Tingle Bells

by Mardi Ballou

  “How long has Louise been estranged from the family?”

  “Thirty-six years,” Fred answered. Claire nodded her agreement.

  Thirty-six years? Ramon blinked back his difficulty in believing the way people alienated each other. “You haven’t heard from Louise in all that time?” Ramon asked. Everyone turned to him, and Ramon suspected they’d forgotten he was there.

  “No,” Claire responded. “Unless you count her little games, the tricks she’s played from time to time.”

  “What sort of tricks?” Ramon asked.

  Claire shrugged. “Little things that went wrong and showed her trademark meddling. Annoyances. But she’s never before done anything on the scale of tampering with the Tingle Bells. Can’t think what’s gotten into her.”

  Despite the others’ discouragement, Ramon saw a ray of light. “The people who detected the hex told us Louise can undo it. Actually, she’s the only one who can undo it in time for Christmas sales. But first we have to convince her to do so. Fred and Claire, since you know Louise and we don’t, tell us what to do.”

  Claire started to say something, but appeared to change her mind. “I just don’t know. It’s been so long.” She looked so wistful as she said the last words, Ramon wanted to hug her.

  Justin went to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s very important, Aunt Claire. There must be something you can remember that will help us.”

  Claire screwed up her face and shook her head. “I’m afraid not,” she said weakly.

  “Do you know how we can contact her?” Ramon asked.

  Claire began to nod. When we she caught Fred looking at her, she quickly shook her head instead.

  Justin let her go. “Ramon will go ahead and locate her. Then he and I will have to call Aunt Louise and do the best we can.”

  Claire began to weep, and Fred’s facial expression turned murderous.

  * * * * *

  Justin had thought Ramon was nuts when he insisted on bringing the problem to his family, but he’d been right on target. At least now they had a better idea about Aunt Louise. He’d thought his family was batty before. Now he knew it for a fact. He also knew Ramon had to be spooked and more than ready to put distance between himself and the crazy Clancys. Losing the possibility of something developing between him and Ramon hurt, but family came first.

  Back at his office, Ramon made short work of locating Aunt Louise, who turned out to live less than a mile from Uncle Fred’s house. “They’ve been so close to each other for all these years and managed not to have any contact. Is that weird or what?” Justin could easily walk the distance between the houses.

  “Families are weird,” Ramon responded. “That doesn’t stop them from being wonderful.”

  Right at this moment, the word wonderful was not the first that came to mind to describe his family. Justin read the information on the screen over Ramon’s shoulder. He could think of more delicious ways to spend the next few hours than trying to persuade an old lady to unhex his bells, but duty called. “Her phone number’s unlisted,” he muttered. “I suppose that means we’ll have to just go over and confront her in person.”

  Ramon chuckled. “Do you really think I can’t get hold of an unlisted number?”

  “An impressive bag of tricks. Okay, let’s get her number and call.”

  Ramon shook his head. “Though I’d have no problem getting her number, I think the element of surprise will work best for us. Let’s pay a visit to your aunt. If she doesn’t answer her door, we’ll resort to the phone.”

  As they drove separately to the address, having swung by the office to pick up Ramon’s car, Justin felt his excitement growing. He was about to meet the mysterious, almost legendary Aunt Louise in person. Though in his mind’s eye he’d built up the image of some mythical quasi-beast, actually he realized he was about to meet a lady in her late middle years who’d probably resemble Aunt Claire very closely.

  “I hope she’ll cooperate,” Ramon muttered.

  “With the two of us charming her, she won’t be able to resist.” Justin almost believed his own words.

  The house they parked near turned out to be a close cousin to the one the other Clancys shared, though smaller. It could also use some work, but it showed benign neglect rather than any hint of its owner being too poor or incapacitated to have dealt with maintenance in the recent past.

  For about a million reasons, Justin was glad Ramon was here with him. With any luck, their visit would be fruitful. Aunt Louise would call off her hex, the Tingle Bells would be good as new and everyone could enjoy the holiday season.

  Why couldn’t he shake the suspicion that he was missing something essential here and that things couldn’t be as simple as he hoped?

  Chapter Five

  Ramon quickly surveyed the street before he and Justin approached Louise Clancy’s house. Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. They walked up the four wooden steps to the porch of the old-fashioned house, which could use another coat of paint to spruce up its weathered white exterior. Ramon rang the bell on the left side of the stout wooden door with three small panes of glass across the top. The chimes echoed loudly inside the house.

  A few moments later they heard footsteps shuffle to the door. “Who is it?”

  Here it came, the moment of truth. In for a penny, in for a pound. Ramon nodded to Justin to speak. “It’s Justin Clancy, your nephew.”

  Ramon held his breath waiting for Louise’s response. They heard the sounds of a lock being undone, a latch released. The door swung open, and Claire Clancy’s twin stood before them. “Justin!” She threw her arms wide and invited him in as if there’d been nothing but the warmest and closest of relationships between them before today. “Come in! I’ve been waiting for you! And bring your friend.”

  Justin flashed a glance at Ramon before they both followed Louise into her creatively cluttered interior. Neither of them had anticipated such a friendly reception, and they didn’t quite know what to make of it.

  “‘Come into my kitchen,’ said the spider to the fly.” She chuckled at her own joke. Her walk was more waddle than glide as she led them to the kitchen and indicated they should sit down at her large round table, which was covered by a Christmas-decorated cotton cloth and a haphazard multitude of books, magazines and newspapers. “Do you boys drink tea, coffee, hot chocolate or something cold?”

  Ramon was about to say “No, thanks” but Justin signaled him to accept something.

  “I’m having my special brew of hot chocolate,” she said. “I recommend it highly.”

  “We’ll both have the same,” Justin said.

  Louise busied herself at the stove. Ramon watched her blend milk, grated chocolate, cocoa and some other ingredients into a saucepan. She turned on the gas, stirred the mixture with great care, then poured the hot drink into huge mugs and topped each with whipped cream and tiny marshmallows. It smelled amazing.

  Moving with surprising quickness, she cleared enough of the table to give them each a napkin, spoon and plate. She put a large crystal tiered dish loaded with cookies in another clear spot and sat down. “So, Justin, what took you so long to come here to meet me?”

  Justin seemed taken aback by his aunt’s question. “I’m sorry I never came before. But the family story was that you didn’t want to be in contact with any of us.”

  She pushed back her spectacles and frowned. “And you believed that bull?”

  “I guess I did. My feeling always was that speaking about you was strictly verboten, you know?”

  She nodded vigorously, and a glimmer of sadness animated her eyes. “I can imagine. So what’s different now? What made you come?”

  Wily, Ramon thought. Louise had to know exactly why they were there.

  Justin favored her with a knowing look. “I think you know. It’s an emergency. You see, we need the Tingle Bells…”

  “Who’s your friend?” she interrupted.

  Ramon sipped his drink, and choked.
“What’s in this?” he managed to ask when he’d swallowed.

  “My secret ingredient,” Louise said.

  “Which is?” Ramon pushed.

  “Oh, if you must know. I’ve found that a blend of powdered garlic and onion enhances the chocolate.” She looked very proud.

  Ramon decided to forego any more of the drink. He waited to see how Justin would introduce him. “Aunt Louise, this is Ramon Ramirez. He’s a detective here in Princeton. You see, I consulted with him when I discovered what happened with the Tingle Bells. We’ve come to ask you to reverse the hex. It’s the only way—”

  Ramon felt a pang of sadness that Justin continued to allude only to their professional relationship. Of course, it was understandable. After all, Justin had just met this aunt. He didn’t know anything about her, and he needed her to do a great favor for him.

  “That’s the only reason you came?” Her question hit Ramon like a punch to the gut. The loneliness and longing in her voice and on her face could have melted granite. Justin blinked hard, and Ramon saw he felt it too.

  “I apologize, but yes. That’s the first reason I came. I know it’s presumptuous. But now that I’ve met you, I wish I hadn’t listened to the family mythology and that I’d come here long ago.”

  Louise snorted. She looked from Ramon to Justin. “You two lovers?”

  Ramon hadn’t expected that. Justin’s eyes flew open. What would he answer? For a moment, the silence in the room weighed a ton. Then, after an eternity, Justin said, “We’re dating. Ramon…” For a moment, Justin seemed at a loss for words. Then he continued, “Ramon’s very important to me.” To illustrate the point, he put his hand on Ramon’s shoulder. Ramon nearly wept with relief at being acknowledged. But what would Louise say? Was she a rabid homophobe who’d use that as a reason to deny Justin’s request?

  She nodded. She reached a hand to each of them. “Do you know why I’ve been estranged from the family for so long?”

  Justin blinked some more. “According to Uncle Fred, there was something about your having the wrong boyfriend. Someone who wanted you and the rest of the family to use your witchcraft for what he calls ‘crass commercial purposes’.”

  Louise shook her head. “That sounds exactly like Dad. He always had his high principles, and he stuck with them, no matter what.”

  “So is that the reason, Louise?” Ramon managed to resume use of his tongue.

  “Stan Trask. Ah, yes. I haven’t thought of Stan in a hundred years or so.”

  “You mean you’re not with him any longer?” Justin looked wonderingly at her. “How long were you together?”

  “Not long. In just a short time after I left home, I agreed with Dad and Claire. Stan wasn’t for me at all.” She gestured to the plate of cookies. “Justin, Ramon, why aren’t you eating any of these delicious cookies? I’d have thought young men like you would be hungry all the time.”

  “Did you make them?” Ramon asked.

  She shook her head. “They really are delicious.”

  Justin reached for a cookie, and Ramon followed suit, though he felt too nervous to eat. When and how would they get Louise on track to take the hex off the bells? Patience wasn’t his long suit, and it wasn’t Justin’s either. Still, he expected it would be a huge mistake to try to rush Louise into anything. She seemed to need to talk, and he and Justin would be her captive audience until they figured out a way to get what they needed from her.

  “It is delicious,” Justin said after he inhaled one cookie and reached for another. “But, Aunt Louise, if you broke up with Stan Trask right away, why didn’t you just go back home?”

  “And have Dad and Claire crow about having told me so?” She rolled her eyes.

  “You’ve been apart from them a long time just to avoid hearing that. Besides, I don’t think they would have crowed for too long. And, you’ve missed meeting me and Pat, who’s Claire’s grandson.”

  Louise sat back in her chair. “I’ve missed a lot, you’re right, Justin. And I’m sorry about that. But I didn’t stay away just to avoid having them be right. You see, I met someone else. The love of my life, Robbie.” Now her eyes filled with tears.

  Justin put his arm around her shoulders in a hug as Louise wept. When she’d calmed down, Ramon asked, “Were you afraid your family would reject the other man you fell in love with because they’d rejected Stan Trask?”

  She wiped away her tears with a lace-trimmed hanky Justin thought looked very similar to Aunt Claire’s and blew her nose. Her smile wavered. “Not the man, the woman. Robbie was what I called Roberta from the day we met.”

  Ramon had to struggle to assimilate the information hurtling at him. Justin’s mouth gaped open, and he seemed to have a harder time dealing with Louise’s news than Ramon did. But then things started to fall into place. “You thought your family would reject you and Robbie?”

  Louise sighed. “Actually, I didn’t know for sure. But let’s face it, the way things were back then, most families didn’t seem eager to accept female couples.”

  “Or males,” Ramon pointed out.

  “Or males.” Louise’s lips tightened into a grim line. “Stan Trask was one thing. They were right in warning me off him—because of how he wanted me to use witchcraft and about a hundred other reasons. But if they’d rejected me and Robbie, it would have shattered my heart into a thousand pieces. I just figured I couldn’t risk it.”

  “But surely, as time went by—” Justin’s eyes brimmed with compassion.

  “Time. When you’re young, it feels like you’ll have all the time in the world to do whatever you want to. And then, all of a sudden, the years have flown. Every so often, on holidays or on the birthday I share with Claire, I’d start to contact them. And then something would come up, and I’d lose the thread. And thirty-six years flew by.” She shook her head. “But what about you two? Does the family accept your relationship?”

  Ah, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. Both Ramon and Louise looked at Justin, who squirmed in his seat. “They don’t know.”

  “Have they met Ramon yet?”

  Justin nodded. “I introduced him in his professional capacity.”

  “Not quite a lie,” Louise said, “except by omission.” She pursed her lips. “Like I’m the one to talk. On the other hand, Justin, I’d love it if you could learn from my mistakes. Do they even know you’re gay?”

  Justin colored. “I haven’t come out to them. I’m not guarding my identity as a deep, dark secret or anything. I just haven’t said the words.”

  “I see. Are you afraid to?”

  Justin squirmed harder, and Ramon kept holding his breath. “No, not that exactly. It just hasn’t come up.”

  Both Ramon and Louise looked skeptically at him.

  “I think they might surprise you with their response if you gave them the chance,” Louise said softly. “Though I hardly led by example on that, did I?”

  Unsure what to do next, Ramon scarfed down a cookie.

  “Where’s Robbie now?” Justin asked.

  Louise swallowed hard. “I buried her earlier this year. Talk about a heart breaking. This will be my first Christmas alone. When she died, I couldn’t believe I’d go on living and breathing without her, but Clancys live forever.”

  Both Ramon and Justin reached out to her, each taking one hand. They both offered their sympathy. Though Ramon had been pissed at Louise for the stunt she’d pulled, now he could feel her pain and forgive her even if he didn’t condone what she did and he still hoped she’d undo it.

  “The loneliness since she’s been gone—” Louise sighed. “This house feels far too big now, but I can’t bring myself to leave the place where we shared our love. Heck, I can’t even bring myself to straighten up her stuff.” She swept a hand over the clutter covering the table. “All these books and things are as she left them. If I clean them up—goddess, when I clean them up—it’ll be as if she’s really, really gone.”

  “That’s very sad for you. But Aunt L
ouise, why didn’t you contact the family after Robbie passed?”

  “I just didn’t know how, didn’t know what to say to get them to open their arms to me after all this time.”

  “So you hexed the Tingle Bells?” Justin’s voice contained a mix of incredulity, anger and a tinge of affection.

  She actually blushed, which really got to Ramon. “Justin, I’m sorry. But I will tell you, I’m rich. Oh, I never used the craft for any ‘crass commercial purposes’. Robbie and I were very successful with our business. We had a fabric shop and taught classes in quilting and other needle arts. Just sold it last year when Robbie started declining. It all happened so fast. But Justin, I wouldn’t have let Clancy’s Fancies go bankrupt. Heck, I still own an interest in the business. That’s how I knew about the Tingle Bells. I figured I’d step in and save the family—if I stepped forward with generous offers of funds to bail you all out, the family would have to invite me back. Especially for the holidays.”

  Ramon couldn’t believe it. Though, reflecting on his own biological relatives, maybe he could.

  “Aunt Louise,” Justin groaned. “It wasn’t just the money. I slaved and struggled for years to create the Tingle Bells. They were the culmination and first step of my dream for my life.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said weakly. “I just didn’t think about all the ramifications. When I hexed the Tingle Bells, I didn’t know anything about you, Justin.”

  “Right. You didn’t know that before I could make Tingle Bells, I studied music and metallurgy at Rutgers, then went to the Netherlands to study sonology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. You didn’t know I’m still paying off my student loans and that Pat, who you didn’t know existed, is racking up bills in med school.” Justin’s voice rang with indignation.

  “I’m really sorry, Justin.” She looked stricken as she wrung her hands. “I’ll pay off your debts, do whatever you want to make it up to you.”

  “Just take the hex off the bells,” he muttered.

  Louise blinked hard. “Of course. It’s a simple matter. I’ll need to cast a circle, get my equipment and my spell book.”