“Well, I’m surprised that you would show your face in the Lord’s house after what you did, Cal Daily.”
Cal turned to see Luanne standing there, glaring at him in all her Christmas sweater splendor. Her many bracelets rattled as she shook a finger at him. “Shame on you for firing my Nathan. He told me and his daddy what he did wrong. And while Bud agrees you should’ve fired him, I think it was way too harsh. He has a major crushon Cheyenne. Of course he would do whatever she asked him to. Bud does what I say . . . well, sometimes. But when we were first dating, he did whatever I wanted. Was it wrong what Nathan did? Of course it was. But you getting after him was punishment enough. He thinks the world of you and loves his job. You just broke his heart.”
Cal had already started feeling guilty about taking his anger out on Nathan, and Luanne’s speech made him feel even worse. Over the last few weeks, he’d gotten attached to the kid and felt bad that he’d hurt him with his rash words.
“You’re right,” he said. “I shouldn’t have fired him. I’ll talk to him after rehearsal. If he wants his job back, it’s his.”
Luanne smiled brightly and gave him a big hug. “I can see why Nathan looks up to you, Cal Daily. You’re a much more reasonable man than I thought.” She drew back. “And now that you got over your wife leaving you and are no longer as grumpy as a rattlesnake, I going to find you a good woman.” She glanced at the stage where Raynelle Coffman was trying to keep the cowboy and cowgirl shepherds from roping each other. “In fact, I happen to have the perfect good ol’ gal in mind.” She looked back at him. “What do you think about blue hair?”
Cal cleared his throat. “Uhh . . . blue hair is . . . nice. I’m just not really interested in dating right now. I’m looking for Cheyenne. Have you seen her?”
“I shore have. She’s in the bathroom getting her costume on for the dress rehearsal. Just wait untilyou see how pretty she looks.”
Cal sighed with relief. After leaving the bank, he’d looked all over for Cheyenne and had been more than a little worried when he couldn’t find her.
“Could you go tell her that I’m here and would like to talk—”
Maisy’s loud voice cut him off. “Places everyone! We need to get this rehearsal started before all the angels fall asleep.”
Luanne patted his arm. “Sorry, Cal. You’ll have to talk to Cheyenne after.” She winked at him. “And you let me know if you change your mind about dating. Mature women know a lot more tricks than young ones.”
Since he didn’t know how to reply to that, he simply nodded and took a seat in a pew to wait for the rehearsal to end. The cute little angels and shepherds singing about Jesus’s birth in off-key voices and waving at their moms and dads caused some of the tension to leave Cal’s body.
He remembered the first holiday show Cheyenne had been in. She’d been in preschool and Clarissa had curled Cheyenne’s hair and placed a big red bow right on the top of her head so she looked like the perfect little gift. She sang “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” with the rest of her class. But when she spotted Cal sitting in the audience, she had stopped singing and yelled loudly “Hey, Daddy!” All the parents had laughed, but Cal hadn’t. Tears had filled his eyes and his heart had just about burst from love.
Just like now.
When Cheyenne stepped out on stage, Cal struggled to keep from crying like a baby. Gone was the cute little freckled-face girl with a bow on her head, and in her place was a beautiful young woman. It surprised him that she looked so much like Clarissa when Cal had first met her. Cheyenne’s hair was about the same length, and she had Clarissa’s slender figure. As Cal watched her say her lines, he wondered when his baby girl had grown up and how he hadn’t noticed. Probably because he hadn’t wanted to notice. He’d wanted to keep Cheyenne little for as long as he could . . . because little kids don’t leave.
A tap on his arm had him glancing over to find Miss Gertie sitting next to him. He had been so wrapped up in his epiphany that he hadn’t noticed the older woman taking a seat next to him. Her aged eyes held compassion and her wrinkled hand held out a tissue. It took him a moment to realize that the tissue was for him. Tears had leaked out of his eyes and down his cheeks.
He took the tissue and brushed at his cheeks. “Sorry. I forgot how emotional the Christmas story is.”
“No need to apologize. In my opinion, a man who doesn’t cry isn’t much of a man at all.” Miss Gertie looked back at the stage. “Now hush so I can watch Gray Dove’s part.”
Cheyenne slipped behind the stable Boone had made and returned cradling Miss Gertie’s niece. The sight made more tears collect in Cal’s eyes and he tried to nonchalantly blot them away withthe tissue. It was an emotional relief when the play was over and Maisy called everyone together to give them their last instructions before she ended the rehearsal.
Miss Gertie glanced over at Cal. “Cheyenne stopped by the boardinghouse this afternoon.” So that’s where she went after she left the garage. Cal should’ve known that Cheyenne would head to Miss Gertie.
Cal sighed. “I guess she’s pretty upset with me.”
“She was, but I think she’s more upset about what happened with Joey Mac. She’s starting to think that your theory might be right.”
He stared at her. “What theory?”
“That love only hurts and it’s best to stay away from it.”
Cal cringed and glanced back at the stage. “Damn.”
“Watch your mouth in the Lord’s house. Although it is a damn shame that’s the kind of message you’ve sent your daughter.” Miss Gertie’s piercing eyes stared right through him. “I know life hasn’t been easy for you. I know you’ve been through a lot of pain. But sometimes we make things even harder on ourselves by absorbing that pain instead of letting it go. The more pain we absorb, the more bitter and closed off we become. I know in my heart you don’t want your bitterness to keep Cheyenne from being happy.”
Cal looked back at Cheyenne and felt his heart twist. “What if I don’t know how to let go?”
Miss Gertie reached over and patted his knee. “You do. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve alreadystarted letting the past go. That’s why you’ve been so happy lately.” She snorted. “Although the silly folks of this town are convinced you were visited by three ghosts. Now I’m a firm believer in ghosts, but I think your happiness has more to do with falling in love.”
Cal stared at her. “Love?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Cal Daily. When a man who doesn’t smile much starts grinning like a Cheshire cat and whistling like a bird in spring, those are sure signs he’s been bitten by the love bug.”
