A Texas Legacy Christmas (21 page)

Silence greeted her, almost echoing in her ears. She had no choice but to wait in the house. Once inside, she slipped into a kitchen chair and prayed Zack would find the children soon. After several minutes, she decided to finish setting the table and complete breakfast. Trust God. He loved them more than she and Zack could ever comprehend. If she failed to believe God did not have them safe in the palm of His hand, then she had no faith at all.

About thirty minutes later, a knock at the front door seized her attention. She set the butter dish on the table and hurried to answer it. Startled, she faced Eli.

He stepped back. Obviously, he had not expected to see her, either. “Mornin’, Chloe. I mean, merry Christmas.” He didn’t smile.

Be civil. Remember how his father treated him. “Merry Christmas. If you’re looking for Zack, he’s not here.”

“Mrs. Whitworth wanted him and the twins to come as soon as you arrived. But I see you’re already here.”

Chloe sensed her face warming. How terrible it looked for her to be at Zack’s home before the sun had risen, as though she had . . . Her face grew hot.

“Mr. Barton gave me the day off, so I thought I’d surprise Zack and the twins by preparing Christmas breakfast.”

“That’s nice of you.” He shifted from one foot to the other.

Should she invite him into a house not her own?

“Where are the twins? I need to tell them somethin’.”

“Well, they aren’t here, either.” In the next breath, she explained the missing children.

“Do you think they run off?”

“I don’t know. Zack said nothing unpleasant happened last night. He’s very worried.”

“Sometimes people’s minds get confused.”

Chloe realized Eli spoke from his own pain. Although she’d forgiven him, for the first time, she felt pity toward him.

His hands hung awkwardly at his side. “I’m sorry for the way I acted—the things I said and done.”

“I forgave you some time back. I didn’t know our mothers died within a few weeks apart. We could have comforted each other.”

His gaze darted about. “Two kids hurtin’ over their ma’s deaths would have been better than what happened.”

“I do understand how you feel. I thought God was mad at me for many years. Instead of allowing the problems in my life to make me a better person and help others, I felt sorry for myself. It wasn’t until I met the twins that I realized I could help Zack with them because I’d been abandoned, too.”

“Sounds like you have religion like the rest of the family.”

“I’m a believer, if that’s what you mean.”

“It’s not for me.” He hesitated. “I reckon I know every spot to hide around here. I think I’ll go look for the twins.”

“I really appreciate that, Eli.” And she meant every word. “Zack started his search in the grove of pecan trees. I have no idea where he’d go from there.”

Zack didn’t know where else to look for his children. They must have run off, but where and why? How had he failed them? Being a father had proved harder than anything he’d ever attempted.

Have you asked Me how to be a good father?

Shaking, Zack understood the origin of that voice. I neglected to ask You for directions. Is it too late to ask for help?

He’d believed adopting Curly and Charlie was a plan ordained by God, but he had assumed he’d receive guidance and instructions instead of asking for them. How insolent. How wrong he’d been.

Lord, forgive me for my foolishness. I’m asking You to help me find my children and to be a good father. Please keep them safe. And while I’m at it, I’m going to need Your help in being a good husband.

Standing in the pecan grove with no sign of his redheaded twins in sight, he did spot a man walking his way. Closer scrutiny revealed Eli.

“I stopped at the house to give you a message from your parents, and Chloe told me the twins were gone, maybe run off.”

“That they are, and I don’t know where to look.”

“I can help. There are a few secret places that I found while I was hiding out.”

“Then let’s go. I’m real worried.”

Eli led the way east, away from Zack’s acreage toward a thick, treed area and the creek.

“I apologized to Chloe,” Eli said.

Zack had realized a long time ago that the bit of unfinished business between the two needed to take place. But he’d sensed urging the two to talk wasn’t the answer. “I’m real glad for both of you.”

Eli nodded. The boy, nearly a man, struggled with a wagonload of guilt and shame.

“God will guide you,” Zack said. “Sometimes we simply have to ask Him to lead the way.”

“Brother Travis says the same. He’s making me read the Bible.”

Zack remembered his own days of rebellion. “Do you have something else to say?”

“It’s hard to think of a heavenly Father who cares about me when my own father . . .”

“I think we can both say that your father was not a good example of your heavenly Father.”

Eli stopped and pointed to a hill. “At the foot of that hill and beyond the winding creek is an overhang of brush. I slept there a few nights.”

The two walked in silence. Zack’s heart ached to hold his children. Suddenly he saw a little red head. Thank You. Then he saw a second red head. Curly and Charlie stood at the edge of the creek.

“Curly. Charlie.” He garnered speed and ran toward the twins. He snatched up both of them, one in each arm and drew them close. For a moment, he thought he’d cry.

“How did you find us?” Curly said.

“Eli and God helped me.”

Eli bent down beside them. “I want to tell you again how sorry I am for what I did. I want you to forgive me.”

“Oh, we did that,” Charlie said. “Grandma helped us in Sunday school.”

Zack turned them both to face him. “Why did you leave?”

Charlie peered into his face. “So your heart wouldn’t get broken. You have too many people to love.”

“Yeah,” Curly said. “Grandma said Miss Chloe might break your heart, but you said you had us. We didn’t want your heart to break and have you die like our other papa and mama, so we thought we should run away.”

This time Zack blinked back the tears. He remembered bits and pieces of the conversation with Mama when he thought the twins were playing with kittens on the porch. He swallowed hard to keep back his emotions. “Grandma meant I’d be sad, not die.”

“We love Miss Chloe.” Charlie said. “It makes us sad when we can’t see her every day.”

“Our hearts are big enough to love all the people of the world. Promise me you’ll never run away again. I love you too much to ever have you gone from my life.”

“But what about Miss Chloe. Can’t you adopt her, too?” Curly said.

“Grown-ups don’t adopt each other.” Charlie shook her finger at her brother. “They should get married so Miss Chloe can be our mama.”

Zack wasn’t prepared to get into that discussion. “She’s at our house fixing breakfast and waiting for you. I know I saw pancakes and sausages.”

The twins’ eyes widened. “Will she stay with us forever?”

A plan began to form in his mind. “She might if you ask her. Right now, she’s very worried about you.”

“Is Eli gonna have breakfast with us, too?” Curly said.

“Would you like him to join us?” Zack said.

“No.” Eli’s curt reply startled the little boy. “I need to be getting back.” Without another word, Eli raced toward the house where he had left his horse.

Zack grabbed up his children’s hands. “Let’s hurry back for our Christmas breakfast.”

*****

Chloe’s body stiffened as she waited for signs of Zack and the twins. Perhaps Eli had been a messenger from God to help find Curly and Charlie. She hoped so. She prayed so. She’d prayed for help, and then Eli had announced he wanted to do that very thing.

She scanned the fields beyond the barn. Eli ran by and on to his horse. She waved, but he ignored her.

In the distance, she saw the outline of Zack and two little ones hurrying toward her.

She held her breath and waved. No longer able to contain her joy, she lifted her skirts and raced toward them. They were the ones she loved—Zack, Curly, and Charlie. The twins called out for her, broke free from Zack’s hands, and rushed into her arms. She nearly toppled over.

“Oh, you scared me so. Where have you been?” She glanced up at a smiling Zack.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said. “Right now the twins have something to ask you.”

“What’s that?” She kissed each twin’s cheek.

“We want you to live with us forever,” Curly said.

“And be our mama so Poppy won’t have a broken heart,” Charlie said.

Chloe sensed her heart flutter like a butterfly’s wings.

“Not a very romantic proposal, but I can do better later,” Zack said.

“Yes,” she cried. “It’s a perfect proposal.”

“Yea!” the twins shouted.

Charlie looked up at Zack. “God gave us a poppy for Thanksgiving and a mama for Christmas. Right, Curly?”

“Right. The best Christmas ever.”

“I have the best gift of all.” Zack bent and wrapped his arms around all of them.

“God gave me a family.”

*****

Zack grasped Chloe’s hand and brushed a kiss across her cheek. “When I think of how my uncles teased me about you on Thanksgiving, I can only imagine how bad the teasing will be today.”

She giggled as he lifted her down from the buggy. “You should have been in the house with your mother and aunts. Lydia Anne finally came to my rescue.”

“Poppy, we don’t understand what you’re talking about,” Curly said and jumped from the wagon.

Zack grabbed Charlie before she did the same. His precious daughter had her arms wrapped around the furry puppy and would not let go. The two had shared the puppy all the way here.

Oh, his ladies looked fine this morning in their Christmas dresses, and Curly was dashing. Chloe wore a lovely green dress that he’d never seen before, and his twins looked like they had just walked out of a department store in New York City. Curly’s green-and-blue-plaid shirt matched Charlie’s plaid dress.

“Poppy, tell us.” Charlie placed a kiss on Zack’s cheek before he set her gently onto the ground.

“Well, today your poppy and Miss Chloe will tell everyone that we are getting married. But you have to keep it a secret until we tell them at dinner.” He glanced at each child. When they nodded, he breathed a quick sigh. “And the same goes tonight when we go to Uncle George and Aunt Ellen’s house. Our families believed we would get married before we did.”

The confused look on the children’s faces caused him to laugh.

“Never mind. This is Christmas Day, our Lord’s birthday, and we will be among all those people we love.” Zack caught a smile from Chloe. “They will want to know when,” he said.

A pretty blush spread over her face. “New Year’s Day, and not one day later.”

Zack’s Ginger Crinkle Cookies

2/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

4 tablespoons molasses

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

¼ cup sugar for dipping

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter and sugar thoroughly. Add egg and beat well. Stir in molasses. Sift together dry ingredients and add to butter and sugar mixture. Form into balls and roll in sugar until well coated. Place on ungreased cookie sheet three inches apart. Bake for fifteen minutes. Cookies will flatten and crinkle. Makes five dozen cookies. Great coffee and milk dunkers!

Award-winning author DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn’s first book was published in 1998. She currently has more than fifty books published.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists and have won placements through the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Carol Awards and Inspirational Reader’s Choice awards. DiAnn won the Christy Award in 2010 and 2011.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also the Craftsman mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild.

She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

Website:
www.diannmills.com

A Texas Legacy Christmas

Copyright © 2007, 2012 by DiAnn Mills. All right reserved.

Previously published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., under ISBN 978-1-59789-822-5.

First electronic printing in 2012 by eChristian, Inc.

eChristian, Inc.

2235 Enterprise Street, Suite 140

Escondido, CA 92029

http://echristian.com

ISBN EPUB: 978-1-61843-139-4

ISBN MOBI: 978-1-61843-140-0

Published in association with the Books & Such Literary Agency, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370,
www.booksandsuch.com
.

Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.

For more information about DiAnn Mills, please access the author’s website at:
www.diannmills.com
.

Cover design by Steven Plummer and interior design by Larry Taylor.

Produced with the assistance of Livingstone, the Publishing Services Division of eChristian, Inc. Project staff includes: Dan Balow, Afton Rorvik, Linda Taylor, Tammy L. Hensel, Tom Vick, Ashley Taylor, Lois Jackson, Andy Culbertson, and Tom Shumaker.