A sudden idea popped into Annie’s mind and she scrambled to her feet. Upstairs from a small keepsake box on her dresser, she plucked out the note that had been attached to Noelle’s sweatshirt. She compared the handwriting, confirming there was nothing in the first note that looked remotely like the writing in the other one.
Only one possibility remained.
You know who brought these gifts, Annie, she thought. You saw him hurrying away.
“Wouldn’t everyone in town be astonished to know that Stony Point’s Santa is not the jolly old St. Nick they all would expect him to be?” she whispered.
She carefully refolded the note and put it back with her other keepsakes. She carried the note from Santa downstairs with her.
Annie carefully gathered all the gifts and carried them into the living room. She looked at every item, noting its quality, its brand-spanking newness. These things were not inexpensive. In fact, it seemed no expense had been spared to provide warmth and happiness for that little girl upstairs.
She knew where the gifts came from; in fact, how could she deny what her own eyes had seen? But the logical part of her brain simply could not grasp the fact that a crotchety old recluse who dressed in virtual rags and lived in a falling-down shack was remotely interested in Christmas, giving gifts, or helping anyone in need. Why on earth had that old man decided to be Stony Point’s Santa? And how was it that he had the means to be so generous?
“It does not compute,” she muttered in a robotic monotone, rubbing her temples.
She reached for the telephone, but then she paused. Her first instinct had been to call LeeAnn and see what she might have to say. But on second thought, LeeAnn would want to know more about Noelle, and doubtless she would attempt to persuade Annie to turn the child over to Child Protective Services. A disagreement between them would probably erupt, and Annie refused to have a falling out with her daughter, particularly this close to Christmas.
Instead of calling LeeAnn, she dialed the number for the carriage house. It rang so many times, Annie was on the verge of hanging up when Alice finally answered.
“Hello?” Her friend’s voice was breathless, and she sounded distracted.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Oh, Annie! God bless you! No, you called at the right time, because I was going to call you in just a minute if I could not get my furnace to light.”
“Your furnace is out?”
“Yes. It went out about an hour ago, and I’ve been trying like mad to start it again. Honestly, I’m at my wit’s end and freezing to death! What do I know about furnaces?”
“Have you called anyone?”
“Have I? Yes! But everyone I’ve called is out on calls elsewhere. Stony Point doesn’t have a plethora of furnace repairmen, though apparently we should!”
“You know you’re more than welcome to stay with me,” Annie said with considerable warmth. Right then, with her most recent discovery, she couldn’t wait to share the news and her speculations with Alice.
There was the smallest silence; then Alice sniffled and said, “Thank you. I would love to stay in Grey Gables with you. Oh, Annie, you’re going to get sick of me.”
“What a thing to say to your best friend. Pack a bag and come over.”
“Maybe I should just leave an entire supply of necessities at Grey Gables since it looks like I’ll be staying there so much.”
Annie laughed. “That’s fine. Stay as long as you want. Oh, and when you get here, I have something to show you!”
A few minutes later, when she opened the door to let her friend inside, Annie discovered more than Alice waiting for admittance. Ian Butler stood next to Alice, a big smile on his face.
“Ian!” Annie said, at once happy and dismayed to see him. “What a surprise!”
“We met coming up the steps,” Alice said with false brightness. Her eyes signaled alarm as she stomped snow from her boots and leggings. Annie swallowed down her own urge to panic. She had neglected to consider unexpected visitors while Noelle was in the house, and turning Ian away from her door … how could she justify that?
“Hi, Annie.” He held up a large flat box. “I brought pizza from Sal’s Pizzeria. I know it’s your favorite pizza place in town. Hope you like it deluxe, because I had him make it that way.”
In spite of Ian’s untimely arrival, Annie could not deny the pizza he carried had a most enticing aroma of garlic, warm cheese, spicy meat, and tomatoes.
“How nice. My goodness. How nice of you to drop in, Ian,” Annie said, sputtering and stammering a little. “And to bring pizza. It’s been a while since I’ve had any food—er, I mean, pizza.”
Ian flashed a look back and forth between the two women, and then he lifted one eyebrow.
“What’s up, ladies?” he asked. “You both look like you’ve been caught sneaking cookies.”
Annie and Alice looked at each other, trying to communicate without speaking. How were they going to keep secret the presence of a little girl? Houses seemed to change somehow when children were there. Maybe, Annie thought, Noelle will sleep, and Ian will never know she’s here until the time is right.
But she knew that, at some point, Ian would find out about the girl. How would he feel if he learned Annie kept her a secret from him? Would he feel betrayed? Angry? After all, the two of them were almost an item. Almost, she underscored in her mind.
“Come in, come in!” she said with more buoyancy than intended.
She and Alice exchanged another “What’ll we do?” glance as Alice crossed the threshold.
“Let’s go to the kitchen,” Annie said as she shut the door behind them. “I’m sure the pizza has cooled off in that cold air. I’ll just put it in the oven to warm. Here, let me take your coats.”
Ian handed Annie the pizza box as he peeled off his black wool overcoat and then exchanged the coat for the pizza. He had a slight frown.
“I still think something is going on here,” he said.
Alice handed Annie her coat and giggled. It lacked the genuineness of her usual happy laugh. She took Ian’s arm and said, “Let’s go put this pizza in the oven and make something hot to drink while Annie hangs up our coats. I’m freezing, aren’t you?” She kept chattering nervously as she escorted him to the kitchen. “You know, Ian, since my furnace isn’t working, I left my water dripping and the cabinet doors under the sink in the kitchen and bathroom open, and space heaters on facing them. Do you think that will keep my water pipes from freezing? All I need is a burst pipe!”
Annie stood where she was for a moment, holding their wraps and thinking. Thank goodness, Alice could think fast and brought up a new topic to distract Ian from speculating about secrets and suspicious behaviors. But she wondered if maybe she should tell him about Noelle. As much as she liked and respected him, did she trust him to keep her secret? Would he understand her commitment to the child, or would he think she should hand Noelle over to authorities? Would he pressure her to let go?
There was no real answer, of course, because there was no way of knowing what the man would do until he was faced with the situation. If it were up to Annie, she wouldn’t have to face the situation either, but it had happened, and she was doing what she felt was the right thing.
Annie glanced up the darkened staircase. Noelle had been traumatized earlier when Annie ran out onto the porch. It was obvious the child was afraid she would be abandoned again. When Annie had calmed her and she finally slept, the sleep had been deep and hard-won. More than likely, she would not wake up until morning.
Annie hung Ian and Alice’s coats in the hall closet. A single glance at the pile of clothes and toys on the living room sofa would tell anyone they were for a small child, and that would raise questions.
I’ll just keep Ian in the kitchen until he decides to go home, she thought as she turned off the light in the living room.
When she entered the kitchen, the metal of the cold oven popped as the heating element warmed it up. Ian had arrang
ed the pizza on a round pizza pan, and Alice was adding some spices to a potful of apple cider. The cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices in the cider released a fragrance into the air that warmed body and soul.
Ian glanced up.
“How are things, Annie?” he asked. Did his eyes probe hers with that direct gaze, or was he just being his usual friendly self?
“Fine, Ian,” she said. “Wonderful, if fact. Isn’t the snow lovely in the moonlight?”
He nodded and smiled. “It is. And there’s more where that came from. You know, we Mainers like our snow a little on the heavy and frequent side; otherwise, it just doesn’t seem like winter.”
“I’m sure that’s true enough.” She glanced at Alice who seemed intent on stirring the mulled cider. “That smells so good, Alice.”
“When I mixed these spices and gave you this bottle of them a couple of weeks ago,” Alice said, shaking it significantly toward Annie, “I was hoping you’d make use of it.”
“I have! Look, you can tell I have.”
Alice held up the decorative shaker bottle and eyed the level of the rusty-color contents.
“Hmm. Maybe a few sprinkles.”
Annie made a face and turned to Ian.
“Honestly, have you ever seen such a pushy friend in all your life?” she asked him.
He laughed, shooting a look at Alice and the shaker she still held.
“If you want to push any food stuffs toward me, Alice, push away. Annie, you don’t know a good thing when it lives next door to you!”
“Well said!” Alice said with a grin. “Y’see? Ian appreciates me.”
Annie burst out laughing. It felt so good to have friends in her kitchen. The yuletide smell of spiced cider in the air, the warmth of the oven coming forth as Ian opened the door to set the pizza inside—all of it wrapped around her like a comfortable blanket.
“Y’all have a seat at the table, and I’ll get plates and cups. And napkins. We mustn’t have pizza without napkins!” She got a box of paper dinner napkins from the pantry. “Shall I put out forks too?”
“No!” Ian and Alice said in unison.
“What’s the fun in eating pizza if you use a fork?” Ian said.
“That’s right!” Alice nodded her head vigorously.
“All right,” Annie said with a laugh, setting plates and napkins on the table. “But definitely napkins.”
“I never need a napkin, dahling,” Alice announced, waving one hand with the exaggerated gesture of a prima donna. “I never spill.”
“Neither do I,” Ian agreed with equal drama.
“I’m absolutely perfect,” she said. “Aren’t you, Ian?”
“Indubitably,” he replied with a bad British accent.
Annie gave them a look of mock scorn.
“Of course you are. Both of you.” She sat down and cleared her throat with the prissiness she’d learned from one of her high school English teachers. “Now back to the real world. It’s hard to believe Christmas is just a couple of weeks away, isn’t it? My, hasn’t the year gone fast?”
“The older you get, the faster it goes,” Ian agreed.
“And when you keep busy,” Alice added, “it just flies.”
“So, Annie,” Ian said, his head tilted slightly to the side, “without your family coming to Stony Point, have you decided what you’re going to do on Christmas Day?”
“Why, I’ll stay right here with—” She broke off abruptly realizing she’d been about to say she would stay right there with Noelle. “—with Alice, of course!”
Alice gave her a wide-eyed look, and then turned a bright smile to Ian, “Of course! We’re going to have Christmas right here in Grey Gables.”
Ian shifted his gaze from face to face a few times.
“I see.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the trio until Annie said, “Alice, I think the cider is probably ready to pour, isn’t it?”
“Oh! Yes! I’m sure! Let me just pour some for everyone …” Alice nearly knocked her chair over in her hurry to stand.
Annie glanced at Ian. She had a strong inkling that he had planned to ask her to spend Christmas Day with him. The very notion filled her with anxiety, because she never liked deceit and secretive behavior. And yet … a look at his bewildered, almost hurt expression struck her heart.
He was probably waiting for an invitation from her to come to Grey Gables.
“Let me check that pizza,” she said, too loudly and with too much enthusiasm.
“Annie. Alice.” Ian’s eyes were narrowed. “What is going on here?”
Annie opened the oven door. Fragrant heat puffed outward, onto her face, then filled the kitchen. With great deliberation, Annie pulled on an over mitt and removed the pizza.
“Ummm,” she said, “this looks and smells wonderful, Ian. Thank you so much for stopping by on such a cold night.”
“Annie?” he said with an odd tone in his voice. She busied herself by carefully removing a large dripping with cheese and laying it gingerly on his plate.
“Annie,” Alice echoed, only her voice carried something different.
Annie raised her head and saw that both their attention was directed to the kitchen doorway.
“Hungry!” piped a small voice. In her yellow nightie and white socks, teddy bear under one arm, Noelle padded into the room. Her pale eyes scanned the scene for food and brightened as she saw the pizza.
Ian was looking at the girl as if he’d never seen a child before.
14
“Noelle!” Annie got to her feet and rushed to the girl. “Honey, why are you out of bed? Oh, you’re little feet are going to freeze on this cold floor!”
She swept the child up and carried her into the kitchen, rubbing the chilly feet with one hand. Noelle giggled sleepily and wriggled her toes, and then she pointed to the pizza.
“Hungry!”
Annie kissed one cheek. “You’re always hungry. Here, Alice, cuddle her up so she doesn’t get cold.” She deposited Noelle on Alice’s lap. “I’ll get an afghan and then some pizza.”
“I can do that,” Ian volunteered. He picked up a plate and selected a small slice.
Annie hurried into the living room, returning a few moments later with a soft rose-pink afghan. Annie and Alice watched Ian cut a slice into child-sized bites, exchanging glances. Annie busied herself with tucking the cover around Noelle’s thin body.
“I’ll pour her a glass of milk,” Annie said. “In fact, I’ll warm it up for her. Maybe it will help her sleep.”
“I’ve heard warm milk is good for that,” Alice said, still watching Ian cut up the food.
When he finished, he pushed the plate toward Noelle and smiled at her. She pressed back against Alice, her eyes large and serious, and her gaze fixed steadily on Ian. Her thumb found its way into her mouth. She ignored the food on her plate to watch him.
“Hi there,” he said, reaching out to touch her hand. She shrank back, and Ian moved his hand. “I’m sorry. I think I frightened her.”
Annie heated a cup of milk in small pan and gave him a gentle smile.
“It’s not you, Ian. There must be another reason she reacted to you this way.”
Alice reached over and patted his forearm reassuringly.
“We’ve no idea what her background is. Maybe someone who resembled you has hurt her, or maybe she is just scared of men.”
He dragged his eyes from the child and looked at Alice.
“What do you mean?”
“Well … um, that is …” She glanced at Annie.
“We don’t know who Noelle is,” Annie blurted out, knowing circumstances now dictated how she handled this situation with Ian.
A strange expression settled on his face.
“I beg your pardon?”
Noelle wriggled, and Annie poured the milk. She took the girl from Alice and sat down at the table. She pulled Noelle’s plate toward them. The girl looked at the pizza, but didn’t reach for it. Annie plucked up a piece
and handed it to her.
“I found her,” she told Ian.
Both his eyebrows went up.
“Say that again, Annie.”
She squared her shoulders and cleared her throat.
“I said, I found her—here at Grey Gables.” Then she told him the entire story, leaving out nothing except the part about the old man on the beach.
When she finished, Ian sat silently, watching as she handed the bites of pizza to Noelle, and then held the cup to her lips. The adults had yet to eat their own food.
He took a deep breath, opened his mouth as if to speak but then exhaled and said nothing.
“Ian?” Annie said. “Please … tell us what you’re thinking.”
He spread his hands and shook his head. “I don’t know what to say, Annie. At least now I know why you and Alice were acting like you’d robbed a bank and were trying to hide the stash when I showed up.” His eyes went to Noelle. “And you have absolutely no idea who she belongs to?”
“None.”
“Not a clue,” Alice said, “except for that note pinned to her clothes.”
“Hmm.” Ian rested both elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers. He rested his lips and chin against his clasped hands. “Hmm.” Annie figured this was his thinking pose, familiar and well used during his days supervising the affairs of the town.
Annie felt Noelle grow heavier in her arms. She glanced down and saw the girl was almost asleep again.
Ian stared at her a bit longer and then said, “What are you going to do, Annie? About her?”
“I’m going to take care of her, of course. Feed her, make sure she’s warm and safe.”
“Hmm.”
She shifted Noelle’s weight.
“Actually, Noelle is much better off with Annie!” Alice said, somewhat defensively.
Ian raised one eyebrow.
“I’m sure she is. Annie would never break into someone’s house and leave a child there. Plus, that little girl looks like she’s missed a few meals.”
“She eats enough for three grown men!” Alice declared.
A Stony Point Christmas Page 11