Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Rancher for Christmas\Her Montana Christmas\An Amish Christmas Journey\Yuletide Baby (15 page)

Robin kept time for him with a stopwatch. He pulled the ropes, one after the other, with several seconds of silence between each lovely
bong-bong.
People poured into the church from outside, the Shaws among them. They crowded the vestibule, gathering around the closet to watch him pull the ropes. When he began the arduous eleventh minute, Brody Harcourt and Ellis Cooper stepped in to take over. His arms and chest burning, Ethan gladly yielded. Both were grinning and gasping for breath when Ethan brought the exercise to a stop sixty seconds later.

People stood around looking upward with their hands in the air, marveling at the sound and feel of the bells as they continued to toll. Robin hurried into the sanctuary ahead of Ethan, no doubt to avoid the Shaws as much as to get the cast and crew back into position. He took his place, promising to explain about the bells. He did so as soon as the congregation and the bells quieted.

“The bells were a gift to the church from Silas Massey and his wife, Grace,” Ethan explained. “They fell into disuse after the Masseys left Jasper Gulch, but they are obviously sound, so Robin and I acquired new ropes, attached them to the bells and planned to surprise you all by ringing them today to call you to this Christmas Eve service. It seems fitting as this is our centennial year.” He looked pointedly at Jackson Shaw then, asking, “Don't you agree, Mayor?”

Jackson stood, nodded and said, “I do, indeed, Pastor, very fitting.”

Ethan felt a pang of regret that Robin's great-grandmother's wishes for her were not to be fulfilled, but then he mentally scolded himself for a lack of faith, the same lack of faith that he'd been telling himself Robin had displayed by rejecting his proposal. How was she to have faith if he could not?

Ethan prayed aloud, put on his smock over his period clothing, and the pageant began. The bells had set the tone for the production, which went with as few hitches as possible when children and animals were involved. Poignant in places, precious in others, it somehow managed to be a reverent retelling of the Christmas story, and the timing couldn't have been better as the congregation filed out just as the preprogrammed recorded carillon played “Silent Night” through the speakers in the belfry.

The cast seemed jubilant afterward, even as they hurried away, with Ethan's blessing, to join their families for their personal Christmas Eve celebrations. A few stayed behind to help clear the sanctuary of the pageant set and prepare it for the Christmas-morning service. To his disappointment, Robin was not among them. She'd slipped away before he could speak to her. Perhaps, he decided, it was just as well. He didn't know what he might say or do in his current state of mind. He only knew that he loved Robin and that she wouldn't marry him out of some misguided attempt to protect him from Jackson Shaw.

Well, who was going to protect Jackson if the mayor went after Robin, who had never meant harm to anyone in her life? God Almighty surely would not let that pass. Ethan himself would not let that pass, pastor or no.

After the sanctuary was restored to its normal state, Ethan locked up, changed his clothes, then walked across the street to the parsonage. To his surprise, he found a package on the front porch, addressed not to him but to Robin, though the address was clearly that of the parsonage. It even said, “C/o Parsonage, Mountainview Church of the Savior.” The return address was a street in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Overnight
had been stamped all over the thing.

Blessing the parcel-delivery service, Ethan loaded the thing, which had considerable heft, into his car and drove it straight to the inn. He knew that Robin had been invited to join Mamie and several of her guests for a Christmas Eve celebration. He knew this because he had been invited, too. That being the case, instead of going to Robin's room, he went to the great room of the lobby.

The old-fashioned tree there had been up for so long and had dropped so many needles that it was beginning to look a tad spindly. In fact, many of the decorations on Main and Massey streets were looking worse for the wear, as some had been up for six weeks or more now. The fresh snowfall lent it all a clean, sparkling quality, however.

Mamie greeted him with a mug of hot apple cider in her hand. “Glad to see you. Maybe you can cheer up our girl.”

“I don't know about that,” he said, shouldering the heavy box. “Maybe this will, though.”

He carried the box over to the chair near the rock fireplace where Mamie led him.

Robin looked up, frowning, to ask, “Ethan, what have you done?”

Bending to place the box at her feet, he shook his head. “Not me, sweetheart. You refused my gift, if you recall. Your parents had this overnighted to the parsonage. At least I assume it was your parents.”

Ignoring his reference to the engagement ring, she studied the box. “That's their address.”

He produced a pocketknife so she could cut through the packaging. Two minutes later, she caught her breath, looking at the jumble of pieces encased in bubble wrap.

“It's Great-Grandma's antique brass floor lamp.” Abruptly, she dropped her face into her hands and began to cry.

Ethan looked at Mamie, who seemed as puzzled as he was. After several seconds of Mamie's ineffectual patting, Ethan did the only thing he knew to do. He simply scooped Robin into his arms.

“It's all right now,” he told her, holding her close. “There's no reason to cry. I'm sure your parents thought you'd like the lamp.”

“I love the lamp!” she wailed against his shoulder. “Don't you see? It was always meant to be mine when I m-m-married! All of Great-Grandma's antiques are.”

He glanced at Mamie, wondering how much she knew. Apparently she knew enough, for she bustled away, herding the others in the room toward the kitchen by promising them treats.

“You haven't told your parents that you turned me down,” he guessed gently.

Robin shook her head. “I haven't even told them that you asked, but they must have assumed...and this is their way of giving us their blessing.”

He closed his eyes, whispering, “Thank You, God.” One more hurdle cleared. One more problem solved. If a man couldn't believe in that, what could he believe in?

Shifting onto one knee, he dug the tiny ring box from his pocket. “Robin Frazier,” he said, “I'm not just asking you to promise to marry me. I'm asking you to perform an act of faith. Put this ring on your finger as a sign that you believe God will make a way for us.”

She took the box, but she didn't open it. Instead, she hedged. “What if Jackson—”

“Jackson Shaw is not God, and he's made no move against either of us.”

“But—”

“Robin, sweetheart, once the church learns about my past, they may not want me anyway.”

“Of course they will!” she insisted. “You're a wonderful pastor, and you love it here.”

“I love
you
,” he told her. “Just put on the ring, Robin, and instead of waiting to see what Jackson will do, wait to see what God will do.”

She stared at him for a long moment. Then she opened the box, took out the ring and slid it onto her finger.

He let out a silent breath of relief, kissed her and said, “Merry Christmas, my love.”

She melted onto his shoulder, sighed and asked, “Have you ever considered taking a pastorate in Albuquerque?”

He laughed, but at the same time he was praying.

Oh, Lord, we're depending on You, all of us, me, Robin, the Shaws, the church, even this town. This can end well, with truth and forgiveness all around, or it can go the way so much of human history has gone, with half measures, hidden motives, resentments, broken relationships. If it's Your will that I leave here under a cloud, I'll leave here under a cloud, and I'll trust You to bring me into the sunshine again somehow, but it seems to me that this town and this church have lived under a cloud long enough. I'm asking You to make it right, for Your own glory in this, the season of glory.

Meanwhile, Ethan planned to take joy in all that he could. The pageant had gone well, and the bells had been restored to the church. Robin's parents had given their blessing for her marriage to him, and in time they might even be pleased about it. Ethan and his sister had made their peace. Robin had Ethan's ring on her finger, and he could hope and pray that his faith would be vindicated. True, Jackson hadn't accepted Robin as part of the family, so her great-grandmother's hopes had not been realized, but the bridge would reopen at last, thanks to Dale Massey. The museum would open, too, and the new time capsule would be buried. The gold remained missing, but so be it.

The long centennial celebration would at last come to an end, and Jasper Gulch would begin life with a new normal. Ethan hoped that he and Robin would be part of that for a long time to come, but what mattered most was that they live out God's will for them, hopefully together.

Please, Lord,
he prayed,
wherever and however You say, but please let it be together.

Chapter Fifteen

T
hey rang the bells on Christmas morning, Robin and Ethan working in tandem. Even the Masseys showed up for the 10:00 a.m. service, which was well attended, meaningful and joyous. The a cappella women's quartet quietly assumed their positions in the foyer as Ethan opened the service with a prayer, then took up the handbells secreted beneath the pulpit and began to toll the beat for the song. When the women's voices rang out, rich and sweet, people literally gasped. Afterward, the ladies received rousing applause. The singers slipped into the sanctuary between short Bible readings and joined in carols accompanied by the piano and a pair of guitars. Finally, Ethan recited a poem, then closed the service with a blessing.

To Robin's delight, he had spoken to his sister again that morning, as well as to his niece, Erin, and his aunt Molly. “So this has already been the merriest Christmas I've had in years,” he'd said, hugging her.

To hear people say that they had been pleasantly surprised twice, first with the bells and then with the a cappella quartet, made Robin smile. Ethan obviously felt a great sense of accomplishment, and she was delighted to have been a part of it. Having his ring on her finger made everything that much sweeter, though she knew it might ultimately cost him.

They'd made no announcement, but she saw people glancing at her hand and heard murmurs of speculation. Apparently so had the Shaws, because Nadine and Jackson made a beeline for them as soon as the service ended.

Feeling Ethan's protective arm slide about her waist, Robin braced herself for a confrontation. She hadn't told Ethan that she planned to deny her great-grandmother's claims; she feared he would object and ruin everything. Before either of them were put to the test, however, Deputy Sheriff Cal Calloway appeared at Jackson's shoulder, speaking quietly into his ear. Jackson nodded, spoke to Nadine, and the pair turned away, following Calloway from the building.

“That's odd,” Robin murmured.

“You never know what God's doing, sweetheart,” Ethan told her as Olivia and Jack McGuire bore down upon them. After that, they had time only for hugs, congratulations, best wishes, “I told you so!” and “Merry Christmas!”

Lacking a formal dining space at the inn, Mamie had offered to make Christmas dinner at the parsonage. Ethan and Robin had eagerly taken her up on the offer, even when she'd asked to invite several others to join them: Rusty Zidek, Abigail Rose, Chauncey Hardman and a couple from the inn, all folks who would be alone for the day. Robin had never eaten venison roast for Christmas, but then she'd never before spent Christmas in Jasper Gulch, Montana.

After the jolly but somehow tense meal, which took a long time to prepare and clean up, Robin hurried off to the inn to dress for Faith's wedding. She met the other members of the women's quartet in the vestibule to practice one last time, without the handbells, before the wedding, then went off to find Ethan.

He was in his office, putting on his robe.

“Wow,” she said, smiling. “Never thought I'd like a guy in a skirt, but you look very handsome, and there's a certain authority in that robe.”

Ethan laughed. “You look great, much too fine for this humble preacher.”

She'd chosen the royal blue dress that he liked so well and paired it with a lacy shawl. The sides and front of her hair she'd twisted into a loose, elaborate knot atop her head, leaving the back to flow in a sleek fall past her shoulders. She wore a bit of eyeliner tonight, along with a stroke of mascara and a dab of red lip gloss, which she'd had to replace after she kissed Ethan, with some thoroughness and just a hint of desperation, before returning to the other members of the quartet.

They all sat together in a pew at the back of the church to await the beginning of the ceremony. Marie Middleton, lovely in a fluttery dress, came to tell them when they were to slip out and sing, then hurried off to attend some other detail.

Austin and Adam Shaw, dressed in black Western-style tuxedos with red rosebuds in their lapels like their brother Cord, lit the many candles in the church, which was beautifully decorated with its centennial Christmas finery and pew bows of gold-and-silver netting tied about long-stemmed red roses. The Massey men all wore gray tuxedos, with red rosebuds in their lapels.

Jackson wore the same black tuxedo as his sons when he escorted Faith down the aisle. She looked gorgeous in a white satin strapless bodice with a long-sleeved chiffon overlay and full gossamer skirt. Being petite, she was short enough to pile her lovely auburn hair on top of her head and set her long billowing veil in place with a coronet of white roses to match those in her bouquet.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. Afterward, Ethan rang the bells in joyous cacophony while the guests left for the reception and the wedding party gathered for photographs. Ethan and Robin had agreed that she would wait for him in the parsonage, but to her surprise, Jackson called out to her before she could leave the sanctuary.

“Robin, would you mind hanging around? I have something I need to say.”

Suddenly fearful, she sat down again. Was she going to have to publicly recant? Would Ethan even allow it?

After only a few photos, Jackson dismissed the photographer, as well as Marie, then he deftly got rid of the Masseys, asking Dale's brothers to head out to the ranch to oversee the parking situation and make sure everyone was safely and conveniently being transported down to the barn where the reception was to be held. He assigned Dale's father the task of stand-in host and even went so far as to ask Ronna Massey to check on the caterer and make sure all was running smoothly on that end until he and Nadine got there.

Ethan had removed his robe to ring the bells. Now he draped it over a pew and came to sit beside Robin, looping his arm about her shoulders protectively. When the room had been cleared of all but family, Ethan and Robin, Jackson walked to the center of the aisle right in front of the altar and put his hands together, obviously gathering his thoughts. Finally, he spoke.

“Guess there's no way to say this except to come right out with it. I am a thief.”

Nadine shot to his side. Some present laughed, thinking it a jest. Some gasped.

Ethan looked at Robin, clasped her hand and whispered, “Thank God. I knew He wouldn't let Jackson live with this for much longer.”

Robin bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. If only she'd had such faith! Then again... She looked at the ring on her finger and smiled.

Nadine quelled the outburst with sharp gestures of her hands. “Now, now. Let Jackson explain. He has his reasons.”

Jackson glanced at Robin, saying, “I don't know how she knew, but Robin was right. There is gold. It was hidden in the time capsule.”

“So that's why Pete Daniels took it!” Cord exclaimed.

Jackson shook his head. “Pete tried to steal the time capsule, just to cause trouble, I expect, but I caught him digging it up. Then I got rid of him and opened it myself out of sheer curiosity. I didn't know about the gold until I saw it and read the accompanying note. It was meant for all Shaw and Massey heirs to share equally.”

“Oh, Dad,” Faith said, clinging to her brand-new husband.

Jackson nodded, looking at Dale. “I'm sorry, Dale. That was before we knew you. At the time, all I could think was that the Masseys are rich in their own right and they got that way on money stolen out of the bank that our two families started here in Jasper Gulch, money my family had to struggle for years to cover for our investors and depositors. It just didn't seem right that your family should then turn around and recoup the gold in the time capsule. So I took matters into my own hands.”

“I can understand your motivation,” Dale said, “knowing what Silas did.” Faith tightened her arm around his waist.

“But what about all the vandalism and the notes?” Cord asked.

“That's where I made my worst mistake,” Jackson admitted, clapping a hand to the back of his neck. “Pete figured something was up when I didn't turn him in but let everyone think the time capsule had been stolen. If I'd just taken the gold and let everyone find the rest, I might have gotten away with it, but there wasn't time for that. I panicked and hid the whole thing. Pete tried to force my hand by vandalizing things around town and sending those cryptic notes to throw suspicion onto Lilibeth Shoemaker.”

“Now, there's where you're wrong,” said a familiar voice. Rusty Zidek pushed into the sanctuary from the foyer, letting the door swing closed behind him. Obviously, he'd stayed behind to listen. “I sent those notes.”

“You!”

“That's right. I knew 'bout that gold, see. Just like I told you.” He stabbed a finger at Cord.

“But how could you know?” Nadine demanded.

“Lucy Shaw told me,” Rusty insisted. “Just like I said. L.S. stands for Lucy Shaw. She told me 'bout that gold long before she faked her death and ran off with Cyrus. And I told Robin when I figured out she didn't know. See, I recognized her right off. Why, she couldn't look more like Elaine Shaw if she was her twin.”

Julie walked up to Robin and took her hand. “So you really are Lucy's great-granddaughter.”

Robin nodded, tears rolling down her face. “Yes, I am.”

Jackson wilted. “I knew she had to be,” he said, “but admitting that meant admitting that the gold existed and I was the one who took it, and I was just too ashamed to do it until now.” He sucked in a deep breath and went on. “You all should know that Pete Daniels has been seen around town again. Deputy Sheriff Calloway told me today, and I will not have Pete arrested for my crime. I'd hoped to keep him away, but this is as much his home as mine, and I'm as responsible for whatever he's done as he is.”

“But you've returned the time capsule and everything publicly owned,” Ethan pointed out, looking to Robin.

“That's right,” she said, sniffing. “So long as the private property is dispensed of as it should be, what real crime have you committed?”

Nadine looked around hopefully, the tracks of tears on her face.

“As far as I'm concerned,” Dale said, “my family only has to know that they have some money coming. I wish I could say that they'd pass it by when they learn the truth about Silas, but...” He grimaced. “I wouldn't count on it. My share can go to the city of Jasper Gulch, though. That ought to pay for some of the damage.”

“That's where mine will go, for sure,” Jackson rumbled, sounding choked up. “And whatever else happens, I intend to announce my resignation as mayor tonight.”

Nadine slipped her arm through his in a show of support. She'd be standing by her man through thick or thin. He kissed her cheek.

The Shaw sons all traded looks. “Does that mean one of us is going to have to take over as mayor?” Cord asked reluctantly.

“Eh, what's wrong with Ellis Cooper?” Rusty wanted to know.

“Not a thing,” Jackson said. “Ellis is a good man, and maybe it's time for the Shaws to step aside and just concentrate on family.”

“I'm for that,” Cord said, clasping Katie's hand.

Jackson's gaze sought out Robin's then, and he said, “You're part of this family, Robin, though you may wish otherwise now. What do you say?”

She had to clear her throat and blink away the tears. She could barely believe it. Jackson Shaw admitting that she was family, asking for her opinion. Suddenly she realized that her every hope had been fulfilled far beyond her wildest dreams. She looked to Rusty, who smiled, his crinkled eyes gleaming, and gave her a satisfied nod, as if to say his work was now done. Recalling what he'd said about her great-grandmother knowing from heaven what transpired here on earth, she finally managed to croak, “I say, thank God!”

“Then let's do just that,” Jackson rumbled. “Pastor, would you lead us in prayer?”

“It's my honor to do so,” Ethan said, getting to his feet and bringing a quietly weeping Robin with him. “My very great honor.”

* * *

Ethan called a meeting of the church council two days after Christmas. Still reeling from Jackson Shaw's resignation as mayor, they listened to Ethan's explanation about his past with ill-concealed impatience, thanked him for his honesty and hurried home to their families.

As Rusty Zidek put it, “Son, we already knew you were no lightweight. Keep up the good work.”

Mick McGuire had another take. “There's rich fodder for some mighty fine sermons.”

And that, as they say, was that.

The city council decided in very short order that bringing charges against anyone served no purpose, as nothing belonging to the community had been taken and all damages had been covered, with a nice nest egg left over for the city coffers. Ellis stepped into the mayor's shoes gladly and, with Jackson's full blessing, oversaw the ribbon cutting at the bridge on New Year's Eve and the dedication of the museum, which opened to rave reviews. The new time capsule was filled and buried—without any hint of gold or any other valuable being included.

As for Jackson, he declared that his new occupation was to be hassling his children about providing him with grandchildren.

Neither Robin nor Ethan had any desire to prolong their engagement. They decided to marry on New Year's Day, right in the middle of the newly reopened Beaver Creek Bridge, just about at the spot where Ezra Shaw's Model T had gone into the water on that fateful evening so long ago.

“Who in her right mind would choose to get married out of doors in the middle of winter in Montana?” Sheila Templeton Frazier wanted to know as she helped Mamie fluff the fur on the edge of the satin-lined cape that hung about Robin's shoulders. “Though I have to admit, it's a very pretty dress.”

Mamie, God bless her, had called all around Bozeman until she'd found the right dress in the right size and the right fabrics to make the cape, to which she'd added the most beautiful sequined fasteners and appliqués. As Robin dressed for her wedding at the inn, she said a silent goodbye to the little room where she had spent the past six months.