Page 1 of Sugarplum Dreams
Chapter One
“It’s been nice doing the Secret Saint with you,” Wilson said as he and Judd Landis finished packing the last Christmas tree onto the trailer where they were taking them to an assisted living facility where children were going to help decorate them on Christmas Eve.
“Same,” Judd said as he tightened the strap holding the trees down on the small trailer. Then he straightened. “But I get it. You can’t help Charity Ames as well as the Secret Saint as you can as her husband.” He paused for a moment then tilted his head. The fading light bathed his face in shadows, and Wilson couldn’t see the expression on it. “Did you even ask her if she would marry you?”
Wilson huffed out a laugh. “You know, I’ve never asked anyone to marry me before. And I can see how guys would get nervous asking someone they’ve dated for years. But I think that they would have a pretty good idea that she would say yes. For me, I have no idea what Charity is going to say. I’ve been…dragging my feet about it.”
“So that that means…no?” Judd said, and Wilson didn’t have any trouble seeing the gleam of his teeth despite descending darkness.
Wilson nodded. “Yeah. That means no.” His grin was self-deprecating, although he doubted Judd could see his face any better than he could see his. Which was probably just as well. Judd couldn’t see his hands shaking either.
He was trying to do a good deed, that was the thought behind asking Charity to marry him, but that didn’t make him any less nervous.
“So if she says no… I’m not losing my partner?”
“No. Although, it might take a little bit before I’m able to talk about it.”
“That’s okay. We’re pretty much done for this year. I suppose I’ll have figured out by next year if you and Charity don’t get married.”
“That would be a pretty big hint.” He never even thought about a marriage of convenience until he started this Secret Saint thing, where he and Judd had been helping the more unfortunate members of their little town of Mistletoe Meadows, set high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia. But Charity’s husband had run off with his girlfriend, leaving her to take care of their five children and a boatload of debt. Charity was drowning, and even though the town had rallied to help her, she was afraid that she was going to be losing her children, if anyone figured out that she wasn’t able to take care of them. She confided as much to Wilson, and he wished at the time that there was more he could do.
Marrying her was more than most people would do, but… It seemed like the perfect solution. At least from his end. Maybe Charity wouldn’t think so.
He could see a lot of issues, could hear a lot of arguments in his head. Maybe that was why he hadn’t talked about it totoo many people. He didn’t have a choice about talking to Judd about it though, since he wouldn’t be doing the Secret Saint anymore, and Judd had a right to know.
“I actually have someone in mind to replace you, if this thing with Charity goes through.”
“I had a couple of names swirling around in my head too, but if you’ve got someone, then you don’t need my suggestions.” His brother Roland seemed like a good idea. He wasn’t married and had a heart of gold, although he seemed a little gruff on the edges. He definitely wouldn’t go around blabbing about it.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Judd said as he leaned against the side of the truck, looking up at the darkening sky as the stars started popping out.
“It’s probably better that I don’t have any clue who you decide to choose. It was fun being anonymous. But it did seem like the more people who found out, the more the town knew, the less we were able to do.”
“There is a certain freedom that is granted in anonymity,” Judd concurred, not the slightest bit offended that Wilson was going to keep his names to himself. As much as he’d love to see his brother get into it, if Judd was going to carry it on, he deserved to choose the person he felt was best for the role.
“I’m glad you’re going to continue though. I was kind of upset about the idea of there being no more Secret Saint. And I know the town will be disappointed.”
“I might have to quit eventually. I’m married, but we don’t have five children. Not yet.”
“So how’s married life treating you?” Wilson asked, knowing that Judd had just gotten married a couple of weeks ago to Wilson’s oldest sister, Terry.
Judd nodded, and a sappy grin that even the weak light couldn’t hide split his face. “It’s good.”
That was all he said, but his tone and his expression spoke far more. Judd was very happy.
“I’d suggest you wait until you find the right person, but I have a feeling that Terry is one of a kind, and no matter how long you wait or how hard you search, you’ll never find anyone as good as her.”
“I think that’s the way a man’s supposed to feel about his wife. I know that’s the way Terry feels about you.”
Judd grinned. But it was true. Even though Terry and Judd didn’t really know each other before Terry had moved back to Mistletoe Meadows to open up her medical practice, and they fell in love quickly, they were just as happy as Amy and Jones who had been friends forever and just realized that they were in love.
Wilson had been just a little bit jealous that Amy and Terry had gotten married on the same day, finding their perfect matches and beginning a life together full of love and joy and happiness.
At the wedding, Wilson had pretty much already decided that he was going to propose to Charity. He wasn’t under the impression that it was going to be a love match. Although he had debated about whether or not he should try to court Charity rather than just propose a marriage of convenience which did not sound the slightest bit romantic.
He figured that Charity wasn’t interested in a man’s attentions, not after what her husband had done to her, and he doubted she was very interested in romance either.
But he didn’t know very much about women, not any more than what he learned growing up with sisters and through the few failed relationships that he had in his late teens and early twenties.
