Finally, he looked at her. She leaned back, as if she had been hit with a gale-force wind. Her skin was white as paper. He thought she might faint. He reached for her shoulders and she pressed her hands to his chest.
Her words came out in a rush. “Jack, I was afraid, too. My first marriage was such a disaster, I was scared I might make another mistake. I kept telling myself what I feel for you couldn’t be true. But ever since I left I’ve felt so empty without you. . . . I know it’s true now. I know I love you.” She put her arms around him and hugged him close. “I love you so much. . . .”
He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her. He felt like the luckiest, happiest man in the world. All his fears for the future vanished, and his heart filled with pure love and joy.
When he finally looked down at her, she was crying—tears of happiness. “I’m sorry, Julie. I was a total jerk to let you go. But you said that sometimes there are second chances. Thank God, I got one this time.”
“I would have come up and knocked on your door again,” she told him. “I wasn’t going to let you go that easily.”
He felt a thrill, knowing she really loved him. It seemed a miracle to him.
“Will you come back with me?” he asked quietly. “I know I told you I wasn’t sure I could do it, but if you give me a chance . . . if you’ll marry me . . . I’ll do my best to make you happy every day. You and Katie,” he added.
Julie stared at him in amazement again. She had not expected his proposal and before she could answer, they both heard Kate shouting at the top of the stairway.
“Jack! Jack! You’re here! I told Mommy you would come.”
He looked up to see Kate running down the stairs. She stopped a few steps from the bottom and flung herself into his open arms, without a shadow of doubt that he would catch her.
“Hey, Katie girl. Here I am.” Jack hugged her to him.
“We missed you, Jack.”
“I missed you, too,” he confessed. “I missed you so much.”
Katie pressed her head to Jack’s shoulder and sighed happily. Jack glanced at Julie over Katie’s head.
“You never answered my question. Need to think about it?”
Julie shook her head. Her eyes were bright, full of love. She put her arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek. “No, I don’t need to think about it. I want to go back with you, Jack. I want to take care of you and make you happy forever.”
Holding Kate with one arm, he pulled Julie close with the other. He was so happy, he could have started singing. But he restrained himself. He would save that for later, to entertain Katie on the ride home. “It’s settled then,” he said quietly, hugging both Kate and Julie close. “Everything is just . . . perfect.”
A SHORT TIME LATER, JULIE’S BELONGINGS WERE PACKED IN JACK’S truck. They decided to leave Julie’s old car. It was barely running, and Jack wanted to buy her something new and reliable.
She said good-bye to her brother and his family. They seemed happy for her, Jack thought, as well as somewhat relieved to see her go.
Kate had been up very late the night before, waiting to bang pots and pans with her cousins at midnight. She fell asleep as they crossed the Whitestone Bridge and started on the turnpike back to New England.
Jack and Julie talked for hours, revealing their feelings and secret fears. Laughing about how silly they had sometimes both been. Jack talked about plans for the nursery, trips they could take together. The future had rarely looked better, and it was the best New Year’s Day he could ever remember.
As he steered the truck up the long drive to the tree farm, he turned to Julie and she quietly smiled back at him. It seemed right to have Julie and Kate back at the house again. He carried their belongings inside, feeling a deep sense of peace and completion at their return.
When Katie’s bedtime came, she was eager to hear a story. Jack sat on her bed with a book, Julie at his side. But before he read, he had something important to tell Kate.
“You know, Kate, I’ve always known that you’re a very special girl. But now I know you have some real magic inside.”
Kate looked puzzled. “What do you mean, Jack? Why am I magic?”
“Well . . . remember that time you pretended to be a Christmas elf and you gave me a wish?” He paused, watching her face. “I can tell you now. I wished for you and your mom to stay with me forever. And it really came true.”
Kate’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “Really?”
He nodded solemnly.
“Wow,” she said. “Awesome.”
“Yes. It is really awesome,” Jack agreed.
Julie rested her hand on his shoulder. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “So are you, Jack Sawyer. So are you.”
EPILOGUE
SAM WALKED DOWN THE GRASSY HILL. HE HEARD DARRELL AND Tyler shouting and Sunny’s loud barks before he could see anyone. The marsh grass around the pond was very tall at this time of year, deep in the middle of the summer. He hadn’t had much time lately to do any work down here, but maybe soon he would at least trim some of the brush.
The boys didn’t seem to mind. They liked the pond looking wild. It made it feel like more of an adventure to swim here. Darrell was swimming on his back, a lazy backstroke. He saw Sam and waved. Tyler was on the wooden float, preparing to dive in.
“Hey, Dad! Watch me. Look at this—cannonball!” he shouted. His little body leaped off the float and he hugged his knees in the air, creating a gigantic splash.
“Tyler, please! You’re splashing me.” Jessica jumped up from her lawn chair. Sam hadn’t even seen her sitting there.
He hadn’t noticed Sunny either, who now jumped up and galloped toward him, her coat soaking wet, her big paws coated with mud. When she jumped up on Sam to lick his face, her paws practically rested on Sam’s shoulders.
“Whoa, Sunny. Get down, girl,” Sam said, laughing.
Jessica ran over and kissed his cheek. She wore one of his castoff shirts over her bathing suit. It hid her small round tummy. She was barely three months pregnant now, but she was still very self-conscious.
“Hi, honey. I was hoping you would quit work early today. It’s so hot.”
“Sure is. Even Madeleine Norris had to take pity on us,” Sam said with a grin. He was almost done rebuilding the porch on Mrs. Norris’s Victorian. A well-paying job, to be sure, though Mrs. Norris’s nit-picking made him wish he had charged double.
Jessica took her seat again. “Are you going to jump in for a swim?”
Sam shook his head. “I don’t think so. I just want a shower.”
“I’ll go up to the house with you. It’s time the boys came out anyway. I bought some stuff for a barbecue. It seemed a good night to grill.”
“Sounds good to me.” Sam folded up Jessica’s chair then carried it under one arm. He waved to the boys. “Come on in now. We’re going up.”
Tyler balked but Darrell came right away, yanking his little brother out of the water. Sunny helped, too, Sam noticed.
Sam took Jessica’s hand as they walked up the hill. She suddenly stopped so he did, too.
“Feeling tired?” he asked
She shook her head. “I feel fine. I just wanted to stop a moment and look at our house.”
They had come to the top of the hill and their new house was in full view. Sam gazed at it, too. It really was a good house. A gracious, elegant-looking house without being too formal or trying too hard to be a factory reproduction of a real Victorian. They had purposely chosen a design that was unlike their last house. They wanted something new. Something different.
There were large, long windows, a long front porch, and a back porch, too. A wide roof line and a turret. Sam had done much of the work himself, but the generous gift from Lillian had made it all possible.
It had plenty of bathrooms and bedrooms upstairs, and in some ways was much more convenient than their old house with all its charming quirks.
Most of all, they were happy here. Their life was back on
track, and now they were looking forward to a baby. “So, you still like the new house?” he teased her.
“You know I love it.” She slipped her arm around his waist and squeezed him. “It’s beautiful. Even my mother approves,” she added, reminding him of Lillian’s recent visit.
Sam leaned his head back and laughed. “So she does. I’m surprised Sara didn’t put it on the front page of the Messenger. It’s got to be a first in this town.”
“Sam?” Jessica was fighting a smile, but also reminding him of his promise. He’d been pretty good these past few months, not criticizing Lillian . . . though it was often tempting.
But she had been generous and he would always be grateful.
They continued on their way toward the house, laughing together. Sunny barked and ran ahead, and Tyler gave chase.
Sam hoped they would spend many happy years in this house. And then, many more. The fire had taught him one thing: It was easy to take the blessings in his life for granted. He hoped this house would keep him mindful every day to cherish all he held dear.
A Christmas Star Page 27
