A Country Christmas Read online

  “I’m looking forward to seeing you,” Natalie told him, lowering her voice seductively.

  It was almost more than Vaughn could do to echo the sentiment.

  When he finished the conversation, he returned to the kitchen to find his mother dishing up ice cream.

  “You interested?” she asked, holding up the scoop.

  “Sure, why not?” he muttered. He took a third bowl from the cupboard and handed it to his mother, who pried open the carton lid.

  “Tell me more about Natalie,” she said.

  Vaughn didn’t know what to say. “You’ll meet her soon enough.”

  “She’s joining us after Christmas, right?” She studied him hard, and Vaughn knew what she was thinking. He’d spent almost every day of the past week with Carrie. He was with one woman and had another waiting in the wings—that was how it looked. His mother’s eyes filled with questions.

  “Natalie is coming, then?” she repeated when he didn’t answer.

  “So it seems.” He sighed. She’d show up even if he asked her to stay home. Value-X was paying for the trip.

  “You don’t sound too happy about it,” his mother murmured, her eyes narrowed. “What about Carrie?”

  “Mom...”

  “I know, I know, but I can’t help wondering if you’re really sure of what you want. I saw the look Carrie gave you as we left Buffalo Valley earlier today.”

  Vaughn frowned.

  “She deserves your honesty.”

  He was in full agreement; he owed Carrie the truth, and not only about his relationship with Natalie. He had to tell her about Value-X.

  As soon as his mother left the kitchen, Vaughn reached for the phone. Unfortunately Carrie wasn’t home. He recalled now that she’d mentioned something about meeting with the church women’s group, but that’d slipped his mind. He left a message with one of her brothers.

  After that, he joined his parents in the living room. He settled on the sofa next to his mother and focused his attention on a television show about Christmas traditions around the world.

  An hour later the phone pealed and his mother automatically rose to answer it. She returned almost immediately. “It’s Carrie for you.”

  Vaughn went into the kitchen.

  “Hi,” she said excitedly when he picked up the receiver. “I just got back from the Cookie Exchange and got your message.”

  “How was it?”

  “Great, as usual. There was a lot of talk about this Value-X problem. We’re going to take active measures to keep the company out of town.”

  She’d given him the perfect lead. This was his chance to explain the whole confused mess. But Vaughn didn’t. He couldn’t, not over the phone. It was something that needed to be said face-to-face, he decided. Okay, so he was a coward.

  Carrie seemed to be waiting for a response, so to keep the conversation going, he asked, “What can be done?”

  “According to Hassie, nothing. She’s afraid we can’t win, especially after everything she’s heard and read. According to all the news stories, the company practically always comes out on top. Still, there are a few towns that didn’t give in, including one in Montana, I think.” She paused. “Hassie’s real problem is that she’s just tired out. But I’m not, and neither are the rest of us.”

  Vaughn could hear the fighting spirit in her voice.

  “I suggest you start with Ambrose Kohn.” That was probably more than he should’ve said, but the words escaped before he could judge their wisdom.

  “We’re having an organizational meeting as soon as it can be arranged, and I’ll recommend that.”

  “Great,” he mumbled, wishing he could tell her he didn’t want to hear any of this. It put him in a terrible position. He’d be a traitor to Value-X and Natalie if he withheld these facts, and a traitor to Carrie if he relayed them.

  “...tomorrow night.”

  “I’m sorry,” Vaughn said, trapped in his own dilemma. “What did you say?”

  “Can you come? It’s the high-school play. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but we’re all proud of it. The play’s about the history of Buffalo Valley and the families that settled here. It’ll give you a feel for the town.”

  Vaughn’s own great-grandparents on his mother’s side had settled in the Dakotas in the late 1800s. He pondered Carrie’s words. Knowing more about the town’s past might help him decide what to do about his relationship with Value-X—and Natalie. It was a faint hope—and maybe just another delaying tactic—but he had nothing else to cling to.

  “Will you come as my guest?” she asked.

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  She gave him the details and Vaughn hung up the phone feeling as vulnerable and unsure as ever.

  “How’d it go?” his mother asked when he returned to the living room.

  “Fine,” he muttered. “Just fine.”

  Seven

  The theater was filled to capacity. People crowded the aisle, chatting and visiting with one another. Carrie had been fortunate to get good seats for herself and Vaughn, thanks to Lindsay Sinclair.

  “I didn’t know there were this many people in Buffalo Valley,” Vaughn said, twisting around to glance over his shoulder.

  “There aren’t. Folks come from all over. The Cowans drove down from Canada. Her great-grandmother is one of the main characters in the play.”

  Vaughn looked at his program. “So, Lindsay Sinclair is the producer and director of Dakota Christmas.”

  Carrie nodded. “Lindsay’s the person responsible for all this,” she said, gesturing toward her friend. “None of it would’ve happened without her.”

  Carrie went on to explain how the play had been created and described everything Lindsay had done to make sure it got performed. At the end of the story she told him that the theater belonged to Ambrose Kohn.

  “The Ambrose Kohn?” Vaughn’s brows arched.

  “When Lindsay first arrived, the theater was nothing but cobwebs and dirt. She was a first-year teacher and one of the stipulations when she accepted the job was that the community would pitch in and help.”

  “In what way?”

  “In whatever way she required. She asked the town’s older people to talk to the kids. It started with Joshua McKenna. At the time he was president of the town council, plus he knows quite a bit of local history. After that, Lindsay lined up community representatives to come to the school on Friday afternoons. Joshua was the one who gave her the idea of having the kids write the play.”

  “The high-schoolers wrote the play?”

  “The original script was created by the kids Lindsay taught six years ago. Each new group of students refines it a little bit.”

  “This is the sixth year?” He glanced around with what appeared to be renewed appreciation. “Pretty impressive audience.”

  “It’s a fabulous play. Why else would so many people return year after year?”

  “What’s your favorite part?”

  “I love all of it. There’s a scene early on when a tornado hits the town and everything’s destroyed. The people lose heart. Entire crops are wiped out and families are left homeless. You can just feel their agony.” She didn’t mean to get carried away, but no matter how often she’d seen it, the scene brought tears to Carrie’s eyes.

  “What happens then?” Vaughn asked.

  “Everyone pulls together. The people whose fields were spared share their crops with the ones who lost everything. With everyone working together, they rebuild the farms destroyed in the tornado and save the town.”

  Vaughn nodded slowly. “Teamwork,” he murmured.

  “That was a message that really hit home for all of us. So many of the farmers continue to struggle financially. The play helped remind us that we need to work together. Then and now.”

  “Are you talking
about Value-X?”

  Carrie shook her head. “Not only Value-X. We have more problems than just that. As you probably know, farm prices are low and have been for years. Most folks around here feel that no one appreciates the contribution of the small farmer anymore. A lot of people were demoralized by what was happening.”

  “Is it better now?”

  “Yes, but only because farmers in the area have banded together. They still aren’t getting decent prices for their crops, but they’ve found ways around that.”

  Carrie looked away; she had to swallow the lump in her throat. Her own family had been forced off the farm. The land had produced record yields, and it still wasn’t enough to make ends meet. After several years of dismal wheat prices, the family had realized the farm could no longer support them all. That was when her parents and younger brothers had moved into town.

  This had happened shortly after she’d filed for divorce. At first it had seemed inevitable that they’d have to sell the land, but then her two older brothers had decided to lease it. Pete and Tom were married by this time, and along with their wives, they’d made the decision to stay.

  Buffalo Valley had started to show signs of new life—with the reopening of the hotel and bar, as well as Rachel’s pizza restaurant. And Lindsay, of course, had brought fresh hope to the community in so many ways....

  Carrie’s mother had come into a small inheritance, and her parents chose to invest it in a business. Buffalo Valley was badly in need of an all-purpose hardware store. Carrie’s father felt confident that if people could shop locally, they would, so the family had risked everything with this venture. To date, it had been a wise choice, but now with the mega-chain threatening to swallow up smaller businesses, the Hendricksons were in grave danger of losing it all.

  “The American farmer refuses to be discounted,” Carrie said, clearing her throat. “When was the last time you purchased pasta?”

  “Pasta? As in noodles?” Vaughn asked in a puzzled voice. “Not recently. What makes you ask?”

  “Ever hear of Velma brand?”

  “Can’t say I have.”

  Carrie tucked her arm through his. “It’s made with wheat grown right here in Buffalo Valley. Brandon Wyatt and Gage Sinclair are part of the program. A year ago they joined several other local farmers, including my brothers, and some not so local, and cut out the middleman.”

  “You mean a group of farmers decided to start their own pasta company?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean.”

  “Ingenious,” Vaughn said. “Incredible. So that’s what you were talking about when you said they’d found ways around the poor prices.”

  “Yeah. There’s often a solution—but sometimes you have to find it yourself.”

  “Carrie.”

  Carrie looked up to see Lindsay and Gage Sinclair standing in the aisle near them.

  Carrie started to make the introductions, then remembered that Vaughn had met Lindsay in the pharmacy two days before.

  “Vaughn, this is my husband, Gage,” Lindsay said.

  Vaughn stood and held out his hand to Gage. He and Carrie made their way into the aisle.

  “I understand you’re an Airborne Ranger,” Gage said.

  “Was,” Vaughn corrected.

  The two men began a conversation about military life, and Lindsay stepped closer to Carrie.

  “Thanks for getting us such great seats,” Carrie said. Lindsay was a substitute teacher now but still worked on the play every year.

  “No problem.” Lindsay glanced pointedly at Vaughn. “How’s it going?”

  Carrie didn’t know how to answer. Her divorce had devastated her, and since then she’d thrown herself into her studies, forging ahead, insulating her heart. She’d been protecting herself from any risk of pain, but at the same time she’d eliminated any hope of finding love. Then Vaughn entered her life. His patience with Hassie had touched her. His willingness to hear her concerns about the changes that seemed to be coming to Buffalo Valley inspired her to fight for what she knew was right.

  Carrie looked at Vaughn and sighed. “He gives me hope,” she whispered.

  “I remember the first time I saw Gage,” Lindsay whispered back. “He looked at me and... I know it’s a cliché, but it was as if someone had zapped me with an electrical jolt. I didn’t even know this man’s name and it was as though I’d connected with him.”

  The music started and Gage reached for Lindsay’s hand. “We’d better find our seats.”

  Gage and Lindsay left, and Carrie and Vaughn returned to their own seats. No sooner had they settled in than the curtain went up.

  Several times during the evening, Carrie caught Vaughn studying her. She felt his eyes on her, and when she turned to meet his gaze, he took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. Carrie had the sensation that something was troubling him, but now wasn’t the time to ask.

  * * *

  “Kids in high school actually wrote the play themselves?” Vaughn asked Carrie for the second time. He found it difficult to believe that a group of teenagers could have created and put on such a high-quality production. The acting was a bit amateurish, true, but the emotion and heart that went into each scene stirred him more than he would’ve thought possible.

  After seeing the play, Vaughn realized he could no longer evade a decision regarding Value-X. Not after these vivid depictions of the struggles Buffalo Valley had faced. Through the years, bad weather and bouts of pestilence had plagued the land. The tales of the “dust bowl” years had given him a small taste of the hopelessness the farmers endured. The play ended with a farm family standing in the middle of a wheat field, their heads held high, their arms linked. Just thinking about that scene raised goose bumps onhis arms.

  “High-school kids,” he repeated before Carrie could respond.

  “It was as good as I said it was, don’t you agree?”

  Words fell short of describing the powerful sensation he’d experienced throughout the play.

  “Would you like to come over to Buffalo Bob’s for hot cider? A lot of folks do,” Carrie said. “But I should warn you, Pete and Tom will be there.”

  Vaughn would enjoy going another round with Carrie’s brothers, but unfortunately he had a long drive back to Grand Forks. “Another time,” he told her. He wasn’t in the mood to socialize.

  As they stepped from the warmth of the theater into the cold night air, his breath became visible in foggy wisps. The cold seemed to press against him with an intensity he hadn’t expected.

  “Let me get you home,” Vaughn said, placing his arm around her. He wasn’t accustomed to cold so severe it made his lungs ache just to draw a breath.

  Carrie wrapped her scarf more securely about her neck and pulled on her wool hat. Normally they would have walked the short distance, but not when the cold was so bitter, the wind so vicious.

  Vaughn helped her into his rental car, then hurried around the front and climbed into the driver’s seat.

  Neither spoke as he drove the few short blocks to her family’s home. Vaughn wondered if Carrie had realized no one would be there. The house was dark. Had he asked, she would’ve invited him inside, but he preferred talking to her there, in the dark.

  “Carrie, listen, there’s something I have to tell you.” He stared straight ahead, unable to look at her.

  “I know what you’re going to say.”

  He jerked his gaze to hers. Her blue eyes were barely visible in the moonlight, but he saw enough to be aware that she only thought she knew.

  “We’ve known each other a very short time,” she said. “You’ll be leaving soon.”

  “It doesn’t have anything to do with you and me.”

  “Oh.” He could hear her surprise and embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak out of turn.”

  “At the same time, it has eve
rything to do with us,” he said, and slid his arm around her neck and drew her to him. He breathed in her scent—clean and light and floral; he felt her body against him, softly yielding. After a moment of debating the wisdom of what he was about to do, he exhaled harshly.

  “Vaughn, what is it?”

  He didn’t know where he’d find the courage to tell her. She raised her head to look at him, her eyes full of warmth and concern. Kissing her was wrong; he knew it even as he lowered his mouth to hers. He didn’t care, he had to kiss her one last time before he was forced to watch the transformation that would come over her when she learned the truth. In a few seconds he was going to hurt and disillusion her.

  His mouth was on hers with excitement, with need. The kiss was intense. Real. It seemed to him that the woman in his arms had flung open her life for him, and that thought left his senses reeling.

  The guilt he felt was nearly overwhelming.

  Her hat had fallen off, and Vaughn slipped his fingers into her hair. He held her close, refusing to release her. From the way she clung to him, she didn’t want him to let her go.

  “Tell me?” she pleaded.

  “Carrie...” He shut his eyes and held his breath for a moment. “I came to Buffalo Valley for more reasons than you know.”

  “Hassie?”

  “For Hassie, yes, but...I’d also been asked to check on something for a friend.”

  “Check on what?”

  “The only way to say this is straight out. I work for Value-X.”

  Carrie froze. “What?” she asked, her voice confused. Uncomprehending.

  “Value-X’s corporate headquarters are in Seattle.”

  “I thought you were just discharged from the army.”

  “I was.”

  She pulled away from him and scraped the hair back from her face as though to see him more clearly. “I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t expect you to. I took a job with Value-X after my discharge.”

  “They sent you here?” Her back was stiff now, and she leaned away from him. A moment earlier she couldn’t get close enough, and now she was as far from him as the confines of the vehicle would allow. “Are your parents involved in this?”