2 Yule Be the Death of Me (2 page)

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The morning of
the holiday parade proved to be every bit as busy as Vivienne had anticipated.
She and Stephanie Bridgeman watched as the little metal cash box filled up with
fives and tens thanks to eager parade attendees who guzzled down cups of coffee
and cocoa and snacked on iced butter cookies cut out in festive shapes.

Joshua
remained inside the store looking complete overwhelmed while standing behind
the cash register. Most of the crowd had stayed outside and lined the sidewalk
for the best views of the floats, but a few curious shoppers stepped into the
bakery and browsed the selections of baked goods from inside the display cases.

“I don’t
normally work here.” Joshua explained to each and every customer the moment
they stepped inside the Sweet Dreams Bakery. “But if you want to buy something
you can pay for it at the table out front.”

Lucky for him,
everyone just browsed and then left before the sound of the high school
marching band echoed out on the street signaling the start of the parade.
Abandoning his post behind the counter, he knocked on the window glass at
Vivienne who motioned for him to come outside and watch the festivities.

“This was a
great idea, Vivienne.” Stephanie remarked as Joshua joined them at the table in
front of the display window. “We’ve made a small fortune in cocoa sales alone.”

Vivienne
nodded. “Your idea for printing up order sheets with goodies available for
parties and holiday gatherings was brilliant. We’re almost completely out of
them.”

“We had almost
two hundred.” Stephanie grinned. “I hope they come back with orders.”

“They will.”
Vivienne smiled as the high school band approached carrying a red and green
decorated banner lettered with ‘Cayuga Cove Holiday Parade: 110th anniversary’.

Joshua, with
his six foot five height, was able to see quite easily above the assembled
crowds as the color guard waved their flags and marched along to ‘It’s beginning
to look a lot like Christmas.’ The horn section of the band was a little off
key, but it didn’t really matter. The holiday spirit made the ears of the
parade attendees a little more forgiving.

Vivienne and
Stephanie, both petite, were not as fortunate when it came to getting a good
view. They stood on their tip toes and craned their necks in an effort to see
anything.

Joshua, now
aware of their plight, pulled the two folding chairs to each side of him and
shouted over the music. “Stand up on the chairs and keep your arms on my
shoulders for balance.”

Vivienne and
Stephanie climbed up and at last were able to view the colorful floats and
costumed characters that danced along throwing little wrapped candy canes and
plastic trinkets to the kids along the parade route. Several businesses had
sponsored various parade floats that were pulled along by riding lawnmowers and
small pickup trucks. Colonial Bank had a float with a reproduction of their
building. Lily’s Pad Day Care had a candy-themed winter wonderland float
populated with Miss Lily dressed as Mrs. Claus and several of her center’s
children costumed as elves. Our Lady of the Lake had a float with a live
nativity scene, and the crowd roared with approval as a Chinese Dragon wiggled
along the road, operated by several staff members from the Shanghai Sunset
restaurant.

The crowd
swelled with excited applause as the last float, a replica of a rooftop with
Santa and his sleigh perched atop, rolled slowly up Main Street. Santa
addressed the crowd from a microphone as children screamed their holiday wishes
to him. “Santa wants you all to be very good between now and Christmas.” He
shouted above the little voices. “I’m getting some good reports from my elves.”

As usual, Tony
DiSanto
from The Leaning Tower of Pizza was playing
the part of Santa. His thinning black hair was hidden under a big red cap and
curly white wig. His puffy cheeks framed the fake beard quite well and he
required no padding to fill out the suit around the middle. “What do you want
for Christmas?” He asked the children lining the streets.

The kids
squealed with delight as he acknowledged some of the toy wishes shouted out to
him. Although he was careful to not make any promises, Vivienne was certain
more than a few parents were surprised by what this week’s new toy request was.
More than likely, they started planning a weekend of frantic holiday shopping
to find the treasured item before time ran out.

With the
parade over, the crowds dispersed quickly to the designated parking areas
around the town. Joshua helped Vivienne and Stephanie back down to the sidewalk
so they could pack up the table and return the leftover goods back inside the
bakery.

“And so it
begins.” Vivienne spoke up as she placed the remaining butter cookies back into
the glass case display.

“I can’t
wait.” Stephanie counted out the money from the metal cash box. “My cousins
from Georgia are coming up for a few days around Christmas. I haven’t seen them
in almost five years.”

“That’s
wonderful, Stephanie. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.” Vivienne slid the
door on the display case closed and turned off the lights inside it.

“That means a
few more presents to buy this year, but thanks to all these hours it won’t be a
problem.” Stephanie remarked as she wrote some figures down on a yellow
notepad.

Joshua walked
over to Vivienne. “Aren’t you giving her a holiday bonus?” He whispered.

“It’s tucked
into her paycheck this week.” Vivienne whispered back. “I just love giving
little surprises like that.”

Stephanie
finished counting and tucked the money back into the metal box. “We made two
hundred and fifteen dollars. Not bad.”

“Don’t forget
all those order sheets floating around. I’m sure we’ll start getting those back
soon.”

Stephanie
handed the box to Vivienne and grabbed her coat from behind the counter. “I’m
ready for them.”

Joshua walked
over to the gingerbread reproduction of the Edgar
Rothwell
mansion and admired the hours of hard work that had gone into its creation. Stephanie
and Vivienne had even wired battery-powered lights into the back to illuminate
the stained-glass sugar windows in the turrets that flanked each end of the
stately mansion. “You two are going to win first place with this.”

“You think
so?” Stephanie put her hands on her hips as she scrutinized the confection.
“I’m a little worried my landscaping didn’t turn out as good as I hoped. The
shredded coconut didn’t soak up the green food coloring as much as I would have
liked.”

Vivienne waved
her hands at Stephanie. “The lawn looks perfect and the fondant iron fence is a
work of art.” She narrowed her eyes at the roof. “But my marzipan roofing tiles
could have been a little more angular.”

Joshua shook
his head at them both. “You both are crazy. It looks just like the real thing.”

“You think
so?” Vivienne and Stephanie asked in stereo and then laughed.

He reached out
with his big hand. “Let me taste.”

Vivienne and
Stephanie both squealed in protest.

Joshua yanked
his hand back with a wicked grin. “I’m just kidding.” He winked back. “I’m not
an official judge or anything,” Joshua admitted, “But even if I didn’t know you
both made it I’d give it my vote.”  

Vivienne
looked up at Joshua. “Well, I think we can close up and head off for our day.”

“Sounds like a
good idea to me.” He retrieved his jacket that was hung on the back of one of
the bistro chairs and locked up the front door.

“Where are you
both off to?” Stephanie asked with a coy smile.

“We’re heading
to the outlets near Waterloo and then grabbing a bite to eat later.” 
Vivienne replied as she turned off the overhead spotlights leaving only the
front window display illuminated.

“Let me know
if you find any good bargains.” Stephanie nodded as they walked to the back
door to leave. “I just hate spending the gas money if there isn’t anything
worth purchasing.”

“I’ll give you
a full report.” Vivienne held the door for everyone to leave and then locked it
with her key. “See you in the morning.”

“Bye.”
Stephanie hurried to her little green Ford Focus, brushing away the huge flakes
of snow that the wind hurled into her eyelashes.

“Is it just
me, or is it getting colder?” Vivienne asked.

Joshua studied
the dark clouds overhead. “Looks like those lake effect snow bands are getting
stronger.” His breath condensed into steam and flew away with the wind. “It’s
going to be an early winter.”

“I hope the
roads stay clear.” Vivienne shuddered and pulled the collar of her black winter
coat up. “You know how bad Route 90 can get with blowing snow from all those
open fields.”

“If it gets
too bad, we’ll head back early.” Joshua led her to his Jeep and opened the
passenger door. “I’m sure we can find ways to pass the time

Saturday, November 30th

“I can’t
believe we got eight inches of snow in November.” Joshua stared out the living
room window of Vivienne’s home at the blanket of white covering the cars parked
along the street. “We’ve still got a few weeks until it’s officially winter.”

Vivienne
walked over to where he was standing and admired the thick coat of wet snow
that transformed the now barren trees and brown grass into something out of a
snow globe. “There’s always something special about that first big snowfall.”

Joshua reached
behind and rubbed his back. He had spent the afternoon shoveling out her sidewalk
and spreading some pet-safe ice melt to prevent slick spots. “I know what you
mean. It has a way of reminding us we’re not kids anymore while at the same
time making you want to get into a snowball fight and go sledding.”

Vivienne
brushed his hands away and took over with a quick massage across his lower
back. “Well, the cleanup part I could do without.”

Joshua let out
a little moan as her fingers loosened some of the knots in his back muscles. “I
used to wonder why so many older people went to Florida for the winter. Now, I
get it.”

“Christmas in
Florida just wouldn’t seem right.” Vivienne reasoned as she moved her arms up
his back to just below his shoulder blades. “I just can’t imagine opening
presents and then going outside for a swim in the pool.”

“Boy, I sure
could.” Joshua sighed. “No more shovels or heavy bags of salt.”

“You only have
to deal with hurricane winds that blow the roof off and storm surges that pound
your house walls away.” Vivienne replied with a splash of reality about living
in a tropical climate. “No matter where you go, there’s always something.”

Joshua turned
around to face her. “I suppose you’re right. But it sure feels good to daydream
about it.”

She was happy
to see the sunlight peeking out from the patches of pale blue where the clouds
were breaking up. “We better get ready to leave for the contest. I want to get
there early to see what the competition has come up with.”

Although the
contest award wasn’t going to be given out until three in the afternoon,
Vivienne and Joshua arrived an hour beforehand at Loft 226 art gallery to see
all of the entries.

The gallery,
located on Main Street, was sandwiched between
LaGreca’s
Furniture and Aunt T’s Toys. Unlike the other building interiors that had
plenty of exposed brick, Loft 226 had covered their walls with plain white
sheetrock to act as a neutral canvas for the artwork on display. The pine
floorboards, also painted white, assured that the space itself disappeared
while patrons took in what each artist had created.

The owner of
the gallery, Todd York, welcomed Vivienne and Joshua with a firm handshake as
they stepped into the warm space that smelled of gingerbread and mulling
spices. He was nearly six feet tall and bean pole thin. Dressed in a monochrome
black suit, with his light blonde hair neatly parted to the side, he looked
every bit the fashionable gallery owner. “I’m so glad you both could come.” He
leaned close to Vivienne and lowered his voice. “I think you have a great
chance of winning today.”

Vivienne felt
her face blush with pride. “I didn’t work solo on this. Stephanie was an equal
partner.”

Todd nodded.
“Is she coming too?”

Vivienne shook
her head. “She’s finishing a paper for one of her night classes at the college
today.”

“That’s a
shame, but education is important.” Todd remarked. “May I take your coats?”

Joshua helped
Vivienne out of hers to reveal one of the new outfits she had treated herself
to for the upcoming holiday season of parties and business functions. The
jade-green dress was dressy enough for the occasion, but still felt easy and
relaxed.

Todd’s eyes
focused on her outfit. “I saw that in Kathy’s store the other day. I must say
it looks fabulous on you.” He gushed. “Your red hair really sets it off.”

“Thank you so
much.” Vivienne smiled. She knew that Todd was one of only a handful of men in
town who actually shopped at Trade Winds Clothier. Although the menswear
section in the store was only a small corner, Kathy was more than happy to
place custom orders for styles that would never sell in Cayuga Cove. Todd,
along with some of the more fashionable men in town, gave her a steady supply
of business.

Vivienne often
wondered what functions they wore their more modern clothing to. There
certainly wasn’t any place in town that had a formal dress code, except for the
Bistro Parisian, and that was merely a request not to wear jeans and tee shirts
during Friday and Saturday dinner service. She assumed they must have found
some more use for them in the larger cities like Rochester and Syracuse, places
that actually had dance clubs and four star restaurants. She had to admit, she
often wished she and Todd were closer friends so she could experience the more
posh side of life every now and then.

Like most of
the heterosexual men in town, Joshua had chosen his usual non-work clothing
option of a pair of dark denim jeans and a blue flannel shirt. The top two
buttons he usually left open at home were done up, which was about as fancy as
he or the other men ever went when it came to dressing up for an occasion that
wasn’t a wedding or funeral.

“Feel free to
browse the other entries. We broke the record with fifteen this year.” Todd
said as he disappeared into a small room off to the side of the reception desk
with their coats.

Several people
had gathered into the gallery for the annual contest, but Vivienne guessed they
were mostly fellow participants who were doing the same thing she was; checking
out what everyone else had designed. “Fifteen entries makes quite a bit of
competition.” Vivienne whispered to Joshua.

“Yes.” Joshua
agreed as he offered her his right arm. They walked into the east wing of the
gallery. “But don’t get worried just yet. We haven’t even seen the others.”

The clattering
of high heels announced the arrival of Kathy Saunders. “Sorry I’m late, I had
to get an order in before five tonight.” She was dressed in a simple black
dress that had a scattering of sequins along the low-cut top. “How’s the
competition?”

Joshua offered
her his other arm. “We haven’t even started to look yet. Care to join us?”

“You bet.”
Kathy gushed and eagerly took him up on the offer. She pointed to the first
entry that was displayed on a cylindrical pedestal. “Oh, look at that one.
Someone made a little cathedral.”

Vivienne
nodded her approval at the creation. It was cute, but the steeple was tipped a
little to the side and one of the sugar windows was coming loose under the heat
of the spot lights above. “I wonder who made this
one?
”

“Doesn’t it
say?” Joshua looked along the base for an information card.

Vivienne shook
her head. “No, you only get a number.” She pointed to the small card that had
the number one printed on it. “That way the judging panel can be completely
impartial.”

Kathy pointed
to the crooked steeple. “Well, I think you can scratch this off as a winner.”

Vivienne
shushed her and pointed to some of the other guests browsing the room. “The
creator just might be in here.”

Kathy’s eyes
widened. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She smiled and raised her voice with praise.
“Isn’t this little church just darling?”

Vivienne rolled
her eyes as they moved on to the next entry, a charming little tropical diorama
with gingerbread figures frolicking along a beach. “They used sanding sugar and
cinnamon to make the sand color. That’s pretty clever.”

Kathy nodded
and pointed to the girl gingerbread figure. “She’s a little too doughy to be
wearing a bikini, don’t you think?”

Vivienne
snickered. “I never thought of doing something atypical like this. A tropical
theme like that might stand out more in the judge’s minds.”

“I like it.”
Joshua smiled. “It makes me feel warm.”

“Are we
bringing up Florida again?” Vivienne groaned and pulled him away from the
display.

“Florida?”
Kathy asked.

“It’s
nothing.” Vivienne steered them toward a gingerbread train engine pulling a
caboose.

“Are you two thinking
of moving away?” Kathy’s voice raised an octave in concern.

“No.” Vivienne
shook her head. “Joshua just mentioned how nice it would be to spend the
holidays in a warm climate like the Florida Keys.”

Relief washed
over Kathy’s face. “Oh, thank God. I thought you were going to leave me here
with Nora.”

“I wouldn’t do
that to my best friend,” Vivienne answered, “Unless you really did something to
tick me off.”

“Perish the
thought.” Kathy quipped.

“I guess I
don’t have a say in the matter.” Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“Of course you
do, honey.” Vivienne tipped her head against his shoulder. “We women only pay
attention when you men say what we would have said anyway.”

Joshua scoffed
and admired the gingerbread train. “I figured as much.”

Vivienne and
Kathy shared a laugh that echoed through the gallery as Joshua steered them
toward the south wing where some of the other displays were waiting. “Where’s
the wine bar?” Kathy asked.

Cassandra
Pembroke appeared from behind the archway leading to the next room with several
members of the city council flanking her. Dressed in a flattering two-piece
navy-blue business suit with a tasteful strand of pearls, she managed to appear
elegant yet approachable. “Vivienne, Kathy, Deputy
Arkins
,
so very nice to see you.”

“Hello
Cassandra.” Vivienne stopped and corrected herself. “Excuse me, Madame Mayor.
It’s so very nice to see you too.”

Cassandra
waved her hands at mention of her formal title. “Please, don’t start calling me
that or I’ll have to start calling you Miss Finch.”

“I’m sorry,
Cassandra.” Vivienne had to admit that it was still hard to think of Cassandra
as the town’s new mayor. After Richard Clarke resigned his post in late
September following the murder of his wife Mona, a special election was
announced to fill the vacancy. Vivienne, of course, had helped to solve the
murder much to the annoyance of Sheriff
Rigsbee
.

In the month
that followed, Cassandra put her name in for the running along with several
other candidates and won by a landslide when Election Day arrived. Her no
nonsense style of dealing with sticky situations during her time as a socialite
in New York City gave a unique advantage to reigning in the often cantankerous
town council.

“I must say
that Samantha Charles’ gift certainly helped to calm down the situation on Main
Street.” Kathy added. “The new sidewalks really made watching the holiday
parade more enjoyable.”

Cassandra
nodded. “Yes, her monetary offer certainly took the heat off me coming into
this job. I can’t wait to see the new building facades and signs next spring.”

Vivienne’s
thoughts drifted back to late October when Samantha had generously dipped into
her family’s deep coffers and assumed seventy-five percent of the cost for the
revitalization project, reducing the burden to the Main Street store owners
greatly. Her friend, the New York hotel heiress, was true to her word to make
her new summer home location a jewel in the Finger Lakes. “I love the idea of
the little park area next to the post office. Dedicating those benches and the
new fountain to Mona Clarke will be a fitting tribute when it’s completed next
year.”

“Have you seen
Samantha in town lately?” Cassandra asked. “I saw some work crews updating the
house she bought.”

“A few weeks ago.”
Vivienne replied. “I know that she’s had her hands full buying out Fiona
Meadows’ publishing company.”

“And everyone
thinks local politics is tricky to navigate.” Cassandra added. “They’ve got
nothing on upper social circles.”

A young waiter
in a rented tuxedo that had sleeves a tad too long for his arms appeared
carrying a tray with drinks loaded on it. “Sparkling cider?” He asked.

They each took
a glass as he moved on. Joshua guzzled his down with gusto. “Not bad for
non-alcoholic.”

Kathy took a
sip and sighed. “I’ll take a nice blush wine any day.”

One of the
council members, a gentleman with short grey hair and a hook-like nose spoke
softly to Cassandra.

“Well, it was
so nice seeing you all again. Good luck with your entry.” Cassandra drifted off
into the crowd that was steadily filing into the gallery as the afternoon
continued.

“She’s a good
fit for the job.” Kathy spoke as she finished her drink.

“Everyone
likes her over at the Sheriff’s office.” Joshua added. “I couldn’t say the same
thing about Richard Clarke.”

“I wonder
where he ended up moving
to?
” Kathy asked.

“Florida.”
Vivienne sighed. “How many times can that state possibly come into
conversations today?”

“Maybe it’s a
sign?” Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“Now there’s a
sign I like to see.” Kathy pointed to a bar set up in the South wing where
several patrons were buying glasses of local wine to benefit the library fund.
“Cash Bar.” She handed her empty glass to Vivienne and scooted over to get a
real drink.

Joshua shook
his head. “She’s your friend.”

“Yes she is.”
Vivienne looked around for a trash can to toss the plastic glasses away. “And I
wouldn’t trade her for the world.”

“There’s your
entry.” Joshua pointed to the gingerbread reproduction of the Edgar
Rothwell
Mansion that was given a prime spot right in the
center of the room. “It’s drawn quite a crowd.”

Vivienne
smiled with pride. “It does seem to be getting quite a bit of attention.” She
enjoyed watching the people point and smile at the various details, but it also
made her nervous. “I’m going to find the ladies room, before the winners are
announced.”