Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
" I 'm so glad the storm they forecast turned out to be nothing," Marjorie McBride said as she and Kate walked down the main street, banners bookmarking either end, announcing the huge Mistletoe Meadows All Day Christmas Festival.
"Same. I would have felt so bad for everyone who put all of the work into it, only to have people not show up because of snow. Would we have rescheduled?"
Marjorie sighed as they continued to walk slowly. Kate was careful not to go too fast. Marjorie was back on her feet, and said there was nothing wrong, but she still seemed very tired.
"We've never had it happen before. But I guess we would—for next Saturday. Although I don't think rescheduled things ever do as well as they do if they happen on the date they originally intended them to."
"I agree. Anyway, I guess we don't have to worry about that this year. It's a beautiful day."
"And it's warm too," Marjorie said with a smile.
Kate nodded, and they chatted some about the different things that were happening and the things that they were overseeing.
Both of them had agreed that they were not going to be in charge of anything themselves, but delegated everything they could, just in case something came up and someone wasn't able to do what they had volunteered for.
As far as Kate knew, everyone was manning their booths and doing their jobs.
"How is Terry doing?" Kate asked as they finished their walk down the street, noting that everything was going well.
Kate's eyes caught on Ben, the sheriff, as he talked with his preteen son. Rumor had it that Ben had moved back in with his mother because of a nasty divorce and the fact that his son had started acting out. Whatever the reason, he’d been a true blessing to Mistletoe Meadows since his return.
Kate felt bad for the boy and for Ben. She had seen Trent at school, and he seemed angry and belligerent. She didn't know if there was anything she could do for him or not, but she was going to be trying.
"She's doing okay. It's so hard to juggle everything that she's doing—a new baby, another one on the way, and a practice that's bursting at the seams. Hopefully the doctor that she has been speaking with who is going to come as a partner in her practice will be showing up soon.
It certainly couldn't happen soon enough for her. "
"They do seem to have a lot going on."
"But I don't think they could be happier. They just love their lives, and I'm so happy for them."
Indeed, Marjorie glowed when she talked about her children and the good choices that they had made. She knew that seeing one's children grow up and live for the Lord made a parent's heart happy.
Marjorie sighed. "I wish Isadora could get things straightened out. It just seems like she lost her zest for life when her marriage crumbled. It's been several years, and she's just not been able to get it back together."
"I don't blame her. You think that you've got your life all planned out and that things are going to go well, and then the person that you trusted betrays you in a way that it's so hard to get over."
"Sounds like you're talking from experience, but it seems like you and Jack are doing pretty well together."
"This time last year I was engaged to be married, and my fiancé broke up with me on Christmas morning.
But you're right about Jack. I didn't think I'd ever forget about my fiancé or get over his betrayal, but Jack just erased all of that from my mind, and the future looks happy and exciting once more. "
"I'm praying that happens for Isadora. She needs it."
"I'll pray for her too. I wish everyone could be as happy as I am right now."
"I just saw Ben go into the candy shop, but maybe you can go ahead on over and spend the rest of the day with Jack. Seems like he's doing a pretty good business and could use a hand. Everything else seems to be under control."
"Well, thank you, I think I will. It looked like Olivia and Noah are doing just as well as Jack, and I'm happy for them."
There were other stores up and down the street as well, although the new restaurant hadn't been able to open in time.
There was some red tape that they just couldn't quite get through.
Kate wasn't sure whether the restaurant would be open by Christmas or not.
Seemed like that would be the date to aim for in a town like Mistletoe Meadows.
"We can check in together in a bit," Kate said.
"I'll text you if I need anything." Marjorie gave her a shooing motion with her hand, and Kate waved and grinned.
Marjorie was the best. She enjoyed helping with the festival, but her heart was most definitely with Jack and Lilly. And indeed, they did need help as she stepped into the store.
It was so packed, Ben hadn't even made it over to talk to Jack.
"It's good to see you out today, Ben. I hope you do nothing but enjoy yourself and have no official business to take care of."
It would be sad to have some kind of business the sheriff needed to take care of during their festival.
"I just hope my presence is deterrent enough. But it's my job, so I'm going to do what I can to make sure things go smoothly."
"It's good to see you. Reassuring."
"Tell Jack I said hi. Looks to me like he's too busy to chat, which I'm happy about, for sure."
"If you want something, I'm sure he'll make time for you."
"I was going to buy a few things—I've got some Christmas shopping to take care of—but I'll come back later." He glanced around the store. "Although you guys might be sold out by the looks of things."
"Yeah. It's been so much better than I hoped it was going to be."
"You and Marjorie deserve a lot of the credit. You spent a lot of hours planning, and then the execution took even more time."
"The McBride family helps a lot, and so did Jack, and I saw you out hanging banners last weekend, so I think the whole town deserves the credit."
"Nothing like a small town to pull together."
There was wisdom in Ben's eyes that seemed like it might have been hard-earned, and Kate thought again about Marjorie saying he'd come back after a nasty divorce, bringing his son with him.
Kate had heard about a few things the secret saint had done, not just for Ben but other needy families around town, and she thought again about how much she loved being in a small town where people cared about each other and did everything they could to help.
So much different than where she had been before.
She missed it in a way, but in another way, she saw the breakup with her fiancé and the need to move out of Baltimore as things that had propelled her into the best time of her life. At the time, she wouldn't have thought they ever could have been worked out for good, but they absolutely had.
She thought again about being content with where God placed her and choosing to be happy and look at the positive.
Right there was proof that things could work out if she didn't dwell on how terrible everything was.
She could have holed up in her apartment, clung to a terrible job, and insisted that God needed to change things so they went her way.
And then she'd still be miserable and unhappy.
Instead, she'd almost by accident chosen the best way—to move on and to look for something better. And she'd found it.
Jack smiled as he saw her, and she walked over beside him, helping to pack up the candy canes that the customer in front of him had just bought.
They spent hours that day side by side, working together, with Lilly giving out free samples that they had made and packaged just for that very reason.
Lilly glowed and spoke with customers with an ease that hid the fact that she hadn't spoken at all for three years.
By the time the day was over, they were all exhausted, but very, very happy.
There were still several hours left, but the big crowds had gone, when Jack found a few minutes to take her aside.
"I was able to speak with my brother yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to tell you about it."
"What did he say?" Kate asked eagerly. On one hand, she wasn't sure that Jack really wanted to give up his farming dream, but on the other, she was really hoping that his brother would be able to buy him out, and Jack would be able to move forward with the plans and dreams he had for the candy shop.
He really seemed to be getting invested in them, and maybe he'd needed to get over his resentment of his late wife before he could invest himself in the future of the candy shop and let the farm go.
"He said that he would talk to his bank, but he thought it would be a go. It would just take him a little while to come up with a down payment. He said he had some cattle that he could sell, and that should give him enough so the bank would loan him the rest. He said three or four months, tops."
"So he's interested in buying the whole farm, and he just needs a little bit of time to come up with the money. Jack, that's great!"
"I thought so too. I... I know this is kind of crazy, but I wanted to know if you would be interested in marrying me once all of that goes through?"
"Is this a proposal?" she asked, a little uncertain.
"I guess so. A spur-of-the-moment proposal where I don't even have a ring. But I was just so excited that it was all falling into place that it felt like the perfect time to say something. We both agreed we didn't want to mess around."
"Yeah." Kate felt excitement and fear and anticipation swirl inside of her, but one thing that she didn't have was uncertainty. "Yes. If this is a proposal, I'm saying yes. If this is a precursor, I will say yes when the time comes."
"All right. I don't know what it was, but yes was all I wanted to hear."
Jack grinned as he stroked her cheek with his fingertips and then lightly touched his lips to hers. "I wanted to do that all day."
"I've waited for you to do that all day," Kate murmured.
He took that opportunity then to kiss her properly, before the bell above the door rang, and they broke apart, reluctantly, knowing there were still customers to be served.
"I said the day we had our date that I didn't know if I could be happier, but I'm definitely happier now," Jack whispered to her.
"It does feel like a beautiful new beginning, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. I know there are going to be hard times, but I wish I could bottle this feeling up and pull it out when we need it, because it's the best feeling in the world."
"I love you, Jack," Kate said.
"I love you too. Merry Christmas."
Thanks so much for reading! If you’re not ready to leave Mistletoe Meadows just yet, you can click HERE to see the next sweet, small town Christmas romance featuring your favorite town and characters you’ve come to love in Mistletoe Dreams .