Christmas in the Air by Irene Brand Page B

told me about the family traditions when we met.”
    Livia’s face flushed, and she recalled again the acute humiliation she’d lived with for years. It was time for her to stop dwelling on the negative. She must think about the good things of their past relationship rather than that last, embarrassing day.
    â€œWe’ve already learned that Derek has a mind of his own,” she said. “He’s a very strong-willed child, and he may start new family traditions, rather than carry on the old.”
    â€œHey, Quinn,” Les said when he came back with thefuel, “that extra blizzard last night brought six more inches of snow. Time to start shoveling.”
    Quinn groaned under his breath. “Les is a hard task-master. If he’d wait until the wind stops, we wouldn’t have so much shoveling to do. And he shouldn’t be shoveling snow at his age, but…to keep peace in our gathered family, I’ll do what he says.” He touched her shoulder, saying, “Keep your chin up.”
    The touch of his hand sent a ripple of excitement through her body.
    Livia cut eight strips of paper from her notebook and wrote the names of each of the travelers on one. What if she should get Quinn’s name? For the past three years, she’d often seen gifts that she would have liked to buy for him, when shopping for friends and family.
    She folded the slips of paper and dropped them into an offering tray that she found inside the lectern. She mixed the names and passed them around, then took the last paper. It was Sean’s name, and she didn’t know whether she was pleased or not. She would have liked an excuse to give Quinn a gift, but Sean would be more appreciative of the wool scarf she’d been knitting for her brother.
    By noon, the sun was shining. The reflection on the snow was blinding, and no one dared go outside without sunglasses. Livia put hers on and stepped out on the little porch, enjoying a good look at their surroundings.
    Quinn and Allen had finally persuaded Les to leave the shoveling to them, and they’d cleared an areaaround the front steps, as well as the area in the back where the woodshed and necessaries were located.
    The landscape was awesome. Livia could see their vehicles about forty yards from the church. Across the road, a few headstones extending out of the snow marked the location of the cemetery. A large number of cedar and pine trees intermingled with the grave markers. The land was relatively flat with a few knolls toward the east.
    The sun did nothing to warm the bone-chilling atmosphere. When Livia breathed deeply, the cold air nearly suffocated her. She zipped her coat high enough to cover the lower half of her face.
    â€œWe can get frostbite if we stay out too long,” Quinn said quietly at her elbow. “I don’t want to frighten our companions, but I’m more concerned now than I was before. We have only enough fuel to last two more days.”
    â€œThat’s why it’s important to keep them focused on observing Christmas to get their minds off things. I keep thinking it could be so much worse.”
    â€œWhat’s Allen doing in the cemetery?” Roxanne asked from her stance on the steps.
    Livia hadn’t noticed him because he was covered with snow and faded into the white landscape. Allen was cutting branches off of a cedar tree with a hand-saw. Every movement of his hand dislodged a small avalanche of snow that landed on his shoulders.
    â€œHe’s getting greenery for a Christmas tree,” Quinn explained. “He found the saw in the woodshed. I’mgoing to the truck now. I have a gift that will be suitable for the person whose name I’ve drawn. I won’t have to make anything.”
    â€œDon’t stay out too long,” Livia cautioned.
    â€œI won’t. My feet and hands are already cold.”
    He held open the door for Livia to enter the building. Their shoulders touched, their