NOT a CREATURE WAS STIRRING

by Christina Freeburn

  “Sorry for losing you a sale,” the older woman smiled at me. “I’ll make it up to you. I’ll buy two of your trees since this officer can carry them. One for me, one for my daughter. There she is.” The woman raised her hand in the air. “Over here, darling girl. Have I got a surprise for you.”

  A pretty blonde woman wearing skinny jeans, a long sleeve top, leather jacket and brown knee-high boots waved using her left arm. The right one was in a sling. The guard perked up when the blonde walked in our direction. He heaved up two trees, one under each arm.

  The older woman beamed and gave me her credit card. “Add in two sets of decorations. I like contemporary, my daughter prefers an old-fashioned Christmas style.”

  I rung up the sale.

  “You handled that well.” Grace draped an arm over my shoulder. “Abraham told me people were yelling and touching him.”

  “An insistent discounter spoke in a very demanding tone and placed a hand on his. He didn’t like it.”

  Abraham hated being touched. He had once explained to me that it was painful to him. It was like a flame getting closer and closer to his skin the longer someone touched him, until it felt like fire was consuming him.

  “I sent him with my friend to unhook our car and tow cable from our RV to attach to yours.” Grace pulled a box plastic storage container out from under the product table and started placing the decals inside. “I’m driving you home. It’s terrible out there.”

  “I know how to drive.” I removed the wine glasses from the shelf, wrapping them in bubble wrap before storing them in their container.

  “In two inches of snow. In an RV.” Grace removed her cell from her back pocket and sent a message.

  Two inches. Already. “I’ll manage.”

  “Now you don’t have to. I’ve been granted permission to leave early, but the others on the organizing team must stay here until the last vendor leaves. Don’t let it be you.”

  My phone pinged. A text from Scotland. Let Grace drive.

  I narrowed my eyes on Grace. “You called my son.”

  “I called your ex-husband and told him to pass my number onto your children. This way they’d know someone was looking out for you.”

  “I can look out for myself.”

  Grace centered a soft look on me. “Oh honey, your kids adore you. They worry about you. Embrace it. It’s a blessing to have children that look out for you.”

  She was right. I was lucky. Some parents had children who turned on them even when they treated their children with love and affection and provided everything they could afford. My children understood the financial limitations I had and never made me feel guilty over it or pitted their father and me against each other. My children were kind and compassionate adults who believed looking after their mom—their family—was just done. No other reason needed. It was cruel to turn down that gift.

  “Thank you, Grace. I appreciate you reaching out to my family and offering your driving services.”

  She laughed and hugged me. “I would’ve asked you outright, but you can be stubborn at times. You cling to your independence too much.”

  “I’ll finish packing up. I can meet you at the RV when I’m done.”

  “There’s not much left for me to do,” Grace said. “I do want to explain the situation to Abraham again. I have my significant other driving Abe home, but this wasn’t the original plan. You know how my son is about change.”

  Abraham didn’t like it. Matter-of-fact, most people didn’t like change though were able to adjust. Abraham, on the other hand, had his whole day, if not world, thrown into chaos and it set him on a mood roller coaster for days. “Your guy can always drive me.”

  “But you don’t know him. I would hate to put you in a situation that was uncomfortable,” Grace said.

  “You trust him with your son. That’s enough of an endorsement for me.”

  Grace crossed her arms. “You’d be perfectly fine with housing a man you don’t know in your house overnight? The accumulation could reach eight inches in some parts of the state.”

  Overnight. I covered my mouth and faked a cough to hide my grimace. I wasn’t so keen on that part. “It’ll be fine.”

  “Merry, I’m not going to argue with you anymore. We’re wasting precious time. I’m driving you. That’s it. You might not have any problem taking a strange man home, but I do. I’m thinking about your reputation, not your comfort. Your ex-husband was just murdered and a detective thinks you’re responsible for it. How would it look for a man to spend the night at your house?”

  “It’ll be easy to explain.” My voice trembled. She was right. It wouldn’t look good and as Brett liked to say, truth was determined by the eyes of the beholder, not by—well the truth.

  Grace looked directly into my eyes. Not saying a word. The twitch of her lips told me she knew I was relenting.

  Santa walked over, placing a large luggage trolley in front of my space. “Abraham asked me to deliver this to you. Says his mom is driving Ebenezer and you home. Have to keep you both safe.”

  Grace grinned at me. “I knew my son would come around.”

  I laughed. That young man would do anything for my guinea pig. Including giving up his mom.

  “I’ll bring the RV out front,” Grace said. “Easier than pushing the cart through the snow.”

  Twelve

  The cold wind penetrated through my winter coat, mittens, and hat. I lifted a corner of the cover from Ebenezer’s cage. He was huddled under a pile of bedding. I stomped my feet, trying to get the circulation going again. What was taking Grace so long? She went to get the RV thirty minutes ago, and I had texted her ten minutes ago that I was waiting outside. Please don’t tell me the dang thing wouldn’t start. Or the hoses had frozen and the RV was still plugged into the utilities and sewage lines.

  “Come on, Grace. We’re freezing.” I sent her a text, asking if everything was all right. Should I walk to you?

  “We’re a Couple of Misfits” played from my phone. Brett. Since he was likely calling me between family conversation time and lunch, I jumped to the point. “Does the document I texted you help or hurt me?”

  “Can’t say until I see it in person,” Brett said. “There’s a chance that the detective will interpret it as you wrote the wrong date to prove the vehicle wasn’t in your possession when Samuel was murdered in it.”

  “The signature. Cassie wrote over her dad’s name.”

  “Or you wrote Cassie’s name over his to prove you didn’t get it from him. You’re in a proverbial he-said-she-said situation. We have no idea what Cassie has been saying, and whatever it was, it has the detective believing you’re the prime suspect.”

  My phone pinged. I pulled it away from my ear and glanced down.

  All is good. Be there soon, Grace responded.

  “My ride will be pulling up soon.”

  “I’m glad you’re letting Grace drive you home.”

  “Thanks a lot for giving her our kids numbers.”

  “I passed on the message to them. Our children are the ones who contacted her. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know. I plan on being in Season’s Greetings tomorrow morning but there’s another case brewing and I might be delayed. Talk to you then.”

  I pocketed my phone and lifted the corner of the blanket and peered at Ebenezer. “Sorry, Ebe, I didn’t think we’d brave the elements for this long.”

  I should’ve stayed in the large foyer of the building. I had wanted to save Grace some time and speed up the loading process so we didn’t tie up the front of the building for so long. Unfortunately, I was bringing home most of the product I crafted. Between the snow and my trip to the police station, my selling time was short.

  There went renovating the RV. I was stuck with the dinette until at least the beginning of the year. I shivered again. This time more from the
having to live with the place where Samuel died than the weather. I was glad Grace was driving me home, or rather keeping me company. It would’ve gotten creepy driving home alone knowing that right behind me was the spot where my ex-husband took his last breath.

  Something akin to dread skittered along my spine, an evil that lurked around me and wanted to invade my bones. Not like the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future at all. Images of Samuel floated in front of my eyes. Stupid Samuel. Ruined everything.

  There was a twinge in my spirit. Shame flickered through me. It wasn’t nice to blame the dead for the way the police conducted their murder investigation. If I thought about it in a practical manner, of course I was a suspect. Who was the most likely to kill someone? The ex-wife and current wife.

  “Stop it,” I scolded myself. “Don’t get morbid. No dredging up Halloween into your head. You’re a Christmas girl.” I started singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The song would occupy my mind for a while and conjure up more pleasant images. Like partridges in pear trees and twelve lords a leaping. Lords that looked very much like Chris Hemsworth. Dressed as Thor.

  This whole weekend was a huge bust. Maybe Samuel had been right, crafting was a nice hobby and a way for some pocket change, not a career. Never take advice from a man who puts money in front of people, Bright’s advice zipped through my head. She was right. Samuel was only concerned about his best interests. How did I know what I was capable of doing if I didn’t try? When I left this world, which I hoped wasn’t for a very long time, I didn’t want to leave behind a list of regrets. It was now or never to try and live my dream.

  A horn bellowed. About time. My RV pulled to stop a few feet from me, making it easier for other cars to get around us.

  “It’s time to head home.” I grabbed the handle of Ebenezer’s cage and shuffle-walked my way to the door. The sidewalks were icing over. I wanted to arrive at my destination without breaking me or Ebenezer.

  The door opened. I stepped inside. Blessed warmth. The temperature was at least thirty-five degrees warmer. “What took so long?” I carried Ebenezer to the couch and strapped the cage in.

  “Had to let this baby warm up first. Your RV likes to wake up slow.”

  “I hope it wasn’t too much trouble unhooking everything. I didn’t even think about doing that this morning.”

  She waved off my concern. “No biggie.”

  “I hope your hands didn’t freeze.”

  “I had on work gloves. It shouldn’t take long to load up, then we can hit the Interstate. Hopefully, the crews are keeping the roads cleared.”

  The snow was accumulating faster than predicted. With the help of some of the organizers, and other vendors, my items were loaded into the RV in record time and we were on the way.

  I settled in the passenger seat, casting an appraising gaze at Ebenezer. He was still under the pile of bedding. “You’ll be toasty warm before you know it.”

  “He’s wearing an amazing fur coat. A little bit of cold won’t harm him. Type your address into my Waze app and we’ll be on the way. I’m looking forward to this little venture.” She beamed at me. “I can’t remember the last time I had a girl’s day. This will be fun.”

  I never thought much about Grace’s day-to-day life. There probably wasn’t much time for her to have a social life, even with Abraham being twenty-four. He still required a lot of care. Abraham’s father ran out on them when he was a toddler, right around the time Grace realized Abraham didn’t see or react to the world like other children. The man went to work one day and never came home. At first, she thought something horrible happened to him until the day the divorce papers arrived in the mail.

  Grace swore it was the best thing for her and Abraham. She moved forward, never giving the man another thought. She never even shared the man’s name, not wanting to give him any power in her life. It was her and Abraham.

  “We’ll turn it into a slumber party.” I took off my gloves and placed my hands near the vent. Warm air flowed around them. My fingers tingled. I stretched them out then curled them back, repeating the process a few times, encouraging blood flow.

  The snow crunched under the wheels. The middle lane had a light dusting of snow while the outside lanes had a couple of inches on it. Semis whizzed past us. I gripped the door handle, making sure it was locked.

  “Want to sing some Christmas songs?” Grace asked.

  “I’d rather not.” I checked my seatbelt. Buckled. I knew she was trying to keep my mind off the snow.

  Grace eased the RV onto the Interstate. “How about we listen to the news for weather updates.”

  “We can see the most accurate weather update by looking at the window.”

  Grace laughed. “That is true.”

  The snow was thicker. Visibility was getting worse, and we still had about an hour to travel. I slumped in the seat. My friend was risking her life for me. She’d be safe at home with her son right now.

  The wipers swiped back and forth in a quick beat, still doing little to increase our visibility. I turned on the defroster and prayed it cleared up the windshield. Would it be best to find a place to hunker down for the night? I opened a browser on my cell and searched for a nearby RV park or a Walmart. You could usually find one of those and most Walmart stores allowed RV parking and some even had places to hook up.

  “It’s going to be okay, Merry.” Grace flicked a gaze in my direction before returning her full attention to the window. “Are you checking Samuel’s Facebook page to see who wanted him dead?”

  “I’m looking for a place to overnight. The snow is getting worse. I think we’re in a full-fledge blizzard.”

  Grace laughed. “Honey, this is a little snow.”

  I gaped at her in an exaggerated manner then pointed out the window. “That’s more than a little snow. We can barely see.”

  “It’s the wind blowing that’s causing that. These are tiny flakes. They’re not even sticking to the wipers. It’ll be safer for us to get home than exit off to one of these smaller towns and find a place to lodge for the night. The exits ramps on some of these are twisty and with the roads being slick, will be hard to navigate. It’s easy to make a mistake and end up in a ditch.”

  I crossed my arms and settled back into the seat. “We should’ve stayed in Morgantown. We could’ve extended our stay by a day.”

  “And then have to deal with frozen water pipes? Not a good option.”

  “Frozen?”

  “Yep. Water can freeze in the lines and do considerable damage.” She let out a dramatic sigh. “Don’t ask me how I know.”

  The last thing I needed was another repair I couldn’t afford. At least the renovation I needed, removing and replacing the dinette, didn’t render the RV unusable while a busted water wipe would garage the vehicle until I earned the funds to pay for it. The expenses for the RV kept adding up, and that was without considering the fact I found the body of my ex-husband in it.

  I clasped my hands together and placed them in my lap, the only way to stop myself from clutching onto the door handle for dear life. Grace was keeping the RV steady, but I was still heading straight for full-fledge panic mode. I drew in a deep breath and slowly released it.

  “How about we talk about the craft show. Get your mind off the drive,” Grace said.

  Good idea. “How were your sales? Mine weren’t so good this year. I had too many distractions during this event. I hope the situation with Samuel didn’t create such a problem I won’t be allowed back next year.”

  “As long as you send your paperwork in on time, you’re fine. You didn’t cause any disruptions for the other vendors,” Grace said. “I did okay even though I had to spend too much time away from my booth.”

  Shame heated my cheeks. Grace’s pottery was amazing, and a Christmas cookie platter was still on my wish list, but without a vendor or helper at the booth,
it was hard to make any sales. “You didn’t have Abraham there to fill in for you because he was at my booth.”

  “That had nothing to do with you.” She smiled at me. “He was enamored with Ebenezer and Raleigh. He bounced back and forth between our booths all day. I think it helped him not being stuck in one place. If he started feeling overwhelmed, he went to the other booth. I have an idea of creating volunteer positions for associate help for those vendors who come alone and don’t have family nearby that can spell them breaks. It would be great for Abraham. He’d be able to work on his social skills.”

  “Won’t that be overwhelming for him?”

  “No, because he’d know that he’d only be there for thirty minutes. I’d make sure his shifts were short unless he was at a booth of a vendor he knows well. Like yours.”

  “He loves being there because of Ebenezer.”

  She grinned. “My other idea is adopting a guinea pig for him. It can be his emotional support animal.”

  “He’d love that.”

  “I just have to make sure the other craft shows don’t mind us bringing an animal.”

  I winced. “Sorry about that. I should’ve asked you beforehand.

  “I’d have let you.”

  “I’m sorry I forgot about promising Abraham a tree. I thought he didn’t want one, or I’d have made sure to set it aside.”

  Grace’s cheeks reddened, and she tightened her grip on the wheel. “That was my fault. Abraham knew I wanted to look at that tree. He overheard me and another organizer discussing a potential vandalizer. A couple of other vendors had called me on their cells to report red drops being discovered on their products, and a deep discount being demanded. I had said we needed pictures of the so-called damages to determine if they were similar in style.”

  Relief rushed through me. The tightness in my shoulders wasn’t from the drive, it was from my imagination. “She was a scammer. Her insistence on buying the tree after I offered one of the perfect trees at the discount now makes sense.”