Page 41 of The Holiday Gift

Flynn had spent six months renovating and adding on to his late grandmother’s old house down the road, a project which had been done just days before their wedding in August.

Chase remembered that lovely ceremony on the banks of the Cold Creek, when the two of them—so very perfect for each other—had both glowed with happiness.

Watching them together had only reinforced his determination to forge his own happy ending with Faith, no matter what it took. He had spent the past few months touching her more in their regular interactions, teasing her, trying anything he could think of to convince her to think of him as more than just her friend and confidant.

Right now he felt further from that goal than ever.

Sometimes their Sunday evening dinners would stretch long into the night when they would watch a movie or play games at the kitchen table, but with the storm, everyone seemed in a hurry to leave. They stayed only long enough to clean up the kitchen and then only he, Mary, Faith and her children were left.

“How’s the homework situation?” Faith asked from her spot at the kitchen sink drying dishes, a general question aimed at both of her children.

“I had a math work sheet but I finished it on the bus on the way home from school Friday,” Louisa said. Chase wasn’t really surprised. She was a conscientious student who rarely left schoolwork until Sunday evening.

“How about you, Barrett?”

“I’m almost done. I just had a few problems in math and they’rehard. I can ask my teacher tomorrow. We might not even have school anyway so maybe I won’t have to turn them in until Tuesday.”

“Let’s take a look at them,” Chase said.

Barrett groaned a little but went to his room for his backpack.

“You don’t have to do that,” Faith said.

“I don’t mind,” he assured her.

They sat together at the desk in the great room while the Christmas lights glowed on the tree and a fire flickered in the fireplace. It wasn’t a bad way to spend a Sunday night.

After only three or four problems, a lightbulb seemed to switch on in the boy’s head—as it usually did.

“Oh! I get it now. That’s easy.”

“I told you it was.”

“It wasn’t easy the way my teacher explained it. Why can’t you be my teacher?”

He tried not to shudder at the suggestion. “I’m afraid I’ve already got a job.”

“And you’re good at it,” Mary offered from the chair where she sat knitting.

“Thanks, Mary. I do my best,” he answered humbly. He loved being a rancher and wanted to think he was a responsible one.

Now that the boy seemed to be in the groove with his homework, Chase lifted his head from the book and suddenly spotted Faith in the mudroom, putting on her winter gear. He had been so busy helping Barrett, he hadn’t noticed.

“Where are you off to? Not out into that wind, I hope.”

“I just need to make sure the tarp over the outside haystack is secure. Oh, and check on Rosie,” she said, referring to one of her border collies. “She was acting strangely this morning, which makes me think she might be close to having her puppies. I’ve been trying to keep her in the barn but she wanders off. Before the storm front moves in, I want to be sure she’s warm and safe.”

Chase scraped his chair back. “I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t need to. You just spent a half hour working on Barrett’s homework. I’m sure you’ve got things to worry about at your place.”

He couldn’t think of anything. He generally tried to keep things in good order, addressing problems when they came up. He always figured he couldn’t go wrong following his father’s favorite adage: an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure. Better to stop trouble before it could start.

“I’ll help,” he said. “I’ll check the hay cover while you focus on Rosie.”

Her mouth tightened for an instant but she finally nodded and waited while he threw his coat on, then together they walked out into the storm.

Darkness came early this time of year near the winter solstice but a few high-wattage electric lights on poles lit their way. The wind howled viciously already and puffed out random snowflakes at them, hard as sharp pebbles.

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