Adele had no preference and was content to follow Claire, who liked working on the painted boxes. She had a real talent for painting delicate flowers and other designs from nature once the wood was covered by a bright glossy paint.
They had worked out a system where Adele painted the base coat on the box and Claire did the special design. It worked out well, and they were quite productive.
“Oh, hello, Adele. I didn’t know you were coming back to help us tonight.” Sophie Potter joined them at the table. “I thought you left for Vermont.”
Adele was not surprised that Sophie knew of her plans. It was a small congregation, and any sort of news traveled fast.
“I had some car trouble, so here I am,” she explained. “I should be here until Sunday, actually,” she added, though she didn’t say why.
“Good idea to stay put. There’s snow coming. Lots of it.”
Vera Plante sat across the table, carefully coating a small round box with bright blue paint. “And that gives me a good idea. I’m going to paint white snowflakes on this one.”
Adele hoped the snow wouldn’t affect the party plans. But weather forecasters were known to get all excited about nothing. Besides, folks in New England did not panic over a few inches—or even a few feet—of the white stuff.
Grace Hegman sat at the far end of the table. She had already painted several boxes in pale but interesting lavenders and greens and was now using a very fine brush to add the details. “Everyone loves a white Christmas . . . unless they have to go out shopping in it,” she observed.
“Has the shop been busy, Grace?” Claire asked.
“We have a lot of browsers, not so many buyers yet. They all rush in at the last minute, wondering where the pin or the ring or the teacup they’ve been eyeing for weeks disappeared to. Well, someone else thought it was a good bargain, too.” She poked her brush into a small jar of craft paint and pursed her lips. “I try to stay pleasant and patient, hold on to the holiday spirit and all that at this time of year, but it’s not easy.”
Adele bit back a smile. Grace had never been known for an easygoing personality. Then again, she did have a great burden to bear, caring for her elderly father, which she did with great grace and forbearance. She could easily be excused for not being the most relaxed shopkeeper in town, couldn’t she?
The women chatted and worked as the time flew by. At one point, Adele looked up and saw Reverend Ben walk in, a stack of folders under one arm. Adele guessed he had just come out of a meeting, perhaps the trustees or church council. He sat on so many committees, she didn’t know how he kept them all straight. But after so many years, running the church must come automatically to him cause he did it so very well.
He stopped to talk to Sophie, who was the head of the Christmas Fair committee, but when he noticed Adele, he smiled and walked over to talk to her.
“I thought you left for Vermont yesterday. Are you back so soon?” he teased her.
“I started on my way, but didn’t even make it over the bridge. A tire blew out. Luckily, I hadn’t gone very far and wasn’t going very fast.”
“That is fortunate. A blowout can be very dangerous on the highway. So, you’re just waiting for the car to be repaired then? Will it take very long?”
“It didn’t take long,” Adele told him. “I picked it up this morning. But the situation has changed a bit around here. It looks like we’re going to have a family reunion on Saturday. At Molly’s house,” she added, trying hard to tamp down her excitement. “So I don’t want to miss that.”
Reverend Ben’s eyes widened. “Of course not. Will the whole family be there—your son Kevin and his wife and children, too?”
Adele nodded. “He’ll be invited. He knows that I came here and why. But we aren’t telling Joe that Kevin is coming,” she added. “I know it seems underhanded, but we didn’t want to risk him skipping the party.”
She hoped the reverend wouldn’t think she was being dishonest and manipulative, tricking Joe this way.
Reverend Ben did look concerned. “I understand your reasoning,” he said finally. “I hope that you’re not disappointed. I hope it works out well for everyone.”
“Thank you, Reverend. We have to take our chances, I guess. Please say a prayer for us?”
“I already have you on my list,” he promised.
They talked for a few moments more, and then Reverend Ben was called away to another table.
Adele’s high spirits were dampened a bit by his realistic reminder. You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. She and her grandchildren could set the perfect table for reconciliation, but that didn’t mean that Joe and Kevin would partake.
But just as she’d told Reverend Ben, that was a chance they had to take.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
When Molly woke up on Friday morning she wanted to cry. But she knew it wouldn’t help. After all her fine promises to her grandmother and Sam, she wasn’t really sure how she could pull off such a big party in such a short time—and keep up with her own business, which was hitting the annual holiday peak of insanity. Her partner, Betty, was still out, which didn’t help matters. Molly felt as if she had been pulling double shifts for the last two weeks.
She was sipping her coffee, trying to make a list but staring into space, when her husband’s voice finally caught her attention. “Molly . . . did you hear anything I just said?”
“I’m sorry, hon. I was just thinking.”
Matt sat down across from her. He had on his overcoat and was already holding his car keys. “When I put Betty on the bus she said, ‘Tell Mommy, please don’t forget the cupcakes.’ I assume you know what that means?”
“Oh, right . . .” Molly had promised cupcakes for Betty’s class party today. Thank goodness the child had remembered. “Got it covered.” She quickly made another note on her pad.
“Are you okay? I know you didn’t sleep well last night. You were tossing around like a fish. You know, you don’t have to do this big party for your family if you don’t want to. We can all just go out to a restaurant. I’m sure that would be all right with everyone.”
“Not at this time of year, honey. Every decent place with a room big enough for this clan is booked solid. Hey, why don’t we all go over to the Spoon Harbor Inn and surprise my dad at work? There’s a solution.”
He gave her a look. “I’m serious, Molly.”
“Sorry, I’m just getting punchy or something.” She sighed. “I know I was totally against this idea at first, but I changed my mind. I think it’s the right thing to do. I have to step up and help Grandma Addie . . . and help Dad, too. Besides, I can’t back out of it now. It’s tomorrow night. Everything is set. Everyone is coming.”
“I guess you can’t,” he agreed. “Your uncle is coming, too?”
Molly nodded. “Uncle Kevin is totally onboard and ready to work things out with Dad. I just want it to be really nice. A real holiday feeling, warm and welcoming. Candles, garlands, everything really pretty. I want to set the right tone, know what I mean?”
“Honey, you couldn’t throw a bad party if you tried. It’s going to be just great. At least the girls are home to help. That should make you feel better.”
“Thank heaven. I have to admit, I think it’s a sign. Someone up there is trying to help me.” Was it luck, or had some of the desperate prayers she had mumbled this week been answered?
Matt was still watching her carefully. “So what’s on the menu?”
“The menu?” Molly shrugged. “I just added on to whatever the crew was preparing for parties already being catered this weekend. As for the chairs, tables, plates, silverware, flowers, and so on, I just wrote up an order for us. Sonya will have it all carted over here sometime before tomorrow morning.”
Matt nodded, looking satisfied that she had it all in
hand.
But there was still the house to deal with—cleaning, decorating, rearranging the furniture. How would all that get done? Molly had imagined doing it all herself, staying up until two in the morning.
Then yesterday her older girls, Amanda and Lauren, had come home together from New York a few days earlier than they had planned. Their homecoming cheered Molly’s heart and made her feel she was on the right track. The family had spent the evening trimming the Christmas tree and eating pizza, which was just the break she needed. Before the night was over, she had recruited their help with the party and had already left a long to-do list for them on the kitchen counter, right next to the coffeemaker, where they wouldn’t miss it. She was sure they would sleep in, but they were pretty fast workers once they got going.
“The girls will be a huge help, no question,” Molly told her husband as he finally got ready to go to work.
“Don’t worry, honey. It will all work out,” he promised her. Molly just nodded. She was starting to feel cautiously encouraged.
But the biggest surprise and boost came when Molly arrived at the shop later that morning. Betty Bowman—her business partner and best friend in the entire world—stood at the metal worktable, dressed in her burgundy Willoughby Fine Foods apron, as she checked a row of covered aluminum trays against a work order.
Betty looked up and smiled when Molly walked in. She didn’t say a word. She knew she didn’t have to. Molly would do the shouting for both of them.
“Betty! What are you doing here? You said next week or maybe even after Christmas.”
“I didn’t say that, my doctor did. I had an appointment yesterday and told him I just couldn’t stand being in the house anymore. He was going to have to change my back support for a straitjacket—or give me one for my poor husband.”
Molly knew that wasn’t true. Betty and Nick had the perfect relationship. They had found each other late in life and had only been married two years. They were still in the honeymoon stage, and seemed like one of those couples who might never leave that phase.
“Don’t give me that. I think Nick probably hated the idea that you were going back to work today,” Molly said. She laughed and gave Betty a hug. “You might end up needing a straitjacket anyway if you hang around here long enough.”
“Yeah, I know.” Betty nodded, and her smooth blond hair fell across her eyes. “If I see any angry Morgans, I’ll just hide out in the pantry.”
Molly and Betty were in constant contact on the phone and by e-mail, so Betty knew everything going on in Molly’s family.
“Good plan. I’ll come with you.” Molly took off her coat and left it on a chair. “I hope you didn’t come back here before you were totally recovered, just because I’m having that party tomorrow night. That better not be the reason. Or I’ll send you right home,” Molly warned.
“Oh, I know you can pull that together blindfolded and still manage this place. Honestly, my doctor gave me a total all clear. I just can’t lift anything heavier than a stuffed mushroom. Maybe I’m a medical miracle . . . or maybe you’re trying to do the right thing for your family and someone up there is trying to help you along?”
Molly wasn’t sure about the answer to that question and didn’t have time to figure it out. “Honestly, Betty, when I got up this morning I wanted to cry. But I knew it wouldn’t help.”
“And now?” Betty asked.
“I think it might be all right. I think it might just all work out.”
Molly tried to hold that good thought as she worked hard the rest of the day. The hours went by much faster with Betty around, and she was able to leave the shop in time for dinner.
Lauren and Amanda had finished their list and made a big dent in the housework and decorating. They had also fixed dinner for everyone. Betty would be in the shop tomorrow managing their business, which left Molly with an entire day to put the final, professional touches on the party.
It was all falling into place, Molly realized as she went up to bed that night. And she had even remembered to get the cupcakes over to the school for the class party.
* * *
“So, are you pleased? Everything seems to be going fine so far.” Matt had come up beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.
Molly turned to her husband with a small, cautious smile. “So far, so good. But we’re hardly done with the first act.”
Her husband laughed quietly. “You’re always your toughest critic, Molly.”
That was true. But it was hard for her to let go and go with the flow tonight. She was sure she wouldn’t relax until the night was over, though the stage for this family gathering had been perfectly set. Even she had to admit it. Her large, gracious home never looked better than it did during the holidays and rarely as welcoming as it looked tonight.
Their grand Christmas tree—even taller than usual this year—was the focus of the living room. The star on top practically brushed the twelve-foot ceiling. Sam was still admiring it, a beer in hand, as he kidded Matt about driving a cherry picker into the living room to put the lights on. Matt was notoriously un-handy, and Sam never tired of teasing him about it.
A fire crackled in the big stone hearth, and the mantel was covered with a green garland, a row of white ceramic angels, and glowing tapers. Candles of all shapes and sizes were placed throughout the house, casting the rooms in a warm, friendly light. A pleasing scent of cinnamon and ginger mingled with the fresh pine.
The tables were set with matching golden tablecloths and dark green runners. The centerpieces, which she had made herself, were a combination of pine, holly, and long-stemmed white roses accented with golden bows. White china plates and thick linen napkins were stacked at the end of the long buffet, and large silver platters offered only the very best from her shop’s kitchen—giant shrimp and snow crab on cracked ice, baked clams and Oysters Rockefeller, miniature crab cakes, and spinach feta puffs. There were trays of gourmet cheeses; smoked salmon dotted with crème fraîche and bits of caviar; cool, tart vegetable dip; and even Grandma Addie’s hot artichoke and cheese spread. For the kids, pigs in a blanket, mini pizza bites, and carrot sticks, though some adults liked those choices, too. Molly would politely look away when she found grownups cruising that table.
As Molly checked the trays, making sure nothing needed to be replenished, her grandmother suddenly appeared beside her.
“Can I help you with the something, Grandma?”
Her grandmother shook her head. “Maybe later. Everything looks so good, almost too good to eat. I’m honestly overwhelmed. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“Well, I’m not going to say it was a total snap,” Molly admitted. “But it was definitely worth it.”
Worth all the trouble and more, just to see the look on her grandmother’s face when she had come in the door. No one could say whether their plan would work, but Molly felt she had done the right thing to help in the way that she could.
“I think it’s wonderful, dear. Truly magnificent. If I knew this side of the family was partying in such a fashion, I would have come for a surprise visit much sooner.”
Molly laughed and slipped her arm around her grandmother’s shoulders. If Adele was nervous about what the evening would bring, she didn’t seem to show it. Molly was definitely nervous but doing her best to hide it. That was a certain form of courage—to feel the fear and keep going anyway. Maybe it was a family talent.
“I’m not saying we don’t have nice parties, but this one is special. It reminds me of how we always loved coming to your house after Christmas. Now, that was special.” Molly felt wistful, thinking about those annual visits that had ended right after her grandfather died.
“Yes, it was. I hope you’ll all come back very soon. You come any time. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”
Molly knew what she meant. They had all wai
ted a long time to come together again. Too long, perhaps. Her grandmother would not live in that sweet old house forever. “We will, Grandma,” Molly promised. She meant it, too.
Sam and his family had arrived first, bringing Grandma Addie with them. Then her brother Eric and her brother Glen and their families showed up. Their oldest brother, Jim, and his wife had just walked in a few minutes ago. Laurie, the youngest sister, was still in Florida and not due to arrive until next week. That was a shame. Molly had a feeling that Christmas Eve was going to seem like a footnote after this get-together. But Sam and her sister-in-law Jessica always made a wonderful night for the family. Maybe they would do things a little differently this year, but it would be no less fun. The point was being together, as family, whether the menu was caviar or pizza.
Jessica was in the living room, too, talking with Eric’s wife, Cindy, and their youngest son, Aaron. The house was full and lively, just the way Molly liked it. She had been brooding about her empty nest and looking forward to seeing the rooms full for the holidays. Well, be careful of what you wish for, she thought. This was a bounty she had never expected.
Lauren, Amanda, and Jillian were hanging out in the family room with their cousins, Darrell and Tyler. Molly knew these events could be boring for kids, but she also knew they liked them anyway.
Lily and Betty, who were great pals, were heading upstairs to play in Betty’s room. Then they turned and walked toward Molly. Betty tugged on Molly’s satin skirt. “When are the new cousins coming, Mommy?” she asked for the umpteenth time.
“Soon, honey. They should be here any minute.” Molly checked her watch. Uncle Kevin was almost a half hour late. Not enough to worry about, yet. But he did have a history of being unreliable, a little voice reminded her. Then she stopped herself. As Sam had told her all week, they all had to wipe the slate clean in this relationship. Uncle Kevin had changed a great deal and if this evening was going to work and the family was going to come back together, they had to all stop judging their uncle and stop seeing him through their father’s eyes—and see him through their own.
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