The Christmas Vow

by Shanna Hatfield

  Perhaps Adam wasn’t the most debonair or refined gentleman, but he was kind, caring, brave, and strong. And he was hers.

  Whether he admitted it or not, she knew his heart. Knew he still cared for her or he never would have married her.

  At least, she hoped that played a part in his decision to become a husband to her and a father to Toby.

  The little boy ran into the room, clearly enthused about the tree in the parlor. He flopped down on the floor by Crabby, telling the cat all about the tree and the pretty decorations that would go on it, and hanging a stocking by the fire.

  “Is tonight the night when Santa comes?” Toby asked, glancing at his mother.

  She shook her head. “Not tonight, sweetheart. Tomorrow. Rather than wait until tomorrow to decorate the tree, we should do it this evening.”

  “That’s a fine plan,” Adam agreed, still rubbing the oil into his hands.

  Tia leaned over to look at his fingers. “Keep scrubbing.”

  He held up his oily hands and pretended to reach for her but she squealed and spun away, causing Toby to laugh.

  “You’re silly,” the little boy said, pointing to them both.

  Tia made a funny face, making Toby laugh even harder.

  “Someone has a bad case of the giggles today,” Adam said, glancing over his shoulder at Toby. “What do you think would cure it? Some castor oil?”

  Toby stared at Adam, unsure if he was serious or not. When his stepfather grinned, Toby resumed laughing.

  “Peppermints, and gingerbread, and building a snowman with Daddy, and skating with Erin would fix it.” Toby’s face held an impish look as he rattled off his list.

  “Oh, you think you’re being clever, don’t you my little giggle box?” Tia picked up Toby and tickled his tummy, swinging him around in her arms.

  When she finally set him down, Toby wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tight. “I love you, Mama.”

  “I love you, too, baby.” Tia playfully swatted his rear. “Go wash your hands and we’ll eat breakfast.”

  Tia turned on the water and handed Adam the soap. “You may wash your hands now.”

  He tipped his head to her with a solemn expression. “Yes, your highness.”

  “That’s Queenie to you,” she said, bumping his thigh with her hip and casting a saucy smile his direction.

  Desire heated the blue of his eyes as he grinned at her. “You keep doing that, Queenie-pie, and you might get yourself into more trouble than you can handle.”

  Later that evening, she and Adam sat in the flickering light from the parlor fire. As they shared memories from their past and drank cups of spicy tea, Tia didn’t want the evening to end.

  After decorating the tree, they tucked Toby into bed with promises of a busy day awaiting him tomorrow.

  By unspoken agreement, Tia and Adam returned to the parlor and sat together on the sofa, admiring the tree and enjoying their time together.

  Suddenly, Adam set down his teacup and shifted so Tia rested against his side with his arm around her.

  More content than she could ever recall feeling, she sighed and relaxed against him.

  “This is nice, Adam. Thank you.”

  “For what?” he asked, watching the firelight dance through her hair. His fingers itched to remove her hairpins and bury themselves in the waves, but he bid his time.

  “For bringing home such a lovely tree, and making the day so memorable for Toby. I’m not sure how he’ll get through tomorrow, as wound up as he was tonight.”

  “You remember how exciting it was when you still believed in Santa Claus and the hope of what he might bring.”

  “Who says I still don’t believe?” Tia lifted her head and looked back at Adam, grinning.

  “What is it you want Santa to leave for you, little girl?” Adam asked in a deep rumbling voice, causing shivers of delight to wash over Tia.

  “If I tell you, Santa might not bring it.” She took another sip of her tea.

  “Let’s play a guessing game and I’ll figure out what it is you want.”

  “Nope. It never mattered how hard I tried, you always beat me at those games. I’m not playing.” As she took another sip of the spicy tea, she settled closer against him. “What do you want for Christmas, Adam? What’s the one gift you’d like to receive Christmas morning?”

  You.

  A vision of Tia with all that magnificent hair spilling around her in his bed made his muscles tense while his blood heated in his veins.

  Adam cleared his throat. “If I listened to what you’ve said the past few weeks, I haven’t been a very good boy, so Santa will most likely leave a lump of coal for me.”

  Tia turned around and gazed at him, studying the stubbly growth of whiskers on his jaw and chin, the hint of the dimple in his cheeks, the tousled mess of his hair that she adored.

  “Please, Adam? Tell me what you’d like for Christmas.”

  Purposefully ignoring her pleading, he changed the subject. “Why did you leave?”

  “Leave?” Tia asked, baffled by his question. “I only ran to the mercantile for a few minutes to get more baking chocolate before supper.”

  “Not today.” Adam sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Why did you leave Hardman?” Why did you leave me?

  The moment she set eyes on Adam at Carl’s funeral, she knew she’d eventually have to tell him the truth. The last thing she wanted to do this evening, though, was have that painful conversation.

  Still unsure of his feelings for her, she was afraid to tell him why she left, why she settled for Patrick.

  “Why did you go away, Tia?” Adam asked in a voice that betrayed the anguish she’d caused. “I thought you’d be back in a few weeks and we’d plan a future together. Two weeks turned into a month then your grandmother broke the news to me that you’d wed some attorney twelve years older than you. I just don’t understand why, Tia.”

  Carefully returning her teacup to the saucer in her hand, Tia set them aside and took a deep breath. “I left, Adam, because the only thing in this world I wanted at that time was you. I wanted to marry you, to be your wife, to have your babies, to spend every moment of every day making you happy.”

  Although his face remained impassive as he stared at her, his eyes expressed his shock. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true, Adam.” Tia placed her hand on his arm, needing to touch him. “I waited all spring for you to ask me to marry you. When graduation came and went without you saying a word… Grandma thought it might do me good to get away for a week or two and see something new. She was mostly tired of my moping around, convinced you didn’t love me, at least not the way I loved you.”

  Both of their glances turned to the opal on her finger, glittering in the firelight. “Adam, if I’d known about the ring, known you planned to propose, I never would have left. I didn’t know you loved me.”

  “How could you not know, Tia? Every person in town knew I was head over heels in love with you.” Adam raised both his voice and temper.

  Tia held a finger to his lips. “Shh. You’ll wake Toby.”

  He dropped his voice to barely above a whisper. “Even if I didn’t say the words, you should have known by my actions.”

  What Adam said was true, but she’d needed to hear him say it, to confess his feelings for her — and he never had. Perhaps he never would.

  Adam sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up on end. “So you went off to Portland without the intention of staying and fell madly in love with Patrick Devereux.”

  “No.”

  He frowned at her.

  She took another deep breath and held his gaze. “I planned to come back after a few weeks. Grandma was sure by the time I returned, you’d be over me or you’d realize how much you loved me and be ready to do something about it. The afternoon before I’d planned to come back, I went for a walk in the park near Aunt Lorraine’s home. I met Patrick there. He was quite a bit older, but so cha
rming and handsome with his golden hair and light blue eyes. Quite suddenly, he’d asked me to marry him and I agreed because you didn’t want me.”

  Tia took a moment to compose herself before continuing. “You didn’t want me enough to come after me and you didn’t love me enough to write me a single letter while I was gone. I married Patrick, not because I loved him, but because he promised to treat me like a princess. For the most part, he did. I was something he showed off and bragged about then tucked away in the house when he had no use for me. But no matter how much I regret leaving without telling you my feelings, no matter how much I wish things were different, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, because it gave me Toby.”

  Although he understood, it didn’t make it any easier for him to hear. She’d loved him, would have married him if he’d just worked up the courage to ask her before she left.

  “Why’d you come home?” he asked, nervously fiddling with a thread he plucked off the carpet beneath his feet.

  “Initially, to bury Grandma, and pack up my memories here. Once I came back, once I stood inside this house, I couldn’t leave.” Tia brushed at a tear then pinned him with her gaze, her eyes as dark and gray as a stormy winter sky. “Do you want to know why, Adam?”

  He didn’t move, waiting for her to continue.

  She got to her feet and looked down at him with regret oozing from every pore. “I couldn’t leave, because of you. Because you were in the memories of this house and this town, and I couldn’t let them go. I didn’t want to let them go.”

  “Tia…” Adam stood and reached for her, but she backed away.

  Her hands clenched at her sides and tears filled her eyes, but she took a deep breath and finished what must be said. “I’ve loved you since I was six years old, Adam. I’ve never stopped loving you. Not a single day has gone by that I haven’t thought of you. The only reason I agreed to marry you is because I love you, not because you promised to save Toby from Cedric. It’s because I’ve always and forever loved only you.”

  Before he could take her in his arms, before he could confess his love for her, she spun away and ran down the hall. The click of her door shutting, locking him out, echoed through the stillness of the house.

  Adam sank onto the sofa, holding his head in his hands and praying for wisdom.

  There had to be some way to convince his wife he loved her, had always loved her.

  He’d been so young and foolish when he let Tia leave all those years ago. Suddenly, he wondered if he’d outgrown it. Instead of pretending he felt nothing for Tia, he should have professed his love for her from the start.

  No matter what it took, he would convince her she was wanted, needed, and so deeply loved.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Adam tried to hide his awe as he cupped Tia’s elbow in one hand and held the handles of a basket with his other. Together, they walked up the steps to Dora and Greg Granger’s impressive house.

  The home the senior Granger couple had built the previous year looked like an elaborate gingerbread house Adam had seen a few years ago in Portland.

  Snow sprinkled the shakes of the roof and sifted across the peaks and gables as though an artistic baker had dusted the whole thing with powdered sugar and piped white frosting along the edges.

  Pine garlands and red bows bedecked the porch. Two matching wreaths hung on the big front entry doors while the sounds of holiday music trickled outside. The scents of cinnamon and apples mingled with the fragrance of pine and fir, wafting around guests with a pleasant aromatic welcome.

  “This is quite the house,” Adam whispered into Tia’s ear as they walked up the steps.

  “It’s exquisite,” she said, smiling up at him, admiring the light shining in his brilliant blue eyes, matching the shade of the scarf wrapped around his neck. Earlier, when he’d walked into the kitchen in the suit he’d worn to their wedding, Tia almost dropped the chocolate pie she’d held in her hands.

  Adam Guthry was a unique cross of rugged handsomeness and kind gentlemanliness that made her heart flutter and any number of inappropriate thoughts dash around in her head.

  Tia noticed a few young women eyeing him as they stepped inside the foyer, greeted by Dora and Greg Granger.

  Even if Tia hadn’t known them, she would have picked up on the family resemblance between Dora and Ginny. Dora still looked young enough to be a sister to her daughter, rather than her mother.

  “Tia and Adam! We’re so sorry we missed your wedding.” Dora gave them each a hug. “And, Toby… how nice to see you.”

  Greg shook Adam’s hand then thumped him on the back. “Good for you marrying this lovely girl before someone else took a notion to claim her.”

  Adam grinned and helped Tia remove her coat. Toby yanked his off and handed it to the servants gathering wraps, coats, and hats in the large entry.

  “Please go right on in. If you brought something for the potluck luncheon, it goes in the dining room, there.” Greg indicated the first door down the hallway.

  Adam took Tia’s hand and led her into the dining room where she set out two chocolate pies, a gingerbread cake, and a chicken casserole.

  Filly gave her a hug then bustled back to the kitchen where she and a handful of volunteers ensured all the attendees at the second annual Hardman Christmas Carnival would have plenty to eat and drink.

  Toby tugged on Tia’s hand, capturing her attention. “Come on, Mama. I want to find Erin.”

  “And I want to listen to Arlan play his trumpet,” Adam said, lifting Toby in one arm and offering the other to Tia. She took it with an indulgent smile and they proceeded to the large parlor where the community band played and most people gathered, waiting for lunch.

  Arlan acknowledged them with a wink as he performed. Adam set Toby down and watched as the boy ran over to where Erin perched on her father’s knee, listening to the festive music.

  Adam led Tia across the room to a chair near Chauncy’s and motioned for her to take a seat while he stood behind her, leaving his hand on her shoulder.

  Since their discussion the previous evening and her admission that she loved him, had always loved him, she’d acted hesitant around him. At breakfast she barely spoke, and remained quiet as she worked in the kitchen preparing food to contribute to the potluck.

  Adam decided not to press her, at least not until later when they were alone. Neither of them would get any sleep until things between them were resolved, even if they stayed awake the whole night to do it.

  If Adam had his way, there wouldn’t be any need for him to continue sleeping in the guest bedroom. He’d waited long enough to make Tia his own and one more night seemed far too many.

  Forcefully returning his thoughts to the Christmas event they attended, Adam gazed around the room full of neighbors and friends. Arlan had explained Alex and Ginny came up with the idea for the celebration the previous year. Since everyone enjoyed it so much, the community decided to make it an annual event.

  Adam noticed Ginny flitting in and out, overseeing Blake and Luke as they carried in more chairs.

  A tall figure at the door dressed in an elaborate red and black costume caught his attention. He bent down so he could whisper in Tia’s ear. “It appears sister Alex is the star of the show.”

  Tia nodded her head in agreement. “She’s so striking, such a beautiful woman. I love her costume.”

  In truth, Adam was a bit surprised to see Alex wearing black pants tucked into knee-high boots. The ruffled white blouse and black damask waistcoat embroidered with delicate red rosebuds beneath her red velvet topcoat highlighted her feminine appearance despite her pants.

  A black top hat, adorned with a red feather and a bit of holly, sat at a jaunty angle on top of her head while dark hair cascaded around her shoulders and down her back.

  “I don’t see how a bookish ol’ banker like Arlan convinced Alex to marry him,” Adam teased, secretly proud of his brother and his lovely wife.

  Tia glanced up at him and
grinned. “It’s that Guthry charm you and your brother both seem to possess.”

  The band stopped playing when Greg stepped to the front of the room and thanked everyone for coming. He invited them to eat, as soon as Chauncy asked a blessing on the meal.

  After lunch, an auction of various art projects, crafts and unique items created by Alex’s students raised funds for a local charity.

  Once the auction ended, the crowd trailed upstairs to watch Alex’s magic performance.

  Slightly disappointed he wouldn’t get to see her perform out of her wagon, Adam still looked forward to her show.

  Several people in town had talked about how entertaining the performance had been the previous year.

  Arlan sat beside Adam as they watched Alex go through her routine with Tom Grove serving as her assistant.

  Tia smiled at Toby as he sat one row up with Chauncy, Abby, and Erin Dodd. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a face she recognized, one that gave her a moment of pause.

  Carefully studying the crowd, she decided her imagination had somehow conjured an image of her former father-in-law.

  The last place Judge Cedric Devereux would be caught on Christmas Eve was a magic show in the town of Hardman.

  Chastising herself for her overactive imagination, she gave herself a mental lecture.

  “Everything okay, Tia?” The warmth of Adam’s breath caressed her neck while his deep voice tantalized her ear.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she whispered, giving him a brief glance before returning her attention to Alex’s show.

  Enthralled with her sister-in-law’s ability to make objects appear and disappear, cast illusions, and draw the crowd into a web of light-hearted magical fun, Tia clapped as enthusiastically as anyone when the show ended.

  “Oh, she’s marvelous, Arlan!” Tia leaned around Adam and grinned at her brother-in-law. “It’s a shame she doesn’t have the opportunity to perform more often.”

  “I know. She misses being on the road doing shows, but most of the time she is perfectly content with her work at the school.”

  Tia reached out and squeezed his hand. “And it’s obvious she’s crazy about you. The lure of magic wouldn’t hold a candle to the love in her heart.”