“Do you think I’d get myself engaged to anybody as dumb as that?”

His own words bounced through his ears as he looked down at the diamond ring glittering in the box in front of him.  Jim looked back at his reflection in the mirror and smiled.  You’d better believe it!

At Crabapple Farm…

Trixie looked around her bedroom with a strange feeling.  She smoothed out the skirt of her dress, trying to figure out what the tingling in her stomach meant.  “It’s like I’m leaving here for the last time,” she said to herself.  She walked over to the window and looked across the back yard to the ruined mansion, still majestic, sitting on its snowy slope.  The tingling grew stronger.  Her thoughts meandered back to Jim as they often did.  She smiled to herself.  They never really left Jim for long periods of time.

She let the curtain fall back across the window and leaned her head against the wall.  I can’t wait to go out tonight.  Jim always plans such a special Christmas two-five for us.  Jim had suggested one year that they find a date in December for celebrating Christmas that was just the two of them.  Trixie suggested December seventh as the date seeing as how ‘two plus five equals seven’.  Since then, it had become almost dearer than Christmas Day itself.

Trixie looked at her gift resting on the bed.  I sure hope he likes it.  The gold pocket watch had been something she’d tossed over in her mind a thousand times.  After their mad dash through San Francisco last summer, she still remembered the way Jim had looked at that picture in the watch’s cover.  Hopefully, he’ll like the new one even better.

Still restless, she looked out the window again.  She could almost see Jim coming over the hill like he’d done countless times before.  She sighed.  I know what it is.  She rested her head against the windowpane, letting the cold glass cool her cheek.  This isn’t home.  Home is where he is.   She felt a slight pang; sad to let go of the Crabapple Farm she loved so much.  But then she thought of Jim and a smile crept across her face.

Back at the Manor House…

Jim put on his heavy outer coat and looked once more in the mirror.  This is it, my friend.  No more bachelor days for you.  His stomach leapt nervously.  He ran his hand through his thick red hair and smoothed the lapels of his dark suit.  Does that bother you?  He looked down again at the diamond ring and pictured it on Trixie’s hand.  His heart constricted in his chest.

When he looked again at his reflection in the mirror, his green eyes were glistening.  Not one bit.  Snapping the case closed, he put it into the small red box and tied a green ribbon around it.  He grabbed the gift, squared his shoulders and made his way out the door.

At Trixie’s…

Trixie let the curtain fall and picked up Jim’s gift from the bed.  She made her way over to the door and looked one last time around her room with its braided rug, four-poster bed and handmade quilt.  She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around.

Her mother smiled at her.  “Are you almost ready?  Jim should be here soon, sweetheart.”

Trixie grasped her mother’s hand tightly and smiled.  “I think so.”  She looked at her room one last time and then hurried past her mother.

Helen Belden looked into Trixie’s room and her eyes started to fill.  Jim’s just perfect for her.  I know he’ll make her happy.  She took a shuddering breath.  Oh, but I’ll miss her so much.  Quietly, she closed the door and frowned to see Trixie hovering at the top of the stairs.  “Trixie?”

Trixie looked up at her mother and then ran to hug her.  “I love you, Moms.”

“And I love you, Trixie.”

Voices wafted up from the living room; Peter Belden’s deep rumble mixing with Jim’s rich chuckles.  Trixie put her hand on the railing and started down the stairs, her pace slow and measured.

“I’m excited about the school.  I think it’s going to be just great.  Mart’s already been directing people like crazy with the construction.  He’s especially protective of the plots of land he’s going to use for his agricultural units.” Jim laughed.  “He’s making them all nuts.”

Peter laughed along with him.  “That’s my boy.”

Jim heard a rustle on the stairs and turned expectantly.  His heart leapt to his throat.  Dear Lord, she’s so beautiful!  Trixie’s deep green velvet dress with its scooped neckline and long elegant sheath stopped his breath.  Golden tendrils framed her face.

She smiled tremulously at him.  “Hello, Jim.”

Jim said nothing for a minute, his brain too busy processing.  He finally cleared his throat and smiled back at her.  “Hello, Trixie.”  He reached out a hand to her.  “You look…oh, so beautiful.”

Trixie’s smile grew larger.  She took the hand he offered.  “Thank you.  You look super handsome yourself.”

He smiled down at her.  “Thank you.”  They looked at each other for a few seconds until Jim remembered his surroundings.  He tightened his grip on her hand.  “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded and grabbed her long winter coat from the closet, allowing Jim to help her with it.  She turned and smiled at her parents.

Peter smiled at her, his chest tightening.  “Have a good time, you two.”

The young couple smiled brightly at them.  Jim let Trixie precede him out the door.  Peter and Helen stood, watching them carefully make their way through the snow to Jim’s car.  Helen squeezed Peter’s arm.  “She’ll say yes, Peter.”

Peter sighed.  “I know she will.  And I know he’s the right one for her.”  He hugged Helen close to him and laughed ruefully.  “But you don’t let go of your little girl so easily.  That day Jim was here to ask me for her hand in marriage…”

Helen rested her head against his chest and smiled.  “It was such a Jim thing to do.”

That day was one he’d never forget.  He had just propped his feet up on the recliner, a cup of hot tea on the little end table next to him and an old favorite Agatha Christie in hand.  He had been surprised to see Jim, standing hesitantly in the doorway…

“Jim!” Peter said with a smile.  “You’re a little early.  Trixie hasn’t come back from the city with Honey yet.”

Peter looked at the boy… no…man seated in front of him and inwardly sighed.  Jim Frayne was everything Helen and he had wanted for Trixie.  He knew Trixie was in love with him and Jim with her.  But the thought of saying yes, of allowing the boy next door to walk off with his little girl…He broke off his thoughts and smiled at Jim.  “There isn’t anyone we’d rather have as a son-in-law, Jim.  You know that.”

Peter looked at Jim’s honest, earnest face, his green eyes blazing with sincerity.  He smiled.  “I know you do.  We wouldn’t trust her with anyone who didn’t.”

Peter looked wistfully out the door. Trixie was laughing at something Jim had said as he helped her into the car.  Peter squeezed Helen to him again. “Come on sweetheart. Let’s go get warm by the fire.”

Helen smiled at him.  “I thought you’d never ask.”

Meanwhile, Jim started up his car and slowly backed out of the driveway.  Trixie looked down at her gloved hands, thinking to herself.  Jim pulled out onto Glen Road and turned to Trixie with a smile.  “You’re quiet today, Trix.”

Trixie looked up at him in surprise and smiled.  “I guess so.”  She gestured toward the ruins of Ten Acres.  “I was looking out the window in my room and just felt…I don’t know.  Kind of wistful.  Like a door was closing somehow.”  She laughed nervously.  “Kinda silly, huh?”

Jim looked at her, his green eyes warm.  “I don’t think so.”  He turned the corner and continued on, “There’s something about these winter nights that makes you remember the past.  Makes me miss my parents more.”

Trixie looked at him, her blue eyes curious.  “You don’t talk about them a lot.”  She paused a beat.  “Does it hurt to think about them?”

Jim shook his head and smiled.  “No.  Actually, I like thinking about them.  The good times, especially.”  He hesitated and then continued, “To be truthful, I actually thought about them a lot today.”

“Really?” Trixie asked.  “Why especially today?”

Jim’s eyes twinkled.  “You’ll see soon enough.”

Trixie started to pay close attention to the road in front of her.  “Hmmm…being mysterious, are we?  Heading north out of town…” She frowned.  “Where are we going?”

He reached over and tapped the end of her nose with one finger.  “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?”  Trixie looked at him, her eyes full of unasked questions.  He grinned at her.  “No questions, my sweet detective.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and settled back in the seat.  She turned to look out over the New York countryside, the gently falling snow bathing the rolling hills in white.  A deep, peaceful silence fell on the car as Jim drove.  After a while, Jim turned off the highway onto a two-lane road leading away from the river.  Trixie straightened and looked around her with interest before turning to Jim with a questioning look.

“Are we there yet?” Jim teased.  He reached over and tugged a blonde curl.  “Yes.  We’re almost there.”  After a mile or so, he pulled onto a small gravel road that wound into the woods.  Trixie was leaning forward, looking out the window.

Jim smiled at the picture Trixie made.  Her blonde curls were all piled on her head, her fur lined hood resting on her back.  She looked ready for the most elegant restaurant in Manhattan.  Yet, he was meandering through green forest in the middle of nowhere and her blue eyes were bright and lively with interest.  His voice caught in his throat.  He cleared it and said softly, “I love you so much, Trixie.”

Trixie turned her head and met his gaze.  Her own softened and she smiled.  “I love you too, Jim.”

He finally pulled in front of his destination: a small stone church, nestled amongst the trees.  Trixie let out her breath in a sigh.  “Oh, Jim!” She grabbed his arm.  “It’s so beautiful!  It looks like a Christmas card!”  Her blue eyes lit up in excitement.  “This is where we’re going?”

Jim nodded. “This is it.”  His stomach started to knot nervously.  Oh, I hope they’ve done all that I asked them to do.  I want it to be just perfect.  He pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out.  As he walked around to the other side of the car, he sent up a quick prayer.  Please, God.  Let it be perfect.  He opened Trixie’s door and helped her out.

Trixie looked around her with delight.  The sound of ringing bells attracted her attention.  “Jim!  They’ve got the church bells playing!”  She looked up at him, her eyes starry.  “What’s the song?”

Jim tightened his grasp on her hand.  “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”  He smiled at her and then said, “It was my mother’s favorite.”

Trixie looked at him and squeezed his hand.  “I can see why.”  She turned her gaze back toward the church.  “Do they have a service today?  I wouldn’t think they would on a Thursday.”

Jim shook his head.  “I don’t think they do.”  They’d better not.

“Can we go inside?”  Trixie tugged at his hand.

“Of course!” He laughed, holding tightly to her hand.  The two of them went up to the carved wooden door.  Trixie pressed cautiously against the door with a gloved hand.  The door opened easily to her touch.  She peered in the sanctuary and gasped.  “Oh, Jim!”

Jim held the door while Trixie preceded him into the church.  Candles flickered throughout the church with evergreen boughs winding along the pews.  Trixie walked down the center aisle, drawn to the bouquets of poinsettias nestled in front of the altar.  She finally turned to look at Jim, her eyes expectant.  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

Jim made his way to the front of the church and took her hand.  “I’m so glad you like it.”  He smiled in relief.

Trixie tightened her hand around his.  “I do like it.”  She tilted her head and her blue eyes met his green ones.  “Why are we here?”

Jim looked down at Trixie whose blue eyes were sparkling and inquisitive, and almost forgot to breathe.  He motioned for Trixie to sit next to him in one of the pews.  He pulled off his gloves and then pulled off Trixie’s.  He grabbed her hands in his and smiled at her.  “I wanted…” His voice broke.

Trixie looked at him, concerned, her anxious blue eyes searching his.  “You wanted what?”

He took a deep breath and tried again.  “I’ve spent the last ten years as Matt and Madeleine Wheeler’s son.  I love them.  They’ve been wonderful to me.”  He took another breath and placed his hand on his heart.  “But here…” His voice broke again.  His eyes glistened.  “Here, I’m still Win and Katje Frayne’s little boy.”

Trixie’s eyes filled with tears and she put her hand over his.  Jim smiled crookedly at her and continued.  “I don’t talk about them much.  But I think about them all the time.  Especially lately.”

Trixie didn’t interrupt him but looked at him with a query in her eyes.

“My mom would have loved you,” Jim said with a wistful smile.  “She wasn’t a physically strong person, but she was an emotionally strong one.  She would have poured a hot cup of tea for you and made you sit down and tell her all about yourself.  She would have loved hearing about your mysteries and your detective agency.”  He laughed.  “She probably would have helped you with legwork!”

“She sounds wonderful!”

 “She was.” He hesitated and then continued, “You won’t ever get to meet her in person.  And that…I don’t know.  It hurts me somehow,” he said, his hands tight on hers.  “So, I was trying to figure out a way to share my parents with you.  This is what I came up with.”  He smiled gently at her.  “My parents were married here.”

Trixie’s eyes widened and she said softly, “Oh, Jim!”  She looked around the church and then back at him, her eyes glistening.

He squeezed her hands and then stood up.  Trixie looked at him uncertainly.  “I’ve got something else to show you,” Jim said.  Trixie stood up and he directed them up the stairs to the balcony that overlooked the sanctuary.  She was surprised to find a white rose laying on the bottom step but picked it up and looked over her shoulder at him.

He smiled at her nervously.  “Read it.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow.  “Read it?”  As soon as she spoke, she felt the crinkle of paper under her hand.  She looked down at the rose and saw that it was wrapped with a piece of paper.  Unrolling it, she began to read:

My best friend,

You’ve healed a place inside me that I thought was never going to get better.  You’ve taught me how to trust again.

The tears spilled down Trixie’s face.  She raised her blue eyes to Jim’s.  He leaned forward and brushed the tears away with his fingers and smiled at her.  Without saying anything, he prodded her up the stairs.  She reached the landing and saw two entwined pansies, their little stems wrapped with another piece of paper.

Pansies – Merriment

That time we were arguing about the diamond ring of Aunt Nell’s I gave you…Ben Riker was teasing you about it and you declared you’d never marry me.  It was all I could do not to laugh.  You were sitting in that snow bank, madder than a wet hen, and you had snow sticking everywhere…your hair, your clothes and those gorgeous lashes of yours and I’m trying to be gentleman enough not to burst out laughing at you or to start tickling you instead.  You always manage to diffuse whatever kind of snit I’m in just by making me laugh.

Trixie folded the paper and added the pansies to her growing bouquet.  She looked at Jim, tears still running down her face.  She tried a couple times to speak, but couldn’t get words out.  Jim smiled reassuringly at her.  She held tightly to his hand and walked up the stairs to the balcony.  A little table nestled in an alcove was bare, except one long stemmed red rose.  Trixie reluctantly let go of Jim’s hand and walked over to the table.  She reverently unwrapped the paper around the red rose with trembling hands.

Red Rose – I love you

I don’t think I’ve ever told you this.  I know that we both remember the time I first told you I loved you (what a day that was!).  But that wasn’t the moment I first fell in love with you.

I had thought this over for a long time, trying to pinpoint when it was and then I remembered.  You had just come back from a NYU intramural football game with Honey and Di.  Brian and I were listening to the play-by-play you three were giving in the living room of our apartment.  You said something that referred to some private joke you and I had and winked at me.  I don’t know how to explain it.  It was like I was home.  That there was someone in the world who understood me totally, who loved me and who was completely in my corner…and it was all I could do not to just yell it out right there, in front of all of them, “I love Trixie!”

You are my best friend, the love of my life and dearer to me than anyone or anything.  Those three little words…I love you… I do, Trixie, so terribly much.  I love you.

Trixie looked up from the paper, her voice choked, “I love you, too, Jim.”

Jim smiled again at her.  With his heart jumping nervously, he reached in his pocket and tightened his hand around the small box.  He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her wordlessly, his green eyes anxious.

Trixie’s eyes grew wide as she saw the gaily-wrapped box.  Her heart stopped for a second or two.  Breathe, sweetie, breathe.  She carefully laid her white rose and pansies next to the red rose and the rolled papers she put in her pocket.  With shaking fingers, she untied the green ribbon and opened the lid of the box.  She slid the green velvet jewelry box into her hand.  Do not hyperventilate.  Her mind, all the while, was yelling at her, “He’s proposing, he’s proposing!”  She carefully lifted the lid of the box and started crying openly again.

Nestled in the box was a gold ring, two bands wrapped around each other, a diamond in the middle with a small emerald on one side and a ruby on the other.  She looked up from the ring to Jim, her eyes glistening with tears.

Jim knelt down in front of her, his green eyes holding hers steady.  “Trixie, will you marry me?”

Trixie’s gaze held his for a few seconds and then the widest, largest grin he’d ever seen crossed her face.  “YES!” she shouted, “Yes, Jim Frayne, I will marry you!”

A spiral of joy replaced the anxiety that had been resting for a week in his chest.  Jim swiftly got to his feet and took the ring box from Trixie.  He pulled out the ring and with shaking fingers, slid it on Trixie’s hand.  It looks just like I thought it would.  He looked at Trixie, his green eyes gleaming with tears.  He ran a finger down her cheek.  She reached up and pulled his face down to hers.

Trixie’s kiss started sweet and gentle.  Jim wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer.  He deepened the kiss with Trixie responding eagerly.  He kissed her cheeks, her nose, her eyes and then again on her lips.  He finally broke the kiss and hugged Trixie tight to him.  “Trixie Belden, I love you so much.”

Trixie hugged him back and then pulled back to look at him.  “I love you.” She touched his cheek, which was wet with glistening tears.  “I keep thinking I can’t possibly love you more and then you do something like this.”

Jim grinned at her and kissed her again.  Finally, they broke apart and Trixie looked around her, giggling.  “We’re in church, Jim Frayne.  Should we really be doing this here?”

Jim followed her gaze and shrugged.  “Who do you think invented kissing in the first place?”

Trixie’s eyes grew wide and she started to laugh.  “Well, I guess you’re right about that.”  She grinned up at him.  “Okay, then, my fiancé, what are we going to do next?”  She gestured toward the stairs.  “I still have your gift in the car.”  She broke off and looked down at her hand happily.  “Although it definitely will not top your gift.”

Jim laughed and hugged her to him.  “I’m glad to hear that.”  He ran a finger down her nose and smiled at her.  “And that word sounds so good.”

“What word?” she asked.

“Fiancé,” he said.  He looked at her intently, his green eyes darkening.  “But I like the word ‘husband’ even better.”

Trixie’s mouth went dry.  “You and me both.”

They gazed at each other for a few minutes until Jim ran a finger down the side of her face and sighed.  “I guess we should go.”  He looked around him.  “And we probably should blow out the candles so that we don’t burn the place down.”

Trixie nodded.  “Let’s do that.”  She looked over the sanctuary one last time and sighed contentedly.  “It couldn’t be more beautiful, Jim.”  She smiled at him and turned to take her flowers.  She put the jewelry box and its wrappings in her other long pocket, after pulling out her gloves to put back on.  She reached with her free hand for Jim’s and walked down the stairs.

Jim never once let go of Trixie’s hand.  They walked around the sanctuary, blowing out candles together.  Finally, the two on the altar were the only ones left.  Trixie stopped Jim before he went up to the altar.  She looked at him shyly.  “Can we…can we wait just a minute?”

He looked at her in surprise and nodded.  Trixie sat down in the front pew.  Jim sat down beside her and looked at her curiously.  Trixie moved over closer to him and laid her head on his chest.  He put his arm around her instinctively.  Trixie looked up at the cross on the altar and smiled.  Thank you, God, for Jim.  They stayed that way for a few minutes until finally Trixie sighed.  “I guess we should probably get going.”

Jim squeezed her shoulders.  “It’s hard to do, isn’t it?”

Trixie nodded.  Just then, her stomach grumbled loudly.  Both of them burst out laughing.

“I guess that’s my answer, eh?” Jim chuckled, while he helped Trixie to her feet.  They both went to the altar and blew out a candle.

Trixie looked thoughtfully at the two candles they’d just blown out.  Two souls becoming one.  The thought filled her with a deep sense of peace and contentment.  She stepped down from the altar and took Jim’s offered hand.  The two of them walked to the back of the church.

Jim pulled Trixie’s hood around her blonde curls, leaned in and kissed her softly.  “Merry Christmas, Trixie.”  He smiled a crooked little smile at her and said quietly, “I’m so glad you said yes.”

Trixie’s blue eyes softened.  She hugged him to her and said, “I’m so glad you asked.”  Reaching up, she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him.  She continued to hold his face close to hers.  Her blue eyes met his, twinkling.  “Merry Christmas, Jim.”

‘Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day.
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

THE END

 Disclaimer:  Characters are property of Golden Publishing. Am not making any money off their use.  The quote Jim remembers is from the Mystery Off Glen Road by Julie Campbell.  "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  I had lots of internet help on the meanings of the flowers for Jim.  The church is not a real place that I know of.  Thanks to my editors, Cathy, Mary, Cyndi, Carol and Sue!  The graphics were from a page recommended to me by Anne and are from Graphics Star.  Click on the link below to find more great graphics!

Return to Treasury of Coins Universe

Note: Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Random House Books. These pages are not affiliated with Random House Books in any way. These pages are not for profit.  Images of Trixie Belden and the Bob-Whites of the Glen are © Random House Books and are used respectfully, albeit without permission.