“What did you want to say about the Polgars?” Kent asked.

  “I... I was remembering how it was with us when the girls were little.”

  “We talked about that earlier.”

  “We did,” she agreed. “Those early Christmases, the basement apartment, those silly gingerbread decorations I sewed.”

  “What you’re really saying is that you wonder what happened to us.”

  So Kent was the one brave enough to lay it on the table, the subject neither of them had been willing to broach until now.

  Beth suppressed the urge to say it was too late. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to dig up the past anymore, a past that was full of hurts and slights committed on both sides. If they dug too deep, she didn’t know what they might uncover. Anyway, what was the point? They weren’t together anymore. He had a new life and so did she.

  Another part of her, the more rational part, recognized that unless she knew why her relationship with Kent had dissolved, history might repeat itself. If she did fall in love with Ted, she could revert to the same pattern that had destroyed her marriage to Kent.

  “I don’t think we can or should assign blame,” Kent said, sitting up. He leaned forward and extended his arms, cupping his coffee between his hands. “So... I guess we should figure out what went wrong.”

  Beth swallowed hard, unsure where to start. She couldn’t.

  “Do you want to go first?” he asked. Kent, too, apparently found it difficult.

  “No. You go.”

  “All right.” He took a breath. “Once the girls got their driver’s licenses, they didn’t seem to need me anymore. They had their own lives. And that’s the way it should be.”

  “A father’s more than a chauffeur,” she said with the glimmer of a smile. “But I know what you mean. They were becoming adults, so our role as parents changed.”

  He nodded. “And you had your career, while I had mine.”

  “At some point, without even being aware of it, we lost sight of what’s important,” Beth said. “And then it became a matter of pride, as if the most vital thing was proving how little we needed each other.”

  He nodded again.

  “You stopped attending college social functions with me, and I retaliated by not attending your business dinners.”

  He lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry, but I found them boring.”

  “They were.” She’d be the first to admit it.

  “You always made them fun, though—in a slightly scandalous way,” he said, grinning. “I got all the gossip. We’d stand in a corner and you’d tell me the most inappropriate stories.”

  “And you’d embarrass me by laughing at the most inappropriate times,” she reminded him, and had trouble not breaking into giggles right then.

  They looked at each other in silence.

  “We both got absorbed in our lives, apart from each other,” he finally said.

  “We became strangers who happened to be married.”

  “I can’t think of a single defining incident, an event that triggered the end of our marriage. Can you?”

  “Not really.” It was more an accumulation of grudges, of minor slights and careless acts. Oh, there were plenty of small decisions Beth had made through the years. Decisions that seemed inconsequential, insignificant. For some reason she thought of the morning Kent had asked her to drop off a letter at the post office. It was on her way to the college, while he was driving in the opposite direction. She told him she couldn’t because she was running late. Really, how much time would it have taken? A minute? Two? Kent hadn’t complained. He’d dropped off the letter himself.

  Then there was the night she’d phoned and asked Kent to pick up bread and milk on his way home from work and he forgot. Such a little thing, but it had annoyed her no end.

  At some stage she must have decided to ask nothing more of Kent. Was that when the pettiness began? When they turned to a silent battle of wills? How ridiculous they’d been. How silly and selfish and juvenile. No wonder their marriage had crumbled into pieces....

  Beth visualized the slights, the put-downs, the irritations on both sides as pebbles, each a small stone in the growing pile that eventually crushed their marriage. Kent was right; it hadn’t been any one thing. Nothing big. No infidelity. No drugs or alcohol abuse. No money problems.

  “Folks,” the teenager said. He stood in front of their table with a tray and a white rag. “We’re closing now.”

  “Oh.” Feeling disjointed, Beth looked up.

  “Normally I wouldn’t mind staying while you finished your coffee, but it’s Christmas Eve and my grandma’s at the house.”

  “No problem,” Kent said. He took one last drink of his coffee and left the cup on the table. “Thanks, and merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas,” Beth echoed. She left her cup behind, too.

  Kent walked her to her car. He seemed to have more he wanted to say. Beth knew she did. Perhaps later...

  “I’ll see you at the church in twenty minutes,” Kent said. He tucked his hands inside his pockets. “Bob at the B and B told me where it is.”

  “I’m going to pick up Bailey and Sophie. We’ll see you there.”

  He started to turn away, but Beth stopped him.

  “Kent...”

  “Yes?”

  “Would you mind sitting with the girls and me?”

  He smiled. “I’d be happy to,” he said.

  Beth smiled back. Even if that meant Danielle joined them—well, she could tolerate that. It was the season of goodwill, after all. The important thing was for their family to be together.

  16

  Emily Flemming blew out the last candle after the seven o’clock Christmas Eve service at the Methodist church where her husband, Dave, was pastor. Every pew had been filled and the choir had sounded glorious. Both of their sons had gone back to the house with her parents. Emily appreciated the fact that the service was relatively early. Some churches waited until after nine, and the Catholic church always had a midnight mass.

  Dave finished greeting the last of his parishioners, Bible in hand, as Emily joined him in the vestibule.

  “That was lovely, sweetheart,” she told her husband. Dave worked hard on his sermons, heading over to the church two hours before the first service in order to practice and pray. He took his responsibilities seriously and looked after his flock.

  “Thank you.” Dave slipped his arm around Emily’s waist. “Did you see the man with Beth Morehouse?”

  Emily had noticed him, and it wasn’t the local veterinarian. Emily had suspected for some time that a romance between Beth and Ted Reynolds was in the offing. But when she’d seen Beth with this other man, she’d changed her mind. Judging by the electricity that sizzled between them, they were more than acquaintances or even friends. “I saw him.”

  “That’s her ex-husband. His name is Kent.”

  “Her ex-husband?” They sure didn’t act like exes, Emily thought. They’d exchanged frequent looks throughout the service and seemed keenly aware of each other. At first, Beth’s glances had been shy, but as the service progressed, she’d grown bolder. Several times their eyes had met, and neither seemed inclined to look away.

  The two girls had been sitting on one side of Beth, with Kent on the other, closest to the aisle. The girls hadn’t exactly hidden their delight.

  “On her way out of church, Beth mentioned a litter of part-Labrador puppies that were left on her doorstep. Ten in all.”

  “Ten? But I thought she was leaving for a short vacation with her daughters.”

  “She is, so she needs to find homes for these puppies quickly. She’s only got two left and wanted to know if we’re interested.”

  “Are we?” Emily asked, almost afraid of the answer.

  “I was thinking a couple of puppies would help teach Mark and Matthew a sense of responsibility.”

  “Mark’s been asking for a dog,” Emily added with some reluctance. Her fear was that her son would lose interest and she’d be the one taking care of his dog. She had no concerns about Matthew; he was the dependable one.

  “I was thinking—”

  “Dave, before you say anything, we need to consider this very carefully. A puppy, let alone two, is a lot of work and—”

  “Mark’s old enough to understand that. Besides, Beth sounded desperate to find a good home for these dogs. Especially at this late date.”

  Emily could feel herself weakening. Especially when her husband was regarding her with a puppy-dog look of his own....

  “I had a Lab while I was growing up,” Dave said.

  Emily nodded, remembering his fond stories about the family pet.

  “We named him Blackie,” David went on. “Not very original, but, oh, how I loved that dog.”

  “In other words, you’d like our sons to have the same wonderful experience with a dog that you did?”

  Dave smiled sheepishly. “But only if you agree.”

  While she wasn’t one hundred percent sold, Emily was willing to take a chance.

  “Can we at least look at them?” Dave asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

  “Tonight?”

  “Well, yes. It would be perfect. The boys are with your parents and we can drive out to Beth’s place. By the time we get back, Matthew and Mark will be asleep. When they wake up in the morning, the puppies will be there—the best Christmas gift ever.”

  Clearly, her husband had worked this all out.

  “All right,” she said, holding back a smile. “We can go see the puppies, but there are no guarantees. Understand?”

  “Definitely,” he assured her. “We’ll go to Beth’s and look at them, and if you don’t think it’ll work, or you take an instant dislike to either dog or whatever, then we’ll leave.”

  She raised her eyebrows. Dave knew her far too well. The minute she laid eyes on those puppies she’d be lost. She couldn’t possibly say no. Especially since he wanted to provide his sons with the same childhood experience that he’d enjoyed.

  During a quick phone call to the house, Emily told her mother that she and Dave had an errand to run. She explained what it was, and her mother promised that the boys would be in bed when Emily and Dave returned.

  While Emily was talking to her mother, Dave contacted Beth, who said it would be fine to stop by the house that evening. In fact, she wished he would, because she planned to leave with the girls early on the morning of the twenty-sixth, so the sooner these last two puppies found homes, the better.

  In the car on the way to Beth’s house, Emily gazed out at the sky. The night was clear, with a million stars twinkling like jewels, but far more precious than any stone she’d ever seen. Her eyes fell to the wedding ring on her left hand. She’d almost removed it when she believed Dave was having an affair. Those had been dark days in their marriage and she’d been so sure, so completely convinced, that her husband was seeing another woman. It wasn’t as if pastors were exempt from temptation.

  In retrospect, she felt embarrassed that she’d suspected Dave of anything so underhanded. Yet what else was she to believe? He was gone almost every night and, well...thankfully those days were over. Probably every marriage went through at least one rocky period.

  “Dave?”

  “Yes, love?”

  “I think Beth and her ex-husband still have feelings for each other.”

  Dave didn’t speak for several minutes. “I had the same impression,” he finally said.

  “What do you suppose went wrong between them?” Emily asked.

  “Probably the same thing that went wrong with us.”

  “Lack of communication,” she murmured. “I guess it almost always comes down to that.”

  They pulled into Beth’s yard and saw another vehicle parked next to hers.

  “Maybe Kent’s still with her,” Dave commented.

  Emily had heard Kent was staying at the Beldons’ B and B. Rumor had it that he hadn’t arrived alone, but if so, whoever he’d brought hadn’t been at the church.

  The front door opened and Beth stepped onto the porch to greet them. “Welcome, welcome! Please, come inside.”

  Dave held Emily’s hand as they walked into the gaily decorated house.

  “The girls have hot cocoa on the stove. I hope we’ll be able to interest you in a mug.”

  “With whipped cream,” Kent added, joining Beth.

  He extended his hand to Dave. “We met in church earlier. Kent Morehouse.”

  “Dave Flemming, and my wife, Emily.”

  “Hi, Emily. Good to see you again, Dave.”

  Beth led the way into the kitchen. She opened the door leading to the laundry room and returned a moment later with two beautiful black puppies. They wore the saddest, most forlorn looks Emily could imagine.

  “These two are the last of the litter, both males.” Beth handed one to Emily.

  “They’re gorgeous,” Emily said, falling hard and fast. All it had taken was one look, and she was convinced these puppies needed to be part of their family.

  She sat on one of the kitchen chairs, holding the puppy on her lap. The little creature licked her hand, then immediately curled up and went to sleep. Yup, Emily was lost. Mark would love this dog and she felt confident he’d do a good job of feeding, training and caring for this puppy. Matthew, too, would love and train his dog.

  When Emily glanced up she saw that Dave was holding the other puppy, all the while engaged in conversation with Kent Morehouse.

  “The sermon tonight really touched me,” Beth said. “I’ve heard the Christmas story all my life. But I’d never really considered the role Joseph played. How he must have loved Mary.”

  Emily agreed. “It’s a beautiful love story and one that’s often overlooked.” This was Dave’s gift. He looked at Biblical stories in ways that stirred people’s hearts and brought them closer to God. He could take familiar passages and study them from a different point of view, bringing contemporary relevance and new insight.

  Beth returned to the stove, and removed the pan from the burner. Bailey and Sophie, who’d poked their heads in to say hello, were playing a computer game in the family room.

  “Girls! Cocoa,” Beth called out.

  Neither seemed to hear her, too engrossed in their game. Shaking her head, Beth finished filling the mugs and brought two of them to Emily and Dave, both sitting at the kitchen table.

  Kent picked up the other two, then he and Beth sat down with her guests.

  “I see they’ve taken a liking to us,” Dave said, motioning to the puppy on his lap. The second one was asleep, too, chin now resting on Emily’s arm.

  “You know what a soft touch I am,” she complained laughingly.

  “Yeah, I guess we’re a two-dog family now.”

  “Dave was telling me he likes to golf,” Kent said to Beth a moment later.

  “It’s a prerequisite for pastors,” Dave joked. “A lot of men bond over the sport.”

  “There was a time not so long ago when Dave gave it up, though,” Emily said. “We were going through a difficult financial period and he didn’t want me to know how bad things were. The idiot let me think he was out golfing when he was actually working at a second job.” Emily wasn’t sure about confiding anything so personal, but she felt this was something Beth and Kent might benefit from hearing.

  “How did you find out?” Beth asked.

  “Peggy Beldon casually mentioned that Bob missed seeing Dave on the golf course.”

  “Of course, Emily didn’t say anything at the time. She just waited for me to come back to the house. She was cool as a cucumber—until I walked in the front door.”

  “Was that before or after I dyed my hair blond?”

  Beth stared at her. “You went blond?”

  “It was stupid, but we do stupid things when we’re desperate.”

  “We do,” Kent agreed far too quickly.

  “In the end we worked everything out, thank God,” Dave said. “I made such a mess of my marriage. I nearly destroyed my wife’s faith in me.”

  “And then there were those missing jewels,” Emily added. There was far more to the story.

  “Oh, yes, the jewels.” Dave sighed, lifting his mug of cocoa.

  “Missing jewels?” Kent asked, looking from one to the other.

  “It’s a long story, so allow me to condense it. One of the older ladies in the church, Martha Evans, died and several pieces of her jewelry turned up missing.”

  “Dave was the last person to see her alive,” Emily said. “Which immediately threw suspicion on him.”

  “So everyone assumed I was the one who took the jewelry—even my wife,” Dave said, grinning at Emily.

  She smiled back. “What else was I supposed to believe?” she murmured. “Besides, I found Martha’s earring in his suit pocket. Only I didn’t know it belonged to Martha or that someone had purposely placed it there. At the time, I imagined my husband was having an affair.”

  “My goodness, you two had quite a few troubles, didn’t you?” Kent glanced at Beth.

  “What saved your marriage?” she asked.

  “Prayer,” Emily said, “and the two of us talking honestly. Dave finally admitted we had more bills at the end of the month than money, and that he was doing two jobs.”

  “And Sheriff Davis was instrumental in capturing the man responsible for the theft of Martha’s jewelry,” Dave explained, “with Roy McAfee’s help.”

  “What an incredible story!”

  “It really is, and I’ll fill in the missing pieces the next time we see you,” Emily promised. She took a last swallow of her cocoa and stood, the puppy in her arms. “We need to head home. My parents are looking after the boys.”

  “Wait,” Kent said. “I want to know who actually took the jewelry?”

  “Someone who worked on Martha’s will, a paralegal,” Dave explained. “His name is Geoff Duncan. He’s serving prison time now. He was trying to impress his fiancée’s family, so he stole the jewelry, pawned it all and spent the money.”