a wistful look in her eyes.
Poor Carol had never had children after losing two babies. Elizabeth’s heart went out to her. She felt even more grateful for her children.
“Do you need to get home early tonight, Carol, or will you stay for dinner?”
Carol turned bright red. “You don’t have to include me for dinner.”
“You always stay for dinner, Carol,” Tom said. “Though I appreciate you asking her, Elizabeth.”
“I’d love to stay, Elizabeth. Thank you.”
“Okay, I’ll get started on cleaning the kitchen, if you’ll gather the laundry. Be sure to look under Brady’s bed.”
“Just like the other two men!” Carol chuckled.
“Hey, we try,” Tom assured both women.
“We know,” Elizabeth said.
Jack knocked quietly on Tom’s door.
“Tom, are you asleep?”
“No. Come in.”
Jack opened the door and found him in the wing chair. “I was thinking about Christmas. Brady was telling me about not having had a Christmas tree yet. He said his mommy promised that one day they’d have one.”
“He’s never had a Christmas tree?” Tom asked, incredulous.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “I told him maybe we could have a tree this year. I was thinking tonight after dinner would be a good time to go shopping for one.”
“Good thinking. Shall we keep it a secret? We could decorate it tonight, too.”
“I think that would be good. We can show Elizabeth what we have and maybe she could buy what else we need.”
Tom smiled. “I’m so glad they’ve come. It will be fun to have a real Christmas again.”
“You will, Tom. You’ll have a Christmas and so will Elizabeth and the kids. I’ll make sure of it.”
“A Christmas tree!”
Brady could hardly contain his excitement when Jack mentioned the possibility of going for a tree that night after dinner.
“Where do we go to get one?” Brady asked him.
“At the Christmas tree lot in town. Do you want to go?” Jack asked casually.
“Can I, Mommy? Please?”
“I don’t know, Brady. Maybe they want to pick out their tree without us—”
“It will be our Christmas tree, Elizabeth,” Tom said.
“And I think Brady would give good advice about the tree,” Jack said. “In fact, as cold as it is, I’m not sure Tom wants to wander around looking at all the trees.”
“Won’t it be too cold for Brady?” Elizabeth asked anxiously.
“No. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Jack waited for her response.
After a quick look at Brady, Elizabeth agreed that her son could go. “Go get your coat and hat and gloves, Brady, and bring them to me.”
“Any requests?” Jack asked.
“Yes,” Tom said. “I think you should invite Elizabeth to go. I’ll help Carol clean the kitchen and we’ll babysit Jenny.”
“Oh, no!” Elizabeth protested. “I wanted Carol to stay so she could enjoy a nice meal, not to babysit.”
“I think you should go,” Jack said. “We might need help choosing the right tree.”
Brady came running down the stairs, holding his coat, gloves and hat out to his mother.
“I think she’s going with us, Brady, so we can get the best tree possible.”
“You’re going, too, Mommy?” Brady asked, his eyes lighting up even brighter.
“Well?” Jack added.
“Yes, I’ll come if Carol doesn’t mind. But you can leave the dishes for me to do. Jenny will be up soon.”
“We’ll see.”
Brady would’ve taken the first tree they looked at. Jack cautioned him to look at a few more before he made his decision.
Amidst the delicate snow flurries floating in the cold night, Elizabeth wandered the tree-filled stands, her eyes as bright as Brady’s. When Jack saw her pause by a stately Frasier fir and circle it, checking it from every angle, he leaned down and suggested Brady go look at the tree his mother had found.
“Mommy, do you like this one?”
“I love it, Brady, but I think it might be too big.”
“I think it’ll be perfect,” Jack said, coming up behind her. He signaled the man running the tree farm. “We’ll take this one, Jonas.”
“Good choice, Jack. That’s the best tree I have this year.”
Brady beamed up at Jack. “We picked a good one, didn’t we?”
Jack patted the boy on his back. “We definitely did.”
“What do we do now?” Brady asked Jack.
“We pay for the tree, and Jonas here will trim the bottom off so it will soak up the water. Then we’ll put it in our truck and drive it home.”
Elizabeth stepped up and Brady put his arms around his mother, as far as his little arms could go. “Mommy, we’ve got our first Christmas tree!”
She bent down and hugged Brady. “Yes, we do, Brady, thanks to your grandfather…and Jack.”
Standing there with the snowflakes falling around them, mother and son looked so content, so beautiful that Jack couldn’t take his eyes off them.
They looked like an advertisement for the holiday season.
The perfect family.
Only one thing was missing. A dad.
Chapter Seven
EVEN though they didn’t decorate the tree that evening, Brady was still excited. Elizabeth was, too, though she tried not to admit it.
Jack watched both of them, enjoying their excitement. He and Tom hadn’t bothered with much Christmas in the past couple of years. After losing his wife, and then his son turning his back on him, Tom never seemed to be in the holiday spirit.
Nor had Jack.
He
