by Bobbi Holmes
Danielle glanced at the clock. “Wow, I slept in.”
“You had a busy night last night,” Walt said, handing her one of the cups. “Being held up at gunpoint and all that.”
Danielle accepted the cup and chuckled, “No kidding.” She took a sip.
Walt sat down on a nearby chair with his coffee. “I thought you might want to get up. Owen is downstairs waiting to say goodbye. He was hoping to see you before he leaves.”
“Owen is leaving?” Danielle asked.
“Yes. He’s going over to his sister’s house to see her and his parents. He’s hoping to make amends,” Walt explained before taking a drink of his coffee.
Danielle made it downstairs within fifteen minutes to say goodbye to Owen. She had first washed her face and combed her hair, but didn’t bother applying any makeup. She slipped on dark blue leggings and an oversized powder blue Christmas sweater decorated with snowflakes, before pulling on her boots. She found Owen standing in the entry hall with his suitcases, talking to Chris and Noah. Marie stood with them, but Owen was unaware of the ghost’s presence.
“We tried to talk him into breakfast before he leaves,” Chris told Danielle when she reached them.
“I’m too nervous to eat,” Owen said. “But I did have a cup of coffee.”
“So you’re going to see your family?” Danielle stood in front of Owen, Walt now by her side.
“I hope they want to see me,” Owen said. “And I just realized, I haven’t even bought any Christmas gifts.”
“Just give them the Christmas shoe. I have a feeling that will be enough,” Danielle said before giving Owen a parting hug.
“I want to thank all of you. You’ve been so nice.” Owen glanced around and said, “I wanted to say goodbye to Colin, but I haven’t seen him this morning.”
“I’m afraid he got up early,” Chris told him. “He left right after I got up. Told me not to expect him back until later this afternoon.”
Owen let out a sigh and picked up his suitcases. “Well, tell him thanks, would you. He is a good listener.”
Ten minutes later, after Owen finished his farewells and went out to his car, Danielle and the rest stood at the living room window, looking outside, watching him drive off.
“I would love to be a fly in the corner,” Danielle said.
“What do you mean?” Chris asked.
“I wish I could see how the reunion goes.”
“I guess I could be a fly,” Marie said cheerfully. “I’ll be back later to report how it all went.” In the next moment Marie vanished.
Elizabeth Sparks was just opening her blinds when she spied him drive up. She immediately ducked behind the curtain and then peeked out again. It was him, the man with the beard and sunglasses. He parked his car. Like the other times, he sat in the vehicle and didn’t seem to be making any attempt to get out. He just sat there, staring up at her house.
“What are you looking at?” Mrs. Sparks asked when she walked into the living room.
“There is a man parked in front of the house,” Elizabeth said in a whisper, still peeking outside.
“I doubt he can hear you,” Mrs. Sparks said with a laugh, approaching the window.
“He’s getting out of the car!” Elizabeth blurted, moving completely from the window’s view.
“Elizabeth, why are you getting so jumpy?” Mrs. Sparks intended to look out the window but was yanked to one side by her daughter.
“Don’t let him see you!”
“Who is it?” Mrs. Sparks asked, making no more attempt to look outside.
“I don’t know. But I have seen him a few times—parked in front of my house. And I have run into him around town, watching me,” Elizabeth told her.
“Why didn’t you ever mention this before?” her mother asked.
The next minute the doorbell rang.
“That’s him!” Elizabeth said, holding onto her mother.
The two women stood quietly in the living room, not looking out the window, waiting for whoever was ringing the bell to go away. The doorbell rang again.
“Isn’t anyone going to get that?” Mr. Sparks asked when he walked into the room. He didn’t wait for their response but walked straight to the door and opened it.
The women stood silently, waiting and watching as Mr. Sparks stood at the open doorway looking out onto the front porch, saying nothing.
After a few moments of silence, Mr. Sparks said, “Mark?”
“Hi, Dad,” came a male voice.
“Mark?” Elizabeth and her mother said in unison. The women rushed to the doorway and found Owen Mark standing on the front porch, holding a Christmas gift bag in one hand and his sunglasses in the other.
“Oh my god…it is you. The beard, I didn’t even recognize you!” Elizabeth said. “You’ve been here for a few days, haven’t you?”
“I didn’t know if you would want to see me…” he said in a small voice.
When Marie returned to Marlow House, she found Walt and Danielle sitting at the breakfast table with Chris, Noah, Lily, Ian, and Heather, eating biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs and sausage. Connor sat in a nearby baby seat on the floor, with Hunny and Sadie standing guard. The moment Marie appeared in the room, Danielle asked her about the reunion.
“He didn’t even have an opportunity to give them the shoe,” Marie said when she took a seat at the table.
“They didn’t want to see him?” Danielle asked.
“Are you kidding? That boy was greeted like the returning warrior. I meant he didn’t get an opportunity to give them the shoe when he first arrived. There was so much hugging and crying. Goodness, I swear I was going to cry myself, and then I realized ghosts don’t cry.”
“I don’t know about that,” Danielle said. “I seem to recall a lot of sobbing when Cheryl realized she was dead.”
“Not the same thing, dear. But it was quite lovely. They were so busy catching up that he didn’t even get a chance to give them the shoe until he had been there a good hour. And then there was another wave of tears. I do believe everyone over at that house got their Christmas wish this year.”
“That’s the best kind of Christmas wish,” Danielle said as she snatched another biscuit from the basket on the table.
“So tell me, what is everyone wishing for this Christmas?” Ian asked his friends.
“I got my Christmas wish,” Noah said. “I’m spending Christmas with my baby brother again this year.”
Chris smiled at his brother and said, “Spending Christmas with family and friends is on the top of my list. But I realize I will be getting something I have wanted for a while.”
“What’s that?” Lily asked.
“I never mentioned it before, but I have often thought about how I’d love to design my own house. But there just aren’t any empty lots available—at least not right on the ocean in Frederickport, where I want to live.”
“There is now,” Lily reminded him.
Chris flashed her a grin. “Exactly. While I didn’t burn my house down intentionally—”
“I hope not,” Heather interjected.
“I now have the opportunity to build the house of my dreams—on the street I want to live on,” Chris said.
“That’s because we are such wonderful neighbors,” Heather teased.
“True,” Chris conceded. He then looked at Walt and Danielle and asked, “What’s your Christmas wish?”
“Considering all my blessings since—since my second chance—I think I’m good for quite a few Christmases,” Walt said.
Chris looked from Walt to Danielle and asked, “What about you?”
“I would have really liked Pearl Huckabee’s attitude toward Hunny to change. It makes me nervous, I worry that if Hunny were to get out when Pearl is home and we aren’t, that she might do something to hurt her,” Danielle said.
“I imagine Pearl will have a different attitude, considering Hunny is the one who practically saved her,” Noah suggested.
�
��I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Walt said. “Danielle and I stopped at the hospital to see her, and Pearl made it a point to tell us nothing has changed between us.”
“That woman has a serious problem,” Heather muttered.
“So what about you?” Chris asked Heather.
“Are you asking if I have a serious problem?” Heather frowned.
With a laugh, Chris said, “No. What is your Christmas wish, you goof.”
“Oh…that,” Heather said sheepishly. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. But things are kind of good right now. Probably the best they have been in a long time for me. If I had a Christmas wish, I think it would be that things keep going the way they are.”
“I agree!” Lily said. “I am at a really good place. Lots of blessings to be grateful for.”
Marie glanced down at Connor, who had just fallen asleep. “I agree with you there.”
“Last night the chief was telling me what Evan wanted for Christmas,” Ian said.
“A puppy?” Heather asked.
“No. He wants a dream hop with his mother—actually he wants a dream hop with his mother, father and brother. He wants them to spend Christmas together,” Ian explained.
“I wish I knew how to do that for Evan.” Marie looked at Walt. “You did that with Danielle—how did you manage to get her family together for the Christmas dream hop? Maybe if I knew, I could do the same thing for Evan. It would mean so much to him.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” Walt told her. “So much I’ve forgotten since coming back over to this side.”
“Don’t know what?” Lily asked with a frown, since she was unable to see or hear Marie.
“How to dream hop,” Danielle explained.
“Maybe Eva would know how,” Heather suggested.
“Where is Eva, by the way? She hasn’t been around all week,” Danielle asked.
“Eva feels rather social this time of year—off visiting her old haunts,” Marie said.
“Pun intended?” Chris asked.
The next moment red and green glitter began falling from the ceiling above the table, disappearing before it reached the tabletop. The mediums stopped talking and looked up to the ceiling.
“Eva? Is that you?” Walt asked.
“Is Eva here?” Lily asked.
The glitter began to swirl, turning from red and green to pure white, forming a miniature tornado, and from its core emerged a vision of a woman dressed in a green gown and a festive hat decorated in gold and red for the season.
“Did someone call my name?” Eva asked with outstretched arms as she slowly descended from the ceiling, the toes of her shoes almost touching the table—and about to enter the bowl of gravy.
“Look out for the gravy!” Danielle called out.
The next moment all traces of glitter vanished, and Eva’s vision disappeared and then reappeared, standing next to the table.
“It’s not as if my shoes are real,” Eva reminded her. “Although shoes in the gravy—even if they are only an illusion, not very appetizing.”
“Merry Christmas, Eva,” Danielle greeted her. “We are happy to see you.”
“I’m not too late for your party, am I?” Eva asked.
“That’s not until tonight,” Walt told her.
They were interrupted when Colin walked into the dining room.
“Colin, hello,” Danielle greeted him. “There is plenty of food left over, if you are hungry.”
Eva, whose back had been to the new arrival, turned around to see who had just walked into the room. When she saw who it was, she said, “Nicholas, is that you?”
“Eva,” Colin returned, “I wondered when I would be seeing you.”
Thirty-Eight
Lily was dying of curiosity to know what was going on, but since she could neither see nor hear Eva and Marie, the one-sided conversation was driving her insane. Adding to the intrigue, it seemed Colin was now talking to Eva, and it sounded as if he knew her. She wanted to ask questions, but Connor woke up from his brief nap and began to fuss. He needed to be changed and fed. Since she and Ian had just finished breakfast, they said goodbye minutes after Colin’s arrival and left Marlow House to the ghosts and mediums. Danielle would have to fill her in later.
“You know each other?” Danielle asked Eva.
“Yes. Nicholas and I are old friends,” Eva said as she sat down on the chair Lily had abandoned.
“I thought your name was Colin?” Noah asked.
“Colin is a French variation of Nicholas, didn’t you know that?” Eva asked. “This time of year he prefers to go by Colin to go unnoticed.” She looked to Chris and said, “Like you do, when you go by your mother’s maiden name instead of your legal surname.”
“How do you know each other?” Walt asked, looking from Eva to Colin.
“I first met him a few years back,” Eva began. “When Colin was going through Salem, and I was visiting a cemetery there. It was at Christmastime, and you know how unusual it is for someone like me to find anyone new to talk to—someone who can see and hear me. Newly departed spirits who haven’t yet crossed over don’t count. They tend to be rather self-absorbed, only wanting to talk about themselves and their new predicament. But not Nicholas, he has always been interested in other people. Although technically, I suppose I am no longer a person.”
“I will confess, when we first met, I wasn’t sure you were a spirit, or perhaps some lovely actress dressed in a period costume for some Christmas play,” Colin told her with a smile.
“I understand going by a nickname, but I don’t understand what Eva means when she said you wish to go unnoticed at this time of year. You mentioned something similar to me yesterday when Marie asked if you were who you claimed to be,” Danielle told Colin.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Eva asked with a laugh. “An older gentleman with a white beard at this time of year, whose name is Nicholas?”
“Are you suggesting children might confuse him for Santa Claus?” Chris asked.
“It is Christmastime. And in all those Christmas movies I see people watching this time of year, the character who turns out to be Santa Claus is typically named Nick or Nicholas,” Eva reminded them.
“I don’t know,” Heather argued. “He obviously doesn’t have the belly for the part.”
“Ahh, the rumor of Saint Nicholas’s girth is greatly exaggerated,” Eva said.
“Perhaps. But would it really be so bad if kids thought you were Santa?” Danielle asked.
“It could be annoying,” Heather suggested.
“That’s not the reason,” Colin corrected. “Sinter Klaas prefers a sense of anonymity.”
“Sinter Klaas is a Dutch nickname for Saint Nicholas,” Noah noted.
“If he really wanted anonymity, then he shouldn’t have run around dressed in bright red, hung out with elves, and driven around in a flying sleigh,” Heather snarked.
“Speaking of Santa Claus, I tried to get Walt to dress up to play Santa for our party tonight, but even when he had a beard, I don’t think he could pass for the jolly old fellow,” Danielle said.
“What about Nicholas?” Eva asked, turning to look at Colin.
Colin stroked his white beard and said, “While I have the beard, as Heather pointed out, my stature might not be convincing in the part. But I could give it a shot.”
“Would you really be willing to do it?” Danielle asked.
Pearl Huckabee sat alone in her hospital room, looking up at the television from the bed as she rapidly punched the remote, looking for something to watch. It was mostly reruns and stale Christmas movies. It’s a Wonderful Life was playing on one channel, but the last thing she wanted to do was watch a movie about angels. Perhaps Clarence wasn’t the main character, but she found the premise absurd, even for Christmas. She told herself she was beyond the age of embracing the notion of Christmas magic and angels. Real life was about falling off ladders when fixing your Christmas lights. It was not about some angel arri
ving to save the day.
Disgusted with the television programming, she turned off the set and leaned back in the bed. Perhaps she could take a nap and sleep her time away so she could get home faster. A knock came at her doorway. She looked to see who it was.
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Huckabee,” an elderly bearded man said from the open doorway.
“Who are you?” she snapped.
He gave her a smile. “I’m a volunteer at the hospital, may I come in?”
“Do I know you? You look familiar,” Pearl said.
“I don’t think we have met before.”
“Are you some sort of geriatric candy striper?” she asked.
He chuckled and walked into her room. “Something like that. I just wanted to see how you are doing, and if there is anything I can get you to make you more comfortable. I know it is never fun to be in the hospital, and especially during Christmas.”
“The only thing that would make me more comfortable is if I could get home in my own bed. I’m trying to listen to my doctor’s advice, but frankly, I don’t know why I can’t go home. My ankle is not going to heal any faster in this bed than mine at home—and at least I will be more comfortable there.”
“When you go home, is your bedroom on the first floor, or will you have to use stairs?”
Pearl frowned. “My bedroom is upstairs. But I do have a guest room downstairs I could stay in. Even that would be better than here.”
“You do look healthy and not like someone who needs to stay in a bed all day. Perhaps your doctor will decide it would be alright for you to go home a little early, in time for Christmas.”
“I don’t see that happening,” she grumbled.
“You never know,” he said with a smile. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Huckabee.”
He turned and left the room. Pearl sat there a moment, frowning at the now empty doorway.
“I guess I should’ve asked him to bring me some cookies,” she muttered. Picking up the remote, she looked back to the television, deciding to give it another try.
