by Grace Palmer
Eddie faced her once more and this time, dropped to one knee before her.
“This time, it’s real, though. Because we’re real. We’ve been real from the moment we met. Everything about you and I just fits. Our sense of humor—most of the time, anyway.” He winked and it took some of the nervousness out of her. “Our mutual love for the theater. Our ideas and ideals. I knew you were the one when you told me your perfect Thanksgiving dinner is a burger from Sonic with fries dipped in mayo.”
Tasha could not help but laugh as behind Eddie her mother’s eyes widened in horror. “I knew you were the star in my sky then. My perfectly imperfect match. So, Natasha Baldwin. Will you be my leading lady for life?”
He pulled out a small box and popped it open. It contained a simple rose gold band with a simple, glistening diamond in the center. Her heart beat out of her chest as she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around him.
“Yes, you dork. I will. I love you.”
“And I love you.”
“She said yes!” Damien’s voice boomed from behind. At once, the entire auditorium cheered and clapped as Tasha realized she’d been wrong earlier.
The night had not yet been perfect. It had gotten close.
But this… this was the last little bit it needed.
23
Georgia
On Christmas Eve morning, three days after the premiere of The Founding of Willow Beach, Georgia woke up early and stepped up to the window overlooking the street below.
It was still dark and the street lights were on. In the distance, she saw the bright light of her neighbors’ Christmas trees in their windows. Festive decorations were dangling over the street, suspended by the light posts on either side. It was beautiful and quaint.
For a split second, she forgot all of her troubles and smiled at the display. Snow still covered the ground, although it melted a little. She still hoped for a nice snow before the festivities this evening.
Despite her troubles with the inn, she was determined. This Christmas Eve would be perfect. They still had much to be grateful for. Tasha and Eddie were now engaged, after that wonderful proposal during the play. Melanie and Colin were at last on their way to starting a family, and of course, she and Joel were more united than ever.
The only one of her children who was not in the holiday spirit was Drew. Since his breakup with Ashley, he stayed in his childhood room at the inn. Too painful were the memories in their shared little apartment.
Not that Georgia minded. She loved having her son nearby. If only it were for a happier reason.
As she thought of Drew, her eyes traveled to the driveway and she frowned. His car was not there.
She glanced at the clock. It was just after five in the morning. Where could he have gone at such an early hour? He’d slept in his room the previous night, she was sure of it. The sound of his podcast always drifted through the door, night after night.
Behind her, Joel shifted under the blanket. “Georgia?” he said quietly. “What are you doing up so early?”
She turned and glanced at her fiancé, who was covered under a pile of blankets. “Nothing dear, I just woke early.” She shuddered then, realizing just how chilly it was. Joel lifted the covers for her and she slid back into the warmth of the bed.
“Must have been the Christmas spirit, honey,” he said.
“Must have been.” She turned onto her back and looked at the ceiling fan as it sat quietly. On a regular day, she’d rise in an hour to prepare breakfast for the guests. However, there were none.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes and put the depressing thought away. Not today. She would not worry about any of that today.
Not on Christmas.
When Georgia woke next, the sun was in the sky and the clock showed almost ten. She pushed herself up and reached one hand out to the other side of the bed.
The space beside her was empty.
In the early days of their relationship, this always frightened her. It was, after all, how she discovered her husband of four decades had left her.
But time helped heal those wounds, as had getting to know Joel’s habits. He was not a man who liked to sleep in. Not even on the weekends. By the time seven struck, he was up no matter what.
She stretched and stood up, this time sliding her cold feet into a pair of fluffy slippers. Quickly, she rushed into the bathroom and got dressed. She was just looking herself over in the mirror to make sure she looked her best for the holiday when an almighty bang forced her to turn in alarm.
She rushed forward and out of the bedroom. “Joel? Drew?” There was no reply. At the bottom of the steps, she stopped and listened. There were voices, loud voices drifting in from outside. One of them she recognized as Sam and another as Drew.
Georgia dashed along the hall and grabbed a cardigan as she opened the front door. A wall of chilly air greeted her with such force she stopped for a moment. Her breath was visible against the cold air and lingered before her.
“Mom!” Drew’s voice made her turn.
The sight before her was surprising, to say the least. There, in her driveway was a man, sitting on the cold ground. His hands were bound behind him by a string of ribbon she recognized at once. It was the gold- and silver-trimmed ribbon she’d bought at the bookstore to wrap her gifts in.
She couldn’t make out the man’s face as he sat turned away from her. Surrounding him were Joel, Sam, Drew, and Alma. All of them dressed as though they were about to set off to explore the Arctic Circle. The man shuddered, wearing only a light jacket over his suit.
“What on earth is going on out here?”
Just then, she spotted the overturned trash can. The source of the noise. It was on its side and was presently halfway down the driveway.
“Georgia!” Alma exclaimed with annoyance in her voice. “You weren’t supposed to be out here just yet. We’re not finished wrapping him up yet! I have this bow, I was going to put on his head for you!”
Beside her, Drew and Sam chuckled while Joel rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I think he’s wrapped quite enough. At least we got the ribbon on him.”
Georgia stood, confused, as in the distance, police sirens sounded.
“Would someone care to explain?” she asked as she looked around the group.
At last, Joel stepped forward. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it gently. Then he pointed at the man on the ground. “Merry Christmas, my love. We thought we’d make your day extra special by presenting you with your very own vandal. Caught in the act.”
Her mouth dropped open. “The vandal? You caught him?”
Joel smiled. “We all did. But chiefly, Alma here.”
“And Drew!” Alma chimed in and pointed at Georgia’s son who stood with a smile on his face.
“Sam, too, of course! This dude is so slimy it took all of is to keep him from slipping away.” The group chuckled and the man at last looked up, his face full of fury.
“This is not funny. Let me go at once.” His head turned to Drew. “And you, Baldwin! You’re fired! You hear me? Fired!”
Drew rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Fine by me, Mr. Porter. Fine by me. I would never work for a sleazeball like you, anyway. Not if you paid me a million bucks an hour.”
“Porter? This is Mr. Porter? Of Porter Property Management?” Georgia asked, hardly believing her ears. Her son’s boss was the man who vandalized her property and almost ruined her?
“The very same. Drew put the pieces together and then I set him a trap. Texas style.” Alma grinned widely as the police sirens came ever closer.
“They’ll be here for you in no time at all, buddy,” Sam said.
“You cannot prove anything. Nothing! I’m an innocent man.”
Georgia blinked at last recognized the man. “It’s you! From the Walkabout. You were the one who came up to me and told me all about your dear sister and how well she was doing after selling her decrepit property. And I recognize your voice now. You’re the on
e who called and asked to buy my inn back around Thanksgiving!”
The man said nothing and stared straight ahead. Moments later, the sheriff arrived.
“What do we have here, then?” Sheriff Thompson asked.
“Wrongful imprisonment, officer. That’s what!” Porter shouted, but the sheriff ignored him and instead looked at Alma.
“Dispatch Debbie said y’all caught the vandal. This him?” He nodded with his chin toward the captive.
“It is, Chuck. And we can prove it all.”
The sheriff stood then, arms crossed and nodded. “Go on, then.”
Georgia tilted her head to one side and watched as at last, her friends and family filled her—and the law—in on their discoveries.
Drew started to explain. “I came across a bunch of paperwork at work that made me suspicious. After asking around a bit, Alma, Sam, and I figured out that all the people who live in the vicinity of a Porter development suddenly experienced all kinds of odd events. Vandalism, thefts, missing mail and packages. This has been going on for months and getting worse. Most of the people who had these surges in activity ended up selling their places. Way under market value. To him.”
Porter looked up and glared. “How would a lowly paper pusher like yourself know a thing like that?”
Drew’s nostril’s flared then. “Rachel and Sandy helped me get the information, once I showed them what I’d found. I thought it was just Helen Slocum and Dan Brown, but man, was I wrong. Together, we pulled all kinds of information and it turns out, wherever PPM wants to build, vandalism seems to be on the increase and property values drop. I couldn’t have figured it all out with those two, of course.”
“They’re fired, too,” Porter grumbled nonchalantly, only to earn himself a chuckle from Joel.
“I wouldn’t be so sure you’ll be in a position to hire or fire anyone come this afternoon,” Joel remarked.
Sheriff Thompson raised a hand. “Now, before we get into all this legal back and forth, I’d like to hear the rest of the story.” He nodded at Drew to continue.
“Well, after we figured all that out, I talked to Alma and she remembered seeing a guy talking to my mom at the Walkabout about selling the inn. Then Sam heard through the grapevine someone made an offer to Nancy Friedman as well. And to the Harvey family in Inverness. Nancy’s been lucky so far and had nothing bad happen aside from a couple stolen packages, but the Harveys had their windows smashed.”
The Sheriff pursed his lips. “I remember. I responded to that call at three in the morning. During a snowstorm, come to think of it.” He glared at the man on the ground who shifted uncomfortably back and forth.
“Well,” Alma said, “after I heard all about it, I decided to deploy a true and tested Texas trick. Luring the bad guy into a trap.”
Drew nodded. “I made sure to spread the news through the office, with Rachel’s help, that Mom was planning a Christmas party today to make up for the after-party that was cancelled. We spread word it would be a fancy Christmas Eve morning brunch, bigger and better than the after party.”
“Drew and I even had a lengthy conversation on speakerphone, pretending to place orders with Liza,” Joel explained.
“All of it in earshot of Mr. Bigwig.” Alma grinned from ear to ear as the man was growing ever more livid. “Then all we had to do was do a little stake out and tada—caught him in the act.”
Sam produced a crow bar and handed it to the Sheriff. “He has this on him when I tackled him.”
“That’s not mine,” the realtor protested. “You can’t prove any of it.”
Joel grinned then and took Georgia’s hand, squeezing it. “Yes, we can. See, what you don’t know is we just finished installing security cameras all around this property and we’ve got you arriving and trying to pry open the windows. You thought nobody was here because we moved all the cars, making it look like the place was empty. When all along, we were watching you.”
The sheriff frowned even deeper. “I certainly would like to see that camera footage. And I’ll take a look in your car as well, Mr. Porter. Just as soon as I finish processing you into jail.”
With that, the sheriff yanked the realtor up from the floor and dragged him through the snow and into his squad car. Porter cursed and yelled, but to no avail. Within moments, he was in the back of the car and the door closed as the sheriff tipped his hat to the group.
“Well done, everyone. Hopefully this will be the end of this pesky vandalism.” The sheriff got into the car. As he drove away, Georgia could not help but look around at her family and best friend.
They’d done it. They’d saved Christmas, and perhaps Georgia’s business, too.
24
Drew
That afternoon, the Baldwin family gathered together around the old fireplace in the living room. Joel stoked a fire which roared and filled the air with a lovely, rustic aroma. Uncle Sam and Stella had brought marshmallows and were currently making s’mores. The entire family was there, save for their father, who was no longer truly a part of the family anyway.
Bandit, Melanie and Colin’s dog, raced from one family member to another for pets and love, while his parents sat snuggled up on the couch, Colin’s broken leg resting on a footstool.
The atmosphere was warm and welcoming…
And Drew was absolutely miserable.
He should have been paired up as well, with Ashley by his side. This just was not right. He was happy for his sister and his mom, and especially his Uncle Sam, who had waited so long for love.
And yet, he could not help being jealous. He was alone. Alone and heartbroken—and it had never been more evident than today.
“What is it, Drew?” Tasha asked as she turned to him.
He shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just can’t stop thinking about Ashley.”
Tasha placed a hand on his forearm. “I know, I can imagine. I can remember what it was like after I broke up with Chuck.”
He shook his head. “No, you can’t compare me and Ashley to you and Chuck. Chuck was no good for you, and you’re better off without him. Nothing and nobody will ever convince me that I’m better off without Ashley or she without me.”
Tasha smiled at him then. “I would have to agree with you there. But I’m not the one you need to convince. Go and tell her.”
“She knows.”
Tasha shook her head then. “Maybe she needs to hear it again.”
“I have to talk to her dad. There’s just no way around it. I have to get him to agree to let me marry her.”
Tasha blinked at him. “I thought that was the plan anyway, to talk to him after the holidays.”
“Yeah, I was going to. I am going to. But then, I just feel so miserable now. I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I hate the uncertainty. There’s a part of me that just wants to go straight over there and confront him right now, so at least if it’s a no and I’ve lost her forever, then I know.”
Tasha considered this for a moment. “You’re right. You know, the waiting and the uncertainty is always the worst part. I used to go on these auditions and just know I nailed it. Or not. But then it’d be days until I found out, and in those days, my head would go places. I’d either get more and more excited by thinking I got the part. Or more and more depressed thinking I didn’t. Ripping the Band-Aid off might be the best thing for you, bro.”
Drew bit his lip and nodded. This was exactly what he had hoped to hear. Somehow, he needed an outsider’s opinion to tell him that he was on the right track.
He glanced at his sister again. “Do you think Mom would mind if I split for a little bit?”
Tasha shook her head. “I highly doubt it. Especially if you end up coming back with Ashley. I know Mom would be ecstatic to see her. I mean, her stocking is hanging there stuffed full to the brim. It’s not just you who misses her.”
He glanced at the fireplace. She was right; they all had their own stocking. Even Bandit had one. All of them were empty now since it was their c
ustom to open their stockings on Christmas Eve while waiting on the big gifts until the next day. Ashley’s was the only one still full, standing out uncomfortably against the others.
“I don’t want anyone to know where I’m going just in case it goes south. Would you…?”
Before he could finish his sentence and ask her to cover for him, she nodded. “Consider it done. Now go on. Go get your girl.”
She winked at him and Drew rose, rushing for the back door, determined to do exactly what his sister said.
As the sun set, and the Christmas lights came on all across town, Drew sped down the road toward Ashley’s parents’ cottage. He parked his car on the road outside of their house and took a deep breath to steady his nerves.
Alright, Drew. Let’s knock this out of the park.
He got out of the car and slammed the door shut. He made his way towards the front door quickly. He had to do this now or his courage would melt away.
Ignoring the door knocker, he instead banged his fist on the door. It only took a moment before he heard footsteps on the other side of the door and Mr. Pearson’s face peered through the window next to the door. Drew waved at him as the man frowned.
The next few moments seemed to stretch on forever. He feared that Mr. Pearson would simply ignore his request. He stepped back on the porch and glanced through the window when his heart sank.
There, in the living room just a few feet away from, was Ashley.
She was seated on the floor next to her sister, Emma, as the two put the finishing touches on wrapping their presents. She glanced up for a moment to look in her father’s direction, and Drew hoped that she would seem him. However, she did not.
Just then, the door opened and Mr. Pearson stepped out onto the porch, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him.
“What do you want, Drew? Whatever it is, can’t it wait until after the holidays? I’m sure you have a family to spend the day with as well.”