The Sergeant's Christmas Mission. Joanna Sims

sat down on the bottom porch step and let Shane Brand serenade her with his guitar.

       Chapter Three

      “Hold on,” Rebecca said to her eldest son. “Let me fix your tie.”

      “It’s too tight,” Carson complained, tugging at the necktie.

      “Hold still and I’ll fix it.”

      “I don’t know why we have to go to church anyway. We never went before.”

      Rebecca frowned at the memory. One of the major causes of conflict between Rebecca and her ex-husband was faith. Her childhood had been turbulent and the one place where she had found solace was the church. Tim, her now-ex-husband, didn’t have much faith in anything other than football and fishing.

      “Well, we do now. This is a fresh start for us. Besides, church is a great place to meet new friends.”

      Carson grumbled something unintelligible and Rebecca just ignored it with a smile and a quick kiss on her eldest son’s cheek. “You look so handsome in this suit.”

      “How do I look?” Caleb asked, his sweet cherub face turned up to her.

      She leaned down and made kissing noises in his neck until he started to giggle. “Handsome.”

      Carson walked on one side of her and Caleb on the other, holding her hand. An older lady with short curly snow-white hair and a cotton floral dress greeted them at the doorway of the First Presbyterian Church.

      “Welcome.” The greeter gave them a friendly smile, along with a program. “It’s always so nice to see new faces.”

      “Thank you.” Rebecca returned the smile.

      “Sit anywhere you’d like.”

      Rebecca chose to sit near the back of the church, wanting to get the lay of the land before moving forward. She had no idea if this was the right church for her; all she knew was that this move to Bozeman was going to give her a chance to reconnect with her childhood faith.

      “Don’t put your feet on the back of the pews.” She stilled her youngest son’s swinging legs.

      She handed her phone to Caleb so he could play a game while they waited. She whispered, “Just until the service starts.”

      As the church filled with people, Rebecca found herself smiling with happiness that was bubbling up from the inside of her body. For the first time since she had taken the drastic step to move her family to Bozeman, she felt as if she were home. One of the last people to arrive at the church was a petite, slender redhead carrying a fair-skinned baby girl. The baby girl, who was dressed in a flouncy lace dress, had the widest, brightest blue eyes Rebecca had ever seen. The woman looked around and spotted an empty seat in the pew in front of them. The redhead made her way to the spot and sat down. Rebecca waved at the baby girl and the little girl reached out her chubby hand and then quickly ducked her head into her mother’s shoulder.

      Once the pastor began the service, his flock quieted. Rebecca was impressed with the sermon and she loved the singing. So many hymns that she had forgotten were jarred from the depths of her childhood memories when the choir sang. Carson half-heartedly joined the singing, but Caleb avidly followed along, singing off-key and loudly with her as she pointed to each word in the hymnal. After the choir finished its first set, the pastor asked that everyone present turn to a neighbor and shake hands. The redhead with the baby turned around and offered Rebecca her hand.

      “Hi, there.” The redhead had dark green eyes and a lovely oval face. “I’m Savannah. And this little sweet pea is Amanda.”

      “Rebecca Adams,” she said. “And these are my boys, Carson and Caleb.”

      “Rebecca Adams,” Savannah repeated. “Why does that name sound so familiar to me? Are you new to Bozeman?”

      She nodded. “This is our first full week here. I inherited a house from my aunt and I thought, why not give Montana a chance.”

      “Oh. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Savannah bounced Amanda a little to keep her smiling. “What was your aunt’s name?”

      “Ginger Martin. Everyone called her Ginny.”

      Savannah’s expression lit up like a light bulb had just gone off in her head. “That’s why your name is familiar. My brother-in-law is your tenant.”

      “Shane?”

      Savannah nodded. “I’m married to his brother, Bruce.”

      “Small world.”

      “Small town.”

      The pastor brought everyone’s attention back to the front of the church.

      Savannah reached out and touched her arm. In a whisper she said, “We’ll talk more after church.”

      At the end of the service, and against her harshly whispered words, Carson bolted out of the church with Caleb tagging behind. Savannah fell in beside her as they slowly milled out into the sweet afternoon sun-filled air.

      “So, what did you think?” Savannah asked.

      “About the service?”

      A nod. “I hope you liked it. I’d love to have someone to sit with on Sundays; not that Amanda isn’t great company.”

      “I couldn’t believe how good she was; she didn’t make a peep the whole time.”

      “I know. It’s the strangest thing. She cries plenty the rest of the time. But during church service, not a peep.”

      “Well, I liked it. I want to come back.”

      “Oh, that’s good news.” Savannah stopped at the crosswalk. “Then let’s sit together next Sunday.”

      “Okay.” Rebecca felt heartened that she might have already met a potential friend in Savannah. Making a connection to the community was one of the reasons she had wanted to find a church to attend.

      They waved goodbye and Savannah headed off in the opposite direction. When she heard her name called, Rebecca turned around to see that Savannah was walking quickly toward her.

      “A thought just hit me, and I felt like I needed to say this to you.”

      Rebecca waited for the words.

      “I don’t know if you were aware of the fact that Shane is a veteran.”

      “I am.”

      “He did a lot of tours.” Savannah’s expression reflected her concern when she spoke of her brother-in-law.

      “My father was a Vietnam vet.” Rebecca wanted to reassure her new acquaintance that she understood, on a deeper level, what it was like to live with a veteran who may not have returned from war the same as they had left.

      “Then you understand.”

      “Yes. I really do.”

      “Well.” Savannah ducked her head toward her and lowered her voice as if she was sharing a secret. “I know Shane can seem a bit off-putting, but I want you to know, that man truly has a heart of gold.”

      * * *

      Shane had played a gig the night before and had slept off his hangover, so when he awakened on Sunday afternoon, he felt as if all had been set right in his world. He started his day by taking care of Recon’s needs, which included a wrestling match on the floor. And then he cracked open a beer for brunch.

      “Come on, buddy. Let’s get some work done.”

      Recon followed him to the garage. He had managed to get his hands on a 1943 Indian 841, one of the one thousand that had been built to spec specifically for the US Army during World War II. Shane didn’t mind living in a small apartment because he could pour more of his money into