The Christmas Secret (9 page)

“But if you don’t mind sleeping in the loft, you’re welcome to stay with us for as long as you want,” Marvin quickly added.

Elizabeth glanced out the window. It had begun to snow, and even though she felt like an intruder, she knew she couldn’t go anywhere tonight. Besides, where would she go? There was some measure of warmth and solace to be found living under the same roof with family.

“Very well,” she said. “I’ll stay through Christmas, but then I’ll need to find someplace else to go.”

T
he following afternoon, Elizabeth stared out the cabin window at the swirling snow. “The weather seems to be getting worse,” she said to Marvin, who had just thrown another log on the fire.

He joined her at the window. “I believe you’re right, so I think I’d better go outside and cut some more wood. We don’t want to run out.”

“That’s a good idea,” Isabelle spoke up from her chair across the room, where she sat with some mending in her lap. She blinked her hazel-colored eyes and shivered. “If this weather keeps up, it may be hard to find the woodpile, not to mention that it’s awfully cold outside.”

Marvin nodded. “I’ll get my jacket and head out right now.”

“Would you like to sit here by the fire with me?” Isabelle asked Elizabeth after Marvin left. “Or should we go to the kitchen and bake some gingerbread?”

“Gingerbread sounds nice.” Elizabeth didn’t really feel like doing any baking, but if she kept busy, it might take her mind off the fact that she wouldn’t be spending Christmas with David, let alone their whole lives together. She couldn’t allow herself to think too hard about how her dreams had been shattered, for fear that she would fall into a black hole of despair and never find her way out.

When David stepped off the train, a blast of cold air hit him full in the face. It had been snowing hard for the last several hours, and the ground was covered with a heavy blanket of white.

Clutching the satchel he’d brought with Lovina’s signed confession, as well as the velveteen pouch she’d given him, he trudged toward the livery stable to rent a horse. He hoped the snow didn’t get any worse, or he might not be able to see well enough to find his way to the home of Elizabeth’s grandparents, on the other side of town.

When David arrived at the Cannings’ door sometime later, he was greeted by Elizabeth’s grandmother, Mary. “Is Elizabeth here?” he asked. “I need to speak with her.”

Mary shook her head. “Elizabeth was here, but she left a few days ago.”

“Where’d she go?”

“I really can’t say. She asked us not to tell anyone.”

David’s heart nearly plummeted to his toes. If Mary wouldn’t tell him where Elizabeth was, he wouldn’t be able to tell her what he’d found out from Lovina.

“I need to speak with Elizabeth,” he said. “It’s quite urgent.”

“My husband and I will be seeing Elizabeth on Christmas, so if you have a message for her, I’ll pass it along.”

He shook his head determinedly. “I need to tell her myself.”

“I don’t think so,” Mary’s husband, Joe, said, stepping up to the door. “Elizabeth obviously doesn’t want to talk to you, or she wouldn’t have called off the wedding and left home.”

David winced, feeling as if he’d been slapped. He didn’t need the reminder that the woman he loved had run away without even telling him why.

“There is something Elizabeth doesn’t know, and if I could just have the chance to explain …”

“Why don’t you come inside? You can explain it to us, and then we’ll decide,” Mary said. She opened the door wider, and David followed her and Joe into the parlor. He spent the next several minutes telling them about Lovina’s journal and ended by saying that the lie Elizabeth’s aunt had written was the reason Elizabeth broke up with him and came here.

Mary gasped, and Joe’s handlebar mustache twitched up and down.

“Elizabeth needs to know the truth about this,” Joe said.

“Will you tell me where she is?” David asked, fighting his impatience.

“Elizabeth’s staying at a cabin outside of town,” Joe replied. “You’ll need to go out the main road and follow it north about a mile or so, and then turn left at the fork in the road. The cabin is about a mile down from there.”

“Since it’s snowing so hard, and it’ll be dark soon, you might get lost,” Mary said with a look of concern. “Why don’t you spend the night here and start out fresh in the morning?”

David shook his head. “Elizabeth and I have been apart too long already, so I’ll head for the cabin right now.” He bid Mary and Joe good-bye and hurried out the door.

As David headed down the road on the horse he’d rented, his hopes soared. Soon he’d see Elizabeth, and once he’d shown her Lovina’s confession, everything would be all right. While he continued on, he allowed the winter scene before him to renew his Christmas spirit. There was something magical about the snow when it came before the holiday. It had a way of bringing out that little-boy feeling he remembered so well in anticipation of a white Christmas.

David’s spirits rose a little more, hoping this Christmas would turn out to be all that he and Elizabeth had looked forward to before she’d found the journal.

When he came to the fork in the road that Joe had mentioned, he guided the horse to the left. He’d only gone a short ways when the wind picked up, and the snow came down with such thick flakes that he could barely see. He was quickly losing the light of day, and the horse wasn’t cooperating at all. The mare tossed her head from side to side, reared up a couple of times, and finally refused to go.

With a disgruntled groan, David climbed down. He was about to grab the horse’s reins when it bolted and ran, knocking him to his knees. As he attempted to get up, his foot slipped on an icy patch of snow.
Crack!
Instant fear gripped him like a vise, and before he could take any action, he fell through the thin ice into a pond that had been obscured by all the snow.

A
s David thrashed about, trying to stay afloat, the ice-cold water stung his entire body like needles. He struggled to breathe in.

Think, David. Think. Don’t panic.

He looked around frantically, searching for anything he might use to pull himself out. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Think. Pray. Get your thoughts together, and do what you can to get yourself out of here.

Instinctively, David began to bob up and down like a cork. This helped to get his chest and belly high enough so he could eventually fall over on top of the ice. Crawling carefully and quickly to the safety of a snowbank, he stood on shaky legs that were fast growing numb. He paused to thank God that he was safe and unharmed, although thoroughly drenched and shivering badly from the frigid water.

A whinny alerted him that his horse was nearby, and relief rushed through him when he spotted the mare standing beneath some nearby trees.

Grunting, he climbed onto the horse’s back and gathered up the reins, thankful that the horse didn’t spook. His hands were totally numb, and it was hard holding on to the reins with stiff, ice-covered gloves. David had only two choices. He could either turn around and head back to town or keep going, hoping the cabin where Elizabeth was staying wasn’t far from here. The faint smell of woodsmoke in the air was a good sign that he might be closer than he thought.

With faith driving him forward, David urged the horse on until he noticed a flicker of light in the distance. Determination to see Elizabeth gave him the burst of energy he needed to keep going.

A short time later he spotted the cabin; a lantern glowed in the window. As he guided the horse to the hitching rail, he saw Elizabeth with her back facing the window. As he removed his satchel from the saddle horn and climbed down from the horse, his heart skipped a beat at the mere sight of her. Just a few steps and he’d be at the cabin, where warmth and protection from the cold beckoned him. More importantly, he could tell Elizabeth that the dreams they once had were not dead, but very much alive. He was almost to the door when he saw a young man with dark, curly hair step up to Elizabeth and give her a hug.

David’s heart sank all the way to his freezing toes. He was too late—Elizabeth had found someone else. He turned toward his horse, ready to admit defeat, but the numbing cold in his limbs won out. He had to get inside where it was warm, or he would surely freeze to death.

With a trembling hand and an ache in his heart worse than the ache in his body from the frigid weather, he rapped on the door.

When a knock sounded on the cabin door, Elizabeth jumped. Who would be calling at this time of day—especially with the weather being so bad?

“I’ll see to it,” Marvin said, moving toward the door.

Elizabeth stood off to one side, curious to see who it was. When a man stepped inside, wet and shivering badly, she gasped. “David! What are you doing here?”

“I—I came to t–talk to you about y–your aunt’s journal.” His teeth chattered so badly he could barely talk. “B–but it appears that I’m t–too late.”

Elizabeth nodded slowly. “If you know about the journal, then you know that it’s too late for us. We can never be married.”

He shook his head. “I’m not t–talking about that. I’m talking about h–him.” He motioned to Marvin. “I saw him h–hugging you in the w–window. Is he your h–husband, Elizabeth?”

“Certainly not. Marvin’s my cousin, and this cabin belongs to him and his wife.” She motioned to Isabelle, who had just poked her pretty auburn head out of the kitchen.

Wearing a look of relief, David took a step forward, stumbled, and dropped the leather satchel he’d been carrying.

“Whoa!” Marvin reached out and caught David’s arm and led him toward the fireplace. “What happened to you? You’re sopping wet and covered with ice and snow.”

David explained about his accident.

“The first thing we need to do is get you out of those wet clothes.” Marvin pointed to the bedroom near the back of the cabin. “If you’ll come with me, you can change into one of my woolen shirts and a pair of trousers.”

“B–but I need to speak with Elizabeth.”

“First things first.” Marvin led the way to the bedroom, and David followed.

Elizabeth flopped into the rocking chair and closed her eyes in defeat. Her grandparents had obviously told David where she was. Apparently she couldn’t trust anyone.