Bring Me Home for Christmas (18 page)

And there were others—Paul Haggerty and his family. Denny’s landlady, Jo, and her husband. The preacher stopped by for a cup of coffee before heading home. Connie and Ron from the store across the street came out for dinner. Paige stole out of the kitchen with Dana and Chris to sit with their friends. There were a couple of ranchers who dropped by. The owner of a local orchard stopped in for a beer. The doctor Mel Sheridan worked with came over for a few minutes before going home for his dinner. Each time the door opened, Becca could see the gentle glow from the giant tree outside.

Becca met each one. When Denny introduced her as his girl, a teacher from San Diego, chatter started.

“We been trying to get a teacher around here for a long time,” someone said.

“We?” Jack asked. “Old Hope McCrea was looking but I don’t know that anyone else was, and Hope’s gone now.”

“Did she move?” Becca asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” Jack said. “She’s gone to the other side. Dead.”

“Oh,” Becca said. “I’m so sorry.”

Becca could tell Denny was itching to get her back to the privacy of his little room, but she was learning a few things about this town and she couldn’t be pried out of the bar. The children, even the first graders, were bussed to other towns to go to school. They all rode together, all ages. The driver dropped the youngest ones off first before going on to the middle school, then the high school. The ranchers and farmers from the outskirts of town drove their kids into Virgin River to catch the bus, which then took them to school, so for some of the kids it was at least an hour each way of travel. For kids like Megan, it could be a ten-hour day. And that for a child who wasn’t having an easy time of it.

The folks around here put in long days, it seemed. Her first alert had been from Lorraine Thickson. Listening to the farmers and ranchers, they all started early, had very physical days and hit the sack early. Then there was Mel and the doctor, Cameron Michaels—they served the town and were on call 24/7. Jack was not to be left out. “Cry me a river,” he said. “I get this place open by six and we never close before nine. Unless there’s a snowstorm. I live for those snowstorms! The best ones last for days!”

“I don’t live for them,” Mel said. “Roughly nine months after a big storm, we have babies…lots of babies.”

The bar was filled with laughter that verified she was accurate.

“I’ve been pushing for a school. At least for the little ones,” Jo Fitch told Becca. “I know we’re not a big enough town to rate our own high school, but I hate seeing those six-and seven-year-olds spending half the day on a bus.”

“Does the county listen?” Becca asked.

“Sure,” Jo said. “They gave us the bus. Molly’s been driving that bus for thirty years.”

“You’re gonna want to stay out of her way, too,” someone put in, and the whole gathering laughed.

“We could hire you, Becca,” Jack said. “As Hope used to say when she was trolling for a midwife, then a town cop, ‘Low pay, bad hours.’ But at least you’d get to fight the snowdrifts and forest fires with the rest of us!”

She laughed at him along with everyone else—he was joking, of course. The beauty of these mountains was growing on her, but she couldn’t imagine not living on the ocean. She’d been surfing and sailing since she was a child. In fact, that was about the only thing the thought of Cape Cod had going for it.

She was distracted yet again when she heard her name. “It was Becca’s idea.”

“What was my idea?” she asked.

“Watching all the holiday movies together,” Mel said. “Once school is out for Christmas vacation and we have babysitters for the little ones, we’re going to meet in Paige’s great room. She’s ordering the movies. I’ll get the decorations for the bar out tomorrow—if you weren’t on crutches, you could help. And this year, since we have a full-time preacher and full-time preacher’s wife, we’re getting together a children’s pageant. They’ve already started lining up the characters.”

“I can bring the sheep,” Buck Anderson offered.

“Thanks, Buck,” Jack said, “but we’re in need of a few camels. Got any of those lying around?”

“We got us a bull, but he’s on the mean side….”

While this big group of friends laughed, joked and planned, the bar began to fill up with people and Denny left her side to help serve and bus. Soon the place was packed.

“Wow,” Becca said to Mel. “I had no idea the bar could get so busy. Last week, it was quiet.”

“It’s the tree,” she said. “People come from miles to see the tree. Jack acts like he resents it—it’s a lot of work putting it up and his hours are longer than ever during the season, but it’s such a special tree and I know he’s secretly proud of it. He says he expects the wise men to drop by any second. That star. Have you ever in your life seen a more amazing star?”

“The whole thing is amazing.”

“This bar runs hot and cold. Jack built it mainly as a town watering hole and to serve as a place for hunters and fishermen, which is seasonal. Now he’s adding Christmas to his busy seasons because of that awesome tree. So, are you going to be around for some of our holiday plans? Like movie day and the cookie exchange and maybe the children’s pageant?”

She shrugged. “I’m not going anyplace fast. I don’t see the doctor until Friday. I’m not going to be walking without crutches for another five weeks. Plus, I started a little homework club. I’m not good for too much, but I’m a whiz at helping with homework.”

“Really? How’d that happen?”

“I was headed for the bar this afternoon, looking for something to do or some company, when I saw a couple of the little girls from our craft party going in the church. I followed them in. Ellie Kincaid told them to work on their homework while she finished up in the office, and I helped. We had a good time and decided to get together regularly. Every day till vacation, anyway.”

“Aw, Becca. That’s great. That’s so generous of you.”

“I used to stay late at school almost every day in San Diego. There were always a few kids who needed a little boost. But…” Her voice trailed off when she didn’t continue.

“But what?” Mel asked.

“Well, I taught at a private school. I stayed late some days because I wanted to, but the families of most of my kids could afford tutors or shorter workweeks, so they had time to help their kids at home. The families around here seem to put in some long days and weeks…”

“Indeed,” Mel said. “In this town, it really does take a village.” Then she smiled. “We’re so lucky to have so many on board with that notion.”

Denny roused Becca early to give her time for her morning grooming and breakfast so he could get to the farm by eight. Even though Denny had made a pot of coffee, she was moving pretty slow until she got a cup of Jack’s high octane in her. “How do you do it?” she asked Jack. “You had to stay late last night with all the people who came to town to see the tree and you’re downright perky this morning!”

“I could comment on getting a good night’s sleep, but I won’t say anything about that….”

Becca looked at Denny and they both got a little rosy. Jack laughed. “I’ll get your omelets. Today it’s Spanish. One of my favorites.”

She leaned closer to Denny. “Does everyone in town know we’re doing it like bunnies all night?” she asked him.

“No, honey. They don’t know. They assume. And they assume right….”

“Ew…”

“Ignore it. One of the things you’ll find about this place—nothing goes unnoticed. Or unsaid!”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” she asked.

He laughed. “You get used to it. In fact, you get to like it.”

Becca contemplated this over breakfast. Then they drove out of town to his farm. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but certainly not what she found. Denny drove up a long drive through the trees, toward an enormous old Victorian that was in pristine condition. The snow had been falling on and off for a few days but it was a light snow and melting off the roads quickly. “What is this?” she asked as they approached the house.

“Jilly’s house,” he said. “She bought it because of the acreage. It just has ten acres, but she’s growing fancy heirloom fruits and vegetables—not a huge crop, but a unique crop. And it’s only been in development a year and a half. We have greenhouses for winter plants and seedlings. Growing never stops around here, but it does go heavy and light.”

“And who lives in the house?”

“Jillian and Colin—they’re a couple. He’s a painter. He used to be an Army helicopter pilot, but now he’s retired and paints wildlife portraits. Jilly used to be a big-shot marketing exec. She escaped to Virgin River and started a garden. When she was a kid, her great-grandmother showed her how to grow rare and amazing things. I have no idea what she was like as an executive, but as a farmer she’s miraculous.”

“And she made you into a farmer?” Becca asked.

“A little bit at a time. I started out by helping with the heavy work around here, but every day she showed me something new and now I’m a junior partner in this place. She grows the stuff, ships some of it to high-end restaurants and the rest goes to the kitchen where her sister, a chef, manufactures relishes, sauces, salsas, chutneys…all kinds of stuff. The label is Jilly Farms.” He pulled along the side of the house and parked. There was a golf cart with a flatbed back sitting in front of the back porch. “I don’t know how far we’ll get in the snow, but let’s give it a try.”

He carried her to the golf cart. As he was propping her in it, the back door opened and a couple came onto the porch.

“Hey there,” the woman said. She was young and pretty, wearing overalls and boots with a ball cap on her head. Standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder was a very tall, handsome man.

“Jillian, Colin, meet Becca,” Denny said. “Am I going to get very far in the gardenmobile?”

“I hope so,” Colin said. “I fixed her up with some studded tires.” Then he grinned. “Nice to see you again, Becca.”

“Oh! It’s you! From that first night we arrived!”

“It’s me. You weren’t on crutches then. How are you feeling?”

“Clumsy,” she said with a laugh. “Thanks for letting Denny give me a tour.”

“It’s a pleasure. He knows how much we love showing off the farm,” Jillian said. “After you’ve had a little twirl around the grounds, we’ll show you the house—it’s the most wonderful old house.”

“I can’t wait,” she said. And the next thing she knew, the gardenmobile jerked into motion and Denny was driving her past a huge garden, through the trees and to more gardens and greenhouses that were warmed by smudge pots.

Becca was fascinated by the farm, by all that Denny knew about these fancy crops and the business of growing and marketing them. She was intrigued by the proud light in his eyes as he described their products and even showed her pictures of their rare fruits and vegetables. He was so at home with his fingers in the soft, dark soil, pulling out a delicate seedling for her to see. After they’d toured the greenhouses and grounds, he brought her back to the house. He stopped short of the porch and said, “Wait till you see this place in spring and summer. That entire wall of shrubs that’s covered with snow—all flowers. There are a dozen apple trees along the front drive and a line of blackberry bushes dividing the front and back gardens. The bees around here get a little thick, but they’re friendly. We’re thinking of getting into honey—good money in honey!” Becca thought, Spring? Summer?

And then she thought, He’s so proud of this!

“Show me the house,” she said.

He parked and lifted her out of the gardenmobile. He carried her into the kitchen and found her a chair, then went back for her crutches.

Jillian came out of a room off the kitchen with a laptop in her hands. “I thought you might like to see pictures Colin took of the grounds during summer. He had shots of some of our crop that I used for brochures.” She put the laptop down in front of Becca and let her flip through the digital pictures.

“Gorgeous,” she said of staged photos of bushels of tomatillo, tiny beets, peppers, tomatoes and brussels sprouts. There was a cart piled high with pumpkins, pictures of the grounds alive with flowers, even pictures of jars of relishes and sauces with their Jilly Farms label on them.

“This is some operation,” she said.

“It’s a commercial farm and processed food line,” Jillian said proudly.

“Impressive,” she said.

“I wish you weren’t on crutches,” Jillian said. “Colin’s brother and wife and my sister and her husband are coming over later—we’re going to cut down our Christmas trees. We’ve already picked them out—we have enough fir and pine still on the property to thin out to make room for gardens.”

“She’s not missing out, Jillian—we took her with to find the town tree.”

“I’m sorry I missed that,” she said. “Are you going to take her around the rest of the house, Denny?”

“Yep,” he said. Denny leaned the crutches against the wall and urged Becca up so he could piggyback her around the house and up the stairs. It was three stories, a spacious eleven-room house with high ceilings, five bedrooms, a huge sun-room that Colin used for his studio on one end and their family room with a TV on the other end. The only part of the house that Denny didn’t think safe enough to carry her up to was the rooftop. “We can see all the gardens and greenhouses and over the treetops to neighboring farms and vineyards. When you’re healed, I’ll show you.”

There it was again—a comment that sounded like they had a future in Virgin River.

“This house is wonderful. I wonder what it must be like to live in a house like this.”

“One of the reasons I’ve been so long in Jo’s efficiency is because it’s practically free and I’ve been saving money for a house. A nice house. I have a little money from the sale of my mom’s home, plus what I’ve earned. Jillian keeps increasing my pay, I have full benefits from her and she gave me a bonus at the end of last summer. Then I’ve been working at Jack’s….”

“What are your hours at Jack’s?” she asked. “It’s kind of hard to tell.”

He laughed as he piggybacked her to the kitchen. He put her on one of the kitchen chairs and propped her foot. “It’s hard to tell because they’re real irregular. I started helping out and refused to take his money. He gave me free room and board for a long time right after I got here—I have a lot to pay off. But it rankled him—he’s proud. He’s also generous. The only freebies he likes are the ones he gives. So he opened a savings account and put money in it. I’d usually just step up if I was there for dinner and the place got real busy, but then he had to call me to help a few times and he told me he’d been paying me all along whether I liked it or not, so I quit arguing. Besides, I’ve been saving for that house.”