“I don’t like this dressing, though,” Tawny muttered and stuffed a forkful into her mouth. “You know, I haven’t heard shit from Meadow ever since she got married and moved up here. What’s with that?”
Olivia could see exactly what was with that. This was why Meadow hadn’t wanted to invite her mother up for Christmas and Olivia didn’t blame her one bit. If she’d been Meadow, she’d have emancipated herself.
“Things change when kids get married,” she said in an effort to smooth ruffled feathers. “They get busy, move away.”
“They moved in with you,” pointed out Tawny. “I can see why, though. This beats my old dump. But hey, when you’re on government assistance, you have to take what you can get.”
“Everyone needs assistance now and then.” Olivia felt sure that Tawny’s government assistance was not temporary.
“Damn straight. It wasn’t my fault I couldn’t work. I have a disability.”
“Oh.”
“I worked for a while, but I got back problems. That’s all behind me. I’m doing good now.”
Olivia wondered what had happened to change Tawny’s circumstances, but she didn’t ask. Most likely Tawny would get around to sharing that, anyway. She brought over a mug of coffee and set it on the coffee table. “Do you take anything in your coffee?”
“Yeah. Whiskey.”
And that was going to happen. Not. “All I have is cream and sugar.” And schnapps for hot chocolate. No way was Tawny getting any of that.
“Oh. Well, then sugar. The stuff’s so bitter you have to put something in it.”
Olivia fetched her sugar bowl. Tawny ignored both that and the coffee. “If I had a place like this, my life would have been a lot better. Hell, if I’d ever met a decent man. Guess I followed in my mom’s footsteps. Not that I saw much of her once I was in foster care.”
It looked like she’d had some strikes against her. For the first time, Olivia actually felt sorry for the woman. And even sorrier for Meadow.
“Meadow’s dad was a real dick, let me tell you,” Tawny continued. “Arielle’s wasn’t much better. No, it’s mostly been me and the girls.” She shook her head. “Every time I think I’ve got a good one, he turns out to be a loser. This last one...” Another head shake. “But hey, things have a way of working out and I’m doing okay. I’ve still got some money left from my settlement.”
“Settlement?”
“Didn’t Meadow tell you? I slipped on some spilled pop at Burger Babe’s. Had me a hell of a lawsuit. I wound up with a buttload of money. Of course, it goes fast, doesn’t it? A couple of trips to Vegas, a new car for Arielle, the little ingrate. And speaking of ingrates, did that bitch, Gina, appreciate me loaning her money to get a boob job? Did she even pay me back one penny? Nooo.” Tawny glared at her plate and set it next to her on the couch. “Well, you learn who your friends are, is all I can say, and I’m not helping any more losers. At least I got my Hummer out of the deal and a nice little apartment. And I got Meadow launched. She’d always wanted to learn to ski like those rich kids. And now look at her. She’s one of them.”
Olivia and her family weren’t exactly rich, but she supposed wealth was all relative.
A knock on the door announced Meadow’s arrival. “Mom, what are you doing here?” she asked anxiously.
“I’m talking with your mom-in-law. What does it look like I’m doing? And she’s a lot more fun to talk to than those stuck-up people I was sitting with, I can tell you that.”
Meadow wasn’t smiling, and the cockiness that was so embedded in her personality was missing. She was clearly embarrassed. “How about we go back to your room?”
“What for? Olive and me are having fun.” Tawny grabbed her glass and drained the last of her spiked cider. “You know, I’m not a big wine drinker, but this cider is pretty good stuff once you add something to it. You got any more?”
“You’ve had enough,” Meadow said firmly, striding to the couch and taking her mother’s arm.
Tawny pulled away. “Where do you get off telling me when I’ve had enough?”
“Arielle’s all by herself,” Meadow said, obviously trying a new tactic.
“Arielle could care less,” Tawny scoffed. “She’s been pissed all day,” she confided to Olivia. “She wanted to spend the night with her boyfriend. And he’s really a loser.”
“Mom,” Meadow begged. “Come on. Olivia has to get back to the dining room. They need help serving dessert.”
Tawny shook her head. “What a rip. You own the place and you have to wait on all those stuck-up people.”
“I’m afraid so,” Olivia said and stood. She’d never imagined she’d find herself feeling grateful to Meadow for anything, but right now she was. “It’s been nice visiting with you,” she lied.
“You, too.” Tawny stood and swayed slightly, and Meadow grabbed her arm to steady her. “You’re all right.” She took a step toward Olivia and then embraced her, losing her balance in the process and almost toppling them both. “Oops.” She giggled. “I guess your wine and my Jack Daniel’s don’t get along.”
“I guess not,” Meadow said in disgust. “Come on.”
She eased her mother out the door. “Sorry,” she whispered to Olivia.
“It’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be better in the morning,” Olivia assured her.
“I doubt it.”
Oh, boy. Olivia could hardly wait for Christmas morning.
Chapter Seventeen
What can compare with the joy of gathering with family at Christmas?
—Muriel Sterling, A Guide to Happy Holidays
Olivia woke up dreading Christmas Day. She hadn’t felt like that since the Christmas after her first husband died. This, she reminded herself, was only going to be an awkward day. No one had died and all the kids were well. There was no need for this desire to crawl back under the covers. Still, that was what she wanted to do. And if she wanted to, what was poor Meadow feeling?
James’s side of the bed was empty and she could smell coffee. A moment later he came into the room, still in his pajamas but wearing a Santa hat and carrying a steaming mug, the cat trotting after him. “Merry Christmas,” he sang.
“And to you,” she said, smiling up at him.
He handed her the mug and sat down on his side of the bed. “Are you ready for the big day?”
“As ready as I’m ever going to be,” she said with a sigh. “I hope we all survive Christmas morning with Meadow’s family.”
“I’m sure we will,” he said. “Meanwhile...” He pulled open his nightstand drawer and took out a small box from Mountain Jewels wrapped in red ribbon. “Merry Christmas to my darling wife.”
“Oh, James, you’re the sweetest man,” she said, taking it.
“Who’s married to the sweetest woman. Open it.”
She did and found a mother’s ring with the birthstones of her two boys surrounded by tiny diamonds. “Oh, James, it’s lovely,” she breathed. “I thought we weren’t going to exchange presents this year,” she scolded.
“I agreed to not exchanging presents,” he said. “I didn’t agree to not getting you one.”
“Well, I agreed to not exchanging presents, also, but...” She leaned over and took a present from her nightstand drawer, another box from Mountain Jewels.
He shook his head at her. “You didn’t keep our bargain.”
“I kept it the same way you did. Open it.”
James opened his to find an old-fashioned pocket watch with a Santa etched on it. “Oh, Olivia,” he said, teary eyed. “This is a wonderful present.”
“Read the inscription,” she urged.
He opened the watch and read. “‘To Santa from Mrs. Claus, with love.’ I’ll treasure it always.”
“You’re the best Santa I’v
e ever seen,” she told him. “I’m glad I got back to the dining room to see you in action, giving away all those little presents.”
Ever since his first stay at the lodge, James had donned his Santa suit and doled out small presents for all their guests. The women usually got soap, while the men received smoked salmon or hot sauce from Local Yokels, a shop that specialized in products made in the Northwest. The young children usually received bubble solution and slightly older children were each given a five-dollar gift card to spend on a smoothie or latte at Bavarian Brews. It was an extra expense but he loved doing it and the guests were always touched by the special show of kindness.
“I’m glad, too,” he said. “My night definitely was more fun than yours.”
“And we still have to get through the day.”
“If it’s any consolation, I doubt they’ll stay for dinner. So all you have to do is get through opening presents.”
A new thought occurred. “What if they decide to extend their stay another day?”
James chuckled. “We’ll give them dinner and then send them off with Meadow and Brandon.”
Olivia shook her head. “My poor son.”
“It’s the price of marriage. You usually get the family along with the girl. I was lucky. Both the girl and her family are great,” he added and kissed her.
Now she really didn’t want to leave her bed. But duty called. They shared one more kiss, and then she got dressed and made her way to the kitchen to make coffee cake and put her egg casserole in the oven. In addition to the casserole and coffee cake, she would serve a fruit salad.
After that, guests were on their own. Several restaurants in town served Christmas dinner, which allowed Olivia to spend the rest of the day with her family—something she normally looked forward to. She wasn’t so sure about today.
Brandon made it down to help with breakfast. “Meadow’s in bed eating crackers and trying not to puke, but she’ll be down in time for cleanup.”
“How about her mother and sister?” Olivia asked.
“Haven’t seen ’em, thank God.”
And they didn’t. Olivia did dispatch Brandon with coffee and some coffee cake. “Tell them we’ll be having our own party around eleven,” she said.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they won’t want to come.”
Olivia wasn’t holding her breath. She had a strong suspicion that Tawny was determined to embed herself as deeply as possible into her new family.
True to her word, Meadow came down to help with the postbreakfast cleanup at ten. She looked both tired and embarrassed and could hardly meet Olivia’s gaze when she came into the kitchen with a load of dirty plates.
“How did you sleep?” Olivia asked.
“Okay,” she said and hurried over to the commercial sink.
Olivia followed her. “Meadow.”
Meadow kept her back to Olivia. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for.”
“Yeah, there is. She’s my mom.”
“And she loves you. She’s very proud of you.”
Meadow focused on scraping leftovers off a plate. “I wish I could say the same about her.”
“None of us is perfect.”
Meadow swiped at her eyes. “I wish she hadn’t come.”
So did Olivia. “I know. But she is your mother.”
“I wish you were my mother,” Meadow said softly.
The words pierced Olivia’s heart. This irritating, needy girl was no one she’d have picked for a daughter-in-law, but for the first time she felt true empathy for her. How sad that Meadow felt the way she did about her mom. How sad that Tawny hadn’t earned the love and devotion of her child.
How sad that Olivia hadn’t had the grace to welcome her with open arms. “I may not be your mother, but I’ll be here for you,” she promised and slipped an arm around Meadow’s shoulder.
Meadow nodded and wiped away fresh tears. “Thanks. And thanks for putting up with her.”
“She’s not so bad.” Uncouth, ill-mannered, low class, yes. But she loved her daughter enough to want to be with her at Christmas and that had to count for something.
Right at eleven she was at Olivia’s door, wearing pajama bottoms and a long red sweater, dragging along her designer purse and a bottle of gin with a red bow stuck on it. Arielle had also dressed for the occasion in ripped jeans and a T-shirt under her jacket that asked WTF? She wore a red bandanna over her hair and—surprise!—a scowl.
If Olivia had Tawny for a mother, she’d scowl, too. She forced a smile and a “Merry Christmas.”
“Yeah, merry, merry,” Tawny chirped, entering the apartment, her daughter slouching in after her. She handed over the bottle. “I always like to bring a hostess gift.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said and hoped Tawny didn’t expect her to open it right then.
“Hey, Olive, do you have any aspirin? I’ve got a bitch of a headache.”
“Of course,” Olivia said and went to fetch aspirin. For both Tawny and herself.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Tawny asked, flopping on the couch.
“Well, we’ll be snacking and opening presents,” Olivia said. She couldn’t bring herself to mention that after all the presents had been opened, the family would be sharing a meal together.
Arielle eyed the plate of Christmas cookies on the coffee table and helped herself to one of the sugar-cookie trees. “This is good,” she said, crumbs spilling from her mouth. She almost smiled.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Oh, yeah.” Arielle helped herself to another. “Mom doesn’t bake.”
“I do too bake,” Tawny insisted.
Arielle made a face.
“Just not a lot,” Tawny added. “It takes a lot of time to make cookies. And if I have ’em in the house, I’ll just eat ’em. And let me tell you, I don’t need the extra pounds.”
Tawny wasn’t carrying any extra pounds that Olivia could see.
“You know how it is, Olive. A minute on your lips, forever on your butt.” She dug in her purse and pulled out a vape pen.
Oh, no. Olivia drew the line at that. “I’m sorry, but we don’t smoke in here.”
Tawny frowned. “Oh. Well, then, I’ll just go outside for a minute. You got a deck?”
Olivia nodded to the sliding glass door off the kitchen. “We have a patio.”
Tawny nodded. She slid the door open, then stood in the doorway, blowing out smoke and letting in cold air. “It’s a bad habit,” she called back to Olivia. “I’m gonna quit in the New Year.”
She’d just shut the door when Eric and Brooke arrived. “Merry Christmas,” Brooke said, kissing Olivia and her father as Eric put their presents under the tree.
“Merry Christmas, dear,” Olivia said.
“Who’s this?” Tawny asked.
“This is my son Eric and my stepdaughter, Brooke.”
“I think I saw you last night,” Tawny said to her. “You look ready to pop.”
“I’m due next month,” Brooke said.
“And they still make you work? Olive, you’re a real meanie,” Tawny joked.
“I want to help,” Brooke hurried to say.
“You ought to take it easy while you can,” Tawny advised her. “Once you have kids, you never get any rest, believe me.”
“That’s okay,” Brooke said easily. “We’re looking forward to the baby.”
“Yeah, well, don’t count on ever looking good in a bikini again,” Tawny advised just as Meadow and Brandon entered. “Well, here’s my lazy-butt daughter,” she said, hurrying over to give Meadow a hug. “You got up later than me and I had a hangover.”
“I didn’t feel good, Mom,” Meadow said irritably.
> “Not because you had too much to drink,” Tawny said in disgust. “Couldn’t convince her to have a nightcap with me,” she told Olivia.
“Well, it’s not a good idea for her to be drinking right now,” Olivia said in Meadow’s defense. She didn’t see the desperate look Meadow was giving her until the words had already escaped. Oh, no.
“What do you mean right now?” Tawny asked. She looked at Meadow, brows knit. “Hey, wait a minute. Are you knocked up?”
“You didn’t tell your mom?” Brandon asked, surprised.
Meadow bit her lip.
One moment later it was apparent why she hadn’t. “OMG, Meadow. What’s the rush?” Tawny demanded.
“I think it’s cool,” Arielle said from where she sat on the couch.
“Yeah, well, that’s because nobody’s gonna be calling you Grandma.” Tawny shook her head at her daughter. “You should be having some fun before you settle down.”
“I don’t want to have fun,” Meadow retorted, her cheeks flushed. “I want to have a baby.” She moved away from her mother and went to sit next to the tree, where Brandon had been setting out their presents.
“We’ll have fun with the baby,” he assured her and gave her a hug.
“Yeah, easy for you to say,” Tawny said with a snort. “You had your fun. Now she’ll be the one doing all the work.”
“That’s not how we do things in this family,” Brandon said, his easy smile hardening into a straight line.
“Yeah, you all look like you’ve got your shit together,” Tawny admitted.
High praise, indeed. “So, what does everyone want to drink?” Olivia said, forcing holiday cheer into her voice. “We’ve got coffee, tea and cocoa,” she hurried to add before Tawny could suggest they break open the gin.
Happily, conversation moved away from babies and lost figures. With everyone supplied with cocoa, coffee and pastry, the present opening began.
Eric and Brandon were happy with their gift cards from the nearby ski resort, which they could use for lift tickets and whatever new ski paraphernalia they needed, and Brooke was delighted with the cuckoo clock Olivia and James had picked out for her.
Christmas in Icicle Falls Page 24