Page 11 of On a Midnight Clear

Now the guilt came. Vincent had never given thought to Angel being lonely.

He had been so happy to have someone to handle the children that he’d not even considered what Angel’s needs might be.

She had known coming here that Vincent wasn’t looking for a wife to love.

Still, she’d said nothing. She’d borne her loneliness in silence.

He felt like a cad, the worst of friends.

At least he could talk to her. He would have to make a better effort to seek her out.

But what would they talk about? His mind went back to that morning, waking up to find her there in his bed.

Thinking at first it was Elsa. Then realizing it was Angel, and she was falling.

He couldn’t help but confess, at least to himself, that he hadn’t been displeased to find her there.

They had slept comfortably together. At least he had.

In fact, it was probably the best sleep he’d had since losing his wife.

Sadly, he hadn’t thought to ask how Angel had slept.

He’d so closed off his heart and thoughts since losing Elsa that he hadn’t even considered she might have suffered.

Vincent realized the time and picked up the pen.

He wrote a few lines to Granny, telling her about the children.

He concluded with words of love for her and John Quincy, then quickly folded the letter and sealed it in the envelope.

He knew he shouldn’t have read Angel’s words, but he was glad he had.

He was going to find a way to be a better husband to her. Or at least a better friend.

Two hours later, they were on their way home from church.

Myra had packed them a lunch to take, and the children were busy eating and talking about the friends they’d seen.

Benjamin was more like his old self, and Vincent breathed a silent prayer of thanks for this.

He worried so much about the boy. His anger toward God for taking his mother had left him difficult to handle at times.

Hopefully, God was at work softening the hardened edges of Benjamin’s heart.

Vincent knew God had certainly been working on his own heart.

He hadn’t meant to close God off in his grief.

The pastor had talked about the joy of the Lord that morning.

Joy was something that had been sorely lacking in their home, but he intended to see things change.

They needed more joy in their lives. Angel had done her level best to bring them some happiness and healing.

Vincent felt he owed it to her, if not to everyone, to find some way to experience more joy.

After all, Christmas was soon to be upon them.

Elsa had always made a big celebration of Christmas.

She loved the festivities surrounding the holiday but loved even more the reminder of God’s gift in sending His Son, Jesus.

It seemed people everywhere were happy to share some Christmas spirit, but not always for the right reason.

Elsa, however, had always felt it a hallowed occasion, and along with the fun and laughter, she brought in an equal amount of reverence and awe.

While the children were otherwise occupied, Vincent leaned closer to Angel. “Are you cold?”

“A little.” Her teeth clattered a bit as she shivered.

“Why don’t you share that with me.” He pointed to the wool blanket on her lap.

She scooted a little closer and spread the blanket across them both. Tucking it under her legs, she gave him a nod. “Thank you. That is better.”

“Sorry I wasn’t thinking about it sooner. I’m not always the most thoughtful of men. But since we are talking about being thoughtful, I wondered what you might like to do in celebration of Christmas.”

“Christmas?” She shook her head. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Well, you should. It’ll be here in a little more than a month.” He grinned. “We’re rather fond of it.”

“I supposed I hadn’t really thought about it because of ... well ... you’re still in mourning.”

“True, but we’ve had enough sorrow to last us a lifetime. Elsa loved Christmas. I mean, she really lived to celebrate it. She always worked to make the house a joyful place for the holiday. You don’t have to decide right now what you want to do, but think about it.”

“How did you usually celebrate?”

“Well, we always tried to go to church, but it would depend on the weather. Last year we made it and had a wonderful time. Church services were beautiful, and there was a little party afterward. The children had fun because there were games and lots of candy.”

“I could make candy. I have a bunch of Granny’s recipes. She and I used to make a lot of treats for various families during the holidays.”

“Perfect. I miss Granny’s sugarplums.”

“I have that recipe, as well as the recipe for boiled sweets, maple candy, and of course all sorts of cookies. We would probably have to make another trip back to town, however. I don’t have the ingredients at home.”

Vincent glanced at her and smiled. “I’m sure we can arrange that.

Zeb can probably spare us another day or two of help, and we can attend church again.

I do find I miss the fellowship.” He sobered and looked back at the trail.

He could keep his feelings inside or share them with Angel.

He thought of her loneliness and knew his own often threatened to overwhelm him.

“Elsa loved church. She said that her faith in God was the foundation of who she was, but that church and the fellowship of the people there were what gave her the daily encouragement she needed. When we came to this territory, we both knew it would be hard to attend church on a regular basis unless we lived in town. Still, we made an effort to go every week.”

“That must have been very hard with little ones,” Angel said, glancing back at the children. They had curled up together after eating and were buried under several blankets.

“It wasn’t ideal, to be certain, but Elsa made it seem so.

She was happy to fix things up on Saturday so that it would be an easier time on Sunday.

We padded part of the wagon so Benjamin and Ava could play.

They always had a lot of fun unless the temperatures dropped too much.

If the weather was bad, of course, we didn’t even attempt the drive. ”

“That makes sense.” Angel reached under the seat to where they had put their part of the lunch Myra had packed. “Are you hungry?”

“I could stand to eat.”

Angel produced a cloth-wrapped bundle and opened it. “Let’s see what we have. Looks like ham and cheese, buttered biscuits—oh, and Myra included some of that delicious lemon cake from last night’s supper.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Angel took a biscuit and put a piece of ham between the top and bottom.

She handed it to Vincent and then made one for herself.

It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but Vincent had noticed that the skies were growing darker.

Heavy gray clouds were moving in, and no doubt they would see snowfall by the time they reached home.

He just hoped it might hold off until then.

“It would seem you’re going to experience your first Wyoming snow,” he said, smiling at Angel.

She frowned and gave a look around them. “What do we do if it starts before we get home?”

“I don’t think it will, but if it does, we’ll keep pushing on. If it comes up a blizzard, then we might have to seek someplace to wait it out. There are plenty of ravines and a few hilly spots that we can tuck into and wait it out.”

“That sounds a bit adventurous, maybe more than what I would like to experience.” She shook her head. “I would just as soon be inside the house, looking out at the snowfall.”

He laughed. “I agree. That does hold more promise.” He snapped the lines. “Come on, you two, let’s pick up the pace. We don’t want Angel losing her halo in the snow.”