Cheyenne looked down at the beads that spelled out her name with little hearts on either end and her own heart swelled. “Oh my gosh. Thank you, Luanne. I love it.”
Luanne smiled. “You’re more than welcome, Sweet Pea.” The lights lowered, and Luanne gave Nathan and Cheyenne cheek pats before she hurried off. “Break a chicken wing!”
Cheyenne turned to Nathan, hoping he would finish what he’d been about to say. But then Maisy appeared leading the shepherds and angels. No one could talk over the tromping of little cowboy boots. It was quickly followed by the loud, off-key rendition of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.” And since as soon as the song was over, Cheyenne and Nathan needed to step out on stage, Cheyenne figured she’d have to wait to hear how Nathan felt.
But that didn’t turn out to be the case.
Before the song ended, Nathan spun her toward him and kissed her. His aim was a little off and their noses bumped, but then he readjusted and their lips fit perfectly. In her lifetime, Cheyenne would have many more kisses. But she would never forget this kiss. She would never forget the tremble in her tummy. Or the bump of her heart. Or the bubble of happiness that welled inside her.
Her daddy was right. Your first kiss should be with someone special.
After the kiss was over and she stepped out on stage, her happiness grew. Because in the very first row sat her daddy and Jolene. They were holdinghands and they both had proud looks on their faces. Along with the pride, Cheyenne saw love. And not just on their faces, but also on the face of Miss Gertie who sat next to them. And on Reba’s face and Val’s. And on Dixie’s, and Lincoln’s, and on the face of every other bad boy and girl who sat in the next rows down.
The truth hit Cheyenne as suddenly as Nathan’s kiss. She had been feeling so sorry for herself—so unloved—because she didn’t have a big family. But her family wasn’t just her and her daddy. Her family was all the people looking back at her with love. The entire town of Simple. And as Cheyenne looked out at all the love, she realized what an unforgiving jerk she’d been to her mama. Her mom had made a mistake, but she was trying to make amends for it. It was time to forgive and accept her mom’s olive branch.
After Cheyenne came to that realization, she realized everyone was waiting for her to say her lines. Before she could, Raynelle’s voice rang out from backstage.
“Joseph! You better get me to a Best Western because this baby is a comin’!”
The entire audience laughed and it gave Cheyenne enough time to collect herself and repeat the line. There were a few other hitches. One of the angels took off for her mother when she saw her sitting in the audience. A rancher wise man decided it would be funny to present the baby Jesus with a raw T-bone steak. And Gray Dove hated the manger and started fussing so Miss Gertie came right up on stage with her cat andwalker to soothe her niece and ended up being in the grand finale rendition of “Silent Night.”
But as far as Cheyenne was concerned, it all made the pageant even better.
Of course, the best part of the night was when the pageant was over and she, Jolene, and her daddy all went back to Jolene’s house and decorated the Christmas tree. Once the lights and the ornaments were on, they put on their coats and all trooped outside to see how the tree looked in the window.
Her daddy wrapped an arm around her and Jolene and pulled them close. They felt like a family. “Now that’s one good-lookin’ tree.”
“I told you that real trees are better than fake,” Cheyenne said. “Just like I told you that you needed a grand gesture to get Jolene to forgive you.”
Jolene laughed. “So you were behind this winter wonderland.”
“The snow was Daddy’s idea. The grand gesture was mine.”
“Well, I hate to tell you this, but I would’ve forgiven your father even without a grand gesture.”
Her daddy turned to Jolene. “You mean I didn’t need to spend the entire day freezing my tail off making snow?”
Jolene shrugged. “A simple I’m sorry and I love you would’ve worked.” She glanced around. “Although it wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable or romantic. And it can’t be that cold.” She scooped up some snow from a bush, and with a very evil smile, tucked it in the open collar of hisshirt.
The shocked look on her daddy’s face made Cheyenne shout with laughter. She laughed even harder when he chased after Jolene to place a handful of snow down the back of her shirt. Since girls had to stick together, Cheyenne grabbed up some snow and did the same to her daddy.
He turned on her. “Oh, so it’s girls against boys, is it?” He scooped up a handful of snow and formed it into a snowball. “Bring it on.”
Jolene and Cheyenne did bring it on. They banded together and soon had him down on the ground and covered in snow.
“I surrender!” he yelled. Cheyenne and Jolene stopped pelting him with snow and high-fived.
“I think this calls for a victory cup of hot chocolate,” Jolene winked at Cheyenne. “With no marshmallows.”
Cal got to his feet and brushed off the snow. “I’ll help.” He hooked an arm around Jolene, then held out a hand to Cheyenne.
“You go ahead,” she said. “I want to enjoy the snow for a minute more. It could be melted by morning.”
Once they had gone inside, Cheyenne stood there and looked at the pretty pink house covered in snow and the real tree that twinkled in the window. It was everything she had wanted for Christmas and more. The snowman’s sign had fallen on the ground. She went over and picked it up, then carefully placed it back between the stick arms.
As she headed inside for her hot cocoa, the words rang through her heart.
I BELIEVE.
