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

  “Yes, sir.” Percy took his sister’s things and carried them inside before returning outside to play.

  Tom stoked the fire he’d built in the stove then opened the book containing his lesson plans. He picked up a piece of chalk and began writing the morning’s lessons on the blackboard behind his desk.

  As he worked, his mind drifted to Lila. Since Emerson arrived on Saturday, he’d made a point to stay away from her. He sat behind her at church Sunday, watching Emerson attentively glued to her side.

  Despite how much he wanted to hate the man, Emerson Lylan seemed like a perfectly respectable, entirely likeable person. Rather than put on airs, he had greeted everyone with genuine interest and friendly consideration.

  In the past few days, Filly or Luke had escorted Maura to school and walked her home afterward. Tom assumed Lila spent every moment she could with Emerson.

  He wondered when the announcement would come that they were returning to New York. The thought of never seeing Lila again made his heart ache with such force, he stopped writing spelling words and rubbed the offending spot.

  The wise thing would have been to avoid the woman, just like his head told him to do. Instead, Tom had to go and fall head over heels in love with her. The ardent, involved kisses they’d shared Saturday at the skating party certainly made him think she held more than a passing fancy for him, too.

  Alice’s words of calling Percy a big dummy echoed in his ears as he continued working on posting that day’s assignments. “Only a huge dummy would get into this kind of mess,” he muttered to himself.

  “What was that?” a familiar voice spoke from behind him, making him spin around. He gaped at Lila as she stood in the center aisle, watching him.

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” he said, setting down the chalk and staring at her. “I thought you’d be occupied with Mr. Lylan.”

  “He went to Heppner today to see about some secretive business matter he insisted required his attention. He’s convinced the telegraph office here isn’t capable of sending a message, so he went to send it from the train depot.” Lila fussed with her gloves, clearly uncomfortable.

  She took a few steps toward him. The sway of her skirts, the rosy hue of her lips, and the alluring hint of her fragrance made Tom want to rush to her and pull her into his arms. Only he had no right to do that. No right to touch her. No reason to love her.

  Except, his heart refused to acknowledge defeat.

  Until Emerson put a ring on her finger, Tom decided to continue his efforts to win Lila.

  Only a few feet away from him, she stopped and studied him for a long moment before she spoke. “I’m so sorry, Tom. I had no way of knowing Emerson would take a notion to travel out here. I certainly had no idea he had returned from his studies abroad. If I had, if I’d known…” she sighed and glanced away. “I’m sorry for any pain or problems I may have caused you, Tom. I truly didn’t mean for things to get… for us to become…” She stopped, unable to continue as she dabbed at the tears spilling down her cheeks. “I just can’t quite make sense of things.”

  Tom covered the distance between the two of them in a few long strides. His thumbs brushed away her tears then he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest. “All is well, Lila Lilac. We both knew you belong to Emerson. He seems like a respectable fellow, one you can be proud of as a husband.”

  She sniffled and mumbled something he couldn’t hear as she pressed her face against his chest.

  Tom smiled to himself. If she came into his arms so willingly, made a point to come to the school the moment Emerson was elsewhere, perhaps all was not yet lost.

  “Did you bring Maura to school this morning?” he asked, seeking some topic that would put them back on easy conversational footing.

  “Yes,” Lila said, sniffling again, then pulling a lacy handkerchief from her coat pocket and dabbing at her nose. She stepped back from Tom and gave him a watery smile. “You have to be the nicest, kindest, most wonderful man I’ve ever met, Tom Grove.”

  He bowed and offered her a rascally smile. “It gladdens my heart to hear you say that.” With a quick glance at the clock, he knew he needed to ring the bell soon, but hated to send Lila away. His mind worked at a feverish pitch to create some reason for her to spend part of the day at the school. Although her presence always left him thoroughly distracted, he liked the idea of having her there. “Are you terribly busy today?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No more than usual. I was going to help Abby, but Chauncy forbade her from opening her shop today, insisting she rest at home with her feet up. Why? Do you need something?”

  Your kisses. Your heart. Your love.

  Tom tamped down the words lingering on the tip of his tongue and instead offered a plausible reason for her to be at the school. “The students are working so hard to finish their projects for the Christmas carnival auction, but there are some things beyond my limited talents. If you can spare the time, would you come this afternoon? A few girls have yet to finish their contributions and could greatly use help from someone who doesn’t possess all thumbs.”

  Lila laughed and nodded her head. “I’d love to help. After school, we can go directly to the church for the program practice.”

  “Perfect.” Tom managed not to cheer at her eager agreement to his devious plans to keep her close.

  “What time should I return?” Lila asked, stuffing her handkerchief in her pocket and giving him a warm smile.

  “Would one-thirty fit into your schedule?”

  She grinned. “I’ll be here.” Slowly, she backed toward the door, holding his gaze. When she bumped into a desk, Tom bit back a grin. “Have a lovely morning, Tom.”

  “I plan to, Lila. See you later.”

  With another quick nod, she turned and disappeared out the door.

  Cheered by the thought he might still have a chance with her, despite Emerson’s presence, Tom whistled as he hurried to write the day’s lessons on the blackboard.

  After lunch, he felt as antsy as the children did while they awaited Lila’s arrival. He mentioned that she planned to come and the students all cheered, excited at the prospect of spending time with the effervescent woman.

  The hands on the clock crept slowly toward one-thirty. Although the students did their best to work on their lessons, he couldn’t blame them for being preoccupied and restless. He knew exactly how they felt.

  When the fourth child asked to be excused to the outhouse, he let Milo Jenkins go, but knew it was useless to insist the students work on their math equations.

  “You know, class, just for today, I think it would be fine for you to put away your assignments.” Tom smiled as the students turned eager faces to him.

  “What are we going to do until Miss Granger arrives?” Percy asked.

  “Do you think a magic trick would help pass the time?” Tom grinned and the children all cheered. “Settle down or we’ll get those math problems back out.”

  Silence immediately descended over the students.

  Tom looked around the room, studying the faces of each student. He stopped when he got to a shy little girl named Cindy. Rather than call her to the front of the room, Tom walked over to where she sat with another eight-year-old girl. Hunkering down, he smiled at her. “Cindy, do you think you’d like to help me with a magic trick?”

  The little girl surreptitiously glanced around, to see who watched her reaction. She didn’t lift her gaze to meet Tom’s, but nodded her head.

  “Excellent,” Tom said, holding out his hand to her. She took it and slid off her seat, allowing him to lead her to the front of the class. Tom moved his desk chair from behind his desk to in front of it, then helped Cindy climb up on the chair.

  “Can everyone see Cindy?” he asked, aware of the child ducking her head and pink staining her cheeks. Although he’d never been shy, he knew it could be difficult to be the center of attention. He recalled the first morning Alex taught at the school. He and some of the other old
er boys had behaved badly. They returned from recess to find their desks moved to the four corners of the room and Tom’s happened to be in one of the front corners. The whole time he sat there, he felt every eye in the classroom boring into his back. After that, he behaved himself and resumed his seat at the back of the room.

  He smiled at the timid child again as he took a coin out of his pocket.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, using a voice one might hear from a carnival barker or a snake oil salesman. “Are you prepared to be dazzled and amazed by spellbinding acts of prestidigitation?”

  The children clapped and cheered.

  Tom waved his left hand in the air with a dramatic flair. “The lovely Miss Cindy will assist me today as I make a coin disappear.”

  “How you gonna do that?” one of the younger boys asked, rising on his knees on his seat to get a better view.

  “Watch and see,” Tom said. He flipped the coin into the air then rolled it between his fingers with such speed the children lost track of it. Finally, he turned back to Cindy. “Please hold out your hand, Cindy.”

  The child held her hand in front of her, palm up. Gently, Tom turned it over. He placed the coin on the back of her hand then gave her an encouraging look. “Do you know a magic word, Miss Cindy?”

  The little girl nodded.

  “Wonderful,” Tom said, encouraging her. “When I count to three, you say the magic word. Ready?”

  Another nod.

  “Here we go. One. Two. Three!”

  “Alakazam!” Cindy shouted excitedly.

  Tom snapped his fingers and the coin disappeared. He snapped them again and made the coin reappear on her hand.

  Cindy’s mouth dropped open. In her excitement, she forgot about her shyness. She joined the rest of the class in clapping when Tom tossed the coin in the air again.

  “Do another one, Mr. Grove! Please?” Erin Dodd begged. Several students echoed her request.

  “One more,” Tom said, more than willing to indulge the students. He helped Cindy down from the chair, bent to whisper in her ear, and awarded her with a peppermint stick. “You made a fine assistant, Cindy. Thank you.”

  The child scampered to her desk with a broad smile wreathing her face.

  Tom bowed to the class then turned so they saw a side view of him. “For my next feat of extraordinary wonder, I shall levitate.” He glanced over at the students. “Who knows what levitate means?”

  “Isn’t that like floating or something?” Percy asked.

  Tom snapped his fingers and pointed at Percy. “That’s exactly what it means. To float, by a supernatural power or means.”

  Excited, the children anxiously watched his every move. Slowly, he rose up on his toes. The way he positioned his body made it appear as though he floated a few inches off the floor.

  He held the pose as Lila quietly entered the school and stood in the aisle, staring at him as he floated in front of the class.

  With a saucy grin, she sauntered up the aisle, catching Tom’s gaze as he saw her and came back down to the floor.

  “That’s quite a trick, Mr. Grove. Can you levitate the whole class?”

  “No, Miss Granger, that is beyond my magical abilities. However, I think I can make something appear out of thin air, but I need a volunteer to spell levitate.”

  “Anna will do it,” Percy said, nudging the girl sitting beside him. “Go on, Anna. You can spell anything.”

  Hesitant, Anne glanced at Tom. He smiled at her. “Go ahead, Anna.”

  She spelled the word, then looked to him.

  “That’s absolutely correct.” He walked over to her desk, waved his fingers in the air, and made a peppermint stick appear, handing it to the girl.

  “Thank you, Mr. Grove,” she said, smiling broadly at her treat.

  “You’re welcome, Anna.” Tom strode back to the front of the class. “Now, students, those of you who have not finished your projects for the Christmas carnival, please join Miss Granger at the back of the room. Those of you who have finished your projects, you may choose to read quietly or help with the projects.”

  A few students chose to read, but the majority jumped into the fun of helping their classmates with their projects. Lila soon had them singing a variety of Christmas songs and laughing as they worked. The time passed quickly and all but two of the projects were finished when Tom called an end to the work.

  “Do you want to keep working or have reading time today?” he asked as he leaned against his desk.

  “Reading time!” the children said in unison.

  He grinned. “I thought that’s what you’d say. Settle back into your seats and we’ll read until it’s time to release you for the day.”

  Lila took a seat at the back of the room. Tom gave her one quick glance before he started reading the story. When he finished for the day, the children all sat entranced by the story. They were so quiet, a pin could have dropped and echoed through the room.

  “We’ll finish the story tomorrow. Now, put on your coats and get out of here.” He smiled as he waved toward the door. “Those of you who have practice for the Christmas program at church, Miss Granger and I will meet you there in fifteen minutes.”

  The children’s voices rose to a playful roar as they scurried into their coats, grabbed their books and lunch pails, and raced outside. Lila helped Maura with her coat and mittens then told the little girl to play outside with Erin.

  Once Maura ran down the steps, Lila hurried to the front of the room and picked up the book Tom had set on his desk. “What is this book?” she asked, glancing at the cover.

  “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It just came out this year,” Tom said, hurrying to clean the blackboard. “I was fortunate to snag a copy that arrived at the newspaper office. The editor allowed me to keep it after I wrote the review. It’s a wonderful story, especially for children.”

  “It’s very intriguing,” Lila agreed, opening the book to the place where Tom had inserted a bookmark. She began reading where he’d stopped for the day, but he snatched the book from her and tucked it in a desk drawer.

  “No fair reading ahead. If you want to know what happens, join the students during story time tomorrow.”

  She gave him a look full of sass and spunk. “I’ll be here, and you better not skimp on reading time tomorrow.”

  He laughed and gathered his papers, stuffing them into his leather satchel. “Shall we proceed to the church?”

  “Yes. If we don’t hurry, the little hooligans will eat all the cookies and get into who knows what sort of trouble.” Lila hurried to slip on the coat Tom held for her then tugged on her gloves.

  She rushed outside and called to Maura and Erin as she wrapped a scarf around her neck. “Time to go, girls.”

  Maura grabbed Lila’s hand while Erin looked at Tom. He switched his satchel to his casted hand and held out the other to the child. She beamed and fell into step beside him, skipping as she walked.

  “How is your mother, Erin?” Tom asked, mindful of the woman’s condition. It seemed every time he turned around he bumped into an expectant or new mother. The more time he spent in town, the more convinced he was that something was definitely in the water.

  “She’s fine,” Erin said, purposely sliding on a patch of ice while grasping his hand. “Daddy said she needs to get lots of rest but she does stuff when he isn’t looking.”

  Tom grinned. “I can imagine. Your mother isn’t one to idly sit around.”

  “My daddy said idle hands make for trouble. I ’spose that’s why he and my mama always have plenty of chores for me to do.”

  Tom held back a snort of laughter, envisioning Erin with time on her hands to dream up more mischief than she already got into. Before he could respond to her comment, the child waved her hand over her head and raced down the boardwalk toward her father as he stood at the base of the church steps.

  Maura tugged on Lila’s hand, trying to hurry her along.

  “Come on, Lila
. I wanna see Uncle Chauncy!” Maura gave Lila a look that let her know she was impeding the child’s desire for haste.

  “Run ahead, then, honey bunny, but stay on the boardwalk.” The second she released the child’s hand, Maura raced ahead, wrapping her arms around Chauncy’s knees. He picked up the child and gave her a hug then set her back on her feet next to his daughter. A gentle nudge pushed the children to go inside the church to wait.

  When Tom and Lila reached Chauncy, he smiled at them both. “Afternoon.”

  “Nice to see you, pastor. What brings you to the practice today?” Tom asked, once again shifting the satchel in his hands so he could shake Chauncy’s extended hand.

  “Oh, I came home to check on Abby and just happened to be on my way to run a few errands when I saw you walking this way. Are the practices going well? Erin keeps us updated, but other than her thoughts on how marvelous the play and singing are going to be, is there anything else I need to know?”

  Lila smiled at Chauncy. “We did tell you we’re using children to play the animals instead of having live animals this year, didn’t we?”

  “Yes,” Chauncy offered a relieved expression. “As fun as it was to have the live animals when I was a boy, it’s a different matter when you’re the pastor and have a cranky sheep or an annoyed donkey loose in the church. I fully support the decision to move away from live animals.”

  Tom smirked. “I heard a story about you and Luke turning mice free in the church during one Christmas Eve program. Do you think anyone might duplicate your efforts?”

  Chauncy chuckled. “I certainly hope not. I don’t think any of the boys in our congregation are nearly as ornery as Luke and I were at that age.”

  Lila giggled. “There aren’t too many who are as ornery as you and Luke now.”

  “True,” Chauncy good-naturedly agreed. “I best be on my way. You two have fun at practice.”

  Tom tipped his head to the pastor then escorted Lila inside. Children gathered around the front of the church where Lila had left a basket of cookies. Erin looked up at them and grinned. “Is it okay we had our treats?” she asked, the crumbs of a cookie clinging to her lip.