Chapter 11
The following day, Dave parked his truck beside Beth’s at the end of a long gravel driveway. He cut the engine and looked at the Christmas trees growing all around them.
Back in December, the rows had been full of the sound of chainsaws and kids arguing over which tree was the right one. Now, it was quiet in a way that seemed completely out of place.
He climbed out of his truck and joined Beth beside hers. “Ben said to go around the back of the Christmas shop. He’ll meet us there.”
Beth pulled a woolly hat over her head. “Sounds great.”
They walked past the front of the big red barn that had been turned into the Christmas shop.
Even though it was closed for the next couple of months, a wreath still hung on each of the doors.
Dave felt a small twist of satisfaction when he saw them.
He’d helped frame the partition walls inside the store and painted them red and green to match the Christmas theme Kylie had designed.
Ben and Kylie were waiting by the fence when they found them, two four-wheelers parked nose to nose behind them.
“Morning.” Ben held out his hand to Dave and Beth. “Kylie told me you’d like some of the timber out of the old barn.”
“Only if it works with the framing already in the arts center,” Dave said. “We appreciate being able to take a look.”
Ben smiled. “It’s the least we can do after what you did to get the Christmas shop open.
” He pointed to the four-wheelers. “Kylie’s idea,” he said, swinging a leg over the first one.
“She says my knees don’t need to walk around the farm anymore.
” He tossed a spare helmet toward Dave. “You can take the other one. Beth can ride behind you. It’s faster than hiking in this snow. ”
Dave caught the helmet and glanced at Beth, who’d taken another helmet from Kylie. “Are you okay coming with me?”
Her grin told him he didn’t have to ask. “I promise to hang on tight.”
Beth waited until Dave was on the bike before climbing on behind him. She placed her hands around his waist as though she’d done it a hundred times before.
Dave started the engine, and if his pulse picked up faster than the four-wheeler did, he told himself it was only the cold.
The old barn sat well back from the shop, close enough to the tree line that snow had drifted up against one side of it. It leaned, just slightly, the way someone leans on a cane.
The soft spot in the roof where it had come down was easy enough to find.
So was the reason for it. A section of ridge beam had given way under the weight of the snow, and half the rafters around it had come down, too.
They were stacked in the snow just inside the doors like they’d been waiting for someone to want them.
“Watch your step,” Ben said. “I haven’t touched any of it since it fell.”
Dave crouched beside the pile and started working through it, timber by timber, the same way he’d worked through the rotted studs back in town.
From what he could see, it was as close to a perfect match as they’d get.
The wood in the center of the pile was dry enough, even after sitting under a hole in the roof.
“This is more than I’d hoped for,” Dave said, straightening. “Those two rafters alone could replace the header we lost. There’s enough good lumber here for most of what we need.”
“It’s that easy?” Beth asked.
“That easy.” With Ben’s help, Dave turned one of the beams over, checking the underside.
“The snow did the hard part for us. I’ll still bring the engineer out to sign off on it, but I’d bet money this solves it.
” Dave looked at Ben and Kylie. “Is it okay if I come back with Jamie Williams? He’s working at Finley Point for most of the morning, but he might be able make a detour here this afternoon. ”
“Kylie will be here,” Ben assured them. “I’ll be planting trees, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
Kylie grinned at Beth. “Owen delivered his handblown glass ornaments yesterday. Do you want to see them before you go home?”
“I’d love to.” Beth glanced at Dave. “Do you want to come with us, or do you have something else you need to get back to?”
“Another half hour won’t make any difference,” Dave told her.
When they arrived at the Christmas Shop, Kylie opened the doors and flipped on the lights.
“I was working in here earlier, so it’s nice and warm,” she told them.
“We’re restocking the shelves as quickly as we can.
Our online orders are still going strong, and by March, we’ll have the store open again. ”
Dave took in the thick, pine garlands strung with fairy lights from the rafters, the vintage paintings filling the room with nostalgia, and the shelves of locally made ornaments. It was just as remarkable as the day Ben had come home and seen what Kylie and half the community had done.
Beth ran her hand over a quilt. “This is gorgeous.”
“It’s one of Shona’s,” Kylie told her. “I’m lucky to have any left. We usually have a list of people wanting them. Owen’s ornaments are over here.” Kylie walked across to a table where a set of glass ornaments sat nestled in tissue paper, each one swirled through with color, no two exactly alike.
Kylie held one up to the light. “Aren’t they lovely? I photographed them for our website after Owen left. I’ve got a feeling they’ll be sold before we re-open.”
Beth turned one over in her hands, careful with it the way she was careful with most things. “They’re beautiful.”
Kylie’s phone buzzed. She read the text with a small frown. “I’ll have to leave you. The propane company are early. If I don’t sign for the delivery, they’ll turn around and charge us for the trip anyway. Stay as long as you like, just close the doors after you.”
Beth returned the ornament to the table. “Thanks for letting us look around.”
Kylie grinned. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you next week at the Welcome Center, Beth. Bye, Dave.”
“Bye. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Kylie smiled and slipped out the door, the bell over it still swinging in her wake.
Then it was only the two of them left, the low hum of the heater, and a barn full of Christmas decorations.
Beth wandered along the shelves while Dave stood near the glass ornaments, not quite ready to leave them yet. Further down the table sat a wooden crate, half-open, spilling over with older ornaments that didn’t match the polished new stock.
There was a sticker on the outside of the crate with an auction house label and a lot number.
Dave slid the lid open a little wider and pulled out a small clay disc. It was cracked along one edge, with a child’s handprint pressed into the middle of it. Someone had written a date on the back in marker, faded now to almost nothing.
Beth stood beside him. “What have you found?”
“Something a child made. My son, Mark made one like this.” He held up the decoration so Beth could see it. “I still have it somewhere, packed away.” He turned the disc over once more before setting it back in the crate.
Beth smiled softly. “Kayla made one too. I kept it on the mantel for years, until it started to crumble. I couldn’t throw it away, so I wrapped it in a piece of fabric and put it in a drawer.
” She was quiet for a moment. “When she was little, we didn’t have a lot of money.
Jessie and I used to make a holiday out of whatever we had. Some years that wasn’t much.”
“I know how that feels,” Dave said. “I used to wonder how people with large families coped with the rising cost of everything.”
Beth looked at him, and something in her expression was more open than he’d seen it.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? How much happens in December.
It’s a magical time of the year, but it’s also when a lot of stress hits you straight in the heart.
When I remember Jessie, my mom and dad, and all my family and friends who have passed, I feel like curling in a ball and letting Christmas take care of itself. ”
Dave returned the ornament to the crate. “If it weren’t for Mark, I’d probably do the same thing. He’s the only family I have left. Some Christmases, it feels like the loneliest time of the year.”
Beth rested her hand near the rim of the crate, close enough that her fingers almost touched Dave’s. Neither of them moved away. “I’m glad you’ve got your son,” she said.
He took a deep breath and looked at their hands. “There were times after Carol died when I thought Mark had given up on me. We’d both retreated into grief. The anchor that held our family together was gone, and neither of us knew how to keep going.”
Beth moved her hand until it covered his. “How are things now?”
Dave let go of the crate and held Beth’s hand in his. It was connection, kindness, and understanding. All the things that were missing in his life. “Mark and I are much better at telling each other how we feel now. We talk on the phone each week and get together when we can.”
Beth’s fingers tightened around his. “Kayla and I are the same. I don’t know if that will change after she’s married and working sixty-hour weeks, but I hope not.
” Beth gave Dave’s fingers a gentle squeeze, then let go.
“As much as I’d love to stay here for a while longer, I should get going.
I promised Natalie I’d see her before she finishes for the day. ”
Dave straightened the lid of the box. “And I’ve got to call Jamie before he leaves Finley Point. I’ll let you know what Jamie says about the wood.”
“That would be wonderful,” Beth said.
They walked to their trucks, boots crunching through snow that had started falling again while they were inside.
Beth took her keys out of her pocket. “Thanks for today. I enjoyed spending time with you away from the center.”
“I should be thanking you,” Dave said. “Without your suggestion and Ben and Kylie’s generosity, we’d still be hunting for lumber we could use.”
Beth smiled. “It’s nice to be useful. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Dave nodded and watched her leave. He told himself the good feeling in his chest was about solving a problem at the center. Nothing more than that.
He didn’t quite believe it, but for now, it was easier to let himself think it was true.