Shenandoah Christmas Read online

  This book made available by the Internet Archive.

  For my friends who meet on Sundays at the corner of Ann and Bow Streets,

  especially all the children who share the laughter and the songs.

  And for the women who have taught me so much

  about music and about sisterhood—

  Charlyne, Sharon, Linda and Maryann.

  r

  PROLOGUE

  Eighteen years ago

  "We need more feathers." Ten-year-old Cait Gregory sat back on her heels and surveyed the project on the floor in front of her. "We've still got half a wing to cover."

  Her sister, Anna, bent over and pressed a feather into the tiny bit of glue she'd squeezed out of the bottle she held. "We don't have another pillow."

  "Daddy has pillows."

  "Are you crazy?" Anna pushed back her curly red bangs and stared at Cait in horror. "He wouldn't let us use his pillows. He's gonna be mad enough that we used

  our own.'

  "He's a minister—he has to do what's good for Christ-

  mas."

  "You only say that because you're the angel in the Christmas Eve pageant this year." Anna tried to be the boss, just because she was two years older than Cait. "There's lots more important stuff about Christmas than that."

  "No, there's not." On her feet now, Cait propped her hands on her hips. ' 'The whole point of Christmas is the story the pageant tells. And the main part of the story is when the angel announces the birth of the baby to the shepherds. I've already got the words learned. 'Fear not,

  for I bring you good tidings of great joy.... Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' See?"

  Her sister shook her head and glued another feather onto the shapes she'd drawn and cut out of white poster board. Anna was an artist, for sure. The wings—wider than Cait's shoulders and as long as she was tall—curved just like the pictures of angels she'd seen in books. Covered with millions of tiny white feathers, they would be the best wings any announcing angel ever had.

  As soon as she found one more pillow.

  Prowling the house, she tested every cushion she came across, but only the pillows on her dad's bed had feathers. Cait stood gazing at them for a long time. Did she dare?

  Later that night, lying flat on her bed in the dark room j she and Anna shared, with tears drying on her cheeks and her stomach growling because she hadn't gotten dinner, she wasn't sorry she'd taken her dad's pillow. Nothing i mattered more than making the pageant the best it could possibly be. This was Christmas, after all.

  And for Cait, Christmas would always be the most wonderful day of the year!

  from his hold and moved to the workbench, running his fingers lightly over the fretwork veneer Ben had been working on. "How'd school go?"

  His son shrugged one shoulder and gave a small nod. Knowing the futility of pushing any harder—Shep hadn't said a single word to anyone in the eighteen months since his mother died—Ben stifled a sigh of frustration and looked at Maddie again. "This is Wednesday, so you went to choir right after school, didn't you?"

  "Brenna's mom took us." The little girl's face brightened with enthusiasm. "Miss Caitlyn played her guitar and sang us some of the songs she wrote. They're so beautiful, I can't believe it."

  This wasn't the first time Ben had heard about the wonders of Caitlyn Gregory. "I bet you'll be glad when Miss Anna can come back, though. I know how much you like her as your regular choir teacher.''

  "Miss Anna's really nice." Maddie nodded. "But Miss Caitlyn kinda...sparkles." She gave a worshipful sigh.

  "I'm sure she's fun to sing with. Just remember—" He debated the warning for a second, then decided to go with it. "Remember she won't be here for very long. She's pretty famous and she has lots of work to do in other places. It's nice of her to come and help out, but once Miss Anna's baby is born and the doctor says she can get back to normal, Miss Caitlyn will be gone."

  "I know." Maddie's smile dimmed. "Brenna said Miss Caitlyn's some kind of big rock star or something." She slid off his lap and started toward the door, then turned back, her face shining again. "But Christmas is only nine weeks away. Maybe she'll be here at least until Christmas. Wouldn't that be neat, Daddy? I bet she sings carols like an angel!"

  Ben called up a halfhearted grin. "I wouldn't be sur-

  prised. You and Shep go into the house and get started on your homework. I'll close up and be right there." He turned to straighten his tools and clean up the workshop while the kids streaked across the backyard in the gathering dusk.

  As he swept cherrywood shavings into a corner, he realized with surprise that more than two-thirds of October had come and gone. Having accustomed himself to the slow pace of life in the country, Ben rarely looked very far ahead anymore. He hadn't realized how soon the holidays would arrive.

  Another Christmas, he thought, deliberately relaxing the set of his jaw and the tight grip of his hands on the broomstick. / can hardly wait

  The third time her brother-in-law David commented on the number of meals they were eating out of cans, Cait's redheaded temper caught fire. She spent Friday morning studying Anna's cookbooks and making a grocery list. Just after lunch, while her sister napped, Cait headed for the only grocery store in Goodwill, Virginia.

  Driving through the little town, Cait rolled down the car windows to catch the breeze. In the past ten years she hadn't had time to notice the seasons much, and she was realizing what she'd missed. Old trees lined the narrow streets, their leaves turning gold and maroon and brilliant orange with the arrival of chilly fall nights. The forested mountains to the west blazed in the early afternoon sunshine, an impressionist collage of all the reds and yellows imaginable. Eastward stretched the rolling pastures and fields of the Shenandoah Valley, their gentle summer greens fading now to tawny. Under a wide blue sky, the ancient hills imparted a sense of time to spare. Cait hadn't felt so free of obligations in years.

  Time had, in face, been kind to Goodwill. Set on lush lawns among the colorful trees, many of the houses in the area dated back a century or more; the town had been settled before the American Revolution and had escaped most of the ravages of the Civil War. Windows paned with antique wavy glass looked out over a brick-paved main street called, simply, the Avenue. Old buildings of brick and stone and painted wood siding had aged gracefully, adapting to changed circumstances and purposes with dignity. What had once been the schoolhouse was now a computer software business. The one-time blacksmith's stable had become a bookstore, and a dress boutique occupied the shoemaker's shop.

  Yet the bakery still used wood-fired ovens built two hundred years ago; descendants of the first attorney in town still practiced in his original building and the physician's office still housed a pediatrician. Modern intrusions were few and carefully designed, including Food Depot, one block east of the Avenue. Old brick with white wood trim disguised a very modern grocery, while the mature trees standing between the parking spaces out front created an arbor on what would have been a bare asphalt plain.

  Inside the store, Cait pulled out her list and prepared to concentrate on shopping. Her dinner preparation usually consisted of making reservations or ordering take-out food. But she didn't expect to have much trouble cooking a real meal. How hard could pot roast be?

  Potatoes were the first problem. Idaho? Golden? Red? New? Cait tried to visualize the last pot roast she'd eaten, but ten years on the road, staying in a different town every night, had buried the memory too deep. She decided she liked the look of the small red ones, and moved on to carrots. Organic versus...what? Did organic change the

  taste? Would David notice? And should she peel them herself, or be lazy and get the ones already peeled?

 
The vegetables were easy, however, compared to the meat department. All the plastic-wrapped roasts looked the same. The recipe called for rump roast or shoulder roast or round roast. Which was the best? How was she supposed to choose?

  She flipped her braid over her shoulder. "Why isn't beef just beef?"

  "I beg your pardon?" A baritone voice, soft southern vowels, obviously startled.

  With her cheeks heating up, Cait glanced at the man standing beside her. "I...um...was talking to myself. Sorry." He flashed a half smile and returned to studying packs of hamburger.

  She took advantage of his preoccupation to steal another look. This was a man to write songs about. Dark-blue eyes, wheat-gold hair in short curls that reminded her of an ancient Roman statue, impressive shoulders under a cinnamon-colored sweater. He reached down to pick up a package of meat, giving her a view of lean hips and long legs in faded jeans.

  Wow. Cait mentally fanned herself. She'd shared the stage with several of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs at an awards ceremony a few months back, but none of them had left her breathless like this. Who knew Anna's tiny town could offer such interesting options?

  "Excuse me." Following her impulse, she tugged on the elbow of his sweater.

  Her reward was another chance to gaze into those deep, deep eyes. "Yes, ma'am?"

  A gentleman all the way. Better and better. "Do you know anything about pot roast?''

  His brows, slightly darker than his hair, drew together. "Pot roast?"

  Cait gestured at the meat case. "Which one works the best?"

  That small smile of his broke again. "Oh. No, I don't do the fancy stuff. But I think my mother-in-law uses chuck roast." Leaning across her, he lifted a huge hunk of meat out of the cooler one-handed. "Like this."

  "Ah." Cait held out her hands and he eased the roast into her grasp. Mother-in-law. So much for options. "Thanks for the help."

  He nodded. "Anytime."

  Don't I wish. Feeling like a kid denied her lollipop, Cait pushed her cart toward the dairy section. Anna needed to drink milk every day. Two percent? Whole? Skim?

  And why were all the really great men already married, anyway?

  The ultimate torture was standing behind that same guy in the checkout line—her chance to pick up all the details she'd missed before. An easy stance, a strong jawline, square, long-fingered hands which saw their share of physical labor, if a few healing cuts were anything to go by. Not to mention all the kid groceries in his cart—small juice cartons, boxes of animal crackers, fruit roll snacks and cereal with marshmallow shapes. The guy not only had a mother-in-law. He had children.

  A tune from a few years back came to mind, a daughter singing about the strength and love in her daddy's hands. This man had that kind of caring, working hands. Lucky kids.

  Lucky wife.

  Cait shook her head and fixed her gaze on the tabloids in the rack beside her cart. After ten exhausting vears, her

  music career was about to break into the big time. She had a New Year's Eve slot on a major network show and an album scheduled to start production in the spring. Who needed a husband and kids? Or a house to keep?

  Anna was the domestic sister, the homemaker, the mom-to-be. Cait knew herself for the wanderer, seldom happy for more than a little while in one place. She hadn't seen a town she couldn't leave. Hadn't met anyone she wanted more than she wanted the smiles and the tears, the sighs and the applause, of a live audience.

  But she had to admit, watching the guy in the cinnamon sweater reach for his wallet, that an available man who looked as good as this one might tempt her into changing her mind.

  Ben felt the presence of the woman behind him in the checkout line as if the air around them stirred slightly every time she took a breath. That minute by the meat case had left him with fleeting impressions. Hair in every shade from gold to copper, tamed into a thick braid over her shoulder. Eyes the color of spring leaves, fringed by dark lashes. Skin as smooth as a little girl's, sprinkled with freckles. A cigarettes-and-whiskey kind of voice which, along with the fact that she looked very much like her sister, told him who she must be. Cait Gregory, superstar, was shopping for pot roast at the Food Depot in Goodwill, Virginia.

  He could see what Maddie meant about "sparkle." Ms. Gregory possessed the kind of charisma he'd noticed in movie stars and politicians during his years with the Secret Service in Washington. If what he'd heard about her recent concert tour was true, she could reduce a rowdy

  crowd to absolute, focused silence with the sound of her

  voice. Even ' 'pot roast'' sounded sexy when Cait Gregory said it.

  Unloading his sacks of groceries into the back of the Suburban, Ben sat behind the wheel with the motor running and faced the fact that he should have introduced himself to his kids' choir director, if only to be neighborly. They would meet at church eventually. She would wonder why he'd kept quiet, especially since she'd obviously been willing to give him more than just the time of day.

  Maybe that was why he hadn't said more. Cait Gregory demanded acknowledgment as an attractive, sensual member of the very opposite sex. The soft green sweater that molded the curves of her breasts, the snug jeans that emphasized the flare of her hips...

  Ben shook his head and jerked the truck into reverse. He'd noticed a hell of a lot more about Cait Gregory than he was comfortable with. He hadn't thought about a woman as female since Valerie's death, and he didn't want to start now.

  Especially not with this particular woman. One look at her red hair, at the hint of temper in the arch of her eyebrows and the tilt of her lips, foretold every kind of emotional experience but peace. And peace was all Ben really I wanted.

  So she could just take her tempest somewhere, and to someone, else. He did not intend to pursue more than the slightest, most temporary acquaintance with the famous Ms. Gregory. His life worked okay these days; he gave everything he had to taking care of Shep and Maddie and to building his custom furniture business. That was the way he liked it and nobody was going to make him change his mind.

  Ben dared them even to trv

  On Friday afternoon, Harry Shepherd got home from work an hour later than he'd planned. He usually finished early at the office on Fridays, but today's meeting had run long, there had been a report to generate afterward, and some new figures faxed in just as he was getting ready to leave. As vice president of one of the country's leading furniture manufacturers, he never walked out the door until the week's work was done.

  But the grandkids were due for supper any minute. He and Peg took them on Friday nights to give Ben a little privacy and a chance to get out, if he wanted, without worrying about Maddie and Shep. As far as Harry could tell, though, all his son-in-law did with his free time was go back to work. Harry wished that would change. Harry had been the one to suggest Ben set up his own custom-made furniture business and he knew that getting a new enterprise off the ground required a great deal of focused effort. But some time off now and again brought a fresh attitude and increased energy to the job. Besides, Ben needed a social life. A man shouldn't spend all his days and nights with his kids.

  Headlights flashed on the trees at the end of the driveway as Ben's Suburban pulled in. Within seconds, Maddie jumped out and grabbed Harry around the waist. "Hi, Grandpa! We're here!"

  "I can see that, Magpie." He rubbed his hand over her curls, so like her mother's had been at that age. Shep trailed behind her, his head down as he studied the toy plane in his hands. "Very nice," Harry said. "Is that the one that broke the sound barrier?'' The little boy glanced up out of the sides of his eyes and nodded, but didn't volunteer any more contact. Would they ever see him smile again, or hear his voice?

  group up the steps onto the porch. "You sure you feel up to dealing with these characters tonight?"

  Peggy had opened the front door. "Of course we do. Come in, Maddie, darling. Oh, Shep, how did you get that tear in your sweater?"

  "That's what little boys are designed for, Peg." Harry put a hand
on her shoulder, leaned in for his welcome-home kiss. Her cheeks were still rose-petal smooth, although she and Harry had both hit sixty this year. "The apparel industry counts on him to make sure his clothes don't last too long."

  Unlike Harry's company, which made furniture that lasted for generations. He took a lot of pride in having helped to build a reputation for quality.

  Peggy clucked her tongue, examining Shep's sleeve. The boy pulled away, leaving the sweater hanging in her hands. "Shameful waste, if you ask me." She sighed, but only in part, Harry knew, because of the garment. Shep's withdrawal worried her deeply. "I'll mend it later. Meanwhile, all of you come in. I've got some cheese and crackers set out. What would you like to drink, Maddie?"

  Kneeling at the coffee table, Maddie stacked cheese slices and crackers into a tower. "Can I have a soda?"

  "No." Ben still stood near the front door. "You can have juice. Or milk."

  Maddie stuck out her lower lip. ' 'Apple juice, I guess, Grandma."

  "Excuse me?" Her father's voice was stern.

  The little girl got the message. "Please could I have apple juice, Grandma?" She glanced at her brother, who nodded without looking up. "And for Shep, too."

  "Right away. Ben, what can I get you?"

  "Nothing, thanks. I need to get back to the house."

  "Oh, but—" To her husband's surprise, Peggy actually

  blushed. "I thought you might stay for dinner tonight. I made a big pot roast and...invited some extra people."

  That was a surprise. Friday nights were supposed to be just for the grandkids.

  Ben evidently had similar ideas. "Thanks, Peggy, but some other time." Backing up, he reached for the door handle. As he touched it, the bell rang. He gave his usual half grin. 'Til get it."

  The grin widened when he glanced outside. "Hi, Anna. How are you? You're looking great, as usual." He drew Anna Remington into the house with his left hand and extended his right to her husband. "Hey, Pastor Dave. What's going on?"

  In the midst of giving Anna a kiss on the cheek, Harry saw Ben's jaw drop for a second, saw him swallow hard. "Come in. Please."