Melody's Christmas

by ID Johnson

  “I’m not sure,” Karen replied, looking at Melody closely. “We’ve lived here a few years. It’s such a small town, we’ve probably bumped into each other at some point.”

  “Right,” Melody chuckled. Then a memory hit her and she said, “Wait—are you Kayla’s mom? Did your daughter take piano lessons from my dad?”

  Karen’s face shifted into an expression of recognition. “Oh! You’re Tim’s daughter. Yes, she did, for a couple of years. He was so great with her.”

  A vision of Karen coming to pick her daughter up from piano lessons a few days before her father passed away flooded her memory. She’d been home for Christmas, and he’d still been giving lessons because he loved that even more than he loved his antiques. She heard Karen remark, “We were so very sorry to have lost him.” Melody gave her usual quiet thank you, but the comment stuck with her. So many people had lost her father—people Melody hadn’t even realized he’d been attached to.

  Turning her attention to Michael, who was unusually quiet, Karen said, “Why don’t you go on in and get your snack, Michael? Carmen and Dustin are waiting to see you.”

  Michael let out a sigh that almost sounded like a growl. “Okay,” he said, and then turning to Melody with a pleading expression in his eyes, he asked, “are you really gonna go?”

  “Yes, Michael. But I’ll see you soon.”

  “Tomorrow at pick up?”

  “Yes.”

  “On Wednesday— you’re coming to church, right?”

  “I’m not sure about that yet, sweetie, but I’ll see how my schedule looks. I’ll definitely see you tomorrow, though.”

  “Okay,” he repeated and then he gave her a hug around the waist, which she returned, and moped his way into the house.

  “He’s such a silly boy,” Karen said with affection in her voice. “He’s a handful though.”

  Melody giggled. “Yes, he is. But he’s precious.”

  “How long have you and Reid been dating?” she asked, her tone completely innocent.

  Melody hoped her enlarged eyes didn’t seem rude. She stammered, “Oh, no. We aren’t. I mean—he’s really nice. And we have been spending some time together. But nothing like that.”

  “I’m sorry,” Karen replied. “I just assumed, as much as he talks about you….”

  “Yeah, I guess Michael does talk about me a lot. “

  “Well, yes, he does,” she agreed, “but I meant Reid.”

  Once again, Melody was flabbergasted. She managed, “We’re friends, I guess you could say.”

  Karen nodded, and Melody wondered what that meant. In the background, Melody heard a child shouting and another one begin to cry. “I’ve got to go,” Karen said, her tone nothing if not exhausted.

  “I’ll let Reid know Michael’s here. It was nice to see you again, Karen.”

  “You, too,” she said, but it was over her shoulder as she hurried off to either break up a tiff or calm a tantrum.

  Melody made her way back to her car thinking there was no way in the world she could ever be a daycare provider. Nor could she be a school teacher. If listening to twenty kids talk the way that Michael did on the way home all day long was any indication of what it was like to be a kindergarten teacher, she would add all kindergarten teachers to her nightly prayer list. She suddenly had a newfound respect for her mother who had done both jobs at one time or another.

  She climbed into her Acadia and put her seatbelt on. She thought she should have asked about Kayla, but she’d only met her the one time. She’d been a good pianist, and her dad had remarked after the lesson that he thought she’d be quite accomplished if she continued to practice and if she had the right teacher. Unfortunately for all of them, the right teacher was no longer around.

  There had been a time when Melody had considered teaching piano or even becoming a music teacher. Her father said she had the talent, but he wasn’t quite sure if she had the patience. At the time, he was probably right. But now that she was older, now that she had learned a bit about staying calm with children through her experiences with Michael, she wondered if it was something she might have been good at. Her father had lovingly taught her both piano and guitar, though he was far more accomplished on the former than the latter. Pulling into the driveway, she pushed those thoughts aside. It really didn’t matter what might have been now. She certainly wouldn’t be giving lessons anytime soon. She’d already decided to give music up completely, so she could hardly teach anyone else how to play when she refused to do so herself.

  Walking into the house, she fished her phone out of her pocket. She was tempted to call Reid, just to hear the sound of his voice, but she decided against it. Knowing he was busy and not wanting to sound desperate or silly won out over her other desires. Before she went upstairs to start digging through more boxes, she sent him a text. “Michael is safely at Ms. Karen’s. Boy can that child talk!” She slid her phone into her pocket and started in on the boxes she’d pulled out of one of the guest rooms the night before. These appeared to be full of old books, and she wanted to get an idea of what they might be worth before she decided to lug them down the stairs. The valuable ones could go to the shop, but the others could be donated to the library to be given away, and that could wait a few weeks.

  As she checked an early edition of War of the Worlds, her phone began to vibrate, and she was surprised to see it wasn’t a text; Reid was actually calling her.

  Setting the book down, she answered and raised the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Are you implying that my little angel talks a lot, because if so, this is the first I am hearing about this.”

  Melody couldn’t help but giggle at the seriousness of his tone, even though she knew for certain he was being sarcastic. “I think that might be an understatement. Would you like to know what Tommy had for lunch or what happened as a result of Billy’s shoe-tying negligence?”

  “Oh, I will definitely hear about it,” he assured her. “I will hear about it for hours and hours and hours.”

  She laughed again. The sound of his voice made her smile, and she felt a warmth radiating from her heart. “Well, I think that makes you pretty lucky. I wanted to spend more time with him, but someone told me I couldn’t….”

  “Hey, you said you knew he shouldn’t go home with you because it would seem like a reward,” Reid reminded her.

  “I know,” Melody admitted, repositioning so she was sitting cross-legged in the little space she’d carved out for herself between books. “But then I saw him, and I wanted to bring him home with me. But I didn’t.”

  “You’ve done well, young grasshopper. You cannot let his angelic looks deceive you. That’s how he wiggles his way in, and just when you’re least expecting it, he attacks, and the next thing you know you have more Transformers in your home than pieces of silverware.”

  “Or the most detailed piece of furniture in the house resembles an outdated vehicle?”

  “Exactly. It’s whatever he wants. You will never get your way again.”

  “Thank goodness I was able to escape his clutches then,” she laughed.

  “For now. He’ll try again tomorrow,” Reid reminded her.

  “True. And I might not be as strong tomorrow.”

  “You have to be, Mel! It’s the only way! We must stick together!”

  “Okay, okay,” she replied, though she wasn’t sure if she meant it or not. It had been so tempting to bring Michael home with her. After a pause, she decided a change of subjects would be worthwhile and wondered if he even had time to talk. “Where are you today?”

  “At the home of my number one customer.”

  “Mrs. Gregory?”

  “One and the same. Somehow, she’s stretched my handyman-ness into Christmas light hanging.”

  “Really?” Melody asked, not sure how those two jobs could be related. “So you’re hanging lights on her house?”

  “Yes,” he assured her. “And since her dear friend Mrs. Watson is here, I’ll be doing h
er house tomorrow.”

  Melody broke into a fit of laughter. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed.

  “You sound sincerely sorry,” he replied.

  “No, I really am,” she managed. “You know, my mom and I don’t have any lights on the outside of our house yet either….”

  “I’ve gotta go,” he said, clearly joking. “Are you going through a tunnel or something? You’re breaking up.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll text you a time so you can come over and hang our lights. But I should warn you, they’re in a tangle—about four feet wide. Hope that’s not a problem.”

  “And what’s in it for me?” he asked, his voice still teasing.

  Melody pretended to think for a minute. “Chocolate chip cookies?”

  “Not that big of a fan.”

  “Your son returned without a ransom note?”

  “I told you, you’d give him right back soon enough.”

  “Nah, I’d just invest in some good earplugs.” They both laughed, and then Melody said, “I was actually just messing with you anyway. My mom bought one of those BlissLights thing-a-ma-bobs that you put out in the yard and it lights up the whole outside of your house. It should be here tomorrow. So that should take me, like, fifteen seconds to stick in the ground and plug in.”

  “Are you kidding me?” he asked. “I’ve been up on this roof for three hours, and I’m not even remotely done, and your mom figured out a way to get it done in fifteen seconds?” he asked.

  “You’re up on the roof right now?” she asked.

  “Well, I couldn’t call you from inside. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but those little old ladies are a wee bit nosey.”

  Melody giggled again and pictured him sitting on Mrs. Gregory’s roof on his phone. He probably had good reception. “Is Mr. Gregory still hacking away?”

  “Man, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone cough like that. It sounds awful. I stayed as far away from him as possible.”

  “Is he up?”

  “Yes, he’s sitting in the kitchen with them, pretending like he’s not sick. That’s about as close to resting as Mrs. Gregory said she can get from him.”

  “Crazy,” Melody muttered.

  “Well, if I’m going to get these lights hung up before next Christmas, I guess I should go. Thanks again for picking Mikey up for me.”

  “You’re welcome. Be careful up there. No need to pull a Clark Griswold.”

  He laughed, clearly catching the reference to the movie Christmas Vacation. “Thank God she didn’t want that many lights up here. Talk to you soon, Mel.”

  “Bye,” she said, and once he had said the same, she disconnected the call and stared at her phone for a moment, letting out a long sigh. He wouldn’t have bothered to call her if he didn’t at least like her a little bit, right? Or was he just being nice because she’d volunteered to help out with Michael. Maybe it was time for her to take matters into her own hands and ask him out on a date—but she’d never asked a guy out before. What would she do if he said no? Would she be able to keep seeing him at all? How would Michael feel about that? With another deep breath, Melody decided to push those thoughts aside and concentrate on the books. She silently wished her own life were a novel and she could just flip a few chapters ahead to see what might happen next. “Don’t be ridiculous, Melody,” she muttered out loud. “This is real life, not some sappy romance novel.”

  Melody was helping her mother put the books she’d gone through the afternoon before onto a newly-cleared-off shelf when her phone started buzzing. At first, she thought she’d just received a text, but the more it vibrated, the more she thought something might be wrong. She knew it wasn’t nearly time to go pick up Michael from school; it couldn’t be the school calling to say she was late. As she slid the phone out of her back pocket, she wondered what in the world might be going on.

  There were five text messages all sent within the last minute, all from Delaney.

  “Where are you?”

  “Are you at the shop?”

  “Get down here, girl.”

  “Seriously, get down here now.”

  “Are you ignoring me?”

  There hadn’t even been time for her to ignore her friend since the texts had been fired off one after another, and Melody began to worry that something was wrong. Her face must have worn her concern, because her mother asked, “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know,” Melody replied. “Delaney wants me to come to the bakery right away.”

  “She didn’t say why?” Sarah asked.

  Before Melody could even answer, a sixth text came through. “MELODY?!?”

  “No. I’m going to run down there really quick.”

  “Okay,” Sarah shrugged, and as Melody jogged out the door, she hollered behind her, “Don’t forget your coat!”

  Melody didn’t wait to slip it on, nor did she turn back when her mother’s words registered. It was less than a block to Delaney’s Delights, but it had gotten much colder that morning than it had been the day before, and since it wasn’t even 11:00 yet, the sun hadn’t yet had a chance to fully attempt to fight off some of the wind. Melody hugged herself tightly against the gales and hurried her pace, wishing she’d listened to her mother.

  She half expected to see smoke billowing out of the building as she approached, but since that wasn’t the case, her mind began to jump to other conclusions. Why did Delaney need her to rush down to see her?

  As soon as she stepped through the door, she realized what her friend was up to. Delaney was standing in the back, next to the entry to the kitchen, her phone in her hand. When she saw Melody come in, she set it down on a prep table, and with a big smile, she gestured with her head toward the far end of the front counter.

  It wasn’t necessary, however. Melody had seen Reid standing there talking to Edie just before she noticed Delaney about to send her another text. He looked up when she came in, and his face morphed into a crooked grin. “Hi,” Melody exclaimed, still shivering. “What are you doing here?” She hoped her surprise sounded genuine.

  “Hey, Mel,” he called, turning to face her. “I had to stop by the hardware store on the way to Mrs. Watson’s house, and I thought I’d come by and say hello to Delaney. How are you?”

  “I’m good,” she said, “I was just coming in to… uh…..”

  “Here’re the cocoas your mom ordered,” Delaney interjected, sliding two to-go cups across the counter.

  “Thanks, Delaney,” Melody replied, trying not to grit her teeth. “But didn’t you promise her one of your chocolate muffins, too? A really big one, with extra chocolate?”

  Delaney fought back a giggle. “That’s right,” she said, and under her breath she added, “I guess your mom doesn’t recognize when other people are doing her a favor,” in a sing-song voice, with a wink.

  Reid looked at Delaney, confused, and then returned his attention to Melody. “Where’s your coat?”

  “Yeah,” Edie chimed in. “You keep runnin’ around out there dressed like that, you’re gonna spend Christmas in a hospital bed.”

  Melody glanced down, as if her frozen limbs weren’t reminder enough that she hadn’t bothered to put on her coat. She was wearing one of her thinner sweaters, too, a red one, and even though she really liked it, it didn’t do much in the warmth department. “I was in a hurry. Mom gets a little cranky if you don’t go get her drink in a timely manner.”

  “Really?” Reid asked. “Hard to imagine your mom getting cranky about anything.”

  Melody tried not to let the sarcastic snicker in her head escape her lips, but she only caught the end of it. Deciding not to launch into a lengthy discussion of her mother’s short-fallings lest she be forced to face her own, she changed the subject. “Did you finish with Mrs. Gregory’s lights yesterday, then?”

  “I did. And I only fell off of the roof twice.” He winked at her, and Melody felt her heart flitter, even though she was certain it was only intended to pu
nctuate his joke.

  “Mrs. Watson’s roof is even steeper than Mrs. Gregory’s,” Edie spoke up, and Melody silently wondered when she might excuse herself from the conversation. She knew she couldn’t keep Reid here for long if he needed to get back to work, and she didn’t want to spend half of her time talking to Edie, as much as she liked her.

  “Here’s your muffin,” Delaney said, sliding a brown paper bag onto the counter next to the cocoas. As if she sensed Melody’s annoyance at her employee, she said very calmly, “Edie, could you go see how many we have left in the back? We might need to make some more.”

  “Sure,” Edie said, as if she hadn’t just been sent away from a conversation she was intruding upon, and Melody smiled at her and then at Delaney for the help.

  Delaney knew better than to hang around, so she grabbed a coffee pot and started making her way around to the other customers to see if they needed refills.

  “You be careful up there today,” Melody warned, returning her full attention to Reid. “The wind is blowing pretty hard.”

  “I know,” he replied. “I’ll get as much done as I can today, but I won’t stay up there if it’s too dangerous. I think her roof might need some repairs, too.”

  “I sure hope your joke doesn’t come true—or you fall through her roof instead of off of it.”

  He smiled, as if he were picturing that happening. “I’ll go back and patch it up in a week or two when I have time. She’s a sweet old lady, and I don’t think she has much family.”

  “She doesn’t,” Melody nodded. “Her husband died a long time ago, and I think she only had one daughter. She lives in a nursing home herself. In Harper’s Ferry or Shepherdstown. Not sure.”

  “Can you imagine being so old that your child is in a nursing home?” he asked. He picked up his own to-go cup and took a sip before setting it back down. “I can’t picture Michael being that old. For that matter, I can’t even imagine him being sixteen and driving a car.”

  “You are really going to have your hands full then!” Melody exclaimed. “He’ll be out on the town, with the ladies, probably driving a fast car way over the speed limit.”