by Tess Brennan
By unspoken agreement, nobody mentioned Dan or the settlement he’d agreed to.
Christmas Day dawned bright and cold, and they joined Grace, Tolly and his children for the early service at church. Since so many others had the same idea, the church was packed, and by the time they all emerged they were glad to breathe the fresh air.
“I love carols,” Kate said happily. “This is my favorite time of year. No, one of my favorites.”
Brooke and Sophie groaned. “You say this every year,” Brooke said. “And then we have to listen to a list of your other favorites.” She rolled her eyes at Jossy, who actually smiled back. “Spare us, Mom.”
“You’ll have to come over for a while sometime today,” Grace said to Kate. “I want your girls to have some time with Jossy and Logan.” She smiled at Brooke and Sophie.
“Are you going back to open presents?” Tolly asked. When they nodded, he went on, “Come over for a while after you’ve done that, before you get too tied up with cooking Christmas dinner.” His gaze bathed Grace in warmth.
Kate looked at her girls, raising an enquiring eyebrow. “That sounds good to me. Girls?”
“Done,” Sophie said. “If Amy and Lachlan haven’t arrived by then, we’ll keep an ear open for them. We’ll be nipping back and forth to check on dinner, anyway.”
“Ask them to come too,” Tolly said.
“We will. Thank you.” Kate tore her eyes away from him with difficulty, and then blushed when she saw Grace’s knowing glance. Was it so obvious?
Clearly it was – to Grace, anyway.
“We’d better get going, then,” Kate said, looking at her watch. “We’ve got a turkey to put in the oven – otherwise we won’t be eating until midnight!”
Kate stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the oven, which was ominously dark and cold. “I don’t believe it.”
“Believe,” Brooke responded dolefully. “It was going to be my first effort at cooking Christmas turkey, too.”
“On Christmas Day. On Christmas Day.” Sophie made up the third of the semi-circle of unhappy people staring at the oven. “Like, it couldn’t have acted up during the week, when you had half a chance of getting it fixed. It had to be today.”
Kate ran through the options in her mind. “There’s a portable oven in the church hall, but I don’t think it’s big enough for the turkey. We’ll just have to come up with Plan B.”
“Baked beans on toast?” Brooke sighed. “I went to so much trouble to find a good recipe, too.”
“We’ve got the Christmas ham,” Kate pointed out. “We can do roast veggies in the electric frypan, and salads don’t need an oven.” She tapped a finger on her teeth, thinking. “I’ve got a recipe somewhere for roast turkey breast. If we can borrow Grace’s electric frypan, we can section the turkey and just cook it a different way.”
“Will it work?” Sophie sounded doubtful.
“Of course it will work,” Kate said bracingly. “I saw a recipe online when I was looking for ideas. I’ll call Grace.”
“Aren’t we going over there anyway?” asked Brooke. “We can just bring it back with us.”
Kate glanced up at the clock. The turkey breast would be much quicker than cooking a whole turkey, and the vegetables wouldn’t take long. They had plenty of time. “If we just stay for a little while, it’ll be OK.”
“No,” Grace said firmly. “I’m not lending you my frypan. You’re coming here.”
Kate frowned, and only with great strength of will refrained from shooting a glance at Jossy, who was listening. “Grace, no! There’s no way I’m going to dump an extra five people on you on Christmas Day!”
Grace folded her arms and stared her down. “And what better day could there be to help out your neighbors?”
“It’s too much,” Kate said firmly. “We’re fine. All we need is an extra frypan. Then everything’s covered.”
Grace eyed her thoughtfully. “Everything’s covered here, too. We have a fold-up table, and extra chairs, and plenty of room. There’s many a year I’ve catered for more than twenty people at Christmas. Just say yes.”
“Honestly, we can’t.” Kate folded her arms too. Christmas dinner with Jossy sending disapproving glances her way throughout the meal? She could do without that. “Thank you, but we’ll be fine.”
“Well,” said Tolly with great amusement, looking from one of them to the other. “Look at you two. Both as stubborn as the other. Kate, honestly, we can do all the cooking here – and we’d love to have your family join us. The food I’ve got prepared is way more than the four of us can eat anyway.”
Before Kate could respond, Grace turned her considerable twinkly-eyed charm on her daughters. “Sophie. Brooke. Talk some sense into your mother.” She slung an arm around Brooke’s shoulders. “It would make my day to have you all here with my family.”
Unexpectedly, Brooke spoke up. “Mom, it sounds like fun. Why not?”
Kate looked at her in surprise, just as Sophie joined in. “Yeah, Mom, why not? This can go down in history as one of those Christmas cooking disasters when we had to take refuge at the neighbors’ house.”
“No different to a church pot luck,” Grace said. “Only better.”
Kate could see she wasn’t going to win this round. Forcing a laugh, she shook her head. “All right. I know when I’m outnumbered.” As an afterthought, she looked at Tolly’s two children, who were standing there saying nothing. “Logan? Jossy? Is this OK with you?”
“Sure,” Logan said immediately, but he grinned at Sophie, who smiled back but went faintly pink.
Huh. That explained why Sophie was so quick to agree, thought Kate. The two of them had been sitting next to each other in church, too. She looked at Jossy and waited.
“Jossy?” Grace prompted.
“Sure, whatever.” Jossy rallied and smiled at her grandmother, but didn’t look at Kate.
“Great, that’s settled.” Tolly looked at his watch. “Kate, girls, why don’t you go get whatever you want to bring across, and we’ll line it all up in the kitchen and see what we’ve got? Logan, the spare table’s down in the basement – there’s a few paint cans on it, just dump them in a corner. Jossy, there are some stacking chairs in the garage.”
“Yes, sir!” Logan saluted him smartly and earned a good-humored cuff on his shoulder for sass.
“No need for extra flatware or plates, I have all that,” Grace said. She looked thoroughly delighted at the turn of events. “This is going to be such fun!”
Within half an hour, the Nelson dining room looked as though it had always been ready for nine people, not four. Kate brought across a festive tablecloth and centerpiece of pine cones and berries, and dishes of food. Tolly reorganized the kitchen work flow and timing without missing a beat, clearly just as happy with the turn of events as his mother.
“He’s a bit different to Dad, isn’t he?” Sophie murmured in Kate’s ear as they carried plates from the kitchen to the table. “Dad would have completely lost the plot if the oven had died.”
“And made us all pay for it,” Brooke contributed, following them.
“Some people can handle stress better than others,” Kate said mildly, but couldn’t help flashing back to more than one Christmas that had been spoiled by Dan’s bad temper. It was nice to be with a man who could adapt to circumstances.
A man who was, she thought, basically happy. Tolly had been through a lot, but he had remained a nice person.
Outside, they heard a car pull up. The engine cut out, followed soon after by the sound of a couple of car doors closing.
Brooke and Sophie exchanged a glance, and then both looked at their mother.
“Yeah, I heard,” Kate said. “I’ll go out and tell Amy about the change in plans. You carry on, ask Tolly what else you can do, OK?”
She popped her head in the kitchen. “That sounds like Amy and Lachlan. I’ll bring them over.”
Tolly flicked a tea-towel over his shoulder and smiled at her. �
��Good. Let’s get the party started!”
14
Amy and Lachlan were already nearly to the front door of Kate’s house. Amy had several carry bags with her, crammed with Christmas gifts, and Lachlan was carrying a huge basket of Christmas goodies, extravagantly done up with cellophane and ribbons.
Kate hurried across, waving to get their attention. “Amy! Lachlan!”
They turned in surprise and waited. When she reached them, Kate kissed Amy and gave her a one-armed hug, then followed suit with Lachlan. “So glad you could make it! Let me give you a hand with something.”
“Hi, Mother.” Amy looked back to where Kate had come from. “Visiting the neighbors?”
“Well, actually, we’ve had a change of plans. Would you believe it, the oven’s just died!” Injecting great good humor into her voice, Kate explained what had happened.
“So we’re going to eat next door?” Amy didn’t look happy. “Mom, we barely know them. I’ve met Grace, like, once.”
Lachlan said nothing, but it was obvious he was no more excited by the change of plans than his wife.
“it was very kind of them to ask,” Kate said. “And they’re lovely people.”
“How many are over there?”
“Only four. Grace, her son Tolly, and his two grown-up kids, Jossy and Logan.”
Amy heaved a huge sigh. “Oh, Mom. Christmas dinner with strangers?”
Kate looked at her and stifled a sigh of her own. Amy was so much like her father; the glass was always half empty. “Yes,” she said, “we probably could have managed. But they wouldn’t take no for an answer, and we’ll all have a good time, I promise.”
She looked fed up. “Let’s get it over with, then.”
Lachlan cleared his throat. “We can’t stay for too long anyway.” He shot a quick glance at Amy. “We need to be back on the road again by around three. The weather… you know.”
“Yes, I know.” Putting a good face on it, Kate sent him a bright smile. “It’s good of you both to come, especially when you have family of your own to visit, Lachlan. Are you going to catch up with them too?”
His expression grew wooden. “I can’t really spare the time, unfortunately. There’s work, and the distance… maybe later in the year.”
Kate gestured to the Nelson house. “Come on over, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
“Wait. Can I talk with you first, Mom?” Amy said. “Seeing we’ll be eating dinner with strangers? It’s about this thing with Dad.”
Lachlan turned away, his eyes wary. “I’ll, uh, start walking.”
“Here, take these with you.” Amy slid the handles the two carry bags off her wrists and onto Lachlan’s. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Kate sighed, watching Lachlan walk away. “Amy, it’s Christmas. Do we have to talk about this today?”
“But we’re leaving in a few hours. I might not get another opportunity.” Amy met her eyes defiantly. “I’ll keep it short. Dad says you want your share to be divided between the three of us.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, we don’t want that.”
Kate finally let her annoyance show. “Well, I do. I’ve already told you all how I feel. Can’t you let it rest?”
“But, Mom.” To Kate’s horror, sudden tears shone in Amy’s eyes. “We’re worried about you; can’t you see that? You refusing to take any money is just too silly for words. You need it, Mom. You know you do.”
“Not right now, I don’t. I have enough for my needs.”
“You’re not getting any younger, and you don’t even own your own house.” Amy took her mother by the arms. “Please, Mom. Take the money. It’s enough for a down payment on a house, and we can all help with the repayments. Well, not Sophie, yet, but Lachlan and I can. Brooke can manage a little.”
Kate stared at her, stunned. “Enough for a down payment on a house? It’s that much?”
Amy nodded. “From what we’ve found out, Lachlan says what he’s offering is probably just a fraction of what he should be giving us, and he could end up in real trouble if we pursued it. But Brooke and Sophie refuse to take it any further.”
“But I –” Kate swallowed. “I still can’t believe your father did that to us.”
“Believe it.” Behind the anger in her daughter’s eyes, Kate saw the same kind of hurt that she was feeling. “His business is going well. Really well. There’s no way he could have built it up again so quickly unless he had a source of funds somewhere.”
Kate thought back to what Dan had told her when he and Martine had started a new business. “He said Martine’s family gave them a loan.”
“Martine’s family don’t have any money,” Amy said. “Our lawyer checked.”
Kate looked across to where Lachlan was standing outside the Nelson’s front door, looking awkward as he juggled the fancy basket of goodies and two huge bags of gifts. He was staring across at them, clearly unwilling to knock on the door and go in by himself. “We’d better go, introduce you both to the neighbors.”
“Just say you’ll take it,” Amy persisted. “Please.” She gave Kate a gentle shake. “It’s not wrong to accept the money, Mom.” She forced a wry smile. "I know you think I’m hard and unforgiving. And I know I’m demanding and difficult to get on with at times; not like my sisters. But about this, I’m right.”
For a moment, as she talked about being demanding and difficult, Kate saw sadness in her eyes, and that struck her like an arrow to the heart. An admission like this from her eldest daughter couldn’t have come easily.
She reached over and hugged her prickly eldest daughter. “Oh, Amy. It’d be a dull old world if we were all alike, wouldn’t it? I do appreciate all you’ve done, and what you’re trying to do for me. Can I just think about this a little more?”
“If you promise you really will think about it. That you’re not just saying this to get me to stop.” Amy actually hugged her back and said in a rush, “I do love you, Mom. I want you to be happy. We all do.”
“I promise.” Amy felt lighter than she had in days. “And you have to promise me something in return.”
“Sure.” Relieved, Amy stepped back and straightened her jacket, in control again. “Name it.”
“Just call me Mom,” Kate said, “not ‘Mother’. OK?”
15
Grace opened the door to them herself, just as Kate and Amy joined Lachlan on the front porch.
“Hello and welcome!” she said, with a huge smile, relieving Lachlan immediately of the giant basket. “I see you get the job of packhorse! You must be Amy’s man, Lachlan, right?” She passed the basket back to Tolly, who was hovering behind her, and reached up to give Lachlan a hug. “It’s lovely to see you.”
She turned her attention to Amy. “And Amy! You’re looking wonderful. Kate has been looking forward to your visit so much!” She gave her a hug and a kiss, and took her arm. “Come in, sit down and rest. You’ve both had a long drive.”
Grace was at her charming best: eyes twinkling, face beaming, exuding good cheer. She caught Kate looking at her quizzically and sent her a barely perceptible wink.
In the face of Grace’s warm welcome, Kate saw some of the tension leave Amy. Meanwhile, Tolly smoothly took control of Lachlan, the odd man out, showing him to a comfortable chair and engaging him immediately in his favorite topic: business.
Grace’s living room was separated from the family room by a wide archway, so traffic could flow between the two areas. Kate saw that the four youngest were all together sitting on a couple of sofas in the family room near the Christmas tree. Logan was perched next to Sophie, and was apparently another animal lover: the two of them had Nessy at their feet and were chatting about Sophie’s work at the animal shelter. Jossy and Brooke were half-watching the other two while carrying on a conversation of their own.
Kate felt the tension in her shoulders ease. It looked like the day could work out after all. Thank goodness: she couldn’t have borne it if it had been f
ull of awkward silences from Amy and Lachlan and suspicious looks from Jossy.
Half an hour later, when everyone was grouped around the Christmas tree sampling Grace’s annual attempt at eggnog (better this year, Tolly assured Grace in a humorous aside, because he’d taken over and adjusted the amount of spiced rum), Kate put down her glass and went to fetch Grace’s quilt from where she’d stashed it behind a sofa.
“Merry Christmas, Grace,” she said, bending down to give her a special hug and kiss as she handed over the gaily-wrapped parcel. “You’ve been a wonderful friend. This is a little something for your new bedroom.”
Grace’s eyes lit up and she instantly looked across at Tolly, who was sitting forward in anticipation. “I knew something was up. I can always tell when there’s something you’re hiding!”
“We were in cahoots,” Kate admitted with a laugh. “It’s always a challenge, keeping a secret from you!”
Grace sighed happily and smoothed the paper wrapping, tweaking the ribbon. “The anticipation is the best part.” She prodded the parcel. “It’s big. It’s soft. Something tells me you’ve been busy at the sewing machine, Kate.”
Logan groaned. “Nan, quit that! Just open it, already!”
“All in good time.” Grace tugged at the ribbon and undid the bow carefully, relishing the suspense. Then she peeled back the paper and stared at the glowing colors of the quilt. Kate had folded it carefully so the center panel was uppermost, with its beautiful bright spring flower design, focusing primarily on her favorite blues, shading off into colors of dusk.
“Oh, my goodness.” Overcome with emotion, she bit her lip and turned to Kate, beckoning. “Oh, Kate, you are so talented. Give me a kiss.”
Laughing, Kate obeyed, her arm around Grace’s shoulders as she perched on the arm of her chair. “Want us to hold it up for you?”
