Homespun Christmas

He stepped inside the spare bedroom. This had become his father’s library, a testament to his passion for history.

Daniel followed him, handing Josh a Coke, and looking around. “I only glanced in here before, but now I see what you mean,” he said, and looked at the open maps on the futon. “You can’t just give this away or throw it out. You’ll have to go through everything. Collectors might have use for this stuff, or maybe some university professors.”

“Yeah,” Joshua said. “No way around it. Some of those maps of Independence go back to the late 1800s. I have no idea where Dad got them, or if they’re originals or copies, but they might have historical value.”

“You could check online, or take them to the librarian over in Painted Canyon.”

“What happened to the Independence Library?”

“It closed six months after the plant shut down. IVA had always funded the library utilities and the librarian’s salary in exchange for tax benefits. Once IVA left, the librarian had to be let go. Volunteers filled the gap for a while, but they’d cut services so much that people stopped coming in.”

“What happened to the building and the collection?”

“The books are still there, but the building’s closed,” he said. “You could ask the mayor for the keys if you want to poke though the books and reference materials.”

Joshua nodded, lost in thought. “Speaking of the mayor, any idea what Dad’s connection was to Mayor Allen?”

“I didn’t know there was one,” Daniel said.

“Something was going on. I found a lot of emails back and forth between them. I haven’t had a chance to read through them yet, but I got the impression that Dad was working for him, some kind of local research, I think.”

“Wish I could tell you more, but this is the first I’ve heard of it,” Daniel said, casually straddling one of the chairs. “Your dad would come into the store once a week or so, and he and Grandma would go into the office and talk over coffee. You might ask her if she knows what was going on. She knows everyone’s secrets.”

Josh smiled. “That’s because it’s so easy to talk to her.”

Daniel nodded, then sat for a while, looking around the room at the books, the carved wooden animals on the windowsill and, basically, everywhere but at Josh.

“Okay, Daniel, you finally gonna tell me what’s on your mind? You don’t generally walk away from your work like this in the middle of the day.”

Daniel expelled his breath in a hiss. “Yeah, okay, you got me. I need a favor, actually.”

“Whatever you need, consider it done.”

“It’s about Betty...” He paused, looked down at a stack of old newspapers for a minute, then continued. “She was really antsy at the store the other day, looking behind her, clenching her fists and jumping at the slightest sound. She’s afraid of something, and if she’s in trouble, I want to help.”

“If she’s in trouble, Will’s bound to know and he’ll handle it. He watches over the women in his family. Too much, at least with Myka.”

“Will may be in the dark about this. Betty tries to protect him, too. I remember back in June when she got into a hassle at Jerry’s Hardware over an unpaid bill. Jerry was giving her a hard time, so I stepped in and calmed things down. On the way out she made me promise not to tell Will. She didn’t want him to know she was short on cash, and she thought it would only add to his stress.”

“Will’s a proud, angry man and if he ever finds out you kept this from him, he’s going to be pissed.”

“Tough. I did what I had to do. No regrets.”

Joshua didn’t want to argue the point, but his gut told him that Daniel had made a big mistake not telling Will.

“I’m doing some work for Betty, so I’ll keep my eyes open and try to figure out what’s got her on edge,” Joshua said, then gave Daniel a long look. “Sounds to me like you still have a thing for her.”

“Not anymore. I’m just a friend.” Daniel met his gaze. “Like you and Myka.”

Joshua nodded slowly.

* * *

IT WAS CLOSE TO five and, alone again, Myka sat at the kitchen table and finished a peanut butter and apricot jam sandwich.

She was just about to fix herself a second one when Sophie knocked on the back door, opening it partially in the process.

“Okay to come in?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“I wasn’t sure if Joshua had come back or not, now that everyone’s gone.”

“He left around one. I think Daniel’s over at his place right now.”

“So what’s going on between you two? Give me all the juicy details,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.

Myka chuckled. “There’s nothing going on.”

Sophie shook her head. “I saw you two outside earlier, and you were kissing. Looked kinda romantic to me.”

Myka sighed. She should have known. In Independence, everyone knew everyone else’s business—especially when they lived next door to each other.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, but I had to come over and tell you that I approve wholeheartedly.”

Myka laughed. “You do, do you?”

“Myka, girl, you need something more in your life than your sheep, yarns and managing an online store. You deserve it. Have fun and stop overthinking things.”

“You know that Joshua will be leaving as soon as he can, right?”

“Yeah, sure, but so what? He’s here now.”

Myka shook her head. “Flings aren’t for me.”

“You want marriage?”

“What? No! That’s not what I meant.”

“So why not enjoy the moments you have together like you did today? Later on, when you find someone new, you’ll have a baseline for comparisons.”

“Come on, Soph,” she said, laughing. “It’s not like I’m buying laundry detergent.”

Sophie winked. “True, but a little comparison shopping never hurts,” she said, then added, “plus, it’s fun.”

“Forget it,” Myka said. “Changing the subject, would you like a sandwich? I’m still hungry.”

“Nah, you go ahead. I have to go back home. I just came by to warn you. Bertie heard that Mayor Allen will have more bad news for us at the town hall meeting tonight. Word is, if enrollment continues to decline at our elementary school, the state department of education will shut it down. That would mean bussing the kids thirty miles to a school in Painted Canyon.”