Page 43 of The Sound of Sleighbells

Tough talk. Judd could only hope Skip had listened. It was the closest thing to fatherly advice he could give the boy. As his gaze took in Skip’s downcast expression, the surge of love he felt was so strong that it almost made him light-headed. This was his son. Blood of his blood. That was something even Ruth could never change.

“What is it with you and my mom, anyway?” Skip asked. “She doesn’t want to come here, not even to let me out or pick me up. She doesn’t want me to spend too much time with you. I understand that you two knew each other before you went to prison. But she won’t talk about that time or tell me why she feels the way she does.”

Judd stalled, taking time to wet down the stirrup leather with a sponge. “We did know each other,” he said. “We were friends. But I was a wild boy, and she was a nice girl. She should have done what her parents wanted and stayed away from me.”

“So, what happened?”

“About what you’d expect. I got into trouble, got arrested, and broke her heart. I’d hoped she’d wait for me. But she had more sense than that. She married a good man and had you. End of story.” Judd picked up a new stamp and positioned it for the first tap of the maul. “You’d do well not to mention this conversation to your mother. It would only bring up painful memories. Do you understand?”

He nodded, as if weighing what he’d heard. “I guess I’d better get to work.”

Judd watched his son walk back to where the harness was laid out on the floor. He’d probably told the boy too much. Ruth might not approve. But Skip was growing up. Sooner or later, he would have to come to terms with who he really was.

Trevor and Maggie came into the shop, their faces pink with cold. After taking off their coats, they set to work. Maggie had brought her boom box and left it here last time. Now she switched it on, filling the room with Christmas music from the local station. Christmas songs weren’t Judd’s favorite, but the music lightened the mood in the room and lent a subtle rhythm to the work.

Time was growing short. The town celebration, with the parade in the morning and the Cowboy Christmas Ball in the evening, was always held on the last Saturday before Christmas. This year, with Christmas on a Friday, the parade would take place on Saturday, the 19th. That didn’t leave much time.

The youngsters had worked hard, but with the parade just a couple weeks away and school still in session, the repairs to the harness were far from finished. The brass bells had been polished to a gleam. But the new leather bell strips, which the horses would wear like necklaces and belts, would need dozens of holes punched before the bells could be attached. Maggie’s small hands weren’t strong enough to operate the leather punch, and the boys were busy. Judd would have to do that for her.

Whether he could spare the time or not, Judd was becoming more and more involved in the parade. Alice Wilkins, the parade chairman, had phoned him that morning.

“Mr. Rankin.” Her shrill voice and demanding manner were well-known in town. Many people found her annoying, but one had to give her credit for stepping in and getting things done. “I was just checking to make sure you were planning to handle the horses and drive the sleigh in the Christmas parade.”

Judd had groaned. Last year, he’d loaded the horses into the trailer, hitched them up, and driven the sleigh because no one else was available. But he’d never meant to make it a permanent job.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Wilkins, but I hadn’t even thought about it,” he’d replied. “I’ve got work orders to fill. I don’t have time. Please ask someone else.”

“But you’ve got to do it!” Her voice had risen a full octave. “There’ll be children around that sleigh. If something were to go wrong, they could be trampled. We need somebody who can control the team and keep the little ones safe.”

Guilt served on a trowel. “There has to be somebody else who can do the job,” he’d argued. “What about Buck Winston? He’s a farm boy. He can handle a team.”

“Sheriff Winston will be busy managing the crowds. He can’t possibly do two jobs. Abner has agreed to play Santa again. But we can’t have a sleigh without a good driver. Please, Mr. Rankin. Think of the little children.”

He was being reeled in. “I’ll think about it,” he’d said. “But meanwhile, I want you to look for somebody else. Let me know when you find them.”

“Certainly. And thank you, Mr. Rankin.”

She wouldn’t look. He’d known that even as he’d hung up the phone. He could’ve just said no. But Alice Wilkins had pushed all the right buttons. Think of the little children, she’d said. And he was hooked.

Maybe knowing he was actually a father had something to do with it.

When the light began to fade outside, Judd called a halt to the work. Trevor would be going home, but his parents were expecting company, so Skip and Maggie would be walking to Abner’s house, where Ruth would pick them up.

Judd wouldn’t have minded taking them home himself, but the arrangements had already been made. He stood on the porch and watched them leave, Trevor heading along the road to his house and the other two taking the narrow lane across the pastureland to Abner’s. The sky was still light, and they didn’t have far to go. Still, he wanted to make sure they were safe.

It grated on him, having Ruth avoid his house. But he told himself it was mostly because of Digger. When the time came, he could only hope his former friend would leave without making a scene.

But Judd’s day was far from over. With his young friends gone, he had enough work to keep him busy for hours. Maggie had left her boom box on. He would leave it for now. Maybe the Christmas music would lift his mood.

He’d been working for about twenty minutes when the phone rang. When he answered it, he heard Skip’s frantic voice. “We need you, Judd. We’re at Abner’s. He’s fallen down and can’t get up.”

“Is he conscious?”

“Yes, but we think his back is hurt. We don’t dare move him, and Mom isn’t here yet.”

“I’ll be right there.” Judd hung up the phone, grabbed his keys, and raced for his truck.

Chapter Ten

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