A Widow’s Gift for Christmas (Preview)

Chapter One

November, 1875
Everton, Colorado

Lisa Black’s stomach twisted into a hard, painful knot as she drew closer to the rambling ranch house. A sheet of paper had been attached to the front door that morning while she’d been out doing her few chores. She switched the small basket of eggs to her left hand.

Someone had been there in the short time it had taken her to feed the dozen chickens, collect the eggs, and feed the two goats. She didn’t even have a horse anymore. She’d sold the last one three months before to help them get by.

The dazzling white paper against the dark wooden door stood out like a signal fire or maybe a flag of surrender. It could only be one thing. And that thing spelled disaster for her and her ten-year-old son, Adam.

All summer, beautiful flowers with pink, blue, white, and yellow blossoms had grown around the base of the house. Now they still stood, but they were wilted and dead from the harsh bite of fall.

Standing there looking at the door, she felt like those spent flowers.

With her heart thudding in her chest like a hammer, she hurried up the porch steps to the door and retrieved the paper with shaking hands. She quickly scanned the words that confirmed her worse fear.

They were being evicted.

For a moment, she was frozen where she stood. She couldn’t even think straight as her head spun with the reality of their situation.

Now what was she going to do?

Where were they going to go?

Before her husband, Ian, had died, he’d paid for a year of rent up front. And that had kept a roof over their heads.

She used her seamstress skills to earn enough for them to scrape by. Most of her income came from mending clothes and making wardrobe pieces. But she didn’t earn enough to feed them and pay a hefty rent.

It wasn’t that her skills were lacking. They were. She just couldn’t get ahead enough to buy higher quality cloth to make higher quality clothing.

All she could afford was cloth to make practical garments, clothes for working people. People who weren’t much better off than she was.

So she was trapped in a vicious cycle. And she saw no way of breaking free. Now she was in deep trouble, and she didn’t know what to do.

She pushed the hair that had come loose back from her face and let out a long breath. She had to collect herself.

All along, she’d known that sooner or later, she would be notified that she had to vacate the house. The man who owned the home had at least given her a couple of months to get out. He’d waited months for her to pay the rent. He’d done his best to help her in his own way.

She would have to find a place for them to live. And she had no idea how she was going to accomplish it.

She felt like sitting down right there and just letting the fear and tears take her. But she couldn’t do that. If she ever gave in, she might be held in the crippling grip of fear and never break free.

Adam raced around the corner of the house yelling like a banshee. But the big grin on his face told her that he was just playing and she had nothing to fear. At least where his vocalizations were concerned.

He raced up to her. “Hello, Momma.”

“Hello, sweetie. Are you having fun today?” she said.

“Yeah. I love it here. I just wish Dad was here with us.”

Pain welled inside her. Maybe not for her missing husband, but for the life she couldn’t give her son.

It definitely wasn’t the time to tell him they would have to move from the house he’d spent most of his short life in. She’d lived there long enough that it seemed like home to her, too.

“Do you think there’s a chance that Dad might come home someday?”

She knew what he was skating around. He was asking if there was a chance his father was still alive.

She sighed. She wasn’t going to lie. “I don’t know. It’s been seventeen months with no word from him.”

“But it could just be lies that he’s dead,” Adam said.

He was right that she’d had no confirmation from any lawman that Ian had lost a shootout in Denver.

She wrapped her arm around Adam’s shoulders. “I don’t know if he’s alive or not.”

Regardless, he’d left them in a mess.

They’d been doing okay until his saloon caught fire and burned to the ground. He’d vanished in the early morning hours following the fire. He hadn’t left a note or given a word of warning.

He’d also cleaned out most of their savings in the bank. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn’t taken all of it.

Too late, she’d realized she should have used some of the remaining savings to purchase high quality cloth. Then she could have made much more money from her little seamstress business.

“I think he’s still alive,” Adam said. “Dad was fast. Maybe it was someone else who lost a gunfight and they thought it was Dad.”

Ian was fast with his gun. It did seem unlikely that he would lose a shootout if he was actually in one.

“We may never know,” she said.

“Why did he leave?” Adam frowned. He’d asked that question so many times, she’d lost count.

“I wish I knew,” she said softly. “Maybe he’ll come home the same way he left.” Anything was possible. She wouldn’t be shocked if he showed up in the middle of the night. Though she wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t either. It was an odd situation and one she’d never imagined herself caught in.

If not for Adam, she would wish she’d never laid eyes on Ian. She could never regret having Adam. He was her rock when she needed strength. Not because she told him her troubles, she would never do that. But because she had to keep going on for him. She had to find solutions where there were none. She had to find strength when she had none.

Adam was worth a hundred of his father. He might only be ten years old, but he had more character than Ian would ever have.

And that meant she had to find a solution to their living situation, and soon. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she would find something. Because she had to, for Adam.

Adam tilted his head a little. “Momma, is something wrong?”

She hugged him tight and squeezed her eyes shut. “No, honey, everything’s fine.”

As she stood there with her stomach in a knot, fine snowflakes began floating down. It wasn’t the first snow. There had been a few flakes earlier in the month, but they hadn’t amounted to anything.

She gazed at the overcast sky. It was gray and fat clouds hung ominously. This time it looked like it intended to snow in earnest.

“What do you say we collect some kindling and some firewood? We have some, but we don’t want to run out with a snow coming.”

“Sure,” Adam said and raced towards the woods at the back of the house.

“Adam,” she called. “I have to take the eggs in and get the leather wood sacks.” She forced herself to stop squeezing the egg basket handle and kept her words light and normal sounding.

The first stabbing pain behind her eyes announced a headache.

“Okay,” he called from behind the house.

She hurried inside and left the eggs in the mudroom and grabbed the two leather sacks they used to gather kindling and wood for the fireplaces.

The house was warm and inviting. She hated to go back out in the raw weather, but they needed to gather wood before a blanket of snow fell and soaked the wood until it wouldn’t burn.

She went back outside and around the house to find Adam. “Where are you?” she called.

“Over here,” Adam said and waved at her from behind a huge tree trunk.

She went to him and mentally commanded her hand not to shake as she gave him the kindling sack.

“Get as much small kindling as you can carry,” she said. “I’ll get the bigger pieces. We don’t want to run out.” Maybe they should gather up two loads.

Even as they started picking up wood, the snow picked up. She had no doubt then that it was going to dump a heavy snow before the day was out.

Chapter Two

The following morning, Lisa looked out the bedroom window as soon as she forced herself out of the toasty-warm bed.

Sure enough, several inches of snow blanketed the ground in pristine white. It wasn’t even light outside yet, but the snow seemed to make its own reflective light. At least it was no longer snowing.

She sighed and got dressed then headed to the kitchen to make biscuits and fry bacon. Adam would get up any time now, and he would be hungry as soon as he got up.

It was chilly in the kitchen. She lit the two lamps, then put wood into the stove and got the fire going. She put on an apron and smoothed it down while she waited for the fire in the stove to burn hot enough to start breakfast.

She checked the dough she’d prepared to bake into biscuits. It was more than ready to go in the oven. She got the bacon from the icebox and put a generous amount in the skillet.

She popped the biscuits into the oven and put coffee on.

Heat from the stove slowly warmed the homey yellow and white kitchen as she turned the strips of bacon.

She was going to miss that kitchen. She kept it spotless and welcoming. She blinked hard to fight off the tears that wanted to slide down her face.

Soon the scent of bacon, baking bread, and wood smoke permeated the small room. She breathed it in as if locking it into her memory.

How many meals had she prepared in that kitchen with no idea of what fate had in store for her? She looked out the window and focused on the snow clinging to the trees and branches. She didn’t want to think about the past.

She needed to keep her head in the present and find a solution to their woes, not wallow in the past and what might have been.

A little later in the morning, she would walk into town and visit her best friend, Virginia Weaver. Virginia was her age, and her brother, Tommy was two years older. They had been her friends since they were kids.

It always lifted her spirits when she visited Virginia, who had a gift for finding something positive no matter how awful a situation was. And the merciful Lord knew Lisa could use a bit of that.

A few minutes later, Adam came into the kitchen. “I smell bacon, yummy,” he said and grinned at her.

“Yes, you do,” she said. “I have biscuits in the oven, too. Would you like a fried egg?”

“No, Momma. That’s more than enough,” he said and sat at the table.

He was such a thoughtful little boy. He wasn’t fooling her though. He only said no because he knew they were stretched for money. But they had all the eggs they needed from the hens.

“I think I’m going to have an egg. Are you sure you don’t want one? We just about have eggs running out of our ears.” She wasn’t sure she could eat anything. Her stomach felt like someone had tied knots in it.

He laughed. “Well…okay, if you’re going to have one.” He shoved his thick hair back from his forehead.

She grabbed a couple of eggs and cracked them into the bacon grease where they sizzled into fried deliciousness. “I’m going into Everton to see Virginia later, so be ready for a walk.”

“Sure, Momma.” He flashed a big grin.

She knew full well he loved walking into town. It was always an adventure. And as much as he loved the house he’d grown up in, it was isolated. Whenever they went into town, he had friends to play with.

At least it wasn’t a long walk and he had lots of school friends. So he wasn’t completely cut off from children his age. But sometimes she wished that he hadn’t been an only child.

She checked the biscuits in the oven and took them out. They smelled delicious with a hint of wood smoke.

She hated having to tell Virginia what had happened. But she might know of someone who needed help, or think of something that Lisa hadn’t. Never had she found herself in such a predicament.

And to make it worse, she had to humiliate herself in front of her best friend.

***

The morning temperatures remained frigid, the air crisp, but not so awful that Lisa had second thoughts about walking to town. She needed a friend. Someone to confide in, and hopefully, Virginia might have an idea or two that she hadn’t thought of already.

She couldn’t afford to sit and wile away the hours when time was already running out on how long they would have a secure roof over their heads.

Their boots punched through the heavy, wet snow as they made their way along the little-used road. Most people did not ride out their way unless they were coming to visit her or the last couple of houses further down the road.

Snow still clung to the trees and bushes, giving them a magical look that she loved. A bird launched from an overhead branch, dropping snow on them with a quarrelsome squawk as their approach frightened it into flight.

Adam laughed and wiped away the snow that had landed in his hair. “I wonder what it would be like to be a bird?”

She glanced at him and smiled. “Cold. Very cold.” But free from the worry of human things, and with wings to lift them on the wind instead of being buffeted by it. Birds were carefree and blessed with joyous song to lighten their hearts.

“I guess so,” he said. “But wouldn’t it be fun to fly?”

She glanced at him. “I think it would be wonderful.” If only people could soar away from their troubles. “But the good Lord didn’t give us wings, so we’ll have to stick with walking.”

They chatted amiably as they walked the rest of the way to town.

The snow in the streets had already been churned into a muddy mess, but the buildings were all snow-capped and the trees were pretty. Everton was a small, but charming town. And she enjoyed any time she spent there.

There were some good specialty shops and a lovely church. The mercantile had everything a person could want. A new saloon had been built since Ian’s had burned to the ground. The town was doing well.

Virginia answered Lisa’s quiet knock and a smile lit her face. “Lisa, what are you doing today?”

“I just needed to get out and talk to someone,” she said.

Virginia frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Come on, you know I’m the queen of the unexpected,” Lisa said and laughed, though her laughter sounded strained in her own ears.

“Come in,” Virginia said. “Tom’s napping so I’ll get my coat, and we’ll go for a walk.” Tom was her husband. He’d hurt his back the week before and still spent most of his waking time resting while his back healed.

“Okay,” Lisa said.

Virginia pulled on her coat and gloves and ushered Lisa and Adam back outside. “We need to stay on the sidewalks. The streets are a mess. We can stop in the mercantile and look around if you’re cold.”

“I’m fine,” Lisa said. “And Adam would rather walk and look in the shop windows than stop at the mercantile.”

They walked over to Main Street, a block over, and then made their way slowly down the sidewalk.

“So tell me what’s wrong,” Virginia said. “You look like a woman who opened the oven door and found a rattlesnake instead of her dinner.”

Lisa snorted at the description of her appearance. But it was probably at least somewhat accurate.

“Well, you know I haven’t exactly been winning any prizes for luck recently.” If only she could wave her hand and sweep away this particular bit of ill-fortune without anyone the wiser. But that wasn’t the case.

She inspected a button on her coat. “Ian always paid the rent on the house a year in advance. It’s well past a year since he paid it the last time and…”

The best thing to do was just blurt it out. But she was having a hard time saying it.

“Lisa? What is it?” Virginia said.

There was no hiding it. “We’re being evicted,” she said.

“What? Oh, no.” Virginia’s eyes widened.

Lisa nodded. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.” She kept her voice low to keep Adam, who was at least fifteen feet in front of them, from overhearing their conversation.

“This is awful,” Virginia said and rubbed her forehead.

“I make money, it just isn’t enough to pay rent and keep food on the table. I’ve sold everything I can. And now…I don’t know what to do.”

“We have to think of something,” Virginia said.

“I’ve turned this over in my head so many times,” Lisa said. “And I’m coming up with a lot of nothing.” She picked at the button on her coat.

“I know I’m probably awful for saying this, but if I can’t tell you, then I can’t tell anyone. Part of me can’t even be angry with Ian. I cared for him, but I didn’t love him.” She looked at Virginia, their gazes meeting. “I don’t know if he loved me either.”

It felt cathartic to actually tell someone. It had sat on her soul like a stone for a long time.

Virginia looked at her with no judgment in her eyes. “I’ll be honest…I suspected as much,” Virginia interjected.

“He spent most of his time at the saloon,” Lisa said. “I’m not sure he even remembered he had a family half the time.”

She had married Ian out of duty, not love. After her mother passed away, and her father grew older, he’d arranged the marriage. Out of love for her father, she had gone through with it.

She glanced at Virginia. “I feel awful that I’m more concerned with the mess he left me with than what might have happened to him.”

“I understand,” Virginia said simply. “I truly do.”

They walked on down the sidewalk, not paying much attention to anything but the situation at hand.

“We have to figure this out,” Virginia said. “I wish we had room. But there’s barely enough space for the two of us.”

“I wouldn’t do that if you had a mansion. I have to make my own way, not take advantage of a friend.”

“You were always bullheaded,” Virginia said and shook her head.

“Maybe so, but I wouldn’t dream of doing something like that. It just isn’t right.” The last thing she would do would be to cause disruption to her best friend’s home life. Virginia could offer her a room in a palace and she would still turn it down.

“It isn’t taking advantage if someone offers because they want you there,” Virginia said.

Virginia was just too kind. She would help anyone in need if she could.

“I’ll come up with something,” Lisa said. Because she had to. “We should keep an eye out for help-wanted notices while we’re walking.” She wanted honest work. She wished she could make enough with her seamstress skills. But it seemed like it just wasn’t meant to be.

They walked on, looking in windows at pretty things Lisa couldn’t afford and probably wouldn’t buy if she could.

“Hey,” Lisa said, “look at that.” She pointed to a notice in the corner of a window Virginia had stopped to look through.

“What is it?” Virginia said.

“It’s an ad for a room for rent in Layton,” Lisa said.

Adam realized they weren’t behind him and he scampered back to them.

“What are you looking at?” he said.

“Just an advertisement,” Lisa said.

Virginia rubbed her chin. “You know, Layton has a thriving Christmas market. Perhaps you could make a substantial amount of money selling your clothing.”

“You’re right about that,” Lisa said. Her mind began making calculations. A Christmas market usually brought out people who had more money to spend than her usual customers.

If she had some better items, she could sell them for more money. She knew exactly, to the penny, how much money she had. If she could get a workable deal on the room, she could purchase some better cloth to make items from.

“It says the room is owned by Mark Howell and that it’s over his workshop.” Could this be the break she needed? “Would you let Adam stay with you while I walk over to Layton and meet Mark Howell?”

“I’d be glad to have him stay with me,” Virginia said and ruffled his hair. “But that’s a long way to walk in bitter weather. If my brother comes back from the Henson’s farm soon, he could drive you over.”

“But if he doesn’t, I might not get there today. I’ll walk. I’ll be fine.”

Chapter Three

Mark Howell wiped sweat from his brow then examined the piece of wood he’d transformed into an elegant chair leg that perfectly matched the two he’d already completed.

He went to the door and peered outside for a moment at downtown Layton, letting wintry air waft into his workspace. He’d worked on the chair leg so long and laboriously that he was overly warm.

Though it wasn’t long before he shut the door, once more closing himself off from the townspeople as they went about their day. It seemed like everyone was working at an increased rate because of the upcoming Christmas festivities.

Well, they could have it.

Hopefully he would sell a few extra pieces of furniture, but he could live without the cheer and goodwill business. Sometimes he wished he could go back to the way he’d once viewed things. But he couldn’t seem to move from it being a thought to being reality.

The loss of his cousin in a horrific and tragic manner had changed him.

A light knock on the workshop door sounded before the knob turned, and Brian Klow popped his head through the open doorway.

Brian grinned. “I was hoping that this would be the time I opened this door and found you talking with a lovely lady.”

“That isn’t going to happen,” Mark said. “The last thing I need is a woman to complicate my life.” Why would a woman want to be with him? He didn’t have much to offer anyone.

“I wish I had a woman to complicate my life,” Brian said.

“Like you don’t have your eye on that pretty school teacher, Emily Brown,” Mark said and smirked. “Why haven’t you proposed to her yet? She’s perfect for you.”

Brian scrubbed his hair back from his forehead. “I haven’t saved up enough money to take care of her. And at the rate I’m going with the few customers I bring wood to, I don’t know when I’ll have enough to ask for her hand.”

Lumberjacking had turned Mark’s best friend into a strapping man. As a younger man, he’d been tall and lanky, with light blonde hair falling nearly to his shoulders.

“You shouldn’t have a hard time getting a lady to say yes to marriage,” Mark said. “You don’t need a lot of money. If you give her the puppy look with those blue eyes, she’ll say yes no matter what.”

Brian laughed. “If you say so.”

“Trust me on this,” Mark said.

“So how come you’ve never married?” Brian said.

“None of your business,” Mark practically snarled. It wasn’t the first time Brian had asked. And Mark always gave him the same answer. He honestly wasn’t sure why Brian kept pursuing it.

“Christmas shouldn’t be spent alone,” Brian said. “It’s a time for being with family to rejoice the season. It’s a time to be spent with a loving wife and sweet little children.” Brian had a happy, dreamy look on his face.

“Ever the romantic,” Mark said. While romance wasn’t something he was interested in, he had to admire Mark’s romantic spirit. He would make a wonderful husband for some lady. Most probably Emily.

“You know it,” Brian said. “I can’t wait to be a family man.”

Mark shook his head. “Well, it’ll happen a lot faster if you propose.”

“Done told you why I can’t,” Brian said.

“No point in putting it off over money,” Mark said. “You like her, she likes you. You can make things work out if you love someone. You need to get married while you’re young, because it doesn’t last. Have some children and be a family.”

“This from the town grump,” Brian said.

“And recluse. Don’t forget that,” Mark said. He was well aware that the town thought he was off. He didn’t care. He wasn’t harming anyone with his ways.

“Well, you aren’t exactly social,” Brian said.

Mark rubbed his temple. “True. But I don’t bother anyone. I mind my own business, make quality furniture, and feed a few stray cats.”

“Hey, I’m not arguing,” Brian said. “So, do you have any big orders lined up?”

“I’m making tables and chairs for a new café. I have a few small Christmas orders, of course. And hopefully, I’ll pick up some orders or sell some of the pieces I already have at the Christmas market.”

Brian nodded.

“Did you bring me some wood?” Mark said.

“Yeah, I did,” Brian said.

“Bring it in,” Mark said. “I’ll get the money.”

“How many times have I told you that I don’t want your money? You’re my best friend,” Brian said.

Mark scoffed. “Well, you’re my only friend. And you work hard to bring wood into town for your customers. I’m not taking what you could sell.”

Brian shook his head but went to get the wood.

Some might think it was odd that he and Mark had become such close friends when Brian, at twenty-five, was five years Mark’s junior. And especially considering that Mark had pushed everyone away after his cousin, Eric Taylor, had accidentally perished in the saloon fire in Everton.

His cousin’s death haunted him. It had from the time it had happened. From the best he had been able to find out, his cousin had been falling-down drunk and passed out in a dark corner of the saloon and no one noticed him at closing. He must have knocked over a lamp and set the fire sometime before early morning. Or at least, that was what everyone had assumed happened. He wasn’t at all sure that assumption was correct, but apparently he was the only one who was skeptical.

Mark went into the back room and fished out the money for the wood from the jar he kept hidden behind a couple of books on a shelf.

Sophie, the long-haired tabby cat he’d rescued as a rain-soaked, half-starved kitten, lay curled beside the cookstove. He bent to rub her head and a purr rumbled out of her.

Brian came in with an armload of wood and brought it into the back room for the cookstove that helped keep the workroom heated. He put the wood near the stove then rubbed his hands close to the stove, warming them. “It’s cold out there today.”

“I’ll put some coffee on,” Mark said. “You should warm up before you deliver the rest of the wood.” They usually had coffee when Brian made a delivery.

Mark was well aware of how far he traveled from his parents’ home, where he lived, to come into town. On warm days, it was pleasant, but when winter came, it had to be a miserable trip.

“That sounds great.”

“I’ll get the rest of the wood for the fireplace.” He hurried back outside, and came back a few minutes later with the wood. He placed it in the woodbox Mark had built.

Mark took the bills over and pressed them into Brian’s hand. “Save that up. I want to be best man at your wedding. Even if I’m not social.”

Brian grinned. “You will be.”

Mark pulled out a chair at the table. “Have a seat while we wait for the coffee. I have some fresh bread if you’d like some with butter.”

“I’m not hungry,” Brian said. “You know my mother cooks like she’s feeding an army and not just for me and Pa.”

Mark chuckled. “Well, in this kind of weather, you need a hot meal before setting out.” He didn’t envy Brian. He did the work of three men by himself. He felled trees and cut them up for fire wood to sell to people in town.

“You do have a point,” Brian said.

Sophie got up and stretched. She came over to Brian and twisted around his legs. He reached down and stroked her back and gently rubbed her head. She rewarded him with a roaring purr.

Mark watched Sophie curl up beside Brian’s feet. Brian was kind to animals, and they responded to his kindness with affection in return. Mark had always considered animals the best judge of character as they had innate senses that people lacked.

Sophie had taken to Brian the first time she’d seen him.

“Have you had any takers on the room upstairs?” Brian said.

“Not yet. Not even an inquiry.” He’d thought it would rent out quickly. But he’d been sadly mistaken. He hadn’t expected that no one would be interested at all. He’d posted the first notices three weeks earlier…and nothing. Not a single person had stopped by to look at the room.

“I’m kind of surprised. It’s a pretty good room,” Brian said.

“I know. I posted some notices in the surrounding towns. Surely someone will answer. I could sure use the extra money.” He was positive most people thought he had more money than he actually did.

“Maybe it’s just because it’s close to Christmas,” Brian said. “People are getting ready for the Christmas market.”

“I hope you’re right,” Mark said. “I think the coffee’s ready. Let’s have some.” He got their cups, sugar, and cream from the icebox.

He poured the coffee. “Let’s hope for better and more prosperous days ahead for both of us.” Lord knew they could both use a bit of better fortune.