The Christmas Quandary: Sweet Historical Holiday Romance (Hardman Holidays Book 5) Read online

  “Pork roast, fried apples, fluffy biscuits, and…” he sniffed the air again, wrinkling his brow in question. “What is that smell?”

  Junie waggled her spoon at him. “That’s cauliflower. Aleta had a fresh shipment the other day and I couldn’t resist buying a few heads. Fresh produce tastes so good in the winter.”

  “If you say so,” Tom said. The dubious expression on his face caused his mother to shoot him an indulgent look.

  While she dished up the food, he poured glasses of milk and set them on the table. His father stamped his feet at the back step and entered the kitchen, bringing in a draft of cold air.

  “Brr. I’m glad to be done with the chores for the evening. It is cold out there and the temperature keeps dropping.” James hung his coat and hat on hooks by the door then washed his hands at the sink. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it snows again this weekend.”

  Junie held out a carving knife and fork to him and motioned to the pork roast resting on a platter. With expert strokes, James carved it and set it on the table.

  “Will you give thanks for us, son?” James asked, once they all were seated.

  Tom shared a short but heartfelt prayer then snapped the napkin next to his plate in the air and draped it with ceremony across his lap, making Junie smile once again.

  “What’s gotten into you two?” James asked, eyeing his son and wife with suspicion as he helped himself to a serving of the succulent pork.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary,” Junie said, winking at Tom as she passed him the fried apples.

  When he attempted to pass the cauliflower without taking any, she added a spoonful to his plate.

  “Mama, you know I don’t like that,” he whined.

  James laughed and pointed his fork at his son’s plate. “Eat up, Tom, or no dessert for you. I know for a fact you don’t want to miss out on tonight’s offering.”

  Tom craned his neck, trying to see what his mother had made, but he didn’t catch a glimpse of anything sweet. “What did you make, Mama?”

  She lifted an eyebrow and gave him a motherly glare. “I’m not telling until you clean your plate.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Tom said, doing his best to sound like a scolded, repentant child. Secretly, he was amused his parents thought they could still tell him what to do and expect him to obey. He’d eat the blasted cauliflower, not because he wanted to, but because it would make his mother happy.

  Later, when his mother served him a large slice of chocolate cake with freshly whipped cream and a cup of her good coffee, he decided the three bites of cauliflower he’d eaten were worth it to get dessert.

  “This looks great, Mama. Thank you.” He took a bite of the cake and moaned in pleasure. “Mmm. That is so good. No one makes chocolate cake quite like yours.”

  “Do you eat out a lot in the city?” Junie sat at the table with a small serving of the cake.

  “Not too often. It can get expensive. I eat more than my share of sandwiches, though. I don’t have a lot of time for cooking and even less talent at it, although I do make a mean pan of scrambled eggs.”

  James grinned. “So you’ve copied the one thing I can make that is edible.”

  “That I did, Dad.” Tom took another bite of the cake then looked to his mother. “Dad mentioned you scraped the wallpaper in the spare bedroom this week. If you like, I can help you work on the room tomorrow.”

  “That’s good of you to offer, honey. I won’t refuse the help. I think I should have waited until spring to take on such a big project, but I want to have the room ready long before it is needed for our little one.” Her hand dropped down to her belly and she rubbed it gently.

  Tom observed her movements. “Have you thought of any names?”

  Junie glanced at James and he nodded. “Well, we’ve been thinking about Jamie. That way, it wouldn’t matter if it was a boy or a girl.”

  “Jamie Grove.” Tom tested out the name, liking the way it sounded. “I think that will do quite nicely.”

  “We’re glad you approve,” James said, with a hint of sarcasm.

  Tom smirked at his father. “Then again, Hortense and Herkimer are nice, too.”

  Junie slapped her napkin over her mouth to keep from spewing out the drink of tea she’d just taken.

  James roared with laughter and Tom chuckled. He shot his parents a puckish grin. “Maybe you’ll have twins and can use both those names.”

  “Bite your tongue,” Junie said, when she regained the ability to speak. “My lands, Tom, but you are full of foolishness tonight. You seem happier than when you first arrived in town. What’s put such a big smile on your face?”

  James smirked. “I don’t think it’s what, but whom.”

  Tom scowled at his dad and took a big bite of cake so he wouldn’t have to respond.

  Junie’s eyebrows rose so high they nearly reached her hairline. “Have you met a girl, Tom? Here in Hardman?”

  He could almost see the wheels spinning in her head. If he met a local girl and fell in love, then he wouldn’t leave again. Sadly, he had to crush his mother’s dreams.

  “We’re just friends, Mama. That’s all.”

  Junie pinned him with a pointed stare. “And who is this friend, sweetheart? The one you obviously don’t like and aren’t smitten over?”

  Exasperated, Tom sighed. “It’s Lila Granger. Everyone knows she’s engaged to be wed as soon as she returns to New York and that’s that.”

  James and Junie exchanged a look Tom couldn’t decipher. The fact he couldn’t annoyed him as much as their secretive system of communication. If he ever wed, he planned to dedicate particular time and effort into perfecting a similar means of expressing his thoughts to his wife. It would certainly come in handy for leaving their offspring perplexed and agitated.

  “Before you start plotting and planning, let me make it perfectly clear — Lila and I are just friends. Only friends. I’ll be heading back to Portland after the new year arrives and she’ll leave at the end of January to return to New York to marry her true love.”

  “Who said her fiancé is her true love?” Junie asked.

  Confused, Tom glared at her. “He’d have to be or she wouldn’t agree to marry him, would she?”

  Junie shrugged. “Girls agree to wed for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with true love. Didn’t Lila lose both her parents last year?”

  “Yes. She said Mr. Lylan proposed not long after their passing because he was heading overseas to study for a year. He’s due back in the middle of January.”

  Junie gave him a disgruntled look. “You mean to tell me he had the poor taste to propose when she was deep in grief over losing her parents, just to assure she’d be waiting for him when he returned?”

  “That is my understanding of the matter,” Tom said, sipping his coffee, gratified by his mother’s response. He thought it rude of Emerson to propose then head off for his year of studies at Oxford. Perhaps his dislike of the man, because he held Lila’s heart, adversely colored his opinion on the matter.

  “That does seem in poor taste,” James commented, then appeared thoughtful. “What did you say his name is?”

  “Emerson Lylan.” Tom fairly spat out the words.

  Amused, James couldn’t hold back his laughter.

  “What is so funny?” Tom asked, further irritated with his father.

  “The name,” James said, trying to curtail his mirth. “Lila Lylan. You can’t let that girl marry him for the name alone. It sounds like someone is trying not to trip over their tongue. Lila Lylan. Oh, that’s too much!”

  Tom couldn’t help but smile. “I thought the same thing myself.” A soul-deep sigh rolled out of him. “But what can I do? She’s already promised to him.”

  Junie grinned. “Promised to him is a long way from married to that man. He’s across the ocean and you, my dear, sweet boy, are right here in Hardman. Romance blossoms in town during the holidays. If you put your mind to it, you could certainly woo one beautiful, liv
ely young woman who looks at you with a great deal of affection.”

  Tom’s head snapped up at his mother’s words. “Does she really?”

  “Yes, honey, she does. I noticed it quite plainly at church last Sunday.” Junie sat up straight in her chair. “If it was me, I’d certainly give a fine young man like you a second look. Lila’s given you more than that.”

  “You should tell him,” James said, reaching out to squeeze Junie’s shoulder.

  Puzzled, Tom looked from his mother to his father. “Tell me what? If it’s a bigger surprise than your little bundle of joy’s upcoming arrival, I’m not sure I’m up for it.”

  Junie shook her head. “No. It’s nothing that dramatic and blessed.” She took her husband’s hand in hers and held it on her lap. “You see, Tom, before I met your father, I was engaged to marry another.”

  “You were?” Tom’s eyes widened as he stared at his mother, trying to picture her as young and carefree as Lila. He could almost envision it.

  “I was. You know I grew up in Shaniko. What you don’t know is that I was working the counter in my father’s store one afternoon when a dashing young farmer walked inside. He had the warmest blue eyes and the most engaging smile. He was on his way home after delivering a load of wool for a neighbor.” Junie smiled at James. “One of the local boys asked me to marry him a few months before that. He’d gone off to Portland to study to become an attorney. Like Lila’s young man, he proposed a few days before he left. Caught up in the excitement of being engaged, especially when I was so young, I readily agreed. However, I wasn’t in love with that boy. I was in love with the notion of being in love, but not Edward. I lost my heart to your father the moment he looked at me and said hello.”

  “How did you two court if Dad was here on the farm and Mama was in Shaniko?” Tom asked.

  James grinned and kissed his wife’s cheek. “She married me the next morning and came home with me.”

  Tom’s jaw dropped and he gaped at his parents. “No kidding? You two married complete strangers?”

  Junie smiled. “We might not have known everything about each other when we wed, but we knew enough to realize we were in love, even after just a few hours. I wrote Edward a letter, breaking our engagement, packed my things, hugged my mom and dad goodbye, and left with James. I’ve never, not even for one day, regretted my decision to follow my heart.” She reached across the table and squeezed Tom’s hand. “That’s what you need to do, honey. Follow your heart, wherever it may lead. Even if it takes you right to Lila’s door. If you love her, tell her. Don’t let a silly thing like an absent fiancé keep you from finding happiness.”

  Tom sat back, attempting to digest his parents’ love story and the idea he still had a chance with Lila. If he worked up the courage to tell her how he really felt, would she spurn him? Laugh in his face?

  Or finally allow him the pleasure of tasting those sweet, sweet lips of hers.

  “Oh!” Junie gasped, and placed both hands on her tummy. James looked at her with concern, until she smiled and lifted his hand, placing it on her stomach. “Can you feel that?” she asked, gazing adoringly at her husband. “I think the baby moved.”

  James remained perfectly still, fingers splayed over her belly. A grin broke out on his face and he beamed. “He’s going to be a lively little fellow.”

  Junie frowned. “He might be a she, so none of that nonsense.” She turned her gaze to Tom. “Do you want to feel it?”

  Not ready for that sort of experience, Tom shook his head. “Maybe another time.” He softened his refusal with a teasing grin. “You might as well just call the baby Jamie, Dad. If that’s the name Mama likes, then that’s the name it will be.”

  “That it will, son.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Mr. Grove! Please wait!”

  Tom and his parents stopped and turned as Dora Granger hurried their direction after church on Sunday.

  The woman smiled as she approached, wearing one of the ugliest hat’s Tom had ever seen. Shaped like a tricorn, the pale yellow felt swooped upward in the back almost a foot in height. A swath of creamy, airy fabric dripped over the brim while a flower as big as a dinner plate bobbed at the very top of the crown. A bejeweled clasp glittered from the hat’s front in the morning sunlight.

  “Hello, Mrs. Granger. That is quite a hat,” Junie said, subtly elbowing Tom in the side.

  He fought back an urge to laugh. He and his mother so often found the same things amusing, like Dora Granger’s penchant for the most attention-grabbing hats anyone in the county had ever seen.

  Dora reached up and brushed the brim of the hat. “It is something, isn’t it? When Mr. Granger and I were in New York last month, we were strolling along the avenue past some of my favorite shops when I saw this one and just had to have it.”

  “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Junie said, with more diplomacy than Tom could have mastered.

  He bumped his mother on purpose, knowing she was on the verge of laughing, too.

  Oblivious to their amusement over her millinery selections, Dora smiled at the trio. “Mr. Granger and I would be so pleased if you would accept our invitation for lunch today. A few other guests will also attend. It would be an honor to have you join us at our table.”

  “Oh, Mrs. Granger, that’s so kind of you to invite us,” Junie said, casting a quick glance at James. He offered a slight nod of agreement. “We’d love to come.”

  “Splendid!” Dora clapped her hands together, making Tom think of the enthusiasm her daughter often exhibited. In truth, Dora and Ginny looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. Petite, blonde, and possessed of a take-charge attitude, the two women shared many similarities beyond their appearances. “Please come over to the house as soon as you finish visiting with members of the congregation.”

  Dora smiled at Tom and his parents then flounced off toward her husband as he spoke with their son and son-in-law.

  “Well, that’s something,” James commented as they slowly ambled over to their wagon. “We’ve known the Grangers for years, and that’s the first time Dora has invited us to dine with them.”

  “Perhaps the thought just never crossed her mind before,” Junie said, accepting James’ help in climbing into the wagon. Tom climbed up on one side of her while his father swung up on the other side.

  “Maybe the spirit of the season has infected even her,” James mused.

  “Whatever the reason, I’m looking forward to seeing inside the house. The only times I’ve been in it are during the Christmas carnival,” Tom said. “It’s so packed full of people then, you can barely turn around.”

  “I agree, honey. It will be fun to see the house,” Junie said as James guided the horses away from the church and down the street. Dora and Greg Granger lived just a few blocks from the mercantile, so it didn’t take long to reach their home.

  James had just set the brake on the wagon when Luke stopped behind him in his sleigh. The jingling harness sounded like holiday bells in the snappy winter air.

  “Hello!” Filly called, waving to them as she stepped out of the sleigh holding a blanket-bundled baby Cullen.

  Lila accepted Luke’s hand and stepped down, then offered Tom a small, friendly wave.

  In the time it took James to help Junie from the wagon and the three of them to approach the front walk of the impressive home, Blake and Ginny, the Dodd family, and Alex and Arlan Guthry arrived.

  “My gracious, this looks like a regular party,” Junie whispered. Nervous, she reached up to check her hair.

  “You look lovely, June-bug.” James offered her a private smile that Tom ignored as they walked toward the others.

  “How nice of you to join us!” Ginny said, reaching out a hand to Junie in welcome. “Mother said she planned to invite you. I’m so glad you didn’t have other plans.”

  Tom held back a comment. As had become their habit, he and his parents would have fixed lunch at the cramped teacher’s house and visited for
a few hours before his folks returned to the farm. None of them minded the interruption to their plans.

  As they all filed toward the front door, Tom gravitated toward Lila until he fell into step beside her.

  “Did you have a nice weekend with your parents?” she asked in a quiet voice as they moved down the walk and up the porch steps.

  “I did have a nice time with them. I helped my mother prepare the walls in the spare bedroom for a new coat of paint yesterday morning. Most of the afternoon, I worked with Dad in the barn. It was good to spend time with them both.” Tom motioned for Lila to precede him inside the house.

  Since he was the last one in, he closed the door behind him then turned to help Lila out of her coat.

  He had to work to keep his mouth from dangling open as she stepped away from the covering and smiled at him.

  The silvery gown she wore featured an elaborate panel of lace down the front, embroidered with sprays of lilacs. Tom had no idea about fabrics or fashions, but the dress fulfilled his ideal of the perfect gown for the dazzling girl. The soft gray hue complimented her sparkling eyes and the lilacs made it seem as though she carried the fragrant bouquets with her.

  A deep breath filled his nose with her delightful scent, further validating his belief that Lila was like a burst of springtime on a bleak winter day.

  Sitting two rows behind her at church, he hadn’t been able to tell what she wore. If he’d seen her gown before Chauncy began delivering that morning’s sermon, Tom would have been hard-pressed to pay any attention. Just the sight of her gleaming dark hair gathered up beneath the brim of her smart little hat had created enough of a diversion.

  “You look so beautiful, Lila Lilac.” Tom offered her a lopsided, teasing grin.

  She laughed and took his hand in hers once he hung up both of their coats on the hall tree by the door.

  “If anyone else dared call me that, they’d get both their ears boxed,” she said, leading him to the spacious front room where everyone gathered.

  “Oh, Lila! That gown is beautiful,” Junie said, sliding closer to James and making room for Lila to sit next to her on one of the sofas. Tom took a seat on a chair nearby.