by Nancy Warren
Two dozen hands went up. “Okay, folks. I appreciate your community spirit. Toni, I'll see you later.” He leaned over and gave her a big smacking kiss on the mouth. He so rarely showed her affection in front of other people that she took a moment before smiling and kissing him back. He leaned in and said in a low voice, “My life is never dull when you three women are around.”
“Are you complaining?”
He chuckled softly. “Not even for a second.” He ran his hand down her back. “By the way, you look hot. I'll call you later.”
As Luke left with the still protesting lawyer and the furious neighbor, as well as the silent handyman, the party suddenly hit that moment when staying would be an anticlimax. There was a flurry of exclamations: “Linda, are you okay?” And, “I think we should get the board together to see if we can get rid of Esther Kilpatrick. We don't want her in our park.”
Mr. Schwartz looked around and said, “And I don't know about you people, but I'm thinking we need to hire a new handyman, too.”
Mr. Beasley kissed Linda on the cheek. “I never had so much fun at a Christmas party in all my life.”
Linda, who was beginning to get her color back, said brightly, “And look on the bright side. You're all entitled to a free makeover. There's me, my daughter Toni, and we've got plenty of wonderful Lady Bianca Associates who would be more than happy to come on over and make sure every lady in this park, and every daughter, sister, cousin, and friend is looking her absolute best for the holidays.”
“I think it would be good for my knitting club to have makeovers,” Mrs. Schwartz suddenly announced. “It would do us all good. You’re a wonderful neighbor, Linda. Don’t ever change.”
When the caterers had packed up and gone, and only Linda, Toni, and Tiffany were left, crashed out on the couch munching leftover shortbread, Toni said, “Mama, that was brilliant catching them all just at that moment. Even Mrs. Schwartz finally cracked. I think we can be doing makeovers and parties nonstop through the end of the year.”
Linda smiled and touched her neck as though her necklace was still there. Her eyes dimmed for a moment before her natural cheerfulness reasserted itself. “I realized that since everybody in Pecan Heights has become so competitive with the Christmas decorations that I should encourage that same spirit with personal appearance. Can you imagine, if every woman in Pecan Heights tried to look prettier than her neighbors? I'll be swimming in diamonds.”
Tiffany nibbled the head off a shortbread snowman. “Are you going to keep going to that Circle of Success, Grandma? Now that the guy turned out to be a crook?”
Linda patted her bare neck once more, as though it was a favorite pet. “I don't know, honey. I was so sure that if I believed in diamonds and really focused on them that they would appear in my life. Maybe I was just fooling myself.”
Toni thought this might be the moment to tell Linda that all her hard work and her confident belief in herself over the past months had, in fact, pushed her sales at a level that she’d won her choice of diamond earrings or a modest diamond ring. “Mama,” she began. She stopped when a soft knock sounded on the patio door.
They all looked at each other.
“Maybe it’s Luke come back,” Linda said.
Toni shook her head. “He'll be interviewing those guys at the station for quite a while. Anyway, I don't think he’d knock.”
“Well, I hope it’s not another partygoer. All the food and drinks have been packed away, and I don't have any more party spirit in me.” Linda rose and went to the door, and when she opened it made a funny sound like a squawk. Then she cried, “Roy!”
Roy?
She and Tiffany stared at each other. Tiffany said, “Really? Grandma’s boyfriend from the cruise? That Roy?”
They waited in suspense, but sure enough, it was Roy from the cruise. He and Linda had met over bingo in the Caribbean.
He blushed when he saw them all. “I'm sorry I'm late for your party. My plane was delayed. I was hoping to surprise you.”
“Oh, Roy, you did surprise me. Did you fly all the way from Omaha? For my little Christmas party?”
He looked a little bashful. “That and I just wanted to see you again.”
There was a flutter of romance in the air, and it was exactly what Linda needed to take her mind off the unfortunate incident of the Christmas party. Toni grabbed Tiffany's hand and said, “We should go.”
“No,” Roy said. “Please don't.”
Linda said, “Let’s all sit down.” She and Roy sat side-by-side on the couch, and he took her hand.
“I was struggling a little in my business. At first, I emailed Linda just because I had enjoyed her company so much on the boat. I thought we could maintain a friendship. Then she started talking to me about these books she was reading on positive thinking and how you can change your reality by changing your thoughts, and I began to see that she was right. When I started implementing some of her ideas, I noticed changes. Well, I don't want to boast, but I got the biggest Christmas bonus I've ever had this year. And I was worried I was going to lose my job altogether. Anyway, I had to come and see you again, Linda.”
“I am so happy all that positive thinking worked for you. I'm not so sure it worked for me.”
He shook his head. “If you start talking negative to me, I'm just going to have to repeat some of those excellent pieces of advice you gave me.”
He blushed deeper, and then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box wrapped in Christmas paper and tied with a gold bow. “Merry Christmas, Linda.”
“Oh, Roy, you shouldn't have got me a present.”
“Honestly, you changed my life. And I wanted to show my appreciation for how special you are.”
Linda looked delighted as she pulled off the bow and tore off the wrapping. Under the wrapping was a jewelry box. “Oh my gosh.” She opened the box and let out a cry of joy. Then she eased out the necklace. It consisted of a delicate gold chain and suspended from the chain was a tiny sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds so the piece resembled a flower.
Roy looked thrilled at her response. “I can't believe that necklace is exactly the right color for your dress,” he said.
Linda laughed shakily. “Would you be kind enough to put it on for me?”
Toni and Tiffany watched as Roy carefully fastened the delicate necklace around Linda's neck.
She jumped up and checked out her reflection in the mirror. “It's perfect.”
Her eyes were shining as she said, “You see, girls, positive thinking really does work. I believed I'd have a diamond necklace for Christmas, and here it is.”
She threw her arms around Roy and hugged him. “You don't know what this means to me. Thank you.”
Toni and Tiffany stood as one. Toni said, “I hope we’ll be seeing more of you, Roy?”
“You sure will. If it's okay with your mama, I thought I’d stay for the holidays.”
Linda touched the necklace the way she’d been touching the much larger one earlier. “We'd be delighted if you joined us for Christmas.”
As they walked out the front door and headed for their car Tiffany said, “Do you think he’s kissing her right now?”
“I don't know. Would it be rude to peek?”
“Yeah, totally rude.”
They both turned and looked back. Through the window they saw Linda wrapped in Roy's arms.
As they got in the car, Tiffany said, “So, this positive thinking thing. Maybe it works after all?”
“I think if we’ve learned anything, it’s that sometimes what you think you want brings something entirely different, but so much better.”
“You know what, Mom?”
“What?”
“I have a positive feeling that we’re going to have a good Christmas this year.”
—The End—
&nb
sp;
