A Country Christmas Read online

  “If I wanted to talk, you mean,” Cal said.

  “In other words, you’d prefer to keep it all to yourself.”

  “Yup.”

  “Okay, then, if that’s what you want.”

  They drove for several minutes in tense silence. Finally Glen couldn’t stand it anymore. “This is your wife—your family. Doesn’t that matter to you? What’s going on?” He could feel his patience with Cal fading.

  Cal grumbled something he couldn’t hear. Then he said in a grudging voice, “Jane paid a visit to Tumbleweed Books the other day.”

  His brother didn’t have to explain further. Nicole Nelson worked at the bookstore, and although Jane was a good friend of Annie Porter’s, Glen suspected she hadn’t casually dropped by to see her.

  “She talk to Nicole?”

  Cal spoke through clenched teeth. “I don’t like my wife checking up on me.”

  Glen mulled this over and wondered if Cal had explained the situation. “Jane knows you didn’t take Nicole to dinner, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes!” he shouted. “I told her what happened. The next thing I know, she’s all bent out of shape, slamming pots and pans around the kitchen like I did something terrible.”

  “Make it up to her,” Glen advised. If his brother hadn’t learned that lesson by now, it was high time he did.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” Cal snapped. “If she doesn’t believe me, then...”

  “Cal, get real! Do what you’ve got to do, man. You aren’t the only one, you know. Ellie gets a bee in her bonnet every now and then. Darned if I know what I did, but after a while I don’t care. I want things settled. I want peace in the valley. Learn from me—apologize and be done with it.”

  Cal frowned, shaking his head. “I’m not you.”

  “Pride can make a man pretty miserable,” Glen said. “It’s...it’s like sitting on a barbed-wire fence naked.” He nodded, pleased with his analogy.

  Cal shook his head again, and Glen doubted his brother had really heard him. Changing the subject, Glen tried another approach. “How’s Jane’s father?”

  “All right, I guess. She talks to her mother nearly every day.”

  The ranch house came into view. Glen recalled a time not so long ago when they’d reached this same spot and had seen Nicole Nelson’s vehicle parked down below. A thought occurred to him, a rather unpleasant one.

  “Are you still in love with Jane?” Glen asked.

  Cal hit the brakes with enough force to throw them both forward. If not for the restraint of the seat belts, they might have hit their heads on the windshield.

  “What kind of question is that?” Cal roared.

  “Do you still love Jane?” Glen yelled right back.

  “Of course I do!”

  Glen relaxed.

  “What I want is a wife who trusts me,” Cal said. “I haven’t so much as looked at another woman since the day we met, and she damn well knows it.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t.”

  “Well, she should” was his brother’s response.

  To Glen’s way of thinking, there was plenty a wife should know and often didn’t. He figured it was the man’s job to set things straight and to make sure his wife had no doubt whatsoever about his feelings.

  In the days that followed it was clear that the situation between Jane and Cal hadn’t improved. Feeling helpless, Glen decided to seek his father’s advice. He found Phil at the bowling alley Friday afternoon, when the senior league was just finishing up. It didn’t take much to talk Phil into coffee and a piece of pie. The bowling alley café served the best breakfast in town and was a popular place to eat.

  As they slid into the booth, the waitress automatically brought over the coffeepot.

  “We’ll each have a slice of pecan pie, Denise,” Phil told her.

  “Coming right up,” she said, filling the thick white mugs with an expert hand. “How you doin’, Phil? Glen?”

  “Good,” Glen answered for both of them.

  No more than a minute later they were both served generous slices of pie. “Enjoy,” she said cheerily.

  Phil reached for his fork. “No problem there.”

  Glen wasn’t as quick to grab his own fork. He had a lot on his mind.

  “You want to talk to me about something?” Phil asked, busy doctoring his coffee.

  Glen left his own coffee black and raised the mug, sipping carefully.

  “I didn’t think you were willing to buy me a slice of pecan pie for nothing.”

  Glen chuckled. Of the two sons, he shared his father’s temperament. Their mother had been a take-charge kind of woman and Cal got that from her, but she’d never held her hurts close to the chest, the way Cal did.

  “I take it you’re worried about your brother.” Phil picked up his fork again and cut into his pie.

  “Yeah.” Glen stared down at his favorite dessert and realized he didn’t have much of an appetite. “What should I say to him?”

  “Listen.” Phil leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “When your mother was alive and we had the bed-and-breakfast, she was constantly trying new recipes.”

  Glen couldn’t understand what his mother’s cooking had to do with the current situation, but he knew better than to ask. Phil would get around to explaining sooner or later.

  “No matter what time of day it was, she’d sit down and eat some of whatever new dish she’d just made. When I asked her why, she said it was important to try a little of it herself before she served it to anyone else.”

  “Okay,” Glen said, still wondering about the connection between his mother’s culinary experiments and Cal and Jane.

  “Advice is like that. Take some yourself before you hand it to others.”

  “I haven’t given Cal any advice.” Not for lack of trying, however. Cal simply wasn’t in the mood to listen.

  “I realize that. The advice is going to come from me, and I’m giving it to you—free of charge.”

  Glen laughed, shaking his head.

  “Let Cal and Jane settle this themselves.”

  “But, Dad...”

  Phil waved his fork at him. “Every couple has problems at one time or another. You and Ellie will probably go through a difficult patch yourselves, and when you do, you won’t appreciate other people sticking their noses in your business.”

  “Do you think Cal and Jane are going to be okay?”

  “Of course they are. Cal loves Jane. He won’t do anything to jeopardize his family. Now eat your pie, or I just might help myself to a second slice.”

  Glen picked up his fork. His father knew what he was talking about; Cal did love Jane, and whatever was wrong would eventually right itself.

  * * *

  Jane noticed a change in Cal the moment he came into the house. They’d been ignoring each other all week. The tension was taking its toll, not only on her but on the children.

  Cal paused in the middle of the kitchen, where she was busy putting together Halloween costumes for the children. As usual the church was holding a combined harvest and Halloween party.

  Jane didn’t leave her place at the kitchen table, nor did she speak to Cal. Instead, she waited for him to make the first move, which he did. He walked over to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee, then approached the table.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in a friendly voice.

  “Making Mary Ann a costume for the church party.” She gestured at a piece of white fabric printed with spots. “She’s going as a dalmatian,” Jane said.

  Cal grinned. “One of the hundred and one?” They’d recently watched the Disney animated feature on DVD.

  Jane nodded and held up a black plastic dog nose, complete with elastic tie.

  “What about Paul?”

  “He’s going as a pirate.”r />
  Cal cradled his mug in both hands. “Do you mind if I sit here?”

  “Please.”

  He pulled out the chair and set his coffee on the table. For at least a minute, he didn’t say another word. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, deliberate. “This whole thing about Nicole Nelson is totally out of control. If you need reassurances, then I’ll give them to you. I swear to you not a thing happened.”

  Jane said nothing. It’d taken him nearly two weeks to tell her what she already knew. His unwillingness to do so earlier had hurt her deeply. In her heart she knew she could trust her husband, but his pride and stubbornness had shut her out.

  This situation with Nicole was regrettable. Not wanting to put Annie in the middle—it was awkward with Nicole working at Tumbleweed Books—Jane had asked general questions about the other woman. Annie had told her she liked Nicole. After their talk, Jane was convinced that the encounter between Nicole and Cal, whatever it was, had been completely innocent.

  Because they lived in a small town, the story had spread quickly and the truth had gotten stretched out of all proportion; Jane understood that. What troubled her most was Cal’s attitude. Instead of answering her questions or reiterating his love, he’d acted as if she’d somehow wronged him. Well, she hadn’t been out there generating gossip! Still, Jane felt a sense of relief that their quarrel was ending.

  She caught her husband staring at her intently.

  “Can we put this behind us?” Cal asked.

  Jane smiled. “I think it’s time, don’t you?”

  Cal’s shoulders relaxed, and he nodded. Seconds later, Jane was in her husband’s arms and he was kissing her with familiar passion. “I’m crazy about you, Jane,” he whispered, weaving his fingers into her thick hair.

  “I don’t like it when we fight,” she confessed, clinging to him.

  “You think I do?” he asked. “Especially over something as stupid as this.”

  “Oh, Cal,” she breathed as he bent to kiss her again.

  “Want to put the kids to bed early tonight?”

  She nodded eagerly and brought her mouth to his. “Right after dinner.”

  Afterward, Jane felt worlds better about everything. They’d both been at fault and they both swore it wouldn’t happen again.

  For the next few days Cal was loving and attentive, and so was Jane, but it didn’t take them long to slip back into the old patterns. The first time she became aware of it was the night of the church party.

  Amy McMillen, the pastor’s wife, had asked Jane to arrive early to assist her in setting up. She’d assumed Cal would be driving her into town. Instead, he announced that he intended to stay home and catch up on paperwork. Jane made sure Cal knew she wanted him to attend the function with her, that she needed his help. Supervising both children, plus assisting with the games, would be virtually impossible otherwise. But she decided not to complain; she’d done so much of that in the past couple of months.

  When it came time for her to leave, Cal walked her and the children out to the car. Once she’d buckled the kids into their seats, she started the engine, but Cal stopped her.

  “You’ve got a headlight out.”

  “I do? Oh, no...”

  “I don’t want you driving into town with only one headlight.”

  Jane glanced at her watch.

  “Take the truck,” he said. “I’ll change the car seats.”

  “But—”

  “Sweetheart, please, it’ll just take a minute.” Fortunately his truck had a large four-door cab with ample space for both seats.

  “What’s this?” Jane asked. In front, on the passenger side, was a cardboard box with a glass casserole dish.

  Cal took one look at it and his eyes rushed to meet hers. “A dish,” he muttered.

  “Of course it’s a dish. Whose dish?”

  He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I don’t know if I mentioned it, but Dovie and Savannah brought me meals while you were away,” he said, wrapping the safety belt around Mary Ann’s car seat and snapping it in place.

  “You mean to say half the town was feeding you and you still managed to nearly destroy my kitchen?”

  Cal chuckled.

  “I meant to return the dish.” He kissed Jane and closed the passenger door. “I’ll see to that headlight first thing tomorrow morning,” he promised, and opened the door on the driver’s side.

  Jane climbed in behind the wheel. Normally she didn’t like driving Cal’s vehicle, which was high off the ground and had a stick shift. She agreed, however, that in the interests of safety, it was the better choice.

  The church was aglow when Jane drove up. Pastor Wade McMillen stood outside, welcoming early arrivals, and when he saw Jane, he walked over and helped her extract Mary Ann from her seat.

  “Glad to have you back, Jane,” he said. “I hope everything went well with your father.”

  “He’s doing fine,” she said, although that wasn’t entirely true. She was in daily communication with her mother. It seemed her father wasn’t responding to the chemotherapy anymore and grew weaker with every treatment. Her mother was at a loss. Several times she’d broken into tears and asked Jane to talk Cal into letting her and the children come back for a visit over Christmas. Knowing how Cal would feel, she hadn’t broached the subject yet.

  “Would you like me to carry in that box for you?” Wade asked.

  “Please.” Both Dovie and Savannah would be at the church party, and there was no reason to keep the casserole dish in the truck.

  “I’ll put it in the kitchen,” Wade told her, leading the way.

  Paul saw the display of pumpkins and dried cornstalks in the large meeting room and shouted with delight. Although it was early, the place was hopping with children running in every direction.

  Jane followed the pastor into the kitchen, and sure enough, found Dovie there.

  “I understand this is yours,” Jane said when Wade set the box down on the counter.

  Dovie shook her head.

  “Didn’t you send dinner out to Cal?”

  “I did, but he already returned the dishes.”

  “It must belong to Savannah, then,” she said absently.

  Not until much later in the evening did Jane see Savannah and learn otherwise. “Well, for heaven’s sake,” she muttered to Ellie as they were busy with the cleanup. “I don’t want to drag this dish back home. Do you know who it belongs to?”

  Ellie went suspiciously quiet.

  “Ellie?” Jane asked, not understanding at first.

  “Ask Cal,” her sister-in-law said.

  “Cal?” Jane repeated and then it hit her. She knew exactly who owned that casserole dish. And asking Cal was what she intended to do. Clearly more had gone on while she was away than he’d admitted. How dared he do this to her!

  Glen carried the box containing the dish back to the truck for her. Tired from the party, both Paul and Mary Ann fell asleep long before she turned off the highway onto the dirt road that led to the house.

  No sooner had she parked the truck than the back door opened and Cal stepped out. Although it was difficult to contain herself, she waited until the children were in bed before she brought up the subject of the unclaimed dish.

  “I ran into Dovie and Savannah,” she said casually as they walked into the living room, where the television was on. Apparently her husband didn’t have as much paperwork as he’d suggested.

  “Oh? How was the party?”

  Jane ignored the question. “Neither one of them owns that casserole dish.”

  Jane watched as Cal’s shoulders tensed.

  “Tell me, Cal, who does own it?”

  Not answering, Cal strode to the far side of the room.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten,” Jane said.

  He shook his head
.

  A sick feeling was beginning to build in the pit of her stomach. “Cal?”

  “Sweetheart, listen—”

  “All I want is a name,” she interrupted, folding her arms and letting her actions tell him she was in no mood to be cajoled.

  Cal started to say something, then stopped.

  “You don’t need to worry,” Jane said without emotion. “I figured it out. That dish belongs to Nicole Nelson.”

  Six

  Cal couldn’t believe this was happening. Okay, so his wife had cause to be upset. He should’ve mentioned that Nicole Nelson had brought him a meal. The only reason he hadn’t was that he’d been hoping to avoid yet another argument. He knew how much their disagreements distressed her, and she’d been through so much lately. He was just trying to protect her!

  Without a word to him, Jane had gone to bed. Cal gave her a few minutes to cool down before he ventured into the bedroom. The lights were off, but he knew she wasn’t asleep.

  “Jane,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. She had her back to him and was so far over on her side it was a wonder she hadn’t tumbled out. “Can we talk about this?” he asked, willing to take his punishment and be done with it.

  “No.”

  “You’re right, I should’ve told you Nicole came to the ranch, but I swear she wasn’t here more than ten minutes. If that. She brought over the casserole and that was it.”

  Jane flopped over onto her back. “Are you sure, or is there something else you’re conveniently forgetting?”

  Cal could live without the sarcasm, but let it drop. “I thought we’d decided to put this behind us.” He could always hope tonight’s installment of their ongoing argument would be quickly settled. The constant tension between them had worn his patience thin.

  Jane suddenly bolted upright in bed. She reached for the lamp beside her bed and flipped the switch, casting a warm light about the room. “You have a very bad habit of keeping things from me.”

  That was unfair! Cal took a deep calming breath before responding. “It’s true I didn’t tell you Nicole fixed me dinner, but—”

  “You didn’t so much as mention her name!”