by Jenna Mindel
“All clear. Sorry, I should have used your other room.”
Simon held up the baby book. “Have you read anything like this?”
Cat looked uncomfortable. “No. I’d read the book before it, though—the pregnancy one—while I was expecting.”
“Perhaps you should. Perhaps you shouldn’t switch to a bottle just yet.”
“I have to before I return to work and you leave. You said so yourself, once you’re gone and I’m covering the store, I can’t have Opal there with me. She’ll need to be used to a bottle if she’s going to stay home with my mom.” Cat looked cross, as if he had no business telling her what to do.
He didn’t, and for some reason that got under his skin, as well. “I’d like to be part of the decisions that affect her. That’s all I’m saying.”
Cat’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not your body that reacts every time she cries.”
He’d overstepped, way overstepped. Simon spread his hands wide. “I apologize. I simply want what’s best for her.”
Cat stood and shifted Opal to her shoulder. She softly patted the baby’s back. “Do you? You’re leaving in a month with no indication when you’re coming back.”
He winced at that truth but rallied. “You never told me about Opal, so what difference does it make if I’m here or not? At least at this stage.”
Cat opened her mouth as if to say something, but didn’t. She let out her breath in a whoosh. “Maybe I’d better go.”
“Why?”
They stood glaring at each other and he wondered where this sudden anger came from.
Opal burped and it was loud.
It cut the tension and Simon couldn’t help but smile.
Cat sort of smiled too and bundled up Opal into the car seat. “You know what? We can do this another time.”
“Fine,” Simon agreed.
It was no use arguing, not when he wasn’t sure what they truly argued over. Was it his leaving or caring what happens to Opal? Perhaps it was a mix of both that bothered Cat.
Cat bundled up the baby before she grabbed her coat and the diaper bag, and then headed back for the car seat.
“I’ll take her to the car. Your hands are full.”
Cat nodded. “Thank you.”
He scooped up his daughter, looking cute in a pink fleece hat with matching booties and mittens, along with the fleece blanket, and followed Cat out the door. It had stopped snowing, so at least he didn’t have to worry about her driving in it.
Sliding the car seat into place, he ran his finger down the baby’s cheek. Then he glanced at Cat. “Drive carefully.”
She rolled her eyes and started the engine.
He backed away and shut the car door, watching her pull away faster than he thought was necessary. Leaving might be stickier than he’d imagined.
* * *
The next day, Simon debated whether to call Cat and apologize. Perhaps he’d said things he had no right to say. And yet he didn’t call, because while he was sorry he’d overstepped, he couldn’t claim he’d never do it again. He still wanted to be included when it came to Opal. As a Christian man, it was the right thing to do. Another right thing to do was hire Cat to manage his shop and leave it open for now.
First thing this morning, he’d contacted both landlords to let them know he’d see his full year’s lease through to the end of May. They’d been relieved that he’d changed his mind about severing the leases early. Simon still planned to leave in January, but he’d be back after finishing his assignment at the very least to figure out the next step for his business.
The door jingled and Zach Zelinsky entered, looking like a storm cloud. He gave Simon a nod. “You busy?”
Simon narrowed his gaze. “Not at the moment.”
Zach shifted his stance. “Look, I might have overreacted at church, but Cat’s my sister.”
“I understand.” Simon nearly chuckled at the apology, grudgingly given.
“So what are you going to do about it? Cat and the baby.”
Simon bit back the desire to tell Zach that it was none of his business. He appreciated Zach’s protective big-brother role. He appreciated that the Zelinskys were a tight family, a good family, but whatever happened between him and Cat was private.
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” Simon finally said.
“Cat hasn’t had it easy.” Zach looked at his feet.
Had Cat been in bad relationships before or was he alluding to having Opal? “She’s a strong woman.”
Zach looked at him hard. “You have no idea. I’m here for two reasons. First, Ginger wanted me to invite you to our place later tonight, after the tree-lighting ceremony, for a family get-together.”
Simon tried to read between those lines and came up empty. Obviously, Cat’s family was reaching out to him because of Opal. Perhaps it really was as simple as that. “Tree lighting?”
“It’s been a town tradition for as long as I can remember. The first Saturday night after Thanksgiving, Maple Springs ushers in the Christmas season with a community tree lighting.”
Simon nodded. “And the second?”
Zach gave him a bit of a sheepish grin. “What do you have in rubies?”
Simon raised his eyebrows. “For Ginger?”
“Yeah. For Christmas. She’s been talking about your stuff since you opened. I might be thickheaded, but sooner or later even I can take a hint.”
Simon chuckled as he opened the case and withdrew several ruby pendants set in white gold, along with bracelets and earrings. “I can design a different setting if you don’t find something you like here.”
“I wouldn’t begin to know what to ask for.” Zach looked over the merchandise, checking prices, and then he stopped. “That one.”
Simon pointed at a necklace with a square cut ruby that was set in white gold that wrapped over the front of the stone like an embrace. He’d mused it was a lover’s piece when he’d designed it. “The price on this one—”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s Ginger, all right. I’ll take the earrings to match.”
It was middling priced, but Simon discounted it when he rang it up. “There you go.”
Zach zeroed in on the receipt and shook his head. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it. See you later, then?”
Simon wasn’t exactly glad to go, but he needed to smooth things over with Cat. They hadn’t parted well last night. “Yes. I’ll be there.”
“Good.”
Simon watched Zach leave, but his words about Cat replayed through his mind. According to Zach, she’d had a rough time of it and he had no idea about Cat’s strength. Was it simply a matter of speech or was there something else concerning Opal that Cat hadn’t told him?
Perhaps tonight he’d find out.
* * *
Cat slipped into a coat borrowed from her mom. She was the only one who’d ridden to Zach’s with her parents, since his place was a short walk to Center Park and the tree lighting. Her brothers and sisters would meet them in town. It had been years since she’d last attended a Maple Springs Christmas tree lighting and part of her looked forward to it. The other part didn’t.
Coming home to stay, she’d known that she’d run into people she’d grown up with. People who knew her past. People who remembered Muriel Jensen’s drowning. Nearly every day for the past fifteen years, Cat woke up remembering the face of that three-year-old girl. Every day she practiced the coping lessons she’d learned in counseling, but her guilt didn’t always stay packed away.
Tonight she’d draw on those lessons even more. Running into Simon had distracted her from a lot of that anxiety, but tonight those concerns took front and center. People who knew her and her past would be at the tree lighting.
“Ready?” Her mom squeezed her arm before caressing Opal’s cheek.
Opal was snuggled into a stretchy wrap against Cat’s chest. Her mom’s old down coat was roomy enough for Cat to fasten over the bulge the baby made in front. She’d win no prizes for style, but Opal would stay warm.
“What if I see people who know?” Cat couldn’t keep the tremor out of her voice.
Her mom gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’ll be okay, Cat. A lot of years have passed.”
“People don’t forget.”
“No, but they forgive.”
Cat chewed her lip. It had to be done. If only she shared her mother’s confidence, but really, what person forgives the unforgivable? She secured a supersoft fleece hat on Opal’s head.
The baby gurgled and smiled. She didn’t mind the soft ties under her chin or the matching fleece mittens that went with the fleece romper Cat had put on her. According to Cat’s mom, Opal was a very good baby. A blessing.
Cat took a deep breath.
“She’s so cute,” Cat’s mom said.
“She is, but I look like the Marshmallow Man.” Cat pulled her own hat down over her ears and then looped her camera over her shoulder. If managing Simon’s store didn’t work out, she’d try freelance writing and photography work for domestic travel magazines or whatever else she could find. This could make a nice piece.
Her mother caressed Cat’s cheek. “You look wonderful.”
“You’re a bad liar, Mom.” Cat followed her mother outside.
Her mother froze, looking far too serious. “I don’t lie.”
“I was only teasing.” Cat had never known her mom to tell a falsehood, other than when she’d comforted Cat after the drowning, telling her it’d be all right.
It had never been all right. Tonight the sting felt fresh again, like an old splinter that rose to the surface of her flesh only to snag on everything she touched.
Once outside, big snowflakes silently fell from a windless sky. The air felt mild and not too cold to be outside. Perfect for Opal’s first tree lighting. Perfect for taking pictures of a quaint resort town that knew how to celebrate the holidays.
Despite the sound of distant laughter, there was also a slight hush covering the town as if in anticipation for what was yet to come. This was nothing like the hustle and bustle of the big tree lighting in New York’s Rockefeller Center. Maple Springs treated this night with more reverence as the official opening of the Christmas season.
“Come on, dawdlers.” Her brother Cam walked ahead of them with his wife, Rose.
“You go on.” Her mother waved him away.
Cat savored this short walk with some of her family. She gawked at the white Christmas lights swirled on every tree that lined Main Street and stopped to snap a few photos. The storefronts were decorated with more lights and some had little Christmas trees out front with candy canes and golden apples. Classic evergreen wreaths with big red velvet bows hung from nearly every door.
She glanced at Simon’s jewelry shop window, bare but for the glittering of gemstones. The store was dark beyond the window display lights. Was he at home, alone?
Cat should have called and apologized for leaving the previous night the way she did. She’d been miffed at him trying to tell her how to parent her child, using some book he’d purchased as the source of sage advice. Her mom was her go-to for information. Having raised ten kids, her mom knew far more than any developmental book.
“Hello, Catherine Zelinsky.” Simon’s deep purr of a voice sounded next to her.
She stopped walking and faced him. “Where did you come from?”
He didn’t answer. Simon peered into the front of her coat. “Is that Opal in there?”
The baby jerked her head toward his voice.
Simon looked surprised and maybe even a little moved as he rubbed the baby’s cheek. “She knows me. Do you have her tied up in a scarf?”
“No, it’s a wrap-styled baby carrier. Good for infants. She’ll stay warmer this way.” A gift from a coworker, and Cat was glad she’d finally used it after figuring out how to tie the thing.
“Good idea.” Simon didn’t look away from her. “Cat, I’m sorry about last night.”
She smiled. “Yeah, me too.”
He smiled back.
She looked away, toward his shop. “You need to decorate your storefront. The Winter Shoppers’ Walk is a week away, next Saturday night.”
“I’m not into that sort of thing.”
“I am.”
He gave her a half smile. “Very well, your first duty as shop manager.”
Cat tamped down the sudden tipsy sensation that soared through her. “So, you’re not closing?”
“No. Not yet. I’ll see it through to the end of my lease in May. It makes sense, since I can’t possibly sell everything in so short a time.”
“So, are you still leaving?”
Simon’s gaze remained steady. “In January, yes, until I can finish the job I’ve already contracted to do. I’ll be able to pick up some more inventory at the same time. By keeping the store open, I’ll need more gemstones, and going for them myself cuts out the middleman.”
Cat didn’t like the disappointment that simple statement caused. It wasn’t as if she expected him to stay by her side all the time. It wasn’t as if there was a relationship between them. They were two people who’d made an error in judgment because of crazy circumstances that resulted in a baby. Now she’d be his employee. That didn’t quite feel right either.
“Come on, or we’ll miss the lighting of the tree.” Cat wasn’t sure what she wanted.
He stalled her with a touch to her arm. “I’m going to Zach’s after. That’s not a problem for you, is it?”
“No, of course not. Just because we disagreed, doesn’t mean I’m mad at you. We’ll probably disagree a lot.”
“I suppose we will.” He gave her a teasing grin.
She ignored the sense that maybe he’d look forward to that. Or was it making up after? Cat tamped down the butterflies that line of thought aroused. She tucked her arm in his as they crossed the street. “Come on, let’s go.”
So far, she hadn’t run into anyone she knew and that was fine by her. They joined the rest of her family gathered around the gigantic pine tree. It was tough to recognize people bundled in hats and heavy coats.
Simon didn’t fit the typical Maple Springs merchant wearing his tailored dark tweed peacoat. No one wore those around here. He didn’t wear a hat either, but a knitted scarf wrapped around his neck. Another fashionable look that screamed not from around here.
He caught her staring, so she looked away as the chamber of commerce president awkwardly tapped the microphone, causing it to squeal.
The crowd groaned. A few people even hollered out jeers.
The president gestured to whomever was handling the sound in a rather condescending manner and Cat couldn’t believe this was the guy who had captured Monica’s interest. Surely it was a passing thing.
“Good evening, and thank you for joining us for the Maple Springs annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony...”
Caught up in the festive atmosphere, Cat cheered right along with the rest of the crowd. It earned her a shocked glance from Simon and a grimace from Opal.
The baby puckered up, ready to cry.
“Hush, baby. Shhh.” Cat gently bounced her and she quieted. “This is fun, don’t you think?”
“It is rather fun.” Simon gave her a smile that warmed all the way down to her toes.
The chamber president continued, “My assistant, Monica, will get us started on a couple of songs before we count down to lighting the tree.”
“Hey, that’s your sister.” Simon nodded.
“Yes.” She joined in when Monica began to sing “Jingle Bells.”
“Your family is into everything here.”
“For as long as I can remember.” Cat res
umed singing.
Her father’s side of the family had lived in this town for generations. Zelinskys had always attended the largest church in Maple Springs with deep ties to the community. Her brothers might attend elsewhere, but her parents still went and often volunteered for church functions and fund-raisers that benefited everyone, not only the parish.
Cat looked over the crowd singing their hearts out as they moved on to another carol.
“We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas...” they sang in unison.
Cat soaked it in. She’d always loved Christmastime. It was the only time of year when she’d sometimes forget the past. From the hustle of holiday shopping to Christmas movies and decorating a tree, Cat greedily immersed herself in the season.
Looking around, she noted that the people here were business owners, teachers and workers—year-round residents who made up the backbone of Maple Springs. The ones who made this town attractive to summer people and tourists. The beauty of Maple Bay had a lot to do with it too, but there was warmth here and something harder to name.
She quickly snapped a couple of photos, hoping to capture the essence of this moment. Maple Springs was a place where people weren’t afraid to sing real Christmas carols. All things she’d point out in her article.
This was why she’d come home. She wanted Opal raised in this warmth, and she hoped it would rewrap around her, as well. Her mother said people forgave in time. Could that be possible? Could she ever truly forgive herself?
“You stopped singing.” Simon moved closer to her. “Everything okay?”
She searched for something to say and blurted, “This is way different compared to the lighting at Rockefeller Center.”
“Smaller tree,” Simon teased.
Cat laughed. “Not just that, but there’s a warmth here, don’t you think? Did you go to this sort of thing in London or New York?”
“If I wasn’t scouting out gemstones somewhere, I was working late to fill custom orders, so no. December was the store’s busiest time of year in both locations.”
“Right. Lots of people buy jewelry for Christmas.” She thought about the lady she’d helped purchase a bracelet. If left to his own devices, Simon might have lost that sale. No wonder he’d wanted to close up shop. He wasn’t a retailer.