Mistletoe Mine (5 page)

Once again, the awkward silence fell. Emma searched for something to say—anything—that would give her a legitimate excuse to leave. She wanted nothing more than to fling herself onto her bed and cry into her pillow.

Jared cleared his throat. “I guess we should tell Molly she’s getting the gift she wanted.”

“Yes.” Emma licked her lips. “I know she was worried that we would make the wedding festivities awkward. She’ll be happy to hear that we’ve settled everything.”

Jared’s fingers tightened around his water glass. So he wasn’t as calm as he pretended.
Well, good
. As time ticked by, Emma experienced the sudden urge to throw away her pride and attempt to talk to him. Really talk to him.

The notion gained strength as he picked up his fork and resumed his meal. Emma rearranged her napkin. Words—honest words—bubbled up inside her, but before she could give them voice, Jared said, “I’m glad we see eye-to-eye on this. It makes everything easier. So have you met Charlie’s parents yet? They seem like very nice people.”

Her stomach sank. They saw eye-to-eye. Well, guess that told her. She worked to keep her voice steady as she answered. “Yes, I like the Malones very much. So does Molly.”

She heard the door behind her open, and she looked around, expecting to see Molly. Instead, she watched Celeste Blessing rush into the room. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I just got a call from St. Stephen’s Church, and they’re in a terrible pickle. I know this is an imposition, but I am hoping you two can help.”

Emma frowned. The wedding ceremony was at St. Stephen’s. “What’s wrong?”

“Our community Christmas pageant is tonight, and our pianist slipped on the ice and broke her ankle. She doesn’t want you to worry. She’ll be able to play for Molly’s wedding—even though, just between us, she’s nervous about playing in front of you, Emma—but she’s had painkillers today and can’t play tonight. There’s no one to take her place.” Celeste looked at Emma and smiled encouragingly. “We’d be ever so grateful if you’d take her place. The children will be crushed if they’re not able to perform.”

“I’ll be happy to pitch in,” Emma responded, glad for the opportunity to escape.

Celeste foiled that chance by addressing Jared. “We’ve also a need for someone to be our official photographer, since that job was assigned to Evelyn’s husband and he’s with his wife at the medical clinic. Molly tells me that photography is your hobby, and that she is sure you have your camera with you now. Can we count on your help, too?”

Jared’s smile toward Celeste was easy, a marked difference from any he’d shown toward Emma. “Sure.”

Celeste clapped her hands. “Wonderful. Thank you so much. Now, not to rush you along, but we’re due to start at eight. It’s chilly outside, so you’ll want to dress warmly.”

Just like that, the reunion dinner was done.

Sort of like our marriage
.

* * *

Emma rode with Celeste to the Christmas program. Jared waited for Molly, who spent extra time primping, since she was meeting Charlie and his parents there. On the short ride to the Eternity Springs school where the pageant was being held, she asked him how the conversation with her mother had gone. Jared replied, “It was fine. It was a good idea to have us meet that way, Molly.”

“Good. I’m glad.” She paused, then asked, “So did you discuss a divorce?”

The word made him wince. “Yes, we did. Your mother and I both want to do this with as little acrimony as possible, so you need not worry about that.”

“Oh. So you’re, um, going to do it?”

“Yes.” His hands tightened around the steering wheel as they approached an intersection. “You were right, Molly. It’s foolish to let this drag out any longer. Now, which way do I turn?”

“Right.” After a momentary silence, she murmured, “Merry Christmas to me.”

Jared cut his gaze in her direction, though he saw little more than shadows in the winter night. Had her request been a ploy? Had she tried some reverse psychology? If so, it had certainly backfired.

The subject of divorce was a sorry thought to carry into a children’s Christmas program, so as Jared gathered his camera bag from the backseat of his car and walked through the frigid night air toward the school, he tried to turn his thoughts in a happier direction. But when he walked into the school auditorium, accepted a program from a kindergartner dressed like an elf, and he heard his wife playing “Greensleeves” on an upright piano, sadness overwhelmed him.

The first picture he snapped was one of Emma at the piano.

The program introduced an original play written by the sixth-grade class, to be followed by a Christmas carol sing-along. Eavesdropping on a conversation between a woman named Nic and one called Sage, he learned that the play was a version of the Nativity story as it had never been told before. The house lights dimmed, and Jared turned his attention to the stage.

The first-grader dressed in a white choir robe and sporting gold paper-mâché wings was a doll who reminded him so much of Molly at that age that his heart hurt.

The storyline that unfolded centered on a trio of angels tasked with announcing the birth of the Savior. One of them, Harold, was distracted by offerings at the Bazaar of Bethlehem and was late heralding the news to the Three Kings, who decided to trade in their camels for faster transportation.

Jared almost dropped his camera when he saw the scene for that part of the story. Three boys dressed in kingly gear sat perched atop stuffed animals—not the plush kind but the work of a taxidermist—a bear, a mountain lion, and a bighorn sheep.

Seeing Jared’s surprise, Celeste leaned over and whispered, “The school owns quite an extensive collection of preserved wildlife donated by a former resident of Eternity Springs.”

The youngest angel clasped her hands and dramatically despaired, “What’s Christmas without camels?”

The audience erupted in laughter, and Jared grinned, snapping a shot of the young drama queen that he knew her parents would treasure.

Onstage, the Three Kings realized they still weren’t going to make it to the manger in time, and at that point, the materialistic little cherubim saw the light. Harold flew the Kings on Angel Airlines, delivering them to the stable in time to honor the Christ Child. Unfortunately, Angel Air lost the Kings’ baggage, so they despaired that they had no gold, frankincense, or myrrh to give the newborn King. At that point, Angel Harold patted them on the back and said, “Hark. I say unto you. It’s the thought that counts.”

It was silly and sappy, but tonight’s little drama provided the first spark of Christmas cheer Jared had enjoyed all year. Then the lights dimmed and the three angels took center stage beneath a spotlight. Taking a page from Linus and the
Charlie Brown Christmas
show, they took turns reciting lines from the second chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, ending with “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill toward men.”

Then the stage lights flashed bright and the entire cast declared, “And that’s what Christmas is all about, Eternity Springs!”

Emma played the introduction to “Joy to the World,” and the sing-along commenced.

And peace and goodwill settled over Jared like a snowfall. Without conscious thought, he drifted toward the piano. He’d always loved listening to Emma play, but being near and watching her … what a turn-on. She played the piano with such passion, such emotion, and those times when she’d held his gaze and spoken to him through her music—wow. More than once he’d grabbed her up and taken her there against the piano.

He couldn’t believe they’d never share such moments again.

He didn’t plan to move beside her. He didn’t assume his old observation spot on purpose. Nevertheless, that’s where he ended up. When Emma glanced up and saw him, her eyes widened. Then, to his surprise, she smiled. Jared stayed.

Eventually, the sing-along ended. A man who introduced himself as the mayor stepped up to the microphone and publicly thanked Emma for pitching in to help. A practiced performer, she took her bows. As the audience filed out of the auditorium, she turned back to the piano and started to stack the sheet music. Acting instinctively, Jared said, “Taking requests?”

Again, she showed him that smile, and Jared’s sense of goodwill intensified. “What would you like to hear?”

“The Schumann.”

She hesitated, and he thought she was going to refuse. But then she closed her eyes, and her fingers began to move. The sound of “Träumerei” rose and filled his heart and soul, and as he watched her sway and move with the passion of the piece, his blood heated.

Her eyes opened. Their gazes met and held. It was a dance they’d performed time and time again. It was their dance.

Time hung suspended. He didn’t see stragglers in the audience being hurried along toward the reception in the gymnasium at the other side of the school by Celeste and Molly. He didn’t realize the house lights had dimmed or that he and Emma were alone together. He was aware only of the music and the heavy-lidded warmth in Emma’s eyes and of the yearning that filled him.

He wished the song could last forever, but the piece progressed to the inevitable end. Emma closed her eyes, breaking the spell as she played the ending bars. As the final note echoed through the auditorium and died away, Jared felt as if he stood on a precipice.

Three little words floated through his mind. Was it too late? What would happen if he said them? Did he want to say,
Emma come home
?

He hesitated too long. Emma stood and picked up her purse. “It’s been a long travel day, and I’m tired. I think I’ll skip the reception and head on back to Angel’s Rest. Good night, Jared.”

She was almost to the door before he found his voice. “Thank you, Emma. For the song.”

She paused. “I enjoyed playing for you.”

As her footsteps faded, Jared released a heavy, sad sigh. He and Emma had just said their goodbyes.

* * *

As Christmas approached, Molly grew both more excited and more despairing. She loved all the hustle and bustle surrounding the holiday and wedding preparations. She hated the way her mom and dad managed to participate in said hustle and bustle and seldom interact. She guessed that this was what she had to look forward to from now on where her parents were concerned.

Molly admitted that a part of her had hoped that the suggestion to divorce might drive her parents to attempt to save the marriage, but she’d meant what she’d said in making the request. Neither one of them was happy, and this state of suspension wasn’t good for anybody. Still, seeing them together but apart hurt her heart.

Maybe she’d made a mistake asking for one last family Christmas. Maybe she and Charlie should have eloped.

A knock on the door of her room at Angel’s Rest interrupted her brooding. “Come in.”

The door cracked open, and her dad stuck his head inside. “Hey, sweetheart. Got a little time for your old man?”

“Sure. I don’t meet Charlie for another twenty minutes.” She and the Malones had reservations for an afternoon sleigh ride around Hummingbird Lake.

Her father entered the room carrying a shopping bag with packages wrapped in Christmas paper inside. “Can I get you to do a favor for me, Molly?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

He held up the bag. “These are for your mother. They’ve sort of piled up over the past few years, and I’d like you to give them to her for me.”

Molly straightened in alarm. “You’re not leaving, are you? You’ll be here for Christmas?”

“Yes. I promised you I’d be here, and I’m not going to weasel out.”

“Then why don’t you give her the gifts?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think it’s appropriate at this point.”

“Why not? What are they?”

“Just some things I thought she could use.”

“But Dad, I don’t understand. Are you not going to give her a Christmas gift this year?”

“I’m going to give her a gift,” he said with a scowl. “Just not these gifts.”

“Why not?”

The exasperated look on his face told her he would say no more about it. “I need to run. I’m picking your Aunt Shelby up at the airport in Gunnison at four. Have fun on your sleigh ride this afternoon.”

After he left, she inspected the bag and recognized the wrapping paper on the box on top. It was the reindeer paper she’d bought last year to wrap his gifts for Nana and Aunt Shelby. She picked up the second box and studied it. The gold foil struck a memory, too. She’d brought that paper home for the holidays from college two years ago. The third box … she remembered that one sitting beneath the Christmas tree the first year that her mother didn’t come home. At the very bottom was a box wrapped in paper she’d never seen before.
This year’s gift
?

Molly sat cross-legged on her bed and stared at the packages. He’d kept buying Mom gifts. He’d kept buying her gifts, and he’d brought them to give to her this Christmas.

That had to mean something, didn’t it?

She thought about it during the sleigh ride, and it was still on her mind when she met her mom for a mother-daughter dinner. She wanted to tell Mom about the gifts, but she thought it best to work the conversation around to that topic carefully.

First she brought up plans for Christmas Eve. It was a Stapleton family tradition to open gifts after the midnight church service. “Are you sure you don’t mind attending church with the Malones on Christmas Eve, Mom?”

“Not at all, honey. They’re a lovely family, and honestly, I think it will be good to have extra people around.”

“Charlie says they don’t exchange gifts until Christmas morning.”

Emma set down her fork, then sipped her water. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that, honey. I don’t think that an after-church Christmas exchange is right for us this year.”

It was as good an opening as Molly figured she would get. “You don’t have a gift for Dad?”

“I have a gift.” Emma’s lips twisted ruefully. “I have more than one gift, in fact.”

“Really?” As far as Molly knew, her parents never did multiple gifts. They believed a one person/one gift rule kept the season from getting out of hand.