Emily looked at Lucas with suddenly narrowed eyes. “Rebel Software? Is that...?”
He shrugged. “When I got to California, I hooked up with another guy who was interested in computer games. We were in the right place at the right time. We found a couple of backers, hired a few brainy computer geeks, and we’ve all done pretty well for ourselves.”
“You haven’t opened your presents, Uncle Lucas,” Clay said.
Lucas had been deliberately postponing that. He never quite knew how to act when people gave him things.
“Open the one from Daddy and me first,” Clay insisted.
Lucas nodded and opened a wrapped box to reveal a pair of black leather driving gloves. “These are really nice,” he said, feeling awkward. “Thanks, Clay. You, too, Wade.”
“I helped pick them out,” Clay said importantly. “Daddy has some and he likes them a lot. Do you like yours a lot, Uncle Lucas?”
“I like them a lot,” Lucas assured the boy with a smile.
“Now open the present Mom got you.”
Lucas still hadn’t quite adjusted to hearing the boy refer to Emily as “Mom.” Judging from Emily’s misty expression, she hadn’t either—but she obviously liked hearing it.
Lucas peeled the wrapping paper away from Emily’s gift to reveal an intricately designed mahogany box, the top an inlaid mosaic of assorted exotic woods. The beautifully worked box had obviously been crafted by a talented artisan. Lucas studied it closely. “This is great, Emily. Was it made locally?”
“Yes. Paul Cabot is a local woodworker whose boxes are becoming very popular at local craft shows and galleries.”
“I can see why. The guy is good.”
Lucas pressed a nearly invisible latch to open the box. He went very still when he saw the items nestled into the velvet lining.
“You didn’t take anything with you when you left fifteen years ago,” Emily said quietly. “Those are some of the things I thought you might like to have.”
The heavy gold pocket watch had belonged to Lucas’s maternal grandfather. His mother, who’d died when Lucas was only five, had kept it for him. There was also a small silver frame holding an old photo of Lucas’s mother. He didn’t remember her very well, but this photo matched his hazy memory of her—pale, fragile-looking, visibly nervous and unhappy. Whether she’d been that way before she’d married Josiah McBride Jr., Lucas couldn’t have said, but marriage to the stern, difficult man couldn’t have been easy for a woman with depressive tendencies.
There were some who’d said she’d died of pneumonia because she simply hadn’t wanted to live.
The
final item in the box was a slender, aged, soft-leather-bound Bible. On the inside, inscribed in his mother’s flowery handwriting, were her name, Josiah’s name and the date of their wedding. Beneath that was Lucas’s name and the date of his birth.
Lucas closed the Bible and held it for a moment in both hands before setting it back into the box, along with the pocket watch and the small framed photo. “Thank you, Emily,” he said quietly.
“You’re welcome. If there’s anything you want that belonged to Dad...”
“No. These things are all I want.”
She nodded, her eyes a bit damp.
Clay broke the sentimental moment by diving back into his gifts, wondering aloud what to play with first.
Emily stood, tightening the sash on her robe. “I’ll start breakfast.”
Lucas and Wade both started to rise. “Need any help?” Wade asked.
She shook her head and motioned for them to remain seated. “You guys stay in here with Clay. I have everything under control.”
Clay climbed unselfconsciously into Lucas’s lap, holding his Rebelcom. “Will you show me how to work it, Uncle Lucas?”
Lucas glanced at Wade, wondering if he minded sharing Clay’s attention on this Christmas morning. But Wade was smiling, so Lucas settled the boy more comfortably on his knee. “Turn it on here. This button controls the left side of the screen, and this one...”
Clay nestled against Lucas’s chest and listened intently to his soon-to-be-uncle’s instructions.