The Killer Christmas Sweater Club

by Terry Ambrose

CHAPTER 6

  RICK

  Silence hung in the room as Rick and Devon waited for Marquetta to speak. When she was standing next to the train, another tear dribbled down her cheek and her voice cracked.

  “I’d almost forgotten what this looked like.”

  “We can put it back—if you don’t want it out,” Rick said.

  She ran her finger along a small section of track, then she reached out and gently touched the railroad crossing signal. Marquetta sniffled and then smiled. “I made my dad put in the traffic signal. He said it was too much work, but I told him even a little town like Seaside Cove needed at least one signal light. How could Weissville not have one?”

  “Weissville?”

  Devon went to the far side of the model and pointed at a small sign mounted to the right of the tracks. “She came up with the name. All three of us voted. It was unanimous.”

  “Thank you for remembering where this was, Devon.” Marquetta went to the big man and hugged him. He kept his arms out to his sides for a moment, then wrapped them around her. When she backed away, she looked at Rick. “I’ve struggled with the trauma of losing my dad for too many years—it’s time to celebrate his life.” She blinked back more tears and sniffled.

  Rick turned and saw Alex standing just inside the doorway. The butler door swished closed behind her as she rushed forward.

  “Whoa! That’s awesome!”

  “Welcome to Weissville, Sweetie.” Marquetta knelt next to Alex and pointed at one of the buildings. “My dad and Captain Jack and Devon made this when I was eight years old. There’s a bank…and a general store.”

  Alex began inspecting the set, peering closely at one miniature building and then the next. Her smile grew and she pointed at the Hershey’s Chocolate billboard. “That’s my favorite!”

  “Mine too.” Marquetta kissed Alex on the top of her head and pointed at the miniature people. “Look. That’s Mr. Dobbs. He runs the general store.”

  “Do they all have names?” Alex asked.

  “Of course! I’ll introduce you.”

  Alex ran her fingers along the track and asked Devon, “Does our train work on it?”

  “Does our train…” Devon blurted. He stopped, winced, and looked down at the tracks. “I hope so. The last time it was run was more than fifteen years ago.”

  “Wow.” Alex breathed out the word, then bounced up-and-down on her toes. “When can we set it up?”

  “You and I still have work to do on the stairs.” Marquetta winked at Alex. “Why don’t we let your dad and Devon take care of it?”

  “Tell you what, kiddo. Once we have it running, you can be the first official conductor.”

  “Awesome!” Alex grabbed Marquetta’s hand. “Come on. Let’s finish the stairs.”

  It was eleven-thirty by the time Devon and Rick had the train set ready for testing. He went to get Alex, but stopped when he saw the staircase. Lights and garland wound their way between all the spindles from the first floor to the second.

  “The lights add such a festive ambience,” Rick said. “But you didn’t decorate the handrail.”

  “It could be a safety hazard,” Marquetta said. “We made an executive decision and chose to go with the ‘safety first’ approach.”

  “Smart move.” Rick gestured for the two of them to follow. “Devon and I have…”

  Rick stopped because Alex was already rushing toward the living room. He nudged Marquetta. “I guess she’s eager to test the train.”

  “I probably did the same thing.”

  Partway through Alex’s ‘test’, one of the couples staying for the weekend wandered through. They lingered around the display, and finally murmured their appreciation for the workmanship of the village as they left.

  “There are a few finishing touches to put on this baby,” Devon said.

  “Can I help?” Alex grinned up at Rick.

  “Sure, kiddo. If Devon doesn’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” said the big man. “Why don’t you help me and your dad can work with Marquetta?”

  “Perfect!”

  Alex suddenly took on the role of chief organizer and told Rick and Marquetta to unpack wreaths that had been stored in the attic. Something in the way she ordered him and Marquetta out of the room made Rick wonder what his daughter was really up to.

  By late afternoon, they’d finished with most of the decorations. Alex and Devon were still ‘working’ on the train set and the only thing left to do was to put up a three-foot wreath on the main wall over the stairs. Rick and Marquetta flipped a coin to see who would climb the ladder and who would be designated as helper. Marquetta won the toss and chose climbing. Rick held the ladder firmly in place as she took the first two steps.

  When Marquetta reached the fifth rung, she looked down at Rick and laughed. “I’ve climbed many ladders before, boss. You don’t have to keep a death grip on it.”

  “Sorry.” He shrugged his shoulders a few times like a boxer going into the ring. “Is that better? I’m good. I’m loose.”

  Marquetta rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”

  Rick shifted from one foot to the other and felt a slow heat rising through his neck and into his cheeks. How easily she flustered him. He bit his upper lip and jerked the ladder slightly. The next thing he knew, Marquetta bounced the wreath on the top of his head.

  “Hey, don’t hurt the wreath.”

  “This one’s indestructible. Captain Jack didn’t secure it very well once and it fell. A couple of the ornaments broke, but that was it.”

  “It must have been more than a couple. That thing’s bare.”

  Marquetta hung the wreath on a screw protruding from the wall. “We stored them separately because while the wreath might be indestructible, the ornaments weren’t. They should still be up in the attic. We’ll have to get them and then decorate with it in place.”

  “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  As she came down the last couple of steps, Marquetta shook her head. “What?”

  “We need to go find that box.”

  Marquetta glanced up the stairs, her face reddened, and she turned away. When she looked back at him, she bit her lip and smiled. “Okay, but we are not having any alcohol first.”

  CHAPTER 7

  ALEX

  Daddy and Marquetta are in the attic getting some ornaments to put on the big wreath while me and Mr. Van Horn are working on the train set. Mr. Van Horn is kinda cool because he likes to joke around and stuff. I’ve been thinking about how to ask him for help with my plan.

  “Mr. Van Horn, do you think my dad likes Marquetta?”

  He’s in the middle of checking the electric track and just kinda stops what he’s doing and bites his lip as he looks around me to the stairs. “He likes her alright.”

  “Do you think he likes her a lot?”

  “Most assuredly, he does.”

  “And she likes him, right?”

  “What’s going on in that little mind of yours?”

  I shrug. “Marquetta’s really nice to me.”

  “She loves you very much.” He stands up straight and gets this surprised look on his face. “Oh. You want me to help you play matchmaker.”

  I had this all planned out, but I didn’t think Mr. Van Horn was gonna be so easy. I’ve got a tiny brush in my hand to clean off the houses and I just kinda twirl it around for a couple seconds.

  “Tell you what, Alex. I’ll help you with your plan if you help me with mine.”

  Mr. Van Horn has plans, too? Whoa. This could get complicated. “Deal.”

  He holds out his hand and we shake. “You first,” he says.

  “Christmas is like the season of miracles. Right?”

  “Ye…es.” Mr. Van Horn starts to smile. “Ohhh…and you want to add a little spark to their season.”

  I stare at him for a second, not exactly sure what he means.

  “You know, romance. Love.”

  “That’s totally what I was thinking.” />
  “I’m in.” He winks at me. “Those two belong together. So how do we get them to realize it?”

  “What about some mistletoe?”

  He starts to nod, then looks around the room. “Nice. Great idea. We’d have to put it someplace where they’re sure to meet.”

  “How about in the kitchen?”

  “Way too obvious.” He starts wandering around the room, then goes into the dining room. “Subtlety and surprise are part of the magic of mistletoe. It has to be someplace where they can’t avoid meeting. There has to be a distraction, something to their attention so they look up. That’s when the magic takes over.”

  Wow, he’s making this super complex. “But we don’t have any mistletoe, Mr. Van Horn.”

  “Let me take care of that for you. Traci Peterson has some in her candle shop. I’m sure she’ll give me a sprig.”

  “Awesome!”

  “We still need a good place to put it. And then we need a reason for them to meet there.”

  “I can totally make that happen!”

  “Okay, location and circumstance are your assignments. The other thing is we can’t tell anyone about this. We don’t want word getting back to your dad or Marquetta.”

  “This is gonna be totally awesome.”

  Mr. Van Horn looks real happy and nods. “I agree. Now, it’s my turn.”

  CHAPTER 8

  RICK

  The attic hummed with the sound of pattering rain. At one moment loud, the next soft, the sound was a constant reminder of how quickly rain cells passed over the old house. Even with the heavy humidity, dust overpowered all other scents in the old attic. It had, after all, been collecting for nearly a hundred years and there were spots where the floorboards, when stepped on, sent up little dust clouds.

  Rick crept forward across the attic floor, then stopped and turned to face Marquetta. “There’s a certain comfort up here.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “Unlike Alex, I never liked it up here much.”

  “I can see why a little girl would feel that way. All this old construction. The exposed pipes and wiring everywhere. Rick paused, then suddenly asked, “Did we ever meet?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “My mom says I visited Captain Jack a couple of times, but the only time I remember was when I was about eight.”

  Marquetta shook her head. “Boss, when you were eight, I was three.”

  “Right.” Rick twisted back around and continued working his way toward the Christmas boxes. “The biggest problem up here is lighting. These two bulbs barely make a difference.”

  “That’s why we’ve got these.” Marquetta pointed her battery-powered lantern to Rick’s left and lit up a stack of boxes. “I’m pretty sure those are the ones we want.”

  As they began searching through the first box, Rick told Marquetta about Reese Potok and how she’d gone to San Ladron for the day.

  “You know what I don’t understand about her?” Marquetta said. “She’s supposed to be working with Thorne, but she has all these out-of-town meetings.” She paused, scrunched up her face, and added, “Of course, if I had to work with Thorne, I’d probably do my best to avoid him, too.”

  “I’ve never met the man.”

  Marquetta snickered and closed the flap on the box she’d been inspecting. “Well, let me tell you about Thorne Waldorf. He’s a peculiar man, a slow man, the kind who will spend extra time at a traffic light when it turns green just to be sure no traffic is coming.”

  “Okay, I hadn’t heard that description before. All I’ve heard is he’s a shark here in peaceful Seaside Cove.”

  “Shark doesn’t begin to describe him. He’s lived here for about ten years and it seems like anyone who’s ever befriended him has ended up being sorry.”

  “Why?”

  For a moment, Marquetta remained silent and stared at the box before her. “I don’t know. There have been tons of rumors about him, but nothing has ever been substantiated.”

  Rick leaned forward and raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t thought much about how Marquetta was tapped into the Seaside Cove rumor mill—not that he hadn’t asked her for insight on the town. He had. But to just sit like this and get the dirt on others in town was…well, kind of fun. “Do tell.”

  Marquetta dismissed his statement with a nonchalant backwards flip of her hand. “Pfft. You know I don’t like to spread gossip.”

  “But you hear so much of it.”

  “Because nobody thinks I’ll repeat it.”

  Rick pushed out his lip in a pout. So much for fun. He slouched forward and wrinkled his nose. “So you won’t tell me?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She ran her tongue over her lower lip, then winked. “Tell you what. I’ll make an exception because it’s Thorne. How about the fact that he’s asked out almost every single woman in town?”

  Rick pulled in a small breath. He’d never thought about Marquetta having an interest in other men. “Has he ever asked you out?”

  “No. I’m not sure why. Maybe he thinks I’m too plain.”

  Rick blurted, “He’s a fool.”

  Marquetta bit her lower lip and avoided his gaze. The color in her cheeks deepened. There were so many things he wanted to tell her—how her spirit made him look forward to each and every day, how the gray in her eyes made him want to caress her cheek, and how her laugh brightened his mood. Rick pressed his lips together and waited for her to speak first.

  She cleared her throat and pushed the box away, then looked around her. “You probably know Thorne loves to incite confrontation. Right?”

  “Jordan Harris told me the same thing a long time ago. I’ve seen several examples since then. So, in answer to your question, I knew that one.” He waved away the ‘juicy’ news with a backwards flip of his hand. “See, I’m not completely clueless.”

  Marquetta kneeled in front of another box to inspect it. “You realize that’s redundant. Right, boss?”

  “You can be cruel.”

  “I try,” she said as she pulled back a sheet of old white packing paper.

  “So does Thorne have a love life?”

  Marquetta stopped unpacking and frowned. “What’s your sudden fascination with Thorne? He’s a creep. And, no, he has no love life. At least, not one anybody can confirm. There are rumors about him and Laurel Harris—maybe while he was also seeing someone much younger. Laurel’s been lonely…but, Thorne? And to share him?” She cringed. “Ewww.”

  “Wow. I’ve never heard you say an unkind word about anybody. Until now.”

  “Let’s just say for Thorne, it’s well-deserved. Anyway, the rumors are probably false. Laurel denies it and there’s never actually been a sighting.”

  He hated to seem naive, but…what was…oh, no…

  “I forgot, you’re a newbie at this stuff. They’ve never been seen together. And neither has been seen leaving the other one’s house. You know, like in the predawn hours.”

  “Please tell me this is a joke.”

  “What? The sightings? Boss, Seaside Cove is a small town without a whole lot to do other than watch what your neighbors are doing.”

  “I kind of thought it would be the other way around. You know, small town, more privacy.”

  Marquetta snickered. “So naive. Talk to Alex. Maybe she’ll tutor you on the power of observation in a small town.”

  “Let’s not go there,” Rick said. “I already know she loves to spy on people. I do not want to give her reason to.”

  Marquetta pulled back another piece of paper, craned her neck forward, and let out a squeal of joy. “Here they are!”

  CHAPTER 9

  RICK

  The ornaments for the ‘indestructible wreath’ were a combination of red and white balls decorated with glitter. Rick craned his neck up as he handed a white ball that sparkled with red glitter to Marquetta. “I can’t believe I lost another coin toss to you.”

  Marquetta smiled, affixed the ornament to the wreath, and came down the ladder. “Maybe you
r karma is out of whack or something. You want to try again for who has to take the ladder out to Devon’s truck?”

  “No. I’ll just concede.”

  He folded up the ladder, then eyed Marquetta’s handiwork. It was a beautiful wreath now that it was decorated. When he returned to the house, he found Alex, Devon, and Marquetta standing around the train set. “Is it all in working order?” he asked.

  Marquetta tapped Alex’s shoulder and tilted her head toward the kitchen. “Why don’t we go work on dinner while your dad does a thorough ‘inspection’?”

  “Yeah,” Alex said with a smile. “Daddy probably wants to make sure everything works.”

  An hour later, they’d scarfed down the last of Marquetta’s Greek Penne and Chicken. Afterwards, they all went off to prepare for the Ugly Sweater Contest. Rick’s entry was made with a bright red yarn that had green holly across the front. He grimaced at his image in the mirror. His attempt at an ugly sweater wasn’t going to get him any kind of prize. Alex, on the other hand, just might win for “Most Obnoxious.” Hers had white lights dotting a red cotton weave along with a smiling reindeer on the front. The best part was the reindeer’s nose lit up.

  He went to Alex’s door and knocked. She told him she’d meet him downstairs in a couple of minutes. Rick decided to do a final check around the B&B. It felt strange leaving the place unattended, even though they’d only be five minutes away.

  To Rick’s surprise, he found Marquetta standing behind the front desk. “Hey, I thought we were meeting at the party,” he said.

  Marquetta rolled her eyes and huffed. “Alex. She texted me and said she needed help getting her lights to work. Her message said she’d be right here.”

  “Oh.” Rick tried not to smile, but couldn’t help himself. “By the way, nice sweater.”

  She put one hand on the black material and looked at it. “Technically, it’s a sweatshirt dress.”

  “Very nice. Minnie Mouse and snowflakes. Very seasonal.” Rick glanced at the clock on the wall. “It appears Alex is running a few minutes late.”

  Marquetta tugged self-consciously on her dress. “I suspected there wasn’t a real lighting emergency.”