Weaving the Strands (17 page)

Chapter 37

Maggie turned to Susan in the
backseat as they were pulling away from Fairview Terraces. “So, Aaron seemed
nice, didn’t he?”

“Yes, of course he did,” she replied nonchalantly.

“And he’s single.” Maggie had to restrain her
glee.

“For heaven’s sake, Mom.” Susan could barely
control her frustration. “Is that why you invited them? When we were planning
on a family dinner?”

“You liked him. You can’t tell me there weren’t
sparks,” Maggie retorted, stung by Susan’s tone.

John glanced at Susan in the rearview mirror.
“Your mom’s got a point. We all felt it.”

Susan turned to stare out the window. “Well, okay.
Maybe there were some sparks,” she admitted. “But what good are sparks when I’m
in California, and he’s here? Why don’t I ever meet someone I might have a
chance with?”

“You don’t know how this is going to turn out.
Don’t go discounting things before you have the whole story,” Maggie said,
turning to smile at John. “You don’t want to miss something that might be
wonderful for you both.”

***

The afternoon passed in a blur of
activity. Susan, Maggie, and Amy settled into an amiable routine in the
kitchen, with Sophie and Sarah racing in and out, chasing the dogs, and
generally making a nuisance of themselves.

By midafternoon, Amy had had enough. She corralled
both girls and told them to get their coats. She marched into the library where
John and Mike, comfortably sunk into the leather chairs flanking the fireplace,
were watching football on television.

“Okay, you two,” Amy ordered. “It’s time to make
yourselves useful. Why don’t you take the girls to the park? They’re driving us
crazy.”

“No, Mom. We don’t want to go out. We’ll be good,”
came the united cry.

John stood. “That’s a great idea. Let’s take Eve
and Roman, and we can all go to the dog park.”

Enthusiastic squeals told him that he’d hit the
mark.

Mike glanced up from the television to look at his
wife and knew he wouldn’t be able to weasel out of this mission. He checked the
score one last time and headed out the door with the others.

***

By three thirty, the cooking was in
full swing and dinner was on schedule. Maggie declared that she was going to
her room to put her feet up for fifteen minutes, and they were welcome to join
her. Based on her daughter’s incessant clock-watching during the last hour, she
suspected Susan would want to touch up her makeup. Amy volunteered to stay
downstairs to keep an eye on things.

Maggie stuck her head inside Susan’s door shortly
before four. “I’m going down now. Ready?” she asked.

“Almost,” Susan called from behind her closed
bathroom door.

“Don’t worry about being downstairs when they
arrive. You can always make a grand entrance.”

“Mom, you’re being ridiculous,” she said as she
opened the door and stepped out wrapped in a towel. “I just wanted to freshen
up.”

“You’ve showered and washed your hair,” Maggie
observed. “That’s a bit more than freshening up. Will you be ready in time for
dinner?”

“Of course I will,” she replied. “Now go
downstairs and let me finish. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

***

Alex, Marc, and Aaron arrived
promptly at four o’clock, with Sam Torres on their heels. They were milling
around the fireplace, Mike taking coats, and John handing out glasses of wine
when Susan descended into the living room. Maggie thought how lovely and
natural her daughter looked; her shiny blond hair cascading over the back of
her slender black dress. She snuck a surreptitious glance at Aaron and was
gratified to see him zeroed in on Susan. Marc caught Maggie’s eye and winked
conspiratorially.

Mike turned to his sister. “Actually, Susan is the
family expert on wine. She goes up to Napa a couple times a year, don’t you?”
Susan nodded and joined in a lively discussion of the merits of domestic wine.

Maggie intercepted John as he tried to slide into
position to watch the football game. “A word, please,” she whispered earnestly
in his ear. “Did you see how she gussied herself up for dinner? That’s because
Aaron is here. This isn’t like her. I want to make sure they have the chance to
get to know each other.”

John nodded absentmindedly, one eye on the
television.

“You can get back to your silly game in a minute,”
Maggie said, gently pulling his face to hers. “I didn’t make place cards, so I
want you to help me make sure that Susan sits with Aaron at dinner. Okay?”

“Don’t you think you should let things take their
course?”

“No, I most certainly don’t. That’s why I’m
putting you in charge.”

Knowing when it was wise to retreat, John shook
his head emphatically. “I’ve got it, loud and clear. If I have to pull a chair
out from under someone, if I have to use an old football tackling move, I’ll
make sure they sit together.” He brushed the top of her head with a kiss. “Now
relax, and enjoy your party. Everything’ll be fine.”

***

John was right. Everything was
better than fine. The food was delicious and her only oversight was leaving the
second pan of rolls in the oven until they resembled hockey pucks. For as
frustratingly ill-conceived a meal as Thanksgiving, where there were far too
many last-minute, labor-intensive dishes on the menu, it had turned out well.
Best of all, Aaron sat next to Susan without any intervention from John or
Maggie.

When the meal ended, everyone helped clear the
table and clean up the kitchen. Even Sophie and Sarah helped, while Roman and
Eve curled up together, snoozing on the hearth rug. They finished in record
time.

Maggie was bringing coffee into the living room
when Amy looked at her watch and reluctantly announced that it was bedtime for
the twins.

“Aw, Mom,” Sarah whined. “Can’t we stay up? We’re
being good.”

Susan broke in, “Do let them, Amy. Let’s all play
a game! What’ve you got, Mom?”

Maggie paused, not sure she had any games at all.
She suddenly remembered the old set of dominos she’d run across during her day
in the attic. “I don’t know exactly where it is—or even if it’s complete—but
there’s a set of dominos in the attic.”

“Fabulous!” Susan leapt up. “I’ve been itching to
get up there all week.” Aaron smiled at her and got to his feet. “You’re a
little overdressed for attic rummaging. How about I go with you? You direct me
and I’ll retrieve them.”

Maggie struggled to stop herself from beaming ear
to ear.

 “Back in a flash,” Susan said as they tore
up the stairs with Sophie and Sarah bringing up the rear.

***

The group downstairs relaxed
comfortably by the fire, sipping coffee and trading observations about the
surprise wedding and plans for the upcoming holidays. Maggie finally put down
her coffee cup and announced that she was going upstairs to check on the domino
seekers. She added, half-kidding, “I hope they didn’t get locked in.”

She made the turn at the landing as Susan and
Aaron were slowly descending the attic stairs in single file carrying a dusty
old trunk between them.

“Mom,” Susan gasped before Maggie could speak.
“You won’t believe what we found up there.”

“Dominos?” Maggie asked lamely.

“No. Gosh. We forgot about those,” she said with a
chagrined sigh. “We found tons of the most glorious antique Christmas decorations.”

Maggie moved to let them pass as Susan said
excitedly, “This is full of ornaments. Wait until you see them.”

Hearing their labored progress, John joined them
on the stairs. “What in the world? Here, let me take this end,” he said to
Susan. She backed away, and Aaron and John muscled the trunk down the remainder
of the stairway. Maggie pounced on it as soon as they set it down, throwing
open the lid with Susan at her side.

Susan was right; nestled in tissue paper were
brightly hued blown-glass ornaments of intricate design. Maggie had never seen
anything like them.

“Didn’t you find these when you were up there,
Mom?”

Maggie could only shake her head.

“There’s tons of this stuff. It was all in the far
corner. Behind the hotel silver. I guess that stopped you in your tracks,”
Susan said, giving her mother a knowing glance.

“Aaron and I decided we’re going out to buy the
biggest Christmas tree in Westbury tomorrow and we’re going to bring all of
this stuff downstairs and decorate Rosemont like it hasn’t been in years. Sophie
and Sarah are coming, too,” she said, smiling at her nieces. “Anybody else up for
this?”

“I’m off tomorrow,” Sam finally answered. “I could
help set up the tree. But I don’t want to intrude on family time.”

“Nonsense,” Maggie and Susan said in unison.
“You’re family,” Maggie smiled at him. “You, too, Alex and Marc. John? Are you
working tomorrow?”

“Half day,” John replied. “I can come over after
that.”

“It’s settled then,” Susan said, beaming at the
others. “We’ll get started early. Let’s gather here at eight thirty.”

Maggie regarded her daughter with admiration; what
an organizer she was.

“Should we bring breakfast?” Alex asked.

“Don’t worry about food; we’ve got enough
leftovers for an army,” Maggie assured him.

“Dad,” Sophie said from the stairway, “we’re going
to bed. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“Good point. See you all tomorrow,” Alex said,
giving Maggie a hug. “Today was wonderful. Thank you.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow and slanted her gaze to
Aaron and Susan, huddled in conversation in the corner.

“Remarkable, actually,” Alex continued. “He’s
normally so shy. Susan’s having quite an effect on him. Who could blame him?”
he said with a smile, then looked to the corner. “Break it up, you two. You can
continue plotting tomorrow. Right now, we need to get out of here, and let the
Martins get to bed.”

Aaron turned reluctantly and followed Alex and
Marc to their car. Mike stretched and turned off the TV. He extended a hand to
Amy and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s see what our girls are up to. Good
night, John,” he said, shaking his hand.

***

Maggie sighed and moved into the
warmth of John’s arms and rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s been a wonderful
day,” she said, her voice dreamlike. “Could you believe that wedding? It really
affected me.”

John nodded.

“Me, too. What a hopeful, courageous thing to make
that commitment at their ages. Makes one think, doesn’t it?” he said, pulling
back to look into her eyes.

He kissed her slowly.

“Big day tomorrow. I’d better go. Will you be all
right here? Need any more help?” he asked, glancing around the room.

“Nope. I’ve got it. I’m not working tomorrow. Just
go home and get a good night’s sleep.”

She turned him toward the door and gently ushered
him out.

Chapter 38

Sophie and Sarah were up early,
excited about the day ahead. It was not yet seven, and Maggie couldn’t hear any
signs of life stirring from Susan’s room. Mike had pledged Maggie a lifetime of
gratitude if she would let them sleep in. She remembered the fatigue of
parenting all too well; she didn’t miss those days. Especially since Paul had
rarely pitched in to help.

Maggie put her fingers to her lips, motioning the
girls to keep quiet. “Let’s have hot chocolate in my bed,” she whispered. “You
two go get yourselves propped up with pillows. I’ll feed Eve and bring a tray
back upstairs with me. We’ll make secret plans for the day.”

They both looked intrigued at the prospect.

“Keep quiet. We don’t want the others to hear,”
she said softly as she and Eve trailed off to the kitchen.

By the time she returned with three steaming mugs
and a bowl heaped with mini-marshmallows, the girls had rounded up a pen and
paper.

“Here,” Sophie said earnestly, thrusting them at
Maggie. “We’d better make a list.”

Maggie smiled. The apple hadn’t fallen far from
the tree. She and Mike were both consummate list makers.

“Okay. That’s what I like to see,” she said,
carefully placing the hot mugs on her nightstand. “Where shall we start?”

When Susan drifted in an hour later, they had made
lists of things to do, things to buy, and assigned names to tasks.

“Very organized,” she said, turning to the twins. “Did
you help Gramma with this?”

They nodded in unison.

“I don’t see your names down here. You’re going to
help, aren’t you?”

Sarah couldn’t contain herself any longer.

“We want to go with you and Aaron to pick out the
tree. See, we wrote our names there. But Gramma made us erase them.”

She shot a resentful look in Maggie’s direction.

“She said that two’s company and three’s a crowd.”

“Whatever that means,” Sophie chimed in. “Besides,
we’d be four, not three.”

She joined her sister in giving Maggie the stink
eye.

Susan laughed. “Of course you can come. Just
promise me that you’ll stay with me; no wandering off.”

“We know,” both girls cried in unison.

“We never wander off,” Sarah said reproachfully.

“Aaron will be here soon; you’d better get ready.
And wake up those lazy parents of yours,” she said with a wink.

“Are you sure you want to take them with you and
Aaron?” Maggie asked as the girls bounded down the hall, calling to their
parents.

“Quit matchmaking, Mom. For heaven’s sake, he’s a
nice guy, but nothing’s going to happen between us. We’re geographically
incompatible.”

Maggie studied her daughter. “You can’t fool me,
young lady. You’ve styled your hair and put on your full makeup. You wouldn’t
do that if you weren’t interested.”

Susan rolled her eyes but didn’t attempt to
contradict her mother. “We’ve all got to get cracking around here. You too,
Mom,” she said, eyeing Maggie’s pajamas and slippers. “People will be here
soon.”

“Okay, Sarge. I’ll be right down. Go figure out
where you’re going to put the tree. I’ll have Sam and Mike move furniture
around, and we’ll bring down the other Christmas decorations from the attic.
When you get back with the tree, we can start decorating.”

“Perfect. We’ll need lights. There weren’t any
that I saw.”

“Even if there were, they’d be too old to use.
I’ll give you money to buy new ones.”

“Will do, but I don’t want your money. Alex told
me last night that he and Marc will buy the tree as a thank-you gift, and I’ll
spring for the lights.”

Maggie smiled. She was unaccustomed to being the
recipient of such thoughtfulness. It felt good.

“We should be back by noon,” Susan said, tapping
her fingertip on her teeth. “With everyone helping, I think we’ll get the tree
up and the inside decorated by suppertime.”

“That’d be incredible. I never thought about
getting this place all decked out,” Maggie said thoughtfully. “Since I’ll be in
California for Christmas, I planned to put a wreath on the front door and leave
it at that.”

“That’s just crazy, Mom. You and Rosemont deserve
better than that,” Susan scolded gently as she turned toward the door.

***

Maggie was setting out bowls of
Greek yogurt, granola, and bananas for breakfast. That, plus coffee and orange
juice, was the best she could muster this morning. The twins were finishing up
their Fruit Loops as Mike and Aaron came through the kitchen door, Eve yapping
at their heels.

“Good morning,” Maggie said. “I didn’t hear the
doorbell.”

“I saw him pull up and let him in. Amy’s still
asleep, and I didn’t want the bell to wake her,” Mike replied.

“Would you like some breakfast?” Maggie asked,
motioning to the counter where everything was laid out.

“Just coffee for me, thanks,” Aaron answered.
“Ready to go?” he asked the girls. They nodded in unison. “Where’s your aunt?”
he asked, scanning the kitchen for Susan.

“Probably upstairs making herself beautiful for
you,” Sophie answered, rolling her eyes.

Maggie cut her off. “Sophie, run upstairs and tell
Susan that Aaron’s here. Sarah, bring me your cereal bowls, then go get your
coats. You’ll need your hats and gloves, too.”

Maggie turned to Aaron and smiled. “We didn’t get
a chance to talk much yesterday. Will you be joining another practice or
starting your own?”

“I’d like to join an established practice. I like
being a doctor, not an office manager. I don’t want to deal with the business
end of it all.”

“John Allen would agree with you on that score.
He’s the vet you met yesterday. He’s had challenges with running the animal
hospital, including an embezzling office manager. Setting up your own practice
is like starting a small business. It takes tremendous time.”

“Alex told me you were a forensic accountant
before you became mayor. You’ve had an interesting career.”

Maggie smiled. “My life has taken some unexpected
turns, that’s for sure,” she replied simply.

Aaron set his coffee cup on the counter. “You
know, ever since Alex’s accident, I’ve been wanting to thank you for taking
such good care of him and Marc. Letting them move in while their house was
being rebuilt after the arson fires, and allowing them to stay on while Alex
recuperated. I was in residency and put in for a leave to come lend a hand, but
Alex assured me it wasn’t necessary. Leaving my residency then would have been
very difficult. I was prepared to come,” he added hastily, “but I’m grateful
that I didn’t have to. Your kindness helped both of us. So thank you,” he
concluded, holding her gaze.

Maggie smiled and patted his arm. “It wasn’t that
big of a deal; I was happy to have them here,” she said.

Just then, Susan burst into the room. She stopped
short, glancing from her mother to Aaron. “I’m sorry. Am I interrupting
something? You two look pretty serious,” she said, starting to back toward the
door.

“Nonsense,” Maggie replied.

“I was just thanking your mother for all she’s done
for Alex and Marc. And me.”

“That’s my mom for you,” Susan said proudly. “We
need to get rolling. The girls are waiting outside, and it’s chilly! Mom,
better put Sam and Mike to work getting this place ready, because we plan to
bring back the biggest Christmas tree in the county.”

***

Aaron and Susan pursued the perfect
tree with relentless determination. Alex had equipped Aaron with a list of four
lots to visit. They combed through each one, with Susan taking pictures and
keeping notes on her phone. True to their word, the twins remained cooperative
and patient, thrilled to be tagging along with their aunt and the man that they
referred to between themselves as “her boyfriend.”

When they all got back into the car after
completing their inspection of likely trees on the fourth lot they had visited,
Susan dug her cell phone out of her purse. “Let’s look through the photos of
the candidates and pick the winner.”

Aaron checked his watch. “Good plan. It’s almost
eleven. We can get the tree, stop at Westbury Hardware on the way home for
lights, and be back to Rosemont by noon.”

Susan leaned close to Aaron and the girls hung
over the seatback as she scrolled through the pictures. “We’ve got the classic
debate. Taller or fuller. Let’s take a vote.”

With a tally of three-to-one for a tree they had
seen at the second lot, they set out. By twelve twenty they were pulling slowly
up the drive to Rosemont with the fourteen-foot spruce tied securely to the top
of Alex’s SUV and one hundred strings of lights in the cargo hold.

“Remember,” Susan turned to Sophie and Sarah in
the backseat, “Gramma doesn’t know about the other lights. She’s only going to
see the twenty boxes of lights for the tree. We’ll be decorating the inside and
your dad, Sam, and John will be outside putting up lights. When it gets dark
we’ll take her outside and surprise her.”

Sophie and Sarah squirmed in excitement. “We
know,” they whispered in unison. “We won’t tell.”

Aaron smiled at Susan. “They look trustworthy to
me,” he said, winking at them. “Let’s get started.”

***

By noon, the peace and orderliness
of Rosemont were a mere memory. Maggie and Amy diligently sorted through all
the boxes Mike and Sam brought down from the attic, laying out ornaments and
decorations on every tabletop and chair.

Amy finally collapsed on the bottom stair and
leaned against the railing. “I’m exhausted.” She pulled out a tissue and blew
her nose loudly.

Maggie abandoned the box she was working on and
joined her daughter-in-law. “Are you feeling all right? Coming down with a cold?”

Amy smiled. “No. Just the dust from all this
stuff. You’ve got some wonderful things here,” she said, gesturing to the chaos
surrounding them.

“I know,” Maggie replied. “More than I’ll ever
use. If there’s anything you’d like, we can box it up and send it to you.”

Amy smiled and shut her eyes. Maggie regarded her
carefully. She wasn’t acting like the dynamo she knew. “Why don’t you go
upstairs and lie down? I can finish here. The others will be back soon. You’ll
lose your chance for a nap if you delay much longer.”

Amy nodded and opened her eyes. “I think I will,
just for a bit. I’ll be down before they get back.”

Maggie watched her slow ascent to the second
floor, making a mental note to share her concerns with Mike.

***

Maggie cleared away the now-empty
packing boxes and headed for the kitchen. She was overwhelmed by the mass of
decorations in the living room that had to be dealt with. Why had she allowed
Susan to open this can of worms? She didn’t feel like hauling the Thanksgiving
leftovers out of the fridge. Instead, she reached for her phone and placed an
order at Tomascino’s for enough pizza to feed the lot of them. With that
accomplished, she summoned Eve and they both headed into the back garden to
enjoy a few moments in the chilly sunshine, away from the musty smell that
clung to everything from the attic.

As Maggie and Eve toured the mulched beds in the
bottom garden, Susan and the twins crept through the front door, hoping that
Maggie was busy elsewhere. Sam and Mike came around the side of the house to
help Aaron unload the tree.

“Holy cow,” Sam said. “This is huge. Looks like it
should be the White House tree.”

“I’m afraid we got carried away,” Aaron
apologized. “We can cut a couple of feet off the bottom.”

“No way. If we can get it through the door, we can
put it by the stairway. The ceiling there is two stories,” Sam insisted. “We
can stand on the stairway to decorate the top.”

“How in the heck are we going to set it up?” Mike
asked.

“Leave that to me,” Sam replied. “I’ve seen them
install the big trees at the mall. The three of us can do this.” He motioned
toward the back of the car.

After twenty minutes of careful maneuvering, the
tree stood majestically in its spot, filling Rosemont with the unmistakable
aroma of Christmas.

***

Rosemont buzzed with activity and
laughter all afternoon. Maggie thought they had far too many lights, but Sam
and Mike managed to get them all strung around the tree in no time. Amy rose
from her nap when the pizza arrived, seemingly restored. Maybe Maggie had been
worried about nothing after all.

John arrived shortly before two o’clock and
disappeared after grabbing a couple slices of cold pizza. Maggie intended to
search him out, but every time she tried to slip away, Susan or Amy asked her
opinion about a decoration or the twins called her to help them hang ornaments
on the tree. She noted that Sam, Aaron, and Mike were also missing in action.
Wasn’t that just like men to leave all the decorating to women? Nobody was
watching football, so she couldn’t imagine where they might be.

As the afternoon shadows grew long and everyone’s
enthusiasm turned to exhaustion, the midday chaos was replaced by the glorious
beauty of Rosemont, her halls decked in splendid abandon. At a quarter to five,
Maggie climbed to the bottom landing and summoned everyone’s attention.

“Okay, everybody. I hereby declare that we are
done! Rosemont looks perfect. We don’t need to put up another thing. Let’s get
this mess cleaned up. Girls, you take the boxes to the garage. Susan, will you
please run the vacuum? Amy can help me in the kitchen. I’m going to run out
front to pick up the mail; I’ll be right back.”

“No!” Susan said, intercepting her mom at the
door. “It’s cold out there and you don’t have your jacket. I’ve got a sweater
on. I’ll go get the mail and bring it to you in the kitchen. It won’t take long
to run the vacuum, and then I’ll come help you guys in the kitchen. I’m
starved, so let’s get some food going.”

 “Fine,” Maggie said, eyeing Susan curiously.