The Sergeant's Christmas Mission

“Sit anywhere you’d like.”

Rebecca chose to sit near the back of the church, wanting to get the lay of the land before moving forward. She had no idea if this was the right church for her; all she knew was that this move to Bozeman was going to give her a chance to reconnect with her childhood faith.

“Don’t put your feet on the back of the pews.” She stilled her youngest son’s swinging legs.

She handed her phone to Caleb so he could play a game while they waited. She whispered, “Just until the service starts.”

As the church filled with people, Rebecca found herself smiling with happiness that was bubbling up from the inside of her body. For the first time since she had taken the drastic step to move her family to Bozeman, she felt as if she were home. One of the last people to arrive at the church was a petite, slender redhead carrying a fair-skinned baby girl. The baby girl, who was dressed in a flouncy lace dress, had the widest, brightest blue eyes Rebecca had ever seen. The woman looked around and spotted an empty seat in the pew in front of them. The redhead made her way to the spot and sat down. Rebecca waved at the baby girl and the little girl reached out her chubby hand and then quickly ducked her head into her mother’s shoulder.

Once the pastor began the service, his flock quieted. Rebecca was impressed with the sermon and she loved the singing. So many hymns that she had forgotten were jarred from the depths of her childhood memories when the choir sang. Carson half-heartedly joined the singing, but Caleb avidly followed along, singing off-key and loudly with her as she pointed to each word in the hymnal. After the choir finished its first set, the pastor asked that everyone present turn to a neighbor and shake hands. The redhead with the baby turned around and offered Rebecca her hand.

“Hi, there.” The redhead had dark green eyes and a lovely oval face. “I’m Savannah. And this little sweet pea is Amanda.”

“Rebecca Adams,” she said. “And these are my boys, Carson and Caleb.”

“Rebecca Adams,” Savannah repeated. “Why does that name sound so familiar to me? Are you new to Bozeman?”

She nodded. “This is our first full week here. I inherited a house from my aunt and I thought, why not give Montana a chance.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Savannah bounced Amanda a little to keep her smiling. “What was your aunt’s name?”

“Ginger Martin. Everyone called her Ginny.”

Savannah’s expression lit up like a light bulb had just gone off in her head. “That’s why your name is familiar. My brother-in-law is your tenant.”

“Shane?”

Savannah nodded. “I’m married to his brother, Bruce.”

“Small world.”

“Small town.”

The pastor brought everyone’s attention back to the front of the church.

Savannah reached out and touched her arm. In a whisper she said, “We’ll talk more after church.”

At the end of the service, and against her harshly whispered words, Carson bolted out of the church with Caleb tagging behind. Savannah fell in beside her as they slowly milled out into the sweet afternoon sun-filled air.

“So, what did you think?” Savannah asked.

“About the service?”

A nod. “I hope you liked it. I’d love to have someone to sit with on Sundays; not that Amanda isn’t great company.”

“I couldn’t believe how good she was; she didn’t make a peep the whole time.”

“I know. It’s the strangest thing. She cries plenty the rest of the time. But during church service, not a peep.”

“Well, I liked it. I want to come back.”

“Oh, that’s good news.” Savannah stopped at the crosswalk. “Then let’s sit together next Sunday.”

“Okay.” Rebecca felt heartened that she might have already met a potential friend in Savannah. Making a connection to the community was one of the reasons she had wanted to find a church to attend.

They waved goodbye and Savannah headed off in the opposite direction. When she heard her name called, Rebecca turned around to see that Savannah was walking quickly toward her.

“A thought just hit me, and I felt like I needed to say this to you.”

Rebecca waited for the words.

“I don’t know if you were aware of the fact that Shane is a veteran.”

“I am.”

“He did a lot of tours.” Savannah’s expression reflected her concern when she spoke of her brother-in-law.

“My father was a Vietnam vet.” Rebecca wanted to reassure her new acquaintance that she understood, on a deeper level, what it was like to live with a veteran who may not have returned from war the same as they had left.

“Then you understand.”

“Yes. I really do.”

“Well.” Savannah ducked her head toward her and lowered her voice as if she was sharing a secret. “I know Shane can seem a bit off-putting, but I want you to know, that man truly has a heart of gold.”

* * *

Shane had played a gig the night before and had slept off his hangover, so when he awakened on Sunday afternoon, he felt as if all had been set right in his world. He started his day by taking care of Recon’s needs, which included a wrestling match on the floor. And then he cracked open a beer for brunch.

“Come on, buddy. Let’s get some work done.”

Recon followed him to the garage. He had managed to get his hands on a 1943 Indian 841, one of the one thousand that had been built to spec specifically for the US Army during World War II. Shane didn’t mind living in a small apartment because he could pour more of his money into restoring the vintage motorcycle.

Shane rolled the motorcycle out to the paved area right in front of his apartment. He’d been working on the restoration for several years. He had completely disassembled the bike, checked every part and then reassembled it. The motorcycle had also been restored to its original army camouflage green. He felt proud of his accomplishment, but also a little sad. Restoring this motorcycle had been his focus for years; what was he going to do with his time once the job was complete?

He was tinkering with a lug nut when Recon started barking at the sound of a car pulling in the driveway. He’d figured Rebecca and her boys were gone because it was quiet over at the main house.

“Stay.” Shane gave the command to the dog. Recon whined a little, looked back at him, but sat down and stayed put.

The quiet he had been enjoying was interrupted by the sound of Carson and Caleb chasing each other up the driveway, their laughter, surprisingly, not annoying him all that much. The two boys ran toward the back of the house, but when they spotted Recon, they made a sharp right and headed his way. Recon wagged his tail and barked a greeting.

“Hey.” Carson was wearing a suit, but the tie was draped around his neck, and he was barefoot, carrying his shoes and socks in his hand.

“Hi, guys,” Shane responded.

“Hi.” Caleb waved his hand in front of his body, like he was drawing a rainbow, and grinned at him, his head tilted to the side, squinting against the sunlight. “Can I pet Recon?”

“He’s been waiting all day for someone to give him some attention,” Shane said. “Go for it.”