Page 34 of The Perfect Holiday

Trace shook his head. “Not this time. I won’t be gone long,” he said, turning away before the quick flash of hurt in her eyes made him change his mind. How could he possibly think about what to do about Savannah if she was right by his side tempting him?

He heard her soft sigh as he strode off, but he refused to look back.

Outside, the snow was a glistening blanket of white. The temperature was warmer than it had been, though still below freezing if the bite of wind on his face was anything to go by. He almost regretted the decision to take a lonely walk when he could have been inside in front of a warm fire with Savannah beside him.

He headed for the road, then turned toward town. He’d only gone a hundred yards or so when Nate Daniels appeared at the end of his driveway. He was bundled up warmly, an unlit pipe clamped between his teeth. He paused to light the tobacco, then regarded Trace with a steady, thoughtful look.

“Mind some company?” he asked, already falling into step beside him.

“Did Savannah call you?” Trace asked.

“Nope. Why would she do that?”

“I think she was worried when I took off.”

“She called earlier to wish me a merry Christmas, but that was hours ago,” Nate said. He regarded Traced curiously. “Funny thing, she seemed to have the idea that I was over there this morning playing Santa. Where would she get a notion like that?”

“Santa did bear a striking resemblance to you,” Trace said.

“You didn’t tell her, though, did you? You let her go on thinking that Mae was behind all the gifts and that she was the one who conspired with me to bring them.”

“Oh, she suspects I had something to do with it, but there were enough surprises to throw her off.” He glanced at Nate. “So, if Savannah didn’t call, what brings you out into the bitter cold?”

“The truth is, I was all settled down with a new book my son gave me for Christmas when I felt this sudden urge to go for a stroll.”

“Really? A sudden urge?” Trace said skeptically.

Nate nodded. “Finding you out here, I’m guessing Mae put the thought in my mind.”

Trace kept his opinion about that to himself. Maybe Mae did have her ways even from beyond the grave.

“Something on your mind?” Nate inquired after they’d walked awhile in companionable silence.

Okay, Trace thought, here was his chance to ask someone older and wiser whether there was such a thing as love at first sight, whether a marriage based on such a thing could possibly last.

“Do you think there’s such a thing as destiny?” Trace asked.

Nate’s lips didn’t even twitch at the question. “’Course I do. Only a fool doesn’t believe there’s a reason we’re all put on this earth.”

“And that applies to love, too?”

“I imagine you’re asking about you and Savannah,” Nate said. “Now, granted I’ve only seen the two of you together once or twice, but looked to me as if there was something special between you. It’s not important what I think, though. What doyouthink?”

“I don’t know if I even believe in love,” Trace said dejectedly.

“Well now, there’s a topic with which I’m familiar,” Nate said. “You know about Mae and me, I imagine.”

Trace nodded.

“You probably don’t know so much about me and Janie, my wife. Janie and I met when we were kids barely out of diapers,” he said, a nostalgic expression on his face. “By first grade I’d already declared that I wanted to marry her, though at that age I didn’t really understand exactly what that meant. Not once in all our years of growing up did I change my mind. Janie was the girl for me. We married as soon as I graduated from college, settled down right here and began raising a family.”

He glanced at Trace. “Now that should have been a storybook ending, two people in love their whole lives, married and blessed with kids. But Janie’s nerves started giving her problems. The kids upset her. Anytime I was away from the house for more than a few hours, she’d get so distraught, I’d find her in tears when I came home. The doctors checked for a chemical imbalance. They tried her on medicine after medicine, but slowly but surely she slipped away from me.”

Tears glistened in his eyes. “The day I had to take her to Country Haven was the worst day of my life. I told her she’d be home again, but I think we both knew that day wouldn’t come. She’s happy at Country Haven. She feels safe there. But there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss the carefree girl I fell in love with.”

“It sounds as though you still love her deeply,” Trace said.

“I do,” Nate said simply.

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