The Christmas Room

by Catherine Anderson

  Caleb wasn’t so sure about that.

  • • •

  When Cam got home, it looked to him as if a gigantic bird had flown the length of their property, depositing NO TRESPASSING signs. What the hell? He couldn’t believe his eyes. Mom, he thought. Sam Conacher must have really pissed her off last night. Cam wouldn’t have minded her posting the land. It was the vast number of signs that blew him away. And the fact that they looked junky. She hadn’t even gotten them in a straight line.

  As he pulled up to park outside the cabin, Caleb circled the building and ran to the passenger door. As he climbed into the truck, he said, “Hi, Dad. I need to tell you something, and I don’t want to be nervous about it all evening, because you’re not going to like it. In fact, I’m afraid you’re going to be really disappointed in me.”

  Cam had a flashback to when he’d been only a year older than Caleb and had said essentially the same thing to his father. His whole body tensed. “Okay.” He tried to sound calm. “Hit me.”

  “Please try to understand and don’t get mad,” Caleb said. “I love you, and I respect you, and I want you to be proud of me. But I don’t want to participate in equine sports. I want to play the violin instead.”

  Cam’s lungs deflated. “Damn it, Caleb. I thought you’d gotten some girl pregnant.”

  His son looked at him as if he’d grown a third eye in the middle of his forehead. “I don’t even have a girlfriend.”

  “Yes, well, I don’t know if my dad knew I had one before I told him that news. I think he knew I was dating, but not that I was serious about anyone.” Cam flexed his shoulders. “Whew,” he said on another exhale. “The violin, huh?” He sent his son a questioning look. “Did I just get snookered? Because you playing a violin suddenly seems like nothing compared to a grandchild.”

  Caleb grinned. “I didn’t snooker you. I just thought you’d be upset. You want me to do equine sports, and that isn’t my thing now.”

  Cam digested that. “I never intended to push you into doing anything. If you want to be a violinist, I’m totally fine with it. Will you still go riding with me?”

  “Sure. I like to ride horses, Dad. I just don’t want to compete on them.”

  Cam nodded. “Gotcha.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “What’s with the gazillion signs along our road?”

  “Gram’s making sure that Sam Conacher will trip over one if he tries to trespass on our land again. But if you think that’s bad, you should see the brick wall Mr. Conacher started building today. It’s six feet tall. Makes me wonder if he’s going to install underground sensors and infrared cameras to make sure we don’t tunnel under or try to crawl over.”

  Cam started to laugh. Caleb joined in. “Damn,” Cam said with a punctuating sigh. “My life has gone crazy. A violin? One rule from the start. You practice out of my earshot.”

  • • •

  Sam lay low until his eyebrows grew back and his mustache looked like a shorter version of its former self. It took only a week, which surprised him, but he honestly didn’t know why. At his age, he was thinning on top, and he could have sworn all the lost hair had moved to his face. As a young man, he’d had nice eyebrows. Now they sprouted like untended hedges over his eyes. Sometimes when he woke up in the morning, they waved at him when he looked in the mirror.

  Kirstin’s friend Marcy had had a few bad spells during that week. Sam knew damned well that his daughter wasn’t sitting with a sick friend, and his heart ached over it. It wasn’t only her seeing Cam McLendon that hurt him. What really drove the knife deep was that she was lying to him about it.

  Sam tried not to think about his beautiful daughter rolling around in bed with that jerk. He also tried to feel thankful that Kirstin hadn’t followed through on her threat to bring the man to her house. Sam wasn’t sure he could handle that. There was already enough tension between him and his daughter without her making it worse by engaging in nocturnal activities right next door. So he pretended that she actually was sitting with a sick friend. When they worked together during the day and he saw her texting on her phone with a dreamy smile on her face, he turned away.

  • • •

  Kirstin spent her lunch break on Thursday walking Marmalade. The horse no longer showed the slightest sign of a limp. The wrap on her leg had done the trick, and it hadn’t escaped Kirstin’s notice that her father had been checking on the mare and changed the bandage a few times. The realization made her both happy and sad. At his core, her dad was such a caring person, but since her mother’s death, Kirstin rarely saw that side of him.

  A warm breeze wafted over the pasture grass, bringing with it the scent of trees. The people of Montana endeavored to be good stewards of the ecosystem and preserved as much forestland as they could. Since childhood, Kirstin had tried to differentiate between the smells of the tree species on the valley floor and in the surrounding high elevations. She caught whiffs of alder, birch, Douglas fir, spruce, and ponderosa pine. No perfume created by man could ever compare.

  Her phone notified her that she had received a text. She stopped the horse to read the message. Pleased to see it was from Cam, she tapped on the screen to read what he’d written: The builder broke ground today, so we’ll be celebrating. I’d love to have you over for dinner tonight. Your father is included in the invitation.

  Kirstin grimaced. Her dad had ordered enough brick to build his own version of the Berlin Wall between their two properties. He wasn’t likely to join the McLendon family for a meal. Kirstin felt her palms grow moist at the thought of going herself. Cam’s mother probably disliked Kirstin on general principles because of her father’s horrid behavior. It might be a very uncomfortable evening. On the other hand, she wanted to meet Caleb. Her feelings for Cam continued to deepen. If it turned out that Caleb didn’t like her, it would be curtains for her and Cam.

  Kirstin understood that—and if it came down to it, she would be supportive of Cam’s decision to stop seeing her. Cam had to put his son first; that was a parent’s duty to a child. Still, she needed to know, sooner rather than later, if what she and Cam were feeling for each other needed to be snuffed out.

  Cam texted again. It’s time for you to meet Caleb.

  She smiled. So, she mused, we’re thinking along the same lines. That was good. Teenagers had their own way of looking at things. Since his birth Caleb had been the most important person in Cam’s life. He might resent the sudden intrusion of a girlfriend. If so, both she and Cam needed to know that now.

  She messaged him back. I’d love to come. What time?

  When you’re done with your workday. That’ll give you the whole evening to hang out with us. Don’t dress up. We’re pretty casual over here.

  Kirstin shoved her phone back in her jeans pocket. She was glad she didn’t have to dress up. At least she wouldn’t find herself standing in front of her closet, trying to find the perfect thing to wear.

  • • •

  Kirstin’s palms were sweating when she pulled her truck in beside Cam’s at the McLendon camp. She’d just driven past what appeared to be hundreds of signs along the shared private road. It looked as if someone was holding a political rally. Only that wasn’t the case. Each placard essentially sent a message to her father that he wasn’t welcome here.

  Three dogs raced out to meet her and barked ferociously as she exited her vehicle. Kirstin had never met a canine that didn’t like her, so she wasn’t alarmed.

  “Bingo, Bear, Boomer!” A teenage boy appeared at the back side of the cabin. He looked like a younger version of Cam with his brilliant blue eyes and honey brown hair. He had a lanky build, but she imagined he would fill out with more muscle as he grew older. “Sorry,” he called to her. “They’re ill-mannered heathens, but they don’t bite.”

  Kirstin hunkered down to fondle each dog as they jostled one another for position. “They’re gorgeous, and we have Aussies at
our place, so I’m used to the bluster.” She straightened and held out her hand to the approaching youth. “You must be Caleb. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”

  Caleb grinned. “I’ve heard the same about you. I think maybe my dad wants us to like each other.”

  Kirstin wasn’t sure how to take that. Did that mean Caleb had reservations?

  He began telling her the name of each dog.

  “Who named them?” she asked.

  “Me. I was four when I named Bingo, ten when I named the other two. Sounded like great names to me at the time. But now all of us get confused sometimes and say, ‘B-b-b,’ without ever getting one of their names spit out.”

  Kirstin grinned. “They look so much alike that I’ll never get them straight.”

  “Over time you’ll be able to tell who’s who.”

  Kirstin fell in beside him as he led the way. It was getting toward dusk, and golden light spilled from the cabin windows, the white canvas carport, and the large wall tent at the rear. She also noticed dimmer light coming from the trailer, which sat facing the river. Everywhere she looked, she saw evidence of how hard Cam had worked to make his family comfortable. The two tents had wooden floors.

  “Dad’s stirring the brandy sauce, and if he lets it separate, it’ll be ruined.” Caleb grinned. “That qualifies as a disaster around here. So let me show you around.”

  Kirstin went with him to admire his grandmother’s yard. The wire fence was, at best, a temporary barrier, but they had extended it far beyond the front end of the trailer to give the dogs plenty of running room. Kirstin assumed Cam put the dogs in there while his mother was here alone. “Dad rented some equipment, so I put out gravel almost everywhere while he was doing something else. Some of the rock is big, though, and Gram isn’t steady walking over it. So I spent a lot of time tossing away large stones. Still do. We don’t want her falling.”

  Kirstin nodded her understanding and thought how lucky Maddie was to be so loved. The dogs joined them by the fence, bouncing around and playing with one another.

  Caleb pointed at the trailer door. “I built the steps for her. Well, my dad helped.”

  That prompted Kirstin to stifle a smile. Building steps could be tricky, but someone had measured the angles and risers almost perfectly. She suspected that Cam had done more than just help.

  “And I made her the handrail,” Caleb said with pride. “Dad’s going to paint the surface of the steps with that no-slip stuff before winter comes.”

  Kirstin noticed a lighted plastic pumpkin sitting at the front trailer window. Following her gaze, Caleb said, “I know. Halloween’s more than a month away, but Gram gets into decorating for the holidays.”

  “Are you getting too old to enjoy it?” Kirstin asked.

  Caleb’s cheeks colored. “Nah. My dad still likes decorating for holidays, too, so maybe I’ll never outgrow it.”

  Kirstin could tell that Caleb considered his father to be the gold standard of masculinity. If his dad liked something, Caleb didn’t feel like a sissy if he did, too.

  From there, he took Kirstin out into the field to show her where the building team had broken ground. To Kirstin, it wasn’t too impressive, only disturbed earth and dirt piles, but Caleb seemed delighted.

  “Our residences will be at this end, Dad’s and mine upstairs, Gram’s downstairs. She’ll have nice views of the mountains, but from the upper deck, ours will totally kick butt.”

  Next he led her to the cabin at the front of their camp and opened the door. “This is where Dad and I sleep, and all of us watch television in here on movie nights. Sorry for the paper mess and all the boxes. It’s my dad’s office, too, and he has nowhere to store his stuff.” Caleb stepped inside and kicked into a pile of what Kirstin presumed were his soiled clothes. “We stay cozy out here, and that’s what counts.” He picked up a long instrument case. “This is my violin. I’m just starting with lessons.”

  “I play the guitar. Someday maybe we’ll jam together.”

  Kirstin wondered how Cam would feel when he learned she’d gotten a tour of his bedroom. Both he and his son had full-size beds. A huge flat-screen television took up the entire length of a table angled across one corner of the room. A canvas zip-up armoire sat against the wall in the opposite corner. The structure was crowded and cluttered but functional. She imagined joining the family in here to watch a movie and wished that she and her dad did things like that together.

  Next Caleb showed her the carport that they used for storage. She was fascinated by the ingenious ideas Cam had come up with. Even though their camp was composed of four different shelters, it felt homey to her. She noticed yet another cabin farther out in the field, only it was much smaller.

  “That’s for our cats. Gram had a great big house before, and it was surrounded by forest. The cats kept rodents away. She’s got six.”

  “We have barn cats,” Kirstin shared. “I know how important a feline population can be.”

  The wall tent flaps had been tied back. She and Caleb stepped inside. Kirstin swept the room with her gaze, noting that the McLendons had everything necessary to cook, wash dishes, and do laundry. The walls of the tent were lined with a woodstove, appliances, tables, and food storage. The center of the room boasted comfortable rockers, and camp chairs for extra seating leaned against one end of a table. She could picture the McLendons sitting in here for dinner, sometimes with guests. On one table, she noticed stacks of heavy-duty paper plates and bowls protected by plastic.

  Cam turned from the propane stove. “You made it!” He stepped over to hug her. “I heard Caleb showing you around.”

  “I even got a tour of your sleeping quarters.”

  Cam threw back his head and guffawed. “Oh, well. We’re roughing it, remember.”

  He looked so handsome. He wore a bibbed apron over a plaid Western dress shirt, which she suspected he’d worn for work that day. The shiny toes of his riding boots shone beneath the hems of his jeans.

  “If you think this is roughing it,” she scoffed, “you need to go camping with me and Dad sometime.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  Just then Kirstin heard a woman speaking to the three dogs that had lain down between the storage room and tent. She turned to see an older woman with reddish brown hair stepping up onto the plywood flooring. She had merry blue eyes and a beautiful, friendly smile. In the brighter light, Kirstin could now see a light dusting of silver in the strands of her hair, suggesting that Maddie hadn’t been to a salon for coloring in a while. Or maybe she chose to age naturally, which was what Kirstin planned to do.

  “I’m sorry for not coming out sooner, Kirstin.” Maddie thrust out her right hand. “I’m under a deadline, and I had to finish disposing of a body. I keep thinking of better ideas.”

  Taken aback by that, Kirstin chuckled. “At least the writing life must be interesting.”

  Cam, already stirring the sauce again, glanced at his mother. “Mom, I’d like you to meet Kirstin. Kirstin, this is my mother, Maddie.”

  Since they’d already shaken hands, Kirstin fluttered her fingers in a wave. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. McLendon.”

  “That’s a tongue twister. Just call me Maddie if you don’t mind. And may I call you Kirstin?”

  “Of course.”

  Cam moved the cast-iron skillet away from the heat. “I’ve got our sides ready—all except for the asparagus, anyway.” He rubbed his palms together. “It’ll be roughly fifteen minutes for the steaks. Another five to let them rest. Caleb, would you like to take Kirstin with you to walk the dogs? She might enjoy seeing the slough.”

  “Sure!” Caleb said. “You want to come, Kirstin?”

  “I’d love to.”

  • • •

  Kirstin realized that Cam wanted her and Caleb to spend more time alone together, which would give the boy a ch
ance to take her measure. That made her nervous, but with the dogs to provide comic relief, she soon relaxed. Like his father, Caleb was a talker. He told her about how he’d created the trail they walked. He gave her a rundown on each of the dogs and pointed out identifying marks so she could tell them apart. It was a challenge for Kirstin to keep up with him, let alone get a word in edgewise. But she enjoyed every second of the young man’s company. He was so very like his dad, open, friendly, and relaxed.

  When they reached the slough, he said, “We got permission to lay thick planks over the water here so Gram can walk the whole half mile to the bridge, but we haven’t gotten around to doing it yet.”

  “It’ll be a lovely walk for her once you get it done.”

  “Yep. But winter’s on its way, and she may not be able to walk up here if we get deep snow. We have other projects that Dad says are more important to worry about right now.”

  Kirstin admired the surroundings. “It’s lovely here, so peaceful, with the wonderful smells of nature.”

  “I like it here,” he said. “On this land, I mean. Not so much at school.”

  Kirstin nodded. “I’ve heard it can be hard to switch schools.”

  “Yeah, it kind of is.” He bent his head and toed a rock. “I—um—know that you and my dad have been seeing each other.”

  Kirstin wasn’t sure how to respond. “Yes. He’s a great guy, and I like him a lot.”

  Caleb lifted his gaze. Kirstin noted that he already stood a half head taller than she did. He would soon be a grown man. “My dad got my mom pregnant when he was only a year older than me. Has he told you about that?”

  “Yes, he mentioned it.”

  Caleb nodded. “Good. I’m glad I’m not telling you something he hasn’t. Ever since I was born, Dad has focused on me. My mom wouldn’t let him take me out of California, so he stayed there even though he dreamed of living here. My mom didn’t want me. She tried to give me up for adoption. My grandparents helped my dad get custody of me. But that didn’t mean she lost all control. Nobody ever said, but I think my grandfather told my mother that she’d never have to pay child support if she gave me to my dad. So far as I can tell, she grabbed that deal and ran. After that she never called or even sent me a card. She’s been an invisible mom, except when she got a chance to stop my dad from moving where he wanted.”