any way to wrap it.” She jumped from the table and scurried to her room. “No peeking!”
“I’m not.”
Lizzie came back to the breakfast table and set the coonskin hat in front of Jed. “Okay, you can open your eyes now. Merry Christmas, Jed. I love you.”
Jed opened his eyes and saw the hat. He picked it up. Full of wonder, he felt the fur and the softness of the skin. “How did you do this? The skin is so soft!”
Lizzie glowed with happiness. “I chewed the skin to make it soft like you told me squaws used to do. Did I do it right?”
“It’s marvelous. Thank you! Now it’s your turn. Close your eyes and don’t peek.” He got up from the table and walked to his bunk and came back with the necklace of bear claws.
Slipping up behind her, he said, “No peeking now.” He draped the necklace around her neck. Gently gathering her hair, he tied the necklace beneath. “Now you can look.” He knelt on one knee in front of her and said, “I don’t have a diamond, but I love you. Will you marry me when we get home?”
“Oh, Jed! Yes! I’ll never look at this without knowing you love me. I never doubted it.”
She flung her arms around his neck, and he embraced her, satisfied. He would always remember this as his best Christmas ever.