3 Christmas Crazy (4 page)

“She didn’t mention it specifically, but she did say that she misses us and has been thinking about us a lot lately. I imagine she’ll come around after the holidays.”

I know that most of you are going to find this ridiculous, given the number of times my mom has deserted my dad and me, but the knowledge that my mom didn’t marry her prince and had in fact thought to send us gifts, filled me with a hope that, to most, would seem unwise and uncalled for. What can I say? Every year since I could talk, I’ve asked Santa to bring me my mother. While a snowboard from her isn’t exactly what I wished for, it’s still a lot. Apparently, when it comes to my mom, any hope, as little as it may be, is still hope.

After a long and busy week, it was finally Friday. I tried to tell myself I was so jazzed because of the tree-lighting ceremony that evening, but the truth of the matter was, I’d missed Zak, and his plane would be landing in a few short hours at the airport in the valley. He’d left his car in long-term parking, so he didn’t require a ride, but I’d talked to him the night before and he’d promised to pick me up in plenty of time for the annual event.

Our town has a long list of traditions. While most stem from our attempt to balance the budget, I feel like the tree lighting is something we do just for ourselves. The tree had been decorated for days now. Each evening, as I passed the park on the east end of town, I thought about how wonderful the same drive home from the shelter would be once the tree and the gazebo were lit. There would be a choir singing favorite carols as someone from the community was given the honor of lifting the switch and bringing Christmas spirit to our small town.

The ladies’ auxiliary would sell hot cocoa and cookies, while the bars along the main drag would cater to those wishing for a more adult-type beverage. Zak and I were meeting up with Ellie and Levi for a stroll along Main Street to view the shop windows, followed by a casual meal and a round of drinks at Mulligan’s Bar and Grill.

I took Charlie, Maggie, and Lambda for a long run east along the lake trail, through the forest, and back along the beach, where the forest trail came out. I noticed a light on at Zak’s lakefront estate as we passed it on our way to the boathouse. It was most likely the cleaning lady Zak had in once or twice a week, but on the off chance that Zak had returned early, I decided to jog around to the front to knock on the door.

“Can I help you?” The most beautiful woman I’d ever seen opened the door.

“My name is Zoe. I’m Zak’s neighbor,” I explained. “I saw the lights and thought he might be home.”

“I’m afraid he isn’t due to return until later this afternoon.”

“Are you a friend?” I found myself asking.

“Something like that.”

“Zak asked me to keep an eye on his house.” This wasn’t exactly a lie. Keeping an eye out for intruders was something neighbors often did for one another. “He didn’t mention a visitor.”

“I’m sure it just slipped his mind. I really do need to be going,” the woman said, dismissing me. “I’ll be sure to tell him you stopped by.”

I thanked her and returned to the beach.

I couldn’t help but wonder what the tall woman with silky blonde hair and eyes the color of a clear mountain morning was doing answering Zak’s door. Not that I’m the jealous type, mind you. Because I’m not. And even if I were, I wouldn’t be jealous because Zak and I are just friends, and if he wants to open his home to some gold-digging superbitch, who am I to stop him?

By the time I returned to the boathouse, showered, and changed into a dark green sweater and new pair of jeans, it had started to snow lightly. I took Charlie and Lambda with me and headed into town.

It was strange to spend the day at the shelter when there were no animals on-site. Jeremy and I, with the help of Zak, Levi, and Ellie, had scrubbed and painted the place from top to bottom.

Before he left, Zak had ordered the construction of new pens that would allow us to house more large animals. Before the shelter closed, we had several bears, as well as a pair of coyote pups, in residence. Once word got out that we were qualified to deal with the rehabilitation and relocation of larger forest animals, shelters from all over the state had begun sending us their injured and orphaned wild animals. Needless to say, the demand had far exceeded our capacity, so when Zak purchased the shelter, we decided we would expand our efforts in that area.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Jeremy greeted me. “Earl Fielder was by looking for you. He came into town to pick up the Santa suit for the tree lighting tonight, but it wasn’t in the storage closet at the community center like Hazel thought. Earl said Hazel remembered you were going to have it cleaned before storing it. They were hoping you knew where it might be.”

I frowned as I tried to remember what I’d done with the outfit. I remembered taking it to the cleaners the week after Christmas the previous year. There had been a small tear in one of the seams, so I’d asked Penelope Wentworth, the town seamstress, if she would be willing to mend it.

“I’m pretty sure the last I saw of it was when I dropped it off with Penelope,” I informed Jeremy. “I’ll call Hazel to see if she thought to check with her.”

“Hopefully Penelope has it,” Jeremy said. “Poor Earl is pretty stressed about not having the costume for tonight.”

“It seems like Earl has been stressed in general the past few days,” I commented.

“What do you mean?”

“He just seems to get all wigged out over the smallest things. I was in Rosie’s a few days ago, and he threw a fit because he ordered his eggs over easy and they came out over medium.”

“Seems odd. Earl is usually a pretty easygoing guy. I hope nothing is wrong. Most times easygoing folks don’t turn into stress cadets unless they’re dealing with a pretty big problem.”

“It could be something to do with his wife,” I speculated. “I know he’s agreed to go to her family’s this year, even though it means he’ll need to turn his precious Santa suit over to someone else for Hometown Christmas.”

“Yeah, that could be it. Everyone knows that women can make you crazy.”

I threw a pen at Jeremy for his snide remark about the superior sex and then called Willa, who said she’d given the suit to the local theater company, who wanted to use if for her community-theater production of
Christmas in July
. I called the folks at the theater, who confirmed that they’d used it but had given it to my dad to use for the Holiday Faire, an arts-and-crafts fund-raiser that took place the weekend before Thanksgiving. So I called my dad, who confirmed that he’d dropped it off at the dry cleaner’s, who’d promised to deliver it to Hazel in plenty of time for the tree-lighting ceremony.

I called Hazel again to tell her what the woman at the cleaner’s had said, but she was certain she’d never received the costume, so I had to call the dry cleaner’s again. This time I was told that the red-and-white costume had been picked up by Tawny Upton the previous day. This turn of events actually made sense, because Tawny is in charge of the tree lighting, so I called the preschool where Tawny worked and confirmed that she had the missing attire in the trunk of her car.

Tawny had planned to drop it off at Earl’s, but her assistant hadn’t come into work and she wondered if I might have time to deliver the package. I did, and promised her I’d be by shortly to pick it up.

Earl and Betty lived in a small but well-kept house in one of the older neighborhoods in town. The area was originally developed to provide housing for the seasonal laborers who worked in the old lumber mill back in the day when it was fully operational. After the mill closed, the small log cabins were sold off and updated to provide year-round residences.

“Who’s there?” Betty called from behind the closed door.

“It’s Zoe Donovan. I brought the Santa suit.”

The door opened just an inch. I could see Betty peeking out from behind the structure, which was still secured with a chain. I waved to her, and she closed the door, removed the chain, and then opened the door the rest of the way.

“One never can be too careful,” she explained.

I found Betty’s behavior a little odd given the low crime rate in Ashton Falls, but I didn’t say as much.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” I offered. “It seems the suit has made its way around town since last Christmas. Is Earl at home?”

“He’s out. I’ll take the getup.”

I handed over the box with the freshly laundered suit. “I bet Earl is looking forward to the tree lighting tonight,” I said, trying to make small talk. Normally Betty is the friendly type who always stops to chat when we meet.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“It’s nice that the weather is cooperating. Not like a few years ago, when we had that blizzard roll though and ruin the whole thing.”

“Will there be anything else?”

“No, that’s it. See you tonight?”

Betty closed the door without responding.

“Weird,” I mumbled as I returned to my truck.

Betty’s skittish behavior seemed odd at the least. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there might be more going on with Earl and his wife than anyone realized. Not that Earl and Betty’s relationship is any of my business, but this is a small town, and part of living in a small town is that everyone makes it a point to know everyone else’s business.

As the sun began its descent behind the mountain, I headed home to shower and change for the tree lighting. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a tomboy through and through, but every now and then, when the mood strikes, I find myself longing to be a real girl. Maybe it was the gently falling snow, the soft music, or the anticipation of seeing Zak for the first time in over a week, but I unwisely, as it turned out, decided to ditch the jeans and sturdy boots I’d planned to wear in favor of a new, tight red sweater, black leggings, and high-heeled boots I could barely walk in. I fashioned my hair into ringlets piled high atop my head and applied an uncharacteristically generous amount of makeup to my naturally freckled face.

I found myself looking out of the window as I waited in anticipation of Zak’s arrival. He’d been gone just under six days, but it felt like forever. I busied myself opening a bottle of wine—the good kind Zak had brought over during a previous visit—lighting candles, dimming the lights, and stoking the fire. Christmas jazz played in the background and a full moon glistened on the nearby lake. I applied a spritz of perfume to my neck and gloss to my lips as Zak’s truck pulled into the drive. My heart was racing as he parked near the front door. I looked around at the scene I’d created and realized it looked like something out of the pages of a romance novel. An erotic romance novel.

“Oh God,” I groaned. What was I thinking? This was Zak returning from a business trip, not some Prince Charming arriving on a white horse. I quickly blew out the candles and corked the wine, and was reaching out to turn up the lights when Zak knocked on the door, causing all three dogs to leap into action. I struggled to get my balance on my ridiculously high heels as I tripped over Lambda in the dark.

Zak opened the door just as I fell into a potted plant, which plummeted off the counter and onto my head.

“Are you okay?” Zak hurried to my side. He pulled me onto my feet as the dogs jumped around us, demanding his attention. Not only did I have soil from the plant down the front of my sweater but I had
wet
soil, since I’d watered just that day.

“I’m fine.” Why is it that the earth never opens up and swallows you when you most need it to?

“What happened?” Zak started to laugh as he handed me a clean dishtowel. Not only was there wet soil on my sweater but apparently, based on Zak’s amused expression, I had quite a bit of the muck in my hair as well.

“I made the mistake of getting between the dogs and the front door.”

“Why is it so dark in here?”

I blushed, thanking the powers that be that it
was
dark so Zak was unlikely to notice. “I was upstairs getting ready,” I lied. “I was just about to turn on some lights down here when you knocked on the door, sending the dogs into a frenzy.”

Zak took the towel from my hand and wiped a streak of grime from my cheek. “I missed you.” He kissed me gently on the lips.

I wanted to say that I’d missed him, too, but was unable to speak.

“Go upstairs and get washed up. I’ll clean up the mess down here.”

I walked toward the stairs, willing my shaky legs not to give way.

“And Zoe . . .”

“Yeah?”

“It’s snowing outside. Perhaps you should wear your boots with the flat heel and rubber sole.”

I scampered up the stairs like the devil himself was chasing me. I quickly showered and changed into a heavy wool sweater, worn jeans, and my sturdy boots. I decided to forgo the makeup and styled hair in favor of the natural look I normally sported. Then I grabbed my heavy jacket and headed back down the stairs, feeling less like a sex kitten and more like plain old Zoe.

As they do every year, pretty much everyone in town came out for the tree-lighting celebration. The temperature had dropped during the past few days, hinting at the cold winter days ahead. Zak and Levi sandwiched Ellie and me in between them, providing welcome heat as we struggled to stay warm.

The mayor gave a short speech, followed by carols performed by the high-school choir and the flipping of the switch that provided power to both the tree and the lights covering the gazebo. Everyone cheered as Ashton Falls’ season of Christmas
crazy officially began.

“It looks like Earl is back to his old self,” I observed.

“Yeah, he seems as jolly and lively as ever,” Ellie agreed. “He stopped in at Rosie’s today, and he was a total basket case. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite so irritable and agitated.”

“I know he was upset he couldn’t find the suit,” I said as the choir began a holiday medley to which most of the town joined in.

“No, it was more than that,” Ellie said over the noise. “If I had to guess, looking for the suit was little more than a distraction from what was really bothering him. Mom said he and Betty have been having some problems. In fact, I overheard several people mentioning that Betty is seriously thinking about staying with her family rather than returning after the holiday.”

“Poor Earl,” I sympathized. “I’ve heard there are problems in paradise, but they’ve always been so good together.”

“I’m sure they’ll work it out,” Levi inserted. “Still, it’s not going to be the same, not having the
real
Santa here for the bulk of the Christmas season.”

“The real Santa?” Ellie laughed.

“Earl
is
the real Santa,” Levi defended. “He not only listens to the Christmas wishes of the local children but he makes sure they come true.”

I had to agree with Levi. Earl was as close to the real thing as it got. Not only did he look the part, but most times he lived his life as a jolly elf who volunteered at the local elementary school and read to children at the library. Earl and Betty had never had children, but Earl frequently commented that the children of Ashton Falls were all his kids in a roundabout sort of way.

“He did buy seven bikes for kids from underprivileged families last year,” Levi pointed out.

“Yeah, and two years ago, when Freddie Waters shared a secret with Santa, revealing that his family was on the verge of being kicked out of their home after Mr. Waters lost his job, Earl not only helped negotiate a refinance but paid the fees as well,” I added.

“Okay,” Ellie conceded. “I guess Earl
is
the real Santa. I know I really believed he was when I was a kid. One year I told him, and only him, that I wanted a Little Miss Manners doll, and it was under the tree when I woke up.”

“Little Miss Manners?” Levi teased.

“It was a popular doll in its day,” Ellie said, defending herself.

Levi rolled his eyes as the speeches from local businesspeople commenced.

After the speeches had been delivered and all the carols had been sung, Zak, Levi, Ellie, and I headed to Mulligan’s for some adult refreshment. Mulligan’s is a bar first and foremost and a restaurant as an afterthought. They specialize in what most people think of as bar food: an assortment of pizza, sandwiches, and appetizers. We ordered pizza and chicken wings, along with a couple of pitchers of our favorite beer.

“It was a nice tree lighting, but not the best one ever,” Levi commented. “Personally, I think the elves Tanner Brown came up with three years ago added a great deal to the event.”

Levi was referring to the two women we’d all come to think of as the Hefner elves, given the fact that they looked like someone Hugh himself would hang out with.

“Speaking of the Hefner elves, I ran into Kendra a couple of weeks ago,” Ellie said.

For those of you who are wondering, Ellie is referring to Kendra Knight, Tanner’s niece, and not Kendra Wilkinson, the
real
Hefner “elf,” although they look remarkably alike.

“She mentioned that Tanner was selling his boat and moving off the mountain.”

“Really?” Tanner Brown is a crusty old fishing boat captain who attends the book club I frequent every Thursday night. “It’s odd he hasn’t mentioned it.”

“Kendra said he’s been having problems with a couple of the other charter companies, and after giving it a lot of thought decided a long, drawn-out battle wasn’t something he was interested in.”

“Tanner doesn’t seem like the type to back down to me,” Levi mused.

“He’s getting on in years,” Zak pointed out. “Maybe he was ready to hang up his fishing pole anyway.”

“The way Kendra made it sound, there’s already been quite a bit of sabotage going on behind the scenes. Apparently, Tanner found his hull full of water a few weeks ago and had to cancel his bookings for three days while he fixed the breach,” Ellie supplied.

“Does Tanner know who did it?” I wondered.

Ellie shrugged. “Probably, but Kendra didn’t say. All she really told me was that Tanner was done with the whole thing. He’s moving to Arizona after the first of the year.”

I’d miss the crusty old guy, but I didn’t really blame him for not wanting to get caught up in a battle of one-upmanship. I thought about Earl and his trouble, and Tanner and his. It made me feel bad to think that friends and neighbors were going through rough times. It seemed like the Christmas spirit was failing to make quite the impression it normally did. But the great thing about Christmas magic is
, it usually comes around just when you need it the most.

“I could use your help with a project,” I said to Ellie.

“What kind of project?”

“I had dinner the other night with my dad and Pappy. We decorated the tree Dad got for Donovan’s, and we started talking about Christmases in the past. It’s been five years since my grandma died, and it occurred to me it might be time to resume some of the traditions we left behind. I want to make my grandma’s Christmas Eve soup, but I don’t have
the recipe. You’ve had the soup on more than one occasion and you know your way around a kitchen, so I was hoping you could help me figure things out.”

“You mean the potato cheese soup?”

“Yeah, the one she served in bread bowls.”

Ellie paused. “Yeah, I think I can help you figure it out. I know it had potatoes, leeks, cream, and cheese. I assume it was cooked in a chicken-broth base. I’ll make a test batch; we can taste it and take it from there.”

I smiled. Pappy would be so surprised if I made Grandma’s soup to serve at Christmas dinner. I knew the traditional dish would brighten his day and bring some of the magic back to his favorite holiday.