Jingle Bell Blessings (6 page)

One of his favorites.
He'd told her so when he had insisted she use it that day.

Chloe met Evan's startled gaze. His eyes narrowed.

That wasn't a good sign.

When Evan spoke, she nearly dropped the pole again. “Better keep a good grip on what you don't want to lose.”

She swallowed. “Right.”

“Let's check your bait,” Evan said, turning to Jimmy.

While he helped the boy put fresh bait on the hook, Chloe suddenly felt a million miles from home. Was she crazy for accepting this assignment? The holidays were around the corner. Even though Mom had insisted she would be surrounded by friends at the care facility, Chloe hated the thought of not being there for her.

Jimmy plunked his freshly baited line back in the water just as Evan instructed. Only moments later his float bobbed, then disappeared beneath the water's surface.

“A fish!” Knowing not to, Chloe didn't raise her voice. But inside she was shouting. Jimmy needed a victory. Even one as minor as catching his first fish.

“You've got him,” Evan encouraged.

Jimmy's hands shook as he hung on to the pole.

Evan moved behind him, reaching forward to grasp Jimmy's hands, adding his strength.

The fish flopped as together, they reeled him in. Shades of silver glinted in the sunlight while Evan dipped the net beneath the struggling fish.

“Wow,” Jimmy breathed. “We really caught it.”

“You did,” Evan amended. “I just helped. Now we have to decide what to do with him. No one else has caught anything. And, big as he is, this guy isn't enough to feed everyone. So, do you want to keep him or let him go back in the water?”

Jimmy pinched his lips together in concentration. “He probably wants to go back.”

“Good decision.” Evan removed the unbarbed single hook from the fish's jaw and quickly tossed it back in the river. The frantic creature wiggled and dove before swimming away.

“They have to get back in to the water real fast to survive.”

“Will he be okay?” Jimmy asked, staring where the fish had disappeared.

“Looks like it. Good job.”

Chloe stared at Evan, wondering if the man had any idea of how good he was with Jimmy. He was a natural. And, if Evan wasn't so stubborn, he would at least
consider
accepting guardianship. Instead, he acted like an old man set in his ways. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Gordon had welcomed Jimmy with open arms. What could have slammed Evan's mind completely shut?

W
ith Thanksgiving only days away, Chloe was torn. Even though Jimmy had begun shadowing Evan whenever he was home, she still had no idea whether Evan would change his mind.

Sitting in the den with her cup of hot tea, she watched Jimmy through the large window. He was running and playing with Bailey, the dog eager to fetch and retrieve endlessly. If Evan had been home, both boy and dog would be tagging behind him. And Evan would still be telling her that Jimmy's attention wasn't going to change his mind. Overcome with indecision, she sighed.

“That's a mighty big sigh for a little lady,” Gordon commented as he entered the room.

She turned. “Sorry. Just thinking.”

“No need to apologize for your thoughts. Sounds like you have plenty on your mind.”

Chloe met his kind eyes. “I'm trying to decide whether I should take Jimmy back to Milwaukee before he gets too attached.”

Gordon took his time to settle into a deep leather chair. The aged cowhide was as supple as a lambskin glove. “You know, I've lived in this house, in this town, all my life. I met
my wife here. Raised my son. Buried my parents, my brother.” He paused. “More people than I want to count. Retired from my business because it was time… because it was Evan's turn. He's done well by the quarry. I wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes with the economy these past years.” Gordon glanced down, quiet for a few moments. “He doesn't ask, my son. He tells. But I ask because I've learned sometimes it's the best thing a person can do. I asked the Lord to give Evan some peace… happiness. And He sent you. You and Jimmy.”

Chloe didn't speak, overcome by the emotion in Gordon's words, wondering what he meant. Evan's happiness? His peace?

“You don't seem like a quitter, Chloe.”

She struggled for an answer. “It's difficult.”

“If Thanksgiving wasn't this week, would you still feel like you need to go home?”

Chloe's mind had been filled with family, the fact that this would be the first Thanksgiving she'd left her mother on her own. “You get right to the heart of things, don't you?”

“It's hard to be away from family this time of year. But, this one time, don't you think it's worth it?”

Chloe stared down at her hands for a few moments, thinking about both Jimmy and Evan. “Can you tell me if there's something…bothering Evan? Something that's keeping him from accepting Jimmy?”

“He'll have to tell you that in his own time. But I can tell you that Evan needs Jimmy as much as the boy needs him.”

So the bleak pain she'd seen on Evan's face was genuine. But did that make him more or less likely to change his mind?

Gordon shifted, reaching for his pipe, going through the quiet ritual of filling it with his favorite cherry tobacco, then tamping it down. “Do you believe in prayer, Chloe?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. “Before my mother got sick, church was a big part of my life. Since then…well, it's been difficult. But my faith's still strong, if that's what you're asking.”

“Evan's isn't anymore. His faith has been shaken to the core. But, if he can reconnect to the Lord, I believe he'll look at Jimmy's guardianship in a whole different light.”

Chloe felt the enormity of what Gordon was saying. Absently, she rubbed her forehead, remembering all the prayers she had uttered when her father was ill. When he died, she had been utterly bereft and confused. But Mom had made her understand that the Lord listened to our prayers and understood our hearts. That the illness hadn't been a punishment or a betrayal. Rather, they needed to cling even more tightly to their faith, to believe they would be reunited one day. Slowly, she raised her face. “What makes you think I can help?”

“Faith,” Gordon replied simply.

It had buoyed Chloe at her lowest moments, when life had been so overwhelming she had been close to despair. She couldn't imagine living without it…or the pain Evan must feel without this most important anchor. Still… “I've been thinking about myself as well as Jimmy. About being away from my mother. But, even if I take that out of the equation…well, what if Evan never accepts Jimmy?” She gestured out the window to where Jimmy and Bailey continued playing.

“You've seen Jimmy follow Evan around like a puppy. He'll be crushed.”

“And if you take him back to the city?”

Chloe paused. Even though she had become too attached to Jimmy herself, her situation made it impossible for her to raise him. “I don't know.”

“Do you think Evan would be good for Jimmy?”

Strangely, she didn't feel a moment's hesitation. Evan
grumbled and continued to be formidable. But his dedication to his employees and family told her he was a good man. Chloe glanced again out the window. Bailey was utterly devoted to him. In her experience, children and pets seemed able to sense a person's character. “I don't think that's the issue,” she answered honestly. “He has to
want
Jimmy.”

“Which will take time. Repairing his faith won't happen in a few days.”

Gordon was right. Fleetingly, she thought of her mother, how she had insisted that Chloe needed a life of her own. That was why her mom had urged her to help Jimmy. She was afraid Chloe was sacrificing her youth, her happiness. Her mom had also prayed about the issue and felt certain Chloe was meant to do this. She would be disappointed if Chloe returned prematurely. In fact, she had repeated that in their last phone conversation the day before.

“Chloe, I know what I'm asking isn't easy. You're miles from home at the most special time of the year. And, Evan isn't making our task any more pleasant.”

She smiled faintly.

“Only the Lord knows our hearts.”

“That's what my mother always says.”

“Smart woman,” Gordon declared. “Will you think it over?”

She could say no. Justify it even. But Chloe felt the Lord's urging. “Yes.”

“Then we can get ready for Thanksgiving,” Gordon declared.

Confused, she looked at him in question.

“Oh, we would have had the dinner. But now we have more reasons for giving thanks than I can count.”

 

Evan helped Ned carry in the extra chairs. They had already extended the banquet-sized table as far as it would go. They
would have their usual number of guests this year. Several people from the retirement home, plenty of others who were simply on their own. Employees, longtime friends, the table always overflowed with guests. This year, as many before it, they put up a second table to accommodate everyone.

The first Thanksgiving after his wife and son died, Evan hadn't wanted the dinner tradition to continue. But Gordon had prevailed on him to think of the people who were on their own who didn't have his choices.

Irrationally, Evan wished he could keep Robin's and Sean's chairs empty, knowing no one else should fill them. But his father's gentle guidance helped him accept the inevitable. Two retired employees, both widowers, now occupied those seats. It would have been difficult to see anyone in places once occupied by Robin and Sean, but these old, and now alone, friends helped ease the transition. Since his life now revolved around business rather than family, Evan was able to welcome everyone to Thanksgiving that year and the next. Evan frowned.
Almost everyone.
Chloe and Jimmy didn't belong among old and trusted friends. He still had to learn the woman's true motive for sticking like a thorn. Jimmy…The boy needed family, but Evan wasn't that family.

How many more years could he offer a full Thanksgiving table to his employees?
If the business failed, he would no longer have the resources. And all of his people would be without jobs, possibly losing their homes. The weight settled in to a knot in his shoulders. He had to keep them solvent, keep them from losing everything.

Thelma pushed open the door to the kitchen. “You two hustle! I still have to set the table.”

Evan had grown up with Thelma bossing him and didn't mind her orders. “Sure you don't want us to set it for you?”

Thelma plopped work-worn hands on her hips. “That's the first helpful thing you've said today.”

Ned rolled his eyes, then followed his wife into the kitchen.

Evan angled the last chair into position.

“Wow. I didn't know there would be so many people,” Chloe murmured from behind him.

He should have made his escape with Ned. “It's a tradition.”

“Nice one. My family's small so we didn't have big celebrations.”

“No extended family?”

“Not close by. My parents moved to Milwaukee before I was born. Their families stayed in rural Wisconsin.”

“For a job?”

She nodded. “My dad's parents owned an apple orchard, but Dad was an engineer. So he had to go where the jobs were.”

“Wisconsin makes me think of cheese, not fruit.”

“We have a little of that, too,” she replied drily. He silently acknowledged her subtle rebuke. “So what's rural Wisconsin like?”

“A lot like here, actually. Gentle, rolling hills, fruit orchards. More lakes than you can count.” Reminiscing, she walked closer. “I spent my summers in the country with my grandparents. The city's great, but the country's…special.”

When Chloe spoke, her eyes brightened, taking on the hue of green sapphires. It was the clear, clean green of fresh apples. Ironic, he mused, since she'd just spoken of the orchards. He remembered that her eyes could also ripen from jade to emerald. His gaze drifted to her mouth. Caught in her memories, Chloe's lips were almost like a kewpie doll's. The same lips that widened easily into a big smile. Catching himself, Evan stopped ruminating.

“Can I help?”

He frowned. “What?”

“With the table. I heard Thelma when I was coming in.”

“Shouldn't you be watching Jimmy?”

“Your father is.”

Evan searched for another excuse. Next to him, Bailey thumped his tail helpfully. “The plates are in the sideboard.”

“Now I know why Thelma's been bustling around all week,” Chloe mused. “All the baking, chopping…” Her voice turned nostalgic. “A real family gathering.”

“Yeah. Well.” Uncomfortable, Evan opened the silver chest, digging through pieces that had been in the Mitchell family for generations. Thelma wouldn't appreciate his actions. She had just polished all the flatware. Retrieving forks, spoons and butter knives, he piled them on the table.

Thelma pushed open the swinging door from the kitchen, assessing his actions. “You have to put the tablecloth on first.”

Chloe smiled, then turned back to the sideboard.

Not that he cared about her opinion. Yet Evan snuck a quick look to see if she was still amused. She had one of those faces that looked perpetually happy. Oh, he'd seen a few angry expressions, but on the whole…

Chloe placed a stack of plates on the sideboard and turned to him. “Where do we find the tablecloth?”

“It's probably in the side kitchen.”

She looked at him blankly.

“It's what city people call a butler's pantry where all the kitchen stuff is stored. It's next to the washroom. Thelma always washes and irons the tablecloth so it'll be fresh for the dinner, then lays it out in the side kitchen.”

“Oh. I'll get it then.” Chloe disappeared into the kitchen.

A few minutes later she reemerged, her petite figure nearly hidden by the huge tablecloth.

“You could have asked for help,” he told her, lifting the
linen cloth out of her arms. For a moment, he was face to face with her. Close enough to see the light sprinkle of freckles over her nose, the creamy smoothness of her skin.

Her gem-like eyes darkened to a near emerald shade. And he noticed the thready pulse at the base of her throat. Nerves? Or something else?

Long, dark lashes framed her eyes. Details he hadn't noticed? Or had ignored?

Abruptly, Evan stepped back. He had no need for these thoughts. Nor did he want them. His attraction to women had died with Robin. She had been the only woman for him and he had vowed to love her forever.

Echoing his movement, Chloe retreated as well, turning to the sideboard. “I don't know how many more plates to take down.”

He cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded rusty. “Thelma has the exact count.”

“I'll ask her then.” In a rush, Chloe practically ran from the room.

Evan exhaled. His face felt warm, flushed. And he didn't intend to let it happen again.

 

By two o'clock the house was full of people. Chloe hadn't known exactly what to expect, but she was surprised by the variety of guests. Several elderly people, eager for the company, chatted nonstop.

Thelma's appetizers were a huge hit. Crab puffs, stuffed mushrooms, bacon-speared water chestnuts, red pepper cheese straws, tiny German onion tarts, spinach squares, mini pastries stuffed with locally made sausage. The enticing trays contained more food than Chloe could remember at any of her family holidays.

She recognized the man she had met at the Mitchell Company offices. “Mr. Perkin?”

“Miss Reed?”

“Chloe.” She extended her hand. “It's nice to see a familiar face.”

“Crowd gets a little bigger every year.”

“Do many people from the company come for Thanksgiving?”

“The Mitchells collect strays. People who are alone, or don't have the means to buy a decent holiday dinner. And then just old friends.”

“It's nice.”

“Gordon started the tradition. Evan expanded it.”

She was surprised. “Evan?”

Perkin nodded. “Where's the little boy?”

“With the older Mr. Mitchell. He's really taken a shine to Jimmy.”

The man seemed to be appraising her. Chloe felt like she had on job interviews and had to fight the immediate desire to try and look more professional.