Ivy woke up with red swollen eyes. She sat in bed thinking about the night before. Instead of the fight she had had with Trey, she could only think about the tender way he had held her, and the friendship that had blossomed over the last few weeks she had known him. Then she allowed herself allowed herself relive the last time she had experienced what she thought had been love, in her first year of college. Devin had become a good friend, and Ivy had fallen for him. Just when she thought their relationship was turning serious he showed up at her apartment with a short busty blonde and introduced her as his fiancée. Then he thanked her for being a good friend. Ivy had been so confused. She thought he had loved her, and then suddenly he was marrying someone else. From that day on Ivy kept her heart locked away. Men saw her as nothing but a good friend, and so to keep herself from the pain, she didn’t let anyone get close to her. She did not want to fall in love only to be rejected in the end. Ivy snuggled underneath the covers and took a moment to really think about Dr. Trey McBride. She had never been pursued before, if in fact that was what Trey was doing. Ivy thought about the way he went out of his way to be with her, the way he looked at her and talked to her. The way he had kissed her under the mistletoe, and even the way he had fought with her. She jumped out of bed and stood up. After four short weeks in Harwinton Connecticut the impossible had happened, she had fallen in love with Trey McBride.
Ivy took special care getting ready for the ball that evening, thinking of Trey and wanting to look her best. Her hair had taken two hours to curl and then pin up. A few loose curls brushed her neck and the capped sleeves on her ball gown. She had been worried about the short sleeves in the cold weather, but Peg had even thought of that. When Ivy opened up the box with her dress she found a pair of elegant white satin long gloves that covered most of her bare arms. Ivy was looking at herself in the mirror for the hundredth time when Gloria entered her room. She was glorious in her navy blue gown that complemented her silvery hair to perfection. Gloria was holding a small package in her hand, “here Ivy an early Christmas present.” Ivy refused to take the package, “no Gloria, you’ve given me so much already you don’t need to give me anything else.” Gloria shoved the package into her hands, “I meant to give these to you a long time ago, I just forgot, open it.” Ivy unwrapped it carefully and stared in shock at the heirloom jewelry in her hand. A gold necklace and matching earrings interlaid with dark emeralds. Ivy held the priceless items out to her aunt. “No Gloria, I can’t take this, it is too much!” Gloria waved her hand, “Of course you can, it was my mother’s, your grandmother. I know she would want you to have it Ivy.” Gloria reached down and took the necklace from Ivy, then gently clasped it around her neck. The length was perfect for the scooped neck on her gown. Tears shimmered in Ivy’s eyes and she stood up and hugged Gloria. “Thank you Aunt Gloria! They are gorgeous.” Gloria hugged her quickly then turned to exit the room, “now don’t start that, you’ll ruin your make-up. Let’s get going I don’t want to be late!”
Ivy felt like a princess when the man at the door announced her and Gloria at the Harwinton Christmas Ball. Trey watched as the two entered the room and made their way down the spiral staircase. Ivy took his breath away, and he found it hard to look away from. The young woman at his side brought him back to the present, “Come Dr. McBride I want to find a good spot for the Christmas stories.” Trey looked at the blonde to his side, and then back up at Ivy. He felt a twinge of regret, but Ivy had told him in no uncertain terms that she wanted him out of her life. He allowed himself one more look than held his arm out to the blonde; they made their way to the stage. Ivy looked around for Trey as she carefully walked down the stairs; she finally spotted him as he held his arm out for Amanda Baker. The blonde beauty from the church choir looked up at him with adoring eyes. Ivy hushed the alarm bells that started to go off in her mind. Trey was friendly with everyone, and he and Amanda were friends. She continued down the stairs and smiled over at Gloria.
On the stage a few of the locals stood up to tell Christmas stories and legends passed on from their own ancestors. Many of the stories she had heard before, but some were new. She was surprised when Trey stood up. “There is a legend,” he began, “that at the stroke of midnight on Christmas, all the animals in the world are given the ability to speak.” Many of the people in the audience nodded in agreement to this statement. Trey paused for a moment waiting for the crowd to quiet, then he continued, “one Christmas Eve when I was a much younger man living in at my parents’ farm in Colorado, I was assigned to check on the animals before I went to bed. Being the defiant typical teenager that I was, I purposely went to bed without checking on the animals. My father was furious. He woke me up and told me to check on the animals. I told him that I didn’t care about the stupid animals, and hoped they were all dead when I got to the barn. He just looked at me sadly for a moment then quietly said, ‘Those animals are counting on you to watch out for them, if something happened to them it would be your fault. They trust you completely to do what is right for them.’”
“I went out there grudgingly and found that one of the cows had broken out of her stall and gotten out of the barn. The doors were wide open to the freezing night air. It was well below zero outside and the poor cow was on its way to freezing to death. I spent a long time getting that cow to its feet and back in the barn. By the time I was done, I was starting to regret the way I had spoken to my father. The cow was one I had raised from a calf, and I would have been devastated if she had died. I put a blanket around her and piled extra hay in her stall, and then I turned to leave. That’s when I heard a quiet voice say, ‘Thank you Trey.’ I looked around, thinking my father had come in, but there was no one. It was late and I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. I headed for the barn door again and then I heard the same voice, ‘You saved me.’ I looked in the direction I had heard the voice, and found my cow looking at me. I felt silly but I asked, ‘Did you say something.’ She didn’t answer me, but it didn’t matter. I knew what I had heard. I decided then and there that I would devote my life to caring for animals in need. He looked sternly at everyone in the crowd, and paused for dramatic effect. “So be careful of the way you treat your animals because some Christmas they just might find you and tell you how they feel.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment