Home in Time for Christmas and An Angel for Christmas by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Melody had drifted off, though she had been certain that she wouldn’t do so. Serena nudged her, and she leaped up with a start.

“It’s just about sunrise,” Serena told her.

“Time to get ready. What do I do?” Melody asked.

She was going home. All right, so she was home, but she was going home. And she longed to be there because of her mother and father and Keith, and yet she hated to leave this place that had everything to do with Jake.

It was oddly like walking to an accepted execution.

Nothing like! she assured herself. It was what it was. It was what had to be.

“You’re bundled up—good. It’s cold out,” Serena said. She had a cup waiting on the mantel, and she handed it to Melody to drink.

“Just what is it?” Melody asked.

“Eye of newt, toe of frog,” Serena said.

Melody almost spit it out.

“I’m joking, I’m just joking,” Serena said. “It’s herbs. Rose hip, that’s one of the main ingredients. Seriously, it might help you make it through a sickness. There’s nothing evil in it. I believe it’s the same brew your mother is making now.”

“It’s—just delicious,” Melody lied.

“Grab one of the lanterns. They have to be set on either side of the old well.”

Melody picked up one of the lanterns. They went out into the crisp, cold winter’s day. Melody looked around. Dead tree limbs seemed to drip with a ghostly appeal in the pale gray light. It was beautiful and eerie. There was no one near them, though she heard a horse neighing from the small stable next to the house.

A stable which in her time was long gone.

The lanterns were set precisely—Melody could see that Serena was very careful as she set them down. “You must be exactly between them,” she told Melody.

“All right,” Melody said. She felt just a bit awkward. She walked over to Serena, then decided that if the woman thought she was foolish it wouldn’t matter—in only moments, they wouldn’t even be living in the same window of time. She gave Serena a fierce hug.

It wasn’t awkward. Serena hugged her in return.

“Now, get between the lanterns,” Serena said, moving back. She looked up at the sky. “It’s almost time.”

* * *

They had gathered in the backyard, waiting.

George and Keith brought the wave machines back out and situated them.

Jake stood between them.

He took Mona’s hands. “I’ll write. I’ll leave books where you can find them. I promise you, we’ll finish the history of the family, and I’ll see that you can find everything. Thank you, Mona. Bless you.”

Mona nodded, tears stinging her eyes.

She touched his hair and his face. “I do need my baby back,” she said.

“I know.”

He shook George’s hand solemnly. And hugged Keith.

The potion was waiting to be swallowed down, set in the snow at the spot he must stand.

Jake looked up at the sky. The winter’s morning came out of a field of shadows, but the sunrise was coming, and even in winter, there would be pink and yellow and gold streaks, and then a sudden burst of pure light.

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