Bring Me Home for Christmas

phone. “Yes, when Mother Nature pulls one of her tricks, the town rallies to make sure everyone has what they need. In big cities, you have whole agencies on the job, but out here, the wait could be a little too long. And there’s no agency to dig out my greenhouses or make paths to them for the gardenmobile! Luke and his helper, Art, are coming out to help as soon as the road to his house and cabin is cleared. He’s got a plow attachment for his truck. Slow going, but effective.”
    “So you guys are okay out there?”
    “Oh, yes,” Jillian said. “I have a major snowball fight scheduled for later today. Hey, Denny tells me you guys are heading south to begin whole new lives together. I hate to lose him, but congratulations, Becca! Even though you’re taking my best guy away from me, I wish you endless happiness.”
    “Thanks,” she said somewhat meekly. She was taking the favorite son away. She felt kind of bad about that.
    “I’ll get him out of here as quickly as possible so you can gather up your stuff and be ready to get on the road before this storm gets any worse. At least once you get off the mountain, you won’t have any more trouble. Just maybe a lot of rain….”
    Except that the little truck is buried, she thought.
    “Be sure you get that last ounce of help out of him,” Becca said.
    Jillian laughed. “You’re a sport. Just so you know, I made Denny promise that you guys would be up for a visit. Many visits!”
    “Sure we will. Tell Denny to drive back here real careful!”
    “Oh, he’ll be careful,” Jillian said. “There’s no other option.”
    Back in the bar, the television mounted high in the corner was turned on to the weather station and the volume was up. The blast of snow had hit the northwest, and the worst was in the mountains. The Sierras were socked in. South of town was rain and the inevitable flooding and mud, all the way to Southern California.
    Becca heard a banging sound and looked out one of the bar windows. Preacher’s truck was backed up to the wood pile and, with Jack’s help, they were filling the back of the truck with split logs.
    “What are they doing?” she asked the women.
    “They’ll take firewood with them wherever they go today. The people around here have good survival instincts, but Jack likes to make sure they have wood on hand in case the heater fails or they run out of propane.”
    Becca leaned heavily on her crutches, her bad leg lifted. This was driving her crazy! She wanted to be a part of this. “I want to help,” she said. “Tell me what I can do.”
    Paige and Mel both stopped what they were doing and looked at her. “Well,” Mel finally said. “I guess you could color with the kids…”
    “I’d be happy to, but they don’t need me. You need me. There must be something I can do.”
    There was a moment of silent indecision between the women. “Do you cook?” Paige asked.
    “A little bit, I guess.”
    “Any favorite dishes you like to make? Can you follow a recipe? We’re not going to have a crowd tonight, but whoever is here is going to have to eat.”
    “We might have to stay in town tonight,” Mel said. “I don’t want to risk not being able to get to the clinic. I’ve got a couple of women in advanced pregnancy.” She laughed suddenly. “And nine months from tonight, I’m going to have plenty ready to pop. People can only think of so many ways to entertain themselves during a snowstorm.”
    “I can get food together,” Becca said. “I can help in the kitchen.”
    “Good,” Paige said. “Because John isn’t going to have a lot of time to cook if he’s delivering food and firewood. And I have to get these care boxes fixed up before I can get in there. Let me get you set up.”

    Becca found thawed ground beef in the refrigerator. She boiled potatoes and shredded cheddar for her favorite potato casserole. She found Preacher’s recipe for meat loaf—simple enough. There were frozen and canned vegetables from the local farmers and gardens. She found green beans and thought, if needed, she could throw together a green-bean casserole. Paige promised to help her with desserts after she finished with the care boxes.
    Becca began to realize there were a number of things she could have provided—spaghetti and meatballs, homemade mac and cheese, lasagna, stroganoff and noodles…
    Every time she heard an increase in noise, talking or laughter in the bar, she pushed open the door to see who had arrived. Ellie