Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) (22 page)

Jenny smiled. “No. They’ll love the new-and-improved Evan just as much as I do.”

He touched the tiny headstone again. “Let’s get married soon. I want to start a family,” he glanced at her with a wry expression, “if we haven’t already.”

Jenny glanced at her watch. “It’s almost noon. You told Jake and Holly to come over at two.”

Evan glanced at his own watch. “Shit! I don’t have a scrap of food in the house.”

“You mean the toaster pastries we had for breakfast won’t be enough?”

“Smart ass.”

They walked hand in hand down the hill and drove to Tarpley’s. As soon as the door jingled and Susie Tarpley saw the two of them hand in hand, she bustled around the counter and gave them both a big hug.

“This is a sight for sore eyes. Oh heavens. Jim,” she called to her husband. “Come here. You have to see this.”

Evan and Jenny blushed as every eye turned their way. Jim rounded a corner and his lean face broke into a wide smile. “Evan Richardson and Jenny Owens. And is that a ring I see on her finger?”

Susie held Jenny’s left hand. “It is.” Her knowing gaze lifted to Evan. “Your grandma’s, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Evan answered. “We’ve taken a few detours, but Jenny’s agreed to be my wife.”

“That’s wonderful, son,” Jim Tarpley clapped him on the back. “I’ll take that as a sure sign all’s gonna be right with the world this Christmas.”

“What can we help you with?” Susie asked.

Jenny grimaced. “Everything. I’ve seen his kitchen. There’s no food in it, and we have guests coming over in less than two hours.”

Tyler poked his head around the end of the aisle. “I’m one of them, and I’m starving.”

Jenny sent Evan to get drinks, and Tyler followed him with a cart. As Evan added two bottles of wine and a twelve pack of beer, the boy commented, “I like ginger ale. Since you and Jenny are engaged now, like Jake and Holly, does that mean Jenny’s car was outside our house all ni…”

“So where is the ginger ale?” Evan interrupted as he clapped a hand over Tyler’s mouth. He grinned weakly as Pastor Calloway’s wife walked past, her lips pursed, but Evan hoped that really was a twinkle in her eye.

* * * *

Jake was installing a peephole in the front door when his cell phone rang. He saw the station’s ID.

“Jake here.”

“It’s Ernie. Look, I know you’re off this weekend, but I thought you should be aware we’ve had some more activity with the nativity.”

Jake rolled his eyes at Ernie’s attempt at a play on words. His boss should try the stoic route. It worked for Jake. “More toilet paper?”

“No. This time someone stole the baby Jesus and the manger from the Presbyterian church, but that’s not all.”

Jake sighed. “There’s more?”

“Yep. Our thieves also got away with Mary and Joseph from the Baptist church.”

“What makes you think we’re dealing with the same thieves? Couldn’t it be rival church-lady gangs? I heard they’ve been moving along the interstate.”

Ernie was laughing so hard from the other end Jake had to hold the phone away from his ear.

“Oh Lord, Jake. Anyway, the church ladies have formed a posse. A mixed group from both churches is out canvassing the neighborhoods.”

Jake slapped the phone back against his ear. “I’m sorry. Did you just say ladies from both churches are
together
canvassing town?”

“Yes.”

This was bad. There could be bloodshed. “I’ll get my uniform and be right in. I think I still have a couple of flak jackets in my storage building. I’ll bring those and the billy clubs too.”

“Jake?”

“Don’t worry, Ernie. I’ll be there to help.”

“Jake.”

“What?”

“They’re at Mercer’s drinking tea and munching doughnuts. Together.”

“Wow.” Jake sagged against the pillar, his mouth hanging open.

“You could call it a Christmas miracle. And I have one more for you.”

“What’s that?”

“I just watched our commonwealth’s attorney and Doc go into Tarpley’s together. Holding hands.”

Jake grinned. “That one I already knew. They left our place last night at midnight, and Doc’s car was still out front this morning.”

“So have
you
popped the question?”

Warmth spread through him as he thought of Holly. “Yeah. She said yes.”

“Have you set the date?”

“New Year’s Eve.” Jake told him.

“That’s mighty quick.”

“Not quick enough.”

“Maybe you can do it together. You know, you and Holly, Evan and Doc. A double wedding.”

Jake chuckled. Wouldn’t that just make Sam Barnes’s day? “That’s a great idea.”

Holly was inside using his computer to work on accounts for her boss while Noelle slept in a basket nearby. Jake paused in the doorway to study her a moment. The faintest crease knitted her brows, and she had a pencil tucked behind one ear.

“Ready to hang out your shingle yet?” he joked.

She grinned. “I think I’d like to hold off until the sign can read ‘Holly Allred.’”

He smiled. “Evan and Jenny are official. That’s the word from Ernie. He thinks we should do a double wedding.”

Holly laughed. Jake was beginning to see the sister Tyler had tried to describe to him. She did have a way of surrounding herself with happiness. He wasn’t sure how, but he did know he would do almost anything to keep her just that way.

* * * *

Jenny opened the door to Jake, Holly, Noelle, and Tyler just after two. Evan stood right behind her. Jenny took one look at all their faces and glared with mock ferocity at Tyler. “You told. You promised you wouldn’t tell.”

“Jake already knew,” Tyler protested. “By the time I got home, it was old news. Everyone in town knows. I’m surprised it’s not already being broadcast on the local radio station.”

Jake coughed. “It is. I heard it, along with our engagement, while I was shaving.”

Jenny ran her finger over her smart phone. “It’s already on Facebook, too. You can thank Susie Tarpley for that.”

For a second, they just stared at each other, and then Holly started laughing. “I love this town. I love everyone and everything in it.” When Jake, Jenny, and Evan just stared like she’d lost her mind, she continued. “Don’t you see? Everyone
cares
!”

“Cares?” Evan scoffed. “Everyone wants to stick their noses in everyone else’s business is more like it.”

“No,” Holly commented. “In a bigger town, no one knows you so they don’t have to care. I had to come here before anyone bothered to lift a finger to help Tyler and me—and we had grown up in Lynchburg.”

The discussion continued inside the house with Jenny backing Holly. They continued their debate while they set Evan’s tree and trimmed it. Finally Evan said, “Okay. For argument’s sake let’s say you’re right Holly. Everyone in Mountain Meadow does care at some level. If that’s true, then explain why someone swiped the baby Jesus from the Presbyterian nativity, and Mary and Joseph from the Baptist manger scene.”

“No!” Jenny exclaimed. “That’s terrible, Evan. Is it true, Jake, or are you and Evan just pulling our legs?”

“It’s true. Ernie told me this morning. He even said the Presbyterian and Baptist church ladies were out together canvassing the town to find them.”

“Hah.” Holly pounced. “There you are then. That proves I’m right.”

“Someone stealing Jesus proves you’re right?” Evan asked. “I’m afraid your logic has even me muddled.”

“Let me explain.”

Jake and Evan crossed their arms across their chests. Even Jenny was doubtful. “It does seem to be a bit of a stretch.”

Holly grinned and sat on the floor next to Noelle’s infant seat. “The thieves have an ulterior motive. They’re building their own nativity which is a combination of the Presbyterian and Baptist nativities.”

“So this is like a church merger?” Evan tried to puzzle out the next step.

“Yes.” Holly smiled as if Evan were her prize pupil. He checked to see how many beer bottles he had already emptied, concerned he’d consumed more than he thought. “The thefts have brought the two groups of church ladies together, uniting them in a common goal so they can put aside their differences. It’s genius.”

“It’s insane,” Jake drawled. “I’m still throwing a couple of flak jackets into the back of the truck to take into work on Monday if the missing manger figures haven’t reappeared. I can’t see where this truce will last. I’ve already had Betty Gatewood and her fleet of flowered dresses breathing fire at me.”

“Maybe it’s a generational thing,” Evan surmised, studying Holly as if she were some sort of exhibit. “After all Holly, you’re what, twenty-one or twenty-two?”

“Almost twenty-three,” she mumbled.

Tyler passed by on his way back to Evan’s study where he had discovered a gaming system hooked to a large-screen TV. “Her birthday’s Christmas Eve. Mom and Dad named her Holly because her birthday was so close to Christmas. Kind of cool, don’t you think?”

Jake, Jenny, and Evan stared at Holly, who blushed in embarrassment. “Thanks, Tyler,” she muttered.

“Anyway,” Evan went on with an even bigger grin. “We’re almost thirty-one. There’s eight years, so maybe it’s a generation gap that makes her so optimistic.”

Holly stared at him. “That’s a bunch of bull—”

“Holly!” Jake exclaimed, and even Evan raised his brows, afraid his penchant for profanity had rubbed off on her when he’d never heard her say anything more than hell, and only in context of the actual place.

“…headed pessimism if I ever heard it,” she continued with a mischievous grin at Jake. “It’s not generational, it’s attitudinal. You choose to be pessimistic. I choose to be optimistic and believe in peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”

Evan looked skeptical. “I’ve had a lot to be pessimistic about.”

Jenny took his hand. “But we’ve both learned a lot in the last few days about how important it is to believe. So for the sake of the season, maybe we should try to look at it from Holly’s perspective.”

Holly just smiled. “You’ll see.”

Evan fired the grill around six. Impending snow hung in the air again, but it didn’t deter either him or Jake. They leaned against the patio’s brick wall, sipped beer and waited for the grill to heat.

In the kitchen, Holly nursed Noelle. Jenny set the salad on the table and sat across from them.

“You don’t mind if I watch, do you?” she asked Holly.

“Not at all. My breasts seem to have become public property.”

“I bet Jake likes that.” Jenny chuckled.

“Jenny.”

“Well. He was always going on about breasts in high school. I just figured he was fixated.”

Holly giggled. “He is.”

Jenny’s mouth dropped open and she laughed so hard she had to wipe her eyes. Evan walked in to grab the steaks. “What’s so funny?”

Holly smiled. “I was just telling her about Jake’s fixation on breasts.”

Evan blushed and stuttered, backing out of the door with the platter of steaks in his hand. Jenny smiled. “He is,” she said, deadpan, and they both smiled at each other. Jenny looked back to where Noelle was suckling her second course, her little hand resting against Holly’s breast. “She’s nursing well, Holly. Don’t forget your one-month checkup. I’ll bet Noelle will have gained a lot of weight. She’s doing great from what I can see.”

“Thanks. Can I ask you something personal?” Holly inquired.

“Okay.”

“In the hospital, you saw Noelle’s name on the birth certificate and looked like you’d seen a ghost. Why?”

Jenny blinked. “I never talked about it until last night when Evan and I aired it all. I was expecting his child back in high school. A lot of things happened, but to make a long story short, I miscarried near the end of my third month. I held her in my hands.” She smiled at Holly through the tears in her eyes. “A perfect little girl. She should have been born at Christmas, and I didn’t want her to be forgotten, so I gave her a name—Hope Richardson.”

Holly’s mouth parted in surprise. “Oh, Jenny. I’m so sorry, and then you saw Noelle’s middle name. But Evan never said anything.”

“He didn’t know. Not until last night. It’s a long, ugly story that will probably have to come out, though I wish it didn’t.”

“Why will it have to come out?” Holly asked. “No never mind. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I do. You’re a friend. So’s Jake. It involves a felony sexual assault…on me. There is no statute of limitations, and Evan’s an officer of the court. Now he knows about it, he’s obligated to pursue it. I guess the only blessing is Jake won’t have to investigate it. It happened on my father’s farm, where I live now, and that’s in the county. Sam’s jurisdiction.”

Holly held Noelle to her shoulder. Jenny smiled and held her arms out. “May I hold her while you’re putting everything to rights?”

“Of course.” Holly laughed. “The way she nurses, I might as well walk around topless.”

Jenny glanced outside where Evan and Jake were laughing at something one of them had said. “Not a good idea. That would be way too distracting.”

“I’m so happy it’s working out for you and Evan. Have you set a date?”

“We’re thinking New Year’s Eve,” Jenny said, “and we wanted to know if you and Jake would like to make it a double wedding.”

Holly grinned, touched by the way Jenny and Evan had pulled her into their circle. “Jake mentioned that. We could celebrate our anniversaries together… well part of our anniversaries.”

Jenny winked. “Evan wants to start a family right away.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I would love nothing better, especially now Evan is an experienced diaper-changer.”

They laughed.

“Begging for forgiveness or launching another assault on community good will?” Evan asked as they left their house at the same time as Jake and Holly. Where everyone was headed was pretty obvious.

Jake and Evan were in suits, Jenny and Holly in dresses. Tyler had his long hair pulled into a neat ponytail and Noelle was a big bundle of blankets in the infant carrier. The baby had already managed to wiggle a little sleeper-covered hand out of her warm wrapping. She waved it around, making Evan smile.

He cocked a brow at his friend as he jingled the keys to Jenny’s BMW. “Which church?”