by H. L. Burke
Chapter Nine
Nyssa’s heart pounded painfully when she reached the end of the block. The trolley was nowhere in sight.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered. The shops with their cheerful customers seemed to mock her. So many gifts, none good enough for Ellis. She’d sunk everything into this plan, hurt Ellis’s feelings to pull it off, and now she had nothing to show for it. Worried that Henri would pursue her before the trolley arrived, she turned the corner to walk home.
“So, so, so stupid. Ellis saw right through him. Why couldn’t I?” She kicked at a cobblestone. Tears smarted her eyes, and the world blurred.
Nothing for Ellis. No tree. No present. No explanation other than that he had been right and she had been wrong. Could things have gone worse? Tomorrow was Christmas. How would she ever face Ellis?
A rich, warm smell tickled her nose. Coffee. Coffee and cinnamon. The memory of her mother’s kitchen overwhelmed her, and she followed the odor into a small coffee house.
Candles and sprigs of holly decked circular, marble-topped tables. Behind the counter, a blonde woman in a hairnet and white apron manned a complicated chromed machine that steamed and hissed.
“Is that a boiler?” Nyssa asked.
“An espresso machine. Imported from Italia.” The woman smiled. “Have you ever had espresso before?”
Nyssa shook her head. “Mostly a tea drinker.”
The woman nodded. “Most from New Taured are. If this is your first, and because of the holiday, I can make this one on the house.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Nyssa brought out her satchel. “I can pay.”
“No, no, it’s my Christmas gift to you as a new customer. And trust me, once you’ve had one, you will be back for more.” The woman winked.
The wink made Nyssa think of Henri. She winced but sat at one of the tables. A grinding noise rose from behind the counter, and the smell of coffee sharpened. The woman’s movements made Nyssa think of a mythical alchemist at work. She tapped at the dark powder with a pestle then attached the handled filter to the shining machine.
“You’re from the continent too?” Nyssa asked. Blondes weren’t common in San Azula.
“My mother is from New Taured, my father from Italia. They met here on holiday, fell in love, and stayed rather than decide which of their homelands to return to.” The woman brought out a tin pitcher filled with milk. A hiss of steam rose from the espresso machine. “My name’s Bianca.”
“Nyssa.”
Bianca finished behind the counter and paraded out a china cup. Cinnamon lay sprinkled atop a layer of frothed milk.
“Thank you,” Nyssa said, taking the warm cup between her hands. She cast her gaze around the small dining area. In the corner, spangled with silver tinsel and paper snowflakes, stood a sapling palm tree. “What’s that?” She nodded towards it.
Bianca’s cheeks reddened. “Oh that. Well, my mother always had a Christmas tree growing up in New Taured, but imported conifers are so expensive that we’ve always had to make do with local flora. One year I decked out a pineapple.” She giggled. “But you work with what you have, you know? It’s the traditions you make, not how things look to other people. Even if someone offered me a ten foot fir, all green and fresh, I think I’d still want the tropical plants I grew up with.”
Nyssa sipped her coffee. It coated her tongue, warm, rich, and creamy. “This is excellent. I definitely will be back.”
“I knew you would.” Bianca grinned.
When Nyssa finished her drink and started towards home again, Bianca’s words kept running through her head.
Work with what you have … the traditions you make …
Deep in thought, she walked past several trolley stops, and by the time she made her way back home, the sun dipped behind the buildings. The shop was dark and empty, but she unlocked the door and stepped in. She turned up the gas lamp.
Ellis had apparently been examining his treasures from the delivery. Large metal gears—some a foot in diameter—springs, and clockwork stood in stacks or strewn about the floor. All the pieces gleamed like new, some yellow bronze, some even chrome, obviously meant more for show pieces than heavy machinery. Ellis had sorted them by size, the gears of the broadest circumference on the bottom, leading up to the smaller ones on top, making several of the stacks vaguely conical in shape. Nyssa tilted her head.
Work with what I have …
She snatched up as many of the gears as she could carry, and made her way out of the shop and down the hall. A light shone under Ellis’s door, so she lightened her steps and crept past, up to the sitting room where she’d strewn most of their decorations.
Tomorrow is Christmas. I need to work quickly.
Chapter Ten
Ellis lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. His clock read five a.m. Too early to be up, even on Christmas. When a child, he would’ve rushed to see what Father Christmas had left under the tree, but after the last few days, he wasn’t sure what awaited him. More fights with Nyssa? Would she like what he’d made her or would she be able to tell it was a hasty fix of the original broken gift?
Well, at least Theo would be happy. Ellis would put on a cheerful exterior for him, no matter what the day did or didn’t have in store for the adults.
His argument with Nyssa still stung, and her avoiding him so completely, being out all afternoon on Christmas Eve, did little to reassure him. He’d drawn a line in the sand, and in spite of her promise of fidelity, he felt empty inside. A happy Christmas would be downright impossible if he couldn’t find a way to reconcile with her.
Sitting up against the headboard, he prayed. Dear Lord, all I want for Christmas is for things to go back to how they were with Nyssa, but I suppose it is wishful thinking for Father Christmas to leave her under my tree—I don’t even have a tree. He exhaled. If you want me to apologize to her, I will. Maybe I was wrong not to have faith, but that Henri … I don’t trust him.
Ellis went through his morning routine. His chair waited for him beside the bed. He slipped into it, and wheeled over to the wash basin where he splashed water on his face. Theo would be up soon.
I should go set up his present so it’s ready for him.
A few minutes later he was dressed and groomed. He slipped a box out from under his bed. Mechanical parts clanked inside.
After Theo had become part of their lives, they’d converted half of Ellis’s study into a sleeping area for the boy. However, this meant that Ellis had to creep through the boy’s bedroom in order to get to the hall. Clutching the box to avoid any more rattling, he wheeled across the carpet and out into the hall. Hopefully he’d have time to set everything up.
Pots rattled and the smell of cinnamon wafted through the house. Ellis grinned.
Good old Mrs. H. Working even on Christmas.
The narrow stairs had metal tracks for his chair’s wheels. He pulled a lever to lock the wheels in place, and the tracks pushed him upward.
The gas lights flickered at the top of the stairs. Ellis’s brow furrowed. Was Nyssa already up? Or had she forgotten to turn off the lights when she went to bed? He reached the top, and his heart did a backflip.
There, in the corner of the sitting room, glowed a massive, metallic Christmas tree.
Someone had fitted bronze and chrome gears, one on top of another, with pipes creating space between them. Incandescent bulbs shone from within the structure, glinting off the metal. Tinsel hung over the teeth as if they were the boughs of a fir, and at the top a clockwork star held a taper candle, dripping with wax.
Beneath the artful display, curled up among scattered tools, rested Nyssa, her head on her satchel.
The hair on Ellis’s arms stood up. He steered closer, set the box on the couch, then scooted from his chair so he could sit on the floor beside her. The lights from the tree, in all their lustrous glory, cast shadows over her face. He kissed her cheek. Her lips twitched, and she smiled.
“Nyss,” he whispered.
She jolted awake, blinking at him.
“Did you do all this last night?” He motioned towards the tree.
She nodded.
He raised an eyebrow. “How late did you stay up?”
“I don’t know. Three-ish. It’s not …” A yawn overtook her. “Sorry. I don’t think it’s quite right.”
“It’s perfect.”
She flushed and lowered her eyes. “Well, it’s not like the ten foot trees you had as a kid.”
“No, it’s better.” He slipped an arm around her and drew her to his chest. “My dad ordered those from some shop in the city. This … this you made, and it has your fingerprints all over it. Nyss, I don’t think anyone could have given me a better Christmas present. It’s beautiful.” He kissed her forehead.
She gripped his shirt and sniffled. “Thank you. I was so afraid you’d get me something wonderful, and I wouldn’t have anything good to give you.”
“And now I’m terrified that what I got you isn’t going to live up to this by half.” He laughed.
Ellis squeezed her closer, breathing in the scent of her hair and skin. “So …” He cleared his throat. “Is this the project you and Henri were working on?”
Nyssa frowned. “No. That blew up in my face. I don’t even want to think about Henri right now. He … he made me think he wanted to help, but he was only thinking of himself.”
“He made a pass at you, didn’t he?” Ellis chuckled.
Nyssa cringed. “You could say that. He practically stuck his tongue down my throat.”
Ellis sat up straighter. “He what?”
“Don’t worry. I bit him.”
“You …” Ellis mulled over this, rubbing his hands up and down her back. The desire to track down Henri and punch him warred with a warm glow of pride in his chest. Finally he laughed. “That’s my Nyss.” He brushed her hair from her face. “I should’ve known you could take care of yourself, but when he strode in here and you were so evasive … I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”
“No, I’m sorry!” She shook her head. “I did lie to you, several times. No matter what my motives, no matter how good they might’ve been, I shouldn’t have done that. Also, you were right about Henri. He’s a selfish pig who thought he could swoop in and take me from you, and I didn’t see it until after it caused a fight.”
“Oh, I know I was right about Henri. That doesn’t matter. What matters is I was wrong about you, and for that I’m sincerely sorry.” He placed his finger under her chin and gently guided her face towards his. Their lips met. Her arms tightened about his waist, and love swelled within him, blurring his thoughts and quickening his heart rate.
She sighed when he withdrew. “I love you, Ellis.” She glanced over his shoulder. “What’s in the box?”
“Theo’s present. Do you want to help me set it up? It will look great under the tree.”
“Sure.” She smiled.
***
An hour later a toy train with working lights orbited the base of the tree, whistling before every station. Nyssa stepped back to admire their work. “He’ll love this.”
“The bottom of the tree looks a bit bare, though.” Ellis tilted his head. “We need more presents.”
“I’ve got you covered.” Nyssa walked into her bedroom which was off the sitting room. A small stack of presents sat in the corner. She brought them out and organized them under the tree. “I had an awful time thinking of something for you, but for Theo and Mrs. H, it was easy. I picked up a few things while Amara was going crazy over the decorations.” She placed four packages, three smallish ones and a big one, beneath the tree.
“Perfect. I have a gift for Mrs. H downstairs.” Ellis pulled himself back into his chair. “I bet Theo has been stashing presents around the house, too.”
The three-faced wall clock chimed six. “Miss Nyssa? Master Ellis?” Mrs. H called from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you hungry? I’ve made breakfast.”
“Good, I’m starved.” Ellis grinned.
“I could use some coffee.” Nyssa rubbed her eyes.
Ellis took her hand. “You should take a nap.”
“And miss a moment of our first Christmas together? Not a chance!”
In the kitchen, they found Theo sipping a mug of cocoa, his face streaked with cinnamon sugar from Mrs. H’s crumb muffins.
Mrs. H set a platter of bacon on the table then pinched Theo’s cheek. “I intercepted this little one coming out of the bedroom. He wanted to run up to check on his presents, but I convinced him to eat while everything was still hot. The presents will wait. These eggs, not so much.” She turned back to the stove and stirred the fluffy, yellow mixture in the pan.
A cup of steaming tea waited for Nyssa on the table. Not quite coffee, but good enough. She sipped it.
I think I’ll head back to Bianca’s coffee shop soon. Maybe I can take Ellis there sometime. We don’t go out together enough.
“So after breakfast can I see my present?” Theo asked.
“Of course.” Nyssa gazed at him from over the rim of her cup. “It’s waiting for you upstairs.”
“Bully! Oh, and I have presents for you guys, too, under my bed.”
“I took the liberty of getting a little something for all of you as well.” Mrs. H reached into a cupboard and pulled out three packages wrapped in red paper and brown twine. “Would you like them now?”
“No, you can bring them upstairs, and then we’ll all open our gifts together, as a family,” Ellis said.
Mrs. H’s cheeks flushed, but her eyes brightened. “With my David passed on and our daughter and her children living on the continent, you three are such a comfort for me in my old age. You … you’ll never know … Merry Christmas!” She bent down and kissed Ellis’s forehead, then turned away to dab at her eyes.
Nyssa dropped her gaze, her throat constricting.
After breakfast, Theo stampeded up the stairs and gave a whoop. “It’s got real lights? And a whistle! Wow!”
Nyssa laughed as she waited for the tracks to haul Ellis to the second story.
“Oh Miss Nyssa,” Mrs. H whispered. “That tree is spectacular.”
Nyssa flushed. “Thank you.” It looks like I finally did something right this Christmas.
She sat at the end of the couch so she could keep her hand in Ellis’s.
Theo crouched beside his train, messing with switches and picking up the individual cars to examine them. “Did you make all this?”
“I ordered most of the pieces from the hobby shop, but I improved on them, added the lights and the whistle, increased the speed and efficiency,” Ellis said. He tossed Mrs. H a bundle. “I believe this is for you.”
Their housekeeper untied the string and folded back the paper. White cloth shimmered beneath. “My, what a lovely wrap. Did you pick this out, Miss Nyssa?”
“Amara helped. She has much better taste than me where clothes are concerned.” A thought struck Nyssa. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
She went into her bedroom and unwrapped the package from Amara. Gold velvet poured out onto the bed. She ran her hand over the fabric. This is silly. I’m not a velvet sort of girl … but Ellis might like it.
Remembering that she had been wearing the same clothes since the previous morning, she turned on the boiler beneath her basin and cleaned up a bit, even doing her best to tame her wiry hair into submission. She eyed herself in the mirror. The golden cloth clung to her waist and hips before flaring in an elegant skirt. The neckline rested off her shoulders, stopping just before the rise of her bosom. Yes, Ellis might like this.
She strode back out into the sitting room.
“Why Miss Nyssa!” Mrs H grinned.
Ellis looked over his shoulder, and his mouth dropped open.
Nyssa blushed. “It’s from Amara. Do you like it?”
“You look … breathtaking.” He swallowed. Their eyes locked, and for a moment Nyssa felt every bit as beautiful as his expression said she was.
“Who
’s this one for?” Theo burst out, breaking the spell. He pulled a larger package out from under the tree.
“Careful. That’s my gift for Mrs. H,” Ellis cautioned.
The housekeeper gently removed the paper revealing a Victrola. “Oh, Master Ellis, this is much too expensive.”
“The cone is downstairs in my bedroom. I couldn’t figure out how to wrap it.”
“I’ll get it!” Theo leapt up and hurried down the stairs.
Mrs. H fussed with the Victrola.
“There’s a drawer in the bottom of the turntable with a record in it,” Ellis said. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just got a classical album, waltzes, mostly.”
Nyssa bit her bottom lip at the mention of waltzes. She had so wanted for that to be part of Ellis’s Christmas. She moved to sit on the couch, but Ellis caught her by the wrist and coaxed her into his lap.
He touched her cheek. “I wish I could tell you how beautiful you are right now.”
Her whole being warmed. “I think you just did.”
Theo returned with the Victrola’s cone and attached it. Mrs. H placed a record on the turntable. The needle scratched at the celluloid then gentle, wavering music filled the room. Nyssa rested her forehead against Ellis’s and closed her eyes.
Mrs. H cleared her throat. “Come with me, Theo. Why don’t we get started making dinner?”
“Aw, I want to play with my train.”
“You can help me taste the desserts,” Mrs. H coaxed.
“Okay!”
Nyssa kept her eyes closed, focused completely on the smell of Ellis’s pine soap and the slight bristle of his unshaven cheek against hers. His fingers kneaded into her spine like a cat’s paws.
“I haven’t given you your gift yet,” he whispered.
She opened her eyes. “I hadn’t even thought about that. It feels so perfect as is. I don’t need a gift, really, just you.”
“No, you …” He swallowed. “You may not need anything, but I want to give you something.” He took a small white box from his breast pocket. “It doesn’t feel like enough. I hope you like it.”
Nyssa took the lid off the box. A silver marble, about the size of a coin, with a tiny clockwork key sticking from its side and a chain attached to the top, rested inside. She took it out and turned the key. With a click, the sphere unfolded, opening into a silver flower. A chill went down her spine. “Oh …”
