Ellen handed her son the bulky package she had asked Justin to pass to her from its place under the tree. Tommy tore open the paper to reveal the hand-knit mittens Ellen had bought for him at the fair.
“Now, try not to lose them, will you?” Ellen said, retrieving the torn wrapping paper her son had scattered.
“Yes, Mom,” Tommy said. “I’ll try.”
Gincy shifted on the couch to look directly at her mother. “There’s one more thing, Mom,” she said.
Ellen frowned. “What have you done, Virginia? Did you forget to defrost the turkey?”
Gincy laughed. “You’re incorrigible, you know that? No, Mom, the turkey is fine. Rick saw to that when he picked it up from the butcher’s yesterday on his way into town. What I want to say is that I’d like to take you on a cruise, anywhere you’d like to go. It’s your Christmas present from us all, so you can’t say no.”
Ellen’s eyes lit up. “I most certainly will not say no! How did you know I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise?”
Gincy glanced over at her brother. “A little birdie told me.”
Tommy, still holding his new mittens, smiled.
“I’ll need some nice new clothes,” Ellen announced. “A few lightweight skirts and blouses. And do they dress up for dinner, I wonder.”
“I’ll take you shopping, Mom,” Gincy promised. “There are some nice shops at the mall in Newington.”
Ellen waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t bother with that! My sewing machine still works and I have some lovely fabric I’ve been putting aside for years. When are we going? It doesn’t matter. I’ll get started right away! And you could probably use some nice clothes too, Virginia. Even if you are less wrinkled than you used to be, I’ve seen some of the things you like to wear. Don’t tell me you still have those awful old blue jeans, the ones with the hole in the seat.”
“You wore jeans with a hole in the seat?” Rick whispered. “Wish I’d been around to see that.”
Gincy playfully slapped her husband’s leg. “Not since I was twenty-two, Mom.”
“And I have all of my old brochures . . .”
“We’ll need up-to-date brochures, Mom. Danielle is helping us with that.”
“You know, Virginia, if you had had a real wedding here in Appleville I could have met Danielle, too.”
“I know, Mom.”
“Virginia? Thank you. This is a wonderful Christmas.”
Gincy briefly took her mother’s hand. But only briefly. One step at a time.
Rick cleared his throat. “Tommy, I was thinking that when the girls are off sailing the high seas, you might like to visit Tamsin and me in Boston.”
“We can ride the swan boats, Uncle Tommy.”
Tommy looked decidedly nervous. “I’m not good on boats,” he said. “I can’t swim.”
Tamsin laughed. “Oh, it’s only a paddle boat and I think the water is, like, two feet deep. I promise you’ll be fine. The ducks follow the boat, and we can feed them. It’s fun. Except for when the seagulls try to muscle in on the poor little ducks. Once a seagull landed right next to my foot!”
Tommy shook his head. “I haven’t been to Boston in almost fifteen years. It’s probably changed a lot. I won’t know my way around.”
“You’ll have Dad and Tamsin to help you negotiate,” Justin said. “And depending on when you come, I’ll see if I can squeeze in a visit, too.”
Gincy smiled gratefully at her stepson. And she recalled the night so long ago when Tommy had showed up unannounced at her apartment in Boston with one of his degenerate buddies, looking for a place to party. The night Tommy and Rick, an unlikely pair, had first laid eyes on each other. To think they would all be here together, twenty years later, celebrating Christmas as a family . . .
“It’s time to get ready for church,” Ellen announced, pushing off the couch. “And we can’t be late—it’s terribly rude—so don’t dawdle, Virginia.”
“Okay, Mom,” Gincy said. “I promise not to dawdle.”
CHAPTER 45
Tommy drove his mother to the Church of the Risen Lord in her car; the rest of the family went in Rick’s car. The Luongos weren’t regular churchgoers, but for Ellen’s sake—as well as for the memory of Ed Gannon—they were happy to make this Christmas Day appearance. Besides, Gincy thought, a little prayer never hurt anyone, not even an only occasional believer.
“I’m glad you thought to bring something nice for Mom and me to wear, Dad,” Tamsin said from the backseat. “Who knew we were going to be in Appleville for Christmas.”
Gincy smiled. “Yes, thanks, Rick. I totally forgot to ask you when we talked. I don’t think Mom would have approved of our going to church in jeans and fleece jackets.”
Rick sighed dramatically. “Just doing my job as Super Dad,” he said. “And Super Husband.”
The parking lot was almost entirely full by the time Rick pulled in. “That’s what you like to see,” he said. “A full house on Christmas.”
Gincy, Rick, Justin, and Tamsin joined Ellen in the vestibule of the church. “Does Tommy often go to church with you, Mom?” Gincy asked, though Tommy had already told her the answer to that question. Her brother, holding the winter coat that Rick had given him privately that morning, was several feet away, talking to a man wearing a puffy orange jacket and camoflauge pants. Gincy thought he looked vaguely familiar. One of Tommy’s old buddies maybe.
“Only when I ask him to,” Ellen told her, as Tommy had done. “Except for today, I haven’t asked him to come to church with me since your father died. But maybe it would be a good thing if I did.”
“I think so, too, Mom,” Gincy said. “I think it would be good for the both of you.”
“Virginia?”
“Yes, Mom?”
“Thank you for giving Tommy the coat. I . . . For some reason I didn’t know that he needed a new one. I haven’t been as . . . as sharp lately as I might have been.”
Gincy smiled at her mother. “You can’t keep track of everything, Mom. And we have Rick to thank for the coat. If he hadn’t lost the receipt so that we couldn’t return it . . .”
“Virginia? About the cruise.”
“You do still want to go?” Gincy asked. “I think we’ll have a great time, Mom.”
“Yes, it’s not that.” Mrs. Gannon glanced quickly around as if to be sure they weren’t overheard. “I never told your father that I wanted to go on a cruise,” she said. “I knew we couldn’t afford it, and I didn’t want him to feel badly about that.”
Gincy’s heart swelled, and she smiled at her mother. “That was kind of you, Mom,” she said.
Tommy joined his family then. He had made an effort to look presentable but seemed ill at ease. Clearly dressing up—the old, ill-fitting suit jacket he had probably last worn at his father’s funeral, with his usual jeans and T-shirt—made him uncomfortable. For the life of her Gincy couldn’t remember if she had ever seen her brother in a tie. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that Tommy was here, with his family.
The service was pleasant, Gincy thought, without any of the high church trappings like incense and pomp and circumstance and heavily embroidered robes that could serve to distract some people from the words of the Old and New Testament readings. The hymns, largely unfamiliar to Gincy, Rick, and their children, were sung with gusto by the congregation. And the sermon, given by Pastor Brown—Another Brown! Gincy thought with a smile—was remarkable for its clarity and its emphasis on what Pastor Brown called “the true essence of Christmas.” And that, appropriately enough, was love. Just love.
Above all, Gincy thought, be kind.
It was so unbelievably simple.
When the service was over, Ellen seemed inclined to linger in the vestibule, where she proved to be a bit of a star. Gincy was pleased to see how many people came up to her mother to wish her well. Her mother seemed energized by the attention, and eager to introduce her family to those they hadn’t already met at the Christmas fair or at her hu
sband’s funeral.
“Mr. Tyson! I’m so glad to see you, Merry Christmas. Meet my grandchildren.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Clarke! This is my daughter, Virginia, the one I’ve told you all about. And this is her husband, Richard, and my grandchildren, Justin and Tamsin. Justin lives all on his own in Connecticut. He does something very important with money. And isn’t Tamsin pretty? And she bakes very good sugar cookies.”
“Mrs. Rogers! My daughter is taking me on a cruise! She’s a big editor in Boston. She won a prize.”
“Mrs. Garafalo, did you know that my Virginia was almost the very first baby born in Appleville in 1966? She came this close!”
Gincy nodded and said hello and shook hands when they were offered. And she was very glad that Tommy wasn’t there to hear his mother go on; he had slipped away right after the service with the man in the puffy orange jacket. The fact that he had probably taken his mother’s car was inconvenient. It meant that Ellen would have to sit in the backseat of Rick’s car with her grandchildren. But Gincy wasn’t going to make an issue of her brother’s thoughtlessness. What mattered was that he not be there to hear his sister praised so lavishly, when after all he was a worthwhile person, too. He had been the one to note their mother’s depression and to bring his sister home at long last. Gincy had never thought she would admit to this, but she had come to feel protective of her brother.
Tommy in his blue snowsuit with his adorable smile. Tommy hurting his head on the edge of the sandbox. Tommy, her partner in the glitter war. She wondered how much it would cost to get his tooth replaced.
When her mother turned to greet yet another member of the congregation, Gincy leaned into her husband. “Great,” she said. “I’m a celebrity.”
“Now, Gincy. Be nice.”
“Sorry.”
“Virginia.” Ellen turned back to her daughter. “Mrs. Miller has invited me to her house for coffee and fruitcake. Her fruitcake is famous here in Appleville, you know. She’ll drive me home well in time for Christmas dinner. Is that all right?”
“Of course, Mom,” Gincy said. “Have a good time.”
As Ellen went off with Mrs. Miller, another woman approached Gincy and introduced herself as Mrs. Buchanan.
“I saw you the other day,” Gincy said. “At the fair.”
“That’s right. You were all with that lovely blond woman in the pretty pink coat. Well, I can’t tell you how pleased we are to see your mother here today,” she said. “After your father died, she stopped coming to our bridge games and she dropped out of the Altar Guild. You know, we do the flowers for the church and keep things nice and clean and polished. And recently she hasn’t been to Sunday service, either. Anyway, we all called and stopped by the house, but she made it clear she wanted to be alone so, well, we stopped. We felt as if we were doing more harm than good. Maybe now she’s finally ready to come back to us.”
“I hope so,” Gincy said. “And thank you for being concerned.”
Mrs. Buchanan smiled. “It’s easy to be concerned for someone like Ellen Gannon. She’s just so nice.”
Gincy watched Mrs. Buchanan bustle off, and then turned back to her husband and children.
“I’m hungry again,” Tamsin announced. “I can’t stop thinking of those cheese straws Danielle sent Grandma.”
Gincy smiled and linked her arm with Rick’s. “Then let’s go home,” she said.
CHAPTER 46
“Grandma was like a celebrity,” Tamsin said, as the family drove back to Crescent Road. “I kept expecting someone to start taking pictures or something.”
Justin nodded. “I think she liked being the center of attention, especially if what Mom says is true, that she’s been in a sort of self-imposed exile since Grandpa died.”
“Mom?” Tamsin asked. “Did you recognize that guy Tommy went off with after church?”
Gincy shook her head. “No. Well, not really.” She looked over to her husband. “Can I really rely on Tommy to keep Mom fed and in good health?”
“Probably not,” Rick said. “He’ll do what he can, he loves her, but it probably won’t be enough.”
“He is what he is, Mom,” Justin said.
“He does his best,” Tamsin added. “He’s got a good heart.”
Gincy nodded. “I don’t doubt that at all, not anymore.”
“And he can burp the alphabet better than anyone I’ve ever met,” Rick pointed out.
“I have to admit he is a good burper. And he was smart enough to call me when he saw that Mom was failing. I’ve underestimated him all around.”
You live, you learn, Gnicy thought. It was what her father always used to say.
“I hope he comes back to Grandma’s for dinner,” Tamsin said worriedly.
“I think he will,” Justin said. “I think he probably just needed a little fortification after church. He was obviously uncomfortable. I think it was having to wear that jacket. I got the feeling he thought he didn’t deserve to be wearing a suit jacket. He doesn’t seem to have any self-confidence.”
Justin was probably right, Gincy thought. Tommy had probably gone somewhere with that other man for a drink; with the bars closed for Christmas, maybe they had gone to Tommy’s apartment for a few beers. But as far as she knew Tommy had never been drunk in his mother’s presence. She wasn’t worried that he would show up at the house in a sorry state.
As for Tommy lacking self-confidence, well, sadly, Justin was right about that, as well.
“I hope he comes back, too,” she said. “I’m making creamed onions. They’re his favorite. Even when he was a little kid he loved creamed onions. It’s not something most kids like.”
Rick turned to smile at his wife.
“Keep your eyes on the road, Richard.”
“Mom,” Tamsin said, “don’t forget about the roof. We have to check Grandma’s roof.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Justin asked.
“We don’t know,” Gincy told him. “Maybe nothing, but it’s on the to-do list.”
“Well, we’d better get moving on that,” Justin said. “There’s a big snowstorm predicted for the middle of next week. I’ll check Grandpa’s notes for the phone number of his repair guys and make a call first thing tomorrow.”
Gincy looked over her shoulder at her stepson. “Thank you, Justin,” she said. “That would be a huge help. By the way, Tamsin told us that you and the—that you and Lisa—broke up.”
“Yeah. She wanted a commitment from me I just wasn’t ready to give.” Justin laughed. “But her heart’s not broken. She’s already seeing someone else.”
“That’s good,” Tamsin said. “I mean that her heart’s not broken.”
“Besides, that nose ring was beginning to gross me out.”
Gincy hooted with laughter. “I knew it!” she cried.
“Septum piercing, Justin,” Tamsin said primly.
A few minutes later the family pulled up at Number Nineteen Crescent Road to see Tommy just getting out of his mother’s car. He was wearing the coat Rick had passed on to him, and Gincy could see that underneath it he wore only a T-shirt. The old suit jacket had been abandoned somewhere along the line.
“He’s home already!” Tamsin cried. “I’m so glad!”
Gincy smiled. “Me too,” she said. She felt very, very lucky at that moment to have all that she had. Mom and Tommy. Rick and Justin and Tamsin. Danielle and Clare. The memory of her father. A surfeit of riches.
There was no doubt about it, she thought, getting out of the car and waving to her brother, who waved back to her. The best Christmas present you could ever give or receive was love.
And it cost so very little.
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The Season of Us Page 19