Christmas at Home

by Carolyn Brown

  The preacher’s wife sang “Mary, Did You Know?” Cold chill bumps raced down Sage’s backbone. She wondered if Creed’s momma had known when she had him if one day he’d leave her and move away hundreds of miles to a big hole in the ground. If she realized the effect that he would have on one woman in that canyon.

  Then the preacher sat down on the edge of the altar at the front of the church and motioned for the little children to join him. A couple of little girls sat on his knees and the others gathered around him in a circle. One thing the canyon did was produce kids, and lots of them had skin the color of Creed’s. That lightly toasted color that testified to Hispanic blood.

  He told them that the legend of the poinsettia came from Mexico and went on to talk about a little girl named Maria and her little brother Pablo and how they looked forward to the Christmas festival.

  She’d heard the story so often that she could read it back to the preacher without looking at the words, so her thoughts veered off in another direction. Her hand tucked into Creed’s felt right and good, but how had it all happened?

  Magic, Grand’s voice said in her ears.

  The story ended and the preacher asked eight children to carry pots of poinsettias to various parts of the church. The other children raced back to their parents and the preacher took his place behind the podium to tell the story of the shepherds and the birth of Christ.

  “And this morning the church gets dressed in its Christmas apparel. The Christmas tree has been brought to stand in our sanctuary. This day for the first time its lights will shine on us. While the children bring their ornaments to hang on the tree, we will sing ‘Away in a Manger.’ Let your voices resound with the glory of the season.”

  Sage and Creed held the program between them, their voices blending with the other members of the church at the backside of Lawton Pierce’s property. When the song ended, one little boy flipped a switch and the lights on the tree sparkled.

  “Beautiful,” Creed whispered in Sage’s ear.

  The heat from his breath sent instant flutters all the way to her stomach. She nodded in agreement but her thoughts were not on the sparkling Christmas tree, but rather on the shiny surface of a freshly cleaned credenza in their house.

  Their house!

  Lord Almighty, and I’m not swearing right here in the church house but asking, where did that come from? She looked toward the ceiling.

  The preacher talked about preparing the communion table. He removed the old cloth and replaced it with one with embroidered poinsettias on it that matched the curtain in the kitchen. Someone’s grandmother from ages past had embroidered it for the season no doubt.

  Then a teenage girl came forward. She wore a lovely crimson-red velvet dress and cowboy boots. She took her place behind the podium and read about the lighting of the candles as three other girls her age lit candles in the windows and on the communion table. With each candle that was lit, the congregation read the responsive reading from the program.

  Sage was amazed at how well Creed fit right into the whole program. “Have you done this before?”

  “Many times. I used to be the one who read that passage that she’s reading right now,” he whispered.

  “As we light these candles we symbolize God, Emmanuel, God with us. His peace and joy comes through the illumination of His message of love,” the young lady said and went back to her seat.

  There were five more readers. Cedar branches and holly were placed on the communion table. Wreaths were hung in the windows and on the front of the pulpit. At the end of the last reading the children came forward and sang “Little Drummer Boy.” Then the whole congregation stood and read the ending prayer together.

  “We dedicate our lives and all that we have to the work of life, of love, of peace. Receive our gifts and lead us in wisdom and courage. Amen.”

  Sage felt naked when Creed dropped her hand to shake with the preacher. Half of her was suddenly gone and then his other arm was around her waist. In that moment she realized that Creed was a part of her and that he was never leaving.

  “You are no stranger to the Hangin’ of the Green, are you?” The preacher pumped Creed’s hand up and down. “I’m Willard Dumas. I preach up in a church in Claude on Sunday morning, but these folks needed someone to come down here, so we set up a Sunday afternoon service. Glad to see you in church with Sage. Give Ada our best when you talk to her.”

  “I will surely do that. I’m Creed Riley, the new owner of the Rockin’ C next week when Miz Ada returns from her trip and we get the papers signed.”

  The preacher leaned in. “Don’t let your spirits rise too high, son. Ada’s got a lot of memories invested on that ranch. I’m not sure she’ll really sell out when she gets to thinking about it.”

  Sage’s heart twisted up into a pretzel. What was she going to do if Grand did change her mind and Creed left the canyon? Just when she’d found her soul mate, would he be jerked out of her life?

  * * *

  Creed stood to one side and let the ladies and Lawton go ahead of him into the ranch house. It still looked intimidating even in daylight, but not so much as it had the night before with all the lights glowing brightly.

  What surprised him was the intimacy of the dining room setting as compared to the big ballroom party. When he first walked inside, he noticed that the double doors to the left of the staircase were closed. He followed Lawton and the ladies down a wide hall. One door led into the kitchen, but they bypassed it and went on to the next one, a formal dining room set up for five people at the end of a table that could easily seat a dozen.

  The table had been set and the women went right on into the kitchen and started bringing out dishes. Creed was amazed when his stomach growled. It was already close to four o’clock and it would be chore time in less than an hour.

  “We’ll have a little something and then get on about the feeding,” Lawton said as if he could read his mind. “Ranchin’ don’t stop just because baby Jesus was born in a manger.”

  “It was a nice service though,” Hilda said. “I couldn’t believe that Amelia let her daughter wear boots with that beautiful dress.”

  “It’s the style, Hilda,” April said.

  “And she didn’t have a Creed Riley to carry her into church.” Sage smiled.

  Lawton motioned for everyone to sit down, said a quick grace, and looked right at Creed. “If Ada decides not to sell, I’ve got a place for you right here on the Canyon Rose, Creed.”

  Creed nodded. “Thank you, Lawton. But I’ve got my heart set on havin’ my own place. I appreciate the offer, but if she backs out it wasn’t meant for me to be in the canyon so I’ll just go on my way and find where it is I’m meant to settle down.”

  Besides, before I tell Sage exactly how I feel, I want to have something to offer her. She deserves more than a hired hand.

  “Offer still stands if you change your mind,” Lawton said. “Now pass me those buffalo wings and help yourself first. Once April gets a hold of the bowl we won’t get any.”

  “You got that right. I was too busy to eat very much at the party. And believe me, I don’t get this kind of food in Weatherford, Oklahoma!”

  “That where you live?” Creed asked.

  “That’s where I go to college.”

  Creed passed the bowl to Lawton. “And what are you going to be when you grow up?”

  “A rancher. I’d like to be one right now but Daddy is on Momma’s side and you can’t fight City Hall.” She shot a look down the table at Lawton.

  “You remember that. When you get your education you can learn ranchin’. There’s plenty of time.”

  Time, Creed thought. Not everyone had plenty of time. He had one more week and then he’d either be out of time or he’d own a ranch. His whole future hinged on whether or not Ada Presley sold him the ranch.

  * * *

  Creed
set the milk bucket under the cow and reached for his phone before he started his final chore of the evening. His brother, Ace, answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, are y’all thawin’ out? Our snowman looks like a snow blob now. There’s nothing left on the ground and Jasmine wanted a white Christmas so bad.”

  “Bring her out here. Roads are clear and the weatherman says we’re having a white Christmas for sure. It’ll take days and days to melt all this,” Creed said.

  “Oh, no. Not a chance. Momma is already carryin’ on because you are gone and the whole family won’t be at her place over the holidays. Why couldn’t you have found something within driving distance?”

  Creed chuckled. “I did. I’m only five hours from y’all and I’ll try to make arrangements to be home sometime over the holidays another year, but this one, it’s impossible. You got a minute?”

  “Oh, boy! That tone means you’ve got a problem. That weird artist givin’ you fits?”

  “Yes, she is, but she’s not weird. She’s beautiful. How did you know for absolute sure, I mean without a doubt, that you had fallen for Jasmine before you married her?”

  “You have a hell of a big problem if you are askin’ that question,” Ace answered.

  “Well?”

  “Thing is, I didn’t. Only a couple of people know the real story of me and Jazzy. Can you keep a secret?”

  “Of course.”

  “I didn’t know I’d fallen for Jazzy before I married her. She offered to marry me because of that damned clause in Grandpa Riley’s will. He said I had to be married within a certain time and I had to stay married a year or else the whole ranch went to our cousin, Cole.”

  “Holy shit!”

  “Don’t know if it’s holy even during Christmas, but you got it right. Remember when Grandpa’s old lawyer died and the new one took over his files? Well, he found that part in the will and I had a week to get married or lose everything. I told Jazzy about it and she offered. We flew to Las Vegas and we intended to keep it a big secret between just the two of us. You know the rest. It was broadcast on television and the secret was out.”

  “Damn!”

  “That’s what we thought, but then we had to live together…”

  Creed chuckled then. “And your three younger brothers had moved into the house with y’all. How’d you ever figure out that you’d fallen in love?”

  “It just happened. One day I couldn’t wait for the year to be up. The next I couldn’t live without her. So tell me what’s going on,” Ace said.

  “I think I’m to that latter place and it’s only been two weeks. Things in the real world don’t happen that fast, do they?”

  “Sometimes in the real world they happen in the blink of an eye. When are we going to meet this woman?”

  “Anytime you want to make a five-hour trip to the canyon.”

  * * *

  Sage painted when she was nervous. It settled that antsy feeling inside her and took her mind off whatever was chewing on her nerve endings. That evening she picked up her brushes with intentions of beginning a new mistletoe picture. She’d envisioned it that morning in church. She’d already sketched in the Christmas tree standing beside the old upright piano.

  The little four-year-old girl had come forward with her decoration when the preacher said it was time. She had big blue eyes, dark curly hair, and a round cherub face. She wore a denim jumper with a Christmas tree appliquéd on the bib and a ruffle of eyelet lace around the hem. Her red glittery shoes looked like they came right out of a Wizard of Oz Broadway play and her legs were chubby. She held a small ball of mistletoe with a red velvet ribbon on the top and she tiptoed to hang it in just the right spot.

  The picture Sage sketched in didn’t show that whole end of the church. It was just the corner of the upright piano, a small portion of the tree, and the wonder on the little girl’s face as she carefully hung her mistletoe on a tree branch. Above it was a bright white bulb throwing off light rays that looked just like a star.

  Noel sat beside the easel leg and watched her paint. Angel left her fighting triplets and watched from the middle of the living room.

  “I love you both and I love your babies, but I want a little girl like that one. I want her to have dark curls and green eyes and I want her to be raised in the canyon and put a decoration on the tree at the church at Christmas,” she said.

  Noel’s tail thumped against the hardwood floor and Angel purred.

  “So we are in agreement. Your puppies and kittens will be grown by the time I get a little girl like that, but you wouldn’t mind sharing the ranch with a child?”

  The purring got louder and the thumping sounded like a bass drum.

  “Okay, then, I’m admitting it. I want a family.”

  She picked up a brush and squirted several globs of paint onto a palette. As she began to paint her mind went to the wild sex on the credenza the night before. That urgent, demanding need had engulfed her and taken over her body. It was a brand-new experience and the first time she’d had sex without a bed involved.

  She wondered what it would be like in a hayloft or in the front seat of a pickup truck. Maybe an experience like the night before only came along once in a lifetime.

  You got that wrong, her heart said. It didn’t have Grand’s voice but she recognized it as the sassy tone that argued with her all the time.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said aloud.

  It can happen lots of times if you just let it. He’s the one, just like your Grand knew in the beginning. Creed Riley is the one that this ranch needs to bring it back to its splendor and to make you happy at the same time.

  The door opened and the force that was Creed was back in the house. Noel jumped up with a yip and ran that way. Angel stood up and stretched, yawned, and then went to rub around his legs.

  “Fickle pets. They leave me when you arrive.” Sage was grateful the voice had stopped and that she didn’t have to deal with her newly found revelation anymore.

  “It’s not me, darlin’. It’s the milk bucket they are interested in. We’ve got to go to town tomorrow and get them some proper food. Roads are clear and traffic is flowing. Let’s go to Amarillo.”

  She cleaned her brush and laid it on the easel tray. “We can get dog food and supplies in Claude.”

  He set the milk on the table and met her halfway across the floor. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his chest, tipped up her chin with his gloved fist, and kissed her hard.

  “Miz Sage Presley, would you go to dinner with me tomorrow in Amarillo? I thought we’d have dinner and then take in a matinee in the afternoon or else do some shopping after dinner. Your choice and you can pick the restaurant since I don’t know what you like.”

  “Are you asking me on a date?” she asked.

  “I am.”

  “Yes, I would love to go to dinner with you and afterwards I’d like to go to a little art shop and pick up some paints and then do some Christmas shopping at the mall. I haven’t bought a single present.”

  He kissed her again and she felt the edges of that same raw need she’d felt the night before. So it wasn’t a one-time thing. It had nothing to do with the season or the party and everything to do with the cowboy.

  Chapter 17

  Creed reached across the table and covered Sage’s hands with his. Big white cloth napkins were folded into a point and set on a red and white checkered tablecloth. To one side a green wine bottle held a bright red candle. The candle’s wax melted slowly, traveling at a snail’s pace toward the bottom of the bottle. The flicker from the tiny fire reflected in Sage’s eyes.

  Creed had seen that sweet look in them the night before when they’d gone to bed together. They’d fallen asleep after sex before and spent the night together but last night was different. They’d gone to bed together like a couple and it had been so natural,
so right.

  He squeezed her hands gently.

  “You are beautiful,” he said.

  “Thank you, Creed. You look pretty damn fine yourself.”

  “Cowboy puts on his best for a date with a gorgeous woman.” He picked up her left hand and kissed her fingertips, lingering over each one.

  “Lord, that makes me hot. Reckon we could hide under the tablecloth and…” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Probably not, but hold that thought.”

  The waitress appeared out of the shadows with a huge bowl of salad, two smaller bowls, and a basket of bread sticks. She refilled their wine glasses and told them their food would be out shortly.

  Creed pushed his wine to one side. “No more for me today. I’m the driver, but you can have all you want.”

  “I’d best not drink all I want. I love good wine so I’ll finish this glass, but two is my limit,” she said.

  “It’s the Indian blood.”

  Using the hinged tongs she filled her bowl with salad and buttered one of the bread sticks. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “They don’t hold their liquor so well.”

  She pointed her bread stick at his nose. “Darlin’, I’m only an eighth Indian. The rest of me is red-hot Irish and I can hold my liquor. I’m not having but two glasses because the third one takes all my inhibitions away and that Irish gets crazy.”

  Creed chuckled. “Remind me to stop by the liquor store on the way home. I’d like to see that Irish crazy come to the surface.”

  * * *

  Sage ate slowly, not because it was her nature, but because she wanted the moment to last forever. Sitting in the dark shadows of an Italian restaurant across the table from the sexiest cowboy in Texas made her feel special, protected, and complete.

  “Do you think the animals miss us?” she asked.

  She could have bitten her tongue off for such a stupid question. Dogs and cats shouldn’t even cross her mind.

  “Don’t worry, Momma. The babies will be fine until we get home.” He chuckled.