“Hey Mum. What do you think of this?” I asked, getting the ornament out of my bag and holding it out for her to look at.
“That’s really pretty. Did you buy that in the city the other day?”
“No, it came with my new tree but Molly thinks it looks expensive.” I gave Mum the Readers Digest version of how it came into my possession, leaving out the part about my dream. Mum took it from me and had a closer look. Holding it by its hanger, she flicked it with the back of her fingernail and we all listened to the melodic ding that echoed around the room.
“It’s definitely crystal,” she said smiling. “Maybe Danny is right and you should take it back. People don’t give crystal away for nothing.” She carefully handed the bauble back to me.
“What do you think of the etchings on it?” asked Molly.
“I think it’s pretty,” shrugged Mum.
“You should see it when the sun hits it. It’s stunning.”
“Yeah. Lizzie reckons it contains a secret code,” said Danny, walking into the kitchen to put the coffee on.
“I do not!”
Mum looked at me quizzically. “I worry about you, Lizzie. Maybe you should see Doctor McGrath and get some sort of test.”
“I don’t need testing!” I said, raising my voice. “It was just a stupid dream. Geez.”
“Yes, but she wrote something down whilst she was dreaming,” dobbed Danny.
“What did you write?” asked Mum, her hands on her hips. This was the stance she took with us when she meant business and we were to stop messing around.
“Nonsense is what I wrote. What did you expect? War and bloody Peace?” I huffed.
“Don’t take that tone with me, young lady,” she chastised.
I let my breath out with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s better,” she said. “Now, do you want to tell me exactly what’s going on?”
No, not really I didn’t, but I knew better than to argue with her. She stood and listened patiently as I recounted my dream. Only when I had finished did she walk over to me and pull me in for a hug.
“I think that house is possessed,” she said earnestly. “I think you should move out and sell it. Then your life will go back to normal and maybe you and Riley can get married and start making me some grandbabies. I saw his grandmother in town the day and she agrees that the pair of you will make beautiful children, and none of us are getting any younger.”
“What does grandchildren have to do with my house?” I asked, stepping back and looking at her. Now it was my turn to put my hands on my hips.
“I’m just saying, that’s all.”
During this exchange Danny had gone very quiet and I had noticed Molly slink out of the room. They both realized the conversation could turn on them very quickly.
*****
As a freelance bookkeeper who works from home, I do have the luxury of working my own hours. True, most clients had a deadline but it was no skin off their noses if I worked all day or all night, so this morning I took advantage of that and headed back to ‘Happy Christmas Trees’. Looking around the parking lot, I soon realized I should have bought my tree on a Monday as I was the only customer in sight. True, their stock seemed to have diminished quite a bit, but I could have purchased my tree without the headache.
Walking to the office building, I opened the door and waited for the middle age gentleman with the beer gut to finish his phone call. Looking around, I could see the office was pretty minimalistic. It was reasonably small—about the size of my dad’s garage—had an old dark timber desk pushed into the far corner with a modern looking computer screen sitting on top and a counter that ran horizontally across the front of the room, allowing just enough room for a couple of people to stand side by side. I knew they had a mobile EFTPOS machine so they probably didn’t get a whole lot of customers inside, and the room reflected that.
Finishing his call, the man dropped the phone onto the desk and shuffled his way towards me.
“How can I help you?” he asked, scratching his beard as he spoke. Seriously, add a red coat and this man could be Santa’s younger brother, but according to the name embroidered on his left breast pocket, his name was Bob.
“Hi, I was hoping to speak to Earl,” I smiled.
“Earl? Sorry love, don’t know an Earl,” he replied, his bushy eyebrows meeting in the middle creating one very hairy mono brow. “Maybe I can help you though.”
“Oh. I was really hoping to speak to Earl. He sold me a Christmas tree last week.”
“Is everything alright with the tree? I’d be happy to replace it if there is. All our trees come with a twenty-eight day warranty. If they die before that you can have another tree or your money back. Never had to replace one in the ten years that I’ve worked here but if your tree’s not up to standard then replace it we shall.”
“No, no, no. My tree’s fine. Perfect in fact,” I explained quickly before he got concerned. “I was just hoping to see Earl.”
“Well, what’s it about?”
I didn’t want to say in case I got Earl in trouble but thinking up a convincing lie, especially at short notice, wasn’t something I was particularly good at.
“Umm…” I could feel the sweat start to drip between my breasts. The day was humid and the air conditioning in the office didn’t seem to be working very well. Either that or the pressure of thinking up a lie was all too much for me.
The door to the office opened behind me and in walked a guy who looked about my dad’s age. His name read Alex. He had shocking red hair and a really friendly smile.
“Hi Bob,” he said walking past me and moving behind the counter. “Is everything okay?”
“This lady’s looking for a guy named Earl. She wants to talk to him.”
“Earl?” repeated Alex.
“Yes. That’s what his shirt said,” I answered. “Although, his shirt was a bit different to yours,” I said, thinking of the shirt Earl had been wearing.
“Are you sure you got the tree from here?” asked Bob. “We do have some competition with the farm a bit further up the road.”
I had a moment of panic and quickly checked the sign on the wall behind the counter. It read ‘Happy Christmas Trees’.
“Of course,” I smiled.
“What did he look like?” asked Alex.
“Umm, he was elderly and walked with a limp and he had a really gravelly voice.” I saw a memory dance in Alex’s eyes. “Do you know him?” I asked. Alex considered his response before replying.
“Well, I don’t really know him as such, but I do remember him. This farm used to sell Christmas trees when I was a kid and was owned by a guy that sounds like the man you’re asking for. But I’m sorry, that man died a couple of years ago.”
“No. You must have the wrong man. This man only sold me a tree last week,” I smiled.
“Well I guess it’s not the man I’m thinking of then.”
“Maybe he was wearing an old shirt that belonged to somebody else. Do you have anyone who works here now that fits that description?” I asked.
“The oldest guy we have working for us is Johnno, and he’s only 61,” said Bob. “Are you sure this is the right place?” he asked again.
“Yes. Happy Christmas Trees, right?”
“Yeah that’s us,” he said, once again scratching his beard. “But we don’t have anyone who walks with a limp.”
“Never mind. Sorry to have bothered you then,” I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket and calling Riley. Maybe he would remember Earl.
Chapter Four
Riley didn’t remember Earl though. Apparently he’d never seen him. Of course he hadn’t. Earl had gone by the time I’d seen Riley’s truck moving up the lane.
Standing in front of my Christmas tree, I took the ornament out of my bag and hung it back on its branch, unsure of what I should do next. Riley walked in the front door carrying a very large can of paint.
“Thought it was time we painted the bedroom,
” he smiled. “We’ll move to my place tonight if you want to round up Cat.” I’d inherited Cat with the house and even though this was his home, he didn’t seem to mind moving to Riley’s occasionally.
“Sure.”
“Did you find Earl?” asked Riley, kissing me on the cheek.
“No. No one had even heard of him. Except one guy. He remembered someone who fitted Earl’s description but apparently that man died years ago,” I said, letting out a breath that blew my hair out of my face.
“Then you can keep the ornament and have a clear conscience,” smiled Riley, his kiss moving to my neck. “You smell good,” he murmured.
“Thanks. It’s a new perfume I thought I’d try.”
“What’s it called?” he asked. “I’ll phone the store and buy a container of it.”
“It’s called Naughty Alice by Vivienne Westwood,”
“Hmm, good name. What do you have planned for this afternoon?” asked Riley, looking down at me, his mouth tilted slightly.
“Well, I should probably get some work done. I assume you’ll be painting.”
“Yeah but I thought maybe we should say goodbye to the old paint first.” I looked up into his eyes and felt my breath catch. I wondered how long we would be together before I grew immune to him. Probably never.
“Well, it was pretty special paint hidden under that wallpaper,” I said, watching Riley’s smile widen. “It would only be right that we see it out accordingly.”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Riley, scooping me up in his arms and sprinting to the stairs.
Pushing the bedroom door open with my feet, Riley moved into the room and threw me down on the bed. I looked into his eyes as he moved over me and that was all the foreplay I needed. Pulling his shirt up so I could touch his stomach, my heart did the trippy thing. As he moved and my body pressed hard against his, he whispered, “You fit here perfectly. It’s like you were made for me.” My blissful sigh was drowned by his mouth and just as his tongue touched mine and the fireworks started in my brain, the phone beside the bed started to ring.
“Ignore it,” whispered Riley, moving to remove my t-shirt. As I pulled it over my head, I threw it over the phone to drown out the noise. I will admit it was pretty distracting having a phone ringing less than a metre away from my ear, but thankfully it did stop—only for my mobile phone to start ringing. That was in the pocket of my jeans and was even more distracting. It was Riley’s turn to sigh.
“I’ll turn it off,” I said, pulling it from my jeans pocket and reaching for the silence button. But I could see the caller was Mum. Now first off, this did put a dampener on my mood, as any thought of relatives at that moment wasn’t a good thing. It only took Riley a second to get my mind refocused. Just as he was unhooking my bra, my mobile rang again. This time it was a text from Molly. It read ‘Ring me. It’s urgent.’
I pushed Riley off and sat up in bed, alarm bells replacing the fireworks. “Something’s wrong,” I said, my fingers shaking as I pressed Molly’s number.
“What’s happened?” I asked without hearing the obligatory hello.
“Grandma’s had a fall. She’s in the hospital.”
****
We reached the hospital car park in record time, Riley getting green lights all the way. We have two hospitals in town but only one with an Emergency department. I’d visited it a few times over the years. Once when I broke my arm falling off my bike at the age of ten and then when I’d had my appendix removed at the age of twelve. But it was the two visits I’d had here earlier this year that sat the heaviest in my mind. The last occasion in particular had seen me battered, bruised and nearly broken. I forced those memories to the back of my mind and buried them under all the other crap I had hidden there, took a deep breath and stepped forward.
I felt Riley’s hand at my wrist as I walked towards the doors, unsure of what I would find. I moved my hand so my fingers entwined with his and held on tight. Molly had been vague with the information, only saying that Grandma had been visiting Ben Willett and he’d phoned an ambulance because she fallen. She had no idea why she’d fallen or what damage had been done, but Mum was in a flap, crying because her friend’s mother had done the same thing and broken her hip. She died only a few months later.
I didn’t even want to think of that scenario.
Walking in to the emergency ward, the first thing that hit me was the smell of sterility and medications. I hated hospitals, they scared me. The only people who came to a hospital because of a happy event all visited the maternity ward. And I definitely knew that wasn’t a place we would be visiting today.
As the glass doors slid open, I found Mum and Molly sitting in hard plastic chairs, their faces flushed.
“I got here as quickly as I could,” I said, kissing Mum on the cheek and giving her a hug. “How is she?”
“She’s down at x-ray,” said Mum, tapping her foot.
“Do you know what happened yet?” I asked as Riley gave Mum a hug and sat down on the seat next to her. Molly looked at me and grimaced.
“I’ll tell you later,” she whispered.
“No you won’t,” snapped Mum. “You’ll tell her now! You’ll tell her that her grandmother needs to act her age and stop giving me ulcers!” I looked at Mum, taken aback by her tone.
“Apparently Grandma and Mr. Willett were engaging in activities this afternoon,” said Molly, her fingers doing air quotes. “And she lost her balance.”
“Where’s Mr. Willett now?” I asked, looking around me.
“At home. Apparently he’s not overly concerned about what happened to your grandmother,” said Mum, standing and waving her arms around. “I mean, if she has to behave this way can’t she at least find a nice man! It was bad enough with you two,” she said, turning her anger towards Molly and I. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to be your mother? I worried about you day in and day out. The amount of useless boys that the three of you dated was enough to give any mother nightmares. You were the worst,” she said, looking at Molly. “That Henderson boy you were with was nothing but trouble. And you,” she said turning to me, “you had to lose your virginity to that Angus boy. I have no idea what you saw in him. But I knew he was trouble.” I looked at Riley only to see his eyebrows disappear somewhere around his hairline. Previous partners weren’t something we’d spoken about yet. “Actually, I think Danny was the one who gave me the least amount of trouble,” continued Mum. I wanted to remind her of a few things Danny had got up to over the years but now didn’t feel like the appropriate time. “Finally, two of you have found nice men but, just when I can lower my dose of Gaviscon, your grandmother had to start. What did I do wrong? Why didn’t she go and live with Margaret?”
Molly looked offended with the comments but decided now was not a good time to defend herself. We’d learnt years ago it was far better for your health and freedom to let Mum rant when she was in this mood.
“Is she going to be okay?” asked Riley, giving Mum a soft, comforting look. Mum’s anger dissolved instantly. Shit, I should have met Riley earlier. My teenage years would have been a whole lot easier with him around.
“I think so, Riley. They’re doing an x-ray to make certain she hasn’t broken anything. At this stage the doctor thinks she’ll just have some bruising.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding just as the doctor called Mum’s name. Mum may only be four foot eight inches tall but when she got angry, it was best to stay out of her way.
I sat in her vacant chair and allowed the shell shock to wash over me.
It only took about an hour after that for Grandma to be given the all clear and for us to be allowed to take her home. Apparently the doctor was right and she would get some pretty good bruising. Other than that, she was a lucky lady. One who should maybe reconsider her extra-curricular activities. I think Mum would be having that talk with her later.
Riley and I stopped at the fish and chip shop on the way to Mum’s and bought fish and chips for everyon
e for dinner. I knew Mum wouldn’t feel like cooking and, as Danny and Drew were calling around for a visit, it felt like the easiest option. Danny was talking to Grandma when we walked in carrying the food.
“What did you see in Ben Willett?” he asked.
“He’s got this long rod I really like,” said Grandma. I felt the wave of nausea move around the room. “He uses it when he walks and it makes him look really sexy.” Oh! She was referring to a walking stick. Thank God!
“He proved he’s not a very nice man,” said Mum, putting plates on the coffee table for everyone to help themselves to. Obviously Mum was pretty stressed after today’s events. We only got to eat in the lounge room on special occasions. Putting the paper wrapped boxes next to them, I unwrapped the fish and chips, loaded a plate up and handed it to Grandma.
“The doctor thinks I should get one of those walker things,” said Grandma, taking the plate from me. “That might be okay. I could get a glittery red one like my friend Eunice. Of course I’d get the upmarket model. Apparently it’s got a softer seat and brakes. I suppose brakes come in handy some times.”
“Yeah, like when you need to stop,” said Molly.
Chapter Five
It was a few days later that Mum rang and told me she was taking Grandma for a tour of a nursing home the following morning. Apparently she’s had enough of Grandma’s antics and her GP had told her she was getting ulcers. I felt the panic at those words and desperately tried to talk Mum out of it, saying I was sure Grandma would behave now she’d had a scare. Mum wouldn’t listen though, only telling me how nursing homes were wonderful places and if I didn’t believe her, then maybe I should tag along for the tour. So that’s what I was doing.
I’d gotten up this morning with a purpose in my step, dressed in one of my black business skirts and pulled a sensible white cotton top over my head. I pulled my hair back tight in a ponytail, applied my make up carefully and slipped on my flat black leather shoes. This was my ‘don’t mess with me’ outfit and my aim was to make Mum realize I meant business.
It Started With A Christmas Tree - A Lizzie Fuller Christmas Novella Page 4