Sweetwater Springs Scrooge: A Montana Sky Holiday Short Story (The Montana Sky Series) by Debra Holland Read Free Book Online

if in a dream, she placed her hand in his, feeling the supple leather of his new gloves under her fingers.
    He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips. “You shouldn’t be out here without gloves.” His grin made lines crinkle around his eyes.
    He’s never looked so attractive. Her heart fluttered. She glanced from Elias—this elegant stranger—to the horse and sleigh. “What fairy tale did you borrow that equipage from?”
    “Not borrowed. The horse and sleigh are mine. I bought them on a recent trip to Crenshaw.” He gestured to his clothing, and then extended his arms for her to admire him. “A whole new wardrobe as well.”
    Unable to hide her surprise, Marian gaped at him like a fish.
    “’Bout time, don’t you think?”
    “Absolutely time!” she recovered enough to return smartly.
    Elias didn’t seem to mind her sharp tone. He cupped her hands in his. “Go get your gloves and anything else you need. I’ll give you and Noah a ride to church.”
    “Nonsense! We’re quite capable of walking.” Still, Marian snuck a peek at the beautiful black sleigh and imagined a ride like a dream.
    “It’s Christmas Eve, Marian,” Elias coaxed. “Let me take you for a drive.”
    She glanced beyond him to her grandson.
    Noah stroked the horse’s head, a look of adoration on his face.
    How can I go with Elias? But how can I refuse? I don’t want to disappoint Noah on Christmas. The child needs a treat as much as I do. Throwing her concerns into the icy wind, she smiled and squeezed his hand.
    ~ ~ ~
    Not until Elias slid into the front seat of the sleigh next to Marian and tucked a blanket around them did he exhale a sigh of relief. I’ve gotten her into the sleigh. May the rest of my wooing go as well.
    His stomach had been tight with tension throughout his whole trip to Crenshaw. He was taking a big risk to win Marian’s regard—spending with such reckless abandon that if she rejected him again, he’d not only have a broken heart and a lonely future, but would also be labeled The Laughingstock of Sweetwater Springs instead of The Miser of Sweetwater Springs.
      Oh, yes, Elias had heard the whispers behind his back.
    But that’s the past , he told himself. Please, Blessed Jesus, on the celebration of your birth… the rest of his prayer was an inarticulate emotional plea.
    He flicked the reins of the mare he’d named Prancer, and the horse started forward. The bells on the harness chimed in a sweet cadence and the sleigh’s runners crunched through the snow. He glanced over at Marian, but she stared straight ahead, her chin in the stubborn set he knew so well.
    They didn’t have far to go and plenty of time before the service started, so Elias held Prancer to a walk. The winter night had already fallen, and only the lights from the lanterns on the sleigh pierced the darkness. Overhead, the silvery moon illuminated the velvety blackness of the sky, the stars like crystals, stark and beautiful.
    Elias hadn’t celebrated holidays since he and Marian had broken up; indeed, although he’d attended the church service, he’d withheld himself from the spirit of Christmas.
    As he drove with Marian at his side, and the boy he’d come to care about tucked into blankets on the seat behind him, Elias felt a deep welling up of the joy he’d denied himself for so long. Unable to contain himself, he burst into song.

    “The snow lay on the ground, the stars shone bright,
    When Christ our Lord was born on Christmas night.
    Venite adoremus Dominum.
    Venite adoremus Dominum .”

    Marian stared at Elias, her eyebrows raised in astonishment. But then a familiar sparkle lit her blue eyes. Her lips turned up, and an elusive dimple flickered at the side of her mouth, one that he hadn’t seen in many years. Even when she’d smiled at other people, she hadn’t given that one—the happy turn up of her lips she’d reserved for him.
    Relief loosened the knot in his stomach.
    Marian glanced behind them to check on