Home with My Sisters

by Mary Carter

  “This is a Norman Rockwell Christmas here. Dad would have loved it. Are we seriously not going to celebrate Christmas?”

  “Of course we’re going to celebrate Christmas,” Faith said. “Otherwise my children will report me for abuse. Granny will warm up to it.”

  Hope wasn’t so sure about that. The one trait that they all had in common was stubbornness. “And if she doesn’t?”

  “We’ll work on her.” They were just about to reach the pond when Faith pointed to the deck near the barn. “Is that a hot tub?”

  “Sure is,” Hope said. Faith made a beeline toward it. Hope ran after her. By the time Hope reached the hot tub, Faith already had the cover off. She found the controls and fired it up. “It works!”

  “Looks pretty clean too,” Hope said.

  “We’re definitely coming out here with cocktails,” Faith said.

  “Candy cane martinis or kale smoothies?” Hope teased.

  Faith swatted her. “Let’s check out the pond.” They headed over. It looked so pristine, so inviting. Hope couldn’t wait to go skating. There was a fence around it as well as benches on either side for sitting and putting on skates. Hope wished she could go back in time to when this property was open to the public during the Christmas season. If the Garland Girls adopted the house, they could bring back the tradition. That is, if they could keep Joy from selling it to the highest bidder. “Is Stephen coming for Christmas Day?” Hope kept her voice light and casual.

  Faith looked away. “I don’t know.”

  “Everything okay with you two?”

  “What does Mom say?” Faith leaned against the fence and poked at the edge of the pond with her toe.

  “She thinks you’re having trouble.”

  “Is she posting it on Facebook?”

  Hope laughed. “She only posts parrots and booze.”

  Faith started laughing along with Hope. “Who knew she’d turn into Jimmy Buffett in her golden years.” Hope wondered what their mother was doing now. Sunbathing on a sailboat? Dancing with a rum and Coke in her hand? Smoking a Cuban cigar?

  Hope gazed at the mountains. They were so solid, so comforting. This truly was God’s country. “This business about Dad is going to break her heart.”

  “She said not to tell her anything unless she asked.”

  “Let’s hope she doesn’t ask.”

  “God, they were so young,” Faith said. “Just kids.”

  “Who shouldn’t have had kids,” Hope said. It felt like a betrayal to say that, but it was so true. Maybe they would have held it together better if they’d been older.

  Faith gave a little shrug. “We survived.”

  Hope focused on a pine tree in the distance. She loved the stark green, the spikey needles, the crisp scent the trees infused into the air. “But he didn’t.”

  Faith crossed her arms. “He might not have been coming for us.”

  Hope had never considered that. Why did she always believe everything everyone said? Had he been coming for them? “You think she lied?”

  “I don’t think she lied about the accident. But how are we supposed to know whether or not he was coming to see us? He died not far from here. He could have been going anywhere.”

  “I guess we’ll never know.” Hope sighed. She didn’t want to think about it.

  Faith kept going. “He was a fast driver. And often drinking. Remember?”

  Hope nodded. “Mom always yelling at him to slow down.”

  “Slow down, you’re going to get us killed,” Faith mimicked.

  They fell silent and looked out at the land. Faith pointed. “Is that a man hiding behind that tree?”

  “Where?” Hope followed the trajectory of Faith’s finger. Sure enough there was a man with a red cap and beard, early fifties, hiding behind a tree, watching them. “That must be Roger,” Hope said. “He’s the caretaker. Austin thinks he might have some kind of brain damage. I guess he does that a lot.”

  “Creepy.”

  “I don’t think so,” Hope said. “He gave me a pinecone and put my bags on the porch.”

  “Maybe he’s a good egg then.” Faith lifted her hand to Roger and waved. He stared for a minute, then slowly raised a gloved hand and waved back. Then he turned and trudged away. Faith tracked him for a moment. “Seems harmless,” she concluded.

  “He lives in that cabin out back.”

  “Should we go say hi?”

  “I think we just did,” Hope said. “He seems a bit shy.”

  “Granny is like you. Always taking in strays.”

  “Why have you and Joy taken to calling her Granny?”

  Faith laughed. “Because she looks like she’d hate it.”

  Hope laughed too. God, it was good to be around her sisters when they were happy. She just had to make sure they all stayed happy. “We should go into town. There are a ton of cute shops.”

  “How did she get the money for this place?” Faith wandered in the direction of the barn. Hope followed.

  “Her late husband, Rupert. He owned a sledding and skating outfit in town. Visitors used to come here, too, to skate on the pond, sing Christmas carols, the works.” Faith stood at the doors to the barn. They were shut tight and padlocked. “I think all the skating equipment is still in there.”

  Faith laughed. “You are a plethora of information.” She tugged on the padlock. “Wonder why all the security?”

  “I think she’s trying to keep the past under lock and key,” Hope said. Faith shrugged and walked toward the pond. Hope hurried after her. “We could start that up again, you know.”

  “We?” Faith didn’t turn around.

  “Yes, the three of us. We could keep the house and start up the business again.” They stopped at the edge of the pond. Hope could just imagine the neighbors gathered to skate. Christmas was supposed to be the season of giving. Imagine, year after year, giving back by inviting their neighbors to enjoy such a magical place. Hope could definitely see herself stepping into a life like that. And no, it didn’t hurt that a man like Austin lived next door, but that wasn’t her only motivation.

  “I live in San Francisco.” Faith looked at Hope, as if waiting for her to continue her pitch.

  “I could manage the property,” Hope said. She’d been thinking about it a lot. She could do it. She could live here.

  A little smile broke out on Faith’s face. “Ah. So you want to keep the house to yourself.”

  “Not at all. It’s all of ours.”

  “What about the dogs?”

  Look at all this land. I could adopt a ton of dogs. “I wasn’t going to do that forever.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  There she was again, subtly putting her down. Hope had had enough. “You really thought I was going to work at an animal shelter the rest of my life?”

  “Yes,” Faith said.

  “Well, you’re wrong. I will always be involved in the welfare of animals, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have goals.”

  “What are they?”

  Shoot. She had no idea. Getting closer to her sisters. Didn’t that count as a goal? “I can see myself managing this place. Starting an outreach to the community.” She thought of Austin and his work with suicide prevention. Maybe at-risk kids could come to this place, like a retreat. Faith was fact-based, Hope wasn’t going to start pitching at the daydreaming stage.

  “Joy will never go for it.” Faith started walking toward the woods, and once again Hope followed. Faith was always leading the way, but Hope didn’t mind. She wanted to be with her sister, and it didn’t matter where they went as long as they were together.

  “Joy could be persuaded,” Hope said. As long as we present a united front.

  Faith laughed. “Good luck with that.”

  “She could sell coffee to the skaters.”

  “We could build her a little coffee hut on the premises,” Faith said.

  “Exactly.”

  Faith stopped. Hope almost ran into her. “Where’s your
boyfriend?”

  For a second, Austin flashed through Hope’s mind. His smile. His stubble. Muscles buried in flannel. “Hawaii.”

  “Are you kidding me? Without you?”

  “He had a ticket for me too.”

  “Why aren’t you there?”

  “Because I wanted to be here. With my sisters. His idea of Christmas lights is probably a string of colored bikinis on the beach. This is more my idea of where to spend Christmas.”

  “How’d he take it?”

  “Surprisingly well given that I broke up with him.”

  Faith snuck her arm around Hope and started walking again. “I didn’t like Michael.”

  “You never met him.”

  “I could hear it in your voice.”

  “Hear what?”

  “He wasn’t treating you right.”

  “He didn’t like dogs.”

  “Maybe I was too quick to judge.”

  Hope slapped Faith lightly on the back. “Wait until you meet Mr. Jingles.”

  “I do not want to meet Mr. Jingles.”

  Just then, the little group emerged from the woods. Mr. Jingles was in the lead, pulling on the leash that was attached to poor Brittany.

  “Speak of the devil,” Hope said. “Let go if he pulls too hard,” she yelled to Brittany. Josh and Harrison emerged next. Harrison waved.

  “What do you think of the Black Stallion?” Faith whispered.

  Hope shook her head at the reference. “He’s cute. And very nice.”

  “I agree. Joy seems happy. With him at least.”

  Hope looked back at the log house, then lowered her voice. “Am I allowed to say that I like him better than I like her right now?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “She’s going to want us to sell this place.”

  “Probably for the best. It has to be worth a fortune.”

  “We should keep it. I meant that.”

  “Having money might be a better option.”

  “You don’t need money.”

  Faith’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know that.”

  So she and Stephen were having trouble. Hope wished they were close enough to confide in each other. It was a really bad sign if you couldn’t share secrets with your sisters. Then again, it wasn’t something you could force. Hope didn’t press Faith for any more details. “Granny said there were more rules. Wonder what they are.”

  Faith was still watching Harrison. “Do you think it’s an easier life these days for mixed-race couples?”

  “Easier, yes. Easy? No,” Hope said. She wished it were easy. She wished people would confront their own racism.

  Faith must have been thinking the same thing. “Do you think Granny Dearest was just talking about milk?” she asked.

  “No,” Hope said. “I don’t.”

  “Me neither.” She sighed. “So our grandmother is a racist.”

  “I think a lot of people harbor racist feelings and thoughts. But it’s so taboo to admit that—even to ourselves. What if we could all just examine what we think, feel, and say—admit it—then dig deeper to the root of those beliefs. Honesty, self-scrutiny, and being open-minded. I think people who say they ‘don’t see color’ are lying and also quite insulting. Why not see color and like what you see? Honor other races and cultures.”

  “Yeah,” Faith said. “Don’t think Granny is going to tackle that in the time she has left.”

  Hope shook her head. “Probably not.”

  Just then Brittany let go of Mr. Jingles and he made a beeline to Hope and Faith. Faith started to scream.

  “Calm down,” Hope said. “You’ll excite him even more.” But Faith didn’t, or couldn’t, calm down and Mr. Jingles directed his kinetic energy straight for her. Before Hope could stop him, he lunged. Faith went down onto the grass with Mr. Jingles on top of her, excitedly barking. Soon he had a large paw planted on either side of her head and his big tongue was less than half an inch from her mouth. Hope practically had to lie on top of the dog to wrestle him off.

  “We’re selling,” she heard Faith say the minute the dog was away from her. “We’re definitely selling.” Hope would have been depressed at her utterance but was soon distracted by the skies. It began to snow.

  CHAPTER 15

  Hope stood on the sidewalk of the adorable downtown with her petulant sisters and company. They’d had their first big snowfall, and the town was covered in a beautiful white blanket. Yet her sisters were still moody. Faith had risen with the sun to go for a run, but when Hope peered outside she saw Faith pacing by the side of the barn, talking on her cell. Was she arguing with Stephen or was something else going on?

  Joy, on the other hand, had spent the morning sucking up to their grandmother. Waxing poetic about the commercialism of Christmas and trying to sneak in the merits of espresso. Finally, Hope had corralled everyone into this trip downtown. Yet Faith and Joy were sporting sour faces. What in the world was it going to take to break through to those two? How could anyone gaze at these snow-covered mountains and pout? Brittany and Josh were lagging behind, and Harrison still seemed conscious of letting the girls have some alone time. Joy wasn’t having it. Any time he pulled away, she grabbed his arm and clung to him. Oh well. They were still together, even if Joy didn’t have eyes for anyone but Harrison. Surely they would be just as charmed by the downtown as she was. Because even if Yvette didn’t want to celebrate Christmas up at the log home, the town was certainly celebrating it down here. Christmas lights were strung in the windows of every shop, electronic reindeer grazed in a patch of snow in the median, wreaths dotted doorways, shop windows boasted decorative themes, and in the center of the town was a gigantic Christmas tree. There was a tree-lighting event coming up with costumes, and singers, and lantern parades led by old-fashioned Santas, and swarms of people swept up by the spirit of Christmas. Hope was going to have to find a way to get everyone to attend. Forcing them to have a good time was another matter altogether. At least they were here now. Having fun. Weren’t they?

  “Isn’t it adorable?” Hope said, gesturing to the quaint street.

  “Picture-perfect,” Faith agreed, staring at the chalet façades.

  “Too perfect,” Joy said. “Wonder what weirdness lurks underneath.”

  “Like a Stephen King novel,” Harrison said.

  “Let’s stick with Norman Rockwell,” Hope said.

  “Who?” Josh said.

  Hope ruffled his hair. “A famous artist. He painted a lot of quaint, small-town scenes just like this one.”

  “Okay,” Josh said in a tone that conveyed whatever.

  “Look,” Brittany pointed. Across the street you could see kids careening down a snow-covered hill on sleds. The overnight snowfall had brought all the outdoor activities to life. Farther still, Hope could make out a horse and carriage making the rounds. “Can we do that?”

  “Yes,” Hope said.

  “No,” Faith said.

  Hope nudged her. “You used to love sledding.”

  “That was before I was a mom. One of these two will break an appendage and spend the rest of their holiday in a cast.”

  “It’s sledding,” Hope said. “Not skiing down Black Diamond.”

  “Today we’re just going to wander the shops and get a bite to eat.” Faith forged ahead without awaiting a response.

  “We’ll go soon,” Hope said, looping her arm around Brittany. She tried to bring Josh into the mix, but he deftly avoided her touch.

  “I love sledding,” Brittany said.

  “We can ice skate on Yvette’s pond too,” Hope said.

  “I love this place.” Brittany grinned.

  “I do too!” Hope said. Why couldn’t her sisters be as enthusiastic and happy? Or her nephew. He was definitely scowling. She turned to him. “How about you, Josh? Willing to try out the hills or the ice?”

  “Nah,” he said.

  “Why not?” Brittany asked. She looked at Hope, then glanced at Josh. “Moody.”

 
“Shut up,” Josh said.

  “We can build snowmen and have snowball fights too,” Hope said. “Then make hot chocolate and string popcorn.”

  “This is going to be our best Christmas ever,” Brittany said.

  “Ironic,” Josh said. “Given that our great-grandmother said we’re not to celebrate it.”

  “We’re celebrating already,” Hope said. She took a deep breath and tried to convince herself she was having a good time.

  “Do I have to come?” Josh asked as he caught up with Hope and Brittany. Faith was still bulldozing ahead, and Joy and Harrison were lagging behind.

  Hope tried to keep her tone light. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you looking forward to a good Bavarian meal?”

  “No,” Josh said.

  “Told you. Moody,” Brittany said.

  Hope put her arm around Josh. “I’m sure they’ll have cheeseburgers and fries on the menu too.”

  Faith had already disappeared into a shop but by the time Hope caught up, she couldn’t be sure of which one. Hope wanted to go into the first shop anyway. It was a cooking shop, and in the spirit of Christmas you could smell sugar cookies baking in the oven. She tried to get Joy’s and Harrison’s attention. She waved frantically and called their names until a look of pure horror on Josh’s face brought her to a stop. Yikes. She was now at the age where she was embarrassing teenagers in public. She would get a grip; there was no need to worry where everyone was.

  “Come on,” she said to Brittany and Josh. “Let’s check this one out.” A bell chimed as they stepped in. It was warm and welcoming. A kitchen was set up in the middle of the store with a counter filled with a tray of just-baked cookies, along with a rolling pin and icing waiting to be piled on. Cookie cutters were lined up along the counter. Hope took in all the different shapes. Santa, reindeer, trees, and ornaments. Customers were busy squeezing bags of icing onto their creations, laughing if too much squirted out. This was what family and friends were for—laughter, and doing things with one another. Hope wished Joy and Faith were here, ready and eager to decorate cookies together. If this were a Hallmark movie, they’d all be here, squealing, connecting, and maybe even getting icing in one another’s hair.

  “Can we decorate a cookie?” Brittany asked, jumping up and down.