Mountain Christmas Brides

by Mildred Colvin

  “I—I wanted to say good-bye, and to thank you again for everything.” He rose from the couch.

  She followed suit. “I’ll miss you. I’m sure Aunt Dorcas will want to invite you over for dinner now and again, especially since your official period of mourning is over.”

  “That would be nice.” He paused. “I should say good-bye to Josiah.”

  “He’s not here. He already left.”

  “Oh.” Though he could hardly say he made friends with Josiah while they were snowed in, courtesy called for a farewell. “I’m sorry I missed him.”

  “He left in a hurry.”

  Maximilian knew his next query was nosy, but since he still considered going to California, he figured he might as well go for broke. “That’s strange for a man who told me he wants to court you.”

  “He told you that?”

  “Yes, right before he punched me in the lip.” Maximilian’s hand involuntarily touched his mouth at the painful remembrance. “No doubt your aunt is dancing a jig.”

  “I turned him down. She’s not too happy with me.” Thalia sighed and stared at the fireplace. “I wish I didn’t have to distress her so. I don’t want to lose her love, Maximilian. She’s the only family I have.”

  Desperately he wanted to reach out to her, to take her in his arms, to tell her he could give her all the love she would ever need. But he couldn’t. Dorcas had made her wishes clear. For him to marry anyone would be upsetting enough to her, but he couldn’t risk pursuing Norma’s cousin, the very woman who lived under her roof. He had to find the strength to remain quiet.

  Chapter 8

  Maximilian trudged through the snow to his motorcar. He dreaded going home. Snow still covered the ground, and driving the vehicle through it would be tough. He had never tried such a feat with the motorcar. A hay burner would have served him better. But another reason for his despair pulled at his heart. He didn’t want to leave Thalia. Despite his efforts to look for signs that he should stay, he saw none.

  He opened the livery barn door. His motorcar waited for him on the left, covered by a canvas tarp. He pulled off the frozen material and sat down in the cold leather seat. He grabbed the starter crank and engaged the switch, then proceeded to the engine block and inserted the crank.

  The engine failed. He tried again.

  It still failed. No matter how much he tried to start the Studebaker, the engine refused to turn over.

  He got out of the automobile and made his way back to the house. Lord, why are the signs so hard to read?

  Thalia greeted him at the door. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d left.”

  He scowled even though he hated for her to see him in a bad mood. “I can’t get the Studebaker to start. I need to get home. I don’t know what to do.”

  She flitted her hand at him to dismiss his worries. “That’s easy. We’ll take you in our sled.”

  Why hadn’t he thought of the obvious? Still … “I hate to inconvenience you in such a way.”

  “It’s not an inconvenience. Let me get my coat and some blankets for the journey. Aunt Dorcas will want to come along. We’re so tired of being confined to the house.”

  “Okay, but I insist you both stay the night at my house in return for the favor.”

  “Are you sure we should stay, considering your cook serves up raw potatoes?” Her eyes sparkled, and her mouth curved into a mischievous line.

  “Maybe you’d be better off hungry.” He grinned.

  “Hmm. Maybe not. We’ll accept your hospitality. And our driver, Jonas, is here today. He just dug out of the snow at his house himself. Now that he’s here, he can drive us.”

  Soon Thalia and her aunt joined Maximilian just outside the carriage house. Jonas pulled the sled out with ease.

  “Told you there’s nothing better than horses for transportation,” Dorcas declared, not bothering to conceal her glee as she settled into her seat. “You young people will rue the day you decided to rely solely on motorcars for transportation.”

  “I think I might already be sorry,” Maximilian said only half-jokingly, remembering how he’d already had to fix a flat tire on the way to the party, and now this. Chilly, he checked to make sure all the buttons on his coat were fastened.

  “Oh my!” Dorcas exclaimed during the trip as they traveled by mounds of shoveled snow in front of homes and businesses. “Look at this mess. We weren’t the only ones who had trouble digging out.”

  “We’ll have a winter mess for quite some time,” Maximilian agreed. “Until spring, at least.”

  “Hope we don’t get more snow anytime soon, but I imagine that’s a dream,” Dorcas ventured.

  Glancing at Thalia, he noticed that though she nodded in agreement with their various observations, she remained strangely quiet.

  “Maybe the blizzard, my illness, and the trouble with my motorcar are signs that I should head out to California after all,” he mused aloud.

  “California?” Dorcas asked. “Whatever do you mean?”

  For the first time during the trip, Thalia turned her full attention to the conversation. “I want to know, too.”

  “I didn’t tell you? My cousin has asked me to go in with him on some orange groves out there. I thought the warm weather and change of pace might do me good, what with everything bad that’s happened.”

  “I wouldn’t put so much stock in signs.” Dorcas wagged her finger. “Just because your mother believed in old wives’ tales, doesn’t mean you need to stay in bondage to them.”

  “His mother?” Thalia asked.

  Dorcas’s eyebrows rose. “Didn’t you know? Lily Newbolt was the most superstitious woman in town.”

  “She had reason to be,” Maximilian noted.

  “Why?” Thalia’s voice heightened with curiosity.

  “I thought everyone in the family knew that story.” Dorcas jumped in. “She was supposed to go back East to some fancy school to study music. She wanted to be a concert pianist, you know.”

  “Really?” Thalia gasped. “Maximilian, why didn’t you ever tell me that?”

  He shrugged. “It never came up. She didn’t enjoy talking about her past, so I never dwelled on it.”

  “So what made her superstitious?”

  “I’ll tell you as much as I know. On the day she was supposed to leave for school, she was on her way to the train station and spotted a penny, faceup,” Maximilian answered. “Of course, if you see a penny, you’re supposed to pick it up for good luck. Well, not putting any stock in superstition, she ignored it. She ending up missing her train, and when she went home, she found that her sister—Aunt Nettie—you remember her …”

  “Oh, yes,” Thalia said.

  “Well, Aunt Nettie had suddenly taken ill, and she had to stay home—she was the only other woman in the house, you know—and nurse her back to health. Once the opportunity was missed, she never had another chance to follow her dream. To the day Mother died, she swore that if only she had stopped and picked up that penny, she would have been a famous concert pianist.”

  “That is the silliest thing I ever heard,” Thalia blurted.

  “She didn’t think it was silly,” Maximilian pointed out. “She taught me every superstition she knew and taught me how to look for signs.”

  “That hasn’t helped you much, has it?” Thalia kept her voice gentle. “You’ve been so busy looking for superstitious signs that you may have missed true signs you could have read from real people.”

  Maximilian flinched. Was she telling him that if he had paid closer attention, he would have seen her true feelings for him and not listened to Norma?

  “Is that true, Maximilian?” Dorcas asked. “Do you really believe in those things? Norma never mentioned it.”

  “I’m not surprised. Norma was very attentive to me during our courtship, but once we were married, I could have worn a powdered wig and tights, and she wouldn’t have noticed.” He shrugged. “It seemed as though since she’d won me, she didn’t care after that.” />
  Thalia paled.

  Dorcas snapped back as though she had been walloped. “Is that so?”

  He hadn’t meant for his confession to upset the older lady. “I’m sorry, Dorcas. Please don’t mind me. I’m not myself. I know how much you loved Norma.”

  “Things would have improved once children arrived,” Dorcas said decidedly.

  “Maybe, except she didn’t want any. She told me she was too busy enjoying herself to be tied down to a brat.”

  Dorcas gasped. “I don’t believe it!”

  “I have no reason to lie. I’m sorry if I upset you with these truths, but I only have revealed them to you … her dear relative.”

  “Aunt Dorcas knows Norma wasn’t perfect,” Thalia said. “Don’t you, Aunt Dorcas?”

  “Of course,” she answered with an unconvincing tone. “But we’re talking about superstitions now. I don’t put stock in those. I listen to God’s leading.”

  “I try to,” Maximilian answered, “but He’s not always clear. I can’t see God, but I can see my rabbit’s foot. It’s clear to me that I can avoid spilling pepper and crossing paths with black cats. I can pick up that penny rather than passing it by.”

  “Do you realize how ridiculous that is?” Dorcas managed to reprimand him without a tone of condemnation. She leaned over and placed a maternal hand on his knee. “If you ask God to release you from the bondage of superstition, you’ll be able to hear Him.”

  “Wise words, Aunt Dorcas.” Thalia looked thoughtful.

  “I do pray to God, but I honor Mother’s memory by following what she taught me.”

  “Your mother was no fool, but superstition was not her friend. And it’s not yours. I think you want to honor her, but you can do so in other ways,” Dorcas suggested.

  Maximilian decided not to answer. But he resolved to give what Dorcas said some thought.

  Chapter 9

  Thalia couldn’t digest everything Maximilian had said during the ride to Aurora. So Norma really never cared about him. She knew her cousin had been vain, but she never considered she would give up the blessings and joys of motherhood for parties. Poor Maximilian. How brokenhearted he must have been.

  Soon they reached the outskirts of Aurora, and the sled pulled up to the gate of the Newbolt home. Maximilian’s eyes held a longing light. She could imagine how touched he must be to return home. Surely during the darkest hours of his illness, he may have pondered never seeing his childhood home again.

  “The smoke really is thick today,” Dorcas noted. “Everybody must have their fireplaces going trying to keep warm.”

  “I don’t think that’s it.” Maximilian’s happy expression soon turned to one of fear. “What’s that?”

  Thalia saw smoke and flames streaming from what remained of the house. “Oh, no!”

  “At least the Aurora fire department is here!” Maximilian exclaimed.

  As soon as the sled stopped in front of the house, the passengers jumped out and ran to the flaming structure. Maximilian’s valet, maid, and a young girl Thalia assumed to be the new cook, watched as the firemen did everything they could to stop the destruction. Thalia wished there was something she could do. Maximilian stood as still as a statue. No doubt he felt helpless watching every memory of his life destroyed by vicious flames.

  A woman who appeared to be in her thirties, with three young children in tow, approached. “I’m so sorry. You can stay with us as long as you need to.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Daily.” Maximilian introduced his neighbor to the Blooms.

  “That’s okay. He can come back home with us,” Thalia told her. When he smiled at her answer, she knew he needed the comfort of those who really loved him and was glad she had made the offer.

  After the crowd dissipated amid many other offers of kindness and shelter, the Blooms and Maximilian were left standing in front of the destruction.

  Thalia looked at the rubble and noticed a singed oil portrait of Norma. “Maybe if we go through this mess, we can find a few things that were spared.”

  Maximilian shook his head. “I’ll go through everything on my own time. But I don’t care about things. I kept most of my money in the bank, so I’ll be okay. And the Studebaker is at your house, for all the good it did me today. The main thing is the people. All my staff is well, and that’s what matters. Maybe they can tell me how this happened.”

  “I think I’d rather go back to the sleigh where I can sit, if it’s all the same to you,” Aunt Dorcas said.

  Thalia didn’t want to leave. “Do you mind if I go with you to talk to the staff? Maybe you could use the support.”

  Maximilian nodded. They didn’t have to approach them. The valet and a pretty maid walked toward them. Thalia knew them as Addison and Minnie.

  Addison spoke first. “I’m sorry, sir. This is unforgivable. I don’t know what happened except it was near breakfast time, and the fire started in the kitchen. I have no choice but to think Cookie started it. That girl has got to go, Mr. Newbolt. She’s nothing but trouble.”

  The young girl ran up to them. “I heard that. I did not start that fire. I know you want to think I did since I’m new and I’m not a very good cook yet, but I had nothing to do with it. I promise.”

  “How dare you,” the valet snapped.

  Cookie flinched and blushed but stood her ground. “The fire started in the parlor, where Minnie was dusting.”

  “Not true,” Addison insisted.

  “Yes, it is,” Cookie protested. “Oh, I know no one will believe me.” Tears fell from her eyes, though she covered them with her hands. Her body shook.

  Thalia couldn’t help but feel compassion for the girl. She wrapped a maternal arm around the bony shoulders, calming her. “I believe you.” To emphasize the point, she looked up at Maximilian with a strong countenance.

  “I believe you, too.”

  The frightened girl looked up at her employer. “You—you do?” Her voice trembled.

  “Yes.” Maximilian turned a sharp expression to Addison. “What is the meaning of trying to make me think Cookie started the fire?”

  Minnie flushed red. “He—he was protectin’ me.”

  Addison’s eyes narrowed. “Stop it, Minnie.”

  “No, I’m going to tell him. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t. I dropped a lit lantern and it broke. Fuel spilled on a stack of papers on your desk, and the fire caught on. There was nothin’ I could do but get out of there. I don’t have the money to replace what I damaged, and I’m sorry.” She looked at the ground. “I know I’m dismissed. I’ll be leavin’ now.”

  Maximilian held up his hand to stop her. “No, I am not dismissing you, Minnie, because you told me the truth. Granted, I don’t have a house right now for you to dust, but as soon as I get my life back in order, you can come back.”

  Addison spoke. “Thank you, sir.”

  Maximilian’s countenance didn’t seem benevolent when he turned to his valet. “Addison, you’re dismissed.”

  “What?”

  “I know you’re sweet on Minnie, but trying to blame the cook for something she didn’t do was wrong. I can’t trust you. Don’t look to me for future employment or ask me for a reference. Good-bye.”

  Thalia wasn’t surprised when Addison said nothing but glared and stomped away. Minnie didn’t speak but ran after Addison.

  “So—so I can stay?” Cookie’s voice sounded weak with happiness.

  “Yes, you can stay. I’ll pay your wages while you wait to come back into my employ.”

  “Oh, thank you, sir. I don’t deserve such generosity. I promise to practice making lots of dishes while I wait to come back.”

  He smiled. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Promise not to put a trace of rhubarb in anything,” Thalia cautioned. “Mr. Newbolt is deathly allergic to rhubarb, and not the first stalk of it should be in his house.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Maximilian smiled. “Now run along home, Cookie. I don’t want you to get
sick out here in this cold.”

  She nodded and complied.

  Thalia gave him a sardonic smile. “I hope you won’t be sorry about these decisions you just made in your heightened state of emotion.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “I think you did the right thing.”

  He pulled the rabbit’s foot out of his pocket. “And now I’m going to do something else you’ll think is the right thing.”

  He tossed the rabbit’s foot on top of Norma’s half-burned portrait. “This never did me any good. I can see that now.” He looked heavenward. “From now on, it’s just you and me, Lord.”

  Chapter 10

  A week later, Thalia sat at the baby grand piano in the music room and stared at the sheet music for an Irish ballad enjoying newfound popularity, “Danny Boy.” Her plan had been to learn it by that evening, but her mind betrayed her, forcing her to focus on Maximilian.

  The past few days, she had watched him seek the Lord with an eagerness she hadn’t witnessed from any other Christian in a long time. Throwing the rabbit’s foot on the burned rubble had only been a start. She could see him embracing the faith of his childhood, returning to familiar Bible passages and talking with her about their significance. And while she didn’t see him pray except to bless each meal, she sensed his prayer life had increased. Truly the fire had set Maximilian free from the bondage of his past so that he could walk with the Lord in the future.

  Such happy thoughts encouraged her to play.

  “That sounds pretty good.”

  She jumped and swiveled on the piano bench. “Maximilian, what are you doing sneaking up on me? I didn’t think you’d be back from Aurora already.”

  “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He grinned. “I was called by the siren song from your beautiful piano.”

  “You are so silly.” In spite of her teasing assessment, he looked anything but silly. With his straight, tall bearing, warm brown eyes, and comely face she could stare into every day for the rest of her life, he made her wish she were a sculptor so she could preserve an image of him forever. The picture in her mind would have to suffice.