December Wishes (A Year in Paradise Book 12)

by Hildred Billings

  The kids filed in, including Sally pushing the stroller while Candace stood off to the side. The big guy in red offered a cheerful laugh to the superheroes climbing on him and the slightly older kid hovering nearby while trying to not smile. Tucker’s gonna be a hilarious teenager. I hope. Sally picked up Daisy from the stroller and kindly asked the man playing Santa to not touch a small bruise the baby had acquired when throwing a tantrum a couple of days ago.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” he said, bringing Daisy into his lap while Gage and Paige fought over the other knee. “Santa knows all about keeping the little ones complacent, if you know what I mean. Ho, ho, ho!”

  The elf taking pictures motioned for Sally to move out of the way. She joined Candace by the gate and held her breath.

  “ADMIT IT, OLD MAN!” Paige grabbed the white of Santa’s coat. “You’re a fraud!”

  Two elves lunged forward. Sally started screaming. Gage jumped in front of the camera and posed dramatically, as if he were about to kick some bad guy butt. Tucker scooted away and hid behind one of the giant present props.

  “I’ve got my Lasso of Truth, Santa! I’ll find out who you really are!”

  Candace slung her arm around Sally’s shoulders. “That Paige is sure gonna set fire to the world one day, huh?”

  Sally slumped against her wife. While everything fell apart in front of her and the parents in line behind her condemned her maternal skills, Sally allowed the helpless feeling of powerlessness completely consume her. Only then was she free. Even if she were only free from the loud, ear-piercing screams Daisy emitted as an elf returned her to Sally.

  “I really hope she doesn’t literally set fire to the world one day,” Sally said. Paige tore across the breadth of Santa’s Village, vowing vengeance against Jack Frost and Krampus. Gage made “whoosh!” sounds, lost in his own crime-fighting world. Tucker had completely disappeared and wouldn’t be seen again until it was time to leave.

  “We’ve got good kids,” Candace said.

  “We’ve got a zoo,” Sally corrected.

  She received a kiss to the forehead and a friendly shake of the shoulders. Well, this could have gone a lot worse. Paige could have come dressed as She-Hulk.

  Chapter 16

  MEADOW & HESPER

  It may not have been Christmas, but Hesper took what she could get.

  “Now hold up your stocking so we can see what you got!” Her camera was ready when son Kevin triumphantly held up a giant stocking filled with candy, toys, and lottery scratch-its. One of his prized gifts that fine Sunday morning was a stack of baseball cards Hesper found at the antique shop down the street. She had no idea what they were really worth, but the look on her son’s face when he unearthed them from his stocking was enough to make her smile.

  “Finally got those cookies ready,” came a voice from the kitchen. “Someone wanna come do a taste test?”

  “Me!” Kevin dumped his stocking on the living room floor and ran into the kitchen, where Meadow scooped cookies off the baking sheet and onto a festive plate. The red apron on her lithe frame had to be tied twice to keep it from falling off. After all, it was Hesper’s apron, and she was a little thicker around the middle than her drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend. “Me, me!”

  “All right. One fresh chocolate chip cooking coming right up.”

  Hesper cleaned up the spilled contents of the stocking before gently placing it on the couch for Kevin to sort through later. She pocketed her phone and followed the scent of freshly baked cookies into the kitchen. Kevin chomped through half a cookie before looking up at his mother with chocolate smeared on the corner of his mouth.

  “Good, huh?” Hesper asked.

  He nodded, one enthusiastic thumb up in the air.

  “Outdoing yourself, huh?” she then asked her girlfriend, who finished plating the cookies and dumped the sheet in the sink. Mixing bowls of leftover batter and spatulas covered in flour littered the small patch of available countertop in Hesper’s meager cottage kitchen.

  “Hey, it may have been a while since I baked some cookies…” Meadow brushed her dirty hands against the front of the red apron, “but I think the results speak for themselves.” She gestured to Kevin, who already went for a second cookie.

  “Okay, but that’s the last one, buddy. Save some room for dinner.” Hesper placed her hand on her son’s head before he took off with another cookie. The sugar spike was good enough that he did a cartwheel and almost slammed into the Christmas tree by the front window. “I think it’s safe to say that my son loves your baking.”

  A cookie appeared before Hesper’s face. “And you? What do you think of my baking?”

  This felt like a trap. Of course, Meadow made good cookies. Didn’t most people? Cookies weren’t rocket science. Although word on the street was the house-made cookies at Tea & Thyme were “the best in town.” Hesper hadn’t tried one yet. Like she hadn’t tried one of her girlfriend’s cookies yet.

  No time like the present…

  Meadow enjoyed the show while Hesper took one bite, then another. At first, all she tasted were the crispy burnt edges of that particular cookie, but as soon as she hit the center softness, her mouth was overwhelmed with sugar, eggs, milk, and flour – all mixed together and heated at 375 degrees, of course.

  “Wow.” Hesper waited until she swallowed before saying anything. “These are really good! What recipe is this? Is it your mom’s or something?”

  Meadow snorted. “I don’t think my mom baked cookies ever in her life. Nope. I had to turn to another old lady to get these cookies done.”

  Hesper cocked her head. When her eyes followed Meadow’s finger and lingered on the trashcan, she saw the words “Betty” and “Crocker.”

  “Yup. Betty helped me out today. What a great ol’ gal,” Meadow said.

  “That’s like… cheating.”

  “Well, it ain’t my taxes, so who are you gonna tell? You got a problem with my cookies made from a bag?”

  “Nope.” Like her son had, Hesper grabbed another cookie.

  Meadow removed the apron and draped it on the back of a chair. “Would you hate me if I left the dishes for a bit? I really need to go phone somebody and soothe my nerves about those flowers coming in for tonight’s Christmas tree lightning.” She glanced at the clock. “Shoot. My flowers, I mean wreaths, of course.”

  Meadow was always so adorable when she got flustered about flower stuff. Hesper still barely knew the difference between daisies and daffodils. She was especially hopeless with rhodies and azaleas, which had been a bane of her summer every time she went on a light hike with her girlfriend and saw both out in the wild.

  “No worries. How about I do the dishes for you? You took the time to make the cookies.”

  “You’d do that? Thanks.” Meadow left a kiss on Hesper’s cheek before grabbing her phone from the table and stepping into the back hallway to make her call. Hesper checked in on Kevin, currently rooting through the goodies in his stocking and inhaling his cookie through clenched teeth, before returning to the kitchen.

  Doing the dishes may not have been glamorous, but Hesper was in such a good mood that she didn’t mind getting her hands wet and gooey with leftover cookie batter and the water splashing into dirty pots and pans. The dishwasher quickly filled to the brim after their dinner last night. Hesper would need to run it before dinner that night, which shaped up to be a suitable pot roast with all the trimmings.

  This was her big holiday dinner, a whopping four days before Christmas. This is my time to spend with Kevin and give him the lead-up he deserves. The boy had such an eventful year, between hurting himself playing Little League and going to Disneyland for the first time that past August. When Katie called Hesper earlier that month and asked if she might like to have Kevin the weekend before Christmas, Hesper had been ecstatic. Then she found out that her ex and the new wife were off to a romantic ski trip at Timberline Lodge. Whatever. The fact she thought to ask Hesper first said enough.

  It’s b
een an eventful year for me as well. Her renewed relationship with her young son barely eclipsed the new relationship that started that same month. Since May, Hesper and Meadow had gradually grown more serious with their romance, not that either of them saw it coming from a mile away. All I did was help her with her taxes! Next thing I know, I have my first girlfriend since Katie. Hesper never anticipated such luck in 2019 when the year started, but now she looked back and realized she was one of the most fortunate women she knew.

  I have a new romance. I have my son wanting to come visit me. Kevin’s visit at such an opportune time meant piling him with a few presents and enjoying a nice holiday meal. Hesper was driving him back to Portland the next day. Then? Christmas Meadow’s way.

  Which meant picking up her mother at the airport on Tuesday. It would be Hesper’s first official meeting with Ms. Hobfield, but they had spoken over the phone before. What Meadow’s mother thought of the new woman, however, was still unknown. Not even Meadow had a good handle on what her mother thought, but she had said, “She’s still coming to stay in your house for Christmas, so that says a lot already.” Right. Hesper really needed to clean up that guest room after Kevin vacated it. There was only one, and God knew how an eight-year-old would trash the place when he was done playing with new toys.

  “Are you kidding me?” came a voice from down the hall. “I need those wreaths tonight, Dee! That’s when the tree lighting is happening, and the mayor expects to see fresh wreaths on the lamp posts!”

  Hesper finished up the dishes and found Kevin in the living room.

  “Can I play my new game, Mom?” he asked.

  Every time he called her that, Hesper’s heart swelled. “Of course. I wouldn’t let you unwrap your presents if you couldn’t play with them. Make sure you’re ready to go around six. Meadow’s worked really hard. We should go support her.”

  “Dee! I swear to God! If I don’t have those wreaths….”

  Kevin looked down the hall. “Being a flower lady is really stressful, huh?”

  “Apparently. I had no idea how stressful until this year.” Hesper sat next to him on the couch. “Now, tell me about this game you wanted so much. Who knew they were still making Pokémon games. Did you know that your mom was only a little older than you when they…”

  Kevin dug through his bag and pulled out his red and blue Switch. “Yeah! It’s been around forever!”

  “I don’t know if I would say that…”

  By the time the game fired up on the screen, Meadow returned to the living room, phone down by her side. “If I don’t have those wreaths tonight….” she began.

  “I’m sure it will be fine.” Hesper looked between her girlfriend’s falling face and the flashing video game graphics on Kevin’s screen. “Has she ever not come through for you?”

  “No. But this is Christmastime. She’s more inundated than I am.”

  Hesper got up from the couch and placed both hands on Meadow’s shoulders. “It’s gonna be fine. For God’s sake, we’ve got Betty Crocker in the kitchen! This day is already saved!”

  “You’re really weird when you’re happy, you know that?”

  “What can I say? Christmastime is here, and I’m full of good, holiday cheer!”

  “Now you’re creeping me out.”

  Hesper took her girlfriend’s phone. “Would it help if I called her for you and explained how detrimental this would be to both of your guys’ taxes if…”

  “For the love of God, Hes! Don’t send her screaming down the street! I need her focusing on those wreaths!”

  “Kidding, of course.”

  Meadow sighed. “I know. I swear this is the last stressful thing I have to do before my mom gets…” Her eyes widened. “I totally forgot my mom is coming Tuesday.”

  Hesper shook her head. “Let’s go eat some cookies, hon. Those wreaths will get to town when they get here.”

  “I’ve gotta be down at the city hall in three hours!”

  “Which gives you at least two hours to eat cookies!”

  Really, somebody should give Hesper an award for her flawless logic and reasoning skills. Now, if only she could convince Meadow that everything really would be fine.

  Perhaps a kiss would do it? Or would that get an “Ewww!” out of Kevin again?

  Well! Only one way to find out!

  Chapter 17

  SKYLAR

  Turn out to the lighting ceremony was much bigger than Skylar anticipated. This is how I’m spending the rare Sunday night off, huh? The schedule at Paradise Pizza was all over the place the week before Christmas. Normally, Skylar worked evenings all weekend, but that day she had swapped with Carrie and taken the morning and early afternoon shift. While that freed up Skylar’s evening, the first thing she heard when she walked through the Marcotts’ door was, “So, we going to that Christmas tree thing tonight?”

  That request came from Mik, who claimed Ariana insisted they go, no matter what. That “no matter what” still meant Abby couldn’t go, since nobody wanted to risk her wheelchair going down the slushy sidewalks toward City Hall. Ask me what it was like getting to work this morning. Although it hadn’t snowed that much the night before, enough of it stuck into the wee hours of the morning and turned into slippery slush as soon as the sun rose.

  So here they were, standing in a patch of grass – mud? Slush? – to the left of City Hall. The big evergreen tree that few noticed throughout the year was now bedecked in unlit strings of lights. Meadow hurried down a ladder after putting up the last wreath on a neighboring lamp post. The district’s school children amassed on crates and followed their teacher’s conductions. To the sounds of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” townspeople filtered in from their nearby houses and from the vehicles they parallel parked down the street. The whole city council and most of the local businesses were in attendance, which surprised Skylar. Is this really the only thing to do around here? It’s so freakin’ cold! She’d much rather be back in the house, enjoying the heat, blankets, and warm dinners.

  “Where is Ari?” Mik asked. “My ears are freezing. Why didn’t I wear a hat like you?”

  “Because you’ve got that weird Oregonian pride.” Skylar saw plenty of it in the audience right now. People complained about the cold and the sprinkle hitting their heads, but they all refused to wear hats or use umbrellas. Even in Portland, where people were slightly more reasonable about the weather, Skylar couldn’t understand it. Almost like people wanted something to complain about. Did they think that drowning like rats and getting frostbite made them tougher?

  “Why would she ask me to meet her here if she didn’t plan on showing?”

  Skylar sighed. “No idea, Mik.”

  People parted to admit the illustrious mayor of Paradise Valley, a forty-something Californian who somehow beat the odds and was accepted in this small Oregonian town. Not bitter at all! As a fellow native Californian, Skylar couldn’t help but feel a little bitter. After all, she heard jokes, from how Californians “ruined everything” to how they “drove like idiots.”

  Mayor Karen Rath approached the podium beside the tree. While they figured out what was wrong with her mic, someone glided past Skylar and Mik, offering cups of hot tea.

  “You gals look like you could use some heating up!” Elaine Hadley handed a steaming paper cup to Skylar. “Don’t worry. It’s caffeine free. Nice and warm.”

  She was followed by Frankie Delacour, the owner of the deli. Guess they’re friends or something. Skylar couldn’t keep up with the drama. She did, however, understand how weird it was that Heaven of Heaven’s Café and her girlfriend followed up with cups of decaf coffee.

  “Y’all know you want coffee,” Heaven said through a frozen smile. “Enjoy the tree lighting with something hot to drink!”

  “Tea! Get your tea here!”

  They both wandered away. Skylar had no idea what she held until she brought the scent of strawberry rooibos up to her nose. Well. Better than decaf coffee.

  �
��Ladies and gentlemen!” the mayor bellowed, the feedback from her mic nearly drowning her out. Great. Now they had ambient music to compete with the caterwauling from the kids. “Just a second! Sorry!” Her unamplified voice was much harder to understand, especially with the commotion erupting behind Skylar.

  “Stop pulling your sister’s hair!” Sally Greenhill chased down her son, a spry kindergartener who hadn’t taken off that Marvel costume since, what, Halloween? Every time he followed a parent into the pizzeria, he was dressed as Captain America. I definitely wouldn’t have the patience for that. Skylar held her hot tea close to her chest as a little girl bumped into her and screamed that the ground was lava. “Paige! Gage! Please stay with me!”

  Apparently, the kids had seen their friends among the choir, and insisted on saying hello.

  “If someone splits their skull open,” a voice behind Skylar said. “I’m not stitching it back up.” She slightly turned her head and caught sight of Dr. Meyer nursing one of the hot coffees, her cute wife right beside her. At least they tip well, I guess. Skylar scooted over a bit to give Dr. Meyer and her wife room to squeeze in. “Those kids are wilder than a biker gang.”

  “Doesn’t it make you want to have five?” Sunny asked.

  “Makes me want to get my tubes tied. Thank God menopause is coming like a truck.”

  As if to offset the doctor’s comment, Lorri Abrams rolled her pregnant partner into the group of people who were kind enough to make room for her. Joan insisted on standing as soon as the brakes were put on her wheelchair. Soon, she was flanked by their friends, which may or may not have included that celebrity who did her best to not cause a scene. Guess she doesn’t know that wearing a surgery mask and throwing a hood over her head only makes her more suspicious around here. Skylar sipped her tea. The strawberry flavor was a little… strong.

  “Seriously, where’s Ari?” Mik asked.