A Nantucket Christmas (8 page)

“I’ll take it.” Sebastian removed his wallet from his pocket and slid out a credit card.

“Would you like that wrapped?” Kelli asked.

Kennedy opened her mouth to suggest they pin it on her coat instead, but before she could speak, her father nodded.

“Yes, please, Kelli.” He beamed when he looked over at Kennedy. “Thanks for suggesting it, Kennedy. Nicole will be so surprised. I never think to buy her romantic presents. She’s been working so hard trying to make this a perfect holiday for everyone. I can’t wait to see her face when she opens the package on Christmas morning.”

Kennedy’s mouth fell open. Her throat closed tight with dismay.

“That’s so sweet,” Kelli said, filling the awkward silence.

“Next—” Sebastian’s chest swelled with satisfaction as he tucked the wrapped package in with the others.

“Yes, Daddy?” Kennedy widened her eyes innocently.

“Where shall we have lunch? Someplace cozy. The wind’s whipping the snow around.”

Kennedy trudged next to her father in silence as they headed to the Brotherhood of Thieves. She was blind to the holiday-bright windows. Her father hummed “White Christmas,” totally unaware of the disappointment steaming off her. She wanted to stop right there on the brick sidewalk next to the damned Christmas tree, throw her head back, and bawl. Everything was wrong. This holiday sucked. She was a warthog of a woman with a belly that weighed down her every move. She couldn’t look sexy for her husband, she couldn’t even look pretty, and when she tried to look winsome for her own father, what did he do? He bought diamonds not for his own daughter who was carrying his second grandchild, but for his new wife, who wouldn’t even care about them. Who certainly wouldn’t know how to wear them! Nicole was so more a rhinestone person, she didn’t have the elegance to appreciate diamonds. What a waste. While Kennedy, at a time in her life when she could use some affection and pampering and
gratitude
didn’t even get a stupid silver bracelet!

Did Nicole have some kind of psychological hold over her father? Did Nicole plant drugs in his coffee? She was way less attractive than Katya, she had no sense of style, she was like a cleaning woman who got to sit with the family, and Sebastian had bought her diamonds? Kennedy wanted to shriek.

“Here we are.” Sebastian ushered his daughter into the brick-walled bistro. “After we eat, maybe you’ll have the energy to look at boots.”

“Boots,” Kennedy muttered.

The hostess appeared and seated them in the front room next to the heartening warmth of the fireplace.

They removed their coats, settled in, and ordered. Sebastian remarked, “You seem upset.”

Kennedy bit her lower lip. “I guess … I didn’t realize you were so … enamored of Nicole.”

Her father threw back his head and laughed. “Honey, Nicole is my wife. I would certainly hope I’d be enamored of her.” He gave Kennedy a concentrated gaze. “But you’re not pleased about this?”

She lowered her eyes and played with her napkin, folding it in different shapes as she talked. “I want you and Mom to get back together.”

“Oh, Kabey, that’s not going to happen. Be realistic, Kennedy. Your mother left me for Alonzo—”

“But they’re not married!” Kennedy protested.

Sebastian shrugged. “Katya probably won’t marry again. Your mother likes to have things her own way. As you are now aware, marriage is full of compromises. Come on, Kennedy, you’ve seen Katya. She’s completely fine without me. She’s got her own apartment where Alonzo can visit, but it’s her place, and she doesn’t want it messed up. She’s almost sixty, after all. She deserves to spoil herself for a while. So do I, for that matter. I worked hard, providing for my family. Your mother worked hard, raising you and keeping house. Now we want to enjoy life, be free, even a bit silly, before we end up in our rocking chairs.”

Kennedy gripped her father’s hand. “Daddy, you’re not
old
!”

“I’m not young, either. I’m healthy. And now, thanks to Nicole, I’m happy. That’s a lot.”

Kennedy wanted to appeal prettily, “Don’t
I
make you happy?” but at that moment the waiter arrived with their meals.

“It means the world to me that James is such a nice man,” Sebastian said as he picked up his fork. “He loves you and Maddox. That’s obvious. That’s the best gift any father can have, a good, trustworthy, loving son-in-law.”

Kennedy conceded reluctantly, “Yes. James’s great.”

“I wish you could learn to like Nicole,” Sebastian continued. “She’s a wonderful person, and she would love to be part of your life.”

“But she’s not my mom,” Kennedy reminded him.

“True. Nicole is completely different from Katya. She’s not as concerned about style, she’s a bit more into politics, she’s a nurse, and she likes being part of the community. You know your mother, Kennedy. Katya always wanted to be seen as being
above
the community. Better than.”

This was true, but Kennedy protested, “Please don’t say negative things about my mother. It hurts my feelings.”

“I’m sorry, Kennedy. Let’s change the subject. What did you get James for Christmas?”

“Just some outdoor gear ordered from catalogs,” she replied. “After all, I’m about to give him another son.”

“I’m glad you brought that up. I feel kind of lousy, joining your mother and James at the hospital and leaving out Nicole.”

This conversation was SO not going the way she’d planned! “She can hang out in the waiting room with Alonzo,” Kennedy suggested.

Sebastian patted her hand. “I think you need a nap.”

Kennedy wanted to say she needed a diamond brooch, but she kept her silence and focused on her food. If only she weren’t so tired with this pregnancy, she’d have better ideas about how to get her parents back together, or at least how to get rid of Nicole. But her father was right. She was tired. She’d think more clearly after a nap.

Because she wasn’t finished yet.

Whatever happened, Kennedy suddenly wondered, to Cinderella’s father and the wicked stepmother after Cinderella married the prince?

The snow was coming down quickly now, coating the lawn with a layer of pristine white. Snix was cold, and he was hungry.

He was also curious. This morning he’d hidden in a hedge to watch a boy build a peculiar house, a kind of cave, perfectly dog-sized. His father had come out to help him reinforce it with layers from cardboard boxes, covered with some old blankets, then wrapped around and around the outside with duct tape.

Now the boy and his father had gone. It seemed all the humans had gone.

Snix trotted to the funny makeshift house. Easing his way between two lawn chairs tilted on their sides, he entered.

It was warm. Cushions covered the floor. No snow got in. It would be the best place to sleep at night!

But as hard as he sniffed, he could find no food in here. Reluctantly, he left the warm cave for the cold snowy outer world. Time for another food quest. Before he ventured away, he peed on a bush, the side of the garage, and the side of the house, so he’d be sure to know where to return.

He headed toward town. Many of the narrower streets were still and empty, the owners of the houses away in their winter homes, the windows dark, the trash barrels scentless. He found his way to Centre Street, where the aroma of bacon drifted from the Jared Coffin House like a love song, but the trash barrels had special locks on them, probably against marauding cats.

Across the street, Le Lanquedoc was shut tight. He trotted past the brick town buildings and the Whaling Museum until he came to the most likely place to find food.

Broad Street. Steamboat Wharf. Dog heaven. Taco Taco. Walters gourmet sandwiches to go. A pizza place. A coffee shop. The trash barrels lids were not so tightly fit, and being this close to the water, the ravaging gulls often did the work of breaking and entering for Snix.

Sure enough, in an alley he found a barrel on its side, papers and cups spilling out. A group of sky rats were pecking away at the contents.

He hesitated. Gulls were mean. They were almost bigger than Snix. Those beaks were as sharp as knives. His only hope was to fake it, so he charged toward them, barking savagely, showing his white pointed teeth. To his relief, with much irate screeching, the birds flew away.

He’d gotten there in time. Nosing away the papers, he hunted out buns, taco shells, hamburger, and cold fries. His belly swelled. He felt so much better. So much stronger. So much more hopeful.

He ate until he couldn’t squeeze another morsel into his body. Replete, his body begged for sleep.

He retraced his steps to the house with the warm cave. People were out on the streets, calling out gleefully about the snow, elated that it was going to be a white Christmas. Snix wasn’t so pleased. He was scared. Still, it swelled his heart to see so many people smiling, chatting, waving, dressed in red, white, and green, their arms full of packages. It made the world seem like a friendlier place.

Near Nantucket Bookworks, a teenage boy noticed Snix. “Hi, guy,” the kid said, reaching down to scratch Snix between the ears. “Aren’t you a cute little pooch.”

Snix cocked his head, trying to send a message:
Take me home with you.

A girl came out of the shop, a book bag in her hand. “Okay,” she said, “now let’s go to Murray’s Toggery. I’ll get Dad a sweater.” She linked her arm through the boy’s and led him away, not even aware of Snix sitting there wagging his tail. The boy walked off.

But the friendly warmth of his touch remained, all through Snix’s body.

He continued on his way, back through the maze of narrow lanes, until he found his own scent on a bush. The house had lights on inside, but he heard no sounds of people, so he took a chance and dashed straight into the backyard and through the lawn chairs into the cave.

Oh, it was warm. The cushions were soft. The wind howled but no snow made its way inside. His belly was full. His neck had been scratched. A human had told him he was cute. Curling up in comfort, Snix fell asleep.

After breakfast, Nicole cleaned the kitchen. Upstairs, she made all the beds. She considered picking up the clothes littering her stepdaughter-in-law’s floor and putting them in the laundry basket, because it had to be difficult for Kennedy to bend over. On the other hand, Princess Kennedy might object to Nicole touching her things, so she let them lie. She did a quick run through the house with the vacuum.

As she worked, she longed to wallow in the delicious self-indulgent behavior she once treated herself with as a widow. She could no longer curl up on the sofa shoveling popcorn into her mouth while watching
Terms of Endearment
and weeping so hard she choked on her popcorn. Sebastian was too elegant to imagine she could behave in such a churlish manner, so she restrained herself. Frankly, she missed it.

She phoned Jilly. “I’m a pariah in my own house.”

“Poor thing. Come to Mama.”

“I’ve got too much to do.”

“Nonsense. If they can go out to lunch, so can we. It’s snowing, Nicole. Look out the window! We can take a long walk on the beach and let the wind blow away our troubles, then have clam chowder at Met on Main.”

Nicole hesitated.

“Oh, you’d rather stay home and sulk?” Jilly teased.

“I’ll meet you at the Hub in ten minutes.”

Putting on her snow boots immediately lifted Nicole’s mood. Brown suede with thick rubbery soles, they were lined with white fleece and had red and green tartan laces. She pulled on her puffy red down coat and a red wool hat adorned with a knit green holly leaf, complete with red berry, shouldered her purse, slid on her red mittens and hurried out into the invigorating air.

Jilly was already at the Hub, festive in green wool coat and hand-knit creamy white cap and muffler. She greeted Nicole with a big hug and kiss. “Let’s walk down to Straight Wharf and then over to the town beach.”

“Good idea.” Nicole glanced around. “People are out shopping.”

“I’ve done all mine. I’ve got two duffel bags full of presents to take to Boston when we go for Christmas with the grandchildren.”

“You leave tomorrow?” They passed Peach Tree’s. “Great sweater.”

“I know. Don’t tempt me.” They walked on toward the water. “First thing.”

“I’ll miss you,” Nicole said.

“You’ll be fine. Christmas is in two days. They leave on the twenty-seventh. You can survive that long.”

Buoyed by her friend’s companionship, Nicole thought just maybe she could. “Maddox is an adorable child, and James is nice. He tries hard to be pleasant to everyone. But I swear Kennedy is on some kind of campaign to make me lose my cool. She’s absolutely devious, Jilly.” As they ambled along through the falling snow, Nicole described the morning’s breakfast psychodrama with the bacon and eggs.

“You’re attributing too much premeditation to her,” Jilly insisted. “Kennedy’s a nice enough girl, as I recall. She’s pregnant, remember? Pregnancy makes you irrational. Give her a break.”

“You’re right,” Nicole conceded reluctantly. “I just wish Sebastian would stick up for me more. He always seems to think his daughter is flawless.”

“Typical father,” Jilly said knowingly. “I can’t tell you the times Bob and I have argued over something Stacey’s done or wants to do. He always takes her side. I’m always the disciplinarian. But in a few days, Kennedy will go home and you’ll have Seb back for yourself.”

Nicole’s sigh of satisfaction was cut short. Across the street and down a block, she saw Sebastian and Kennedy leaving the Jewel of the Isle. Sebastian had a small dark green bag in his hand. He linked his arm through his daughter’s and carefully escorted her around the corner onto Easy Street.

“Look.” She nudged Jilly with her elbow. “Sebastian just bought Kennedy some jewelry.”

Jilly spotted the retreating pair. “It’s Christmas, Nicole.”

“Oh, I know! I hate the way I feel, like a sniveling jealous fairy-tale witch. Let’s change the subject. Tell me what you’re reading.”

Both women were voracious readers. Books kept them talking for the rest of their walk and most of their lunch at Fog Island. When they parted to go their separate ways, Nicole was back in her usual optimistic, level-headed mindset.