On Christmas Eve

by Thomas Kinkade

  Lucy hadn’t even heard Charlie come in or up the stairs. He suddenly stood in Zoey’s doorway, looking at them. “What’s going on in here? What’s the matter now?”

  “Nothing is wrong, Charlie. That boy who was bothering Zoey has been arrested. He was caught stealing a car. It looks like he’s going to be in jail a long time.”

  Charlie didn’t have much reaction at first. Then he looked truly relieved. “That is good news. I’m going to call Tucker. He doesn’t have to watch the diner so closely.”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Well, thank goodness I only have to go shopping once a year,” Charlie went on. “The stores were insane. I’m going to take a nap. I can’t believe tomorrow is Christmas already.”

  The tone in her husband’s voice and the way he shook his head, as if he was utterly surprised by the holiday’s arrival, made Lucy laugh. Or maybe that was just sheer relief bubbling up now that the dark cloud shadowing their Christmas had passed.

  Lucy stayed with Zoey a few minutes more, making sure she had calmed down. When she finally went back downstairs, she felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart. She no longer had to fear for Zoey’s safety. But she also felt better about the custody issue. It no longer seemed to be a tipping point in her marriage. She and Charlie were still in a gridlock about it, but this news had given them a little breathing room, she thought. A little space to work things out.

  MOLLY AND MATT’S CHRISTMAS EVE PARTY WASN’T OFFICIALLY STARTING until seven o’clock, but Betty arrived early to help with the preparations. Molly and her family lived just outside of town in an area of new homes. Some people might call their house a McMansion. Those people were probably jealous, Betty thought. It was spacious and comfortable, with all the extras and beautifully decorated, too. Molly had known some difficult years, living in an apartment over a store in town. She had worked hard for this dream house, and Betty thought her friend deserved it.

  Amanda, Molly’s stepdaughter, met Betty at the front door. “Merry Christmas, Betty. Good to see you.” Amanda leaned over and gave Betty a hug.

  “It’s good to see you,” Betty said. “You look so beautiful! When did you get home from school?”

  “Just last night. I wanted to get home sooner, but I had too many finals and papers to write.”

  “Yeah, I hate that, too,” Betty teased her. She slipped off her long wool coat, and Amanda took it from her. Amanda was so grown up now, a real young woman. She was in her second year of college, a music major at the University of Vermont. Molly’s oldest daughter, Lauren, was in the same year, but attended Boston University down in the city. Molly’s younger daughter from her first marriage, Jill, was in her senior year of high school and would be off to college next fall.

  No wonder Molly was such a workaholic, Betty reflected. Even though Matt was a doctor, it was hard to have two children in college and one on the way these days. Not to mention little Betty, who was going to be four years old next week.

  Amanda led the way to the back of the house. “Molly is in the kitchen. I think she’s waiting for you.”

  Was there a slight tone of warning in Amanda’s voice? Betty wouldn’t doubt it. Molly was a party professional, who handled huge weddings and even corporate events with ease. But for some inexplicable reason, entertaining her family threw her into a complete tizzy, no matter how many times she did it.

  Betty made her way back to the kitchen, admiring the decorations throughout the house. A large Christmas tree stood in a corner of the living room not far from the big stone fireplace. It was a tall tree, soaring up to nearly the top of the room’s cathedral ceiling and trimmed in white and gold this year. The mantel and shelves were decked with loops of fresh pine garlands and bunches of variegated holly tied with white satin bows. The tables were covered with rich, cream-colored linen cloths and lace-edged napkins. White roses twined in pine branches made up the centerpieces, and glowing white tapers provided the lighting. Everything looked natural and simple, yet elegant.

  “Molly, the house looks beautiful.” Betty gave her friend a hug as she stepped into the big kitchen. “I love the white roses with the pine. They look just like those pieces at the Historical Society Christmas Tea we did last week.”

  “I shamelessly copied them. I was going for a Victorian Christmas look anyway, I guess.”

  Molly had already set out some platters of appetizers on the big kitchen island that she used for a worktable. Betty could see that the dishes needed some garnish and sauces.

  “Want me to work on these?” she asked.

  “Would you, please? They’re all going to be rushing in any second now. I should have let that cheese sit out. It’s not going to have any flavor. And these crab puffs never defrosted. I hope they cook okay ...”

  Betty turned and grabbed Molly by the shoulders. “Look into my eyes. Repeat after me. . . . ‘I am a professional, a much sought-after caterer. I always give a great party. This is just my family. It will be great. It will be perfect. Everyone will have a good time . . . It’s Christmas, for goodness’ sake.’”

  Molly just laughed. “Okay, I get the point. You have permission to smack me if I start to go crazy again.”

  “Will do,” Betty promised. She took her own apron from her big tote bag and slipped it on over her outfit, a long velvet skirt and a shimmering satin top. Molly’s parties were a little formal, and Betty enjoyed dressing up.

  Betty was wondering where the rest of Molly’s family was hiding, when Molly’s youngest daughter raced into the room. She looked like a beautiful little doll that had somehow come alive, Betty thought, with long dark shiny curls, blue eyes, and dimples—a miniature of her mother. She was wearing a red velvet dress with a white satin collar, lacy tights, and black patent leather shoes.

  She ran to Molly and grabbed her around the legs. “Tell Lauren to go away. She’s being mean.”

  “She’s just trying to make you pretty, for the party,” Molly explained.

  “She did a good job, too,” Betty said. “What a pretty dress. You look like a little girl in a picture book.”

  “Let’s see how long it lasts. I’m predicting an hour,” Molly said under her breath.

  Lauren came in next, carrying a hairbrush, followed by Jill. They were also dressed up and looking very glamorous and grown up.

  “She won’t let me finish her hair. I wanted to make a braid,” Lauren told her mother, obviously talking about her little sister.

  “I think we’re going to have to settle for the wild, curly look tonight,” Molly told Lauren.

  “Maybe we can sneak that velvet hair band on her later,” Betty said.

  Molly had so far raised three other girls, so she knew when to pick her battles. Lauren, however, was determined to get her little sister looking picture-perfect. “You’d better let me fix your hair—or Santa won’t come.”

  The little girl suddenly stopped her fussing, and it only took a moment or two of coaxing for Lauren to lead her away again by the hand.

  “Betty’s all excited. She’s at the perfect age for Santa Claus—old enough to understand it and still young enough to believe. I put our house on the list for the Santa from the fire department,” Molly added in a whisper. “The volunteers drive around tonight and give out gifts. Janie will love it, too,” she added, mentioning Emily’s little girl who would also be at the party.

  Betty was placing lemon wedges around a bowl of shrimp cocktail. “The town still does that? We used to have him come for Brian.”

  Betty’s thoughts raced. Would she see Nathan tonight after all? She had not heard a word from him since last Sunday and had not given in to the temptation to call. Now that Christmas had arrived, she felt a bit melancholy, wishing she could at least wish him a good holiday. She still had his gift, because there had been no chance to give it to him. And maybe there never would be, she realized.

  Matt, Molly’s husband, came into the kitchen and greeted Betty with a hug.

  “Betty!
Good to see you. Thanks for helping Molly. She always says she wants me to help, but then she won’t let me do anything in here.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “These men . . . can’t live with ’em, can’t teach ’em how to peel an onion.”

  “I can peel an onion,” Matt insisted cheerfully.

  “I think we have that covered. Can you put this tray on the dining room table? Then come back. We have more stuff to take out,” she ordered him.

  “Will do.” He turned with the tray of appetizers as he left the room. “Oh, Alex just called. He’s on his way to visit his daughter, but he’s going to drop by for a few minutes.”

  Molly cast a glance in Betty’s direction. “Christmas Eve is just full of surprises.”

  “Yes, it is,” Betty agreed. The doorbell rang then, saving her from more conversation about Alex. She heard more guests arrive and could tell that Molly’s brother Sam and his family had arrived.

  Molly’s sister-in-law Jessica came back to the kitchen, carrying a tray of Christmas cookies. “Hi, Betty. Where should I put these?”

  “Just put it on the counter. I’ll take care of it. . . . Wow, these cookies are beautiful. We could use you in the shop,” Betty teased her.

  “These were a labor of love. A once-a-year effort,” Jessica explained.

  Sam came in carrying their little girl, Lily Rose, who would be a year old in February. She looked very sleepy with her head resting on her father’s shoulder. “Hey, Betty. Merry Christmas,” Sam said with a big grin. Sam had the trademark Morgan good looks, complete with the same dimples, dark hair, and blue eyes as his younger sister, Molly. In fact, so did the baby.

  “Merry Christmas, Sam,” Betty replied. “She looks just like you. But I guess you already know that.” Betty laughed. “Where are the boys?” Sam and Jessica had two older boys, Darrell and Tyler.

  “They’re still unloading our car. We had so many presents. ...” Sam leaned closer so Jessica couldn’t hear. “And with such a full car, we couldn’t pick up Jessica’s mother.”

  Betty held back a smile. Sam had never gotten along with Lillian Warwick very well, even after all these years. But he tried. She did hear that Lillian’s marriage last February to her longtime friend, Ezra Elliot, had softened her edges. But she had yet to see it with her own eyes.

  The doorbell sounded again and Betty heard the next wave of guests enter—Emily Warwick, Jessica’s older sister and her husband, Dan, and their little Janie. Then Betty heard the unmistakable, aristocratic voice of Lillian Warwick rising above the din.

  “. . . yes, you may take my coat, young lady, but please do not drag it along the floor. That’s a fur coat, not a dust mop.”

  Did Lillian still have that vintage, moth-eaten mink? Betty shook her head and grinned. “Lillian, calm yourself,” Ezra admonished her, his voice calm and amused. “We’re hardly in the door. Wait a moment. Is that what I think it is?”

  “Ezra? . . . What in the world . . . ?”

  Betty heard the group laughing and peeked out just in time to see Dr. Elliot catching his wife of ten months under the mistletoe. He gave her a sweet, solid kiss, which actually made her blush and left her flustered.

  “For goodness’ sake,” Lillian stammered, moving away from the offending decoration as quickly as she could. “Wasn’t that silly.”

  “Wasn’t it?” Ezra agreed, straightening his bow tie. “We are still officially honeymooners, Lily.”

  “So you keep reminding me.” She sighed, then settled herself in a big armchair near the hearth. Ezra took her hand and laughed. Betty noticed that Lillian did give him a sentimental look just then. It was true. Marriage had softened her—a bit.

  Emily and Dan were still taking off coats while the young people carted in bags of presents and set them around the tree. Molly was in the middle of everything, directing traffic. In the midst of the confusion a fire truck siren cut through the family chaos.

  “What in the world is that?” Matt asked theatrically. He swung open the door. “Hey, look who’s coming. Is that Santa Claus?”

  Everyone watched as the two little girls—Betty and Jane—ran to the door. Jane still had her coat on, and Dan bent down quickly to zip it up again. “Look, Jane. He’s going to stop right in front of Aunt Molly’s house. Shall we go out and see what he wants?”

  “Maybe he needs directions,” Jane said sagely.

  “If he does, he’d be the only man I know who would stop to ask for them, sweetie,” Molly told her. “I think he knows where he is. And I think he might have presents for you and for Betty.”

  Matt had put Betty’s coat on and along with Dan, they took the little girls out to see Santa.

  Betty followed Molly outside and stood near the porch rail, waiting. Betty felt her heartbeat quicken as she strained to see. If it was Nathan out there, what should she do? Wave from here and hope he recognized her? Run down to talk to him? Was that too obvious? He hadn’t been in touch in nearly a week now. Shouldn’t she be angry at him—or something?

  It was dark and Santa was at the very back of the long truck. Betty thought she recognized the suit and beard, but when Santa hopped off the back of the truck and leaned down to talk to the girls, she could see, even at such a distance that it wasn’t Nathan hiding under all that red velvet. Her hopes crashed. Her heart sank like a stone in deep water.

  False alarm. She wasn’t going to get to see Nathan tonight after all.

  The two men each held their little girls by the hand and stood back as the crisp night air was filled with the sound of sleigh bells again and the fire truck horn sounded, just for good measure. Then Santa jumped back on and the truck pulled away.

  Betty followed the rest of the group inside. She was grateful for the cold night air. It had cleared her head—and even kept her from getting a little teary-eyed out there.

  Betty was in the living room, talking with Emily and Dan, when Alex arrived. Betty saw him in the doorway, looking around. Then his gaze found her and he smiled.

  He walked straight to her. “Merry Christmas, Betty.” He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

  “Merry Christmas, Alex,” she said. She felt glad to see him. She had been enjoying herself but still felt a bit lonely, being the only single adult there. Even Amanda and Lauren had invited their boyfriends over and were having their own party in the family room.

  Betty introduced him to Emily and Dan, and they soon got into a conversation about the food pantry, and Emily started praising Betty for all the fund-raising she’d done.

  “You don’t have to convince me. She did a great job for them. I was very proud.” Alex put his arm around her shoulders in an affectionate hug. Betty felt herself tense, though she kept smiling. He seemed to be telling the world—or at least, everyone at the party—that they were a real couple and he had a right to be proud of her.

  She couldn’t help thinking of the end of the food pantry party when Nathan had put his arm around her the very same way while talking to the Pipers. For some reason, that gesture had felt more natural to her. More . . . authentic? Maybe because they had worked together on the project, it had all felt right with Nathan.

  But she and Nathan were not a couple. Anything but. This week of silence should have been enough to convince anyone of that.

  Dan and Alex started talking about sailing, one of Dan’s favorite subjects. As the two men drifted off to refresh their drinks, Emily pulled Betty aside. “He’s great. Where have you been hiding him?”

  “I haven’t been hiding him anywhere. We just started dating a few weeks ago. Molly introduced us.”

  “Good pick. I’ll have to congratulate her.” Emily chose a crab puff from a tray and popped it in her mouth.

  “If you must. But we’re still in the ‘we’ll see’ stage, if you ask me,” Betty explained.

  “Oh, I don’t know. You two look good together. Sometimes you can tell how these things are going to turn out.”

  Betty didn’t know what to say. Emily had known
her for a very long time. If she thought this was a serious relationship . . . well, maybe it was going in that direction. Maybe I’m going to be the last one to know, Betty thought.

  Alex was expected at his own family party, which was being held at his daughter’s house in Essex. But he didn’t seem in a great rush to get there. He loyally stuck to Betty’s side, even following her when she went to help Molly in the kitchen.

  When it was finally time for him to go, Betty had mixed feelings. Part of her wanted him to stay and keep her company, and the other part felt relieved.

  She walked him to the mud room behind the kitchen, where Molly had set up a coatrack. He took down his coat, then said, “I have something for you, a little Christmas gift.” There was a small shopping bag near his coat, and he handed it to her. Betty recognized the wrapping from an exclusive, expensive store.

  “I have something for you, too, Alex. But I didn’t bring it with me. I didn’t know you were going to be here. Maybe we should save the gifts and open them together?”

  “That’s okay. I can wait for mine. You go ahead. I want to see if you like it.”

  Betty thought that was very sweet. But now she felt a certain pressure as she undid the fancy bow and ripped off the paper. What if she didn’t like it? He’d obviously gone to some trouble and spent a lot of money, too. She was just going to have to act excited and pleased—no matter what was in there.

  Finally, the box was unwrapped. Betty’s eyes widened in awe. She didn’t have to playact at all. She was totally surprised and thrilled.

  “Alex, I love this perfume. How did you guess?”

  He had bought her a bottle of her favorite perfume, a scent so expensive she’d only had one tiny atomizer of it her entire life.

  “You mentioned it once to me, don’t you remember? We were in a restaurant, and you said that some woman nearby was wearing your favorite perfume. I couldn’t remember the name exactly, but I called Molly. She obviously gave me the right information.”