James looked around the clearing.
“Is there anything else we can bring you to brighten your Christmas?”
Joyce patted him on the arm.
“You’re so kind to think of us, but we’re doing fine. The Methodist church is sending a bus for those of us who want to go to the evening program tonight. The Lutheran church is doing the same in the morning for people who want to have turkey lunch at their place. We’re well taken care of in this community.”
Max chose one of the tea sandwiches and popped it into his mouth.
“Let us know if you hear anything about Joe from the boy’s family, will you?” he asked when he’d finished chewing.
“We will,” Harriet promised. “Now we’d better be on our way.”
“If Joe set the fire at Jade’s for someone else, they may have gotten rid of him when he’d completed his task,” Harriet said when they were back in her car.
“On the other hand,” James said as he pulled out of the parking lot, “he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time when one of the other murders was taking place.”
Luke leaned forward in his seat.
“Have you two considered that Joe could be the one who is killing the people in town and set the fire?”
Harriet blew out a breath.
“Somehow, I can’t see Joe as the murderer. I mean, why would he?”
“Why not?” Luke countered. “We don’t know what he was before he became homeless. Maybe he had dealings with all the victims.”
James smiled at Harriet.
“The kid has a point.”
CHAPTER 27
Luke and James were already in the kitchen when Harriet came downstairs, her arms full of packages.
“Are you sure your mom is okay with the dogs coming to their house for Christmas Eve?”
James took the stack of wrapped boxes from her.
“She specifically mentioned them. Since my sister and her family are going to her husband’s people this year, I think the dogs are intended to provide the chaos factor usually created by the grandkids.”
Luke laughed as he put Cyrano’s Christmas sweater on him.
“They can do that, for sure. Fred’s going to be a little lonely, though.”
Harriet plucked a can of tuna from the kitchen cupboard.
“Fred can have tuna and a new catnip mouse. He will enjoy having the house to himself.”
Luke ran his hand over the cat’s back. Fred arched and purred.
“If you say so.”
James looked at his watch.
“Let’s load these two hoodlums up and get going.”
“Yes sir,” Luke said with a mock salute, and gathered dogs and leashes before heading for the garage.
James pulled Harriet into his arms when Luke was gone.
“It makes me happy to see how relaxed he’s becoming in our little family. You’re doing a good job as his foster mother.”
She kissed him.
“You’re doing just as much as his foster father. Let’s hope it continues to go this smoothly.”
James squeezed her to him.
“Merry Christmas.”
She smiled.
“Merry Christmas.”
Will Garvin opened the front door while they were still getting out of the car. He was wearing brown corduroy pants, a red plaid shirt, a green pull-over sweater, and a jaunty fleece Santa hat on his head.
“Merry Christmas, everyone, Merry Christmas. Here, let me take that,” he said and held his arms out to take a large foil-covered pan from James.
Luke carried the presents into the living room and set them under the Christmas tree. He looked around the room. Every surface held decoration of some sort. On the mantle was a ceramic Christmas village, and a narrow table behind the sofa was covered with an eclectic collection of Santas, made from ceramic, carved wood, fabric soft-sculpture, and glazed paper, collected by James’s mother over a lifetime of Christmas-market shopping.
“This is amazing.”
Will returned from the kitchen and stood beside Luke.
“Kathy does like her decorations.”
James’s mom Kathy joined them, smiling affectionately at her husband.
“Don’t let him fool you. Will bought every one of those houses in the village and more than half of the Santas.”
“Only because I know how much you like them.”
James brought a platter of Christmas tree-shaped appetizers from the kitchen and set them on the coffee table.
“How did you make these?” he asked his mom.
Kathy smiled at him.
“Don’t make fun of me, but the trees are made from crescent roll refrigerator dough cut into small triangles.”
He popped on in his mouth.
“Mmm…they’re good. Is that guacamole mixed with cream cheese on top?”
“It is,” Kathy confirmed. “And before you ask. The secret is, you sprinkle taco seasoning on the dough before you bake it. And as I’m sure you can see, the stars and decorations are cut from red, yellow, and green peppers.”
Harriet tried one.
“They are good.”
Kathy’s cheeks turned pink.
“They aren’t something James could serve in the restaurant, but they’re definitely a hit at dinner parties.”
James put his arm around his mother’s shoulders.
“Mom, they’re great.”
Will went to the kitchen and came back with a tray of mugs filled with caramel apple cider, topped with whipped cream. He put the tray on the other end of the coffee table and took a cup from the tray, handing it to Luke.
“I heard you’ve taken up riding. Tell me about your horse.”
Luke launched into a detailed account of his experience with Major. In that moment, Harriet loved Will. He may have been hard on his son when James didn’t fulfill Will’s dreams of being the father of a Major League baseball player, but he was perfect with Luke. He knew horses and asked good questions without making Luke feel like he didn’t know enough. She watched them for a while before retreating to the kitchen to see if Kathy needed any help.
James’s mom might not own a restaurant, but her son had clearly learned some of his kitchen skills from her. A golden-brown turkey sat on a platter on the counter while Kathy tucked leaves of curly kale under its edges.
“Can I do anything?” Harriet asked.
Kathy set her kale down and picked up a bunch of grapes, tearing them into clusters of three or four before placing them artfully around the turkey.
“You could put the roasted vegetables James brought onto that blue platter.” She gestured toward a stack of serving pieces on the opposite counter.
Harriet took the lid off the pan and began transferring potatoes and carrots to the platter.
“Will is sure good with Luke.”
Kathy smiled warmly.
“He’s happy to have a young man around the house again. And he loves talking about growing up on his parent’s ranch. They were pretty isolated, and his horse was his best friend.”
“Luke has really blossomed since he’s been going to the stable.”
“James told me there was some trouble out there the other night. I know he’s worried about Luke going.”
Harriet sighed.
“I’m torn. I don’t like him being out there, either, if someone is trying to steal a horse, but on the other hand, Luke loves Major, the horse he’s been working with, and I hate to take that away from him.”
Kathy finished with the grapes and got a bag of lady apples from the refrigerator.
“Being a parent is never easy. It has to be especially tough jumping into the teen years. All you want to do is keep them safe, but they think they’re invincible.”
“Exactly,”
Kathy stood back to look at her creation before placing the apples among the grapes and kale.
“I have to say, with what’s going on downtown, I’m afraid to go shopping alone.”
“Speaking of that, did you know Valery Melnyk’s wife when she was here?”
Kathy thought for a moment.
“I wouldn’t say I knew her. I knew of her. I attempted to speak to her a few times, but she didn’t speak much English. She seemed friendly enough, though.”
“Do you know how long she was here?”
“No, but it wasn’t very long. I heard from ladies at church that she had elderly parents in the old country, and they needed her. I don’t think she wanted to leave the kids here, but she and Valery decided they would have better educational opportunities in the US. I think she thought she was only going to be gone for a year, at least according to the local gossips.”
“Instead, her daughter died, and her son got AIDS,” Harriet mused.
“Really? I knew about the daughter, but I didn’t know about the son.”
“I met him at Valery’s memorial service. He knew Daniel Muhler because of it.”
Kathy raised her eyebrows.
“I didn’t know that, either. Although there’s no reason I would know.”
“It’s all pretty sad. Especially at Christmas time.”
Kathy placed her apples and declared the turkey a masterpiece.
“We’ll have to make sure our dinner is extra-festive to make up for all the sadness.”
James leaned back in his chair, his cleaned plate in front of him.
“Mom, you’ve outdone yourself.”
Kathy wiped her hands on her napkin and laid it on the table.
“You set the bar high, food-wise,” she said, her pride in her son clear.
“You’ve always been the better cook,” James told her.
Will pushed back in his chair.
“If you two are done with your love fest, I say it’s time to go see what Santa left under the tree while we were eating.”
During dinner, he and Kathy in turn had excused themselves to use the restroom or fetch something from the kitchen and had been gone longer than necessary. This must have been how they’d fooled their children into believing Santa had come while they were eating.
James quickly cleared the remaining food from the table as Will led the way to the formal living room, where the tree was set up. Luke stared at the pile of packages that had appeared under the tree.
“Wow, I’ve never seen so many gifts.”
Kathy put her arm around his shoulders.
“We didn’t used to go so overboard, but Will enjoys all this. All I ask is for him to buy gifts for the local toy drive and the various giving trees around town. And he’s happy to do so.”
Will shrugged.
“What can I say, I like holiday shopping.”
Luke smiled.
“Works for me.”
Harriet figured if Luke ever started to take it all for granted they’d have a family talk about it, but he’d grown up so deprived, she didn’t see that happening anytime soon.
“Everyone find a comfortable seat, and Will will distribute packages,” Kathy instructed. “When he finishes, everyone can start opening.”
“This yarn is perfect,” Kathy exclaimed.
James held up a white chef’s coat with his name embroidered on the chest pocket.
“Mom, this is perfect. And I desperately needed a new one.”
Kathy grinned. “I did my research.” She watched as Harriet unwrapped a flat rectangular box. “Let me explain yours,” she said as Harriet was about to lift the lid on the box. “I researched yours, too, but my advisors didn’t agree so I got you a mix of their recommendations. Okay, now you can open.”
Harriet lifted the lid, revealing a smallish quilted bag. She unzipped three sides of the bag and opened it flat. Inside were four pairs of appliqué scissors. She laughed and pulled a pair of Kai scissors from the elastic loops that held them.
“You discovered that my aunt and her friends each swear by a different brand of appliqué scissors.”
“So, what could I do?” Kathy responded. “I got you one of each.”
Harriet smiled broadly.
“These are fantastic. Karen Kay Buckley and Ginger and Kai are the top scissors for appliqué. I’ll put them all to good use.”
“Whoa!” Luke yelped and rapidly tore wrapping paper from a large box. He quickly opened the box to reveal a pair of riding boots. He jumped up and threw his arms around Will’s neck. “Thank you so much.”
Harriet and James looked at each other wide-eyed. They’d never seen such a display of emotion from Luke. Will’s face turned red, and he had to clear his throat a couple of times before he could speak.
“Once you figure out what style you’re going to ride, you can get some proper riding boots, but I thought you should have something to protect your toes from being stepped on, especially with that big horse you’re riding.”
Luke pulled on the right boot.
“I did my research, too,” Will said proudly. “I asked Vern at the Outdoor Store. I knew you all had gotten hiking boots, and he keeps a record of people’s shoe sizes.”
“How did Vern seem when you saw him?” Harriet asked.
Will was collecting the tissue paper Luke pulled out of the boots and was wadding it up. He stopped mid-motion.
“Now that you mention it, he was not himself. He was distracted, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. I know the holidays are busy, but this was something else. I asked him if everything was okay, but he brushed me off, which is not like him.”
“My friend Lauren made the quilt for his store. She’s been worried about him. She thinks maybe he’s being blackmailed like some of the other vendors in town.”
Wills face lost all trace of humor. “Do you think he’s in danger?”
Harriet blew out a breath. “That’s what’s got her worried.”
Kathy interrupted by getting to her feet.
“On that happy note, how about we sing a few Christmas carols. If James will play piano, that is.”
Harriet turned and looked at James. “Piano?”
He smiled and waggled his eyebrows at her. “I am a man of many talents.”
She laughed. “I guess so.”
“Can I keep my boots on?” Luke asked.
Will put his hands on the boy’s shoulders.
“Of course you can. You need to break them in, after all.”
“I’ll go get the sheet music,” Kathy said and left the room.
CHAPTER 28
Harriet woke up in the dark, nestled in a bed of straw. Warm, sweet breath filled her nose, and soft whiskers tickled her chin. She opened her eyes to find Becky nuzzling her.
“What’s going on?” she asked the horse as she sat up.
Becky looked at her with big brown eyes and pawed the floor with her hoof, being careful not to touch her. She stopped and looked anxiously at Harriet. Harriet stood and patted her on the neck.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.” She tugged on the bottom edge of her pajama top as Becky rubbed her face against her chest.
“I wish you could talk,” she said with a sigh.
“He can’t, but I can,” James said, and lifted Fred up and off of Harriet.
She opened her eyes.
“Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was in Becky’s stall at the barn. She was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand what she wanted.” She smiled. “It was surprisingly warm, given I was barefoot and in my PJ’s.”
“Was she actually talking to you?” James asked and pulled her into his arms.
“Of course not,” she said with mock indignation. “That would have been ridiculous.”
He smiled.
“Because waking up in her stall was so normal by comparison.”
She pushed on his chest. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not. You just have such interesting dreams. I dream of mundane things like a crowd of people showing up without reservations, and when I go into the walk-in refrigerator, it’s either empty or the food is all rotten.”
>
“That’s kind of gross.”
“See? Not nearly as interesting as your dreams.”
“Any indication Luke is up yet?”
“The house is quiet. I’m sure if he was awake, the dogs would have made him go out.”
Harriet smiled. The dogs had taken to sleeping in Luke’s room since he let them sleep on the bed, something that was strictly forbidden in Harriet and James’s room.
“Shall I go downstairs and heat up the cinnamon rolls?” he asked.
“Works for me.”
Historically, there was about a ten-percent chance of snow falling on Christmas day in Foggy Point, and this was not one of those rare occasions. The day had dawned crisp and clear and full of promise.
“Be sure you get lots of pictures of Luke as he opens his presents,” Harriet reminded James.
He held up his phone. “My battery is fully charged.” He reached across the kitchen table, where they sat sipping their coffee and tea, and took her hand. “Don’t worry. His first Christmas with us will be perfect. By definition, the fact he’s having it with us will make it perfect, no matter what happens.”
Luke appeared in the doorway.
“Merry Christmas?” he said tentatively. “Is everything okay?”
James stood up, smiling at him. “Oh, Harriet’s just worried about whether Christmas will live up to your expectations.”
Luke grinned. “It already has.”
“Food first or presents first?” James asked.
Luke looked torn. “Can we do both?”
“Sure,” Harriet said. “Grab a cinnamon roll, and I’ll fix some hot chocolate real quick. You can take them into the living room.”
“Anyone ready for another round of cinnamon rolls?” James asked when all the presents had been opened.
“I am,” Luke said without looking up from his new laptop computer.
Harriet closed the cover of her new mystery novel.
“I’ll help you. I think I need some orange juice to cut through all the sugar.”
The 12 Quilts of Christmas Page 19