Carrolls and Firrs: A Christmas Novella

by Janice M. Whiteaker

  He walked back through the building, making sure doors were locked and everything was as it should be. Standing in the front room he pulled on his coat and smiled. Ellie didn’t have to worry about explaining why she had a coat that smelled like a man.

  All Doug could smell on the fabric of his heavy work coat was her. Sweet and fresh and perfect. He locked the front door and took one last look up the street wishing he could sneak in the shop and see her without causing a coronary.

  Maybe someday.

  Doug looked up at the building he and Ellie loved. Someday probably wasn’t going to happen on its own. Nothing good ever did. Pulling his keys from his pocket Doug walked in the direction of his truck.

  At least now he had something to occupy the time until he could call her again.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “YOU’RE SURE WE have to get rid of all this?”

  Ellie didn’t even turn around. It was the fifth time her mother asked the question in under an hour. “I am positive.” She carefully wrapped tissue paper around the last of the seventy-five ceramic Santa’s that formerly occupied the highest of the shelves that took up two full walls of the shop. “You have to choose a theme and rotate.”

  Something had to be done about the excessive amount of knick knacks displayed around the shop. Ellie let her mother decide on this year’s holiday theme and Cris chose angels so everyone else had to be boxed up. Hopefully, it would cut down on the claustrophobic feel of the space to move out the majority of her mother’s Christmas collection. Plus, only letting people see part of it once a year could make customers think of the displays as special and nostalgic.

  Instead of creepy and weird.

  Ellie picked up one of the felt covered reindeer her mother found at an estate sale when she was in junior high. The brown fuzz was worn away in spots revealing the deep green backing. She held it up. “Donner looks like he has mange.”

  Cris looked over the top of her glasses. “That’s Dancer and he can’t help it.”

  “Fair enough.” Ellie wrapped him in bubble wrap and added him to the reindeer box. “I think just getting some of this thinned out will be enough to help boost us through the holidays.”

  Cris added an armful of carefully wrapped ceramic nativities to their designated box. She stood up, bending back at the waist, her hands resting on her lower back. “I’m glad you’re not planning to paint until after the first of the year.” Cris waved at two older women as they came through the door. “I can’t imagine missing a Christmas.”

  Ellie stood up and scanned for any Santa’s they might have missed. “It would be silly to close down now for the remodel. The post-holiday lull will be the best time to handle that.”

  “Are you remodeling Cris?” One of the ladies stopped beside her mother; a large shopping bag swinging from her arm.

  Cris straightened. “We are.” She waved her hand Ellie’s way. “My daughter Noelle just moved back and has some wonderful ideas about how to spruce up the place.” Cris leaned into the woman’s side and lowered her voice as if she was confessing a secret. “There will be a big chandelier right there.” She pointed to the center of the room where a simple glass globe tried to hold its own in the light sucking space.

  The woman’s penciled eyebrows went up. “That will be lovely.”

  Cris nodded. “That’s not all but I want it to be a surprise. We’re going to have a grand re-opening after the first of the year.”

  The other woman who looked to be a good twenty years older than the first edged in. “Are ya re-doing the bakery too?”

  “We are. Noelle’s friend Betsy Meyers is going to be our new baker.” Cris was smiling from ear to ear.

  And Ellie couldn’t help but be a little happy about it. Her mom was a lot of things. Most of them extremely aggravating. But at the end of the day, she was a good mom. A mom who loved her daughter more than anything, even if she had a horribly smothering way of showing it.

  But maybe the shop wasn’t the only thing starting to change.

  Ellie stood up. “We will have a large number of our new bakery items available for sampling at the re-opening. I’m hoping to have the menu posted about a week before so check back.”

  The older of the women already left the conversation and was inspecting a group of hand carved ornaments Ellie found in the stock room and set out this morning. “I believe I’d like to have these.”

  Cris’ eyes slowly moved to Ellie, then back to the woman. “Of course.” She pulled out one of the ornament boxes and grabbed a sheet of tissue. “Do you know which one you would like?”

  “Well I want em all. Wouldn’t look right with just one.” She carefully began pulling the richly stained decorations from their branches.

  After the woman was all packed up and checked out, the door beeping as the twosome left, her mother looked Ellie’s way then busied herself straightening the checkout area. “Maybe we should go through that extra stock and see what else is in there you think should be put out.”

  Ellie held back the urge to say ‘I told you so’. This morning when Ellie pulled them out her mother was not in agreement about displaying the delicate ornaments featuring carved scenes including the nativity and a sleigh being pulled by two large horses. They were beautiful and had the rustic feel that was so popular now. “I bet there’s a lot in there you’ve forgotten all about.”

  “Hopefully it sells as quickly as those did.” Cris pulled a thick glossy catalogue from under the counter. “I have some things I’ve been eyeing but didn’t have the space for.”

  Ellie snatched the book out from under her mother’s eager, order-happy nose. “No more ordering anything.” She tucked it under her arm. “When it gets closer to the re-opening, we can all sit down and decide what we need to carry for that particular season.”

  Her mother huffed out. “Fine.” She propped against the high stool behind the checkout desk and crossed her arms over her chest like a pouting child.

  Ellie flopped the book down on top of the taped up box full of Santas. “I’m going to take these back to the garage and then I’ll start going through the store room and see what’s in there.”

  It took careful balance and a bit of fumbling to get out the rarely used back door of the shop and down the steps to the small parking area behind the store reserved for renters of the offices and apartments filling the rest of her parents buildings.

  That would give them one more thing to be upset about when Doug finished his building. Based on what she’d seen in The Grove, Doug had excellent taste, or at least his mother and sister did. At any rate, she didn’t doubt for a second those apartments would blow her parents five very vanilla units out of the water.

  Ellie held one knee up to help balance the box as she unlocked the garage door. She walked inside and stopped. It smelled of dusty attic, old oil and something else. Something she missed. Something she wanted back.

  It smelled like her apartment in the city.

  Setting down the Santa box, Ellie walked to the corner where all her belongings except for part of her winter clothes and toiletries were stacked neatly. Her mattress and box spring were wrapped in plastic and propped at the back with the few other pieces of furniture she brought lined up in front. A nightstand. The chair from her room where she sat on her laptop going over numbers for work and regularly doing research late into the night.

  Ellie pulled a box of her college textbooks from the seat and sat down. She leaned back and closed her eyes, remembering the time she spent there.

  A tiny knot of stress squirmed in her stomach. The same way it used to when she would spend hours poring over government regulations and requirements to be sure the company was doing what it had to.

  Her life in New York might have been a little stressful but at least it was hers. A job at the company she helped build. A life she created and lived her way without input from anyone. Especially her parents.

  And it was better.

  She stared across the garage.
r />   Yes. It was better.

  Ellie scratched at the irritation in her belly, trying to force it away as she stood up and replaced the box. Just as she reached the open door, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out.

  It was a message.

  From Doug.

  She opened it and there was a picture of a purchase contract for the building down the street.

  That is great! When will it be yours?

  Ellie sent the message and tucked her phone back in her pocket while she closed and locked the door. Her phone buzzed again almost immediately.

  Probably after the first of the year. Maybe we can meet up to talk about it tonight?

  Her stomach did a flutter, the twist of stress from before all but gone.

  Depends. What’s your sister got on the menu?

  Ellie smiled as she walked back toward the shop. She looked up to find her mother holding the door open for her, eyes bright and a wide smile on her face.

  “What’s got you so happy?”

  Ellie swallowed and searched for an explanation, and not just for her mother.

  “Business stuff.”

  ***

  “How did things go at the shop today girls?”

  Ellie waited, thinking her mother might answer the question and give her a little insight on how she was feeling after having all her precious babies packed up and locked away in the garage. Instead Cris was in her own little world chopping vegetables at the kitchen island.

  “It was fine dad.” Ellie pulled her load of whites out of the washer, shaking each piece out before tossing it into the dryer. “We got through most of the extra decorations.”

  She closed the dryer door and set the controls, switching on the appliance before shutting the louvered doors that did little to drown out the noise of wet clothes flopping around in the drum. “We got most of the decorations packed away and the angel display set up.”

  She and her mother worked surprisingly well together today. But Cris was abnormally quiet after Ellie started taking the boxes to the garage making her think maybe it wasn’t as easy of a transition as her mother wanted it to seem.

  Ellie eyed Cris who was humming quietly as she chopped a carrot and dropped it into a large enamel pot on the stove. “How do you think it went mom?”

  “Hmm?” Cris looked up mid carrot drop. Her eyes bounced from Ellie to her father and then back again. “I’m sorry NoNo, what was the question?”

  Ellie took a deep breath. Why was NoNo an acceptable nickname but Ellie was out of the question? Shoving the minor aggravation aside, she repeated her question. “How do you think today went?”

  “Oh. Fine. Fine.” She plucked a wooden spoon from the utensil barrel beside the stove and began to stir the vegetables around the pot. “What about you honey. How do you think it went? Did we get as much done as you wanted?”

  This was confusing. Her mother really wasn’t paying attention to the conversation at all.

  Which was odd. Normally Cris Carroll didn’t miss a thing.

  “We got a lot done.” Ellie rounded the island and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, keeping her eyes on her parents. Her dad sat in the breakfast nook grinning and her mother was back to humming in time with her stirring.

  This was more than confusing or odd. Her parents were acting plain weird.

  “I am going to go.” Ellie took a sip from her water buying time to decide on the exact wording she would use for her explanation. She backed toward the rear door hoping the tunnel from the Twilight Zone didn’t swallow her up any second. “I have a meeting with a colleague.”

  Her parents immediately looked at each other.

  “Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?” Her dad’s grin didn’t waver and his eyes twinkled.

  Her mother let out a strangled sound and glared at Ellie’s dad. “Dale.” The word was like a bark. Short and sharp.

  “Um. Well.” Ellie opened the door and bumped into the storm door behind it. “I’ll probably eat while I’m out so…” She fumbled with the latch to the door and almost fell onto the stoop when it finally released. “I’ll see you later.”

  She hurried to pull the inside door closed but wasn’t fast enough to miss her father call out. “Tell him we said hi.”

  And her mother bark at her dad again.

  No way did they know she was going to meet Doug.

  If they knew it was Doug Firr she was spending her evening with there was a good chance Ellie would be hog tied and locked in her room by now.

  Blowing out a breath she carefully stepped into the fresh layer of snow coating the sidewalk, trying not to end up with too much sneaking down the side of the ankle boots she grabbed from the garage today on one of her many trips carrying out boxes. She’d been in a little bit of a wardrobe slump since the move and it was time to snap out of it. There was too much of her money and too much of who she was packed in those boxes to let them stay taped shut any longer. So much of her old life was gone and she didn’t want to lose that part of herself while she was here too.

  Ellie took another sort of hop step toward her Jeep. The light brown suede and fringe didn’t make them the most practical shoes for upstate New York in December, but man were they cute. And sometimes you had to make sacrifices in the name of fashion.

  That’s why she decided to dig out her favorite pair of faded and fitted jeans and the rust colored swing cut sweater that went so well with the boots currently forcing her to walk like a grasshopper. Because city Ellie, the real Ellie, loved feeling put together and well-dressed.

  And that was the only reason. She was dressed like this for herself.

  That was her story and she stuck to it all the way to The Grove.

  Ellie walked through the door and unzipped her coat as she waved hello to the younger girl manning the hostess station.

  Destiny waved back, her shiny black ringlets bouncing as she did. “Hey Ellie.” She rounded the desk and stopped in her tracks. “Oh my gosh.” The freshman in college laid one palm on each cheek and stared down at Ellie’s feet. “Those are the cutest boots ever.”

  Ellie twisted from side to side, pointing her toes. “Thank you. They’re my favorites.”

  “I can see why.” Destiny gave her a smile. “I think the boss man is already at your table waiting for you.”

  Ellie turned and sure enough it appeared Doug was waiting for her. Only he wasn’t at their usual table. He was a few feet away, looking at her in a way that made her toes curl as much as the pointed toes of her boots would allow.

  “Hey.”

  Ellie tucked her long hair behind one ear and smiled, not saying anything because sometimes it wasn’t easy to come up with words around him. Especially when he was looking at her like he was right now.

  “You look beautiful.” Doug cleared his throat and barely shook his head as he stepped closer, putting less than two feet between them. “Sorry. That’s not what I meant to say.”

  The feeling of warmth in her chest that recently started accompanying her time with Doug cooled, leaving room for a troubling amount of disappointment. “Oh.”

  He inched a little closer.

  “I meant to say you are beautiful.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “HOW IS IT?” Betsy was as perched on the edge of her seat as her seven month pregnant belly would allow, staring across the table at Aspen.

  Aspen’s narrow brows lifted. “I would say it’s better than anything I can bake but that wouldn’t be much of a compliment.” She took another bite of the chocolate peppermint crinkle cookie and shook her head at Betsy. “It’s so good I can hardly stand it.”

  Betsy smiled. “Really?”

  Ellie cocked an eyebrow at her friend. “What do you mean, really? I’ve been telling you how amazing everything is for two weeks now. I’m pretty sure my jeans won’t fit after Christmas because of you.”

  Betsy glanced Ellie’s way, but her eyes went back to watching Aspen devour another cookie. “But Aspen’s
a professional.”

  Ellie threw her hands out, palms facing The Grove’s vaulted ceiling. “What am I?”

  Betsy slapped at Ellie’s arm, not even looking where she was hitting. “You know what I mean. She’s a chef.”

  “I’m a crap baker though.” Aspen pointed to small a golden colored flower shaped cookie. “What is this?”

  “That’s a spritz cookie.” Betsy pointed to another pile of similar looking cookies. “Those are the same thing but the bottoms are dipped in melted dark chocolate.”

  Aspen picked up one of the chocolate covered variety and bit off half. “These definitely have to go to the coffee shop.” She popped the other half in her mouth and pointed at the pad in front of Ellie. “Put them on the list.”

  Ellie set down her glass of water and added the cookie to the already long list. “Bets are you sure you can handle all this?”

  “It’s really not as much as it sounds like and I know you might not believe me based on past experience, but some cookie doughs really do freeze well.” Betsy picked up one of her double peanut butter cookies. “These were actually baked from frozen dough I made last week.” She held it out to Ellie.

  Ellie looked down at the cookie.

  Betsy shoved it under her nose. “See. It even smells good.” She touched it to Ellie’s lips. “Eat the darn cookie.”

  Ellie pulled her head back and took the cookie. “If you’re wrong and I have to fire you I’m going to be mad.” She opened her mouth to take a bite and stopped. “I’ll tell Emma you called her baby linebacker.” She narrowed her eyes at Betsy. “When she’s thirteen and hormonal.”

  Betsy laughed loud. “Well I’ll get your kids all sugared up on frozen cookies and send them home.” She paused, cocking one eyebrow at Ellie. “With pet goldfish.”

  “That’s cruel.” Aspen looked Betsy up and down. “I like it.” She gave Ellie an apologetic smile. “Betsy wins.”

  Ellie grabbed the wadded up wrapper to her straw off the table with her free hand and threw it at Aspen. “You just want her to leave you the rest of the cookies.”