Home for Christmas (Willow Park #5) (16 page)

***

They weren’t late to the Christmas
Eve service at church. They walked in one minute before it started.

Sophie clung to Mark’s hand as they went through the
readings and carols of the service, and she felt like she understood the
completely counter-intuitive beauty of the Incarnation in a way she never had
before—coming in weakness rather than strength, proving the full power of love.

She and Mark were going to stay in Willow Park after all, so
she wouldn’t have to leave the community she’d grown to love. All of them were
here tonight, sitting in the pews around them, except for Abigail, Thomas, and
Mia, who were at the hospital, having their baby.

Sophie was crying openly as they sang
Silent Night
at
the end of the service, as they lit each other’s candles until the dark sanctuary
glowed. She wasn’t even embarrassed by her tears.

Mark stood beside her and put an arm around shoulders,
holding her protectively, like she was his to take care of.

It was so much better this way—when they could take care of
each other.

***

Sophie
woke up while it was still dark. She instinctively checked the bedside table
for the clock and was surprised to find it not there. She lifted her head and
blinked around the darkened room, confused when the clock appeared on the other
side of the bed.

Then she realized she wasn’t in her apartment. She was in a
big, old-fashioned room—filled with lovely, comfortable antique furniture—in
the Evergreen Inn and Farms. It was four o’clock in the morning on the last day
of the year.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Day, beginning the year she finally
had her husband back. Not just in body, but also in heart, in spirit. All the
way.

Mark was still sleeping beside her, so she rolled over to
tuck herself at his side. He mumbled a few times and wrapped an arm around her,
and Sophie was so happy she could hardly contain the feeling.

“What are you vibrating about?” Mark mumbled.

She couldn’t hold back a giggle. “I’m not vibrating.”

“I know vibrating when I feel it.” His hand had moved up so
it was cupping the back of her head in a way that felt tender, possessive.

“I’m happy.”

“It’s four o’clock in the morning.” Despite his dry tone, it
felt like he was smiling.

“Is there some rule against being happy at four in the
morning?”

“There should be a rule.”

She laughed again and pressed a kiss on his chest. “Well, if
there’s ever a ridiculous rule like that, I’m telling you right now that I’m
going to defy it on every available occasion.”

Mark chuckled and pulled her farther up so she could almost
see his face in the dark. “Me too.”

Her heart felt like bursting again as she kissed him on the
mouth and then settled against him. “I wish we didn’t have to leave today. I’ve
had a great time here. Something about how quiet and out-of-the-way it is,
seems like it puts the rest of the world into better perspective.”

They’d stayed at Evergreen Farms for three days, taking
walks, having long talks, and really relaxing in a way neither one of them had
for a really long time. After the past two years, the past two months, both of
them had needed it.

“We can stay longer, if you want. But I thought you wanted
to get back in time for the Duncans’ New Year’s Eve party.”

“I do. I don’t want to miss it. It will just be strange to
go back to the real world, somehow.”

Mark’s body stiffened slightly. “I think we’re doing okay,
even in the real world.”

She gasped and reached a hand up to cup his bearded face.
“Of course, we’re doing okay. I didn’t mean anything would change between us. I
know it’s not going to be easy and we both still have a road to travel, a road
that’s sometimes hard, but I really feel like we’ve gotten over a mountain—and
at least we won’t have to travel the road alone.”

Mark was smiling as he leaned down to kiss her. “That’s
exactly the way I feel too.”

She responded to the kiss, letting her body express the
power of her feelings, and soon the embrace had deepened. Mark had turned her
over, taken off her pajamas, and stretched her arms up over her head as he
started to kiss his way down her body. Both her body and her heart were
throbbing with need and pleasure and love when Mark suddenly jerked and raised
his head.

“Why are you stopping?” she gasped.

“Just making sure. You want to do this, don’t you? Or would
you rather talk?”

She choked on a laugh and pulled his head back down to her
breasts. “I definitely want to do this right now.”

He groaned in what sounded like relief. His dark eyes got very
soft and hot as he raised his head again so he could kiss her mouth. Sophie
kissed him back, with all the affection she possessed.

Mark wasn’t like he used to be—easy, good-humored, always
laughing. He was deeper and more complicated and tortured in a way that wasn’t
going to just vanish, no matter how much they both wanted it to. He’d talked a
little more in the past few days about his time imprisoned. As John had understood,
there was no dark secret he needed to let out. It was just incredibly hard to
put himself back there, remember all of the difficult things he’d seen and
heard, what people could do to other people. He hadn’t told her everything, though.
He might not ever do so. But he was still Mark, and she still loved him—maybe
even more now than she had before.

And she knew, without doubt or hesitation, that he still
loved her too.

He kissed and caressed her until she was eager, almost
helpless in her desire, and then he entered her and they moved together in
hungry urgency. She needed him desperately—just as much as he needed her. She
came, just before he did, and both of them collapsed in hot satiation, still
clinging to each other.

“I love you,” he murmured hoarsely, pressing little kisses
on her cheek and jaw. “You know I love you, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” She was smiling and panting at the same time. “I
do.”

They lay together for another couple of hours, dozing off
occasionally and then having silly conversations in between about the huge
doilies on the wall and what Sophie should wear to the New Year’s Eve party
tonight.

Then finally the thought of what they needed to do
today—drive back to Willow Park, go grocery shopping, go down to the bookstore
and make sure everything was in order after the days she’d been out of
town—pushed Sophie out of bed.

She took a long shower, and she was drying off in the
bathroom when she heard a voice from the bedroom. It was obviously Mark’s
voice, and it didn’t take her long to figure out he was talking to John.

“Yes,” Mark was saying. “I’m telling you that things are
going really well with Sophie.”

After the pause, during which John must have replied, Mark
continued, “I’m not putting on a happy face. They’re going really well. I told
her the truth about how I was feeling, just like you’ve been nagging at me to
for all this time…Yes, I know that means you were right. Try not to get too
obnoxious about it. Everyone accidentally lands on the right thing
occasionally, you know…Yeah, I’m going to start counseling as soon as New
Year’s is over. Sophie and I agreed that we will do some counseling together
and I’ll do some alone…No, you were right about that too. We were both trying
to be strong for the other, instead of admitting how much we need each other.
But don’t expect me to tell you that you’re right twice in one conversation
again. It’s not likely to happen another time in our lifetime.”

Sophie smiled as she listened to the conversation, feeling a
deep wave of feeling overwhelm her as she heard her husband talk so blandly
about what had taken them both so long to figure out. An answer to prayer, as
surely as having her husband return to her, alive and safe and mostly whole.

It was a strange sort of benediction—falling upon her as she
stood naked in the bathroom, blotting some of the wetness out of her hair.

When she came out of the bathroom to get her clothes, Mark
had ended the call. She felt overly emotional as she pulled on her bra and
underwear.

“What’s the matter?” Mark asked. He was still lying on the
bed, but his eyes were scrutinizing her closely.

“Nothing.”

“You’re crying,” he said, sitting up quickly and striding
over to where she stood near the dresser. “What’s the matter?”

She stopped trying to hide the tears and just admitted the
truth. “I’m so happy!”

Mark made a throaty sound of surprise, relief, affection—it
sounded like all of them all at once. And then he pulled her into a tight hug.

He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. They
understood each other perfectly.

That evening, Sophie and Mark
arrived at Jessica and Daniel’s house at about nine o’clock. They were a little
later than most of the other guests, but Sophie had been debating between three
different outfits, and it took her a long time to decide.

She’d settled on a silver-gray sweater with a pair of velvet
jeans and her favorite boots. As they walked in, she was relieved to see that
she looked just right for the party, neither over- nor under-dressed.

When she saw who was sitting in the corner near the
Christmas tree, Sophie hurried over to greet Abigail and their new son, Noel,
who had been born at two in the morning on Christmas day, healthy and almost
ten pounds. Tonight was the first night Abigail had been out since the birth.
She’d said she wasn’t sure they could stay the whole time, but they would try.

As Sophie gushed over the infant boy, Abigail must have been
searching her expression—because the other woman whispered, “You’re so happy.”

Sophie looked up at her friend, who was smiling like she’d
been given a gift. “I am.”

“You got things back to the way they were with Mark?”

Sophie shook her head. “No. You were right about that.
They’re not like they were. They’re different. But they’re good. I really think
they might be even better, if we keep working on things.”

Abigail gave her a hug, which Sophie had to maneuver
carefully so as not to squash little Noel.

Sophie glanced around to find Mark. He’d gone over to talk
to Micah, and the two men were laughing about something like they’d been
friends all their lives. She watched him for a minute with a swell of deep
satisfaction. Mark wasn’t healed. Maybe not even close. But he’d entered life
again in a way she couldn’t fail to mistake.

“Look at Thomas,” Abigail murmured, bringing Sophie’s
attention over to the hearth, where her husband was kneeling, speaking with
impressive gravity to Mia, Ellie, and Cara, the three girls dressed up in
sparkly dresses for the evening, having been blessed with the special privilege
of coming and staying up late.

“What are they talking about?”

“Earlier, he was asking them about their future plans. Mia
wants to be a doctor. Ellie wants to be a teacher. And Cara wants to ride
elephants.”

Sophie smothered a giggle. Cara wasn’t even three yet, much
younger than the other two girls.

She kept looking around the room and saw Daniel and Gabe
having some sort of an in-depth conversation. Jessica must have seen Sophie
looking at them because she came over to sit down beside her.

“They’re talking about theology,” Jessica said wryly,
shaking her head at her husband. “At a party.”

“As long as they’re having fun, I guess.” Sophie glanced
back to Mark when she heard him laugh again.

“Alice isn’t feeling all that well,” Jessica said, nodding
over to the other woman, who looked pale and tired, although she was smiling as
she sat in an easy chair on the other side of the room. ‘The morning sickness
has hit her pretty hard.”

“Well, she should go home then,” Sophie said.

“She doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to be a party-pooper,
she says. She was sitting with Nathan, but then he had a stinky diaper, so I
made Lydia change it.” Jessica looked like she was hiding a smile. “Poor Lydia.
Changing a baby’s diaper is not really in her wheelhouse, but she wanted to
help. Oh, look. I guess she made it.”

Lydia was walking back into the room, carrying Nathan and
looking gorgeous in a dark green cashmere sweater. She looked quite pleased
with herself as she handed the little boy off to Alice and then went to sit
down next to her husband, who immediately wrapped an arm around her and
whispered something in her ear.

Jessica reached over and put a hand on Sophie’s arm. “I
didn’t get a chance to tell you yet, but I’m so happy that you and Mark are
staying in Willow Park.”

“I’m happy too,” Sophie admitted. “I’m so glad it worked
out.”

“Willow Park wouldn’t be the same without you,” Abigail
added.

Sophie was touched, since she could tell both women meant
it. “Well, I know Mark and I wouldn’t be the same without all of you. I really
think we were brought here on purpose.”

“Of course you were. How else would you have found us?”

It was true. Sophie knew it was true—that God had been with
her all this time, using this church, these friends, in a way she desperately
needed. She felt a surprising sense of homecoming as she looked around the
room, at all of these people she loved, all of these people who loved her.

She’d come home, as surely as Mark had this year.

Turning her head to find Mark again, she saw that he was
looking at her too. They smiled at each other in perfect understanding.

Then Abigail asked, “What’s that smell?”

“Oh, I’m making cookies,” Jessica said absently, reaching
down to catch Nathan, who was toddling clumsily over to his mother.

Abigail sniffed the air again. “Well, maybe it’s time to
take them out.”

Jessica frowned as she passed her son over to Daniel. Then
she stood up, her eyes wide, and exclaimed, “My cookies are burning!”

Daniel burst into laughter as his wife ran to rescue her
cookies.

Sophie smiled at Mark again, and she murmured, mostly to
herself, “We just might stay in Willow Park forever.”

***

Thank you for reading! This is the
final Willow Park book, although I have a few ideas for John, so there may be
some sort of spin-off. If you haven’t yet read them, the other Willow Park
books are listed below, and be sure to check out the excerpt from one of my
other books,
Listed
, in the pages that follow.

Book One –
Married for Christmas
(Jessica and Daniel)

Book Two –
A Baby for Easter
(Alice and Micah)

Book Three –
A Family for Christmas
(Lydia and Gabe)

Book Four –
Reconciled for Easter
(Abigail and Thomas)