Elizabeth's Journal Entry:
My very favorite time of the year is here again. Christmas is always special in Hope Valley. I love our town customs, new and old. But this year we have something extra to celebrate. Lucas Bouchard has inspired Hope Valley to put on its very own Chrsitmas Festival just like the ones he visited when he traveled with his parents. He's got the whole town involved. People are enjoying familiar treats. And some new ones. Even my student choir is pitching in. They will be preforming at the festival finale on Christmas Eve. For me, this holiday is special because it's also little Jack's first birthday. I want to make Christmas as wonderful for him as it was for my sisters and me when I was growing up. A full house overflowing with beauty, laughter, and good cheer.
Nyrah has been a comfort to me ever since that night in the saloon, apologizing more than three times a day for the way she spoke to me before being captured. I keep telling her there is nothing to forgive, but she still insists. We have become good friends, and little Jack adores her.
It is now Christmas, and as I predicted before, it is buzzing like a hive from all the people that came for Hope Valley's Festival. I am earning good wages from working at the saloon, and I have even been able to sit with baby Jack for Elizabeth sometimes. Lollygagging near the shelves of Yost's store. I already have a bag of peppermint leaves. Apparently they don't have candy-canes yet. I mean, they do, but they are white and dull, with no signature mint flavor whatsoever. It makes me want to cry. I need to purchase one last gift, but I cannot concentrate with Molly and Florence gossiping right behind me. They introduced themselves to me shortly after I moved in with the Coulter's. We had a session of twenty questions, but somehow I was able to evade the debriefing because I tripped on a marble. I now have a delightful scar on my forearm.
What about a book or a batch of cookies? I suppose I could give him something similar to what I will give Elizabeth. I hope Lucas likes it...
"More drawing supplies?" Mr. Yost asks. I nod, then leave with a smile on my face. I am excited to finish this sketch. I will drop off my groceries at the house, then start my cleaning shift at the Queen Of Hearts. I see the children with the wire and fabric that Lucas left with them. I am looking forward to seeing those floating lanterns, even if Lucas does this for Elizabeth, and not for me. It will be a sky of candlelight, and I'm bursting at the seams! And that is when I bump into someone. His freckles are even more attractive up close. My jaw tightens with anxiety; his face is far too close to mine.
"I'm sorry," I begin to stutter, "Welcome b-back to t-town sir." The basket on my arm turns to lead and my bicep aches.
"It is a privilege to know you recall my brief visit here a few months ago," he offers to take my hand, and my stupefied self gifts it to him. What am I doing? Why don't I wrap my hand and seal it with ribbon while I'm at it? But I can't take it back because his chapped lips brush against my knuckles. "My name is Jude Wesley, and may I ask what I should call you?"
"N-Nyrah Sut-Sutton," I actually think my knees are quaking, "My name is Nyrah Sutton."
"Well, Miss Sutton, it was a blessed privilege to meet you." Mr. Wesley tips his hat, and strides past me. What was that? His greeting was so short...whatever. I'm just going to ignore what what happened and go on with my day.
When I get to the saloon, the beds in each room are in disarray. All of them appear to have had a cyclone sleeping in them. Except one. There is one bed that appears to have been turned down for sleep, but never disturbed beyond that. A briefcase is settled on the floor by the hat rack; it is then I realize I am in the wrong room, which is highly embarrassing. With rosy cheeks, I am halted from being able to exit. The man from before stands with a writhing glare three inches above me.
"Mr. Wesley, I do apologize. I thought I was in a different room, but I noticed my mistake, so I was just leaving." His anger fades after a few seconds, judging whether I was telling the truth. "I work here," I add for good measure, with a wad of bedsheets straining my arms.
"Miss Sutton, will you join me for dinner this evening?" My jaw has fallen thirty feet into the ground. He's asking me out! In this moment, Lucas enters my mind. His brown eyes and slanted smile. A vision of our fist kiss, our hands entwined until we die. The daydream bursts, bringing me back to the present.
"Thank you for asking me, but I have things going on. The festival is going to require my complete attention. These rooms will be full by the evening and I have more to do than change the sheets." His arm blocks my exit, igniting an ember of anger within me. My stomach coils.
"What about after the festival?" His glasses reflect my figure in them. I look horrible, so I don't see his fascination.
"I'm not interested in watching you eat." I duck beneath his arm and continue my rounds, sensing his gaze on my back. When the chores are finished, Lucas meets me at the bottom of the stairs with a bowl of potato soup. I receive it, grateful. He is a good employer, and he cares for his workers. This is something I appreciate compared to the world I used to know.
"Thank you."
"You need to eat. I know you haven't since breakfast this morning."
"Actually, I haven't eaten breakfast either." I suck my bottom lip.
"All the more reason for you to enjoy your favorite." He says. I had told him that months ago, when he first gave me this job.
"You remember that?" My lungs end their function, choking elated air from my bloodstream. He smiles, but I think it is more to himself than to me.
"Yes."
"Well, thank you...again."
"Take an hour break and enjoy the festival. I can handle things here until you get back."
"I don't mind working, Lucas."
"I know you don't, but I do. You are a good worker, but it will be difficult for you to be without some rest and enjoyment." He walks away before I can object. He knows me too well. I have been working like a team of cattle pulling a plow for the past two weeks. I want to be able to afford Christmas presents for everyone I care about here in Hope Valley. That endeavor alone has been difficult. I have also been earning a little from filling in for Laura when she can't babysit for Elizabeth. I worked through all last night, drawing sketches that are personal to the people here. I even sent one to Mrs. Abigail Stanton with a letter introducing myself. I haven't given anyone their gifts yet here in town. I'm so stressed.
A meal in my belly, and I'm ready to see the sights. All the tinsel, ribbon, and snow could not replace the splendor I am experiencing. "Elizabeth!" I wave at her as if I'm a lunatic, and she sees me at the last second before I am about to jump up and down. I ignore the gnarled expressions.
"Oh! Look Jack, there's Nyrah." The little boy offers a slobbery smile, and I kiss him on the forehead.
"How is my favorite young man today?"
"We're about to put a wish on the tree!" Elizabeth pumps baby Jack's fist to the sky. "Have you put one on yet?"
"No, I honestly haven't thought to." Jack reaches for me, and Elizabeth gives me permission to hold him. She explains how the wishing tree works, and I listen as if I have never heard it before, but beyond the drone of the mundane, I hear carols being sung. I rember when my family and I shared Christmas together. Seeing Rosemary shuttle from booth to booth, shows me I have a new family. I have felt at home here for what seems so long. Will I be here the rest of my life? I miss my best friend. I even miss being a barista somehow, which I never saw as being possible. Little Jack and I head along with Elizabeth past the carolers and beside the box labeled "wishing tree." Elizabeth writes hers, and then places little Jack's right next to it before releasing him from my grasp. I pick an angel-shaped ornament, but hesitate before writing on it.
"I'm not certain I know what to write." Elizabeth thinks for me, but in the end, says it is my wish and that I know my own heart. I feel foolish and silly to write it because I know it will never be removed from the tree. I reach on my tip toes to hang it in a huge empty gap, desperately needing decoration, when I catch a glimpse of a name. Jude Wesley.
I read the contents to myself, but what it says would cause me to fall off of a ladder if I were using one, "I wish to take the loveliest woman I've ever met to dinner." Is this a sign of fate?
"Is everything alright, Nyrah?" I replace Jude's ornament with my own, and show her what it reads. "He asked me to go to dinner with him less than an hour ago, Elizabeth."
"Oh, well, what did you tell him?" She's got to be joking.
"Well...I profusely turned him down."
"Are you reconsidering?"
"No."
"Then, you are welcome to leave it on the tree. You have no obligation to take it down."
"I know," I suck my bottom lip, "you're right."
"Come on, let's get some hot apple cider." She wraps one arm around my shoulders, and I leave his ornament on the tree.
When we get our cider, we stand there, chatting for a while. "By the way, I have something for the two of you later."
"Really? What is that?"
"It's a surprise," I chortle, "I can't tell you yet."
Elizabeth gives me a pouty lip, and I stick my tongue out at her, "Alright," she says, "I guess we can wait." The three of us find ourselves at what Lucas calls "the stand for Bavarian Sausages." I just call it a "hotdog stand", because that is what it looks like to me.
"Hi," Lucas greets us.
"This is quite the turn out. How widely did you advertise?" Elizabeth readjusts the weight of her son on her hip.
"I didn't," he explains, this is all just word of mouth."
"Just goes to show you, good news travels fast." Rosemary is so bright and cheerful today, more than usual. It probably has something to do with the fact her husband is giving her that adoring look again. I roll my eyes.
"You gotta love that holiday spirit I guess, huh?" Lee adds.
"Well, especially when it increases your business three-fold. Never seen a line-up going to the Queen Of Hearts." Henry Gowen's statement is about business. What is new? That aside, I have been very impressed with how the writers developed Henry as a character. I absolutely hated him, but then they somehow got me to change my heart toward him. He is a man who has made many mistakes, but it feels like it doesn't matter anymore.
"Henry," Elizabeth gently scolds, "Lucas went to a great deal of trouble to make sure everyone could enjoy the festival."
Lucas stuffs both hands in his coat, "Thank you Elizabeth, that was the idea."
"You should try one if these Henry." Bill Avery is biting hard into a Bavarian Sausage, with saurkraut in a mess over the top. Bill nods in bliss without shame.
"They're good, are they?" Gowen asks.
"Absolutely. One for my business partner here, please." Lucas shares a moment with Elizabeth, causing the jealousy to rise in my throat again. All these secret looks between them is beyond unbearable, until he catches me staring at him. I look away, but when I turn my head again, he is still looking at me.
I love holiday feels there is a Holiday Pt. 2 coming up soon, hopefully. I know we have a couple of months yet, but you have to admit, it IS getting closer.
What did Nyrah write for her wish? Any ideas?
Love you all so much!