Page 69 of The Clause in Christmas
Frank Barrie, clothed in a long tweed coat and gray fedora, slid from the driver’s seat.
“He came!” Cassie cheered with delight.
Searching the unfamiliar faces, Frank remained by his car, tall and proud like a statue of a soldier.
Cassie rushed toward him, smothering him in an unrestrained hug.
Luke grinned as Frank’s eyes widened in surprise before he awkwardly patted her back.
“She’s pretty special, isn’t she?”
The sound of his mother’s voice by his side startled Luke, but he instantly softened. “She sure is.” His gaze never left Cassie as she looped her arm through Frank’s and led him toward the gathering, introducing him to a few people along the way.
“To think,” Maggie continued, “Frank has lived in Poppy Creek all these years, and it took an outsider to draw him from his shell.”
Luke paused at the termoutsider. Sure, Cassie had started out that way. But somehow, the description no longer fit.
“Did she tell you she’s going to stay?” Maggie asked softly.
Jerking his head, Luke gaped at his mother. “How do you know? Did she tell you that?”
“She may have accepted my job offer.”
Scooping his mother off the ground, Luke twirled her around. “Thank you! Thank you!”
Tilting her head back, Maggie laughed. “Don’t thankme.We all want her to stay. Though maybe not as much as you.” She patted his cheek as he set her back down. “I’m so happy for you, son.”
Her hazel eyes shone, mirroring the joy in his own heart. But Luke immediately sobered. “You know, just because she’s staying doesn’t mean it’s for me.”
“Maybe not entirely,” Maggie admitted. “But I see the way she looks at you. Many years may have passed since your father and I first fell in love, but I can still recognize the signs.”
Luke glanced down at the pitted asphalt, feeling the familiar tightness in his throat. “I still miss him.”
Maggie gave his hand a comforting squeeze. “Me, too. There are still times I forget he’s gone. I’ll turn to tell him something, and then reality comes rushing back. Other times, his absence is so strong, my heart hurts almost as much as the day we lost him.”
Luke nodded wordlessly. The day he’d helped Cassie decorate the cottage, he’d known she was special. And the first person he’d wanted to tell was his dad.
Maggie sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “Your father would be very proud of you, Luke.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Luke offered a faint smile, but Maggie shook her head.
“Let me finish.” Gripping his hand, she met Luke’s gaze with purpose. “He’d be proud because of whoyou are. As parents, we try our best to teach you what we know. But it’s when you become your own person, the man God created you to be, that a parent is truly proud.” She shook her head, smiling through her tears. “Lord knows I loved your father. But the world only needed one Leonard Davis. And it got the best one. Now it needs the best version ofLukeDavis.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Luke didn’t know what to say. But before he could respond, the stirring sound of “O Holy Night” filled the clear, starlit sky as the carolers began their descent down the hill toward Main Street.
Maggie’s breath caught in her throat as she clutched Luke’s hand.
Beaming down at his mother, Luke wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
His heart full, Luke lifted his voice to join the others in singing his father’s favorite song, glimpsing Cassie at the top of the hill.
Arm in arm with Frank, she glanced over her shoulder and caught his eye. Her lips spread into an inviting smile as she held out her hand for him.
The moonlight cast a silvery glow across her face, and Luke took a mental snapshot of the moment.
The moment he received his father’s blessing.
Chapter 25
