Here's to Friends

by Melody Carlson

  “That’ll be nice, Caroline. I hear a lot of twentysomethings are into the whole retro sixties thing. This would be a great little starter house for a young couple, so I’m sure you’ll have no problem selling it.”

  Caroline took in a long slow breath. “If I sell it.”

  “If?” He looked confused. “I thought you said you were going to sell—”

  “I honestly don’t know, Mitch. I kind of go back and forth on it. But I have to admit: The more progress the house makes, the more I wonder if perhaps I could be happy here after all.”

  With a grim expression he shook his head. “It seems like a bad idea, Caroline.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ve said yourself that the place is full of bad memories. And do you really want to be tied down to a house? What about freedom and traveling?”

  “I can travel,” she said defensively. “Don’t forget, I’m going to Mexico in January.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  Out of habit, she picked up the broom and started pushing a pile of sawdust toward the wall, but with each sweeping movement, she felt herself getting more irritated. Why was Mitch acting like this? “What’s the problem with Mexico?” she asked in a calm voice.

  “Well, how do you think that makes me feel?”

  She stopped sweeping to look at him. “I have no idea. How does it make you feel?”

  “Like you’d rather travel with your friends than with me.”

  “Oh.” She leaned the broom against the wall. “But it’s a girls’ trip. Abby won the tickets … and …”

  “I know, I know. I probably sound petty and jealous and childish. But how many times have I asked you to travel with me, Caroline?”

  “Mostly you asked when Mom was still alive,” she reminded him, “and you knew it was impossible.”

  “But it’s possible now.”

  “It’s only been about a month,” she said quietly. “I’ve had a lot going on.”

  “I know.” He slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her close. “I’m sorry I sound like such a spoiled brat, Caroline. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today. I guess it’s just that I’ve missed you so much.” He kissed her again.

  “I’ve missed you, too,” she murmured.

  “And I’m a little disappointed that I have to share you with all your friends during Christmastime. So I guess you’ll have to cut me some slack for being a brat.”

  “Brat slack.” She smoothed her hand over his cheek. “Now remember, you promised me dinner and since I missed lunch, I’m starving. If we go now, we can get the early-bird special at the Lighthouse.”

  Fortunately, Mitch was hungry too. They beat the dinner crowd and were seated in a cozy booth near the fireplace. Before long they ordered the captain’s platter to share and were sipping some good California pinot gris that Mitch had picked out. After a while their conversation lightened up. They shifted away from the earlier stresses and even shared some laughs. By the end of the meal, Caroline thought this was more like it.

  “This was really nice,” she told him after he paid the bill. “Thanks for a lovely evening.”

  “But the night is still young.” He pointed to his watch. “What now, my love?”

  She considered this. “Well, Abby’s family has pretty much taken over the inn, and you saw what my house is like.” She thought hard. “We might be able to catch a movie. There are some new holiday releases out.”

  He frowned. “That sounds a little dull.”

  “If it wasn’t so foggy, I’d suggest we drive over to look at the Christmas lights on the lighthouse. As it is, I doubt we could even see it.”

  “Maybe another night.” He looked into her eyes with longing. “But what about tonight?”

  “Bowling?” she said in a teasing tone.

  He laughed. “No, thanks.”

  “We could grab a newspaper and see if there’s any live music anywhere, but since it’s early in the week, I don’t—”

  “I feel like we’re in high school,” he said with disappointment. “In a small town with nothing to do.” He brightened. “Hey, maybe we should go find a place to park and make out.”

  She laughed. “No, thanks. I’ve been there and done that—in this very town for that matter.”

  “Why don’t you show me your favorite make-out spots?”

  “Seriously, Mitch. Can you imagine having a cop tapping on our steamed-up windows and seeing how old we are? It would be humiliating.”

  “Or just plain funny.”

  “Maybe another time. A warm summer evening perhaps.”

  He grimaced. “And you’re sure I can’t talk you into coming back to my hotel with me?”

  “I’m positive.”

  “I wish I’d rented a house. I was so eager to see you that I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

  She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. “I’m so glad you came, Mitch. I’m sorry that you got stuck with my Christmas plans, but I think we’ll have fun. Just wait and see.”

  “Maybe we can plan something more exciting next year,” he suggested. “Skiing in Aspen perhaps?”

  She smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”

  “You think you’ll be able to tear yourself away from your girlfriends by then?”

  She made a tolerant smile. “My girlfriends have been my lifeline, Mitch. I’d think you’d appreciate that.”

  “Oh, I do. It’s just that …” He made an apologetic shrug.

  “Yeah, I know. I understand.” She was beginning to think this whole situation with Mitch resenting her friends was a lot bigger than she realized. She felt bad, but what did he expect from her? Did he think she should choose between him and her Lindas? That was ridiculous.

  “I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth again, haven’t I?”

  She sighed. “I have a feeling we’re both more tired than we think. I know I had a long day between helping Abby at the inn and cleaning up the construction mess at my house.” She pointed at him. “I’ll bet you’re having some serious jet lag, too.”

  “Probably so.” He stifled a yawn.

  “So maybe we should just call it a night and start out fresh tomorrow. I promise I’ll have a whole list of great things to do right here in town. We’ll do a real Clifden Christmas, and you’ll see exactly why this little sea town is so charming.”

  He agreed, and she drove him back to his hotel, where in the parking lot, she refused, again, to join him in his room. “Just to watch old movies,” he said enticingly. “There’s popcorn in the lobby.”

  “Thanks,” she said lightly, “but no thanks.” Then they kissed good night. As she drove back to the inn, she had to wonder. As much as he claimed to understand where she stood on this issue, he certainly didn’t give up easily. While she knew he was just being a normal guy, she also had to ask herself—did he really get it? And what about her hints? What if his thoughts on marriage had changed? What if he wasn’t looking for a life mate as much as he was looking for a playmate? She’d been down that road before and had no intention of going back there now.

  Chapter 18

  Marley

  The Christmas season had always been hard on Marley. She had rationalized it was simply the by-product of a loveless marriage. After all, who wanted to sit around a Christmas tree and pretend that all was well when she could still smell another woman’s perfume on her cheating husband’s shirt? But after putting those years behind her and finding real faith, Marley had truly expected this Christmas to be much improved. Yet here she was making a fast getaway on Christmas Eve just to escape a man.

  She’d told Jack and her friends that she was worried about Ashton and hated to think of him being alone during the holidays, so soon after his breakup with Leo. In truth, Ashton had been quit
e convincing, assuring her that he had plans to go to a Christmas Eve concert tonight and a Christmas dinner with friends tomorrow.

  Even so, when she’d called him this morning, she had insisted on coming to visit. She hadn’t told him when exactly, but she explained that she was coming to give him his Christmas present, which she hadn’t had time to mail. That was partly true. She hadn’t had time to mail it. In fact, the paint was barely dry on the piece she’d been working on these past few days. Distracted by Jack and Hunter (actually by Sylvia and Leah), Marley had felt uninterested in painting. But with Ashton as her motivation, she’d managed to get a painting started and finished.

  It wasn’t a large piece, but she thought Ashton was going to like it, and she could imagine it hanging in his apartment. Maybe in his tiny dining area. As a child, Ashton had loved toucans. At first she’d assumed it was simply thanks to his brief addiction to Froot Loops, but when his love of the tropical bird outlived his interest in the cereal, she realized it was more than just a passing infatuation. Anyway, she hoped Ashton would be pleasantly surprised by Walter. For some curious reason she’d named the colorful bird Walter Cronkite. Maybe it was a flash from the past, from back when Ashton was a toddler picking his Froot Loops from the tray of his highchair while she caught up with the evening news. Who knew?

  Just as her son had needed her then, she had convinced herself that he needed her now. But as she checked into the hotel a few blocks from Ashton’s apartment, telling the clerk that, yes, she was here to see family, she felt like the world’s biggest phony. Really, who was she kidding? Running off like this to deliver a toucan to her son just to get away from Jack and his new little “family” was truly pathetic. And yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  “You need to grow up,” she told herself as she hooked the strap of her overnight bag over one arm and pressed the number 7 button in the elevator. Of course, she could always wait until after Christmas to grow up. Really, what would it hurt? Besides, she told herself, after all she’d done to help Jack and Hunter, she needed a vacation, which she could afford thanks to selling those paintings. But why here? Didn’t she know how pitiful she looked right now?

  It had all started when Jack called her late last night. She’d actually been surprised to hear from him, since they hadn’t spoken for several days. Although she knew he’d been busier than usual at the gallery, she was nearly convinced that he’d forgotten all about her. And she couldn’t believe how much that hurt.

  “I’m sure you can understand how, being so new in town, Sylvia and Leah are at loose ends,” Jack had begun tentatively, after some initial small talk. “So I thought you wouldn’t mind if we invited them to join us for Christmas. Naturally, Hunter thinks it’s a great idea.”

  “Yes. It’s a great idea,” she’d agreed quickly, trying to sound enthusiastic rather than panicked. “But I’m going to Ashton’s for Christmas.”

  “Oh?” Jack had sounded surprised. “You never mentioned it.”

  “Actually, it just came up.” She immediately regretted the lie. But feeling trapped, she rambled on, reminding him of all that Ashton had been through. “You know how holidays can be for people when they’re alone. That’s just one more good reason for you and Hunter to reach out to Sylvia and Leah like you’re doing.”

  “But what about tomorrow?” Jack asked. “I thought we were going to go to Abby’s together and—”

  “And you should still go,” she insisted. “Take Sylvia and Leah with you. It’s a good way for them to meet people. I know Abby will be happy to have them. It’s not a sit-down meal, so the more the merrier.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe we should just stay here and—”

  “You’ll enjoy the festivities. And I know Hunter is looking forward to playing with Abby’s granddaughter, Lucy.”

  “But it won’t be the same without you there.” He sounded a bit sad, although it could’ve been politeness.

  “I’m so sorry,” she told him. “But Ashton has been through so much recently. And he’s my only child and it’s Christmas and … well.” She ran out of words.

  “I do understand, Marley. I just wish you’d talk Ashton into coming back here with you. He seemed to enjoy Thanksgiving. It would be great to see him again.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Jack let out a long, weary sigh. “I had a phone call from Jasmine earlier this evening.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, but nothing has changed.”

  “Oh.”

  “She was just calling to say she’d forgotten to send Hunter a Christmas gift. She wanted me to pick up something for her.”

  “You’re kidding! Jasmine called to ask you to buy Hunter a present and then pretend that it was from her?” She wished she hadn’t said it. Jack didn’t need a double dose of pain.

  “I know it sounds a bit strange, but for Hunter’s sake, I’ll do it. She needs to be reminded that her mother loves her.”

  Marley bit her tongue. “Well, you know what they say, Jack … Christmas is really for the children.”

  “Who says that?”

  She forced a laugh. “I have no idea, really. Maybe it was my parents. Or maybe it’s what I used to tell Ashton.”

  “I’ve always enjoyed Christmas—as a child, as an adult, and even more so as a grandpa. I think Christmas should be for everyone.”

  Then she’d explained that she wanted to drop some presents for Hunter by the gallery before she left. She’d done so this morning, quickly and discretely, while Sylvia was helping a customer. Marley had gone in and placed the large brown bag, clearly marked with Hunter’s name, behind the counter. Marley hadn’t mentioned that the gifts weren’t only for Hunter, although most of the packages did have Hunter’s name on them. However, she’d written “from Santa” on a number of them, just to keep from overwhelming the young girl. For Jack, Marley had splurged on a silver and brass chess set she’d seen him admiring in the antique shop across the street several weeks ago. She knew how much he’d love it.

  As the Christmas song in the elevator crooned “if the Fates allow,” Marley wondered if she’d get the chance to play a game of chess with Jack, or if he’d break in the chess set with Sylvia. She didn’t want to think about that.

  As she went down the deserted hallway, letting herself into the hotel room, she knew that she was pitiful and sad and just plain silly. And as she dropped her bag, then sat down in the chair by the window and stared out over the gray, gloomy cityscape, she felt certain she’d been a fool to run away—a childish, immature, juvenile fool. Yet she didn’t think she could have done anything else.

  Really, when it came to relationships with men, Marley had never been terribly savvy. And at her age, it seemed unlikely that she was going to get any smarter. She picked up the television remote and clicked the TV on. She didn’t get TV reception in her beach house, so this felt like a novelty. It took her a bit of time to figure out how to make the complicated thing work.

  She just needed to get herself through Christmas, she decided as she leaned back into the chair, even if all she did was sleep and eat room-service food and watch this silly TV. She would sort out the rest of her life afterward.

  By the next morning, thoroughly sick of her pity party of one, as well as the stark hotel room and obnoxious television, Marley put together a plan. She asked at the hotel desk where she might find an open grocery store, then she drove over and gathered up some breakfast ingredients. At a bit past nine o’clock, she surprised Ashton by showing up at his door. “Merry Christmas,” she said as she handed him the bags. “I bring you good tidings of great joy! I’m here to fix you Christmas breakfast.”

  He laughed and set down the bags and hugged her. “Merry Christmas, Mom!”

  “I’ll be right back with your present,” she told him.

  It was a perfect morning. Ashton love
d Walter the toucan. And he gave her a handmade drum, which she promised to treasure forever. “I plan to play it on the beach,” she told him as they were finishing up a delicious breakfast of French toast made from artisan bread, fresh fruit, and Black Forest ham.

  “I’m so glad you came,” Ashton told her as they washed up the breakfast dishes. “It makes it seem more like Christmas. I know you’ll be welcome at the Christmas dinner this afternoon, but I think I should give my buddy Laurence a call, since he usually plans this amazing gourmet, sit-down feast.”

  “It sounds lovely,” she told him. “But I think I’ll pass.”

  “Are you sure?” He sounded a little disappointed, but she could also see relief in his eyes. He probably didn’t really relish the idea of dragging his mother along.

  “Positive.” She smiled. “Abby is having a big shindig at the inn.”

  “Oh, yeah, kind of like Thanksgiving. That was fun.”

  “Yes. And this time her family’s there too.”

  They finished up and hugged again, and although she knew she was leaving him with the impression that she was driving back to Clifden to spend the rest of the day with her friends, she consoled herself with the fact that she had never actually lied about it. She had simply said that Abby was having a Christmas dinner. He had assumed that meant she was going. How she actually spent the rest of the day was her choice.

  Chapter 19

  Abby

  Although Abby knew she’d overindulged during the holidays as usual, and she knew her jeans were starting to feel snug again, she did not want to go work out at the club on Monday morning. “You take Nicole in my place,” Abby told Caroline. “I’m sure she’ll enjoy it more than I possibly could.” She nodded to the inn’s messy kitchen. “Besides, I need to clean this up. That’ll be exercise enough for me today.”

  The truth was, Abby knew that Nicole would prefer Caroline’s company to her own. So far her reunion with Nicole had been a great big letdown. Nicole seemed so much older than before, so independent and wise, almost as if she’d outgrown Abby. It was as if Nicole related more to Abby’s friends than she did to her own mother. Perhaps she fit in with Abby’s friends even better than Abby did. All in all, it was just one more pathetic piece of Abby’s depressing life.