A Christmas to Remember

by Thomas Kinkade

  “Yes, I guess she’s lucky she didn’t break a hip. Or get so upset it sent her into a stroke. She’ll probably need physical therapy after the casts come off.”

  Sara sat back. “I’m impressed. You sound just like the doctor, Lucy. Are you sure you aren’t going to medical school instead of nursing school?”

  “Don’t be silly. Anybody knows that stuff.” Lucy smiled, color rising to her cheeks. “But we are getting into the heavy-duty phase now. I start hospital work tomorrow. Can you believe it? Real live patients. No more dummies in the nursing lab.”

  “Wow. That is serious.”

  Lucy nodded, looking like she hardly believed it herself.

  “I really don’t know how you do it, Lucy. Working at the diner, your school work, and now the hospital, too. Plus the kids and Charlie. I can’t even imagine juggling my job at the paper and being married to Luke,” Sara admitted.

  Lucy laughed. “Don’t worry. Luke’s the enlightened type. He’ll be doing the laundry and the dishes and walking around with the baby strapped to his chest in one of those Daddy pouches.”

  Sara’s eyes widened. “Who said anything about a baby?”

  “Lucy?” Charlie leaned over the edge of the counter and rang the little order bell until it sounded like it was going crazy.

  Lucy slowly glanced at him over her shoulder. “Yes?”

  “When you’re done entertaining the customers, there’s an order up for you.”

  “Be right there.” She turned back to Sara. “It’s just a sandwich. The man’s still eating his soup.”

  Sara was glad to see Lucy didn’t jump when Charlie barked at her. She used to just about jump out of her skin if he so much as gave her a dark look.

  “I bet you can’t wait until your nursing degree is done and you won’t have to work at the diner anymore.”

  “You got that right.” Lucy sighed. “Sometimes I think I might miss it….” She leaned over so that only Sara could hear her. “Then I say to myself, Are you out of your mind?”

  Sara grinned. “I can’t believe you’re almost done.”

  “Me, either. I never thought I would get this far. I just took one step at a time and kept going.” She looked down at Sara and met her gaze with a serious look. “I never could have done it without you, Sara.”

  Sara felt embarrassed by her friend’s gratitude. “Of course you would. I didn’t do anything.”

  “Yes, you did. You helped me fill out all those college applications. You kept telling me I could do it.”

  “Well, maybe I encouraged you but you did the rest yourself. You have a lot to be proud of.”

  Lucy smiled quietly. “Thanks. It ain’t over till it’s over, though. I still have all this training to get through.”

  “You’ll do fine,” Sara told her. “I’m sure of it.”

  Charlie had walked to the end of the counter and now leaned over, speaking in a low growl. “Sorry to interrupt, ladies. But maybe Lucy could take a short break from socializing to wait on the tables? You know, that thing you do when you carry the food to people?”

  “Okay, Charlie. Cool your jets. I’m getting to it.” Lucy winked at Sara. “Catch you later,” she said, heading toward the order window.

  Charlie stood glaring at Sara a moment. Sara glared back.

  She knew Charlie saw her as the source of his troubles—the high-minded college girl who had put the idea of going back to school into Lucy’s head. Not to mention his perennial feud with Emily, who he believed did not deserve to be mayor of Cape Light nearly as much as he did.

  He hated the idea of Lucy going back to school and had done all he could to discourage her. Lucy had even left him for a short time a few years back. She had taken the boys and moved in with her mother. The separation hadn’t lasted long, just long enough to show Charlie that even Lucy had her limits.

  “Did she even take your order?” Charlie growled.

  “I’m waiting for Luke,” Sara said.

  Charlie’s mouth curled in a disdainful smile. He didn’t like Luke much either. “Right, I should have guessed…. When are you two getting married?”

  “We haven’t set a date yet.”

  “Well, don’t rush into anything. Marriage is a tough row to hoe, I’ll promise you that.”

  Married to you, it would be, Sara wanted to say. She was more like her grandmother sometimes than she liked to think.

  The bell over the door jangled and Luke walked in. His gaze swept the diner, quickly settling on Sara.

  “Well, here he is now. Don’t get too comfortable. We’re closing at ten tonight.”

  “Don’t worry, Charlie. We’ll eat fast and get out.” Luke gave Sara a quick kiss, then sat down in the seat across from her. “And thanks for the hospitality.”

  “You shouldn’t provoke him, Luke,” Sara said, trying to look serious.

  “I know but it’s hard to resist.” Luke took her hands and held them in his own. “How’s Lillian doing?”

  “She was pretty good when we left. She felt well enough to argue with her doctor. But she’s in her late seventies with two broken bones and a concussion.”

  “Your grandmother’s head is as hard as a rock. I wouldn’t worry about that part of it.”

  “Fine Italian marble, maybe,” Sara conceded. “She wouldn’t like hearing her cranium described as any old kind of rock, you know.”

  “How long will she be in the hospital?”

  “Why? Are you planning on sending her flowers?” Sara teased.

  “I’d send her a roomful if I thought it would make her like me any better.”

  “Oh, she likes you. She just enjoys taking a contrary position.”

  “Sara, the woman despises me. I know she tells you to dump me every chance she gets. She had a fit when she found out we were engaged. At least admit it.”

  Sara stared down at the table. It was true. For some reason, Lillian had never liked Luke. She told Sara time and again that he wasn’t good enough for her and she could do much better.

  Luke was the finest man Sara had ever known. He had endured so many challenges in his life that had only made him stronger.

  “I know Lillian has her blind spots about you. But in time, she’ll get to know you better, and she’ll—”

  “She’ll find something new to complain about,” Luke finished for her. “Maybe when we get married, she’ll finally get it.”

  Finally was the key word, Sara knew.

  She cleared her throat, hoping to sidestep the when-are-we getting-married conversation tonight. “There’s something I need to tell you about Lillian,” she began. “When she comes home from the hospital, she’s going to need help around the clock. But she doesn’t want a stranger staying overnight. She gets very upset by the idea. Emily and Jessica said they would stay, but you know how hard it would be for them….”

  “Uh-oh. I don’t like where this is heading at all.” Luke rested his chin on one hand, already looking glum. “Go on.”

  “I said I would stay over at night and keep her company. Is that so awful? She’s my only grandmother, you know.”

  “Sure, I know. But will she ever admit it?”

  “She admits it,” Sara answered quietly.

  She thought about telling Luke how Lillian had asked her to call her Grandma while they waited for the ambulance. But somehow the moment seemed too private, almost secret.

  “I need to help her out. I need to help Emily and Jessica. They’ll be visiting during the day and doing their share.”

  Luke didn’t look very happy about the situation. “All I know is, now I’ll see you even less. And don’t tell me to come and visit you there. Your grandmother practically calls the police if she spots me walking down her block.”

  “She’ll be bedridden. She won’t even know if you come by to see me.”

  “Come on. I’m not going to sneak in and out like a teenager. I’m too old for that stuff.”

  “Yes, I’m marrying an old man, aren’t I? I almost forg
ot,” Sara teased him.

  Luke was older than her by almost ten years. Sara didn’t think about it much, though she knew he did.

  “That’s right. I’m getting older every day. You better marry me before I need a walker to come down the aisle.”

  Lucy came over with her order pad in hand. “Hi, Luke. Are you guys ready?”

  Luke and Sara ordered sandwiches and coffee, and Lucy returned to the kitchen.

  “I guess we can go across the street to the Beanery and have dessert,” Sara said, gazing out the window. “They stay open until midnight on Saturdays.”

  “We should have had dinner there, too,” Luke added.

  Sara didn’t answer. She knew he really didn’t care where they ate, that he was annoyed at her. Frustrated about their wedding plans, or lack thereof.

  “So?” He stared at her.

  “Yes?”

  “When are we getting married, Sara? People keep asking me. It’s getting embarrassing. We’ve been engaged a year.”

  “Not quite…well, at Christmas I guess it will be.” She sighed. “It’s not unusual for couples to be engaged for a year. Or even longer. I don’t know what you’re embarrassed about.”

  “Because those people are planning weddings. Big, fancy weddings that take casts of thousands. We haven’t even set a date yet. We haven’t done a thing…. Do you even want to marry me? I’m starting to worry.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I do…. I’ve done stuff. Lots of stuff.” Sara knew she sounded defensive but couldn’t help it. “It’s just so hard to figure out. It’s like a full-time job, except I have a full-time job. So who has time to do this, too? Besides, why should it be up to me to plan everything? Men can read a bridal planner. The print doesn’t turn into invisible ink.”

  “Very funny. Give me the planner. I’ll fill it in.”

  “Fine. But a football game on wide-screen TV, accompanied by beer and pizza do not qualify as Entertainment, Beverages, and Dinner.”

  Lucy appeared, carrying their orders. She glanced at Sara and then back at Luke. “Whoops, sorry to interrupt. Just remember, don’t argue at mealtime. Impairs the digestion. Too much stomach acid.”

  Luke smiled at her despite his foul mood. “Thanks for the health tip, Lucy.”

  Lucy set their food down. “Enjoy your meal…and don’t worry too much about the wedding. These things have a way of working themselves out.”

  “I hope so,” Luke said.

  Luke started eating his sandwich, but Sara felt too nervous to touch hers. “Listen,” she began, “the thing is, every time I start thinking about the wedding, I get all confused. My family in Maryland wants us to have the wedding down there. My mother keeps telling me about all these nice places she’s been looking at. I know my parents will be very hurt if we decide to get married here.”

  Luke shrugged. “So let’s get married in Maryland. My family can get there from Boston. They don’t care where it is. I think they’re all still in shock that a girl like you would marry me.”

  “Luke, I’m trying to be serious here. It’s not your family I’m worried about. It’s Emily. I know she wouldn’t make a big deal about it, but I think she has her heart set on us getting married in Cape Light. I don’t want to hurt her feelings either.”

  Sara picked up her sandwich and put it down again. “And even if we do decide where to have it, then we have to decide what kind of wedding we want. Whenever I read those bridal magazines…I don’t know…the Bridezilla mindset just scares me. So many choices. How do people figure it out? Gowns, veils, flower arrangements, Hummer limos, DJs, heart-shaped chocolate fountains…”

  “Okay, I get your point.” Luke looked up from his plate. “At least we’re getting to the bottom of it. We don’t have to have a big fancy wedding. It’s not a law, you know.”

  “Not yet.” Sara sighed. “Emily said she would help me. She has a restaurant for us to see. She wants us to meet her there for dinner one night next week.”

  “That sounds promising.”

  “Not to my parents in Maryland. For them it promises to be a disaster.”

  “You know,” Luke said, “I’m starting to think I have to kidnap you and drag you off, caveman style. Just you, me, and a justice of the peace.”

  “Oh, Luke. Not that again.”

  He smiled and nodded. “Time to go to Plan B, Sara. I don’t know why you keep resisting. It would make life so simple.”

  Every time they had this conversation, Luke came up with the same solution. Sara knew she should have expected it. Plan B: run off and elope. At first she had dismissed the idea, but as their engagement dragged on, it was starting to sound better and better. She was tired of fretting about where to have the wedding and stressing over whom she might upset with her decision, Emily or her adoptive parents. She loved them all so much, it seemed impossible to choose.

  Besides, she just wanted to be married to Luke. Period. A big party for their wedding didn’t seem at all important to her.

  “Just give me a little warning. So I can have my hair trimmed or something? And I’d rather not get married in jeans and a ratty old sweater.” She looked down at herself, surveying her usual outfit.

  “No warning. I’ll be wearing the same. We want to make a statement. Maybe you could write a column about it for the paper. An anti-wedding-industry-that-exploits-young-couples-in-love kind of thing.”

  “I think you’re trying to weasel out of wearing a tuxedo.”

  Luke shrugged. “Okay, that, too.” He grinned and leaned across the table to kiss her. “Now finish up before Charlie shuts the lights off and makes you take that sandwich home in a doggy bag.”

  Sara poked at her sandwich. She was starting to agree with him. She wished they could skip a real wedding and just run off to get married on their own. It would make life so simple.

  But of course, Luke had only been teasing her. And she had been teasing him back…hadn’t she?

  Crane’s Beach, Cape Light, August 1955

  LILLIAN HAD WALKED ALL THE WAY TO THE STONE JETTY, RESTED there for a few minutes, then started back toward Charlotte and her friends. As she grew closer to their striped umbrella she noticed a man sitting there in the midst of the three women, looking like a satyr among the nymphs.

  Oliver Warwick. Who else would it be? She stopped in her tracks then realized they had all turned to look at her. Charlotte waved. Lillian realized she was too close to turn around and walk down the beach again. She took a breath, fixed her face in a neutral expression, and headed up the sandy slope to meet them.

  “That was quite a walk, Lily. You’ve been gone an hour.” Charlotte rose and walked a few steps to meet her. “We were worried about you.”

  “I guess I lost track of time. The beach is beautiful at that end, so empty and quiet.”

  “Lily loves the quiet,” Bess said to Oliver. “She made us hike out here to no-man’s-land. I’m surprised you found us.”

  “It wasn’t easy,” Oliver admitted. He looked up at Lillian and smiled. She didn’t smile back. She poured herself a cup of iced tea from Charlotte’s cooler and drank it down quickly.

  Oliver looked completely different today from the way he had the night before. Though unfortunately, no less attractive.

  He wore khaki Bermuda shorts, boat shoes, and a short-sleeved cotton sports shirt, dark blue with vertical grey stripes. His shirt hung open, revealing his bare chest; he was more muscular than she would have expected. The wind tossed his dark hair in all directions, and sunglasses hid his eyes. She could still feel him watching her every move, like the heat of the sun on her bare skin.

  “Why don’t you sit down, Lily? You must be exhausted.” Charlotte jumped up from her chair. “Here, sit in the shade a while and cool off.”

  The chair in the shade did look inviting. But Oliver sat on the blanket right beside it, his arms folded loosely around his long legs. She was angry at the idea of him following her and afraid of what she might say.

  She
had plenty to talk to him about. But not in front of Charlotte and her friends.

  “I do need to cool off. I think I’ll take a swim.” Lillian grabbed a towel and headed for the water.

  Charlotte wasn’t much of a swimmer, and Lillian knew she wouldn’t follow. Neither would any of the others. Penny and Bess were too busy flirting with Oliver, and he wasn’t even dressed for swimming.

  “The water’s rough today, Lily. Be careful,” Charlotte called after her.

  Lillian nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

  The surf was rough. The wind was strong and the waves were coming in close together, peaking high and breaking with lots of spray and foam. There were no lifeguards on this stretch of shoreline, but Lillian wasn’t concerned. She had been swimming in the waters of Cape Light and Newburyport all her life. She was a strong swimmer who knew how to handle herself in the surf.

  She waded in a bit until the water swirled around her hips, then dove in, slipping under the breakers. She popped up on the other side and floated. Even at this relatively calm point, the waves rose and fell quickly, lifting and dropping her into deep ocean troughs.

  The rough, cold water quickly cleared her head and cooled her temper. She felt ready to return to the group on the blanket. After a few moments, she turned on her stomach and did a breast stroke, swimming back toward the beach.

  But while it had been easy to get into the water, it was another matter to get out. She bobbed up and down in the big waves, waiting for the chance to ride one to shore. But the waves were coming in so close together and from several different angles. She could bob around here until midnight, Lillian realized. There would never be a really good time to make her move.

  She waited for the next big wave and started swimming madly, feeling it sweep her into the shore, just as she had planned. She noticed the group on the blanket watching her and as she reached the shallow water she tried to get up and exit the water as gracefully as she could, despite the load of sand—and maybe even a few small crustaceans—that had been swept down the cleavage of her suit.

  Lillian rose on wobbly legs and shook out her hair. Foamy whirlpools swirled around her legs. She started to walk out of the water, while the sand beneath her feet was sucked from under her by the outgoing wave.