The Forest Ranger's Christmas by Leigh Bale

Author:Leigh Bale [Bale, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780373879168
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 21942747
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next morning, Josie started work on Gracie’s angel dress. Thankfully, the choir director’s wife had done the shopping and provided the pattern, fabric and thread, so that each child would be dressed the same.

By midafternoon, Josie stopped to help Gramps decorate their Christmas tree. While he strung the lights, she climbed into the attic to retrieve the ornaments. Flipping on the light, she gazed about the dreary space in surprise. Dust motes filtered through the threads of sunlight that peeked through the grimy window. Cobwebs and filth covered every surface. The cold caused her to shiver. As she crouched down and perused the stacks of boxes, she realized this was a big fire hazard. Forget a lighted match. All they needed was spontaneous combustion to burn down Gramps’s house. She made a mental note to clean out this storage room before she returned to Las Vegas.

She lifted the lid to an old wooden trunk. A cloud of dust flew upward toward her face. She coughed and sneezed, waving a hand to clear the air. Peering inside, she saw a stack of old letters tied with a faded blue satin ribbon. Curiosity got the better of her and she lifted them out, noticing the dates, and that they’d been written by her parents before they’d married.

Love letters from the past.

Opening several envelopes sequentially, she scanned the yellowed pages. Loving words flowed from one sheet to the next. Her mother’s words, expressing hope and joy for her life with Josie’s father. Josie devoured every sentence like dry sand soaking up rain.

Before she knew it, she’d read seven letters. Her mom had written two letters for every one written by Dad. Separated when he’d gone off to college, she’d missed him and longed for the day when they could be together always. Likewise, Dad could barely concentrate on his school studies, he’d missed his sweetheart so much.

Sitting there in the dust and cobwebs, Josie found tears flowing down her cheeks. For the first time in her life, she realized how young her mom had been when she’d been divorced with a young child to raise. Too young. And Josie didn’t understand why. All she remembered were the noisy fights filled with hateful words. And then the divorce and Mom’s constant anger afterward.

Josie never saw her father again. When Gramps telephoned a year later to say that Dad had died in a car crash, Mom had responded stoically. Then she’d hung up the phone, walked to her bedroom, closed the door and sobbed uncontrollably. Josie had remained outside in the hallway, curled against the wall, her face buried in her hands. Longing to go to her mother. To be comforted. To know everything was going to be okay. But it wasn’t. And four short years later, Mom had died of a heart attack.

They’d all been cheated out of a happy family life together. If Mom and Dad had stayed together, things would have been different.

Never had Josie missed her father more than right now.

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