ROMANCE: Holiday Romance: Her Christmas Surprise (Sweet Clean Holiday Romance) (Holiday Bride Book 1)

by Mercy Levy

  “My grandfather and father were both artisan woodworkers.” She explained. “We had a farm, but it was my mother who tended to it, and we mostly raised sheep for the wool, so my mother could spin it out and weave cloth.” She ducked her head shyly and took a deep breath. “I feel that I have been less forthright with you than you have with me. There is a part of my life that I failed to disclose, mostly because it has ill served me to be honest about it up to this.” She bit her lip and glanced at him again, but he merely watched the road, and when he noticed her watching him, smiled and nodded.

  “Go on, I’m certain that it is only practical that some of our disclosures be in person, do you not agree?” He pointed out. She nodded in agreement and continued.

  “Where my family is from, the women of my kind are called Cailleach. It means, ‘wise-woman’ or the natives here call theirs ‘medicine women’.” She paused, looking for words that would not have her on the next train home. “We know how to heal using plants, and we listen to our inner voices, the ones that tell us when trouble is coming, or when a storm may visit, even though the skies are clear.” Zeke perked up a little, but said nothing, only nodded that he understood.

  “For example. On the platform, when I couldn’t find you, I got a sense of foreboding.” She offered. “At first, I thought it was my nervousness. Then I saw a very suspicious-looking man, and I’m thinking it may have something to do with him.” Zeke pulled back on the reigns and stopped the wagon. He twisted in his seat and gave his very serious, full attention. Seraphina wrung her hands, she was getting her words out wrong and she’d upset him.

  “I only mean, that if tomorrow we were in town and saw a wanted poster with his likeness on it, I wouldn’t be surprised.” She continued. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “No, you never need to apologize for telling me what you see or feel, Seraphina.” He chastened her. “My own mother has always had an uncanny understanding of what people are thinking, no matter what they are saying. I won’t be nay-saying what your feelings tell you.” He flashed her a quick grin and added, “unless they tell you that I’m no good and you have to leave. Then I have to say that your feelings would be mistaken.” Seraphina giggled in spite of herself and Zeke’s grin spread across his face as he urged his ponies to continue on.

  Despite the excitement of finding Ezekiel very agreeable and the relief of believing he found her the same, Seraphina couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had accosted her on the train platform. She chewed the inside of her lip while she thought, and it didn’t take much of a guess for Zeke to find himself on the same mental path. Someone or something had shaken her badly enough for him to see it in her face when he first approached her. It was up to him to make certain that she was safe while in his care.

  4.

  Seraphina was on the farm for minutes before Zeke’s mother (whose name really was Sister, to Seraphina’s amazement), to decide that her son and the curvaceous girl with eyes like a clear day and blood-red hair were a perfect match. Zeke whispered to Seraphina that his mother had waited a very long time for a wedding, and not to take it personally.

  Zeke’s father had not said much, though his wife more than made up for his shy reticence to speak. He did however, take her hand and ask her quietly and in a courtly fashion, if it was all right to call her Sera. She affirmed that it was indeed the name that everyone who cared for her called her, and encouraged the Calhoun family to do the same.

  Supper was lavish by farm standards, with mashed sweet potatoes, roast from the cold cellar, baked apples, and fresh-from-the-oven soda bread. Sera ate until she could hardly fit another bite, and even tried a little of Jacob Calhoun’s honey beer. Full of good food and good beer, Jacob’s tongue was even loosened enough to tell the story of his son and the scented letter. Sera laughed out loud at the antics of Zeke’s father imitating his excitement regarding he flowery missive.

  “Well.” Zeke pretended to grouse. “The beer will taste better with lavender in it.” He stated, then smiled and shook his head. Turning to Sera he added, “I planted the lavender around the other side of the yard, where it will get full sun throughout the day, and the bees won’t come in the house.” His father agreed to use the lavender in the next batch of beer would indeed have lavender in it. Sera pointed out that once the bees found the lavender, they would have lavender honey as well, which would be lovely all on its own.

  The evening stretched on and before Seraphina realized it, it was bedtime, and she hadn’t written her grandparents. She excused herself from the veranda and went to the room that they had given her. She pulled out her special stationery, chuckling to herself as the scent of lavender filled her nose. She quickly wrote a note to her grandmother, describing the amazing food that Mrs. Calhoun had cooked for her, and one describing the land and the lovely, well-kept outbuildings for her grandfather.

  She got up from her cross-legged seat on the bed and placed the sealed envelope on the dresser next to the door so she would remember to send it the next day, and crossed back over to her bed. The moon was so big in the sky, it looked to Seraphina that if she reached out, she could touch it. She got closer to the window, and as she looked out at the shining night sky, dread fell over her so heavily, it drove her gaze to the ground.

  As she looked down, her breath caught in her throat, looking right back up at her from the tree line, was the shadowed figure of a man. Sera let out a strangled scream and the man turned and ran into the trees. As he turned, the moon had hit him full on the face. It was the man from the train station, here, watching her bedroom window as though he’d known she was there all along.

  Zeke rushed into the bedroom with a lantern. He was wearing only his pants and a terrified expression. He found Seraphina collapsed on the bedroom floor just under the window, curled in a ball. She was shaking, and he had to pick her up to get her to the bed.

  “Shhhh. It’s all right. Whatever it is, you’re safe now. He murmured in her ear as she trembled in his arms. It was a few moments before his parents were in the room too, having had to some from the other side of the house. She told them what had transpired and described the man to them, from his slick, oiled back hair, to the scar on his jaw and his thick, heavy eyebrows. Just describing him made her blood run cold. Jacob and Sister promised to go with Seraphina to town in the morning to telegraph her grandparents and to pay a visit to the sheriff. Perhaps he was simply a wandering vagrant, up to no good, but it was best if the authorities knew about it, Sister declared.

  Zeke waited until they were gone to ask, if perhaps she had simply had a bad dream, fueled by being in an unfamiliar place, and the conversation they’d had earlier.

  “No, Mr. Calhoun.” Seraphina replied stiffly. “I am not prone to flights of fancy, and I am well-aware of the difference between being asleep and dreaming, and awake and seeing. The worst part is, I swear I know that man.” She shivered again. “I do not know how I am going to sleep tonight.” She whispered. Zeke nodded and turned the lantern up to its highest level.

  “I will be right outside your door while you sleep, and I will not move until morning comes.” Zeke vowed. Sera wanted to argue, but instead she thanked him and rolled over. Whether or not she would be able to sleep, she felt safer behind a door guarded by her chivalrous husband-to-be.

  Morning came, bright and happy, with all the delightful sound of animals and industry that Sera missed from home. In the light of day, she felt silly for having frightened so easily, and as soon as she dressed, she explored the grounds immediately around the house, for signs of the stranger. When Zeke finally found her, she was staring at the ground under the tree where the man had stood the night before. She jumped in surprise when he spoke her name.

  “I apologize.” He began. “I thought you had heard me approaching.” Sera didn’t speak, just stared hard at him. “What has you looking so worried. I promise, we will find the man who was here.” He assured her.

  “I already have.” Sera replied. “It’s you.�
� She pointed to the ground at their feet. “Look, do you see the prints your boots left in the ground?” He nodded and folded his arms. “Well,” she continued, “Look here under the tree. Do you see what I’m pointing to?” Zeke moved up next to her and looked where she pointed.

  “I see nothing.” Zeke stated.

  “Exactly.” Sera agreed. “No one has been standing here at all.” She sighed. “It was so real to me, and I hadn’t even gotten into bed yet.” She rubbed her face with the palms of her hands as if to knock the cobwebs from her thoughts. “He was so real…” She looked up at Zeke. “I’m so sorry I put you and your parents through that fright.” She began. “I hope you all can forgive me, especially you, Zeke.” She sighed.

  “Nonetheless, this may not be the correct spot.” Zeke pointed out. “So let’s go tell the sheriff anyway, and have him take care of you and your safety.” He said gently. “It is most assuredly a case of ‘better safe than sorry’.” She agreed, but her confidence was shaken. They ate and the entire family headed into town. Their very first stop was the sheriff, who wrote down her description of the man and promised to have his deputies keep their eyes open.

  Then, hoping to make Seraphina feel better, Sister dragged her to the dry goods store, to order fabric for a dress. She promised Sera that they would sew her a dress to remember, to which the lady behind the counter had retorted that she was willing to bet money that it was She who would be sewing the dress, since Sister couldn’t sew a lick. Sera was astonished until Sister laughed at the remark and assured Sera that every word of it was true. Seraphina laughed and added a small spool of ribbon to her purchases, with which she could make Minx a toy.

  Zeke was able to snatch Seraphina away from his mother after two more shops, and he placed her hand on the crook of his elbow so he could walk her over to the restaurant to enjoy a hot lunch, and perhaps to show off his lovely bride-to-be. As they rounded a corner past the stables, a man lunged out of the doorway. He sliced open Zeke’s arm and grabbed Seraphina, dragging her away by the arm as she beat on his hands and screamed for help.

  Zeke tried to follow, but he became dizzy and fell on the ground, his entire body sweating and his limbs paralyzed. He watched helplessly as Sera was dragged into the stable and the door slammed shut behind her.

  When people came running to the sounds of screaming, Zeke tried to explain what had happened, but his throat was so constricted, that he gave up. He lurched to his feet with a helping hand, and followed the path the man had taken toward the stables.

  The building was empty when he went in, and as he exited the other side, he leaned against the doorframe to hold him up. He looked down and saw deep drag marks in the ground, left by Seraphina as she struggled. He stood up and braced himself for just a moment more before dragging himself after the trail she had left. An arm appeared around him, and he let one of the men who had joined him to help prop him up. He pointed to the marks in the soft dry earth, and the men, who had heard about Seraphina from Jacob, began to follow the trail.

  Ahead, there was a copse of trees that one man mentioned would be the place to hide a horse, even or even a team-drawn wagon. The men picked up the pace, even as Zeke’s legs began to give out, shaking as he stumbled along. Just as they hit the first of the trees, a rider-less horse went crashing past them. The man holding Zeke stopped and the others moved into the brush ahead of them. Zeke was frantic that they’d never find her, all because they didn’t pay enough attention to what she had seen. He heard the sounds of a distant struggle just as his body gave out and he collapsed at the feet of the young, serious man in a suit, who had stopped to help him.

  When he awoke, he was in his own bed, and Sera was sitting on the edge of it, wiping down his face with a cool cloth. She had a bruise on her cheek, but otherwise there was no clue to what had happened, to either of them. The room was full of concerned friends and well-wishers, but now that he was awake, Sera sent them away so Zeke could have peace and quiet to rest.

  “You gave us quite a scare, Ezekiel.” She chided him. No one knew what that blade was coated in. I had to be very creative looking for a way to cure you, that is until your benefactor showed up with the answer for me. I’m afraid I was so out of my head with worry, I missed the obvious the first few minutes. Zeke tried to piece together the events leading up to his unconscious state in his head.

  “I don’t understand.” He finally admitted as she cleaned the raw, ugly wound on his arm and spread a sweet-smelling salve over it before wrapping it up in a clean bandage.

  “There’s a lot of that going around, actually.” Sera confessed. “That man I saw in your garden and the train station?” She asked, and Zeke nodded. “His name is Nathaniel Gunn, and when I was very little, and he was quite young as well, our parents decided that one day we should wed.” She sighed and switched out the cold compress on Zeke’s head, and sat down next to him, holding his hand.

  “So you did see someone outside your window.” He blurted out.

  “Well, yes…and no.” Seraphina replied. “When my parents died and I came here, the people who arranged my travel had no money, but simply referred to the marriage agreement my family had with the Gunn family to secure money and safe passage for me. Once I grew up, I forgot all about that silly story and was perfectly content in my life here, until right before I turned eighteen, when Mr. Gunn sent multiple letters declaring his intentions.

  Zeke clenched his fists but said nothing and continued to listen, even though his arm was burning and itching.

  “This time, Nathaniel decided to use his own hands to hurt us. He came in on the train and hunted me down. when he saw me, he sliced you open with a poisoned blade and dragged me off. I was fighting as hard as I could when the men you led to me saved me. When the sheriff asked him what his plan was, he replied that he hadn’t conceived a plan yet, he had just happened to see me in town.

  Zeke rubbed his thumb over Sera’s hand and watched the emotions play over her face. He wanted to ask what she had used on him to save him, but she wanted to let her tell her story, her way.

  “Zeke, you should know.” Seraphina sighed and looked worried, or at least very confused. “Gunn swears he had just arrived on the train after tracking me this far. I had no idea what he looked like, except from my vision. I saw him here, before he was here to be seen. Does that make sense to you?” Zeke had to admit that the idea that she’d been having visions was a little uncomfortable, but his burning, aching arm was fair proof that someone had given him quite the thrashing.

  “It’s Monkshood.” Seraphina explained. He smeared it on the blade he cut you with when he grabbed me.” She looked down at the floor and Zeke thought he saw tears in her eyes. “Zeke, if you hadn’t been there and fought through the pain and paralysis, I might not have been saved before he killed me or rode off to who knows where with me hanging off his horse like a saddlebag.” She touched his cheek, stroking him gently with her fingertips and kissed him chastely on the lips. “I was so terrified that you were hurt, I almost didn’t even see the man who was standing right there with you until he called me out by name.” She whispered to him.

  Sera motioned to a man Zeke hadn’t noticed. He was quiet and serious and just as stern as when he had lifted Zeke from the ground and helped him search for his bride.

  “Meet my older brother, Grayson.” Sera introduced the two as though they hadn’t met before. Grayson shook Zeke’s good hand and nodded politely.

  “I came here looking for my sister, to warn her that Gunn was looking for her again.” He reported. “I had no idea that he’d arrived the day before.” Zeke reached out and shook Grayson’s hand again, and he excused himself from the room. Zeke held out a hand to Seraphina and pulled her down onto the bed again. He wrapped his arm around her waist as far as he could and tugged on her, until she was hovering over his mouth, the distance between them only the barest of breaths.

  “So, my herb witch,” he teased her as she closed the last small distance to his waitin
g lips, “Is life with you always going to be this exciting?” He brushed her full lips with his own. She pulled away and stared into his eyes for a long moment, biting her lip as she thought.

  “You still want me, even though another man came to claim me, and hurt you in the process?” She queried nervously. “Nathaniel is a terrible man, he said he’d stop at nothing to make me his wife…” Her voice trailed off at the smile on his face.

  “Well then, I suppose we’ll just have to skip the big wedding and get you married to me as soon as possible, just in case he gets out of jail soon, right?” He replied. “You’re my witch now, Seraphina Montague. You, Nathaniel Gunn, and the world had better just accept that now, because I’m never giving you up.”

  Sera held his face in her hands and kissed him over and over, light, almost childlike brushes of her lips giving way to deeper more passionate searching of tongue and teeth until he thought he would die from his need.

  “I love you, Ezekiel Calhoun.” She finally breathed, her face buried in his neck. “I love you and I will be yours as long as the sun turns.”

  “Of course you will, Love.” Zeke murmured, holding her tight. “Forever and a day, until we’re old and gray and broken like our families.” He chuckled. “I had no idea that you were what I was waiting for, my little far-seeing fairy girl. But, now that I have you, I will never let you go.”

  THE END

  Sarah’s Hanukkah Miracle

  Chapter 1

  Sarah Goldstein let her soft, diamond, eyes wonder around the snowy park as icy winds played in her long black hair. Enjoying the early morning tranquility while ignoring the penetrating cold, she watched gentle snowflakes fall across the park; landing on frozen white trees, wooden park benches, a gray marble birdbath sitting in the middle of the park, and finally resting on a green grass tucking itself in for the approaching winter. “Not winter just yet,” Sarah smiled if though her cheeks were rosy red and might have thought otherwise. “You're an early snow, delightful and welcomed.”