by Sharon Sala
When noon came and went and she still wasn’t home, he told himself it didn’t matter. She was a grown woman and not his responsibility.
***
LilyAnn’s arms were full of sacks and packages as she made her way back to the mall parking lot. It was almost 2:00 p.m. Her feet hurt from walking, but she felt better than she had in years. Even if she was alone—even if Mike hated her guts—at the moment, she was happy.
She dumped her stuff in the trunk and then sighed with relief as she slid behind the wheel. She had an hour-and-a-half drive to get home, and would be there long before dark, which was her only concern.
She’d skipped lunch and now she was starving, but she’d thought of that before she left the mall food court. She dug out her veggie sandwich from Subway, unscrewed the top on her cold drink, and then took a big bite. She ate until her appetite had been satisfied, wrapped up what was left, and headed home.
***
Mike was bordering on all-out panic. On the one hand, he refused to call her and let her know he was worried. On the other hand, he didn’t know what he would do if he called and she didn’t answer. So he did neither as his fears increased with leaps and bounds.
One minute he’d looked out the window to the empty driveway, and the next time he looked, her car was in the drive and she was nowhere in sight.
Relief washed through him so fast that his legs went out from under him as he dropped onto the sofa.
“Thank you, Jesus,” he said softly, and buried his face in his hands.
But the longer he sat, the more disgusted he became with himself. He could talk big and act tough, but he was never going to get over loving her and he knew it.
Chapter 14
Phillips’ Pharmacy opened at 8:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve, and LilyAnn stood at the register checking people out nonstop until her time for break finally came. She was already tired when she headed for the bathroom, and the day was a long way from over. It felt like every man in Blessings had waited until the last minute to do his Christmas shopping, and now, because other things were so picked over in retail stores, they all had come through the pharmacy in panic mode, hoping there were bottles of perfume or boxed sets of bath powders and lotions left for sale. Once those sold out, the shoppers opted for foot massagers and Yankee candles, and when those were gone, they emptied the racks of gel insoles, socks for diabetics, and K-Y Jelly. Sometimes it was difficult to keep a straight face as she checked them out.
One little boy had come in with three dollars to buy his mama a present. He bypassed a display of nail polish and a bin of mini-tubes of hand lotion, opting for a box of SpongeBob Band-Aids. He looked so pleased with his purchase that she couldn’t help but envy the woman who would open that gift.
When 5:00 p.m. came, LilyAnn was exhausted. She drove home in something of a daze, oblivious to the pickup following two cars behind her. She parked in her driveway and was already inside before the truck passed her house. She never saw it or the driver.
But Mike did.
He came around the corner just as the truck drove past LilyAnn’s house, and he knew who it was. Although they met in the middle of the block, Lachlan wasn’t looking at Mike. His full attention was on the house where Lily’s car was parked.
When Mike saw the expression on Lachlan’s face, the hair stood up on the back of his neck. That wasn’t lust, it was rage.
What the hell?
Mike watched him in his rearview mirror, and when Lachlan reached the intersection, he took a hard right. Mike accelerated, pulled in his driveway, and hurried into his house, then raced to a window and peered through a crack between the curtains.
Sure enough, Lachlan was making a return pass. He did it two more times before he finally left the neighborhood.
Mike was beginning to think Lachlan was not the boyfriend he’d imagined him to be.
So if not a suitor, he was her stalker, which explained why she’d called the police the other day.
Son of a bitch.
He went straight to the phone to call the police, and then stopped. What could he say? That he saw Lachlan circle the block four times? That wasn’t against the law, and he’d made no threatening moves toward her, so they couldn’t arrest him for assault. Mike was beginning to understand how hard it would be for a woman to prove she was being stalked, and how useless the law really was when this was happening.
And while he was deciding what to do about making his peace with Lily, she got in her car and, once again, was gone before he knew it.
***
LilyAnn had been going to Christmas Eve services at her church for as long as she could remember. She wasn’t spending the holiday with her family, and she wasn’t spending it with Mike, but that didn’t prevent her from spending the holiday with God.
She pulled into the church parking lot and, as she was parking, saw children going into the church dressed as angels and shepherds, and even one little boy in what looked like a donkey costume and another, a sheep. At that point, all the exhaustion she’d been feeling melted away.
She took a seat on the aisle near the middle of the room just as a little angel came running from the altar. His halo was hanging lopsided on his head, and his harried mother was right behind him, which sent a titter of laughter throughout the congregation.
By the time the service started, Lily was at peace. She couldn’t control what was happening around her, but she could control how she received it.
Much later, after the program and the singing, they had refreshments in the dining hall of the church, and once again, Lily was reminded of all the years she and Mike had been thrown together as kids, seated side by side with a cup of punch and a sugar cookie apiece, with a caution not to make a mess.
She ate a cookie and drank some punch for old times’ sake and, when she got home, found a FedEx package on her front porch from her mama and Eddie.
She didn’t have a tree, but she had a present and her mama’s love, and that was enough.
***
It had taken Mike exactly five minutes to calm down and realize where LilyAnn had probably gone, and after a quick trip past the church parking lot where he saw her car, he knew he was right. He thought about going in, but didn’t—partly because he didn’t want to carry their antagonism into a house of God, but mostly because he didn’t know how to face her.
He went home in a calmer frame of mind, and when she came home a couple of hours later, he was at peace. He didn’t know if she would ever forgive him, but he would willingly eat crow for the rest of his life if he could just have her back as his best friend.
***
The phone rang as LilyAnn was styling her hair to accommodate the halo she planned to wear at the Salvation Army dinner. She dropped the brush and ran to answer, plopping down on the bed as she put the receiver to her ear.
“Merry Christmas!”
Grace laughed. “Merry Christmas, LilyAnn! Did you get your present?”
LilyAnn smiled. “Yes, but I waited to open it this morning so it would be official. Thank you, Mama, and thank Eddie for me, too. The sweater is beautiful. You know blue is my favorite color, and it fits me perfectly!”
“That’s great! And thank you for our present, as well. You know me so well, darling. This flower-a-month thing is amazing. We got the first delivery day before yesterday, and after we enjoy it blooming in the house, we can plant the bulbs out in our garden. Every time we see them blooming, we will think of you.”
LilyAnn beamed. “I’m glad you liked it, Mama.”
“Oh, and speaking of like, I love your hair. It turned you into a rather gorgeous woman.”
Lily’s smile widened. “Not that you’re prejudiced or anything, but thanks.”
“I am not prejudiced, at least not much. So what are you doing today? Have you and Mike made up?”
“I’m trying, but he’s not having any of it. I won’t give up, but so far, nothing has changed.”
“I’m so sorry. It kills me that you’re g
oing to be alone today. I wish you had come here to be with us.”
“Oh, I’m not going to be alone! I’m helping serve at the Salvation Army dinner. I bought a green sweater with a Christmas tree on the front and back, and the little lights on the tree really light up and twinkle. And, I have a halo to wear with it. I can’t wait to put it all on.”
Grace smiled. She could hear the excitement in her daughter’s voice and was amazed at the transformation she’d made.
“Good for you. That’s a perfect way to mark the season. So, have a good time, and tell me all about it next time we talk.”
“I will. I love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too, honey.”
Lily was smiling as she disconnected. She glanced at the clock, then headed to the kitchen. She had no idea if the people who worked the dinner ate dinner there, too. So, just to be on the safe side, she made herself some food and ate with an eye on the time so she wouldn’t be late.
***
T. J. Lachlan had been carrying around the ticket he’d gotten for disturbing the peace, but he was tired of looking at it. When he got home, he got out of the truck, set the ticket on fire, and dropped it in the yard. The grass tried to catch with it, but he stomped it out. He stood for a moment, staring intently at the house he’d inherited. He’d had his fill of this place, in more ways than one. He refused to consider he’d brought his current troubles on himself. He didn’t get this kind of grief back in Tennessee, he thought as he strode angrily inside with a fifth of Jim Beam in one hand and some takeout ribs from Charley’s Barbeque in the other.
The house smelled like fresh paint and varnish. The fading sunlight shone weakly through the windows he’d washed days earlier. It looked like a home and felt like a jail. It would have made his life a whole lot simpler if this had been money in his pocket, not a remodel job he had yet to flip.
His footsteps echoed in the house as he walked through to the kitchen. He’d been here for weeks, repairing, painting, fixing wiring and windows, and it still felt foreign, almost as if the house itself rejected his presence. He’d brought it back to its former glory, but he’d done more harm in this house with a single act of rape than his uncle Gene had ever thought about in the sixty-seven years he’d lived there.
He dropped the ribs onto the table and opened the whiskey, chugging down enough to set his belly on fire before he sat down with a thump.
“Sorry-ass bitch called the cops on me,” he muttered, and tore into the ribs like a starving dog.
He ate ribs and fries until there was nothing left but bones, then took the whiskey with him to the living room. He kicked back in the recliner, turned on the TV, and took another swig.
By midnight, he was passed out in the chair, the empty bottle on the floor, the remote in his lap, while QVC kept selling laptops with a frantic promise to deliver by Christmas.
He woke up the next morning with a hangover of massive proportions and a growing grudge against the tall blond bitch. He wanted her to pay. He wanted to see that disdain replaced with fear. He wanted to hear her scream and beg for mercy.
***
By the time the first diners arrived at the community center, LilyAnn was in full holiday mode. The tables had been covered with white paper and decorated with little red sleighs filled with candy and artificial poinsettias. The Christmas tree had been set up in a corner of the room, and the presents beneath wrapped in red gift paper for little boys, green gift paper for little girls, gold gift paper for teens, and sturdy tote bags of canned goods and fruit for the adults.
Her sweatshirt was a hit, as was the glittering halo on her head. The Christmas tree image on her shirt mirrored the one in the corner, right down to the colored blinking lights. Her slacks were winter white, and her flats, metallic gold.
The reporter from the Blessings Bugle took her picture as she was carrying plates of food for a woman with children, but she didn’t know it and wouldn’t have cared whether they took one or not. This was the best she’d felt in years, and it was because the last person she was thinking about was herself.
Both Vesta and Vera Conklin were also helping serve and had come decked out in brown sweaters and slacks with little antler headbands and red noses. Twin versions of a female Rudolph. The kids loved it and the sisters were playing it to the hilt.
Ruby’s homage to the festivities of the day was elf ears and a little green elf hat.
Mabel Jean was set up in a corner of the room with a tray of face paint, dressed in red and white stripes and doing her part to entertain the children.
About an hour into it, LilyAnn paused to take in the sight. The tables were full of people eating and talking. It reminded her of what a family reunion was like. The ones where you know some of the people very well, while a few more look familiar, and the others are people you’ve never seen before.
What she couldn’t get over was that every one of these people lived in Blessings and had qualified for this meal because they lived at or below the poverty line. She suddenly felt very grateful for her life, no matter how screwed up it had become.
Ruby came up behind her and gave her a quick hug.
“I can’t thank you enough for coming to help.”
“Oh, Sister, you have no idea how grateful I am to be here.”
“I love your Christmas tree sweatshirt, but with that halo, you look like the angel topper on it, for sure. Oh… hey, I see that table on the far side needs drinks refilled. Can you go do that for me?”
“Absolutely,” LilyAnn said. She grabbed two pitchers of sweet tea and took off.
What LilyAnn didn’t know was that Ruby wasn’t through meddling in her and Mike’s lives.
About an hour after LilyAnn had called asking to volunteer, the man scheduled to be Ruby’s Santa Claus called to say he had been taken ill, leaving Ruby without a Santa for the dinner.
And the moment she realized LilyAnn was on her own, she guessed Mike Dalton would be, as well. And he was. After a quick selling job on how disappointed the kids would all be, he agreed. It was Ruby’s little secret, and yet one more event in which he and LilyAnn would be thrown together. And maybe, just maybe, this time they would get it right.
***
The community center was packed, and people were visiting among themselves when they began hearing the sound of bells jingling, and then there was a great big thump on the roof, and then a loud, hearty voice saying, “Ho, ho, ho.”
The kids who had been running amok were suddenly motionless, their mouths agape, their eyes wide with expectation. Someone pointed to the hall at the back of the room as the doors began to open, and then a big, fat Santa Claus came through the door, laughing as he walked.
LilyAnn was in shock. The moment she heard that laugh, she knew it was Mike. Even before she saw him—even beneath that full white beard and the wig and hat, even beneath the big fat belly and the red fuzzy suit—she knew it was him.
She sat down in the nearest empty chair with her heart in her throat, watching as Ruby seated him beside the tree. And then she remembered that the servers would also be Santa’s helpers, which meant she was not going to be able to keep her distance.
And sure enough, the moment Santa was seated, Ruby signaled for them to come up.
“God give me strength,” Lily muttered, and headed for the front of the room.
Mike was actually having fun with this. As he was waiting for all the servers to reach the front of the room, he noticed one woman wearing a halo, but he could only see her silhouette, backlit by the light from the windows behind her. When she walked out of the backlight and he got a better view, his gut knotted.
LilyAnn. Well, hell, of course it would be her. I cannot escape her because I am not supposed to. I get it, God. I get it.
He refused to meet her gaze because he’d never get through the task ahead without total concentration, but when he saw the lights flashing on her sweatshirt, he stifled a smile.
Then the first child slipped up and put a hand on his
knee, and he got down to business.
Mike looked down, saw the awe in the little boy’s eyes, and realized the importance of what he was doing. He picked the boy up and set him on his knee.
“Ho, ho, ho. Hello, young man. What’s your name?”
The little boy frowned. “It’s me, Billy! Don’t you recognize me?”
Oops, nearly blew that one. “Well, Billy, you’ve grown so much I didn’t recognize you.”
The little boy’s expression lightened. “Oh yeah, that’s what Grandma said, too.”
Mike patted him on the back. “So, have you been a good boy this year?”
Billy rolled his eyes. “Most of the time.”
“Good for you,” Mike said, and took the present Vesta handed him and gave it to Billy. “Merry Christmas, Billy.”
“Merry Christmas, Santa Claus!”
Billy was all smiles as the photographer took his picture. Then he hopped down from Mike’s lap and ran toward his mother as another child took his place.
As the time went on, the children were so charming in their innocence that LilyAnn forgot it was Mike beneath the beard and got lost in their stories.
By the time a second child had wet on Mike’s pant legs, LilyAnn was struggling not to laugh. If it hadn’t been for the swift action of one mother, another would have thrown up in his lap. The photographer had whipped cream on the back of his pants after a little boy who’d been eating pie with his fingers used the man’s pants for a napkin, and Vesta gave up her reindeer antlers to a little girl with curly brown hair, just so she would sit in Santa’s lap long enough for a picture.
After two hours of kids, presents, and pictures, it was finally over, and LilyAnn was convinced that—even though the only present she opened had been in a FedEx box, even though the only food she’d eaten had been a mini-ham sandwich made with a cold dinner roll and a scrap of ham at home—she’d never had a better Christmas in her life. And, despite his best intentions, she’d still spent it with Mike.
She’d already said her good-byes and was on her way out the back when she heard someone calling her name. She turned to see Santa Claus lumbering down the hall.
