Chapter Sixteen
Luke’s Ranch — The next day
Two weeks before Christmas
“Oh, I like this one!” Madelaine exclaimed when Evelyn held up a rough-looking nutcracker she’d pulled out of a straw-filled wooden box.
The paint was chipped off in places, one arm looked slightly charred, and there were scratches all across the body of the wooden soldier.
It was surprisingly tall, almost as long as Madelaine’s arm.
“This belonged to John,” Evelyn said with a sad but fond smile. “Luke’s son. Caleb made it for him for his first Christmas, but Luke hasn’t…” She stopped talking.
Madelaine nodded knowingly and carefully took the nutcracker into her hands, tracing its rough edges. They’d begun decorating the house for Christmas shortly after lunch, and the early afternoon had been cheerful and happy. “It’s perfect,” she said.
“It is,” Evelyn said. “I am just not sure if we should put it up, because…”
“Oh, what’s this?” Simon yelled as he came running into the room with Buster hot on his heels. The two of them had become inseparable.
While Belle was taking a nap in their room, he’d been playing outside for a while.
Looking at his reddened cheeks and snow-covered hat, Madelaine surmised the sun must have disappeared again for yet another bout of snow.
He threw his coat, scarf, and hat over a nearby chair and held both his hands out to the wooden soldier. “Can I play with it?” he asked.
Caleb walked in, not looking much better as he followed Simon and Buster into the house. When he saw the nutcracker, he glanced at his wife and smiled at her. “I didn’t know this was still around,” Caleb said.
“Can I play with it? Please?” Simon asked again with both hands still raised toward it.
Madelaine didn’t know what to do, so she was relieved when Caleb walked over and gently took it from her. “Evelyn told me that you made it,” she said. “It’s amazing.”
Caleb smiled at it. “It has seen better days.” Turning to Evelyn, he pointed at a bite mark in the left thigh. “Do you remember when Buster was still a puppy and he stole it from little John and all chaos broke loose on Christmas Eve?”
Evelyn giggled and nodded. “The two of them almost knocked the table over. Buster was already as big as a baby bull then!”
“Can I please, please, please play with it?” Simon nagged, and Caleb finally gave it to him.
“Yes. You can. It’s yours, if you want it,” Caleb said, smiling.
“Really? I can keep it?” Simon stared at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Caleb nodded, and Simon darted off, screaming, holding the nutcracker high above his head while Buster tried to snag it away from him.
They almost ran Belle over, who came shuffling into the room with a mop of wild blonde curls, holding her soft blanket. Evelyn walked over to her, picked her up, and Belle snuggled into her arms as if she wasn’t ready to fully wake up yet.
“Is Luke working today?” Madelaine asked as she picked up Simon’s snow-covered coat, scarf, and hat. “The weather has been relentless lately.”
“He rode into town this morning, but I don’t know when he’ll be back,” Caleb said. “He was there when I went in, and when I left, he said that he wouldn’t stay much longer, but that doesn’t mean anything. Once he gets lost in his work, he loses time.”
Madelaine nodded, and she felt a strange set of emotions.
After their encounter yesterday, which had ended with all of them in such a great mood, something had changed in the way she perceived him.
It had been wonderful to see Luke let loose and laugh the way he had.
Not only that, but he had looked at her with so much more warmth in his eyes, and they had exchanged many silent glances all evening.
When Madelaine went to bed, she’d been so giddy she hadn’t been able to fall asleep.
She’d taken out her journal and written almost an entire page about how she couldn’t even really explain the excitement, warmth, and adoration, but also the nervousness and slight discomfort.
She shook her head when she remembered how long she’d spoken to God about it and how grateful she was that He had sent Luke her way.
She’d almost forgotten about her troubles. Almost.
“I hope he’ll come home soon. By the looks of it, this could be another blizzard rolling in,” she said as she looked through the large window.
“You don’t need to worry about your husband, Maddie,” Evelyn interjected.
Husband. Madelaine liked that word more and more. So far, he’d kept his word, and he’d treated her with the utmost respect, not pushing or demanding anything from her. However, Madelaine didn’t know how to feel about it, because she wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
Madelaine shook her head. “I am not. I know he can look after himself. I just don’t want him to get surprised by the weather.”
Evelyn raised her eyebrows, smiling a little too brightly at her before she shot a quick glance over to Caleb, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“I mean it. I am not worried about him,” Madelaine repeated, and immediately felt silly for taking their bait. “So, what else have you got in this box, Evelyn?” she asked to change the subject.
***
Luke walked in through the back door—he’d ridden to the barn first, since he wanted to make sure that all the horses were well taken care of. As always, Alvarez was on top of all his chores, and Luke left everything in the capable hands of his trusted ranch hand.
The snow wasn’t coming down as heavily as it had the day before, but it was enough to warrant an early departure from his office in town.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
Walking back toward the house, seeing the warm glow in the windows, he had to admit that the weather hadn’t been the only reason he’d left early.
Since his funny encounter with Madelaine yesterday and the comfortable evening they’d all spent together, Luke hadn’t been able to fully focus on his work today.
This had never happened to him before. He’d tried hard not to get distracted, but Madelaine’s beautiful, laughing face kept popping into his head.
Surprisingly, it didn’t bother him.
As he stepped through the kitchen into the house, he heard Caleb, Evelyn, and Madelaine in the dining room. They were giggling and laughing together, and Luke’s face split into a big smile before he joined them in the other room.
“Who’s not worried about who?” he asked. Madelaine, who stood near the window with her back to him, jumped, then spun around and stared at him with wide eyes. He watched as her cheeks took on a dark shade of pink.
“Your wife is not worried about you,” Caleb said, pointedly nodding toward Luke with a grin.
Madelaine’s face pulled into a scowl when she turned to look at him.
Caleb winked at Luke, and Luke understood that he was teasing Madelaine about something they’d talked about previously.
Seeing Madelaine’s reaction was kind of funny.
“That is not what I said!” she exclaimed.
“You aren’t worried about me?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.
“No! Yes! I mean… that is not what I meant,” Madelaine stumbled over her words. She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again, she turned toward Luke and looked straight at him. Her fiery green eyes sparkled.
“I only said that I didn’t want you to get hit by another blizzard while you were out there,” she said. “And that you are obviously very capable of taking care of yourself, so I don’t have to worry about you.” She turned around to Caleb. “That’s what I meant.”
Evelyn giggled.
“Well, you’re right. You don’t have to worry about me,” Luke said with a smile. “But I sure do appreciate you worrying about me anyway,” he added, and Caleb and Evelyn burst out laughing. Luke noticed Madelaine’s eyeroll and hidden smile.
He couldn’t help it; he thoroughly enjoyed their banter and laughter. He had to admit that this was the real reason he’d come home early today.
Home.
This house hadn’t felt like a home for too long. After carrying his guilt around for too many years, he was finally able to accept this new life without it.
Simon barreled into the room, closely followed by Buster. When Luke saw what he held in his hand, his breath caught in his throat. He remembered that nutcracker, but he thought it had been lost in the fire forever.
When he looked at Evelyn, he saw that she was watching him intently.
He knew why. Since his loss, Christmas time had always been hard for him, but Evelyn had always tried her hardest to keep the holiday spirit alive regardless.
She’d secretly decorated his house, even though he never wanted her to.
She had somehow managed to keep this nutcracker a secret, too. Until now.
“Look! Look!” Simon exclaimed exuberantly. “Caleb gave it to me! It can even move its arms!”
Luke glanced at Caleb, who merely shrugged.
Remembering his little son’s face when John had played with it so many years ago stirred up darker emotions Luke didn’t want to feel right now. Looking at Simon’s excited expression, he couldn’t bring himself to ruin it for this little boy. So he put on a brave face.
“I see. I see. Do you like him?” he asked Simon, swallowing around the big lump in his throat as the little boy briefly looked down at the beat-up nutcracker.
“Of course, I do! It’s my new nutcracker!” he exclaimed, beaming up at him. “He is my new best friend. And Buster likes him, too!” With that, he ran off again with the trusty bloodhound following on his heels.
When Luke looked back at Evelyn, he noticed the worried look on her face. He gave her a little nod, which she reciprocated with the warmest smile. He suppressed his stammering heart, knowing that he needed to accept that things were changing, and the sooner he did that, the better.
The men sat down in front of the fireplace, and the women continued decorating the room. Luke caught Madelaine on several occasions as she was stealing glances at him. He smiled at her every single time, which elicited even more pink coloring in her cheeks. He couldn’t help himself; he liked it.
“I would like to make some ornaments tomorrow. We used to make little stars and braided wreaths out of salt dough, and Isabelle used to add some dried flowers into it, like lavender and roses, and sometimes we added cloves and cinnamon too, to make them look like gingerbread men. It made the house smell so wonderful,” Evelyn explained exuberantly.
“I would love to do that,” Madelaine replied excitedly. “Maybe you can teach me some of the things Isabelle used to do.”
Luke found it strange, hearing Madelaine say his late wife’s name, but it only made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
“There is a special service at church on Sunday where they’ll set up a nativity scene,” Madelaine continued.
“My parents used to take us every year. I would love to take the children. I don’t want them to miss it this year.
” Her shoulders sank. “There are so many things… I miss my parents so much.” Madelaine looked up at Evelyn, who took her hand and nodded with an empathetic expression.
“Would you take us?” Madelaine asked warily as she turned to Luke.
His eyebrows shot up. “To church?” he asked sheepishly.
“Yes! I want Belle and Simon to be part of the whole experience. I want them to have a healthy and strong relationship with God.”
Evelyn and Luke both inhaled sharply at the same time.
Luke wanted to do right by all of them. He wanted to do all he could to make Madelaine and the children happy. But church…? His mind was racing.
Would it hurt to take them there? No. He could simply leave and pick them up later, if they wanted to go so badly.
He tilted his head to one side, contemplating whether he should do it or not. Evelyn and Madelaine were so excited that they started jumping on the spot, holding hands, clearly excited. Luke thought that their celebration was a little premature, since he hadn’t said anything yet.
It was then that a folded piece of paper escaped from the folds of Madelaine’s skirt.
It sailed through the air and slid a couple of feet across the wooden floor, directly to where Luke was sitting.
As he bent down to pick it up, he heard both women gasp, and all the jumping stopped abruptly, but he didn’t think anything of it.
It was a neatly folded envelope, sealed with what looked like plain candle wax. Luke didn’t want to pry— it was just an automatic response when he turned it over to the front. He got up from his chair and took one step, then stopped.
Looking at the address on the envelope again, Luke had to blink twice before realization hit him.
The letter was addressed to Timothy Richards.