2 Yule Be the Death of Me

by J. D. Shaw

  “Well, I guess when you have nice relatives you sort of forget what it could be like to live with the opposite.” Vivienne sighed.

  “There are always some nasty ones in everyone’s family.” Clara wondered. “My Aunt Sarah had quite the tart tongue whenever she came to visit. Always running her white gloves over my furniture and clucking her tongue.”

  “If that’s the worst that his family dishes out I can live with that.” Vivienne tried not to spill what had happened but she just couldn’t keep it in any longer. She tapped her fingers on the counter nervously. “If I tell you something, you need to promise it goes no further until I say so.”

  Clara leaned close to Vivienne. “There’s no one here except you, me, and Harold in the kitchen.” She cast a wary eye back toward the kitchen order window. “He’s too busy studying the scratch sheets from Off Track Betting to hear anything. I think we’re safe.”

  Vivienne took a breath. “Well, the reason Joshua was upset with me was because of a family situation here in town. Do you know a woman named Natalie Burdick?”

  Clara paused for a moment in thought. “Can’t say that I do. Is she new in town?”

  “She and her family moved here about six months ago. They live out at the trailer court where Tall Pine Grove was supposed to build.”

  “I don’t know anyone who lives out there.” Clara sniffed. “Nor would I really want to.”

  “It’s not that bad, actually.” Vivienne continued. “Not everyone can afford a home here in town.”

  “Which is why things are so nice.” Clara reasoned. “It only takes a few weeds to ruin a perfect lawn.”

  Vivienne knew this was how many of the locals in Cayuga Cove felt. When someone moved into town, they were considered an outsider for months. They were judged on how well they maintained their new home, how they conducted themselves at public functions, and how deftly they steered clear of the gossip train. Once a reasonable quality of character had been established, they were welcomed into the fold with open arms. “Well, a certain weed named Eddie Robertson was shot out there today.”

  Clara blinked in response. “Eddie Robertson?”

  “You know him?”

  Clara reached into one of her large apron pockets and pulled out a red sheet of paper. “The subject of this Bad Santa note?”

  Vivienne nodded. “They were all over town.”

  “I found this one taped to the diner door this morning.” Clara’s eyes narrowed. “This is why we need to keep people like that out.”

  “Well, Eddie looked to be in pretty bad shape when the paramedics took him away. I was talking with one of the neighbors who lived nearby and then Joshua and Sheriff Rigsby found me.”

  “So what?” Clara sniffed. “Is it against the law to talk to people anymore?”

  Vivienne lowered her head a bit. “And, I sort of told the neighbor I was a newspaper reporter named Vera French who was chasing the story about what really happened.”

  Clara let out a little laugh. “Why on earth would you do something like that?”

  “Because the other night at the gingerbread house contest I had a run in with Natalie and Eddie. He was so mean to her. I just felt like I needed to find out what was going on.”

  Clara clucked her tongue. “As a Christian woman I must say that I’m shocked and appalled at this sort of behavior.”

  Vivienne nodded. “I know.”

  Clara leaned closer. “Now that God’s heard that, please continue with all the juicy details.”

  Vivienne did her best to explain the rest of the situation to Clara who was more than happy to be the first to know the real story of what happened at Tall Pine Grove.

  It was well after lunch when she returned to the Sweet Dreams Bakery. Stephanie, as she had never doubted, had everything working like clockwork.

  “Thanks for holding down the fort.” Vivienne said to Stephanie as she tied on her apron and pulled out some chilled butter cookie dough from the refrigerator.

  “You just missed Eunice Kilpatrick.” Stephanie washed some red sprinkles off her hands. “She kept nosing around looking for you, but pretended she was shopping for gifts.”

  “She’s not the most subtle creature.” Vivienne laughed.

  “I kept pestering her until she bought a candy cane whoopie pie and left.” Stephanie yanked a paper towel off the spinner and dried her hands. “She knows something is up.”

  “Well she’s not going to hear anything from me.” Vivienne began to work the cold cookie dough with her hands. It always felt good to knead and press the stress away. “It seems pretty quiet today. If you’d like to go home early and study that’s fine with me.”

  Stephanie nodded. “I could use a little extra study time after the past few days.”

  “Oh, and before you leave be sure to take your paycheck. I left it under the register drawer.” Vivienne reached for her marble rolling pin and began to flatten the dough on the worktable.

  Stephanie grabbed her coat, purse, and hat from the back room and marched over to the register. “If you get busy, give me a call.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Vivienne appreciated how much Stephanie cared about the store. She had heard from other business owners how unenthusiastic and apathetic their young adult employees could be, but she had lucked out. Here was a young woman who took her job as seriously as her schooling. Vivienne sometimes felt guilty when she thought of the day that Stephanie would finish college and leave for her own career. Would she ever find someone like her again or would she become one of those owners who had to watch every move their young employees made?

  Stephanie opened the envelope to sign her paycheck when two crisp hundred dollar bills fluttered to the floor. “What’s this?”

  Vivienne played dumb as she ran her rolling pin across the cookie dough. “What’s what?”

  Stephanie knelt down and grasped the hundred dollar bills in her hand. “Some of your store cash wound up in the envelope with my check.”

  Vivienne shook her head. “I didn’t do it. Must have been one of those Christmas elves you hear about.”

  Stephanie’s bottom lip began to quiver. “You really shouldn’t have.”

  “You deserve all that and more.” Vivienne smiled brightly. “I couldn’t have come this far without your help.”

  Stephanie rushed over and embraced her. “You don’t know how much I needed this.” She fought back tears of joy.

  “You have family coming from Georgia. Go out and buy them some nice things.” Vivienne set the rolling pin down. “Or use it to treat yourself to something nice.”

  Stephanie nodded. “You’re like the best boss ever.”

  Vivienne felt her cheeks blush. “Now go enjoy the rest of the day.”

  The brass bell over the front door rang as Todd York stepped into the shop. He rubbed his hands together and blew on them, as his gloves had the tips missing for texting on his phone.

  “Hello Todd.” Stephanie waved cheerfully as she walked past the counter. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m just fine, Stephanie.” Todd smiled back and studied the bakery case where a batch of white frosted cupcakes were lined up for sale. “Why do I feel like I gain weight just breathing the air in here?”

  Stephanie shrugged her shoulders. “I pack little baggies of cut veggies to munch on when I’m working here.”

  “I wish I had your will power.” Todd joked and waved to Vivienne.

  “I was just on the way out, but I can help you before I leave.” Stephanie gestured to the bakery case.

  Todd shook his head. “I’m just here to see Vivienne, not buy anything.”

  “Good to see you again.” Stephanie gave a final wave to Vivienne and exited the front door as a gust of cold wind swirled the glass ornaments that were hung with fishing line over the display windows.

  Vivienne stepped out to the counter. “What’s up Todd?”

  He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the check from the gingerbread contest. “This is
yours.”

  “I thought we were setting it aside for Natalie and Connor?”

  Todd shook his head. “I tried calling the number that we have for her but I just get a message that the phone isn’t in service.”

  Vivienne shook her head. “I’m not surprised they’re having trouble paying the bills. Most of those trailers are heated with propane.”

  “My apartment above the gallery has oil heat, but there’s no way I can afford to use that. So I bought some of those little electric space heaters and use those instead.” Todd revealed.

  “My place has natural gas so the bill isn’t too terrible.” Vivienne reasoned. “But my windows are quite old and drafty. I’m sure more heat escapes than I’d care to know about.”

  Todd glanced longingly at the cupcakes. He admired the perfect swirls of white frosting, the red and green sprinkles, even the retro little plastic figures of snowmen, angels, and Santa’s stuck on top of each one. “I really shouldn’t have one.”

  Vivienne slid the door of the case open and pulled out a cupcake. “We deserve to indulge this month.” She set it on top of the case as she closed it up. “It’s small anyway.”

  “I’ll probably burn the calories up walking back to the gallery, right?” Todd asked as he took the cupcake in his grasp.

  “Of course!” She reasoned. “Christmas calories are magical, don’t you know?”

  Todd smiled and took a small bite. He moaned with pleasure as the sweet vanilla buttercream melted on his tongue.

  Vivienne thought for a moment about her words. She hadn’t really done much with her magic in a few weeks. She had done some intensive studying with Nana Mary leading up to Halloween, but then she sort of let it fall to the back burner as the holidays appeared on the calendar. “I found a sealed box of those little retro plastic cake picks at Carriage House Antiques not too long ago. ”

  Todd pulled the snowman out from the cupcake and licked the frosting from the base. “They’re so cute.”

  “I remember having those at school when I was a kid.” She smiled. “I used to have a whole jewelry box full of them in my bedroom because I thought the silver and gold paint on them was real.”

  Todd finished the cupcake and tossed the liner into a small trash bin that was near his feet. “I used to think my grandparents were millionaires because all of their doorknobs looked like big diamonds.” He laughed. “I told everyone at school much to my parent’s dismay.”

  Vivienne cringed. “I can top that. I once brought a ‘devil dog’ to school for show and tell.”

  “Those little chocolate cakes?” Todd raised an eyebrow.

  “No.” Vivienne laughed. “A skull from a devil dog.”

  Todd’s eyebrow went up higher. “Say what?”

  “So, my Uncle Joe was a big deer hunter when I was growing up and he spent lots of time scouting out places for tree stands in the woods around here.”

  “Okay.” Todd nodded back. “And you’re saying he found a devil dog skull?”

  “It was the skull from a small deer, with just little nubs for antlers.” Vivienne recalled. “It really looked like a dog with devil horns and he brought it over one day and told me it was a ‘devil dog.’ Naturally, I believed him.”

  Todd burst out with a hearty laugh. “Of course.”

  Vivienne continued. “So, unbeknownst to my parents, I snuck it into my backpack and brought it to school the next day for show and tell. They got a call from the teacher that afternoon.”

  Todd wiped some tears that formed in the corners of his eyes from laughing so hard. “Oh my God, that is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time.”

  “These days if a kid did that, they’d have her shipped off into therapy for mental instability.” Vivienne laughed. “But back then, the teacher had a good laugh and my parents had a chance to be mortified at how gullible their daughter was.”

  Todd looked at his watch and shook his head. “Let me pay up for the cupcake and get back to work.”

  Vivienne waved him off. “It’s on the house.”

  Todd opened his wallet and slipped two dollars onto the bakery case. “I insist.”

  Vivienne took his two dollars and dropped it into a collection box for the local food pantry that was sitting next to the register. “I’m so terribly clumsy these days.”

  He winked at her and pointed to the check. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help with getting the money to Natalie.”

  Vivienne took the check and tucked it into her register drawer. “That’s okay. I found out where she lives so we can just drop it off in person.”

  Todd snapped his fingers. “I’m going to be filling out one of those order sheets for a party I’m having at the gallery the week before Christmas. When do you need them in by?”

  “The sooner the better.” Vivienne answered.

  “It’s an Ugly Christmas Sweater party and you and Joshua are going to be invited.”

  Vivienne groaned. “I don’t own one and trying to get Joshua into one is going to take nothing short of a Christmas miracle.”

  Todd made a little pouty face. “You have to come.”

  Vivienne took a deep breath and sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Todd’s face brightened. “So I can count you in?”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Vivienne repeated.

  Todd nodded and waved as he sailed out the front door. “I’m glad you both can make it.”

  “I may need that spell book after all.” Vivienne spoke softly to herself and returned to the workspace to finish her butter cookies.

  * * *

  When she arrived home just after sunset, the house was dark. She parked her Toyota in the driveway and carefully navigated across the blacktop in case the ice melt missed a few spots. She stopped at the mailbox and pulled out a wad of junk mail along with a few red and green envelopes that heralded the start of the great neighborhood Christmas card exchange.

  Once inside the front door, Tommy meowed loudly to let her know he wanted dinner served as soon as possible. He darted between her legs, curling his tail around her knees with a loud purring sound that one could almost mistake as a snow blower engine.

  As she unbundled her winter coat and hung it on the wall hook, she noticed the red light flashing on her answering machine.

  She dropped the mail onto the small end table and pressed the message play button. It was Joshua’s voice. “I won’t be making it over for dinner tonight. Eddie Robertson is in critical condition over at the hospital and we’re hoping to get some answers about what happened.”

  Vivienne could tell from the sound of his voice that he was still quite unhappy with her. She reached down to her knees and ran her hands along Tommy’s back as he arched it upwards with another meow.

  Joshua’s message continued. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was a rather long pause before he cleared his throat. “Love you. Bye.”

  Vivienne hated that pause. It felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart. He had said the words, but they sounded almost forced. She took a deep breath and tried to convince herself that she was genuinely trying to do a good thing. True, she could see where it might seem she was getting a little too nosy.

  Tommy Cat had grown tired of her standing still and gently batted at her legs with his front paws to herd her toward the kitchen.

  “Yes, yes.” She replied. “I’m running late with your dinner.”

  He meowed back at her with excitement as she opened a pouch of chicken and gravy cat food and shook it into his food dish. With a gentle nudge he pushed her hand out of the way and eagerly gobbled down his supper.

  She pulled out one of her kitchen chairs and plopped down. She had hoped that Joshua would have been up for bringing home some takeout from Shanghai Sunset on his way over from work, but she was on her own for dinner.

  She closed her eyes and decided she really wasn’t all that hungry after hearing the message on the machine. She’d resort to her usual ‘standby’ recipe for nig
hts like this. Cereal and milk followed by some trashy reality show television in her comfy sweats.

  The wind picked up outside with a roar and the house creaked in response as a strong gust battered the little cape cod. From the kitchen window, she watched the branches of the small sugar maple in her back yard sway back and forth as wisps of snow sparkled in the darkness outside.

  The wind almost sounded like a moan. A very long, drawn out cry that was almost human. It made her feel chilly and she brought her arms up across her chest wishing that Joshua were with her on such a cold and dark night.

  As she got up from the kitchen chair to make sure the back door was locked up tight, she paused. The moaning now sounded like crying and she could almost make out a name being carried on the wind.

  Tommy Cat suddenly backed away from his food dish and gave a little growl in the direction of the kitchen door.

  “Eddie.” A mournful voice carried along in the cold night air. “Eddie Robertson.”

  Vivienne crossed over to the kitchen window and peered out from the café curtains. In the night sky, the moon was only a slender crescent, yet it seemed brighter than usual. A stray cloud moved in front of the moon, creating the appearance of an enormous illuminated skull.

  The wind picked up and battered the thin glass against the window panes as the moaning grew louder. “Eddie Robertson.” The spectral voice called louder.

  For a moment, she could have sworn she saw a shadowy figure flailing up in the sky, moving toward the skull moon. Arms and legs kicked as it fell into the mouth and then disappeared altogether as two large black clouds closed around like two stage curtains, plunging the sky into complete darkness. The wind died off, leaving only the quiet stillness of a snowy winter evening.

  CHAPTER 7

  Wednesday, December 4th

  The next morning, Vivienne had left for work extra early in order to meet Kathy at Clara’s. She had texted her last night with the details of what had happened with Joshua. Kathy, in turn, demanded a before work breakfast meeting to talk things out as texting just wasn’t up to this type of task.