All I Want for Christmas

by Jenny Hale

  “I wish Mrs. Stevenson was still at school.”

  Mrs. Stevenson was the third tutor to quit, and they were only halfway through the year.

  “Me too,” Leah said, forcing a smile. As she fretted over Sadie, her protective motherly instincts kicked in and a thought slithered through her mind that hadn’t occurred to her before: there was another way to get Sadie out of her school, rather than moving to Evergreen Hill. If Leah sold her half of the plantation, she could afford to live in an area with better schools. But were there any schools with as good a gymnastics program? She tried to ignore the thought, wishing she hadn’t just twisted the idea of selling into a positive one. Both she and Sadie had their hearts set on Evergreen Hill. How could she contemplate giving in without a fight?

  Chapter 6

  After a discussion with Roz, Leah had decided to leave Sadie with her to finish out school for the last few weeks until Christmas break. She pulled her car to a stop in front of Evergreen Hill and got out, the icy air pelting her cheeks as she went to the back of the car to get her bags. David opened the door and came down the walk to help her. He picked up the heaviest one.

  “Hello,” he said, a guarded look on his face.

  “Hi.”

  With the rest of her bags in hand, she started to walk up to the house, saying nothing more. She’d allowed a few paces between her and David as he lugged her bag over the icy ground. The air between them was so heavy she could feel it settling on her shoulders. All she wanted to do was get inside to be close to Nan. Whenever things bothered her like this, Nan was the one who could comfort her. She wanted to go upstairs and lie down on Nan’s bed, curl up with her pillows and wait for the right answer to all this.

  Before she could process what was happening, she tripped, and, unable to recover, she was falling. Suddenly, she felt as though she were going to pass out, the pain in her ankle causing her to crumble to the ground.

  “Are you all right?” she heard from behind her as David abandoned the bag and jogged to her side. He squatted down and put his arm around her back. “What hurts?”

  Leah squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing. “It’s my ankle.” She’d stepped in a hole that had been camouflaged by newly fallen snow. “I don’t think I can walk.”

  “Okay,” David said, his eyes roaming the space around her as he assessed the situation. “I’m going to stand you up very slowly. Just put all your weight on your good leg and on me. Then, I’ll give you a piggyback ride to the house. I’ll come back for the bags once I get you inside.”

  He put his hands under her arms and gently pulled her up. She wobbled slightly, but he caught her. While helping her to maintain balance, David turned his back to her and guided her arms until they were in a position that she could grab on to his shoulders. She hopped into place.

  “I’ve got you,” he said, tilting forward. “Just lean onto my back and I’ll grab your legs.”

  She moved toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck, the clean smell of his shirt and his unique scent—like lavender and nutmeg with a dash of cedar—causing heat to spread over her cheeks despite the cold. She let him take her weight as he grabbed the backs of her thighs to lift her up, and she swallowed to keep her composure.

  She didn’t want to think about the fact that he was going to haul her all the way up to the house. Truthfully, though, her ankle was hurting so much that she couldn’t think much more than that. He began to walk through the snow. Immediately, the pain in her ankle as it swung with his movements was nearly unbearable. With every step, she winced.

  “I know it hurts,” he said, as if he’d read her thoughts. When he said it, another memory slid into her mind. She’d gotten stung on the leg by a bee, the bright red welt and the excruciating burning alarming her. She’d sat down, her hands cupping the wound, tears springing to her eyes. David had been hitting baseballs in the yard—she could still remember the tinny sound of the ball as it hit his metal bat. The ball sailed into the air, PING, and off it went across the yard, one ball after another. He dropped his bat and sat down next to her. “I know it hurts,” he’d said once he’d seen the sting. She’d totally forgotten that until he’d done it again just now.

  “We’re almost there.”

  Leah came back to reality.

  “I’m going to set you down now so that I can open the door,” he said, gingerly lowering himself until her good leg touched the step. He held on to her so that she wouldn’t fall. She hopped around a bit despite his attempts to steady her, the pain starting to give her a headache. “Hold on to this,” he said, helping her over to the railing leading to the door. She took hold of the oversized, iron handrail.

  David opened the door and then came back to get her. He carried her into the kitchen, then went to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas.

  She slid off her boots and lifted her leg, the hard dining chair not offering much comfort. “I think I’ve sprained it. It hurts so much,” she told him.

  “Let me get you a pillow to put it on.” David hurried out of the room.

  Leah grimaced, carefully pulling off her sock. Her ankle was starting to swell already, and the sock was getting tight. She placed the bag of peas on her leg, more pain shooting through it.

  “You might want to lie down and prop it up with pillows. I can carry you,” David said, concern in his eyes. “I have a first aid kit upstairs with a compression bandage. And you need to keep those peas on it for at least twenty minutes.”

  David lifted her up in his arms. He was winded from all the carrying, but he continued without a word until he had her in the room next to her room, where he put her on the bed. Awkwardly, she tossed a pillow down by her foot and wiggled it under her ankle while David went to get the first aid kit.

  When he returned, David slipped his hands under her leg and started to lift, the pain nearly taking her breath away. “I think it’s a pretty nasty sprain.” He held her foot with one hand and pushed the pillow onto the floor, sitting down on the bed where it had been. Then, his hands so steady, he lowered her foot onto his lap. He unclipped the bandage, pushed the leg of her jeans up, and started to wrap her ankle.

  “You might have to see a doctor,” he said.

  “It’s fine, I’m sure. I probably just need to elevate it and—” She grimaced when he had to lift her ankle higher to get the bandage under it.

  “At least to get something for the pain, and you probably could do with a pair of crutches.”

  “Please stop fussing over me. I said I’ll be fine,” she snapped, feeling agitated but knowing it was because she was upset with the situation. “Sorry.”

  Her tone caused David to stop and make eye contact. He got up and carefully put her foot on the pillow that he’d picked up off the floor.

  She had so much emotion pent up that something like this, which she could normally just shrug off as bad luck, sent her into a tailspin.

  “I understand.”

  “I don’t think you do,” she said quietly. “It’s not about the ankle.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not sure how to handle all of this. Honestly, when I saw your grandmother had given me half of Evergreen Hill, I assumed she wanted to honor you and include you. I never thought you’d want to live here. I thought you had your own life in Richmond. I thought I could buy you out and you’d be happy to take the money. I’d assumed that was what Nina had planned all along. I’ve sold off some real estate I had… I was going to offer you a million dollars.”

  A million dollars? Leah sat in silence, the words settling in her mind. A million dollars was a lot of money. It would definitely buy Sadie’s gymnastics lessons. It could pay off a mortgage for Leah—she could own a home. She could live debt free and still have money to set aside for Sadie’s college education. And what was her alternative? She couldn’t afford to buy him out, and she doubted he’d ever just give his half away. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it really was her only option, and, while it w
asn’t what she wanted, it would be a positive change in hers and Sadie’s lives.

  Leah sighed. “That’s a very generous offer.”

  Chapter 7

  “A million dollars?” Roz screamed down the line. Leah pulled the phone away from her ear. She’d stayed in her room, telling David she needed time to rest and think things through. She didn’t want to make a decision like this without having time to consider all sides. He’d left her alone and, when she heard the sound of his car door shutting outside and his wheels against the gravel, Leah had called Roz.

  “He knows how much a million dollars is, and how hard it is for me to pass up.”

  “He’s being a big bully!”

  “Don’t tell Sadie, please,” Leah said. “I want to spare dragging her through the whole thing. I’d like to check in on her after we talk.”

  “They’re in Jo’s bedroom, playing. She can’t hear us. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Leah wanted to pace the room, let out her nervous energy, but her ankle was still aching, and she couldn’t get up. She could feel the frustration settling in her shoulders. She twisted awkwardly on the blue-and-yellow striped bedspread, the stripes distorting as the fabric moved under her. She rubbed her face with her free hand.

  “If I took the money, I could find a venue in Richmond. I could start my business and do it in my own time—it wouldn’t be rushed. Right now, I’d be having to pay the bills while I’m still taking classes.”

  Roz waited silently; she was letting her get it out. “Are you finished?” she asked, and Leah smiled—she’d known exactly what Roz was doing. “Don’t be crazy,” she said.

  Leah didn’t say anything back. She was too busy thinking. Was she being crazy? If she took the money, it would give her the chance to do everything she wanted, just somewhere else. She could find the perfect place near Roz and Louise, and she could still afford to move so Sadie could have a better school. Maybe it wouldn’t be the perfect future she and Nan had planned, but it would be an amazing start.

  “Hello-o!” Roz’s voice cut through her thoughts. “When you get quiet like that, you worry me. Don’t settle. You’ve worked too hard; you’ve made too many plans. Don’t let them all go now.”

  Indecision swam around inside her.

  “Look. I’ll get Sadie so you can tell her hi. Then call Louise. She knows how to sweet talk you into the right decision.”

  Leah laughed as Roz called Sadie to the phone.

  “Hi, Mama!” Sadie’s voice came through a little muffled as she got situated with the phone. “Are you having a good time?”

  The innocence of her question made Leah smile. “Yes, thank you,” she said. “Except that I hurt my ankle.”

  “Oh no! Is it okay?”

  “It’ll be fine,” she said as she tried to move her foot, pain running through her ankle like an electric current. “Tell me what you and Jo have been up to,” she said, steering the conversation away from her and any possible questions about the house.

  “I did a back handspring on Jo’s mat in her spare room!” Sadie said, her voice going up at the end in excitement. She’d been practicing her tumbling any chance she got. One night, Leah had even pulled her mattress onto the floor to let her have a soft space to practice.

  “Did you keep your arms straight?” Leah asked, still smiling at the sound of her daughter’s voice. Sadie had been struggling with one arm bending slightly when she did her handsprings.

  “Yes! Jo said they were the best handsprings she’d ever seen!”

  “It sounds like you all are having fun.” She tried to straighten the bedspread underneath her but with her ankle was unsuccessful.

  “We are, Mama! What are you doing over there at Nan’s?”

  “Oh, not much at the moment. I’m just sitting around…” She ran her fingers through her hair, straightening the curls before they bounced back into place. She hadn’t bothered to straighten her hair today, more worried about getting to Evergreen Hill to talk to David, and now look at her. She was locked away in her bedroom, not facing anyone. But there was no use in facing him until she had an answer for him.

  “That doesn’t sound like much fun. I thought you were going to decorate and stuff for family Christmas.”

  “I haven’t started,” she said, not wanting to mention that it hadn’t crossed her mind once since she’d used it as the excuse for coming up without Sadie. Sadie had wanted to come with her, but Leah had told her that she’d be bored while she decorated all day. She’d come up with it on the fly. “Well, I’ll let you go so you and Jo can play. Have a good night, okay?”

  “I will, Mama. You too!”

  “Tell Roz I said bye.”

  “Okay.”

  She hung up the phone and cast her gaze over at the dresser she’d helped Nan paint. It was a light shade of yellow, to match the comforter, the original wood showing through. They’d gotten paint everywhere when they’d refinished it. It had taken both of them to carry it out into the yard. Nan had insisted on putting down a tarp, but it had been breezy that day, the wind coming off the river, and the tarp kept blowing across the yard before they could set the dresser on it.

  They should’ve known right then that it probably wasn’t a good day to paint. Nan had set two flimsy trays on the tarp beside the dresser once they’d gotten it in place during a lull in the wind. She dumped yellow paint into them and handed a brush to Leah.

  “Let’s take the drawers out first,” Nan said. As she took a step, she put her foot right into the tray, submerging her canvas shoe. “Oh!” she cried, jumping out of it, only to bump Leah who was stepping over to help her.

  Leah tripped, trying not to have the same fate, and fell, her bottom going right into the paint.

  “Well, don’t we look like a couple of amateurs,” Nan said, her laughter rising into the air around them. “The paint is supposed to go on the dresser, not us.”

  Nan turned Leah around so she faced the river, backed her up, and started to push her slightly back and forth. It took Leah a minute to realize what she was doing, but when she did, she couldn’t stop laughing. Nan was painting the dresser with Leah! Joining in, she bent over and wiggled her bottom along the drawer.

  With a grin, Leah looked at the drawer now, and only because she knew what had happened, she could see a darker spot on it, and she knew it was because they’d had to blend the paintbrush strokes and the marks her bottom had made. She’d tried to work harder to hide the mark but Nan had insisted they leave a little spot so that they could remember. In the end, they’d done a great job both leaving a reminder and making it look unified enough that no one would notice. Now, it sat, pristine, with its glass drawer pulls and matching mirror on the wall above it, a collection of glass vases in one corner of the dresser top. It was simply perfect.

  Her phone rang, and she looked down at the number, recognizing it immediately. “Hi, Louise,” she answered.

  “Hi. Roz said I had to call you if you didn’t call in the next two minutes. Is everything okay?”

  “She’s being dramatic,” she teased. “She wants you to talk some sense into me.” Leah explained David’s offer.

  “I can’t imagine that’s what your grandmother would have wanted.”

  “I know.” She rolled over, wrapping herself in the bedspread.

  “But true joint ownership won’t allow either of you to have what you want.”

  “That’s what I keep coming back to.” She pulled the top of the bedspread over her head in frustration, wishing that the little cocoon she’d made would just swallow her up and spit her back out when none of this was an issue. Back before David had come, when Nan still saw Evergreen Hill as the place where Leah and Sadie would throw lavish parties. She could close her eyes and see those big white tents, the sound of music filling the air all the way to the woods, a glass of champagne in her hand as she plopped down on the bench outside to rest her sore feet. It wasn’t hard to imagine Sadie running down the long path between the trees, c
oming home from school, her backpack bouncing with every step, that smile on her face that had the whole day’s events inside it, just waiting to come out.

  “A million dollars really would turn your life around,” Louise said, bringing her back to the present moment.

  “Yes. It would.”

  Chapter 8

  When David came home, Leah met him in the living room. He was unpacking a new printer, fiddling with the plastic manufacturer’s cover that had been sealed for shipping. “David,” she said, pulling his attention away from his purchase. “I need to talk to you.”

  He stood up and set the printer back into its box.

  “It’s about your offer,” she said, feeling the sadness over letting go of her last connection with Nan. “I think I’d like to take it.”

  David’s head tilted slightly to the side, surprise in his eyes, and for an instant, she felt the stab in her chest at how little she’d fought for Evergreen Hill. But her mind had won out over her heart, and she knew it was the only way. She tried not to think about what it was going to be like to actually let go of this place or how she’d break the news to Sadie.

  “I have one request, though,” she said, feeling the emotion welling up. “I’d like to still have family Christmas.”

  “Of course,” he said. “You should have Christmas in the house with all your family and we’ll make it the very best Christmas ever.”

  She nodded, unable to speak for fear she might start to sob.

  * * *

  Once she’d stopped crying, Leah was frustrated. Nan knew her better than anyone else. Why had she put her in this position? Pushing through the pain in her ankle, she went into Nan’s room and closed the door. Starting with the tall dresser, she opened the first drawer and dug through the clothes, running her hand along underneath the garments. Nothing. She pulled out the second drawer—sweaters, shirts… She felt around some more and came up empty and shut it. Next drawer. This time, she pulled everything out, lumping it onto the floor, her irritation bubbling up. But seeing Nan’s things askew on the floor gave her pause. She knew Nan wouldn’t have wanted to see a mess like that. Carefully, she folded every item and replaced it in the drawer.