Toronto Collection Volume 3 (Toronto Series #10-13)

by Heather Wardell

  She had. I'd chosen to ignore her. "Did you? I don't remember."

  She narrowed her eyes at me, then they filled with tears. Blinking, she said, "You do too, but I'll let it go this time. Since it's so sweet of you."

  I'd included a full-color brochure of all the things they'd see and do on their trip, and they went through it and showed the pictures to everyone. Murray, who got seasick sitting beside a rough lake, didn't look too closely but the others did and Sydney kept sighing and saying she wished she could afford a trip like that. Cody didn't say anything, and he did look at the pictures, but he didn't seem happy.

  Well, maybe what I still had in the bag would change that.

  Once the brochure showing was complete, I said, "I also thought you guys should have a little spending money for the trip," and pulled out the checks I'd written to each parent for a thousand dollars apiece. Ignoring their protests when they saw them, I took the remaining nine envelopes from the bag and passed them out as I said, "And so the rest of you aren't too devastated by their absences, I wanted to give you all a little something too."

  Writing the checks for my parents had felt uncomfortably like I was trying to pay them for services rendered, but they would need cash for the trip so I'd gotten over my awkwardness. I didn't have the same justification for my siblings, so instead I'd thought about each of them and what they liked and bought them an appropriate thousand-dollar gift certificate.

  Natalie's was for an online clothing store I knew she loved, Tuesday's for Amazon.com where she could either splurge on books or be practical, and Cody's for a music store for accessories for his guitar. I'd wanted to get different things for Justin and Luke since I knew the twin thing got tiresome but they both loved sports so much that I'd hooked them both up with money at the Nike store.

  I didn't forget their spouses either, since it seemed wrong to leave them out. Sydney had another thousand dollars to spend on yarn, Luke's husband Vince could buy himself some additional scarily expensive saltwater fish and supplies for the aquarium he adored, and Justin's wife Ella would finally be able to get the expensive mixer and blender I knew she'd been eyeballing at the kitchen supply store. Murray, the one who'd started me on my love of bonsai trees, got a gift certificate to the same online store where he'd bought my pot and the swing.

  They all opened their envelopes at the same time and they all spoke at once too. Amid the gratitude, though, I heard Cody mutter, "No cash?" in a shocked voice.

  I turned to him, startled.

  His neck flushed red and he shot a quick look at Sydney, whose expression held nothing but confused innocence. Then he snapped his chin up and said, "What?"

  "Nothing." I couldn't challenge him on it, but it hurt. I'd thought I was doing a good thing, and a less insulting thing than simply throwing money at them. It hadn't been easy for me to give up that much cash, and while I didn't expect them to kiss my feet a little gratitude would have been nice.

  I didn't get any from him, as he turned away without another word, but Sydney said, "Ooh, I'll be able to get so much yarn!" and her happiness took away some of the sting of Cody's response.

  Tuesday nudged me, and when I looked at her she gave me a wry smile. "You're a sneaky one, aren't you?"

  I smiled back, knowing she meant that she wouldn't be able to return this gift as easily as she'd returned my first check. "Whatever do you mean? I figured there'd be something you'd want at Amazon."

  Her smile turned less wry. "For sure. And it's very sweet of you. Thanks so much."

  "You're welcome," I said to her and the others who'd echoed her words. "Oh, and on New Year's Eve I'm throwing a party. I rented out the coffee shop down the street from my place. You know, the really cute comfy one? It'll be open until two in the morning, with champagne and pizza and whatever else we want."

  Sydney said, "I don't think you can have champagne at a coffee shop," blinking innocently at me. To Cody, she added, "Can you?"

  He shook his head, still looking defensive and awkward.

  "Actually, I had my lawyer look into it once I had the idea, and you can if you apply for a license and don't charge for admission. So..." I shrugged. "That's what I'm doing. Show up any time if you'd like."

  "Free pizza and champagne?" Dad grinned at me. "I like your style, rich girl."

  I laughed. "I didn't want it to be all pretentious. Caviar and so on."

  Vince nodded. "Sounds way better your way." He looked at Luke. "We in?"

  "For sure." My brother smiled at me. "Can we bring a few friends?"

  "Define 'few'. I remember your wedding."

  He laughed. "You don't think two hundred people would fit in the coffee shop?"

  "Fifty max, according to the license. And I've already got..." I counted on my fingers. "John and Zack and Claudia and Terrence and three other friends. So seven. Eight, with me."

  "And we'll come," Dad said. "Unless we'll cramp your style."

  I laughed. "I have no style. So go for it."

  "And then we'll take off for our cruise." Mom grinned at me, her eyes dancing. "You're the best daughter ever."

  As I knew she expected, Tuesday and Natalie protested this, but neither of them really seemed upset.

  Cody didn't look as upset as he had before, and I was glad. Why force myself to give away money if it only drove a wedge between us?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I hoped Boxing Day, which I always spent with John and Zack, would involve less stress, but at first it didn't look likely.

  Right after I arrived at their apartment, Zack said with a cheeky grin that we should go online so I could buy him a few things from the Boxing Day sales.

  Before I could speak, John shut him down with a fierceness that suggested they'd already talked about how Zack should make no such comments to me. "It's not your money, Zack, it's hers. You know you have to work hard for what you get, and you will not hound Angela for anything."

  Zack hung his head for the briefest of moments then rallied. "She didn't work hard for it. Just bought a ticket. So how come she can get lucky and I can't?"

  Hard to argue with that logic.

  John stood silent for a second, clearly thinking as fast as he could, then said, "It doesn't matter how she got it. That's not the point. The point is that it's not yours and we won't take advantage of our friend."

  Zack took a breath, clearly to keep arguing. So our Christmas celebration wouldn't be ruined, I said, "Okay, I didn't work hard, but I did buy a ticket every week. I've been doing it for years. So I was persistent and I didn't give up. In that way, I did work for it."

  I saw Zack's eyes light up when I mentioned being persistent, so I quickly added, "But your dad's right, it's not cool to bug me for it. And if he doesn't want us shopping then we won't. Right?"

  He nodded, looking embarrassed. An awkward silence fell for a moment, then he said, "Hey, can we eat soon? Your mom makes good turkey."

  I handed over the food Mom had sent with me, which would be more than enough to feed the three of us. "Here, go heat it up." I glanced at John. "Okay?"

  "I'm hungry too, so sure," he said, and once Zack was in the kitchen he added, "Thanks. Don't want him being like that."

  "I know," I said, and wondered how he'd react when I presented their joint Christmas present.

  I didn't find out until after we'd finished every last crumb of Mom's amazing gingerbread cookies and John and I were sipping coffee while Zack sucked down a frightening amount of eggnog. He burped, earning himself a swat from his dad, then said, "Excuse me. Awesome food. Present time?"

  "We have one for Angela," John said, "but you're not getting one from her and neither am I."

  Zack looked horrified, and John gestured to the game system. "Forgotten this already? You agreed it'd be your present for years to come."

  I didn't know whether Zack had forgotten, but I had. That first purchase, the day I'd won the money, now seemed so long ago, and I'd figured out a present for the two of them without even consider
ing it. The thought crossed my mind that I could have gotten away with spending less on them than I did, but I pushed it away, shocked with myself. With all that I had, how could I possibly justify cheaping out on my friends?

  "And since I got to do the Edgewalk, there's no present for me either." He turned to me. "Right?"

  I had remembered that, but John needed to be included for Zack's present to work. "Um..."

  Zack whooped and John said, "You didn't."

  I grimaced. "I kind of did."

  He took a breath to protest but before he could I said, "Look, I know. It's just that I really like you guys, and you've done such a good job taking care of my place and my trees when I went away for work, and..." I licked my lips, not sure how to say the last part because it mattered so much to me.

  John frowned. "And what?"

  Zack, no doubt glad his dad was off the 'no-present' theme, said, "Yeah, and what?"

  "It's mushy," I admitted. "You guys hate that, I know."

  John chuckled. "We can take it this once. We know how you are."

  "Well, and that's kind of my point. Almost everybody's treating me differently because of the money. Some people aren't happy with whatever I give them and that makes things awkward between us, and some people dance around and insist they can't take any even though I know they really want me to give it to them, and that makes things even more awkward. You guys are just... you. I like it."

  My eyes met John's. He gave me a small smile, then shook his head. "How can I say no after that?"

  I shrugged one shoulder, and his smile widened. "I can't. You're a monster, Angela." He ruffled Zack's hair. "As bad as this one."

  "Hey, now, no insulting me at Christmas," I said, pretending to be offended.

  Zack, naturally, then pretended to be offended about that.

  Once we were all finished being offended, Zack said, "Can we give her the present now, Dad?"

  "Sure."

  Zack brought over a large wrapped box and set it on the floor at my feet. "I hope you like it. We weren't sure what to get you."

  Indeed. Kind of hard to buy for someone who could buy herself anything she wanted.

  I opened the box, after fighting through the tons of tape Zack cheerfully admitted he'd used to secure the paper, and found a sleek wooden rack. It looked familiar. I took a quick glance at the one holding Zack's games then said to John, "Is this... did you make me one?"

  He nodded, smiling. "With Zack's... help, let's call it."

  I laughed, unable to imagine how Zack's crazy energy would be any help in carefully fitting together sheets of thin wood. "Well, it's gorgeous. My games are in my old crummy shelf, but they'll move over tonight."

  "Do you like it painted black? Dad said we shouldn't but I wanted to."

  I did actually prefer the natural wood tone of the original shelf, but Zack was so excited I couldn't say anything but, "I love it." Which wasn't a lie. I knew the first shelf had taken hours to build, and John using his scant free time to make a gift for me made this rack worth more than anything I could possibly buy. "Thank you both. I know this took ages. I really do love it."

  They both smiled, and John said, "It didn't take all that long."

  Zack turned to him in surprise. "You nuts? It took us forever. And then I dropped the hammer on the top piece and it collapsed and we had to--"

  "Shut your yap, boy." John shook his head. "Have you never heard of being polite?"

  "Mom mentioned it once," he said, unconcerned.

  John and I exchanged a "kids!" look before Zack said, "So, um...."

  Smiling at his attempt to get his gift without being rude, I said, "Well, what I got you is nothing as nice as this, I'm afraid." I brushed my fingers over the perfectly smooth corner of the shelf. "But I did think a lot about it, and I hope you guys like it."

  John raised an eyebrow at my phrasing, but watched in silence as Zack tore open the big box I'd wrapped and pulled out the paperwork inside.

  "Cool!" Zack looked to me and pointed at the first page. "Is this really what it is?"

  I laughed. "Of course. I wouldn't fake something like that."

  "A weekend at Blue Mountain," Zack read out loud. "With meals and ski rentals and lift tickets and a hotel room."

  A suite, actually, so they wouldn't have to share a bedroom, but I had been vague on the paper I'd written up in the hopes that John wouldn't immediately shoot down the deal.

  One glance at him told me he had his gun ready to go. Before he could speak, I said, "I know you both love to ski and you don't get to go very often so I thought this would be good for you. And I'll watch your place while you're gone."

  "Wicked. Thanks so much."

  "You're welcome," I said, smiling at Zack.

  He smiled back, then we both turned to John.

  He rubbed his hand over his mouth. "I'm not sure about this. You've already spent so much on us, and now this too?"

  Part of me wanted to remind him that what I'd spent was pocket change compared to what I had, but I knew that wouldn't help and it wasn't the point anyhow. "But look at the time you guys spent making the rack for me. It might not have cost as much, but you put in so much more effort." I was right, but it made me sad to realize it. I'd gone to a 'throwing money at everything' solution for all of my presents, where in the past I'd often made things or spent ages shopping thrift stores and sales for the perfect gift. I hadn't wanted the money to change me but I couldn't deny that it had.

  John nodded slowly. "We did work hard."

  "We worked super hard," Zack said quickly. "And you even worked on it when I was at school sometimes."

  I remembered the time I'd asked to come up and John had instead said he'd come down to see me. I hadn't thought anything of it then but now I knew he'd probably had the pieces of my gift strewn around the living room. "See, that means so much to me, that you would use your free time to make something for me. If I could think of something to make for you I'd do it, but I don't think you really want a bonsai of your very own."

  John gave me a small smile. Feeling like I was making progress, I said, "So I did this instead, and it would really make me happy for you two to go and have a great time."

  He glanced at the paperwork. "Is the date set?"

  I shook my head. "I figured you should decide what weekend you wanted to go. I can finalize the booking when you know."

  After studying the paperwork for a few more seconds, he sighed. "Near the end of January, maybe?"

  Zack cheered, but I felt sick at the resignation on John's face. "Hey, Zack?" I fished in my pocket for my keys. "Could you scoot downstairs to get my laptop? I have the place bookmarked."

  He took the keys from me. "For sure. Can I see if you have any new games while I'm down there?"

  "I do, actually, so see if you can pick 'em out."

  Zack took off, and I turned to John as the door closed behind him. "I'm sorry. I made you uncomfortable, didn't I?"

  He leaned against the back of his ratty old couch. "Yeah."

  I took a breath to apologize further but he cut me off. "But I think I need to get over it. You're rich now, and that's not going to change. I don't even want it to change, because I honestly am happy for you. I have to remember that a thousand bucks for you is like..." He grimaced. "I was going to say ten for me, but it's more like ten cents. Right?"

  "I don't know," I said, but had to add, "But it's not much." The urge to flat-out offer him whatever he needed to pay off his debt hit me again, but I forced it back. He might be working on getting his head around the ski weekend but he was nowhere near ready to have his debt repaid. "John, look. I like you guys and I want you to have fun. But if it really bothers you, I'll tell Zack I changed my mind."

  He sat up straight. "You'd do that?"

  "Of course," I said, meaning it but hoping he wouldn't make me back out. "I want you both to have fun, and if you can't then... well..." I shrugged. "Then there's no point."

  John looked down at the paperwork. "I'm
an ass."

  "What? No, you're--"

  "This is really nice of you and I'm wrecking it, for you and for Zack. It's just so hard for me to take the money."

  "I know," I said softly, my heart twinging at the emotion in his voice. "And it makes you one of my favorite people."

  He raised his head and we smiled at each other.

  Zack burst in then, clutching my laptop in one hand and two games in the other. "You got Stellar Commander! Can Dad and I play while you book the trip?"

  I raised my eyebrows at John.

  He smiled, looking far more relaxed. "Sounds good."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  "Happy birthday!"

  Sydney smiled at me and held out her arms for the gift I carried. "Aw, you didn't have to get me anything. We just had Christmas, after all."

  Yes, only three days ago. I could understand that someone born December 28th wouldn't want to have her birthday and Christmas presents combined year after year, and we hadn't done that to her in the seven years she and Cody had been together, but I did wish we didn't have to trek out to their house immediately after Christmas either. Though I knew I couldn't be, I felt like I was still full from Christmas at my parents and then at John's.

  And as for not having to get her anything, then why had she sent me her Christmas and birthday wish lists in separate emails with not a single item or store on both lists?

  For her present I had spent another hundred dollars at the online yarn store that topped her birthday request email, again only picking things she'd listed, but after how she'd seemed somewhat unimpressed with her Christmas present I had wondered whether yarn was good enough for her birthday either. But the feeling that she had her hand out for money bothered me too, especially when I contrasted it with John's attitude, and so I'd decided to stick with the yarn.

  I'd been the last one to arrive, and so Cody now gathered their friends and both sides of the family in the living room to watch Sydney open her presents. As she tore into them, I thought about the 'what's a grand worth to you?' discussion I'd had with John. One hundred dollars, objectively, was a fine amount for a birthday present, the same amount my parents had spent on the beautiful cashmere cardigan they'd bought her, but was it like one cent compared to what I had? And if so, was that a problem?