Page 50 of The Holiday Gift

It was so like him to want to fix everything. The thought would have made her smile if she weren’t so very worried. “I don’t think we can do anything yet. Just hope and pray she and the baby will both be okay.”

“Will she need extra help here at The Christmas Ranch? I can cover you at the Star N if you need to step in here until the New Year.”

Oh, the dear man. He was already doing extra work for their neighbor and now he wanted to add Faith’s workload to his pile, as well.

“I hope I don’t have to take you up on that but it’s too early to say right now.”

“Keep me posted.”

“I will. I... Thank you, Chase.”

“You’re welcome.”

She would have said more but other children started to arrive and the moment was gone.

Chapter 11

Chase ended up staying to watch the rehearsal, figuring he could help corral kids if need be.

He had plenty of other things he should be doing but nothing else seemed as important as being here if Faith or her family needed him.

A few minutes after the rehearsal started, Celeste showed up. She went immediately to the office, where Faith was staring into space. The two of them embraced, both wiping tears. Not long after, Mary showed up, too, and the three of them sat together, not saying much.

He wanted to go in there but didn’t quite feel it was his place so he stayed where he was and watched the children sing about Silver Bells and Holly Jolly Christmases and Silent Nights.

About an hour into rehearsal—when he felt more antsy than he ever remembered—Faith took a call on her cell phone. The anxiety and fear on her features cut through him and he couldn’t resist rising to his feet and going to the doorway.

“Are they sure? Yes. Yes. I understand.” Her features softened and she gave a tremulous smile. “That’s the best news, Rafe. The absolute best. Thank you for calling. I’ll tell them. Yes. Give her all our love and tell her to take care of herself and not to worry about a thing. That’s an order. Same goes for you. We love you, too, you know.”

She hung up, her smile incandescent, then she gave a little cry that ended on a sob. “Dr. Dalton says for now everything seems okay with the baby. The heartbeat is strong and all indications are good for a healthy pregnancy.”

“Oh, thank the Lord,” Mary exclaimed.

She nodded and they all spent a silent moment doing just that.

“Jake wants to put her on strict bed rest for the next few weeks to be safe,” Faith said after a moment. “That means the rest of us will have to step up here.”

“I’m available for whatever you need,” Chase offered once more.

She gave him a distracted smile. “I know but, again, you have plenty to do at your own place. We can handle it.”

“I want to help.” He tried to tamp down his annoyance that she was immediately pushing aside his help.

“We actually could use him tomorrow,” Celeste said thoughtfully.

Faith didn’t look convinced. “We’ll just have to cancel that part of the party, under the circumstances. The kids will have to understand.”

“They’re kids,” her sister pointed out. “They won’t understand anything but disappointment.”

“I’ll just do it, then,” Faith said.

“How, when you’re supposed to be helping me with everything else?”

He looked from one to the other without the first idea what they were talking about. “What do you need me to do?”

“I’ve been running a holiday reading contest at the library for the last two months and the children who have read enough pages earned a special party tomorrow at the ranch,” Celeste said. “Sparkle is supposed to make an appearance and we also promised the children wagon rides around the ranch. Our regular driver will be busy taking the regular customers to see the lights so Rafe has been practicing with our backup team so he could help out at the party. Obviously, he needs to be with Hope now. Flynn is coming back tomorrow but he won’t be here in time to help, even if he learns overnight how to drive a team of draft horses.”

Why hadn’t they just asked him in the first place? Was it because things with him and Faith had become so damn complicated?

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