“Sorry, I’m not buying it.” Another yawn made Gideon chuckle. “Still not. You’re stuck on cleanup duty.”
A grin spread over his face. “Oh, well, at least I get to stay up past my bedtime.”
“When is it?”
Jared leaned to the side and peered at the clock on the wall behind Gideon. “In ten minutes.”
“Guess you’re gonna miss it.”
“Yes.” Jared pumped his arm in the air.
Gideon carried the tray into the living room and passed the mugs around to everyone, except the one who requested the hot chocolate. Kip lay on the couch asleep.
“Should I wake him?” Gideon set the tray with the last mug on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Young man, don’t you know you never wake a sleeping child? Wait, maybe that’s a sleeping baby.” Miss Alice sipped her drink.
“Where’s Kathleen?” Ruth put the lid on an empty ornament box then sat with her hot chocolate cupped between her hands.
“She went to bed.” Gideon looked back at Kip. “I can take him up to his room.”
“That would be great if you think you can with your cast.” Ruth took a swallow from her cup.
“Sure.” He thought about the time he’d carried Kathleen to the beach on Dog Island. He’d enjoyed the feel of her in his arms.
Squatting by the couch, Gideon carefully scooped up Kip and rose. The boy snuggled against Gideon and draped one arm over his shoulder. His eyes closed, Kip murmured something Gideon couldn’t understand and settled against him.
A few minutes later, he laid the boy on his bed and covered him with a blanket. He stared down at the child and wondered what it would feel like being a father. When Kip had fallen last week, his heart had plummeted and a gripping fear had taken over as he’d never experienced. He’d rescued children before, but that had been different.
When he returned to the living room, Miss Alice sat forward, then stood. “I’d better be going.”
“Let me walk you home.” Gideon started for the foyer and opened the front door.
“Good night, y’all. Thanks for sharing this with me. It’s been years since I’ve participated in decorating a tree.” Miss Alice shuffled toward Gideon, a softness in her expression that a month ago hadn’t been there.
He offered her his arm, and they descended the porch steps.
“Those boys are good kids, but they need a father.” Miss Alice’s declaration broke the silence between them halfway up her sidewalk to her house. “If you’re not interested, maybe one of your friends. That Zane fellow is nice. I like him. He did a good job fixing my house.”
“I don’t think Zane is looking for a wife.”
“Are you?”
He nearly faltered on the stairs leading to the porch, quickly grabbing hold of the railing. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”
“You’d better stake your claim fast. She needs a good man to take care of her.”
“Why do you say that?” Gideon stopped at the front door, shifting from foot to foot.
“She’s sad. I see it in her eyes. From what Ruth has told me and what I see, I don’t think her path has been easy.”
“What has Ruth told you?”
Alice dug into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out her key, then inserted it into the lock. “That, young man, is something you will have to ask Ruth or Kathleen. I don’t gossip. Well, occasionally I have but not in this case.”
“Good night, Miss Alice.” He turned to leave.
He descended the steps when Miss Alice said, “Don’t end up like me—alone all your life. It isn’t all it’s cut up to be.”
He glanced back at the woman, but she went into her house and shut her door. As he walked back to Ruth’s, darkness surrounded him with a hint of a chill in the air. Could he risk his heart with Kathleen? Miss Alice’s words about being alone pricked his heart, threatening his belief that he was better off not caring too much for others and going through life more an observer than a participant. This past month he hadn’t been. Was it because of the hurricane or Kathleen that he’d gotten more involved than he usually did?
When he reentered Ruth’s house, he found Jared and her in the living room with broom and dustpan, cleaning up the pieces of broken decorations. “I thought if I stayed gone long enough you two would have this all taken care of.”
Jared giggled. “I should have asked to take Miss Alice home.” He moved the dustpan away, tilting it forward enough that its contents spilled all over the floor again.
“Jared, pay attention.” Ruth’s loud sigh conveyed her annoyance.
Gideon bridged the distance between them and took the broom from Ruth. “I’ll help Jared in here.”
She gave him a grateful look. “Then I’ll take care of cleaning up the dishes we used.” After gathering the tray and mugs, she strolled toward the kitchen.
“I didn’t mean to dump the pieces.” Jared’s mouth drooped in a pout. “I don’t mean to cause trouble.”
“I know. Sometimes it just happens. Here, hold the pan while I sweep it up again.” As he worked, he saw Jared’s sagging shoulders and tight mouth. “What happened tonight reminded me of a time when I was eight and couldn’t wait until Christmas Day to open all the presents under the tree. My parents were getting ready in their bedroom to go out. I decided to sneak a peek when they weren’t in the room. I wheedled my way under the tree, wanting to get my hands on the big box in the back. I wiggled the wrong way and the tree came down on top of me.”
“You did? What did your parents do?”
The memory was seared into his mind as though it had happened yesterday. “They heard the noise and came running. When they found me, they must have laughed for five minutes before they got the tree off me. I didn’t understand why they weren’t mad at me. It had taken us hours to decorate the tree, and I had destroyed it in seconds.”
“They didn’t do anything to you?”
“Oh, they did. I had to clean it up all by myself and put everything back on the tree without their help. They decided not to go out that evening and instead sat there on the couch watching me, talking to each other and ignoring my whining.” He wouldn’t trade that memory for anything. It made his parents seem so real to him for a few minutes.
“Where are your parents?”
“They died years ago.”
“My dad did. I miss him every day.”
“I miss my parents every day.”
“Everything is so different now.”
“How so?”
“Mom has to work a lot. She’s always worrying. Nana told me worrying only makes the problem worse.”
Grinning, Gideon finished sweeping the last pieces into the pan. “She’s right. But it doesn’t stop me from worrying.”
“Why doesn’t it?” Jared kept his gaze fastened onto the pan as he lifted it and walked slowly to the trash can, then dumped the contents into it.
“I’ve never really found that worrying about a problem solves it. It just makes me stressed over it, but for so long it has been a habit of mine I’m trying to change.”
Jared cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, you’re right. I worried about Kip when he was in the hospital. But that didn’t really make him get better. I think my prayers helped. Nana and me prayed every night he was there.”
“That’s great. You’re a good brother.”
Jared puffed out his chest. “Yeah, I am.”
Ruth reappeared in the living room. “This looks nice. You wouldn’t know you toppled the tree.”
“Except there aren’t as many ornaments on it. Maybe Kip and me can make some to put on it this weekend.”
“I’d like that.” Ruth hugged her grandson.
“How about you, Gideon? Will you help us on Saturday?”
“Sure. I can’t think of a nicer way to spend the day.” As he said those words, he realized he had meant every one of them. When he had kidded Kathleen about borrowing her family for the night, he hadn’t real
ized how it would affect him. He wanted a family for himself.
Kathleen sat at the kitchen table gluing sequins on a plain gold ornament while Jared and Kip glued paper rings together to make a garland for Miss Alice.
“Did ya get it?” Jared asked the second Gideon came into the room on Saturday. “No how are you?” Gideon bent down and rubbed Rocky behind his ears.
“Hi. They’ve been wondering what was taking you so long. They wanted me to take them to the store to find you,” Kathleen said with a chuckle. “I had to remind them my car is being fixed and they would have to walk. They decided to wait a little longer.”
“Miss Alice is gonna be so surprised.” Kip used the scissors to cut some more red and green strips of construction paper.
“How big is the tree?” Jared dabbed some glue on the end of the ring to hold it together.
“I got a live tree in a pot. It’s about three feet high. Then if she wants me to, I’ll plant the pine after Christmas.”
“To replace the tree she lost. I like that.” Kip paused and leaned down to pay attention to Rocky sitting by his chair.
“Where’s Ruth? I thought she would be in the middle of this.”
“She’s getting ready to leave. We decided Nana should take Miss Alice out shopping while we decorate her house. That was my idea.” Jared patted his chest.
Gideon took the chair next to Kathleen across from the boys. “How are we going to get into Miss Alice’s house?”
“She gave Mom a spare key when she moved back into her house. I guess with everything that has happened, she has decided that might be for the best rather than us breaking down her door if we think she’s in trouble.” She’d missed Gideon the past few days, working at the hospital as much as possible to make up for taking off while Kip was there.
“How long do you think we’ll have?” Gideon scooted his chair closer to the table, his arm brushing against Kathleen.
“An hour, probably, so we need to be finished with these decorations when Mom leaves.”
“We’re almost done. Look at this.” Jared, with Kip’s help, held up the long paper garland for Miss Alice’s tree.
“That ought to go around all of it.” She slanted a glance toward Gideon who made a design with glue then sprinkled red glitter on the plain gold ornament. “What time are we going to the Lights On Celebration at the Point?”
“Six. With Kip throwing the switch we want a good place to see it. Wait until you see what the fire department did with the lighthouse. We went all out this year. Y’all might want to bring your sunglasses.”
“At night?” Jared wrinkled his nose.
“You’ll see what I mean in a few hours.”
“The hospital did the Christmas tree.” Kathleen began gathering the decorations in a box to take to Miss Alice. “I helped some yesterday afternoon after work.”
“I wanted to come, but Mom wouldn’t let me. She said I needed to rest. That’s all I’ve been doing. I’m getting bored with watching TV and sleeping.” Kip put the last ring on the garland.
“I don’t want you to overdo it.”
Purse in hand, Ruth stopped in the entrance into the kitchen. “I’m going to get Miss Alice. Give me ten minutes then go on over. We won’t be gone more than an hour. She wants to rest before tonight’s celebration.”
After her mother left, Kathleen placed the paper garland on top of the ornaments. “Let’s clean this up. We won’t have a lot of time when we come back here before dinner.”
“Mom, I think someone needs to keep a look out for Nana and Miss Alice leaving. I’ll do it.” Jared hopped up from his chair and raced toward the living room.
Kathleen opened her mouth to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but he’d fled so fast she’d barely formed the first word in her mind. “I’ve got to harness some of his energy. I could use it.”
“I’d better help him.” Kip followed his little brother from the room although at a much slower pace.
“We’re alone at last.” Gideon waggled his eyebrows. “I thought they would never leave.”
Kathleen laughed. “And what did you have in mind?”
He bent toward her and kissed her quick on the mouth. “That. I’d been thinking about it since I first came in here.” He started to pull away.
Kathleen stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Hmm. I don’t call that a kiss. Maybe a peck, but certainly not a kiss.”
He locked his gaze on her lips. “You’re mighty picky today. What is a kiss in your book?”
She smiled, one that came from the depths of her heart, and wound her arms around his neck, tugging him toward her. Her mouth connected with his, and she poured everything into it until she forgot to breathe and finally had to step back to take a deep gulp of air.
“Ah, I see what you mean. We might need to practice some more later.” He moved back quickly as the sound of footsteps neared the kitchen. “When we’re alone again,” he added in a whisper as Jared and Kip burst into the room.
“They’re gone,” both boys said at the same time.
“Let me get the key. Jared and Kip, carry one of the boxes of decorations. I’ll bring the large Christmas card you two made for her.” Kathleen crossed to the desk and pulled out the drawer where Miss Alice’s house key was.
Jared examined the kitchen table. “You two didn’t do a good job of cleaning up. The glitter is everywhere, paper on the floor. What were you all doing?”
Kathleen wasted no time coming up with an excuse. “I decided to leave some for you and Kip while we wait for the pizzas to be delivered.”
Kip punched Jared in the arm. “Why did you go and say that? When are you gonna ever learn to keep your mouth shut?”
“I was just wondering.” Jared stuck his tongue out and hastened from the room with his box.
When Kip went after his little brother, Gideon blew out a breath of air. “Quick thinking.”
“If we aren’t one step ahead of our kids, we get trampled. Not fun in the least.”
Gideon grabbed the pot with the small pine. “Sounds like you’ve been trampled a few times.”
“I wish it were only a few. I lost count way back.”
An hour later the four of them finished with Miss Alice’s living room, confining their holiday decorating to that one room she spent most of her time in. On the front door the boys hung their three-foot-by-two-foot card with the outside displaying a huge fir dripping with ornaments and lights and packages beneath it.
With Kip on one side and Jared on the other, Kathleen stood in the middle of the living room. Voices from the front porch announced her mother and Miss Alice’s approach.
“We should hide like a surprise birthday party.” Jared scanned the area. “I can, behind that chair.”
He started for his hiding place, but Kathleen grasped his shirttail and halted his movement. “I think she’ll know something is up with that huge card on her door. Besides, we don’t want to give her a heart attack.”
Cottonballs whined and weaved in and out of their legs as the knob on the front door turned.
“Let me put this sack down and get my reading glasses on. Who would leave me such a big card?” Miss Alice moved into the foyer and caught sight of them in the entrance to the living room. She gasped, dropping her sack and splaying her hand over her heart. “Oh, my, what are y’all doing here? Y’all scared the—” Then she took several more steps until she saw all the decorations. Her mouth fell open.
While Miss Alice remained rooted to the floor, Jared came up to her and pulled on her arm. “Something’s leaking all over the tiles.”
Miss Alice blinked and swept around, her hand covering her mouth. “My eggs. They’re broken.”
Kathleen skirted around the woman and stooped to clean up the mess. “I’m sorry. I’ll replace them. We wanted to show you how much we care about you and give you a little bit of Christmas.” Gathering up the egg carton, she placed it into the torn sack while taking out the other grocery items. Thankfully, none of th
em were broken.
A suspiciously shiny sheen to her eyes, Miss Alice surveyed the living room, saying, “Don’t worry about the eggs. I can’t believe y’all did this for me. No one has done…” Her voice cracked, and she lowered her head, pulling a tissue from her coat pocket and dabbing at her face.
“It was my idea,” Jared piped in.
Kip stepped forward. “No, it wasn’t. I thought of it and talked to you about it. I came up with the big card on the door.”
“No, you didn’t.” Jared sent his brother a glare.
“Boys, that’s enough. Let’s say this was a cooperative idea between Jared and Kip.” Kathleen walked toward the kitchen. “I’m throwing these away. I don’t want to come back in here and see you two fighting.”
She strode to the trash can and dumped in the sack and carton of eggs, straining to hear what was going on in the living room. All she heard were murmurs. She rushed back to find Miss Alice seated in her recliner, tears streaking down her face.
“I’d forgotten what Christmas was about until this year. You couldn’t have given this old lady a better gift.”
“We made everything in here.” Kip beamed.
“Well, except the tree. But everything else.” Jared stood next to his brother, his grin as big as Kip’s.
“I’ll never forget this. And you two can play soccer in my front yard anytime you want.” Miss Alice swiped the tissue across each eye, then stuffed it back into her pocket.
While Kip brought Miss Alice the Christmas card from the front door so she could read the inside, Kathleen watched their neighbor interact with her two sons. A warmth flowed through her. Her sons still bickered, but for this project they had worked side by side with little fighting. In the past week they hadn’t said once they wished they were in Denver. Hope was becoming their home. At least one thing was working out as she’d prayed. If only the rest of it would.
At the front of the crowd at Broussard Park in a semicircle around the lighthouse, Kathleen huddled in her light jacket, not having expected the wind to be as cold as it was, blowing off the water. She hugged herself and tried to focus on what Mayor Thomas was saying.
His Holiday Family Page 16