“I guess I was scared. Since I had never had a girlfriend before, I didn’t understand my emotions. All I knew was that I didn’t want you to go. But once I was standing on your front porch, staring at your doorbell, it seemed like a pretty selfish reason to keep you in Bramble.”
“I would’ve stayed, Ethan,” she whispered. “For you, I would do just about anything.”
He released her hand and rose to his knees, pulling her up with him. “Then don’t go, Sam.” He pulled her into his arms and spoke against her damp hair. “Stay here in Bramble.”
“Why?” The word came out muffled against his throat, and she pulled back and repeated it. “Why do you want me to stay, Ethan?”
For a man who had trouble talking to women, the words slipped out without a hitch. “Because I love you, Sam Louise. And if you leave, I’ll be forced to follow you to New York, where I’ll be a fish out of water if ever there was one.”
She smiled up at him. “I don’t want to go back to New York. I want to live on a farm in my hometown with the man I love.”
He kissed her then, and her mouth opened up for him like a flower to a bee. Her hands slipped around his neck, and she pulled him closer, close enough to realize that scratchy wool blankets no longer stood between them. The shock of skin against skin had them both pulling back. Sam’s eyes were wide and innocent, while Ethan’s couldn’t help dropping down to sweet raspberry-topped peaches that trembled from her quickened breath.
“I’ve never been with a man,” she said.
Her words had his heartbeat tripling, and his gaze sliding back up to her eyes. A smile broke out on his face, a smile he felt all the way down to his toes.
“And I’ve never been with a woman,” he said. Her eyes widened even more, but before the questions could start, he kissed her. Not a hungry kiss that would lead to hours of unbridled passion, just a sweet kiss that tasted of springtime and promises yet to keep. Pulling back from that kiss was one of the hardest things Ethan had ever done. He reached down and lifted the blanket around her and, after a brief, heated slide of knuckles against soft breast, tucked it neatly into place.
“You’re not going to make love to me, Ethan?” She looked so disappointed and hurt that he almost gave in. But if he’d learned anything on the farm, it was that time and patience always produced the best harvests.
“Oh, I’m going to make love to you, Sam. I’m going to love you like no man has ever loved a woman. But since this is our first go-around, I figure we shouldn’t put the cart before the horse.”
Her brow knotted. “And just what does that mean, Ethan Michael?”
“I want to court you. I want to bring you flowers, and sit on your porch swing, and see how many kisses I can swipe before your daddy comes out and tells me to leave. I want to take you to the movies, and football games, and maybe just into town to show off my girl.”
If it wasn’t for her big smile, Ethan might’ve been worried about the tears that trickled down Sam’s cheeks. But since his own eyes brimmed, he figured he understood and merely cradled her chin and kissed them away.
“And after I’ve made up for all the missed opportunities of my youth-including taking a few college courses, I’m going to make you my wife. In name. Soul. And body.”
“Oh, Ethan.” She threw herself into his arms, knocking him back to the hay as she covered his face with kisses.
“Enough.” He laughed. “If you keep this up, I won’t be responsible for what happens.”
She gave him one last kiss on the very tip of his nose before settling down in the hay next to him. Ethan probably should tell her about the door so they could get dressed and get back to the church. And in a few minutes, he would. But for now he just wanted to savor the moment. To lie there in the sweet-smelling hay with the girl he’d always loved, and the woman he’d never expected.
Sherman trotted over and nosed his way between them. When he had snuffled around until he was comfortable, he looked up at Ethan.
And damned if that baby pig didn’t wink.
“Shhh.” Pastor Robbins held a finger to his mouth. “I’ve found them.”
Most of the town crowded in through the big barn doors, taking turns peeking at the two sleeping forms curled together in the stall.
“Poor things are out cold,” Rachel Dean said. “ ’Course, I can’t say as I blame them. Live nativity scenes are more exhaustin’ than a person thinks.”
“Too bad all the hard work was for nothin’.” Cindy Lynn glared at Rye Pickett. “Pastor Robbins didn’t even get to see our performance.”
“Well, it ain’t my fault,” Rye defended himself. “He did pull up in the back. I can’t help it if Rachel Dean had to go inside to the bathroom and chose that moment to come out the front door of the church.”
“When a girl’s gotta go, a girl’s gotta go,” Rachel said.
Kenny Gene pushed his way through the group, smacking everyone with his large wings as he went. “Except now that the stable’s all busted to smithereens, the pastor ain’t gonna get his live nativity scene.”
The entire town looked forlorn until the young pastor spoke.
“I don’t know about that, Kenny.” He glanced down in the stall at Ethan and Sam. “I think I’m looking at one right now.”
“What do you mean, pastor?” Rachel Dean craned her neck to get a better look in the stall. “You mean Ethan and Sam? But then that would mean that Sherman is…”
Harley Sutter took off his wiseman crown and scratched his head. “Well, that pig does have a pure heart.”
“As pure as they come.” Moses Tate rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “And he sure ain’t as loud as that Rufus Miles.”
“Well, I’m not buyin’ it,” Cindy Lynn said. “Joseph and Mary weren’t cuddled together like a couple of spoons in a drawer. They were kneelin’ over the baby Jesus, givin’ him his due respect.”
“You’re right, Cindy Lynn,” Pastor Robbins said. “But doesn’t it also make sense that Joseph and Mary were tired? They had traveled a long way, and Mary had just given birth. So it seems reasonable that they would lie down in the hay to sleep that first Christmas night so long ago. And that Joseph, being filled with love for his new family, would’ve placed a protective arm around them and pulled them close-just like Ethan has done with Sam and Sherman. Because isn’t that what Christmas is all about-love and family?”
Kenny Gene looked at Pastor Robbins. “And the folks of Bramble are family, ain’t we, Pastor?”
“We sure are, Kenny. Everyone on the face of the earth is part of God’s family.”
Kenny smiled, and his shoulders lifted, causing his wings to expand. The storm had passed, and the clear night sky filled the opened barn doors, casting Kenny in soft starlight.
“ ‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praisin’ God, and sayin’, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and goodwill toward men.’ ”
About the Authors
Bestselling author Hope Ramsay was born in New York and grew up on the North Shore of Long Island, but every summer Momma would pack her off under the care of Aunt Annie to go visiting with relatives in the midlands of South Carolina. She’s a two-time finalist for the Golden Heart and is married to a good ol’ Georgia boy who resembles every single one of her heroes. She lives in Fairfax, Virginia, where you can often find her on the
