The Best Christmas Ever (13 page)

“Again, thank you,” Sarah said, though she wasn’t upset. She was actually very excited to be included.

Justin smiled his smug smile. “Anytime. Now go! I’ll get the four-by-four warmed up.”

“A
real-live Christmas tree?” Mickie exclaimed as Justin drove the truck into the tree lot.

“That’s right. Any one you decide on,” Justin said.

Sarah shot him a warning look. “But I bet you’d sure like your daddy’s opinion.”

Mickie nodded. “I know exactly what I want. It’s got to be big, and just right.”

The vehicle stopped and she jumped out. Sarah was slower pushing open her front door, but she was just as excited. Justin chuckled and slid out his side of the truck. “You both look awed.”

“I’ve never been here. I didn’t know they grew trees in rows,” she said, regarding the lines and lines of trees. “I thought this was just a piece of property and you had to go out and hunt in the forest.”

“You’ve been neglected.” He tsked, took a handsaw from the person at the gate, then caught up to where his daughter impatiently waited for them. “They have a hay ride and a gift shop and a place
where you can order special trees, and even some trees, that have been shipped from up north—trees you normally wouldn’t see down here. Come on.”

The person told them where everything was located and they started down the paths. “Oh, here’s one, Daddy,” Mickie immediately exclaimed, stopping in front of a tree not quite four feet high. “Except that it’s not as tall as you and it’s got a big hole in the daddy branches.”

“Daddy branches?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, you know, daddy branches.” She pointed at another one. “The mama branches have a hole in that one.”

“Honey, I don’t know what you mean, either,” Sarah said as she hurried behind the young girl, trying to keep step with Justin.

“You know, daddy, mama and children branches. That’s how my teacher explained it.”

When Sarah shrugged Mickie explained. “Daddy branches hold up the mama branches and mama branches hold up the children branches, then the baby branch goes on top for the star.”

Sarah was still confused, but Justin had evidently caught on. Mickie grabbed his hand and stood him next to a tree to compare the height, then shook her head and walked on.

“You wanna translate, Justin?” Sarah asked, trailing along beside them.

“She’s got quite an interesting teacher. They have an artificial tree at school and I imagine she means the A-shape of the tree, the larger branches on the bottom being the daddy branches and so on.”

Light dawned in Sarah’s eyes, then she lifted an
eyebrow in disbelief. “That’s what they’re teaching kids in school?”

Justin shrugged. “I guess it’s a way to explain the family unit or something. As I said, this teacher is very inventive. Had Mickie not been in her class all year, I would’ve been stumped, too. But this explanation of a tree is mild compared with some of the things Mickie has told me.”

Mickie stopped him several more times but found fault with each tree. It was finally Sarah who noted it was almost completely dark out, that gently suggested a tree to Mickie. “Oh, yes, Aunt Sarah. This one is perfect. My own mama couldn’t have picked out a more perfect tree. See how much taller it is than Daddy. It reaches way up and will almost touch the sky.”

“And our ceiling,” Justin murmured.

“You can cut it if it’s too big,” Sarah said, afraid they’d end up on another trek if Mickie changed her mind.

“Right there, Daddy. Cut it.”

Justin crawled underneath the tree and began to saw. “Wait a minute, it’s tipping,” Sarah warned, reaching out for it. “Get back, Mickie, so it won’t fall on you.”

Sarah leaned over the large branches and grabbed near the top to try to steady the tree. She realized too late how far off balance this put her. “Watch out, Justin!”

She jerked back, but too late. The weight of the falling tree propelled her forward. She let out a squeak and landed right on top of the tree, which had fallen directly on top of Justin.

A grunt was all she heard. She tried to scramble off the tree as gingerly as possible.

“Watch it, will you?”

“Oh,” he groaned as she scooted backward.

She shoved at the tree until it was out of the way. Justin lay on the soft needle-covered ground, thankfully in one piece. “I’m sorry?” She said it more as a question than a statement.

“I suppose you are, since I’m holding the car keys and you’d be stuck here if you did me under. Here, help me up,” he said, extending his hand.

Mickie laughed. “You look funny, Daddy. You’ve got pine needles in your hair.”

“Thanks, kid,” he said, smiling.

He swiped at his hair but missed most of the needles, so Sarah moved forward and brushed at them. His hands stilled and his eyes met hers.

“Come on, Daddy. Let’s take the tree home!”

Justin’s gaze left Sarah’s. “How about we let them tie this to the top of the car, then we go on a hay ride.”

“Oh, cool!” Mickie clapped her hands, jumping up and down. “The church hay ride’s in October, but I didn’t get to go because I was too little. I’m not too little, am I, Daddy?”

He shook his head. “I saw a baby on one when we drove in and you’re certainly not a baby anymore.”

Mickie was almost dancing in excitement. Sarah smiled and followed Justin and the little girl to the front part of the building. “Can we look in the store while you get the tree taken care of?” she asked Justin.

“Sure. Meet me out here.” He looked indulgently at his daughter before heading off toward the car.

Sarah and Mickie went into the small shop and walked up and down the aisles.

“Oh, look, Aunt Sarah.” Mickie touched a necklace with a red heart and green bells. “Isn’t it just so pretty?”

“I’ll tell you what. You need something to remind you of your trip here. What if I buy you that and you can wear it outside and show your daddy.”

“I like that.” Mickie picked it up and turned it back and forth to admire every angle.

“I think I’ll buy myself a bell necklace, too. Want to take these over to the counter, then go watch for your daddy so he won’t miss seeing us?”

Mickie immediately obeyed. When she was gone, Sarah bought two other things that had caught her attention. One was a small round glass ornament painted with two hearts and green confetti in the background—Mickie would love that as a surprise under the tree—and the other was a cup with a picture of a man toting a Christmas tree on his back. It was dated with the current year.

She went to the counter, paid for the things and dropped the surprises in her purse. “Here, Mickie,” she called, and draped the necklace around the little girl’s neck. Dropping the long satin string of the other necklace over her own neck, she giggled at Mickie’s incredulous expression.

“It almost touches your jeans,” Mickie noted.

“That it does. But I like odd-looking jewelry. Let’s go find your daddy.”

He was at the car, assisting the men in tying the
tree down. Sarah dropped her purse in the car, then locked the door.

“My,” Justin drawled, staring down at his daughter, “what have we here?”

“Isn’t it just the most beautiful necklace you’ve ever seen, Daddy?”

She held it up, turning it back and forth so Justin could get a good look. “You know what I think? The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen is wearing it, so that makes it beautiful.”

Mickie giggled and rolled her eyes before skipping toward where a few couples were just climbing onto the flatbed truck filled with hay.

“I like your necklace, too,” Justin said and reached out and lifted it away from Sarah’s neck. It was getting dark. He wasn’t close enough for her to see his expression.

“We’d better catch Mickie before they leave us,” she said to cover her nervousness.

He dropped the necklace. “I doubt she’d miss us.”

“But I’d miss the ride.”

He chuckled. “You’re as bad as she is.”

“And you’re not having fun?” she asked, hurrying over to the truck.

Justin lifted his daughter in. “I just love having a tree squish me,” he said dryly.

She stepped up and felt his hands on her waist, steadying her. Her heart rate accelerated. She didn’t comment but went to where Mickie sat right at the back of the cab of the truck.

Justin seated himself next to her and willingly accepted Mickie’s squeezing in between them. A helpless
smile filled his eyes, which were only inches away from her. His look said
I tried.

Sarah felt flattered. There was no doubt after today that Justin was acting more than just brotherly toward her. She had a feeling he had actually begun to like her. He might even be interested in her, if she wasn’t mistaken.

She was surprised she didn’t think of André and miss him when Justin smiled at her. No, instead she thought only of how perfect Justin was for her and how wonderful it was to be out from under the constant strain of André being so passive and compliant whenever his parents had criticized her.

She still hadn’t forgotten that Justin had let Drydan Watson go, after what she had told him. She felt a little guilty. After all, what had happened to her had nothing to do with the business end of Justin’s life; it had been strictly personal. And she would mention it to Justin—soon, because she didn’t want Drydan revealing anything if Justin truly was developing feelings for her. Yes, that was her task to do. Still, it was nice to know he had believed her and taken her side, even though she hadn’t asked him to.

The stars twinkled brightly in the sky and the moon was almost full again. It was hard to believe she’d been at Justin’s over a month now.

Speakers softly played Christmas music. Couples settled down in the hay, snuggling against the cool crisp wind. Funny that Mickie was the only child on the ride. Maybe because it was after dark and most families had already left the farm.

Mickie wiggled between them. “This hay is poking me.”

Justin reached to lift her onto his lap just as the ride started up. Mickie surprised them both by evading her daddy and crawling into Sarah’s lap.

“I want Aunt Sarah to hold me.”

Sarah’s heart expanded as the little girl nestled in her arms, resting her head against Sarah’s shoulder. She stretched her legs across Sarah’s lap, then frowned at her daddy.

“She’s softer.”

Justin chuckled. “I imagine she is.” But there was a tenderness reflected in his eyes from the small electrical lanterns overhead.

Mickie found a strand of hair that was hanging over Sarah’s shoulder and stroked it with her tiny fingers.

“She’s tired,” Justin murmured, though he sounded just a little choked up over his daughter’s need to be held by Sarah.

“Am not!” Mickie piped up, then nestled closer.

Sarah smiled and nodded slightly. She saw the gleaming moisture in Justin’s eyes and realized how much it affected him that Mickie didn’t have a mother. Sometimes a girl just needed a mom. She wondered how those many motherless children survived without the nurturing care of a mother. She thanked God she’d never had to find out, though she still missed her mom some now, then said a quick prayer that Mickie wouldn’t suffer from missing Amy.

As the music of one of her favorite Christmas songs started, she began to hum along with it. The ride rocked them and in less than five minutes Mickie was slumped against her.

“She’s asleep,” she said softly to Justin, who had been strangely quiet.

“You have a beautiful voice,” he murmured.

Sarah blushed and was glad it was dark. “Thank you.”

“Please, go ahead, sing some more.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,” she protested.

“For me? You don’t have to sing loud enough for anyone else, Sarah. But please, do it for me.”

How could she resist?

The song “Away in the Manger” came on and she began to sing. “‘Away in the manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his swe—’”

They hit a bump and she broke off, tightening her hold on Mickie. Justin moved his daughter’s feet and inched closer, then his arm encircled around her. He pulled her snugly against his side. His other hand came around and rested on Mickie’s leg.

She continued singing softly, just so he could hear. On the second verse, Justin joined his voice with hers. He loved the feel of her against him, the protectiveness she brought out, the feelings of attraction. But most of all, he just enjoyed her presence. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.

When the song was over, Justin turned toward Sarah. He wanted to ask her about coming to work for him, had thought to do it tonight. He knew he was enjoying her too much in his arms and that could lead to dangerous temptations at his house. After all, God had made man and woman to feel attracted to each other. But there were rules. And it was extremely difficult to follow those rules when the woman looked so longingly at him.

So instead of discussing her future, he leaned forward and kissed her, tenderly, gently, a simple sharing.
She’d been so tense the past week or so, but tonight Sarah was relaxed, not hiding anything from him. He liked that and wondered if she could read what was in his eyes.

Seeing Mickie sleeping so contentedly in her arms, he remembered her outburst when Bill had shared the news about Marcy. He wondered how she
really
felt about André.

Yes, that concerned him, because sitting here, looking at her like this, he realized he could give his heart to her—if she could simply love him back.

Oh, he realized he was afraid to love again, but he didn’t know how to let go of that fear. Or if he should. Should he simply declare his feelings and not worry that she might feel obligated to accept anything from him because he had provided so much for her?

No. He couldn’t do it. He needed to know that she had some sort of feelings for him other than gratitude.

“Look, a meteorite!”

He glanced up and saw a streak across the sky. It was gone almost immediately.

“Do you suppose that’s what led the Wise Men to Jesus? That or a comet?”

Justin shook his head. “I doubt it. After all, Jesus was almost two by the time they located him. Maybe it was a supernova.”

“I guess the miracle wasn’t in what led them there, but that the Scriptures foretold it.”

“Yeah, that and the miracle that Jesus was born into the world.”