“You ready to surrender yet?” Pete demanded.
“Never,” Vaughn answered for them.
“This way,” Carrie told him. With the community Christmas tree blocking their movements, she led him across the street. Hidden by a loaded hay truck that passed behind them, Carrie steered him toward her parents’ store.
“This is what I’d consider enemy territory,” Vaughn whispered as they slipped behind the building and out of view.
“But it’s the last place they’ll look,” she assured him.
“Smart thinking.” Vaughn beamed her a delighted smile.
She smiled back—and realized she hadn’t felt this kind of pure, uninhibited pleasure in…years. Since childhood, probably. When she didn’t break eye contact and started to laugh, he said, “What?”
She shook her head, not wanting to put into words the joy she felt.
A sound startled them both, and they froze. Carrie was certain her brothers had found them again, but if it was Pete and Tom, they left without searching farther.
Relieved, Carrie sighed and slumped against the wall. “I believe we’re safe for the moment. Are you still interested in that pizza?”
Vaughn nodded, but she saw a strange expression in his eyes as he continued to gaze down at her. Carrie tried to look away and couldn’t. She knew he intended to kiss her, and she shut her eyes as he moved closer. She’d been waiting for this moment, anticipating it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned into him. He drew off his gloves and then her wool hat and dropped them. Weaving his hands into her hair, he kissed her…and deepened the kiss until they were both breathless. Carrie trembled and buried her face in his shoulder. Neither spoke. As he held her tight, it seemed for those few moments that their hearts beat in unison.
He kissed her again, his mouth both firm and soft. When he eased away, Carried noticed that his brow had furrowed, and she thought she read doubt in his eyes. Uncertainty. She touched his face, wondering at the confusion she saw in him. “Is anything wrong?” she asked.
He answered with a quick shake of his head. “Everything is right.”
And yet he sounded reluctant. She wanted to ask him more, but he moved away from her and peeked around the back wall. “Do you think it’s safe now?” he asked.
“It should be. Pete and Tom were just having fun with us.”
“Protective older brothers.”
“Exactly.”
“I watched over Gloria, too,” he said. “She’s two years younger than me.”
“Just imagine that four times over.”
“I don’t need to,” Vaughn said, ostentatiously brushing evidence of the snow battle from his sleeves.
They didn’t see Pete or Tom on their way over, so Carrie assumed they’d gone about their business. As she’d told Vaughn, it’d been all in fun and at least her brothers knew when to admit defeat.
Predictably enough, Vaughn raved about the pizza. In fact, he bought a second one to take home and reheat. When they’d eaten, they returned to Hassie’s, where his mother had just finished her visit. All four of them walked to where Vaughn had parked the car outside Sarah’s quilt store. When they reached it, Hassie and Barbara Kyle hugged for a long moment.
“Thank you for coming,” Hassie said, dabbing at her eyes.
Carrie knew it had been an emotional visit for both women.
“No—thank you for…for being Hassie,” Barbara said, and they hugged again. “I’ll be in touch about Christmas.”
Vaughn opened the car door for his mother and helped her inside, an old-fashioned courtesy that reminded Carrie of her father and uncles.
Carrie stood on the sidewalk next to Hassie as Vaughn placed his pizza carefully on the back seat.
“They’re coming to spend Christmas with me,” Hassie said. “I haven’t looked forward to anything so much in years. It’ll be like when the children were still home.”
Carrie knew Hassie intended to spend Christmas morning with Bob and Merrily and little Bobby, but she’d turned down invitations from almost everyone in town for dinner. Carrie was relieved that Hassie wouldn’t spend the afternoon alone—and she envied her Vaughn’s company.
He climbed into the car beside his mother and started the engine. Before he backed out of the parking space, his eyes met Carrie’s. She raised her hand and he returned the gesture. She felt as if her heart was reaching out to him…and his to her.
Chapter 6
Hassie had been looking forward to this night. The Dawsons had moved to Buffalo Valley four years earlier; at that time the only church in town had been Catholic and was closed after Father McGrath’s retirement. Then Reverend John Dawson and his wife had arrived.
What a blessing the couple had turned out to be! Joyce knew instinctively what to say to make people feel welcome. John’s sermons were inspiring, and his advice was both sensitive and practical.
Her first Christmas in Buffalo Valley, Joyce had organized the Cookie Exchange, which had become a yearly event.
Hassie had baked oatmeal-cranberry cookies early that morning and set out a plate for her visit with Barbara. Both had gotten so involved in their conversation that they hadn’t tasted a single one. Hassie shook her head, smiling. It was as though all those years of not seeing each other had simply vanished after their initial awkwardness had passed. The visit had gone by far too quickly; Barbara had to leave long before Hassie was ready. What amazed Hassie was that she’d found herself saying things she hadn’t even realized she felt.
Her daughter’s decision to live in Hawaii was one example. She’d never understood what had prompted Valerie’s choice. Yes, there’d been a job offer, but Valerie had pursued that job. The fact was, she’d wanted to get as far away from North Dakota as she possibly could. Hassie understood this for the very first time.
When Barbara had inquired about Valerie, Hassie explained that her daughter had chosen to remove herself from the pain of losing her only brother and then her father. Never before had Hassie consciously acknowledged that. Yet the moment she said the words, she knew they were true.
Later that evening when Hassie got to the church for the Cookie Exchange, the place was blazing with light. Although she was twenty minutes early, the parking lot was already half-full. The first person she saw once she’d set her platter of cookies on the table was Calla Stern. Sarah’s once-rebellious daughter had become a lovely young woman. She was in her junior year of college now, if Hassie recalled correctly, and there was talk of her applying for admission to law school. She attended the University of Chicago and shared an apartment nearby, but at heart Calla remained a small-town girl.
As soon as Calla saw Hassie, she broke off her conversation and hurried across the room, arms outstretched.
“When did you get home?” Hassie asked, hugging her close.
“This afternoon. Oh, Hassie, I just heard about Value-X. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know, Calla, and this might shock you all, but I’ve decided I’m too old to fight them.”
Calla frowned.
“That’s what Leta told us.”
“We can’t stand in the way of progress.” If progress it is. Change, anyway. Perhaps if Hassie repeated that often enough, she might come to accept it. This wasn’t what she wanted, but as she’d learned long ago, the world didn’t revolve around what she assumed was best.
“Let’s enjoy this evening,” Hassie urged, “and put these worries behind us until the new year.”
“I’ll try,” the girl promised.
“Good.” Hassie slid her arm through Calla’s. “Now tell me, are you still seeing Kevin?” Calla had been dating Leta’s boy off and on since her last year of high school.
“Occasionally. He’s so busy, and I’m in school most of the time. Anyway, with him in Paris for six months…”
“Calla would make a wonderful daughter-in-law,” Leta said, joining them.
“Oh, you!” Calla hugged her tightly, laughing as Hassie seconded Leta’s remark.
“Stop it, you two,” the girl chided. “I’m dating someone else at the moment and so is Kevin. We’re good friends, but that’s all. For now, anyway.”
“Damn,” Leta muttered.
“Give them time,” Hassie told her.
“Exactly,” Calla said with a soft smile, and after kissing them both, added, “Now excuse me while I go mingle.”
Hassie watched her leave. She thought Calla and Kevin would eventually get married, but probably not for some years. Not until educations were completed and careers launched. Still, they understood each other and shared the experience of having grown up in Buffalo Valley.
No sooner had Calla wandered off than Maddy appeared with four-year-old Julianne. She was heavily pregnant with her third child, but she’d lost none of her composure or contentment.
“Maddy,” Hassie said, pleased to see her. “Here, let me help you with all that.” Maddy was juggling her coat and purse, plus a huge box of homemade cookies.
“Mommy, can I play with Joy?” Julianne asked, tugging at Maddy’s sleeve.
“Yes, sweetheart, and tell Lindsay I’ll be right there.”
“Where’s little Caleb?” Hassie asked.
“With his daddy. After all, this is a girls’ night out,” Maddy said. Hassie knew this third pregnancy was as unexpected as their first. With three babies in five years, Jeb and Maddy were sure to have their hands full for quite a while.
Jeb’s mother must be looking down from heaven, mighty pleased with her son, Hassie mused. Thanks to Maddy, he’d gone from curmudgeonly recluse to good husband and proud father.
Hassie and Leta busied themselves arranging platters of cookies on the long tables. Joyce made several trips to the business office to run recipes off on the copier so they’d be available for whoever wanted them.
Margaret Eilers and her daughter, Hailey, were among the last to arrive. Hailey, at three, bore a strong resemblance to her father and to her brother, David. Looking at Margaret and the child, no one would guess she wasn’t the girl’s birth mother. Hassie had nothing but praise for the way Matt and Margaret had worked out the awkward situation involving their children.
In the beginning Hassie hadn’t been keen on Matt Eilers. No one in town held a high opinion of the rancher. But Margaret had fallen hard for Matt; she wanted to marry him and nothing would change her mind. After Bernard died and left her the ranch, Matt started seeing more and more of her. A few months later, there was a wedding. Then, lo and behold, Margaret turned up pregnant—at the same time as that woman in Devils Lake.
The babies were born within a few weeks of each other, Hailey first and then little David. Hailey had been living with the couple for most of her three years. She was a darling little girl, which Hassie attributed primarily to the love and attention Margaret lavished on her.
The room rang with laughter and cheer, and Hassie basked in the sounds that ebbed and flowed around her. Her day had started early and been an emotional one. When she noticed chairs arranged along the wall, she slipped quietly off and sat down. A few minutes later Leta came to sit beside her.
