The Trouble with Christmas

by Kaira Rouda

  “I can’t,” Lily finally made a move to get out of the comfy bed so she could face the day and the rest of her life. “I have to work. It’s December, the restaurant is crazy busy.”

  “I told Alfredo you needed time off,” Avery said, very sure of herself—like always. “And you do. If you want it, he’ll give you your job back when you return. I even helped line up a temporary pastry chef. It’s your choice about whether you return after the holidays. I’d rather have you start your own business,” Avery said, like it was the most natural thing in the world to arrange her friend’s life.

  Always so willing to help, Lily thought wryly. To fix her life. She knew she had to stand on her own, but Lily had to admit it felt good to be taken care of after such a blow.

  “You’re incredible. You really are. Thank you, Aves,” Lily said, her heart lightened a little bit at the thought of a trip to Indigo Island.

  The remote Sea Island was like a second home to her. She’d even thought it would be fun to open her bakery there, but Bob had laughed off that idea as unreasonable.

  “So let’s get started. We won’t return until after New Year’s. A whole new year and a new start when we get back.”

  Lily looked down at the diamond ring sparkling on her finger and swallowed a sob. She wasn’t quite ready to take it off. And where would she keep it safe, anyway? She took a deep breath and stared out at the grey day. Another new start.

  Chapter Two

  LILY

  ‡

  She finished zipping her suitcase at the same moment the doorbell rang.

  “You better be ready, we’re all waiting!” Avery yelled through the door.

  Lily smiled. What would she do without her best friend? I’m thirty years old, suddenly single and adrift. She opened the door and Avery burst inside. My best friend is my only constant.

  “Wipe that frown off your gorgeous face, immediately,” Avery said pulling her into a bear hug.

  Avery wore a light blue cashmere sweater, khaki jeans, and ankle boots. She looked chic and ready for an island adventure. Lily looked down at her own outfit – black turtleneck, black jeans, black boots – and sighed. She looked as gloomy as she felt.

  “I hope you’re ready because the Putnams wait for no one, as you know!”

  “I’m all set, but are you sure Sergio is okay with this?” Lily said, imagining her boss and all of his Italian temper boiling over at her departure. She needed her job, especially now.

  “Yes, I’m positive. It’s all worked out,” Avery said, with her breezy confidence.

  “Okay, I have no idea how you did it, but if Alfredo’s can manage without me during the holiday rush, well, they might decide they can manage without me forever.”

  “Impossible,” Avery said and grabbed Lily’s suitcase as she pulled her toward the front door. “They’re hosting a guest pastry chef from Paris, a guy who just happens to have always wanted to visit America. He’s a friend, from when I studied abroad. It worked out perfectly. Under the table, of course.”

  “You’re amazing,” Lily said, and pulled her apartment door behind her tightly. “Thank you.”

  “Anything for my best friend, Lils,” Avery said and led her down the walkway to the white limo, with the Putnam orange P emblazed on the door, waiting at the curb. The driver hopped out and helped them inside and then took care of Lily’s suitcase.

  “It’s been forever, John, how are you?” Lily asked.

  “Great, same as always, Miss Lily. It’s good to see you,” John said. “To the airport, then, Miss Avery?”

  “Yes, please,” Avery said, then turned to Lily. “I’m so excited. This will be like Christmases during high school when you were always with us.”

  Lily wished she could share Avery’s excitement, but she felt empty. It wasn’t at all the same, Avery was married and Lily was supposed to be engaged. She forced a smile since she didn’t want to bring everyone down this holiday. “Your family has always been so kind to me.”

  Avery smiled, accepting Lily, as always, just the way she was. The limo pulled into the private airplane section of the airport and up to the Putnams’ white helicopter, sporting the orange script Putnam P on the side. Seeing the copter, Lily did feel a small burst of excitement.

  “See, you’re smiling, Lils,” Avery said as they climb out onto the tarmac. Mrs. Putnam emerged from another car and the three women walked to the helicopter. “My dad is coming over this afternoon. It’s a girls’ flight now.”

  “Hello, Avery. Lily.” Evalyn kissed both girls on the cheek. She smoothed her sleek gray cashmere dress down her slim body. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

  And at her command, everyone strapped in, and the helicopter took flight. As they neared the island, Lily felt her shoulders begin to relax. She had been visiting Indigo Island with the Putnams for years, but she never realized until today just how much the island calmed her. She took a deep breath and looked over at Avery, who was smiling out the window.

  Lily remembered the December of her freshman year in high school when her dad had packed his bags and said goodbye, telling her he’d found his soul mate and was moving to Chicago to be with her. “But what about me and mom?” Lily had asked, too stunned to be able to comprehend that he really intended to leave them forever.

  “I’ll always love you, Lily, but I need to live a genuine life,” her dad had said, patting her on the head like a dog. And then he’d left. Lily had barely seen him since. Her mom had fallen apart, unable to pull herself out of the alcoholism his sudden exit triggered after their twenty-two year marriage.

  And now more than fifteen Decembers later, another man has abruptly left, breaking his promise to her. She was cursed. A tear worked its way down her cheek before she could stop it.

  “Hey, no more tears. We’re about to land at the most magical island of healing ever,” Avery said patting Lily’s hand.

  Lily smiled.

  “You get your own room now! I have to share with Mark,” Avery joked as they hurried to the waiting golf cart. Lily smiled at the things the Putnams took for granted. The wealth, the happiness, the golf carts that matched their helicopters, and their private jets. But even as much as Avery took all the symbols of her wealth for granted, she was a true and wonderful friend. The best friend Lily could hope for.

  Evalyn Putnam walked ahead of the younger women, up the steps to the front door of the Putnam Plantation, a replica of an antebellum Southern plantation that formerly occupied just this spot on Indigo Island. Every time Lily visited, she imagined what it must have been like here before air conditioning and running water, before all the comforts she took for granted. As Evalyn reached the wrap-around porch, she smiled and said, “It’s so good to be here, isn’t it? Take a deep breath, girls. Ahhh.”

  Lily smiled, trying to shake off her negative thoughts so she’d be a better guest. Avery rushed past her mom up the stairs to the wide front porch. A huge wreath made from large branches of local pine trees decorated the front door. Garland had been wrapped around the banister of the long porch. White twinkle lights have been threaded through the branches, held in place by cheerful red ribbon. The front porch lights were decorated with the same bold red ribbons, standing out against the white wood of the home. A fresh evergreen wreath adorned every window, held in place by a thick red velvet ribbon. Everything was, as always, perfect.

  “Well, do you girls feel the chill in the air?” Evalyn asked as her housekeeper pulled open the front door. “Hope you have a fire going, Millie.”

  “Yes, in the library and in the family room, Ms. Putnam. Welcome home,” Millie said, stepping out of the way.

  “Oh, Mom, who decorated the tree?” Avery asked in a voice that made her sound as if she were a small child.

  “Millie handled it, since I wasn’t sure who would be here when and I wanted the tree up when I arrived. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

  The tree was massive, easily fifteen feet tall, towering over the Putnams’ grand foyer. The entire
room was filled with the smell of fresh pine. The tree was decorated with white lights, and the only accent color was red. Huge silver and white ornaments glistened and danced under the light from the tree and the large crystal chandelier was suspended just above the shining, silver star topping the tree. The scale of everything in the room reminded Lily of a grand hotel lobby. And this was only one of the Putnam’s homes.

  Behind the tree, the bannister of the circular stairway that led up to the second floor was decorated, like the outside deck, with garland, white lights and red ribbon.

  “It’s gorgeous,” Lily said to Evalyn.

  Avery had lost interest in the tree and had walked into the library to the right of the foyer.

  “Avery is making sure I didn’t decorate the library tree,” Evalyn said to Lily with a knowing smile. “I didn’t, of course. I’ll leave that one to you girls.”

  Avery walked back to where Evalyn and Lily stood admiring the tree. She kissed her mother on the cheek. “Thanks mom. I was worried you’d let someone else decorate the family tree.”

  “You know I wouldn’t, dear,” Evalyn said. “Lily, you are in the blue room at the end of the hall. Perhaps you’d like to unpack. Lunch will be served in about an hour, in the kitchen since it’s just the three of us.”

  “Thank you, both, so much. I’m so happy to be here,” Lily said and realized it was true.

  She followed Avery up the grand staircase, grateful her friend had realized that if Lily had been left alone to dwell on her heartbreak, she would have felt far worse.

  “James will be here this afternoon,” Avery said as they reached the top of the stairs. “I’m surprised. Usually he doesn’t come play family until the last minute. He’s almost as bad as Blake used to be.”

  “Oh great. When do Mark and Denton and Blake get into town?” Lily followed Avery into her bedroom.

  Avery’s room faced the ocean and had been redone since Lily had last visited. Instead of the two queen beds, there now was a king bed covered with an impossibly fluffy white comforter. The floors, as in all the bedrooms, were hardwood, softened by thick white wool rugs. Two overstuffed white chairs framed the window and the sparkling ocean view.

  “This room is gorgeous,” Lily said.

  The bedside tables were each decorated with matching three-foot tall Christmas trees, with shiny red ball ornaments—the only color in the room. A fresh pine wreath tied with a bright red velvet bow hung from the top of the mirror over the long mahogany dresser.

  Avery walked into the passageway that separated the room from the full bath and slid open the mirrored closet doors, inspecting the clothes hanging inside.

  “It’s always so much fun to see what I left here. Sometimes I leave things here on purpose, just so something will seem new and fresh. Like this sweater—oh, and these sweat pants. I love these,” she said, pulling out a pair of gray sweats and hugging them tight. “Mark doesn’t like me in sweats so I’ll have to wear them all day today.”

  The staff had unpacked Avery’s suitcases and her toiletries were assembled on the white marble countertop in the large bathroom. Avery pulled off her jeans and pulled on her sweats. “That’s better,” she said. “Let’s go get you settled and into some sweats. We have a tree to decorate!”

  Chapter Three

  COLE

  ‡

  Cole stanton thought the chill in the air felt great as he stretched for his morning jog. Compared to the summer months when he’d been sure he’d given himself heat stroke a couple of times, this was the perfect weather for a run. Since he’d moved here a few months ago to start a new life, Cole was now in the best shape of his life, as long as no one looked too closely at his hands, covered with cuts and blisters, and the hair on his right arm had been singed off as well as his eyebrows in a freak flash over fire two days ago. If Sally Ann hadn’t been there with a fire extinguisher, the entire restaurant would have been consumed in flames.

  He ran along the flat, firm sand at the edge of the ocean, enjoying the views over to Hilton Head, and along the south to the tip of the island, a development called Bloody Point after the notorious battles that had taken place centuries before. In the far distance, he could see Tybee Island, another Sea Island that, like Hilton Head, was connected to the mainland by a bridge ages ago.

  What a difference a bridge would make for the restaurant. He stopped at a tangled pile of driftwood that blocked the rest of the beach. A bridge would bring in more diners, which the restaurant desperately needed, but it would also ruin the seclusion and peace of the island, a place his grandmother introduced him to when he was a child. He needed to find an answer to the dwindling profits. As he jogged back home, his mood dark, not improved by the quick five-mile run. For the first time in his life, Cole had failed. His embarrassment still rankled. As the new owner of Marshside Mama’s restaurant, he’d overpromised and under delivered on his first major holiday, Thanksgiving. What had he been thinking? He didn’t know the restaurant industry, nor did he know the island that well, but he had jumped in anyway, investing in Sally Ann’s Marshside Mama’s with a lot of ideas fueled by arrogance and enthusiasm and not a lot of knowledge or foresight.

  What the hell had happened to his brain? He’d been determined to improve people’s lives, not destroy them. His jaw hurt because he’s been clenching it so often, but as he ran past the Putnam Plantation, he had a whole different hurt. Christmas had arrived. The porch glowed with white lights, wrapped in garland and cheery red ribbon bows. Christmas. The trouble with Christmas? It was a family holiday, but his family was far away. His parents had begged him to come home to New England for the holidays but he couldn’t leave Sally Ann with the mess he had created. So he’d promised his mom he’d make it next year. She hadn’t been happy, and he felt even worse.

  Cole imagined his family’s home in Lincoln, elaborately decorated for Christmas with colorful lights, a tree filled with the handmade ornaments Cole and his brother had made through elementary school. His mom’s spiced apple cider always simmered on the stove, filling the house with the scents of family and the holidays. He imagined the snow was already blanketing the ground, and his mom would have a roaring fire in the fireplace. And he was here. Alone.

  *

  He shook his head and pushed the sadness away. He’d chosen to change, to move far away and start over. He decided that after the lunch rush, he’d head to the General Store to find a few Christmas decorations. That would get him in the spirit.

  *

  LILY

  After lunch, and decorating the library tree together—with Avery explaining the meaning and significance of almost every ornament they unwrapped—Lily suggested they bake Christmas cookies. It was the least she could do to thank the Putnams for their hospitality.

  A quick survey of the kitchen pantry revealed all of the ingredients she needed, except sprinkles.

  “We can’t have Christmas cookies without sprinkles,” Avery announced.

  “Sure we can,” Lily said. “We can make gingerbread boys and girls, even a gingerbread house. That would be fun.”

  “I need sprinkles, and gumdrops, and those shiny round metal thingamabobs, otherwise, it’s just not the same,” Avery said. “They’ll have some at the General Store. If not, we’ll go beg for some from the inn. James and dad own it now somehow, did I tell you that?”

  “Something about a sex scandal with the general manager.”

  “I don’t think it was that lurid,” Avery laughed. “But two employees there, a couple, are now managing it, and Dad and James agreed to buy it from the corporation that owned it so they could keep it true to the island and its history. I guess it has been going well because I haven’t heard James complain at all about it,” Avery said. “Speaking of James,” she said with studied casualness, which made Lily’s ears perk up. “Do you still think he’s cute?”

  “How about I go round up the decorating supplies?” Lily said, ignoring Avery’s question. “I know your mom wanted your help with
the guest list for a dinner or something.”

  “You’re right, she did ask,” Avery said. “You still think James is cute, don’t you?”

  Lily shook her head and laughed. “Your matchmaking skills are not your best attribute and neither is subtlety, but yes, James is cute.” She put air quotes around the word. “All your brothers are super cute but so not going to happen.”

  “I know,” Avery sighed. “But I still have this dream of having you as a sister.”

  “I can be your sister without having to take on your brother,” Lilly said. “My fiancé just dumped me. Give me some recovery time.”

  Lily was surprised that she could even joke about Bob. The island really was magic, but the tears were never far away, and looking for cookie sprinkles would be a welcome distraction.

  Avery sighed and smiled. “I know. Ignore me. Take the golf cart out front. Charge whatever you find to our bill.”

  Lily was happy to escape. She didn’t bother to change out of her sweats and instead hopped into the golf cart and drove to the General Store. The drive led her along the edge of the forest, by the golf course and past the large Melrose Inn, another replica of an original plantation, but now it was a successful resort and owned by the Putnams. The inn had been trimmed in red and white lights and huge concrete urns were filled with red poinsettias lining the porch and entrance.

  From some deep recess of her mind, Lily remembered her ninth grade project about the “painted leaf” flowers, named after Charlestonian Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first ambassador to Mexico, who in 1828 carried home clippings of the plant to the Lowcountry. Her project partner had been Avery, of course.

  Lily laughed and smiled at the blessing of long-time friendship, memories to last a lifetime. Lily pulled the cart up to the front of the General Store, a bright blue wooden cottage with butter yellow shutters. She hurried up the ramp to the entrance. Just as she pushed the door, a man pulled on it to come out and Lily lost her balance, tumbling into him. Strong arms steadied her and Lily looked into the face of the most handsome man she had ever seen. He smiled.