Christmas Treasures (9781101558720)

by Kinkade, Thomas; Spencer, Katherine

  For a long moment, Regina couldn’t move, could barely breathe. She felt her own heart aching for his pain. She knew how much it had cost him to call himself a failure. Even after all the good things that had happened here, he was still tearing himself apart. At last, she walked over to her husband and rested her hand on his shoulder. But he wouldn’t look at her.

  “Listen to me,” she said, her voice strong and sure. “You never failed us, Richard. I never once felt that way. It wasn’t your fault at all. You tried as hard as you could to get us back on track. And you’re still trying. I know that.”

  Finally, he met her gaze. “I did try. But . . . it didn’t help very much. I feel as if I let you down, Regina. I didn’t protect you and the kids. I didn’t provide for you. I lost the house. I lost my job. I lost everything . . . I felt as if you didn’t respect me anymore. I didn’t deserve your respect, either,” he added, “especially when we argued all the time. We both said a lot of hurtful things.”

  “I’m sorry for that, too. I know I said things that hurt you, things I didn’t really mean,” she admitted. “We were both disappointed at the way things were turning out for us. Nothing like we planned,” she said wistfully. “We let the outside world pull us apart, Richard. We should have stuck together more and not blamed each other. We both did that and that was really wrong. I’ll never act that way again,” she promised.

  He looked at her curiously. “You mean . . . with me?”

  She practically laughed at him. “Of course with you. Who else do you think I mean?” She looked around the kitchen quickly, as if checking to see if there were someone with them she hadn’t noticed.

  He took a breath and stared down at her. “I mean, are you saying, if we stayed together . . . would you try again, really?”

  Regina paused, feeling her own heart racing. Richard was staring at her so intently, she had to look away for a moment.

  “Yes, I would,” she said finally. “I want to try. I think we could be happy again, I really do. I think these last few weeks have shown me that. We put aside our hurt feelings for the sake of the kids, to give them a good Christmas. But I think we gave each other a special gift, too. I think the past few weeks have shown me that . . . that I still love you and I don’t want you to leave me. I don’t want to break up our family.”

  Now Regina was afraid she might start crying. She felt her eyes brimming with tears about to spill over. But she’d said it. She’d had the guts to put it out there.

  She tipped her head back to look up at his reaction. He looked completely stunned. His face was unreadable. Then his expression slowly softened and his eyes glowed with a warmth that she hadn’t seen in months.

  “Oh, Gina . . . I never wanted to go. Not really. I thought you didn’t want to be with me anymore. I thought I was holding you back. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to break up our family, either.”

  Gina strained to hear his words, he was talking so softly. Her heart was suddenly filled to the brim, she felt such utter, unexpected joy.

  Richard pulled her close, and they wrapped their arms around each other. “I love you, Gina,” he whispered in her hair. “I never, ever stopped.”

  “I love you, too,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I ever really stopped, either. It just sort of got buried under a lot of other . . . stuff. Thank you for the best Christmas of my life, Richard. I’ll never forget it.”

  “No, Gina. I’m the one who needs to thank you. Your wonderful loving heart saved me,” he whispered. “You saved our family.”

  Then he turned his head and kissed her, as if it were their very first embrace. But it was actually ever so much better, Regina thought, kissing him back with all her heart and soul.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  REGINA FOUND THE MESSAGE ON THE ANSWERING MACHINE when they came in from the ice skating party at the Morgans’ house. It was only four o’clock, but the sun was already low in the sky and the temperature had dropped along with it. Everyone was cold and tired, but very cheerful from the get-together.

  “This is Sylvester Cyrus, from Chestnut Treasures in Hamilton. The toy train man?” he added for clarification. As if anyone could forget that name, Regina thought.

  “I have some information for you about that little Bible, Mr. Rowan. We must meet right away. Please call me.”

  Regina exchanged a curious look with Richard. “‘We must meet right away’?” she said, echoing the shopkeeper’s command. “What do you think that’s about?”

  Richard shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Who knows? He seems a little eccentric. Or didn’t you notice?”

  “I noticed,” Regina replied, smiling. “Why don’t you call him? It’s not late. Maybe he’s still in the shop.”

  “I hope so. Now I’m curious,” Richard admitted. He checked the number and called back.

  The shopkeeper answered right away. Regina heard her husband saying, “So Mr. Cyrus, you said you had some information for us about the Bible?” She couldn’t tell what the shopkeeper answered as Richard stood there, listening. “Oh . . . all right,” her husband said finally. “If you really think that’s necessary. Wait, let me check with my wife.”

  He covered the phone and turned to Regina. “He wants to come over and talk about it. He says it’s hard to explain over the phone. We need to see the documentation or something? What should I tell him?”

  Regina shrugged. “He can come over tonight if he wants to. We don’t have any plans.”

  Richard nodded, then spoke to Mr. Cyrus again. “You can come this evening. Do you remember where our house is?”

  When Richard hung up, she said, “What’s the big mystery? Did he give you a clue?”

  Richard turned to her. His expression was blank except for his eyes, which seemed to be very wide and startled. “He said that the Bible is a very rare edition. He sent it to an authority on rare books in Washington, DC. But it’s too complicated to explain over the phone and he wants to return the book. He doesn’t want to be . . . responsible for it.”

  It was the last part of her husband’s reply that caught Regina’s attention. “He doesn’t?”

  Richard shook his head. “Nope. He says it’s much too valuable.”

  “Oh . . . my . . . When is he coming?”

  Richard glanced at his watch. “He was about to close his shop and said he’d be here in about half an hour.”

  “Oh, Richard. Do you think it’s really worth something?”

  “It’s hard to say. I don’t want us to get our hopes up too high, but . . . we might as well hope for the best, right?” he added with an optimistic tone that was good to hear, if very unlike him.

  “Yes, let’s hope for the best,” she agreed. Regina headed out to the living room to tidy up. The house was presentable, considering the chaos of Christmas. But she just needed something to do.

  A short time later, the knocker sounded on the front door.

  Richard opened the door. “Mr. Cyrus, come right in, please.”

  “Hello, Mr. Rowan, Mrs. Rowan. I closed the shop early and came right over.”

  “We appreciate that,” Regina assured him. “Can I get you anything—coffee or tea?” she offered as she took his coat.

  “Nothing at all, thank you. Let’s get down to business. I want to tell you about your book. Your Bible.”

  “Yes, please do. Come right in, make yourself comfortable.” Richard led the way into the living room and offered Mr. Cyrus the big armchair near the fireplace.

  The old man sat down and started to unpack his briefcase, which held several large hardcover books and also a carefully wrapped packet, swathed in bubble wrap and rubber bands. Regina knew what that was.

  “Ever since I made this discovery, I’ve been bursting to contact you. But I had to wait to have it verified. I didn’t want to get everyone all excited over nothing. But, as I told your husband, now I know for sure. It’s true. Highly improbable. But true.”

  “What was improbable, Mr. Cyrus?” Regina as
ked, with all the patience she could muster.

  “Yes, what is it? What did you find out about the book?”

  Mr. Cyrus leaned back and swept them with a glance. “The book, as you so casually call it, is an extremely—extremely—rare copy of one of the first editions of the Bible ever printed in English in Colonial America. This, sir”—he held out the wrapped packet—“is a first edition of an Aitken Bible, which was printed in a limited quantity primarily for the foot soldiers of the Continental Army to carry into battle. Hence the compact, pocket size,” he added, turning the packet to and fro.

  He set the packet down in the middle of the coffee table and let out a deep sigh. “Frankly, I hesitate to even touch it. The condition is . . . superb. Unparalleled. There are only two known copies of this edition. And you have discovered a third, in the best condition yet.”

  Regina and Richard sat together on the old couch, shoulder to shoulder. They turned to look at each other, both wide-eyed with shock.

  “Wow . . . that’s . . . unbelievable,” Regina said. “We were just about to throw that book away. We had absolutely no idea—”

  “I didn’t even notice it,” Richard admitted. “I didn’t give it a thought. My wife found it out in the garage. With an old lace handkerchief and a shawl or something.”

  Mr. Cyrus smiled and nodded. “Some other family keepsakes, probably. You see that a lot in these old houses. The possessions of generations pile up, layer upon layer. Once you start digging, all kinds of things are unearthed.”

  Richard swallowed hard. “I’ll say.”

  Regina sat back. “This is almost too much to take in at once,” she admitted. “Who told you this Bible was that rare kind? What did you call it again?”

  “An Aitken edition,” Mr. Cyrus reminded her. “I suspected it and checked on the Internet. But I couldn’t verify the authenticity myself, of course. I sent it to one of the most respected authorities in the country, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. He estimated the value at about two hundred thousand dollars, if you were to sell it to a museum or private collector. You could easily sell it at auction and perhaps get more.”

  “I’m sorry—did you say two thousand, or two hundred thousand?” Regina heard herself stuttering, but couldn’t help it. She turned and stared at Richard. His complexion was pale as paper.

  “Two hundred thousand,” Mr. Cyrus said slowly as he smiled. “You see now why I didn’t want to hold on to it a minute longer than necessary. You should put this in a safe-deposit box until you know what you want to do about it.”

  “Definitely,” Richard agreed. “For tonight, I might have to put it under my pillow.”

  Regina picked up the packet that held the book and pressed it between her hands. “I think I heard somewhere that you should hide valuables in the freezer. The refrigerator is fireproof, too.”

  “Good point. Maybe just for tonight,” Richard agreed. “We’ll go straight to the bank tomorrow.”

  “Good plan,” Mr. Cyrus said with a laugh. “I have all the information for you here, in this folder. You can contact these antiquarian book experts, and they will make up an official appraisal for you. You’ll need that for the insurance. And there’s another sheet with the names of museums and auction houses that would be interested. I could help you with that, if you’d like,” he offered. “Don’t hesitate to call me with any questions.”

  “We appreciate that, Mr. Cyrus. You’ve done too much already,” Regina said.

  “Nonsense. This is the find of a lifetime. I was thrilled to be involved. You can buy an awful lot of antique train sets with that money, Mr. Rowan.”

  “I can buy an antique train, if I really want to. A real one, I mean,” Richard replied. He was still staring into space, blinking rapidly. He’s in shock, Regina realized. She felt the same. It would take time to process this. To read the paperwork and decide what they should do next.

  But the bottom line was, they had been saved by a gift from the blue. A found treasure. A godsend. Call it what you will. Regina thought it was clearly an answer to her prayers.

  The funny thing was, money, or the lack of it, didn’t seem nearly as important now as it had a few weeks ago. Now that she and Richard were together again. Money couldn’t have solved that problem. But now that they had talked out their problems and decided to make their marriage work, this windfall would help them make a fresh start.

  She didn’t know about buying antique trains, large or small. She did know that amount of money would solve all of their financial problems. It was enough for Richard to go back to school for an advanced degree if he wanted, so he could find a new job.

  They were free now to start over anywhere.

  But Regina had a feeling that they would stay right here, in Cape Light. Where they had already made so many friends and connections. Where, slowly but surely, their lives had begun to move in the right direction.

  EPILOGUE

  BEN PULLED BACK THE BEDROOM CURTAIN SUNDAY MORNING and blinked at the bright sun. The sky was a clear, vivid blue with only a few high clouds, and the air outside already felt warm. It was going to be a perfect day, he thought. A good one for gardening if he got out there before the heat of the day, and if Carolyn didn’t make too much of a fuss. Even if he didn’t mow the lawn, he could pull a few weeds and clip things back. The shrub roses and daylilies were already in bloom, the hydrangea and daisies on their way. All they needed was a little encouragement.

  He had big plans for his garden this year, thinning out the tiger lily patch and putting in some fresh new perennials and an herb garden by the back door. He could picture it all in place and how good it would look by midsummer.

  Ben quickly showered and dressed, then headed for the church. With such fine weather, there would be sparse attendance today. The children had soccer and baseball games, and there were weekend trips for families. But that did not stop Ben from preparing an interesting sermon, whether he was preaching to one congregant or one hundred.

  He donned his white cassock and arranged the stole over his shoulders. It was green this time of year, Ordinary Time in the church calendar, for the color of life and new growth. Ben smoothed down the edges of the fabric, feeling as if it was a flag of his spirit. Ever since he had returned from his heart surgery, he’d felt the rush of new energy in his work here. New life, new growth, and he was very thankful for it.

  After saying a short prayer, Ben gathered the notes for his sermon and this morning’s announcements, with a very special message to the congregation right on top, and headed for the sanctuary.

  As he’d guessed, the pews were partly empty this morning, but everyone in attendance seemed cheerful and bright. The sanctuary doors and the doors to the outside had been left open to let in the fresh air and sunlight. As the choir concluded their opening hymn, he took his place at the pulpit and stood quietly for a moment.

  Then he smiled at the congregation and said, “I want to welcome everyone who has come to worship on this beautiful Sunday morning. Before we begin the service, I have a few announcements. But before that, I want to share a special message I received, just last night, from Reverend Isabel Lawrence.

  “As most of you know, she has been working in a mission down in Nicaragua for the last six months, since leaving Cape Light.”

  Ben noticed the reactions of the church members, their murmurs and pleased expressions as they sat up to listen.

  “Here’s what she says: ‘Dear Ben, First I’m writing to let the congregation know that we’ve just received their donations and all the supplies. Wow . . . what an amazing gift! We are so thankful to all of you for making the effort to help us this way.

  “‘The priority right now is fresh water, and these funds will go a very long way to building a water system in this village.

  “‘The school supplies are also greatly needed, and the children here are thrilled with every last pencil. They’ll write their own thank-you notes soon to the children of the church school. We love the i
dea of having pen pals up in Cape Light, so please thank Jessica Morgan for that wonderful invitation.’”

  Jessica was in church today, and Ben caught her eye. Inviting the children in Isabel’s village to be pen friends with the church school students had been an inspiration. He thought of how much both groups of children would learn, and how it would go far toward building a relationship between the church and the village, something he planned to work on, too. Sometime in the near future, he hoped to take a group from the church there for a work visit. An adventure he’d planned for his retirement, he recalled with a secret smile. But why wait?

  “‘What can I tell you about my life down here?’” he continued from Isabel’s letter. “‘I suppose most people would say it’s hard work, but I honestly don’t see it that way. I’m helping in the village, both with the building and in the school. I do feel tired at times, but in a satisfied way. Which makes all the difference in life, I guess.

  “‘We can see that we’re making a great difference in the lives of these families every day, especially the children, who are now growing up with better health and education and a more hopeful future.

  “‘Please tell the congregation that I miss all my friends there and think of them often. It was very hard to leave Cape Light, but the fact that you were able to return to your church—and I have and will always think of it as yours, Ben—made everything so clear to me.

  “‘I appreciate your offer to hold another fund drive for us. The church can send the donations from that collection with Jacob and Max Ferguson, who plan to visit in July or August.’”