Sneak Peek of Christmas Dreams
G ilbert McBride pushed away from his desk and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling.
He’d done it. Finally. After more than a year of relentless work and effort, blood, sweat, and tears, he had brought his equipment rental business back from the brink of bankruptcy and turned it into a profitable business machine once more.
His wife’s cancer and subsequent death had almost ruined it.
Not just because all of Gilbert’s energy was fixated on being with his wife and children during that difficult time, but because his office manager had been embezzling money.
She offered discounts to people who paid in cash, then pocketed the cash, not mentioning it in the books, of course, and hadn’t paid any of the monthly bills.
By the time his lifelong friend had been propositioned by her, the company was on the verge of going belly up. That was just about the time that Gilbert’s wife had died.
That was Christmas, one year ago.
In the last year, he worked relentlessly, building things up again, because he felt he owed it to his three children to provide as stable of a home as he could.
Granted, in the last year, he hadn’t been around much, but they had been well taken care of by his mother, who had raised six children of her own and could certainly handle three more.
It was true he felt guilty, but he also felt like he had no choice. If he was going to be a good father and provide for them, he had to do something to save his business, and it was going to have to be radical, and he was going to have to be all in.
But he knew if he put a whole lot of effort into it and gave himself a year, he could get the ship righted, and then once that happened, he would have time to spend with his children again.
The profit from last month would enable him to have a sizable down payment to put on a house, they could move out of his mother’s place, and he and his children would become a family again.
He hadn’t wanted to do it that way, but he hadn’t seen any other way to save the business and his family. Losing the business would have meant being in debt for the rest of his children’s childhoods, and he hadn’t wanted that stress on his family. Losing their wife and mother had been enough.
He knew that there were people who criticized him for not being there for his children after their mother’s death.
He had taken two full weeks to spend entirely with them before he plunged himself into the business, but…
he couldn’t do both. And while his children were more important than any business, he also was commanded to be the provider for his family.
He couldn’t just let that go, as much as he might have wanted to hold each one of his children close for as long as he could.
His phone buzzed and he sat up, grabbing it from off the desk where he’d set it, and saw that it was his realtor calling.
He’d put in a request last week for a farm, preferably one that could raise horses, since the therapy riding that they’d done seemed to make his children happy, and he wanted it in the general area where his mother and siblings lived in Mistletoe Meadows.
Ideally, he had told his realtor, he wanted to be moved in by Christmas.
Considering that it was currently October, he thought he might have been a little bit demanding, but in his experience, it was best to say what he actually wanted, rather than settling.
Who knew, maybe the Lord would open the door and see fit to bless him and his children with the perfect location.
“Hello?” he said, standing up out of his chair and walking around until he stood in front of the window, looking out on the buildings of Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was a nice town but bigger than what he was used to, and there was no need for him to stay, now that the business was in hand.
He could go back to Mistletoe Meadows where he really wanted to be.
“Gilbert. I’m so glad I caught you. You know what a tight market we’re in right now, and I told you when you gave me your dream list that more than likely we’d not be able to find anything, but…
I am very pleased to inform you that I have advance knowledge of a farm, just like you asked for, coming onto the market.
It should be listed later today or tomorrow at the latest. And it’s currently being used as a horse therapy facility, so horses are definitely a centerpiece. ”
“Just like I requested,” he said, feeling very satisfied.
He put a hand on the wall and leaned against it, looking off at the brilliant blue October sky.
“You can send me the information, but I trust that you found what I wanted. I’ll go see the property as soon as you can arrange it, and I’ll come prepared to make an offer on the spot. ”
He had everything lined up and did not intend to dillydally around.
He wanted to get his family back together.
He didn’t want to bring his children back to Harrisonburg, putting them back in school there, when he knew he was going to be moving them and wouldn’t have time to be mom and dad while he rescued his business, so they had spent a lot of time at his mother’s house.
It was also good for the kids to be out in the country where they could run around versus the town home that his late wife had preferred.
That had already sold, which is what had given him the money to help bring his business back in the black and eventually what had enabled him to get the down payment for the farm he intended to purchase.
Still, the downside had been that he hadn’t been able to have his children with him since he’d been sleeping in the apartment above the shop, except on weekends and occasionally during the week when he was able to make the drive to Mistletoe Meadows.
“I’ve already done it. I have us scheduled for a showing tomorrow morning at nine AM. If that doesn’t suit, I can reschedule. Just let me know.”
“That’s perfect.”
He made a mental note to talk to his new office manager. The man had come highly recommended, and Gilbert intended to oversee everything. He had no wife to get cancer or, before that, to cheat on him.
His lips pressed together. No one knew about that. He hadn’t told a soul about the letter that he found that had changed everything between his wife and him.
“All right. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning,” she said before they said goodbye and hung up.
He texted his office manager immediately, letting him know that he would be in late in the morning if at all.
Sending the text off, he leaned against the wall and contemplated all the things that he needed to do.
He felt like the business was a priority, but now that it was taken care of, his children were going to take center stage.
Lucas was almost thirteen, which was a delicate age, and he needed his father.
Gilbert had spent as much time with him as he could over the summer, but he appreciated his brother-in-law helping out as well. Especially when he couldn’t be there.
Then there was Marissa, who followed her grandmother around everywhere and thought the woman walked on water.
Gilbert wasn’t entirely sure that his mother didn’t walk on water.
She seemed to be almost perfect. Young for her age, and resourceful, although she was definitely moving slower and getting older.
He didn’t like to think about it, because his mother had been the one constant in his life.
The person he could always depend on to do right and to be there for him.
When his wife was in the hospital, his mother dropped everything to do whatever he needed her to—watch the kids, make food, give him a ride if he needed it, whatever it was, whatever he asked, she never said no.
He owed her so much more than he could ever repay.
And then there was Robert, who was ten and somewhat quiet. Gilbert didn’t know him as well, but he had every intention of changing that, and soon.