A Christmas Visitor

by Thomas Kinkade

  She wondered if she should call him this morning and apologize again. She decided she didn’t want to risk another bad phone call. He would be home tonight. She would make sure she was home when he arrived. The girls would still be away and they could talk.

  When she got to the shop, her staff was busy working in the kitchen and Betty was supervising. The night before, Molly had given Betty keys and instructions for opening up. She hadn’t expected to get here this late, but the place looked under control.

  Most of the dishes that would be served at the New Year’s Eve parties tomorrow night needed to be cooked today, or at least prepped. The list was long and to Molly, it looked like a map for a forced march through the Sahara.

  “Hi, there. We’re doing very well, right on schedule,” Betty said cheerfully.

  Molly managed a smile. “Betty, I’m putting you in charge today. I don’t have the energy to even think. Just tell me what I should do.”

  Betty laughed but seemed pleased by the compliment. “Let’s just look at the list you wrote out last night. We’re all on autopilot at this point.”

  They set to work at a reasonable pace. Molly knew she couldn’t let herself burn out before they reached the finish line.

  At lunchtime, they took a break. Smelling food all day had robbed Molly of her appetite, but Betty persuaded her to have a bowl of soup and some water crackers.

  “Hey, why don’t you just knock off for the day?” Betty suggested. “Matt will be home in a few hours and you ought to take a nap before he gets back. Did you sleep okay last night? You look beat.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Molly said wryly. “You know how to make a girl feel good, don’t you?”

  Betty gave her a sympathetic look. “If I don’t tell you, who will?”

  “I didn’t get much sleep. I was upset,” Molly confessed. “Matt and I had sort of a fight on the phone. It was really my fault, too. I tried to apologize. But I know he’s still mad at me.”

  “Did you speak to him at all today?”

  Molly shook her head.

  “You’re too stubborn, Molly.”

  “I know, but he said we would talk tonight. I didn’t want to dig the hole any deeper.”

  Betty sighed. “Well, maybe it’s just as well.”

  “Betty…what if he doesn’t come home tonight? What if he makes some excuse and stays over again?”

  “Don’t be silly. Of course he’ll be back. The weather report is predicting snow, but I’m sure Matt will make it home. He grew up in Worcester, remember? He knows how to drive in snow. I still say you ought to go home in a little while and rest before he gets there.”

  Her advice made good sense, as usual. But Molly hated being all alone in the big empty house. “I don’t want to wait around for him all day. I’ll go crazy all alone. He might be back late tonight. I’ll hang out here and get some work done. He said he would call when he was leaving New Haven.”

  “Okay. Suit yourself.” Betty shrugged and finished her soup. “Guess I’ll get back to work. I think we’re making progress.”

  Molly nodded. “Yes, we are…I don’t know what I would have done this week without you, Betty. You saved my life.”

  “Don’t be silly. You’re just getting all mushy on me. Save it for New Year’s Day, when this is all over, okay?”

  Molly sniffed and nodded. “Okay, will do,” she said. “But listen, I’ve been thinking about something. I want to run it by you.”

  Betty sat down again and looked at her curiously. “Some new recipe you’d like me to taste test?”

  “More important than that. I’m really going to miss you at the shop next week,” Molly began. “It’s going to seem so quiet.”

  “Tell me about it. I can’t even picture myself back in the wonderful world of real estate deals. Hard to believe, right?”

  It felt like the perfect moment to ask her the question. Molly went for it. “Betty, I’ve been thinking. You said you wanted a change and you seem to like the catering life. Would you like to come into the business? I mean, officially…like a partner or something? Willoughby and Bowman Fine Foods?”

  Betty didn’t answer. But her blue eyes slowly widened and so did her smile.

  “You really mean it? That would be…great.”

  Molly breathed a sigh of relief. “Great for me. You’re so good at schedules and managing the staff and figuring out the costs of everything. And knowing when to be realistic and not try to make everything perfect. All the things I’m bad at,” she said with a laugh. “I think we make a good team.”

  “So do I. And we have lots of fun, besides.”

  “That goes without saying.” Molly reached over and squeezed her hand. “What about the real estate office? You won’t give that up completely, will you?”

  “Oh, that place practically runs itself by now. I think I can supervise from around the corner. I have a few agents in there who have been with me for years. I’m sure I can work something out with them.”

  Molly’s heart felt lighter. She had solved one major problem in her life. She could keep her business and not be completely overwhelmed by it. Even better, she had some good news to tell Matt tonight. It would prove to him that she was trying to change, to work less.

  She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

  THE LAST OF THE HOUSEGUESTS HAD LEFT THE ORCHARD that morning. Sophie and Miranda had immediately set to work, vacuuming, mopping, doing laundry, and putting the house back in order.

  “They’re calling for snow tonight; could be heavy,” Sophie told her granddaughter as they pulled the sheets off the beds in one of the extra bedrooms. “I’m glad everyone is already on their way home. They won’t get caught in it.”

  Miranda felt her spirits dip in the sudden quiet. The full house had been a big distraction. Now there was nothing to tug at her attention. She had completed most of the Valentine’s Day order and didn’t have much work to focus on. Images of Adam filled her head, and it was hard to think of anything else.

  “It’s nice to have company,” Sophie said, “but it’s nice to be just us two again.” She studied her granddaughter, and her brow wrinkled in concern. “You look a little low, honey.”

  “I’m just not sure what comes next,” Miranda said honestly.

  “Did you make a decision about the acting job?”

  “Yes. I turned it down.”

  Sophie dropped the pillowcase she had been holding. “You did what?”

  Miranda shrugged. “It felt great to be offered the role—it was a complete ego boost—but I realized that I didn’t want to start up my acting career again.”

  “Why ever not? Isn’t this something you wanted for years?”

  “It was. But it’s not anymore. When I really thought about it, it just felt as if that chapter in my life had closed.”

  “Are you sure this isn’t connected to Adam?” her grandmother asked.

  “It is in a way,” Miranda admitted. “At first I thought that taking the role would be the perfect cure. I could leave here, go on tour, and get away from all my memories of him. Then I finally realized that I could take an acting role on the moon and I wouldn’t escape my feelings.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” Sophie said.

  Miranda sat down on the edge of the bed. “It’s not all bleak,” she said. “I also realized that I didn’t want to give up the life I have here—and the start of my new business—for something that feels like an old dream.”

  For a moment Sophie didn’t respond. She pulled down a window shade and straightened out the curtains that framed it. “I have to admit, I’m glad you’re not leaving. I would have gotten along here somehow, it’s not that. But I would have missed you.”

  “I would have missed you, too, Grandma. I would have missed this place.”

  Sophie gave her shoulders a quick, affectionate squeeze. “Someday you’ll leave. I know you will. But it wasn’t time yet.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Miranda agreed.

  “You mus
t be eager to get back into your studio. Are you way behind in your work?”

  “Not really. I have a few orders left to get done by next week. Nothing overwhelming.”

  “Why don’t you go down to the city and see some friends? I’ll bet some of them are taking time off from work.”

  Miranda had a group of friends in the city, fellow actors—and former actors, like herself. But she wasn’t in the mood to socialize. She didn’t want to sound disagreeable though. Her grandmother was only trying to help.

  “Maybe I will. I’ll see. You just said there was going to be heavy snow,” she reminded Sophie.

  “Oh, right. Well, it won’t last forever.” Sophie yanked the top sheet taut and Miranda pulled on the other end as they made up another bed together.

  Her grandmother folded a blanket corner to corner, pressing it against her ample chest. “How about New Year’s Eve?” she persisted. “You must be invited to a party. You go out and enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got my own plans with Vera Plante and some other ladies from church. Vera’s finally home from the hospital. We’re all going to her place. We’re going to watch the ball drop in Times Square. I hear Dick Clark is coming back as the emcee. Isn’t that something?”

  Miranda gathered up the extra pillows strewn around the room and set them in a pile on a chair. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I’ll figure something out.”

  She wished she could just go to bed and pull the covers over her head. She had no sense of excitement about the new year. No hope that anything good would happen for her.

  BY LATE AFTERNOON, THERE WAS STILL NO CALL FROM MATT. The snow had started to fall in Cape Light. Betty turned on the shop radio to hear a weather report. The storm front was coming up the coast. Boston was hit hard and Connecticut was even worse.

  “Matt might be stuck,” Betty said. “You ought to call him.”

  Molly nodded. But didn’t call.

  A short time later, the shop phone rang. It was Matt. He and Alex hadn’t even left New Haven yet. “We wanted to hear the last speaker,” he explained. “We both know him. He was one of our professors in med school. When we came out, there was all this snow piling up. There’s zero visibility, and the hotel says the roads are awful. We’re going to stay over another night. It’s just too dangerous to try to drive…”

  Molly couldn’t believe this was happening. Matt spending another night with Alex? But what could she say, come home anyway? Drive through a snowstorm? If you stay there with her another night, I’ll never forgive you?

  Instead, she said, “We heard it was bad down there. We’re getting some snow here, but it’s not that heavy yet.”

  Matt talked to her a few minutes longer then said good-bye.

  Molly felt numb as she hung up. “Matt’s staying over again with Alex,” she told Betty. “See, I told you something was going on. You didn’t believe me.”

  “Molly, look outside.” Betty turned her shoulders so that she faced the window. “Would you rather he was driving in that mess? Or stuck in a car on the highway somewhere?”

  “Yes, I would,” Molly ranted. “As long as Alex wasn’t in the car with him.”

  Betty rolled her eyes. “You’re so stubborn.”

  It was almost five. The phone call from Matt and her emotional reaction had worn Molly out. She glanced at Betty. “I’m beat. Guess I’ll go home. Would you mind closing up?”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Betty replied.

  Molly glanced around the shop. “We’re almost done here. The finishing touches can be added tomorrow.”

  “You’re coming in tomorrow? Molly, please. Take a day off. Take a look at yourself. I’m worried about you.”

  Molly shook off her friend’s worried tone. “I’ll just come in to send off the crews and make sure the parties are set up right.”

  “I can check the parties. You don’t have to do that, too,” Betty reminded her. “How about you pick the most important one—or two? I’ll handle the rest.”

  Molly nodded reluctantly. “Okay. I guess that would work out.”

  Betty watched her as she pulled on her hat and wrapped a scarf around her neck. Her wool jacket no longer fit well over her pregnant tummy; she could only secure the middle button.

  “Hey, how about if I drop by later and we watch a movie or something?”

  Molly appreciated the offer. Especially since Betty had been working hard all day, too, and was probably beat. “Thanks.” She touched Betty’s shoulder. “I’m just going home to conk out.”

  Betty nodded. “Okay, good plan. Listen, watch your step outside now. The snow might be slippery.”

  “I’ll be okay,” Molly promised. She made it out to her car and quickly cleaned off the snow. Then she drove home through the snowy, twilight streets.

  She ate a quick bite, standing up at the kitchen counter. Cheese and crackers, washed down with ginger ale, her favorite meal lately.

  She was dressed in her nightgown and robe by half past seven and lying in bed, watching TV. She told herself she wasn’t waiting for Matt to call, but she couldn’t stop herself from imagining romantic scenarios of her husband with Alex Cole. Molly wanted to call him but wouldn’t let herself.

  Matt was away. She was alone and pregnant. He should be calling me. End of story, she kept reminding herself.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE SOUND OF THE PHONE WOKE MOLLY WITH A start; she felt foggy-headed and disoriented.

  The TV was still on, a home shopping show. A woman wearing too much makeup and an iridescent pink sweater was spraying stain remover on a T-shirt.

  “Hello?” Molly’s voice came out in a croak.

  “Hi, honey.” It was Matt, finally. “I’ve been trying you at the shop and on your cell. Didn’t you get my messages?”

  “No. I’ve been home all night.” She didn’t mean to sound accusatory. It just came out that way. “What time is it?”

  “Oh, about eleven. I just got up to the room. There’s a big group here from the conference. Everyone is stuck. Alex and I had dinner with some pediatricians from Boston.”

  “You and Alex seem to be having a nice weekend together.”

  “Molly, what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about you and Alex. Is there something you want to tell me?”

  “Tell you? Like what?”

  “Like you’re having a…a relationship with her.”

  There, she had said it. She hadn’t meant to say anything like this. Not until he got home and they were sitting face-to-face. But it felt good to get it off her chest.

  “A relationship…Are you crazy?”

  He sounded genuinely shocked. She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. He could be shocked because he was totally innocent. Or because she was calling him on his indiscretion.

  Neither of them spoke for a long time. Then he said, “I am not even going to dignify that question with an answer.”

  She knew he was mad now. Matt always got a formal tone when he was really angry. She was just the opposite.

  “I asked you a simple question, Matt. I don’t know why you won’t just answer it.

  “Because this time, Molly, you’ve gone too far.”

  Had she gone too far? Her great feeling of relief was quickly replaced by a wave of horror.

  If he really wasn’t involved with Alex, he would be now. She could see him, calling Alex as soon as they hung up and confiding everything about his shrewish wife.

  This time, Molly saw Matt crying on Alex’s shoulder as clearly as if they were both standing right in her bedroom.

  “Molly…are you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m here,” she said quietly. She braced herself for what he might say next.

  “We need to talk about this when I get home.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “When you get home. Whenever that turns out to be.”

  “Good night, Molly,” he said curtly. He hung up, not even waiting for her reply.

&
nbsp; MOLLY NEARLY CALLED BETTY THE NEXT MORNING TO tell her she couldn’t make it in. She had been up most of the night, crying. And wondering if she should call Matt back and apologize.

  Somehow she managed to get up, get dressed, and drag herself out of the house to do what she had to do. Snow had fallen throughout the night, but the streets were already clear from the plows that had been working steadily.

  Although she had some trouble backing out of her driveway, her big SUV finally made it through the drifts, and she quickly reached the open road and headed for the village.

  Betty was at the shop before her and had already started the last-minute prep on assorted dishes. Molly helped along with Sonya, and they started packing the vans.

  “Did you hear from Matt last night?” Betty asked, once they had sent the crews on their way.

  Molly nodded curtly. “We had another fight. I asked him if he was having an affair and he wouldn’t answer me. What does that tell you?”

  “It tells me you made him mad. But it doesn’t prove anything.”

  “Betty, I know you’re trying to help, but I know what I saw on Christmas Eve. And that combined with his…attitude…I don’t think I’m imagining all this.”

  “Well, at least you got it out in the open,” Betty said. “When he gets home, you’ll just have to sit down and have a serious talk.”

  “If he comes home. Maybe he wants to have New Year’s Eve with…her.”

  “Oh, Molly, don’t be a nut. Just go home and take care of yourself a little. He’ll be home soon, I’m sure of it.”

  When Molly didn’t answer, Betty said, “I know it all seems pretty bleak right now, but you’ll work it out. I still think Matt is loyal to you.”

  Molly sighed. “That makes one of us.” She picked up her schedule and checked the address of the party she planned to check on. She felt so weary, she had narrowed it down to one.

  “I’m just stopping at Woodruff’s. Here’s the rest of the list.”