CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
KATY
Christmas Day
Katy woke up subdued. She was sad for Marcus, who associated this special day with tragedy and heartbreak.
Kicking off the covers, she got on her knees and prayed.
Dear Lord, happy birthday. On this beautiful occasion, please help my dearest friend Marcus see past the tragedy of this day and recognize the beauty in life and in his own self. I love him, Lord.
She sobbed.
Yes, I love him. I love his broken self. His funny self. His caring self. His stubborn self.
I love all of him.
I don’t know what the future will bring, but I hope that—if it is Thy will—Marcus can be part of mine.
She got up and walked over to the window. Everything was green near the castle, but there was a dusting of snow nearer the mountain tops. Muffled through the glass panes, she heard the chiming of the church bells, calling to her.
Within the hour, she got ready to attend Christmas service. Christmas this year was Sunday too. This made the holiday doubly special to Katy.
She wore a green wool dress, warm tights, and her red cloak. She thought about inviting Marcus, then changed her mind, not wanting to upset him. Texting Talia, Katy invited her to church, but she declined.
“Was up too late. Sorry,” came her answer. “A driver can take you.”
Katy let herself out the castle. No one was about. She could see a church steeple, and it didn’t look too far. Just a path through a clearing. The fresh snow looked inviting. She would walk.
“May I join you?”
Slowly, she turned, her heart flooding with gladness at the sound of Marcus’s voice.
He stood there, bare-headed and bundled up in a coat and scarf. His eyes were slightly red, but he was smiling.
“Of course,” she said.
They fell in step, their boots making hollow sounds on the bridge leading over the moat.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“No,” she admitted.
He turned to her. “Me neither.”
Silence stretched on between them. “I’ve been praying for you,” she said.
“That’s nice. Thanks.”
“Do you want to know why?”
“Why?”
“I asked Heavenly Father to grant you peace today.”
He took her hand and pulled her close. She could smell his masculine scent and feel the thudding of his heart.
“Are you going to love me into reforming?” He chuckled. “All Scrooge-like, bitter, mean me?”
“Yes.”
He kissed her temple. “Do you wish you could be in Guatemala right now?”
She nodded. “Had we been there, we definitely would not have been able to sleep.”
“Oh?”
“On Christmas Eve, they explode firecrackers at midnight and most of the dawn.”
“Sounds fun. Maybe next year…we can spend Christmas there.”
Her heart pounded with tenuous excitement. Did he really mean the “we”?
“That would be wonderful,” she said.
“Would it, my sweet Katy?” He took her hand and tucked it in his hand in his coat pocket.
They walked up to the church, where parishioners were filing in from the cold, and Marcus paused at the threshold, swallowing visibly.
“I haven’t been in a church since…since…” His voice broke.
Katy touched his sleeve.
He glanced at her hand and then her face. “I still don’t know why God took them away from me.”
A tear trickled down Katy’s cheek. “Maybe they were more ready than the rest of us to return to His presence.”
“Is that where they are, Katy, in heaven?” Desperation etched his face.
“No doubt.”
His face crumpled, and he brusquely wiped away at his eyes. “Why didn’t he just take me?”
For me? But she said nothing.
He turned and held her in his arms, kissing her hair.
On that church courtyard, looked upon by the saints on the medieval façade, two people clung to each other, seeking comfort.
Katy hoped she could be Marcus’s lifeline.