Plundered Christmas (3 page)

My boy shrugged. “I guess.” After a moment, he added, “I liked Charlie a lot, though. Did you know he's worked for the family his entire life?”

I steered him one hundred eighty degrees to face the kitchen again. “Tell me all about it while I fix you a plate of leftovers.”

 

****

 

Dad was in a fog after Margo left. He didn't even watch the end of his game. He just pushed pieces of his pumpkin pie around on his plate, staring at either them or some vague point out the window. I knew he saw nothing but blackness of night. Or perhaps he saw Margo.

After everything in the kitchen was eaten, cleaned, or put away, I had no more energy. “I'm going to bed,” I announced in general.

Dad grabbed my arm as I walked by. “You do like her, don't you, pumpkin?”

How did I avoid both lying and hurting his feelings? “I really don't know her well yet.”

Like a dog with a bone, he persisted. “I think that's why she invited us for Christmas. She really wants to spend time with you.”

I didn't think so. I thought she wanted to spend time with my dad and convince him that his family would love her…and all the trappings her money would buy. But I didn't say that. I loved my dad too much to hurt him. She might be different than I believed. For his sake, I had to give her more than one chance. I didn't say anything to respond to his statement, I just hugged him. “Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too, little one.”

On my way upstairs, I checked in the guestroom. The TV was on low volume because Josie was already asleep on the futon. Justin sat on the couch staring at the uniformed players running back and forth across the field. I covered up Josie, kissed her cheek and told Justin to turn off the game at 9:30.

“What if it's not done?”

“Then you ask your Uncle Frank tomorrow for the play by play. He'll have it memorized if it was worth anything and will tell you that you chose well if it wasn't. You've had a long day. Lights out at 9:30.”

He began to think up some logical protest. I could see the gears working. I stifled it with a hug and a kiss. A bear hug and a Jelly-style kiss on his forehead.

“Mom!” he said wiping off his head. “It's a holiday.”

“I love you, too. But it's still 9:30.”

I made a move, pretending that I planned to kiss him again. He pushed away. He looked at me intently. I stared back.

“Oh, OK,” he muttered.

“Glad you see it my way.” I gave him another hug. A Justin-approved half hug. “See you in the morning.”

To get upstairs, I had to walk through the living room where the same game that Justin had on blared louder and bigger. At least I think it was the same game. When I walked through, Frank was on his feet yelling at some umpire.

James put an arm in front of me as I tried to pass him. “No passing without paying toll.”

He meant a kiss, so I obliged. However, a yawn made me pull away too soon. “Sorry.”

He smiled. “You've had a long day. The game's almost over. I'll be up soon.”

I gave him another quick kiss. “I hope so.”

Frank, finished with his tirade at the TV, noticed us. “Haven't you two been married long enough to stop being so mushy?”

“Never,” James said.

I just smiled. And then I yawned again until my ears popped. Letting my hand slide over James's, I pulled away and made for the stairs.

Josie had the right idea.

I tried to stay awake once I got in bed. I wanted to get James's opinion on Margo and her Christmas announcement. This was the year, after all, that we were due to spend Christmas with his parents.

Nevertheless, it had been a long day. And with all that had been going on, I never had my afternoon coffee. I fell soundly asleep without ever being aware that I headed in that direction.

 

****

 

When I woke, I saw that James had been in bed because of the rumpled sheets next to me, but he wasn't there any longer. I heard the vague sound of falling water and knew that he'd already claimed the shower. I looked at the clock. Eight o'clock! I hadn't slept that long in years. I did some quick calculations. I slept over ten hours the previous night. Absolutely amazing. It must be the fresh mountain air.

Even so, I made sure to hurry out of bed, get dressed and get the bed made before James got back from his shower. There's only so much lollygagging a body can do.

I had just finished tucking the comforter in when he opened the door.

“Well, if it isn't my sleeping beauty!”

What does one say to that? I stepped up to him and kissed him. “You smell nice.”

“I forgot my aftershave so I used one of your dad's.”

I laughed. “Probably one that I got him for Christmas that he never used. He still wears nothing but that old-fashioned cologne that Mom would buy him year after year. It's so hard to find now that he pays three times what it is worth.”

James's smile dropped. “Not yesterday he didn't. I saw him putting on some expensive French stuff Margo bought him before she showed up. I know what it was because I commented on it and he told me.”

It felt wrong. What was happening to my dad? Was I just oversensitive because it wasn't Mom? Or was there really something not quite right about this woman?

“Did you like her, James?”

He looked around the room, avoiding my eyes. “I don't really think it's my place, Neenie. I'm an in-law, not a direct relative like you or Frank.”

I sidled next to him. “I promise I won't report you. But I need to know if I'm overreacting.”

He smoothed my hair. It popped out of place immediately, but it felt nice when he did it. “I don't think you're overreacting. If anything, wife of mine, you give more grace than most people deserve.” He did, too, which was probably why he paused so long before answering me. “Something about her didn't set right with me. Maybe we're jealous? I don't know. But we owe it to your dad to give her a fair chance. I don't see any way around it. I'll explain the whole situation to my parents and we can make it up to them at Easter. We'll go to her family's island for Christmas.”

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

December 22

 

Thus, less than a month later, I found myself on a yacht.

I wish I could say it had been easy getting me here. I wish I could say that I had been calm, relaxed, and hopeful about the entire trip. I wish I could say that through our correspondences arranging details that I'd grown closer to Margo and was actually looking forward to a Christmas without my tree, a brisk winter wind, and the Christmas Eve pageant at Gentle Springs Community Church. I wish I could say all of that. However, it would be a bold-faced lie and my mother taught me better than that. Still, James kept reminding me that it would be like a summer vacation in the middle of winter, and I needed to enjoy it as best I could.

“We'll be gone less than a week, Neenie,” James reminded me. “And we'll have our Christmas, your Christmas, when we get home.”

I guess that was better than nothing.

We were headed to a tiny, private island north of the official Caribbean. Of course, I wasn't on the yacht alone. Justin, Josie, and James were with me.

Frank, too, had shown up with his latest girlfriend, a sweet thing in her mid-twenties named Aimee. I think she was the latest girlfriend Frank mentioned in his e-mail, so they'd dated more than just a couple of times. She made sure I knew how to spell her name—two
E
's—and that Frank met her in the singles group at his church. Maybe she would finally be the one. I couldn't remember Frank ever bringing a girlfriend on vacation, let alone to celebrate a holiday.

To Margo's credit, she had even invited Jelly (along with his portable kennel and cleaning pads). When she heard that we intended to lodge him at a local kennel while we stayed with her, she protested.

“If you brought him to your father's for Thanksgiving,” she texted me, “you should bring him along for Christmas.” She assured me that the island was technically not another country and therefore had no quarantine or kenneling restrictions.

We had originally planned to leave Gentle Springs on the twenty first and spend the night at a hotel, but James had to work at the last minute. While he put in a stressful and late day in order for us to have Christmas at all, I spent most of the day packing.

“It will be warm enough to swim?” Josie exulted.

“Probably.” I went on to show her on a map of the United States about where the island was. “The private island of the Banet family is too small to show up on most maps. But it's between the US and the Bahamas. It doesn't get cold there too often.” The kids were thrilled to put their swimming suits in the luggage.

The most difficult part of this trip preparation was finding and packing gifts. What do you get for the woman who lives on the family island, has a driver and relies on a yacht to go shopping? Also, we had no idea how many other guests might be there.

James, after watching me fret for a while, recommended I make massive quantities of my world-famous brownies. We bought several pretty plates, ribbons, colored plastic wrap and bows. While I knew the plates of goodies couldn't compete with anything Margo might have, people would enjoy them, and we'd have something to give.

As far as Margo herself, she made me promise not to bring her anything. “Honestly, Jeanine dear, having a family at the island for Christmas is more than enough present for me. Don't you dare even think of bringing me anything.” Not knowing what to get her anyway, I agreed to comply.

We did bring more personalized gifts with for Dad, Frank, and Aimee. For Justin and Josie, we promised our family Christmas under our own tree when we got home.

Before James got home from work, I had the van packed and ready. We had a light dinner sitting by the tree with all my favorite carols playing and turned in early to get at least some sleep before the trip. About three in the morning, we sleep-walked our offspring out to their seats and made sure they buckled in. Since it was cold, we brought a couple of blankets so they could sleep comfortably while we drove.

Thankfully, none of the white stuff was either on the ground or forecasted. If snow had been a factor, we would have needed to leave at 10 PM the previous evening in order to factor in my “snow adjustment” speed. I had become better about wintery precipitation after the massive quantities on the field trip in March, so I actually could and would drive with snow on the ground—at least in theory, because we hadn't had any yet this season. But consistently driving twenty miles per hour under the posted speed limit makes things take a tad longer.

James had prepared an extra strong thermos of coffee for me. My body clock didn't adjust to oddly timed events as quickly as his did after years of exercises and deployments, so I needed to rely on my usual energy booster—coffee. It didn't hurt that it tasted good, too.

Margo's family rented a dock for their boat at Virginia Beach and our drive down was uneventful.

About five, James took over for me. He had dozed most of the first two hours, and since five o'clock usually had the alarm clock going off, my rest stop woke him up.

I apologized, but I couldn't have driven another mile without my bladder bursting. All that coffee had to go somewhere!

We were supposed to meet up with Charlie at nine. Since we arrived in the area just after seven, we pulled into a pancake house to start our day. Besides, both of our children, no matter how sleepy, will rouse themselves for the novelty of a restaurant breakfast. We put Jelly in his kennel and fed him. We cracked the front windows for ventilation. I hated leaving him in the van, especially with all the horror stories we'd read about accidents with pets. But we couldn't take him in. We parked as close to the restaurant as we could and requested a seat near the window where we could keep an eye on the van and him. To make it up to the pooch, James allowed Justin to bring out some leftover eggs, and Jelly drooled over them gratefully.

Fully nourished and awake, we met with Charlie at the long-term parking lot. “It's the most reasonable in the area,” he said. “And since no cruise ships will be leaving the port this week, you won't have to fight for a parking space.”

I had to admit it felt quite odd having a limo waiting for us. The last time I'd ridden in a limo was on my wedding day. The kids had never been inside of one.

“Look at this,” Justin pointed. “There's a TV and an X-box in here. We could play games all the way to the ship.”

Three games, still in their wrappers, sat in front of the system. It was all we could do to keep Justin from hyperventilating. “Mitch told me about this one. He read about it. But it's not even released yet!”

“The mistress,” Charlie said, “felt you should have an early Christmas present. Feel free to play while I drive us to the dock.”

James snatched the game out of Justin's hands. “This game has an ‘M' rating. You will not be playing it.”

“But Mitch said that his cousin said that you can skip the bad parts in these games.”

James was already looking at the next two games and reading the back covers. He eventually handed him back one with an
E
rating. “You may play this one.”

“But Miss Margo gave these to us. And Mitch said…” Justin protested.

“I know for a fact that Mitch's dad won't let him play that game, so Mitch can say anything he wants, and even if he did let him play the game, Mr. Andrews is not your father. I am, and I say you can play the one I chose.”

Justin looked up to the front of the limo, hoping, I think, for a vote of support from Charlie.

The driver had wisely turned around as if he needed to analyze the road before we drove.