A Family for Christmas

—John 3:16-17

Leona, I couldn’t write a Christmas book and not

think of you. Thank you for all those extra years

you kept me believing in Santa, for the camaraderie

during the Great Tree Hunts and on Christmas Eves

when we couldn’t get to sleep, and for all the years

when making Christmas special for the whole

family couldn’t have been easy but you did it

anyway. Most of all, thanks for being my big sister.

Oh, and I hope you appreciate that the painting gets

finished before Thanksgiving. Ain’t fiction great!

Chapter One (#ulink_082f1266-3af2-565b-b6fc-c8320b0126fb)

“There’s a Mr. Edward Hanson to see you, Mrs. Osborne. He says it’s urgent that he speak to you.”

Maggie stared at her secretary. What could Trent’s lawyer have to say that would be urgent? Hope flared to life in her heart. Could this be the Lord’s answer to prayer? she wondered. Had Trent rethought the idea of divorce as she’d begged him to do?

The flame of hope flickered and dimmed a bit. Were that the case, Trent would have come himself. Just last week hadn’t he said he wouldn’t change his mind? He’d even asked her not to contact him again. He’d reminded her that he was dating. He was marvelously happy with his life the way it was. The past was past, he’d said. His future lay ahead.

Without her.

And losing him was all her fault.

“Show him in, Connie.” She forced a smile, her heartache too personal to share with a co-worker.

“Oh…okay,” Connie said, clearly surprised at the break in policy.

Having cut her hours, Maggie’s appointments were carefully scheduled now. Forty to forty-five hours a week. That was all she’d ever give to a career again.

Maggie watched Connie’s wide retreating back for a few short seconds, then she closed her eyes. Please Lord. Let this be good news. Bless my marriage. Bring Trent back to me.

Maggie stood to greet Ed Hanson. His sandy hair was in its usual disarray, his jacket wrinkled as always. He was a man she’d once considered a friend, though he’d been Trent’s friend since childhood. And like most of their friends, he had chosen sides in the divorce—Trent’s side.

“Ed, good to see you. Won’t you have a seat? Can Connie get you something? A cup of coffee? Iced tea or a soft dri—” Maggie’s breath hitched in her throat when she saw the desolate expression in Ed’s pale blue eyes. Her hand came up to cover her heart. “What’s wrong? Is it Trent? Has something happened to him?”

Ed shook his head. “It’s Sarah and Michael. And the kids. They were on vacation.”

“Yes, I know. Sarah and Michael have remained friends. We attend the same church now. In fact, they—” She stopped. She was babbling. Her heart clenched with fear. “What’s happened?”

This time Ed’s eyes clouded with tears that he blinked back. Maggie instinctively sank into her chair as Ed began his explanation. “They apparently almost made it to their destination. Two more exits and they’d have been fine. But they didn’t make it. Their van was hit by an eighteen-wheeler. The police say the driver fell asleep at the wheel.”

“How badly are they hurt?” Maggie demanded, on her feet once again.

“Sit down, Maggie,” Ed said, his tone sad and frighteningly kind.

“Why?” Her voice shook. “Why must I sit down?”

“Because it isn’t good. Not good at all.” Ed took a slow deep breath. “There’s no easy way to say this. Sarah was killed instantly. Michael only lasted an hour.”

“Lord, give me strength,” Maggie prayed, and once again her fledgling faith did give her the strength she needed. She found she could breathe after all, and her heart settled back into her chest as she settled back into her chair. The children. She needed to think of the children and the loss they had suffered. “The children!”

“Calm down. The kids are all alive. Michael even managed to stay conscious long enough to give permission to the hospital to treat them, so there’s no worry there. Mickey has a spinal injury. They won’t know the full extent of it until they finish tests on him. He’s the worst off. Daniel suffered a concussion but he’s conscious and seems to be out of danger. Grace has cuts and bruises and is under observation. Rachel was in the rear of the van and wasn’t even hurt badly enough to be hospitalized. She’s with an emergency care family.”

“Thank you for letting me know in person,” Maggie said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Who did Sarah and Michael appoint guardians after Trent and I separated? She never said.”

Ed grimaced. “Actually, that’s why I’m here. They never did change that. You and Trent are still the guardians.”

“But Trent and I—”

“Will be divorced by the end of the year. But Sarah never believed it would happen. She said she was praying Trent would change his mind. I tried to convince her but—”

“Sarah is nothing if not stubborn.” Maggie felt her stomach bottom out. “Oh…was. She was.” Maggie bit back tears and pressed her fingertips tightly against her lips. If she started to cry now she might not be able to stop.

“There are going to be a lot of adjustments for you, Maggie.”

“But Trent isn’t going to change his mind. He doesn’t even want any contact with me.”

“Maggie, you left him.”

“And no one regrets that more than I do. I was wrong, but at the time I saw no other way. I guess I was trying to force him to change his mind about an adoption. But he didn’t, and I doubt he ever will.”

“It isn’t all that unusual,” Ed said, defending Trent. “He doesn’t want to raise someone else’s kids. But Michael believed that if something happened to them, Trent would feel differently about raising his own nieces and nephews. And you know as well as I do that Trent agreed to the guardianship without giving it any thought at all. The chance of something happening to both of them was one in a million. And Trent thought Michael led a charmed life, that nothing bad would ever happen to him.”

Maggie just stared at him, still stunned. She and Trent were still their guardians? It was all too much to take in. “Where is Trent, and how did he take the news?”

“He’s in Toronto on business. I called him before I came here. He sounded as if he was in shock at first. He’s utterly devastated, Maggie. You know how important Michael was to him. He’s flying to Florida as soon as he can get a flight. I don’t know when that will be.”

She thought of Sarah and Michael’s parents, of their loss. “Have Nancy and Albertine and Royce Osborne been told?”

Ed’s eyes shifted away. “No. I’ll tell them on my way to the airport. I’ve got us booked on a flight at six. That gives you about an hour-and-a-half to pack a bag and get to the airport.” Ed stood. “Meet me at Southern Air’s terminal entrance no later than five. Okay?”

Maggie’s first glimpse of Trent was at Mickey’s bedside the next morning. He was holding his eight-year-old nephew’s hand. Trent’s face was in profile, his black hair glinted with blue highlights in the sunlight from a nearby window. She stood there just feasting on his face, remembering the wonder and excitement of being held in his arms. Then Mickey’s ragged breath drew her attention.

He had tears in his eyes, and, when one fell, Trent reached up with a tissue to dry it before it ran into the boy’s blond hair. “Everything’s going to be all right, Mickey,” Trent was saying. “The doctors said not being able to feel your legs is normal right now. It doesn’t mean anything bad, yet.”

Last night when she’d arrived Mickey had been asleep, and it had seemed cruel to wake him with news of his parents’ deaths. With Trent not yet there, she had elected to wait to tell Mickey the bad news. Rachel had been another story. She’d been released to a foster family and was apparently inconsolable, having seen her mother dead at the scene and her father and brothers and sister taken off in ambulances.

Ed had remained at the hospital, and Maggie had gone to Rachel. Though the woman taking care of the six-year-old had been kind, she’d also been out of her depth trying to console a grief-stricken child. Maggie had calmed Rachel and reassured her. She’d finally lulled her into an exhausted sleep, but it had been a rough night as nightmares of the crash and its aftermath had haunted the small girl. Maggie had only gotten what little sleep she’d had by lying in the tiny twin bed with her.