Winnie winced, her wrinkled features twisted with guilt. “I’m so sorry, my dear. I never meant for you to work yourself to the bone. You have already done so much.”
Abby shook her head. “You have nothing to apologize for. I haven’t minded any of it, especially meeting your friends. I’ve enjoyed having a project. You know I like staying busy, and I’ve had great fun decorating your house for the holidays.”
Winnie reached a hand out and Abby squeezed her age-spotted fingers.
“You have been amazing. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“You know it’s been a team effort. All of the Silver Belles have pitched in.”
“But you have done the lion’s share. And you’re not even part of the choir! After this, we will have to make you an unofficial member.”
“Official or unofficial, I still can’t sing.”
Winnie made a dismissive gesture. “Do you want to know a secret? Half the people in the group can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Somehow we make up for it. I’ve always said that in our case, enthusiasm trumps talent any day.”
Abby wasn’t entirely sure she bought that, but then she had never actually heard the Silver Belles.
“I can’t believe we only have three days before the official first night of the tours,” Winnie went on. “I can’t tell if I’m more excited or more nervous.”
Abby knew her emotions definitely fell in the nervous category. She had never done anything like this and likely never would again.
It had been an experience she wouldn’t trade, though. Before she could tell Winnie that, she heard the front door open, obviously by someone familiar with the code since she knew she had locked it.
A moment later, Ethan poked his head in.
“Hi. I followed the light and found you both here.”
Abby felt momentarily stupid. How had she forgotten how good-looking he was, with that dark windswept hair and his deep blue eyes?
“Hi,” she managed, in what she hoped wasn’t a squeak.
“Hello, darling,” Winnie said, lifting her face for Ethan’s kiss on the cheek.
“I’m sorry again to drop in so late. I’ve been in San Francisco until this afternoon. We managed the crisis and all is fine.”
“Oh, good,” Winnie said. “Regardless, you know I’m always glad to see you, day or night.”
“You are looking good. How are you feeling tonight?”
“Good. I haven’t needed the dumb walker all day. The ribs still hurt and having the wrist in a cast is a pain in the patootie, but I’m trying not to let it stop me.”
“No doubt.”
Ethan shifted his attention to Abby. “I see you’ve survived being Winnie’s lackey.”
“Oh, hush,” his grandmother said. “Abby is marvelous. She has made amazing progress since Thanksgiving. The house looks more beautiful than I’ve ever seen it. You should have her give you a tour while you’re here.”
For an instant, he looked alarmed at the suggestion and she wondered if he was remembering the last time they had walked through the house together, when Ethan had almost kissed her on the attic stairs.
She could feel herself blush and hoped he and Winnie didn’t notice. Escape was probably her wisest course of action in this situation.
She cleared her throat. “I’ll leave you two to visit. I have, um, things to do.” She gestured vaguely toward the open doorway of the kitchen.
“Ethan can help you,” Winnie said suddenly.
She froze in the act of scraping back her chair. “That’s totally not necessary. I’ve got everything under control.”
“Don’t be silly,” Winnie admonished. “I know how nervous you’ve been about climbing up the ladder, with your fear of heights. You’ve been putting it off all week. Ethan is the perfect person to help. He’s tall, for one thing. Also, unlike you, he doesn’t suffer from acrophobia. He could help you decorate the higher branches of the tree while you do the lower. That way you wouldn’t have to climb the ladder at all.”
“He came to visit with you, not to decorate that beastly tree.”
“He came to check on me, which he did,” Winnie corrected. “I’m fine, as you can clearly see.”
“Oh, yes. I can see clearly all right,” Ethan said, his tone dry.
What did he mean by that? Abby wondered.
Winnie gave a yawn that looked obviously fake. “The truth is, I’m beat. I thought I could stay up a little later to visit with you, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’m so sorry. I think the best thing for me would be to trot back to my bedroom and let you young people burn the midnight oil without me. You don’t mind helping, do you, darling?”
“Ethan has been traveling,” Abby said a little desperately. “I’m sure decorating a Christmas tree is the last thing he wants to do right now.”
He looked at her and then back at his grandmother. “I don’t mind at all,” he said. “It shouldn’t take us long.”
Even five minutes in his company was too long right now when she had the beginnings of a completely ludicrous crush on the man.
“Shall I help you back to bed?” Abby asked Winnie.
“Oh, no. I’m fine. I’m ready, I only have to take off this robe. Look how smart I am. I didn’t bother to tie it, so I wouldn’t have to struggle to untie it with one hand.”
“You’re a genius,” Ethan said in that same dry tone that only made his grandmother laugh.
“Don’t I know it. Now go take care of your Christmas tree. Ethan, darling, I’ll see you later.”
She hurried out of the room, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since Thanksgiving.
Abby fought down her butterflies and wrangled them into a corner. “You really don’t have to stay. She’ll never know if you drive away and escape into the night.”
“If you’re naive enough to believe that, you obviously don’t know my grandmother. She knows everything.”
Did Winnie guess that Abby was attracted to her grandson? Oh, she hoped not. She had tried not to let any reaction show whenever his name was mentioned. Maybe she hadn’t been as good at concealment as she had hoped.
“You made it clear you don’t want to help with anything to do with Christmas at Holiday House. I’m sure Winnie would understand if you went home. You’ve no doubt had a busy day of work and travel.”
He frowned. “If I leave now, you would have to decorate the entire tree alone. I gather a ladder is involved. And also that you don’t like heights.”
“Both things are true. But I will manage.”
“Have you always been afraid of heights?”
“No,” she admitted. “They never used to bother me until about a few years ago when I treated a teenage girl who was helping her dad hang Christmas lights. She fell off the roof and broke her spine, leaving her paralyzed. For some reason, that triggered something in me. I was her nurse for three weeks and came to really care about her. She had been a dancer, on track to become a professional, and in a second everything changed. Now, every time I climb a ladder or stand on an overlook, I see Sami’s face and start to panic.”
Sympathy flitted across his features. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. That must be tough.”
“I have to get over it. I know I never will if I don’t face my fear.”
“You don’t have to face all your fears tonight, you know,” Ethan said softly. “I want to help.”
She couldn’t figure out a way to refuse. It was his family home, after all.
“All right,” she finally said. “If we hurry, it shouldn’t take long.”
She only hoped she could keep it together that long and not do something insanely stupid like give in to her attraction for the man.
Eight
When he walked into the great room of Holiday House, Ethan gained a small idea of how much work Abby
and the other Silver Belles had been busy doing around the house.
The intricately carved mantel was festooned with fresh evergreen branches, ribbons and glossy red ornaments. Fairy lights twinkled among the green.
A garland of evergreen boughs and more ribbons twisted up the stairs.
A fire glowed in the fireplace, which Winnie had converted a few years earlier to the cleaner-burning gas. This time of year, he missed the snap and pop of a real fire, but this one was much more practical, without the mess and inconvenience of hauling logs and trying to keep it lit.
A huge tree stood in the corner, bare of ornaments. No wonder Abby hadn’t finished that one, he thought. The job looked like it would take days.
Even without the tree decorations, the room looked festive and cheerful.
Ethan always associated good memories with Holiday House at Christmastime, probably because those holidays spent away from his grandparents were usually tense and contentious.
He didn’t have many great memories of the season as his parents were usually at their most punitive and vitriolic as they fought over visitation during the holidays.
If his dad had custody that year, his mother would plan a special vacation anyway, then complain when Rick wouldn’t let Ethan and Lucy go. When they did spend the holidays with their father, it was usually in the company of Rick’s latest girlfriend or the occasional wife, who weren’t always thrilled about having to enjoy Christmas with two children who wanted to be somewhere else.
He remembered two good Christmases from his youth, both of them spent here with Winnie when his parents couldn’t agree on the custody arrangements that year.
Those were the years that taught him Christmas could be about joy and love, a time of peace, reflection, hope.
He found it funny that just standing in the great room right now could bring back many of those same feelings. The tension of travel inconveniences and long meetings seemed to melt away from his shoulders. He wanted to close his eyes and breathe into the peace.
“It looks great in here. Where did you find so much greenery?”
He knew he shouldn’t be so fascinated by the way her eyes lit up, sparkling like the fairy lights. “The pine trees outside. Christopher and I had loads of fun wandering the grounds and clipping a branch here and there where they wouldn’t be noticed.”
“Winnie has plenty of trees. I’m sure you probably can’t even tell anything is missing.”
“That was the idea. I promise, we didn’t want any glaring bald spots on the trees. She had some fake wired garlands she’s used in the past but they had seen better days, with bald patches and needles falling out. We decided a special year at Holiday House required actual greenery.”
“I saw a few lights on the porch when I drove up. Are you decorating the grounds at all?”
“Winnie already had a plan for the outside. She hired a local garden company to take care of that part. They’re supposed to be here all day tomorrow with a crew, and then they’ll take it all down again after the holidays. And, yes, I agree that’s cutting it too close since the event is in three days. But they were overbooked. They couldn’t get here any earlier.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
“I wish I had your confidence,” she said. “It’s going to seem so strange if we don’t have anything more out there than a wreath on the front door.”
“The house is the real draw. You can put a simple candle in every window and let the lines of the house shine through.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re absolutely right. Christmas at Holiday House is about the house and the simple beauty of the season, isn’t it? We don’t need lasers or synchronized light shows. Thank you for the reminder.”
“You’re welcome.” He wanted to glow under her praise and had to yank himself back to the issue at hand.
“Now. What are we up against here?”
She seemed to collect herself and headed toward the tree and the ladder propped against the wall.
“Winnie wants to use the same ornaments and garland on this tree she’s used for the past few years. That’s what’s in all these boxes. As she suggested, if you want to handle the higher branches, I can work down here.”
Ethan had a better idea. He wanted to wrap his arms around Abby, tug her down to the rug in front of the fire and spend the night kissing her while the fire flickered and the tree lights sparkled.
Instead, he rolled up his sleeves, literally, grateful he had changed out of his work suit into something more casual, jeans and an oxford.
“Sounds like a plan.”
“We should probably start with the star and then the garland.”
While he set up the ladder, she dug through boxes until she found a huge gold foil star he remembered always being on the top of this big tree. She handed him that and also a spool of wide, sparkly gold ribbon.
“Are you sure you can climb the ladder with both of those? If not, start with the star and then come back for the garland.”
“I can carry them both.” He tucked the garland spool under his arm and gripped the star, then began to ascend the ladder.
“Be careful,” she said a little breathlessly. Was she worried for him or for the fragile star?
“The star has a clip that should attach it to the top branch, right there on the back.”
While she watched, he fastened it, adjusting it until it appeared right to him.
“Is that straight?”
She stood away from the tree a little and tilted her head. “Perfect. Good job.”
He had only placed a star on a Christmas tree, he hadn’t ascended Mount Everest. Still, he felt a ridiculous sense of accomplishment.
“I think we need a little Christmas music, don’t you?”
She looked surprised but ordered Winnie’s smart speakers that he had set up for her a few years earlier to play a holiday jazz station, and soon a soft, mellow version of “Silent Night” played through the room, adding to the festive mood.
“Okay, what’s next? I have no idea how to hang a garland.”
She looked up at him with an astonished look. “Have you never decorated a Christmas tree before?”
He scanned his memory banks but came up empty. “I can’t say I have. Sorry.”
“Ever?”
“That’s not precisely true. I’ve hung a few ornaments on this one when Winnie persuaded me to help her, but I’ve never done the setup from the beginning, at least as far as I can remember. I might have helped Winnie once or twice when I was a kid and Lucy and I were staying here, but if I did, I don’t remember.”
“What about with your parents when you were growing up?”
“My parents always had housekeeping staff to take care of the holiday decorations. After I left for school and my career, I’ve never bothered with a tree.”
“All you do for a garland is start at the star and wind it around. Yes. Just like that. Maybe not so tightly. Perfect. Just keep going like that until it gets low enough that I can reach.”
He moved lower on the ladder as the garland twisted lower. The lower he went, the wider the tree and the more difficult it became for him to reach the spool as he unrolled it on the far side of the tree, but he managed with some creative tosses and even more skillful catches.
“Why didn’t you ever want your own tree?” Abby asked from below as she waited for him to work his way down the tree.
“Since I’ve been back in Silver Bells, I’m usually working during the holidays. Also, I never really felt the need. The Lancaster corporate offices are connected to our main hotel in town, the Lancaster Silver Bells, and it’s always lavishly decorated for the holidays. My own condo is just next door to the corporate offices in another building we own, which the staff decorates well. And when I’m not at work or at my condo, I am often here with Winnie and can simply enjoy her decorati
ons. It doesn’t make sense to put up my own.”
“I get it. Plenty of people don’t have Christmas trees. If I didn’t have Christopher, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to put up a tree last year.”
She gave a little laugh. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? I didn’t want to go to all the bother of putting up a Christmas tree in my apartment since we are moving right after the holidays. Yet here I am. Since I’ve been here, I think I have decorated at least a dozen Christmas trees now. I consider myself something of an expert.”
He zeroed in on her earlier words as he took another step down on the ladder with the garland. “So why didn’t you want to put up a tree in Phoenix?”
She busied herself with fluffing ribbons he assumed would go on the tree when he was done. “It may seem hard to believe right now, considering I’ve been doing nothing but decorating for a week, but I’m not a big fan of Christmas. It’s so much stress and angst, you know? Especially when you don’t have the perfect family situation.”
“Few people do, right?” He had so many ex-stepparents and stepsiblings, he wasn’t sure he could remember all their names.
“I was just talking about that with Christopher tonight. What does traditional family even mean anymore?”
“A valid question.”
“I had a very loving family, just a little nontraditional, I guess.” She hesitated, met his gaze and then looked away. “My mom was a former drug addict who had lingering health issues throughout my life. HIV, hepatitis. A whole messy chart. She died when I was twelve, but I was fortunate enough to have a great-aunt who raised me after that.”
“That’s good.” He found it an interesting coincidence that they both had been so impacted by older female relatives.
“Yes. Except she was diagnosed with cancer when I was fifteen, unfortunately. Colon. By the time they found it, it had spread everywhere. She died when I was seventeen.”
Oh, no. So then she had no one. Poor Abby. He slowly wound the garland down until he was almost to floor level. “Did you go into foster care?”
Christmas at Holiday House Page 11
