The Christmas Secret (27 page)

Marshall held a package in his hand. “I had this and thought maybe I should bring it by.”

“Come on in,” Matt said, moving out of the way. He called over his shoulder. “Hey, Mom, Marshall's here.”

“Who?” a voice said behind Matt. Marshall knocked the snow off his boots on the porch mat and his heart pounded at the prospect of walking inside. “Marshall! Hello!” Gloria was wearing a red cardigan sweater covered with holly leaves and a white turtleneck.

“I'm sorry to stop by so late,” Marshall said.

“Come on in,” she said. “Would you like some eggnog or coffee?”

“No, nothing,” he said, fumbling with the package in his hands. It fell and he bent over to pick it up.

“Well, sit down,” she said, pointing to the sofa.

Miriam stuck her head out the kitchen door. “Marshall! You're just in time to eat.”

“No, no,” he said.
Good grief, who else is here?
he thought.

Matt's wife, Erin, carried a basketful of fresh rolls and set them on the kitchen table. “Hi, Marshall,” she said. “What are you doing out and about tonight?”

Gloria looked at him and he held out the package. “I saw this and . . . well, I thought you might like it.”

She took it from him and laughed. “Well, what a surprise! I would never refuse a gift. How thoughtful.” She tore into the paper and pulled out a hand-painted serving bowl. “This is lovely,” she said, smiling.

Marshall stood in a rush. “It was at the store and . . . Judy saw it actually and thought you'd . . . well, I'll scoot out of here and let you eat.” He opened the door.

“Marshall, why don't you stay and eat with us?” she asked, standing in the open doorway. “We're all family here.”

“No, no. I should have called. I hope you have a merry Christmas.”

She stepped onto the porch and wrapped her sweater tight around her. “Is everything okay, Marshall?”

He stopped on the stairs and turned to look at her. He hung his head and sighed. “I feel like a fool.” She watched him stamp his foot up and down. “I don't know what I'm doing.” She waited for more. “I'm too old to start dating again. The very notion makes me break out in a sweat.” Gloria touched her hair, aware for the first time of what was happening. “I sent those ridiculous notes to you and I'm sorry.” It felt like her legs were gone and she wondered if she had passed out and fallen inside the door. If she was speaking she couldn't hear a word she was saying. “I didn't have the character to show up at the gardens and I cursed
myself for days. Then Judy and my daughter, Linda, found out about it and they cursed me, too. Linda's been after me since her mother died—especially the last two years—to get off my rump and well . . .” Gloria smiled and realized she no longer felt the wind or the cold.

“Marshall—” She stopped and he couldn't imagine what she would say. Whatever it was, he knew he deserved it. “It is an honor to be thought of so highly by someone I've respected for so long.” He felt the weight tumble off his back and smiled. “Now, would you please come in out of the cold and eat with us?” He didn't move. “Unless you have somewhere else to go?”

“I don't,” he said.

 

Betty was with her daughter and grandchildren so I never saw her on Christmas Eve. The restaurant closed early and as I cleaned the hallway outside Betty's office, I stepped inside, turning on the light. Dennis's face smiled out at me in several photos on her desk. Haley did have his eyes and nose and Zach seemed to have his square chin. I glanced from one photo to the next. He was handsome in all of them. I hugged Spence and Lori and the rest of the crew and bolted out the door for home.

Richard had arrived earlier in the day and had spent the afternoon playing games with Zach and Haley. He had willingly stepped into the role of grandfather and did it with
ease. He doted after them as if they were part of his bloodline and I knew I should have been more grateful than I was for him. The kids ran to bed without a word of argument at nine o'clock sharp and I caught up with Richard as they fell asleep. When their mouths fell open and their hands hung limp over the side of the bed we went to the storage shed on the deck and hauled in the presents. It took me far too long to tell Richard the story of the gifts but I couldn't leave out a single word. Mom added her and Richard's gifts for the kids and the tree glowed brighter than ever with the bounty under its branches. A small noise stopped our work; we were afraid Zach and Haley was tiptoeing about. I ran to the door when we realized someone was knocking. I looked through the window and opened the door. “Ed?”

“I'm sorry it's so late, Christine.”

“I actually thought of you last night and wanted to talk to you. Come on in.” He stepped inside and nodded to Mom and Richard. “I wanted to talk about the back rent.”

“That's why I'm here,” he said. I had the feeling he was going to ask me to leave earlier than the end of next month. “Christine, if there's any way you could pay half of the back rent I'd be willing to let you stay.”

Half! I had enough money to pay all of it. “But Ed, I owe you—”

He shook his head. “Half is fine.” He put his hand on the knob and turned it.

“Thank you, Ed.” He nodded and opened the door but I had to know more. “What changed your mind?”

He sighed. “My mother. She's very stubborn and persistent and set in her ways but she's also a good judge of people.”

I wondered if I knew her from the restaurant. “Who's your mother?”

“The Bat Lady,” he said, smiling, and closed the door.

 

Mom and Richard and I stayed up far too late and the kids woke up way too early. “He came!” Haley squealed two feet from me. I jolted awake on the couch and saw her jumping up and down. She ran screaming down the hall. “He came! He came! Presents are everywhere!”

Zach raced to the living room and his mouth dropped open at the sight. “You said there wouldn't be any gifts.”

I sat up and smiled. “They're not from me.”

Mom entered, wrapping the belt around her robe, and Richard pulled a sweatshirt over his head. “I told you he would come,” Haley said, jumping. “Gloria said the spirit of Christmas would sweep through here and it did and it made Zach believe! Just like she said!”

“I didn't even hear the old man,” Richard said.

“I thought I heard something around two,” Mom said. “But I fell right back to sleep.”

“I heard him,” Zach said.

“You did?” I asked, swinging my legs to the floor.

“Yes! I heard him and I snuck out of bed and saw him standing right here.”

“You
saw
him?” Haley asked, amazed.

“I saw a piece of red,” he said. “But he didn't stand there long. He was so fast that he disappeared real quick.” He picked up a present. “This one's mine! Can we start, Mom?” I nodded and he handed a present to Haley.

“Open it,” I said.

Mom turned on the video camera and Richard took still pictures as the kids ripped open their gifts. Haley shrieked when she lifted the princess dress from the box and Zach struck a quarterback's stance when he palmed the football. In minutes the living room was a colorful, glorious mess. Zach handed a present to me and I looked at Mom. “We weren't supposed to exchange.”

“I don't need anything,” she said, grinning.

I opened a box with a new pair of gloves, socks, and a beautiful blue sweater, another package contained two new books to read, and a third box held a new skillet and hand mixer. “So you don't have to hold the cord up,” Mom said, referring to my mixer with the short in it.

Zach handed me a flat, flimsy gift, and I was careful as I opened it. He had wrapped a picture he had drawn on construction paper. We were in the snow building a snowman. I
was the biggest, Zach the next biggest, and Haley was wearing a dress with wings. “You know just what I like,” I said, hugging him.

Haley thrust a gift in my hand. “Wait until you see mine.”

I opened the package and pulled out a hand-painted heart box like the one I'd seen at Wilson's. “Haley! This is so beautiful. Where did you get it?”

“My half boyfriend did it with me.”

I looked over the box and lifted the lid. Even the inside was painted. “A kite, butterfly, flowers. All of my favorite things are here. If I could fit you and Zach inside here it'd be perfect!” She laughed and I hugged her tight.

Zach handed me a small gift and I looked at Mom. “No more gifts, Mom! What is this?”

“I have no idea,” she said.

“Right,” I said. I ran my finger along the tape and lifted the lid on a small velvet box. “Mom!” I lifted a diamond necklace from the box and held it in front of me. “This is gorgeous!”

“Who's it from?” she asked.

“You can stop playing now. I love it. Thank you.”

“It's not from me,” she said. I could tell by her face that she was oblivious. She looked at Richard.

“Don't look at me,” he said.

I noticed a small tab of paper sticking up inside the box
and lifted the velvet padding. Underneath was a tightly folded note. Haley jumped up next to me to take a closer look.
Merry Christmas
, I read.
Please bring Zach and Haley to Ashton Gardens today at noon
.

“Who left this?” I asked, looking at Mom and Richard.

“I have no idea,” Mom said.

“I just got here yesterday,” Richard said.

I looked at Zach and Haley.

“No clue, Mom,” Zach said.

I laughed and touched the diamond. “So what we're saying is someone broke into my house and left this?”

“I wish we had break-ins like that,” Richard said.

“Well, I'm not going to go. We were supposed to eat at noon.”

“Christine!” Mom said. “We have all day to eat. Go to the gardens.”

“But someone broke into my house. This is creepy and weird and a little unsettling.”

She sat down next to me. “Richard and I will go with you.” I started to protest and she squeezed my leg. “Christine, it's Christmas . . . and a diamond! I don't think it's creepy and weird but more like magical and mysterious.”

 

I was ner vous when Richard drove into Ashton Gardens. “No one's here,” I said. “Let's go back home.”

“We're not even halfway in,” Mom said.

Richard drove back toward the greenhouse and I saw a car parked outside. “Recognize that?” Richard asked. I shook my head. I'd never seen it before.

He parked beside it and Mom turned around to look at me. “Well, here we are!” She made it sound like we'd just arrived at an amusement park. “Are you ready?”

“No,” I said.

Richard turned off the car and opened his door. Mom and the kids got out and I stayed put. She leaned down to look at me. “Christine?”

“Okay,” I said, getting out. We walked to the door of the greenhouse and Richard held it open for us. The kids and I entered and Haley screamed at the sight. It was filled with kites of all shapes and colors, dangling paper butterflies, and hydrangea flowers sat in pots among the green plants and on the floor. I turned to look at Mom and Richard but they weren't behind us. I opened the door and their car was gone.

“Come on, Mom,” Haley said, pulling me through the greenhouse. She broke loose from me and ran around the corner, anxious to see everything. Zach ran after her and I gaped at the flowers and kites. I rounded the corner and stopped, catching my breath at the sight of him.

“Merry Christmas, Christine.”

Haley was holding his hand. “He did all this, Mom!”

He walked to me and my head felt light on my shoulders.
“How did you—” I didn't even know where to begin.

“I went to your place last night. I was going to leave the necklace between the two doors but your father saw me and he came out to talk to me.” I couldn't think of a time Richard wasn't in the house but it didn't matter now. “He put it under the tree for me.” I touched the necklace and smiled, thinking of how Richard had played dumb all morning. “It was my grandmother's. My grandfather bought it a few years ago for their anniversary but didn't get the chance to give it to her. He wanted you to have it.”

I was so confused. “Your grandfather?”

“It's a long story,” he said, smiling. “He asked me recently if my heart beat faster at the thought of being in love and I had to say no. But that was then.” He smiled and took another step closer. “I got a job this week,” he said. “And it's a great job. It's a dream job, really. It offers me everything I want except one thing and of all the million ways to go—over there, or up there, or that way because it's the most obvious to everyone, I'm choosing this way. Or maybe it's choosing me. Regardless, this is the way I want to go.” For a moment there was no sound but our breath. “If it's okay with you.”

I smiled and felt my heart in my throat. “It's okay with me.”

And on the day I learned Jason's name I kissed him.

The church bells ring as they have done at noon for the last eighty years. Is it cold today? I don't know. I haven't noticed. Some days are like that. One day, I'll relive these moments and remember everything, I hope. I step to the window and look outside. The sun is blazing a hole through the clouds and the sky is as clear and blue as I have ever seen. For some reason Jason's grandmother has been on my mind all morning. With thirty minutes to go I grab a bouquet of flowers off the table and run down the front steps to the street. In my rush I have forgotten that my dress is sleeveless and I'm not wearing a coat.

Horns blast and people yell as I cross the road and hurry through the town square. They think I'm a fool perhaps, or maybe they are shouts of wonder. I can hear Mom. “What are you doing?” she says, running after me. The air hits my lungs and I squint in the brightness of the day. I am surrounded by a blanket of white in the square and conscious of what I must look like running through it. My cheeks sting
as I open the door to my car and for the first time today I realize it is cold. I lay the flowers on the seat beside me, start the engine, and drive the few blocks.