The Christmas House (14 page)

     As they stood motionless and in total disbelief, Mr. Haber asked them to sign some papers that verified that they had accepted the checks. Once signed, he placed the documents in his brief case and closed it.

     “Well, my business here is concluded.
Best of luck to you Mr. and Mrs. Carter.
I will show myself out. Have a good day,” said Mr. Haber as he departed through the dining room and into the foyer.

     As Mr. Haber walked out the front door, he could see Thomas smoking a cigarette a few feet away from the street. As he approached his car, Thomas spotted him, threw his cigarette to the ground and ran over.

     “Mr.... Attorney... hey...
wait
a minute,” shouted Thomas.

Mr. Haber continued to walk and opened his car door. He said to Thomas as he arrived at the car, “Can I help you Mr. Clark?”

     “Yeah, so what’s the deal with the will? Are the Carters wealthy now or what?”

    
“Put it this way Mr. Clark, I doubt seriously that they will be selling this house any time soon. And by the way, I would brush up on that memory course if I were you. My name is Mr. Haber, not Mr. Attorney. I remembered your last name Mr. Clark, and I bet I have a good t
hirty
years on you. Good day sir,” Mr. Haber replied.

     Mr. Haber got into his car and drove away as Thomas stood there dumbfounded.

     Within a few seconds, another car pulled up. The driver shouted out of the car.

    
“Hey, Clark?
Is that you?”

     Thomas turned back toward the car and this time ‘
did’
recognize the driver to be Mr. Anthony Cesario.

     “Mr. Cesario. You’re a little late,” Thomas said.

     “Sorry about that kiddo, I had to talk to a client that wants to build a house on this property. So, they ready to deal or what?” he asked.

     “I am afraid not. They just inherited a substantial amount of money from that old, crazy lady that used to own this house. Sorry Tony, but the deal is off. Maybe next time,” Thomas said.

     Tony got out of his car and grabbed Thomas by the lapels of his suit jacket. “Listen stupid, I just locked in a major client of mine to pay me $5 million dollars to build him an estate on this property. You better convince these idiots to sell. There is a lot of money at stake here. You understand me!”

     “Mr. Cesario, they aren’t going to sell. They want to keep the property and live here. There is something weird about this house. Stay away from it. It’s not worth it,” Thomas replied as he tried to get lose from Tony’s vise like grip.

     Tony let go of Thomas’ lapels as he threw him back against the car.

    
“Well, mark my words, one of these days these people are going to sell me this property! I learned a long time ago, that if you can’t buy something away from someone, then you simply take it away!” Tony shouted.

     “Hey, wait a minute Tony. These are nice people. Don’t do anything that would hurt them,” Thomas said.

     “I am not into hurting people Mr. Clark, except maybe the occasional Realtor. I just always get what I want, that’s all. It may take a few years, but I’ll get this house.
If I have to burn it down to the foundation!”
Tony shouted as he walked back to his car.

    
As he pulled away, the tires squealed and he yelled at Thomas, “See you around hot shot! Don’t swim with the sharks. They are liable to tear you to pieces. C
iao
!”

     Thomas sat down on the curb of the street and took a deep breath. He tried to regain his composure before he went back into the house to retrieve his brief case and to wish the Carters a good day. Thomas was greedy and money hungry, but he was not a violent criminal. He wasn’t sure whether Tony was just mouthing off out of frustration or if he would seriously consider burning down the house that now stood at 148 Festive Lane. He decided not to tell the Carters about the incident and hoped that Tony was just bluffing.

November 27th

Thanksgiving Day

5:00 p.m.

Traditionally, Lake Forest residents decorate their homes for Christmas no later than Thanksgiving Day simply because they wish to enjoy the fruits of their labor for the entire holiday season. This year was no exception. The homes were decorated to the extreme. Hundreds of hours were invested into each house as the owners expressed their Christmas spirit in their own special way.

    
A large crowd gathered toward the middle of the block of Festive Lane.

     The house sitting at 148 Festive Lane was no longer the ugly duckling home of the neighborhood. It may not have been the largest or the newest home, but it was without a doubt, the most festive and cheerful.

    
There was a large Plexiglas covered display that was centered on the front lawn just below a large beautiful bay window, which recently was installed. The display on the lawn was lit from within, where the lights shined on an array of mechanical characters that moved and sang. The theme of the display was, "‘Twas the Night
Before
Christmas" as was indicated by a red and white sign that acted as a marquee attached to the top of the display.

     As the elves loaded Santa's sleigh with lots of shinny wrapped presents, Santa and Mrs. Claus watched from the bay window inside the house. Audio speakers played a variety of Christmas melodies including one long forgotten tune called, "Hardrock, Coco and Joe."

    
Red, blue, green, white, yellow and orange bulbs lit up the entire area with a warm and pleasing glow. At the very top of the house was a sleigh with Santa inside calling out to eight life size reindeer, "Merry Christmas to all a good night!" The sleigh and reindeer gave the illusion of flying in mid air but in reality was connected between this grand old house and the more contemporary mansion that stood next door.

    
A young couple and a small boy walked out of the house carrying more
decorations. As they walked toward the display on the lawn, the crowd still gathered, applauded and some of the people shouted, “Hey, nice job,” and “It looks wonderful!” The young man carrying a string of colored lights waved as he smiled at the gathering.

     As crowd started to migrate down the block to the next estate, they surely could recall that less than a year ago this old house was the eye sore of the neighborhood. The exterior improvement included newly painted gray and white trim and eves, the richness of the deep reddish brown brick work that had been tuck-pointed and sandblasted. In addition newly installed windows and freshly planted evergreen bushes and trees landscaped the home perfectly. This was once again a truly beautiful home.

Thanksgiving Evening

6:30 p.m.

The Carter Residence

     Over the last four months, Michael and Arianna made major progress in the restoration of the home on Festive Lane. Not only was the outside of the home been completely rejuvenated, the transformation of the inside of the house was breathtaking as well.

     With the exception of positioning the personal touches such as pictures and nick knack’s, Michael managed to remodel about 90% of the interior of the house. There were a few rooms on the second floor that still required work, but the living areas that were used on a regular basis were totally remodeled and looked magnificent.

     Walls that were once cracked and
hole
ridden had been completely replaced or newly plastered. Colorful and tasteful wallpapers were hung, as well as matching custom window treatments of splendid fabrics. Not a floorboard from the original house remained, for they had been replaced with new hardwood floors. Large, contemporary area rugs accented the decor of each room distinctively as they added color and warmth to the sheen of the deep toned hardwoods. Applications of fresh plaster were applied to every ceiling that before was peeling and cracked. “Flawless”
and “perfection
”,
were the words that now came to mind.

     The “to do list”, dwindled down from 225 to about 12. Just yesterday, Michael installed a series of light switches by the garage door. Six different switches controlled several different lights including the basement, the garage overhead, the entryway areas in the front and the back, the foyer and the kitchen entry area. Arianna already noted that the order of the switches was incorrect and every time she wanted to turn off the overhead light in the garage, she instead turned on the lights in the basement. Michael would work on rewiring the light panel sometime in the near future.

     Michael had done the vast majority of the work
himself,
however for the larger jobs he was able to recruit fellow workers to lend their specific expertise. However, unlike 5 months ago, Michael was able to pay the sub contractors a reasonable and acceptable wage. Financial security and available income allowed Michael to maintain a fast paced schedule for the renovation. His goal was to have the entire house renovated and presentable by the holidays.

     With the inheritance they received from Martha’s estate, the Carters were able to live comfortably and fulfill their renovation plans far ahead of schedule. Michael paid off the mortgage on the house, which only left a monthly tax payment of $1525.30. Michael could handle this payment and the other monthly expenses fairly easily on his current income. He actually managed to have additional money available at the end of every month that was applied to the renovation of the house. This additional money, as well as a good portion of the second check from the inheritance, allowed Michael to renovate the house not only as was required but also as he wanted.

During this time of constant construction, Arianna was concentrating on her new part-time job as a dispatcher for the Lake Forest Police Department and the raising of David and Nicole. The hours allowed her the much-needed free time required to spend time with the children. She only worked Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Michael now referred to her as “his wife the cop”, simply because she wore a police uniform to the station.

     Between work and caring for the children, Arianna managed to decorate the house beautifully. Everyday, she did a little bit here and little bit there. After a while all of those little bits started to add up.

     Michael not only bought a brand new pick up truck, but he also traded in the old car and bought a new car for Arianna as well. Both cars had air conditioning.

     Tonight was the first night that they would celebrate a holiday with their new found friends, the Stevens from next
door.
As Arianna was busy preparing a large turkey in the kitchen, Michael was hanging some pictures in the living room.

     “Hon, you know your mom was a very attractive woman,” Michael said, as he hung a picture of Arianna’s parents on the wall near the fireplace.

     Arianna shouted from the kitchen, “Yes, and?”

     Michael thought for a second and then responded, “And you are the spitting image of her!”

     “Aw, you say the nicest things Michael,” she said.

     Talking softly and under his breath Michael replied, “Well when you bait me like that I have little choice.”

     “I heard that Michael!” Arianna replied.

     “You know, it’s amazing how well you hear when what I say doesn’t include the words “get me a beer,” he said again softly, but received no response.

     “See, I was right,” he said.

     Arianna quietly came up behind him and placed an ice-cold can of beer on his neck.

     “Whoa! That’s cold!
Arianna!”
Michael shouted.

     “You asked for a beer didn’t you Mr. Wise Guy,” she replied with a smile.

    
“Yes, but that never worked before,” Michael said.

     “And chances are it will never happen again, so remember this day, for it will live in infamy,” she said.

    
“Thank you, Mrs. Churchill,” Michael replied.

     Arianna returned to the kitchen and continued to prepare the Thanksgiving dinner.

    
“Honey, can you get the extra chairs for the dining room table out of the garage.
Jack and Wanda will be here any minute.”

     Michael walked into the kitchen from the living room and toward the garage door entry. He flipped the light switch on the wall and opened the door. As he looked into the darkness of the garage, he heard David yell up from the basement, “Hey, you turned off the lights down here!”

     “Sorry David!” Michael replied, as he flipped the first switch back and then flipped the second switch for the garage.

     “I gotta fix that one of these days,” Michael said as he walked into the garage.

     Arianna said to herself as the door to the garage closed behind Michael, “I told him the order of those switches were wrong.”

     “I heard that!” came from the garage. She smiled.