Appointment at Christmas Bay

by Chase, Diane

  Laughter rang out from Lexi and Lauren. If the girls were back, why did Connie take off? The dog wiggled in from the morning party to the kitchen. Juliette scooped her up and stopped in the dining room entrance unacknowledged by the girls who sat in front of the computer.

  “Lexi, where’s your mom?” Juliette asked still in the doorway.

  “Running errands or something.” The girl shrugged. “She left a note on the kitchen counter.”

  She set Skipper down and found the note.

  Juliette—Keep an eye on Lexi, please. I’ll contact you later. Connie

  Juliette poured a cup of coffee and stared at the note. It said nothing about errands. And contact her later? She sighed. Not that she had plans, but she didn’t really want to be shackled with the kids all day.

  Juliette strolled back to the arched doorway. “Lexi, does your mom know Lauren’s here?”

  “She talked to Ms. Mel yesterday. Was she suppose to check with you, too?” She tapped the computer keys, her words laced with disrespect.

  Talking with the girl might take more patience than she had, but Juliette’s whole future depended on her at this point. “Lexi, let’s remember our manners. Can I talk to you in the living room a minute?”

  Lexi swung around and scowled. “Am I in trouble?”

  “No, of course, not. I just want your full attention,” Juliette said. She strolled past them and through the foyer to the living room sofa. A few minutes later, Lauren and Lexi pattered in with the dog. The girls squeezed into an oversized chair and ottoman, and Skipper jumped up with them.

  Juliette stared at the tiny navy stars on the cream background of her dress while they settled down. When they finally did, she smiled, unsure how to begin. “Today the pastor talked about men born from Adam to Noah. Adam, for one, lived over 900 years. Amazing, isn’t it?”

  “That’s not literal.” Lauren swiped her hair behind her ear.

  “I thought you went to a Christian school,” Juliette said.

  “They don’t expect us to believe things like that.” The girl put her hand out for the dog to lick.

  “But don’t you study the incredible stories about God?”

  “Is that all?” Lexi dropped her feet from the ottoman to the floor.

  “No, I have a question for you?” Juliette’s nerve washed out like low tide, but what if Lexi verified her injury? “Remember when you cleaned my clothes after the accident?”

  The girl pushed her glasses back. “Yeah, why?”

  “And they were covered in blood.”

  Lexi’s mouth fixed in a frown. “That didn’t look like blood.”

  “But it was.” Juliette’s pulse shot up. “And on the beach towel, too. Mother saw it in the sink, and you said you were soaking the blood out.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t say that.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Lexi nudged Lauren, and the two climbed out of the chair.

  “Hold on. That’s ridiculous. Mother and Daddy heard you. If I called—”

  The looks on the girls’ faces, their wide eyes and gaping mouths, said she’d gone too far. Her skin flushed with embarrassment, and she inhaled a deep breath. “Girls, I’m not upset with you. I mean I am, but—”

  “Do you want anything else, Juliette?” Lexi snipped.

  “No, I suppose that’s all.” Juliette eyed Skipper who turned around and tailed the girls to the foyer. Shortly, the kids’ laughter rang out from the dining room.

  What a fool. She was the last person in the world to convince Harry God loved him or healed her, and apparently Lexi wouldn’t be the one either.

  ****

  Later that evening, the TV boomed from the master bedroom where the girls watched a sitcom. Just like her family, they fell into the routine of using the spacious but cozy bedroom as a den. Juliette untangled her wet hair with her fingers just outside the adjacent bathroom.

  Seeing her, Lexi jumped off the sofa and joined her in the hall. Her face tensed in concern. “Do you think my mom’s phone is broken?” she asked.

  “Sure, possibly.” To hide her own worry, Juliette fiddled with the sash of her cotton robe. It was close to eight o’clock. “She’ll be home soon.”

  “Right.” The girl slunk back to the sofa.

  Juliette decided to leave them alone and went downstairs. The dim light of dusk cast eerie shadows in the living and dining rooms. She angled the shutters half-closed, turned on several lamps, and finally settled on the library sofa with her cell phone.

  Connie left no contact numbers. Except for the onetime mention of her ex-husband Eric, who was teaching at a Belgian university until mid-August, she never discussed her relatives. Not that they had many conversations, anyway.

  If she didn’t return soon, Juliette would need to ask Lexi to check with relatives. Her heart sank thinking it might come to that. Nine o’clock was the cutoff point. She’d conjectured the possibilities—car wreck or waylaid at an important meeting, but nothing seemed plausible.

  The doorbell rang. Juliette scurried to the door. Maybe Connie forgot her house key. She arrived in the foyer just as Lexi and Lauren rumbled downstairs. They opened the door to an Asian woman dressed in white slacks and a plum blouse belted at the waist.

  “Mai!” Lexi threw her arms around the attractive lady. “Is Mom with you?” she asked, peering around her.

  “No, Lexi.” Mai stretched her hand. “You must be Juliette. I’m a friend of Connie’s, Mai Kahn.”

  “Glad to meet you. Have you heard from Connie? Is everything alright?”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Lexi said, pushing up her glasses.

  “Of course, it concerns her, Lexi,” Mai said, sternly. She glanced at Lauren and back at Juliette. “Could we talk privately?”

  “I’m staying.” Lexi held onto Mai’s arm and bent her head. She puffed out a few soft sobs. “I’ll be up in a minute,” she said to Lauren.

  Without a word, her friend tackled the stairs two at a time.

  “Let’s talk in the living room.” Juliette led the way to a game table angled near the side windows and turned on a floor lamp.

  “What’s wrong? Where’s Mom? Is she okay?” Lexi slumped in her chair and hugged her stomach, rocking.

  A pained look crossed the woman’s face. “Physically, yes. She’s fine, but this afternoon we put her in a hospital to get some rest.”

  Lexi’s head shook, and she brushed away tears . “You said she was okay.”

  Mai clasped the girl’s hands, her nose turning red like she might cry, too. “She is. She just needs special doctors to sort through some of her problems.”

  “I understand what you’re saying, Mai.” She threw off the woman’s hand and slammed back against the wooden chair. “She’s back in Shady Pines, the nut ward, isn’t she!”

  “Lexi!” Mai shook her head at Juliette. “Connie had a hard time in January after the divorce was final.” She reached out to Lexi’s shoulder. “But she’ll get past it.”

  Juliette offered a sympathetic smile. Shady Pines sat on the edge of downtown Houston, not far from her parents’ house. Its spacious lawn dotted with trees sloped far from the road and offered only a bare glimpse of the building and no sign indicating it was a psychiatric facility. They all just knew.

  “I hate him.” The girl dropped her head to the table and choked on more tears.

  Juliette willed back her own. Was she partially to blame for Connie going off the deep end? If only she insisted they go out, ate meals together, or checked on her once in awhile. Her discomfort grew.

  “Anyway,” said Mai, “we need to go. You’ll be staying with me the next few weeks.”

  “No!” Lexi popped her head up and took off her glasses.

  Mai gently pushed the hair from the girl’s face. “It’ll be okay, honey. I’ve been thinking of all sorts of things we could do.”

  “I want to stay here,” the girl said, fat tears still rolling down
her cheeks.

  What? Juliette widened her eyes at Mai.

  The woman shook her head. “That’s not a good idea. Your mom and I already made the arrangements.”

  Lexi’s dark eyes pleaded with her mother’s friend. “Plu...ezz, can I stay?”

  Then they both stared at Juliette.

  “I…well.” Shocked, she tried to keep her tone soft. “Lauren’s returning to Houston soon. You’ll get bored, won’t you?” Her heart went out to the kid whose face was creased with pain, but no way could she stay.

  “I have stuff to do.” Lexi sobered up and passed a pitiful expression to each of them.

  “It’s not possible, honey.” Mai’s eyes fluttered at Juliette. “And it’s not right to invite yourself to stay in someone’s home.”

  “Oh, that’s not it,” Juliette said.

  “Then it’s okay?” Lexi’s voice was shrill with desperation.

  “Sure.” Juliette smiled at Mai hoping to be overturned. “You’re also welcome to stay tonight, Mai.” Maybe by morning Lexi would agree to go with her mother’s friend.

  “I left my little boy with a sitter, but thank you.” Mai stood up and embraced Lexi. “You win, at least for this evening. I’ll call your mother and see what she says about a longer stay.” Lexi whimpered, and Mai stroked her back. “She’s going to be fine, honey. She loves you so much. That’s why she wants to get better.”

  They walked to the door with Lexi still tearful and under Mai’s shoulder. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning, luv. Let me talk to Juliette for a minute.” Lexi hugged her one last time and trudged back upstairs.

  They headed outside to Mai’s car parked at the curb. It rained most of the afternoon, making the evening more humid than usual.

  “I’ll come back for her tomorrow, no doubt,” she said. “Aren’t you in Galveston to work on your dissertation?”

  “Yes.” Juliette opened the gate.

  “We don’t want to impose. I’ll explain that to Lexi in the morning. For tonight, she’s probably better off in her routine and with her little friend.”

  Juliette nodded, unsure she was off the hook. “She’d be bored stiff here.”

  “Ah, not that one. She’s quite resourceful and independent. But that’s no reason for her to stay.”

  A car drove by and Juliette cinched her robe. “It’s so sad. I hope Connie gets on with her life after this.”

  Mai opened the car door. “Yes, I thought she was, especially when her book was accepted for publishing late spring. Maybe that just added to her stress.” She started the car. “You know the pressure of the academic environment. Well, take care. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Juliette waited for Mai to turn around before strolling back to the house. Warm light streamed from the porch and windows. Maybe Lexi felt at home here. As she entered the foyer, the girls and dog scampered downstairs.

  Juliette put on a smile. “Hey, I was going to make some popcorn.”

  “We’re having ice-cream,” Lauren said as they whisked past.

  “There’s new butterscotch topping in the pantry,” Juliette called out.

  “We like chocolate,” Lexi yelled, the edge back in her voice.

  Juliette waited in the foyer to see if they’d say anything else. When they didn’t, she headed through the living room to the library. After calling Harry, she wanted to get to bed early. Or should she stay up until the girls went to sleep?

  With the phone in hand, she listened to the clamor coming from the kitchen. By tomorrow night, she might be alone for the summer. If that were the case, maybe she should go back to Houston like everyone else.

  Chapter Twelve

  What Lexi did, including visiting Lauren, hadn’t been her business. That was then. Now, Juliette was her guardian or something close to it.

  She scanned the faded, flamingo-pink beach house like a CIA agent. A notch above the scramble of small, weathered homes surrounding it, the place looked clean enough with no sign of drug-using teenagers lurking around.

  She pulled behind Mel’s SUV. The instant the car stopped, Lauren and Lexi hopped out of the backseat, slammed the doors, and bounded to the yard without looking back. The humid air quickly engulfed the car and ramped up her irritation. She tried to regain her composure as Lauren’s aunt swished down the outdoor staircase in a tangerine sundress with a four or five-year-old boy at her side.

  Mel’s tanned face creased with concern as she approached. “Thank you for bringing Lauren out. How are you coping being an instant mommy?”

  Juliette flushed in the heat. “Oh, that’s one way to put it.” First thing that morning, Mai phoned with news Connie allowed Lexi to stay in Galveston.

  “You were right about Lauren coming back. Nothing against your capabilities, of course. Her parents expect me to act on her behalf and with Lexi’s mom being away unexpectedly… Anyway, it gives us time with Lauren before she leaves.”

  “The girls had a good couple of weeks.” Juliette winked at the little boy who smiled shyly and twisted in Mel’s skirt. Juliette’s heart tugged at their special bond. “We better get going. Thanks for everything.”

  “Ah, really, thank you.” Mel adjusted the clip holding up her long hair. “So, what’s wrong with Connie exactly?”

  “I’m not sure.” What she knew about Connie’s divorce and her stay at Shady Acres seemed too personal to divulge.

  “Lauren! Lexi!” Mel’s voice boomed in the quiet setting. “I felt like something wasn’t right with that woman even if Lauren always enjoyed her visits to your home.”

  “Mmm.” Half the night, Juliette tossed in guilt with visions of Connie’s foul breath, unchanged clothes, and continuous isolation under the pretense of work. Or maybe she was working. Wasn’t it right to give the woman her space?

  Laughter cackled, and the upstairs door slammed shut. Lexi hung onto Lauren and her aunt in a drawn-out farewell, and finally got in the car. Juliette followed the winding road out of the subdivision while the kid crouched at her window like a hostage.

  After a few moments of awkward silence, she nudged the girl’s arm. “Hey, sure you still want to stay with an old fogy? Might get kind of dull, don’t you think?”

  “No.”

  The highway rose to the seawall, and the ocean came into view. Juliette stopped at a red light. Seagulls and pelicans fluttered across the shimmering gray water under a brilliant blue sky.

  “The light’s green.” Lexi’s low voice was etched with irritation.

  Juliette held back a response and sent up a prayer as she turned on 19th Street.

  I’m no mommy, God. Her heart laughed at the very idea. I’m not even a real guardian. I don’t even know this kid. She glanced at Lexi still plastered at the window.

  Oh, Lord, please. Just help us.

  ****

  The afternoon dragged on in low-gear, half from the heat and half from wondering how Lexi was faring without a friend or mother in the house. Judging from all the running back and forth between the laundry room and the stairs, she was cleaning.

  Right now, Juliette had her own problems or really just one, aptly named Summary of the Problem due to Dr. Cabot in almost two weeks. For a decade of education to wind down to a short assignment was enough to send her to Shady Acres with Connie.

  Ideas swirled in her head like a kaleidoscope, nonsense for the most part, and she added a question to the old spiral paper that had nothing to do with any other entry.

  What religious theme in the Italian Renaissance hasn’t been wrung inside-out?

  She had flashdrives, files, and boxes filled with every imaginable facet of Renaissance textiles. The dissertation would practically write itself with all the material she had. Only, maybe that’d been the wrong road, the wrong galaxy.

  Juliette sipped the iced tea watered down with melted ice. No one on the committee or her advisor would back her decision to change topics, not without a convincing argument and viable alternative. Her thoughts quickly spiraled to the other issues—
finances, her parents’ disappointment, the plans she and Harry had for the dissertation to be underway by the wedding in September.

  Some doctoral candidates got this far and didn’t finish. She never failed at anything significant, not school-wise. She closed down the computer and sat back. A question rose from her heart and lodged in her mind.

  Why change topics at this late date, anyway?

  Because she felt like it? Because it was the right thing given what she now knew?

  She shuffled to the kitchen to see about a simple dinner. Who could figure these things out?

  ****

  Late Tuesday morning, Mai called with a vague update about Connie. “Juliette, I still hope Lexi changes her mind in the next couple of days,” she added. “She’d be better off with us.”

  “I agree.” Juliette peeked in Lexi’s open door, but there was no sign of her. Great, she already lost track of the kid.

  “I don’t mean she’s not okay there, of course,” Mai said.

  Juliette scurried downstairs resisting the urge to call Lexi’s name. “I understand. Family, in all.”

  “Yes, could I talk to Lexi for a minute? I’ll call her cell phone next time and check in with you, too, occasionally if you don’t mind.”

  “Uh, sure. Hold on.” Juliette covered the receiver of the cordless phone and looped through the living room, library, and kitchen back to the dining room. Through the window, she caught a glimpse of Lexi racing across the lawn with the dog. She ran to the front door and yelled, “Lexi, phone call. It’s Mai.”

  Panting, the girl dropped to a porch chair. Juliette went on to the kitchen to fix some cereal for herself. After refusing a hamburger last night, Lexi made it clear she’d prepare her own meals.

  In a few minutes, she wandered in with the dog. “Mai said I should get permission to leave the house. So, is it okay to walk around the Strand today?”

  Juliette took her cereal to the table. “Sure. How long would you like to stay?”

  She shrugged. “Yes or no, Juliette?”

  Juliette dropped her spoon in the bowl, and the milk splattered. “Oh, no…” She bit back her aggravation. “You need to show respect at all times. Agreed?”