By the time Allie woke from her nap, the dishes were done, wrappings and ribbons folded and tucked away for next year, and Rebecca, Nathan and Elizabeth had sat for an hour at the dining room table in conversation.
Elizabeth already loved Rebecca completely. The parts of Nathan that were so precious to her – his kindness, strength, humor, capacity to love, integrity, humility – were all a part of Rebecca too. She had a homespun wisdom and a way of laughing at herself that endeared her immediately to Elizabeth, and the way she was weathering the storm of Colleen's sudden and unspeakable death was an inspiration.
Rebecca didn't believe in keeping skeletons in closets, and she shared more of Archie Grant's story. Nathan stayed silent for much of it, but he never let go of Elizabeth throughout. He was either holding her hand, or had his arm around her shoulders or her waist while Rebecca spoke. In truth, he didn't mind that his mother told the story from her own perspective, because Nathan didn't fully trust himself to tell it. Rebecca had become philosophical over the years, but to Nathan the wound was still raw.
Nathan heard a creak on the stair and looked up to see Allie. "Hi, sweetie, did you have a good nap?" He stood quickly to get her at the top of the stairs.
She was wide-eyed. "Still Christmas?"
Nathan laughed as he carried her down. "You didn't miss it. It's still Christmas."
"Can we see the tree?" Allie said.
Nathan reached the bottom step and put Allie down on the bench next to Rebecca. He pointed to the tree in the living room and said, "This tree?"
Allie shook her head. "No. The big tree." And in case no one understood how passionate she was about just how big the tree was, Allie spread her arms as far as they would go.
"Oh," Elizabeth said, laughing. "You mean the really big tree in the town square?"
Allie nodded enthusiastically and wiggled down from the bench. She started back up the stairs, and Nathan said, "Allie, where are you going?"
"Get dressed," was all she said as she continued her progress.
Nathan started to follow her and Rebecca stood, nodding. "I'll help her. I want to memorize every minute with that little girl so I can take it back with me." She gave Nathan a quick hug and looked into his eyes. "You're doing a wonderful job with her, Nathan." She leaned up and kissed his cheek, and then she turned to Elizabeth. "You both are."
Nathan and Elizabeth watched Rebecca as she climbed the stairs after Allie, and the moment Rebecca was out of sight, Nathan reached down and took Elizabeth's hand, quickly pulling her up into his arms.
"I've been wanting to do this all day," he said, though the last few words were muffled against her lips.
Elizabeth felt her knees go weak and for a long moment she forgot where she was. He tasted of the coffee and chocolate that was still warm on his mouth, and she could feel the light stubble of his beard under her cheek. One of his arms went completely around her as his other hand moved up to her neck, then slowly to her chin and finally combing into the curls around her face. He pulled her closer, deeper into the kiss, sighing...
"Nathan? She wants her purple sweater," Rebecca's voice called down the stairwell from Allie's room.
With a start, Nathan cradled Elizabeth's head against his chest. He took a moment to collect himself before answering. "It's in the wash. Tell her the red one is better for Christmas," he said, his voice nearly a monotone as he tried to catch his breath.
Elizabeth was starting to laugh against his chest. This was an entirely new Nathan voice. This was the I was kissing my girl in the kitchen and my mother caught me voice, and something about it just tickled Elizabeth.
Nathan looked down at her, his eyes dancing. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you?"
"That you jumped when your mother caught us kissing?" Elizabeth said, giggling. She nodded. "Yes."
Nathan bent down and nuzzled Elizabeth's neck, making her laugh even harder. Both of them had forgotten that the row houses had walls as thin as paper until Elizabeth looked up over Nathan's shoulder and saw Rebecca at the top of the stairs, grinning.
"She says the red one is too tight," Rebecca said, trying not to laugh herself.
This time, Nathan simply turned around in front of Elizabeth. "The green one is new. Tell her she'll match the tree," he said, smiling sheepishly up at his mother.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "You sure you two want to wait until the spring?" Neither of them answered, and Rebecca went back across the hall, chuckling.
Nathan turned. "Do we?" he said, his eyes wide.
"Do we what?" Elizabeth said, beginning to frown a little. And then, Nathan saw the warning sign, the one raised eyebrow.
Nathan nodded, smiling. "We do. We want to wait until the spring." He leaned down and kissed her, tenderly this time, gently brushing his lips across hers.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed. "I want a white wedding. In the church."
"And you shall have it, my love," Nathan said, putting his arm around her and leading her back to the table, where he turned to her and said softly, "So do I." He kissed her once more quickly and went to refill his coffee cup. "It would seem that we're going to see the tree in the square," Nathan said, sitting down with his coffee.
"It would seem we are." Elizabeth leaned back a little. "And I won't mind a walk after that breakfast!"
Elizabeth poured out hot water from the teapot and added some honey. As she stirred it, she made sure to jangle her charm bracelet and looked sideways at Nathan. As she hoped he would, he took her wrist gently into his hand and looked at the charms.
"I saw you looking at this with Mom," he said. Nathan looked up into Elizabeth's eyes in that pure, guileless way she so loved. "Did she tell you?"
Nodding, Elizabeth said, "Yes."
Looking back down at the bracelet, Nathan asked softly, "And how does that make you feel?"
Elizabeth smiled and used her finger to turn his head up to look at her. She gazed into his translucent blue eyes and said, "Loved. Honored," she leaned over and kissed him tenderly, "Cherished."
Nathan moved a curl away from her forehead. "I thought..." He narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to find the right words.
"You thought I might think that because it was Colleen's present every year, that it would seem less personal?" Elizabeth smiled at him with pure love in her eyes. "Nathan, I know how much you love your sister. That makes it more special to me." She laid her head on his shoulder, hooking her thumb through a suspender on his chest and turning her wrist from side to side so the charms caught the light. "You know how I love to tell stories? Every year, we'll add to this story. To our story."
She looked back up into his eyes. "I can't imagine a better gift."
Rebecca had seen the tree in the square yesterday, but she hadn't seen it completely decorated and with lights on it. And now that it was Christmas Day, the bustle of the day before had calmed as people walked slowly, threw snowballs and talked to each other in small groups around the town square.
Allie was riding on Nathan's shoulders and she spread her arms out wide again. "Tree!" she said.
Rebecca laughed. "My darling girl, you are a master of the obvious. That is most certainly a tree!" Putting her arms up, Rebecca reached out for Allie. Nathan lifted her off of his shoulders and Allie took Rebecca's hand as they started to walk around the tree. Allie wanted to see the ornaments and because it had been decorated by adults and children, there were plenty for her to see down at her eye level.
Nathan and Elizabeth held hands too, and walked around the other side of the tree.
They both heard Rosemary's voice before they saw her. "You can't do something as monumental as opening up a sawmill without some sort of celebration." She was walking with Lee, doing just what everyone else was doing, looking at the tree.
Rosemary's eyes went wide when she saw Nathan and Elizabeth. "Oh, good. Maybe you two can talk some sense into him," Rosemary said, walking quickly toward them. "Please tell Lee he needs to throw a party for his new sawmill."
Nathan just raised his eyebrows at Lee, which Rosemary found less than helpful.
"Elizabeth?" she said, tilting her head at her friend.
Elizabeth laughed. "Parties are nice," she said, looking at Lee. Then she leaned in a little closer. "You'll learn with Rosemary that it's easier just to say yes. She's very persistent, and she's probably not letting this go."
"I most certainly am not letting it go," Rosemary said. "I even told him I would make all the arrangements. No one can plan a party like I can," she said, pulling herself up a little taller.
Lee could see he was fighting a losing battle, and now that he thought about it, there was nothing he'd rather do than plan a celebration with Rosemary. They'd spent all of Christmas day so far together, and it was hard to believe that it was early this morning that he'd come over to the café to chop some wood. He'd thought that he'd just say hello, take the wood back to the new sawmill office, and then spend the day working on his business plan. As it was, he'd laughed with Bill, Abigail and Rosemary all morning and most of the afternoon, eating far too many scones and completely neglecting business.
And he didn't mind a bit.
Yes, he'd been reminding himself every five minutes that she was a married woman. And through the course of the morning, he'd also learned that she was expecting, so it was clear that whatever this was could go nowhere. But Lee felt happier around Rosemary than he had in a long time, and he was giving himself this Christmas present; a joyous, carefree day in a place that he hoped would give him a brand new start.
And though Rosemary was at all times very clear in her position as a married woman, she had spoken to him about the loneliness of being a Mountie wife with her husband far away. She'd talked about the small, drafty flat in Cape Fullerton, the lack of any communication except for the one letter she'd received, and the short month and a half they'd had together before Jack had volunteered.
Lee thought that it was patently wrong for a woman as vibrant and full of life as Rosemary to be sad on Christmas, so he'd done everything he could to make her laugh. And he had – they'd found they had the same sense of humor, and at times during the morning, Lee had to admit he'd forgotten that she had a husband. She'd told a story of how she had filled the decanter on stage with real gin instead of water and had watched an obnoxious actress that everyone disliked become progressively drunk during the third act, and Lee thought he was going to split his sides laughing. No one could tell a story quite like Rosemary.
"Lee?"
He turned and Rosemary had her eyebrows raised. Lee thought he'd probably missed a part of the conversation. "Yes?"
"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" she said, shaking her head. "I was thinking that New Year's Eve would be a good night for a party. A new beginning!" she said dramatically, sweeping her hand through the air across an imaginary billboard. "We can talk to Tom Trevoy about using the saloon. I know we can decorate that drab room to make it festive, and I can play the piano and sing!"
"It sounds like fun," Elizabeth said. "And maybe we can celebrate changing the name of the town to Hope Valley at the same time? Have an unveiling of the water tower and then warm up with hot chocolate?"
Rosemary gasped. "Yes! We'll need a very large piece of cloth to put over the name. We can attach a rope to it and pull it down. Is there a brass band in town?"
All three looked at her blankly for a moment, and Nathan finally laughed. "I don't believe we have a brass band in Coal Valley, Rosemary."
"Actually..." Elizabeth said, tentatively, looking at Nathan, "We were talking about musical instruments in class one day, and it turns out that Wilma Lawson plays the trombone. And I know Mike Hickam has a trumpet..."
"And I play the flute!" Rosemary said, her face bright. "That's a band!" She looked at Elizabeth. "I just saw Hickam in the saloon. Where do I find Wilma Lawson?" She grabbed Lee's arm. "We have to rehearse!"
Lee looked at Nathan and shrugged as Rosemary dragged him off toward the saloon. "Merry Christmas!" Lee called out, laughing.
Elizabeth and Nathan watched until they went through the doors of the saloon. Rosemary still hadn't stopped talking when the doors closed behind them. And Lee hadn't stopped smiling.
Nathan took Elizabeth into his arms. She giggled and squirmed a little. "Nathan. We're in the middle of the street!"
He took hold of her left hand and brought the ring on her third finger up to his lips. "We're engaged to be married," he said softly.
"One quick kiss," she said, moving him closer to the huge tree so that they would be slightly hidden. It wasn't quick, but it wasn't scandalous either. And as Elizabeth held him tightly, with the sounds of the town around them and the heady aroma of evergreen mixed with cinnamon and chocolate that wafted down the street from Abigail's, Elizabeth knew that she would forever remember this moment on their first Christmas together.
Elizabeth had never been happier, and as she moved her head to Nathan's chest and heard his strong heartbeat warm against her ear, she knew that this was only the first of many. Her right hand rested gently on his chest and she could see the charm bracelet there.
Yes, it would tell their story, year by year. And she couldn't wait to find out what secrets it held.
"A-hem..."
Nathan and Elizabeth looked around and Rebecca was smiling broadly at them, holding Allie's hand.
"We want to ride the horses," Allie said simply.
Nathan didn't let go of Elizabeth, and they stood there in each other's arms with Elizabeth's head still on his shoulder. She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows, nodding slightly.
"You want to see our land, Mom? Where we're building the house?"
"I'd love to, but it seems I've left Nugget back in Airdrie," she said, looking around her and laughing.
"I'm sure Jed won't mind if we take one of his horses out for a short ride," Nathan said.
Elizabeth looked up at the sky. Bright blue with a few cotton clouds. Crisp, cold air and the smell of Christmas.
She couldn't think of a better day for a ride.