Beneath a Southern Sky (14 page)

“Do you like it?”

“You know I do! I love it.”

“I couldn’t afford the whole village, but it’s a start.” He knelt down beside her and took out the little brochure that was folded up in the box. He spread it out on her lap, pointing to a photograph of the display she had seen in the gift shop the day they’d gone shopping for Natalie. “There are forty-eight pieces in this collection, Daria. This is the first one.” He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “If God answers my prayers, there will come a Christmas someday when I’ll have to choose something else to give you because this whole village will already be twinkling on our mantel.”

Her heart quickened and tears stung her eyes as she realized the implication of what he’d said.

“I’m not asking for an answer, Daria,” he told her just as he had that first night he’d declared his love. “I’m just telling you what my heart desires.”

And in that moment, she knew for certain that—even though the memory of Nathan was still heavy, and maybe always would be—her heart longed for the very same thing.

She set the cottage aside, put her arms around him, and buried her face in his shoulder. Then she pulled away to look at him, to make sure that he could read her words in her eyes as well as hear them from her lips. “I love you, Cole. I love you with all my heart.”

Fifteen

T
he highways were clear, but the ditches and fields as far as the eye could see were covered with snow. The canted afternoon light painted Maxfield Parrish shadows on the canvas of snow, and the beauty of the scene took Daria’s breath away. It was one week before Christmas, and she and Cole were headed to Wichita for an evening out.

“Where do you want to eat?” he asked her now.

“I really don’t care, Cole. You decide. I chose last time.”

“Can you remember that far back?” he said with a sigh.

“I know,” she told him. “It does seem like it’s been forever since we had a chance to go out together.”

He reached over to take her gloved hand. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Mmm. Me, too. Maybe we could—”

The sharp blare of Cole’s pager interrupted her. “No!” Daria groaned. How many times she had wanted to toss that interloper out the window. But he was a vet, and she had resigned herself to the fact that it was a part of his life.

Cole checked the message. “It’s Bill Wyler.”

Cole dialed his cell phone, and Daria listened while he talked to the rancher.

“Bill,” Cole said. “Okay…how long has she been that way?” Another pause. “Well, it’ll be another half-hour before I can get there. No, it’s okay. You did the right thing. Yep. I’ll see you.”

Cole powered down his cell phone and put it back on the console. He turned to Daria with a hangdog expression on his face. “I’m sorry, Daria.”

“I know, I know. I understand. I’m just disappointed, that’s all.”

“Do you want me to take you home or to your folks’?” Daria’s parents were baby-sitting.

“Could I go with you?” she asked, brightening at the thought.

He looked surprised. “Sure. If you want to.” He looked at the soft corduroy slacks and sweater she was wearing. “I don’t have time to take you home to change though.”

“Maybe Bill will let me borrow a pair of coveralls.”

He smiled. “I like your attitude, woman.”

“I’m learning, I’m learning…”

They spent the next hours in the chilly barn on Wyler’s ranch, delivering twin calves and then trying frantically to save the smallest one. They almost lost the little fellow, but after an hour of working with him, the calf responded, struggling to stand on wobbly legs and finally nursing greedily beside his sister. Oblivious to the cold and exhilarated by their success, Daria and Cole cheered and whooped and gave each other high-fives.

Bill had left to feed his cattle, so Daria and Cole were alone in the barn. Cole grabbed her gloved hands across the metal fence of the stall, and his eyes held hers with an urgency that made her heart beat double time.

“Marry me, Daria.” His voice was winsomely demanding. “Just marry me and I’ll be the happiest man alive.”

It was all she’d wanted since the night of the symphony. “Yes, Cole. Oh, yes.”

She gave her answer without a second thought. It was an answer to a prayer she hadn’t even prayed yet.

Christmas Day dawned cold but clear. The skies of Kansas had cooperated beautifully, unfurling a fresh blanket of snow over the state the night before. The sun sparkled on the fields and on the rooftops of the farm buildings, almost blinding Cole and Daria as they drove up the long lane that led to the Haydon farm. Natalie chattered happily in her car seat behind them.

“Looks like Jason and Brenda beat us here,” Daria said, spotting her brother’s two boys throwing snowballs in the backyard.

Cole parked the car, but before he cut the engine, he turned to Daria. “You nervous?” he asked.

“A little,” she admitted. “But I think they’ll all be thrilled with our news.”

“Even your dad?”

“Cole,” she chided. “You know Dad thinks you hung the moon.”

“Yeah, but you’re still his little girl. I know how I’m going to feel the day some young whippersnapper wants to take Nattie away from us.”

“Quit it! I don’t even want to think about that day.” She reached over and patted his arm with a gloved hand. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Laden with gifts, two cherry pies, and a tightly wound Natalie, they made their way up the freshly shoveled path to the back door.

Jason met them in the mud room, eyeing the stack of packages Daria balanced in one arm. “Hey, sis. Let me take those off your hands. Is my name on one of these?”

“That depends,” she teased her brother. “Were you a good boy this year?”

Margo, wearing a festive apron, appeared from the kitchen. “Merry Christmas! Here, honey, let me get those pies. Jason, did you check on the boys?”

“We just saw them,” Cole interjected. “They’re fine. They’re playing in the snow.”

Daria’s father came and snatched Natalie from Cole’s arms. “Hey, squirt!” he said, tickling the little girl under the chin. “Did Santy Claus visit your house last night?”

Natalie giggled as her grandfather helped her out of her coat and mittens and took her off to see the Christmas tree.

The house was fragrant with the aromas of freshly roasted turkey, pumpkin pie spices, and the massive Scotch pine that Erroll had grown from a seedling and brought in from the pasture just last week.

After dinner, they sat around the table, groaning even as they took a second slice of pie or one more of Margo’s famous dinner rolls.

Finally Daria glanced at Cole, and he gave her a look that said,
Now?
She nodded imperceptibly, and Cole cleared his throat.

“Well, everybody…” The entire table turned to look at him while Daria sat beaming at his side. “Daria and I have an announcement to make.”

“I knew it!” her brother crowed.

“Jason!” Daria laughed. “You don’t even know what Cole’s going to say.”

“Want to bet?” he challenged with a grin.

“That’s one you’d probably win,” Cole laughed, while everyone else held their breath. He looked around the table, and Daria thought he was enjoying the moment. “Well,” he told them, drawing out the suspense. “If you were betting that I was going to tell you that Daria and I are getting mar—”

Before he could finish, the table erupted in cheers and happy laughter. Even Natalie clapped her pudgy hands together. Margo wept for joy, and Daria thought she even saw a tear in her father’s eye.

Jason and Brenda smiled smugly. “I just knew you two would end up getting hitched,” Jason said. He reached out to shake his future brother-in-law’s hand. “Congratulations, Cole. You take good care of her now, you hear.”

Cole put an arm around Daria. “I’ll do my best—but sometimes this woman has a mind of her own.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Jason countered.

“Hey! Watch it, you two,” Daria chided. But it warmed her heart to see how easily Cole fit into her family.

If only it would be so easy to tell Nathan’s parents. So far the Camfields had only met Cole once and since then had politely declined every invitation of Daria’s that included him. Though they were planning a small family wedding, their engagement would be big news in Bristol. And once word got out, Daria knew the Cam-fields would eventually hear it. It wouldn’t be right for them to find out through the grapevine.

Later that evening, as the family cleaned up their leftovers, Daria pulled Cole aside.

“I’m going to call Jack and Vera,” she said, leading him to the extension phone in the guest bedroom. “Do you want to be in on this?”

He stopped in his tracks and held up his palms. “No, thank you.”

“Chicken,” she teased, more nervous than she let on.

“Are you going to tell them over the phone?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m just going to invite them to dinner. I think I should tell them in person.”

He turned more serious now. “Good idea. But really, Daria, I don’t think I need to be in on this. To put it mildly, Jack and Vera don’t seem very comfortable with me.”

She took his arm. “Okay. But stay here. I need your handsome face for moral support.” She planted a kiss on his cheek and lifted the receiver.

While she waited for an answer, Cole reached for her hand.

“Vera? Merry Christmas!” she said, forcing cheerfulness into her voice.

“Oh, hello, Daria. Did you have a nice holiday?”

“Very nice. We’re still at my folks’, actually.”

“Well, we certainly got our white Christmas, didn’t we?”

“Yes, isn’t it beautiful?”

“Jack is out shoveling the rest of the driveway right now. We’ve had almost six inches, and it’s still coming down a little. Now where is my little girl?”

“She’s by the Christmas tree—playing with the wrapping paper, I think,” Daria chuckled.

“Oh, isn’t that the way it always is?” Vera exclaimed. “Well, let me talk to her.”

“Of course, but actually… I was calling to invite you—and Jack, of course—to join me for a late Christmas dinner. Would you be able to come next Sunday?” Daria flashed Cole a smile.

“Why, that’s very nice of you, Daria. We’d love to come.” There was a pause, and then Vera’s voice became guarded. “Your friend… Dr. Hunter… isn’t going to be there, is he?”

“No, it will just be Natalie and me.” Daria rolled her eyes at Cole.

“Well, we’d love to come.”

“Wonderful. Let me get Natalie. I know she’ll be happy to hear your voice.”

She motioned to Cole, and he went to retrieve the toddler so she could stare at the receiver while her grandmother made baby talk from the other end.

Balancing three bowls of Rocky Road ice cream with the grace of a former waitress, Daria emerged from her kitchen. With a free elbow, she pushed Natalie’s half-eaten bowl of spaghetti from the edge of the highchair tray as she passed by. Then she set two of the desserts in front of her former parents-in-law and one at her own place.

“After that delicious meal, I don’t have room for another bite, Daria,” Jack Camfield groaned. “But I guess I’ll choke it down if I must.” He laughed at his own joke, and Daria joined in nervously.

The clock on their evening together was ticking, and still she had not found an opening to tell the Camfields of her impending marriage.

She couldn’t let them leave without knowing. She felt deceitful, having left the diamond Cole had given her—the one she ordinarily wore so proudly—in her jewelry box that morning.

Poking her spoon at her ice cream, she took a deep breath and plunged in. “Vera, Jack. I have something I need—something I
want—
to tell you.”

Vera turned toward her, her heavily penciled brows raised in innocent interest. This was going to be harder than Daria thought.

“I—Well, I have an announcement to make. As you know, Cole and I have been dating for a while now.”

Natalie perked up at the sound of Cole’s name and began banging her chubby fists on the plastic highchair tray. “Da-da-da-da-da,” she sang plainly and happily.

The effect on Vera Camfield was devastating.

Daria tried to ignore Natalie’s happy chattering. “We… Cole has asked me to marry him, and I said yes.” She tried to put a cheerful inflection in the words.

“I had a feeling this was going to happen,” the woman spat.

Daria looked at her, shocked, near tears, and uncertain how to respond. “I know this isn’t easy for you, Vera—”

“So,” Vera cut her off, “you’re just going to marry the first man that comes along, is that it?” She twisted a tattered paper dinner napkin in her hands.

Jack Camfield sat silent now.

Daria fought to remain calm. “Vera, I love Cole very much. I haven’t made this decision rashly.”

“Do you have any idea how this hurts us, Daria? Any idea whatsoever? Did Nathan mean
nothing
to you? How do you think this will look to our friends? Our son is barely cold in his grave and you have just gone on with your life, as though he meant nothing to you.”

“Vera!” Daria hadn’t meant it to come out so harshly. She took a deep breath and forced her voice down an octave. “Nate has been dead for a year and a half. Oh, Vera, you know I loved Nate—more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being. But he’s gone! He’s not coming back, and I have to go on with my life. I don’t want to raise Natalie alone. She needs a father. And Cole loves her like his own.”

Vera recoiled as though she’d been slapped.