A Cardinal Christmas (Christmas Holiday Extravaganza) Read online

  Seated again, she leaned forward. “Jobs. They aren’t secure any longer. I’ve heard Mom and Dad talk about loyalty from years ago, as in when a handshake confirmed a deal. My employer has been silent. Corporate business is so cut throat at times, I’m wondering if my job with Eiseley has gone south. Sorry again. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Are you concerned about finding work when you’re done here in Edgewood?”

  “Nah. My parents’ life insurance will keep me afloat for a time. So far, your folks and Pastor are feeding and housing me.” He lowered his legs, stood, and carried his mug to rinse it at the tiny bathroom sink. “Thanks. Isn’t there an oil change rolling in at four?”

  She clicked the appointment schedule. “You’re right. I recognize her name. She’ll probably shop at Hayley’s place while you service her car.”

  A tow truck pulled up and blipped its back-up signal as it positioned a red sedan.

  Werner grinned and stroked his chin in what she took as anticipation. “Looks as if I’ve got plenty to keep me busy tomorrow.”

  His mechanic skills were valuable. If only her skills were so in demand. What would she do if her job was in jeopardy? She received the paperwork from the tow truck driver and then took in the interaction between him and Werner, who was quite a guy. As long as she was in Edgewood, she might just as well spend as much time with him as possible. There couldn’t be harm in pursuing an adult relationship, a friendship, could there?

  At the end of the work day, Werner shot the bolt on the back door of the garage and crossed to double check, making sure the overheads were locked. He turned.

  Blythe called his name. “Mom wants to know if you can be at the house in a half hour to help get Dad inside.”

  “Tell her I’d be honored.”

  “The walker is in their SUV. He’ll have to go in the front because of the step from the garage.”

  “No problem. I’ll shuck my overalls at Pastor’s, clean up, and be right there.”

  She set the building alarm. The outside light clicked on. “I’ll walk you.”

  He laughed. “Doesn’t that sound backward? A gentleman should walk the lady.”

  Serious, she shot him a frown. “You’re on my way home. Not the other way around.” Her face cleared and she made an exaggerated movement with her head from side to side. If the Lord could use anyone to restore her joy on this earth, it would be Werner. More time to catch that mischievous glint in his eye. How could the look in a person’s eyes do such crazy things to her soul?

  ~*~

  Werner ran damp hands through his hair. Useless to think the mess would tame. His own scowl met him in the mirror. Christians were supposed to forgive. How could he still resort to feeling hatred over his father forcing their move all those years ago? And all the moves that followed. So many friends lost, Werner stayed a loner through his upper grades. If the Lord could use anyone to restore love for his father rather than the bitterness he harbored, it would be Blythe. But she was bogged down by her own troubles.

  He chased thoughts of his father away to focus on Blythe’s father. Ross Travis had welcomed him as a long-lost son and had used patience beyond measure to show him around the garage. And Bette Jean was the next best thing to a real mom any guy could hope for.

  He exited the parsonage bathroom to catch Pastor Gregg dozing in his easy chair. The dogs barked from the backyard and roused him.

  Werner chucked on his coat. He patted Pastor on the shoulder as he passed behind the chair. “I can let them in. Ross is on his way home. I’m going over to help the ladies get him inside the house.”

  “Good, good, son. Kameron and Hayley plan to bring them supper.”

  He let in the dogs, turned up his collar, and hit the sidewalk to head south. Movement in the Travis driveway two blocks away caused the motion light to turn on in front of the garage, revealing two people. Must be Hayley and Kameron.

  Werner broke into a sprint. The Kohls came into view with their arms full. A car turned off the main drag toward him. He came to a stop where the sidewalk turned into the driveway, right on time to help.

  Kameron bounded out the front door, free of what he’d carried, and opened the driver’s door. “Bette Jean, go on in and get warm. Werner and I’ll assist Ross.”

  “Thanks, I’ll accept. The walker’s in the back.” She leaned her head through the open door. “Ross, remember to slide out both legs together, no side movements. Use your bum. Hands on the walker to stand. Stand square.”

  “Woman, are you going to harp at me for the next month? Hi, lads. I’m grateful for your help.”

  In coordinated movements, it only took minutes for the men to aid Ross inside, where he settled in his burgundy leather recliner.

  Bette Jean stood with her hands wrapped around the large tabby cat. “I barely caught Mr. Twain, afraid he’ll trip Ross. I forgot to ask Blythe to put out the cat. I don’t know how we’ll keep him from the walker’s path.”

  Blythe hugged her mother’s ample waist and gave her a squeeze. “Mr. Twain is smart, Mom. Those wheels coming at him will make him scamper away.”

  Hayley laughed. “I’d think he’d want to chase those bright balls you’ve got on the straight legs. Kameron, let’s get out of their way. You all enjoy your dinner.”

  Bette Jean lifted her husband’s leg and gently slid a pillow underneath, just so. “Is that comfortable? At some point you need to lie back, or I can add a pillow to keep it higher than your heart.”

  He stayed her with a hand on her wrist until she leaned in for a kiss.

  Kameron tucked Hayley in at his side. “On that mushy note, we’ll say good night.”

  Blythe walked them to the door and came back. She stated to no one in particular, “I like Kameron Kohl more each time we meet. He’s perfect for Hayley, even if it means less time for us women to trade heartfelt thoughts.”

  Bette Jean heaved a sigh that lifted her shoulders, still staring at the closed front door. “They are perfect together. Remember what you said, Blythe, dear, when they met? You set an imaginary caption. ‘Lonely author comes to dog-sit for the pastor and melts the antiquities seller’s heart.’”

  “Watch out, Werner. Mom’s a hopeless romantic.”

  Werner carried in items from the hospital. He snickered as he secured the front door against a sudden wind gust. “Think I can handle it. Kameron told me about you, Blythe, when he introduced me to Hayley. She said the two of you were her best friends in the whole world. Speaking of friends, what can I do?”

  “Mom, what’s the plan? I know you have it figured out.”

  “First, thank you, Werner.” Then she said to Blythe, “It might be a few days before your dad will be comfortable at the table, so I think he’ll live in his recliner except when he exercises and uses the bathroom. That said, I brought out the TV trays. They’re just inside the closet there, Werner, if you could get them please. I’ll fill a plate for Ross. Then we’ll eat.”

  He soon found himself seated on the front of the couch cushions with Blythe on his right side. Ross led a meaningful but slow and a bit slurred prayer. They dug into a spaghetti casserole, a veggie, and fruit salad, and Hayley had left a variety of fudge for dessert.

  The only wrong step he made during the meal was to offer Ross a piece of fudge.

  “How I wish, but the delicacy would shoot my blood sugar out of whack. I’ve learned to settle for fruit as my sweet. I usually get my chocolate fix by inhaling the aroma from Hayley’s little paper sacks. Sorry it’ll be a while until I can get you a piece, Bette Jean.”

  She blew her husband a kiss. “You won’t be walking from the garage to Auntie’s anytime soon, my man. Diabetes.” Bette Jean supplied the answer to Werner’s unasked question. “I so appreciate all the fudge he’s brought to me while working in the office.”

  “Nothing’s too good for my darlin’. I’ll owe you a lot more than fudge for the way you’ll be taking care of me in the coming weeks.”

  Would Werner ever share loving
banter such as theirs?

  Bette Jean blew Ross a kiss. “Blythe and I will clean up and let you fellas talk shop.”

  “Took the words right out of my mouth, sweet lips. Have a seat, son. Anything new, Werner?”

  “Late this afternoon a car was towed in. Something electrical. Owner ignored the warning lights. I’ll run diagnostics in the morning.”

  Ross had closed his eyes. “Wife and I talked on the way home. Want you to stay here now that I’m back home. We’ve got plenty of room. I’ll be glad for the company to help keep my mind off the pain.”

  How would that sit with Blythe? “I’d be pleased, sir. Thanks. I’ll help as much as I can. As swollen as that leg looks, you surely won’t be in therapy already?”

  The great room was large enough that the women’s voices and clatter of dishes hadn’t disturbed them. They came close now with Bette Jean in the lead. “That’s one job done.”

  Blythe joined her mother and chorused, “We don’t leave dishes because we want to wake up to today, not yesterday.”

  Werner hadn’t heard that one before.

  Blythe didn’t smile with her mother over their quip. She met his gaze.

  What was she thinking? He wanted to know. He wanted her to share her innermost yearnings with him.

  Ross laughed deep from his belly in reaction to his family but answered Werner. “No rest for the weary, my boy. Forty-odd hours from now I’ll be at PT.”

  And twenty-four hours from now, I’ll be sleeping down the hall from the only woman to ever stir me.

  4

  Blythe punched her pillow and rolled onto her back. She couldn’t shape the soft firmness around her neck any more than she was able to force her growing attraction for Werner out of her innermost being. At some point, she’d drifted off, only to open her eyes on the digital reading of the clock to see she’d been out a mere three hours. The moon shone bright above the curtain rod.

  Why not try to run Werner out of her mind? She discovered soon enough that didn’t work. A mile west of Edgewood, he remained her main thought. She ran another five minutes and took the outside of a curve to avoid any early risers coming from Lincoln. She neared the farmer’s elevator on the south edge of town and met Pastor Gregg’s dogs, Winter and Summer, at the end of their tether. After a few more feet, she stopped and jogged in place.

  Kameron stood, staring off at the foliage.

  “Looks like Pastor’s dogs give you a good work-out, Kameron.”

  He blew a vaporous gust in the chilled air. Laugh lines crinkled around his eyes, spreading to his stocking cap. “Yeah. I give Pastor Gregg a break if the wind is nasty cold the way it is this morning. Sit, Winter. We’ll move in a sec. Good boy.”

  She swung around and patted the husky behind the ears.

  Kameron smiled.

  “I won’t keep you. If I may ask, why are you just standing here?”

  “Communing with nature, I guess. Thanking God for His goodness. I’m sure you’ve sung ‘This is My Father’s World’ in church. The lines about nature singing and birds raising carols are sweet to the soul.”

  “Pretty cold for birds to sing this morning.” Her heart hadn’t concentrated on the words of hymns, or carols, for longer than she cared to admit. “I’d best get going. It’ll soon be time to open up the garage.”

  “Say hi to Werner. According to my wife, the four of us need to get together.”

  As in a double date? Not likely.

  What were her parents thinking by their invitation for Werner to stay? The big frame house wasn’t that old. She still had trouble thinking of it as home. It was hard enough working where only a wall separated them at the garage. But soon, she’d be running into him at the house. It didn’t seem so big any longer. He kind of took all her attention whenever they were in the same room together.

  Werner wasn’t pushy by any means. He was just there. How could she not be thinking about him? Every time she turned around, she either saw him or someone mentioned him to her.

  Forty minutes later, Blythe asked herself if the personality of a stalker had taken over her. What if anyone knew she’d looked him up online? She fed those invasive thoughts by watching him work and had even angled her desk chair so she could peek into a third of the garage.

  They’d established the routine of alternating who crossed the road each morning for coffee and Hayley’s fudge at Auntie’s.

  Blythe stared at him now. The man filled out a pair of coveralls like no other. His easy stride sucked every bit of saliva out of her mouth.

  He disappeared inside the door across the way, and she forced herself to turn her back. If she wasn’t careful, she’d zone off into fantasy land and stare him in the face like a lovesick puppy. The picture of him snapping his fingers in front of her face turned the fantasy intolerable. What was she doing? Common sense had failed her, the way Werner tugged for attention. He distracted her even when she couldn’t see him.

  A few days back, memories of the fiancé who’d rejected her ate at her heart and soul. Now here she was, more comfortable in a renewed friendship that forewarned of a budding crush. Think about something else.

  Just as irksome, the corporate office of Eiseley International seemed to have forgotten who she was and that she worked for them.

  This had to stop. Lord, I’m too into myself these days. Please give me the strength to withdraw from this ridiculous simpering over Werner. Give me Your shield of protection. You’ve never rejected me. I don’t have it in me to face such a thing again.

  Werner didn’t live in Edgewood. Well, he did at the moment. She snorted. With Kameron, Werner, and herself there, the population had increased from 549 to 552. Then again, Kameron officially made it 550.

  “Get a life, woman.” The door opened and she whirled.

  “Careful.” Werner offered her the familiar white sack. “You’ll hurt yourself moving that fast. Hayley said to tell you she’s tired of looking out the window at this drab place and wanted me to remind you of the season. She invited you to come over for decorations to make the window look like Christmas is coming.”

  “Oh, thank goodness. Not for the fudge, though I’m grateful. But for the prospect of something to do. I’m going stir crazy. Of course, I can get busy decorating. Here and at home.” She thumbed up the lid of the go-cup. “Cinnamon scented coffee. Too bad Hayley can’t smell the delicacies that invite her customers to linger. Ever heard of anyone who can only smell oranges and grapefruit? Just listen to me. I’m useless sometimes. Why didn’t I think of Christmas decorating?” She sucked in a deep draft of air.

  His eyes opened wide. He peeked around Blythe to the coffeemaker behind her. “Thought maybe you’d inhaled an espresso or two waiting for me. Are you sure you won’t hyperventilate?”

  She waved him off.

  “I heard you talk that fast once long ago. You were all in a dither over some kind of antique jewelry box Hayley gave you for your birthday. I didn’t mean to be gone so long. Kameron and I had a bit of a gab. He’s an interesting chap. Especially if you ask about his writing.”

  “I saw him on the trail earlier. I don’t know him all that well, and this morning was the only time I’ve seen him without Hayley by his side. A year ago, they were so dotty about the other all I could do was shake my head and smile. I’m really happy they have one another.”

  “You say you’re happy.” He reached out and touched the left corner of her mouth. “But I have yet to see you really smile into my eyes. You’re about to give me a complex.”

  Her mouth opened as she pulled back her head. “Oh” escaped as a sigh. The difference between his rough fingertip and her fragile skin stole any sense of speech.

  Werner swung his arm in slow motion.

  She whimpered at his withdrawal. Heat rose up her chest and neck.

  They kept unbroken eye contact.

  He pursed his lips.

  Was he trying not to laugh? How dare he?

  “I’ve got vehicles waiting for my expert to
uch. You said a lot a minute ago. Later you can explain what you meant about Hayley and her sniffer. Enjoy your coffee.” He presented his broad shoulders with a swagger, headed into the garage, set his coffee on a metal table, and went to work under the hood of an SUV.

  Whew. Not too long ago, she would have teased a guy for boasting about his expertise. Had that jerk in Atlanta stolen her sense of humor for good? She bit her lip. Not much to like about herself these days, the way she’d turned obsessed with a childhood friend. Way past time to get out of the slump, but how? She had the office to herself again. Maybe she should pray for the phone to ring.

  She picked up her coffee and sauntered to the window. Everything about the front of Auntie’s Antiquities invited a visit. The addition of a copper awning that matched the church steeple garnered a second look. Twinkle lights, Christmas greenery, the window displays.

  She swung around and savored the spicy fragrance as she sipped the flavored coffee. Next, she snagged the handset off its base with one hand and a pad and paper with the other.

  “Werner,” she scurried his way, “I’m headed to check in with Hayley. I doubt the phone will ring, but you can handle it if it does. See you in a bit.”

  Hayley met Blythe at the door. “Hey, friend, where’s the fire? I caught a flash of you running across the road. Kam said you ran like something was chasing you this morning. You didn’t get it out of your system on the trail?”

  Just my crazy thoughts. “I’m going out of my mind without something to keep me busy. I’m surprised Mom doesn’t have the office shining in red and green. Before I start decorating, I thought I’d see if you have anything gearheads might find appealing.”

  “I do have a few replica pickup ornaments.” Hayley led her to a corner where toys were on display.

  “Perfect.” Blythe picked up a faded red truck by its tiny tow chain loop, added a larger seventies-era blue vehicle meant to rest on its wheels. “I’ll see if Mom has a small counter-sized tree in her stash. These will look great at the base.”