A Heartfelt Christmas Promise

by Nancy Naigle

  “Why is that?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not very popular. I don’t do a lot of the things the popular girls do. It’s fine. I don’t care.”

  “I know how you feel. I used to be the same way. I was even younger than you when I started Vanessa’s Fine Vintage Frills.”

  “A business?”

  “Yep. When I was in junior high school, I dreamed of being a fashion designer. All the kids teased me, but they all came to me for fashion advice. I guess it was the price to have friends. I wasn’t confident enough to say anything when they picked on me.”

  “What did you make?”

  “I’d go to swap meets and sales with my cousin, then I’d alter and embellish the clothing or handbags and sell them. It was a pretty good little business.”

  “That is so cool. I have zero fashion sense. I’m the least girly girl in our school. I get picked on for the opposite.”

  “I’m sorry. No matter what the reason, it’s unkind. I still remember the nicknames and jokes they made. I’m doing so much better than those girls now, but those words still sting.”

  “I do know what you mean.”

  “I wish I had some good advice for you, but honestly I didn’t handle it well. I don’t know what someone should do in that situation, but I will say this. If you need fashion advice, consider me on speed dial for you.” Vanessa took another sip of her tea.

  “Thank you. I might have to take you up on that.”

  “I’d love it,” Vanessa said. “You know what else I loved. I went to the football game last week. Your team is good.”

  “They always are. I love the football games too. I was there that night.” She nibbled on another sandwich quietly. “I got asked to the winter dance this year.”

  “Really? Is it your first formal dance?”

  “It is.”

  “You must be so excited.”

  “I’m not sure. I ordered a dress, but it hasn’t come in yet, and I’m worried how my dad is going to act when my date shows up. Dad has always said I couldn’t date until I was thirty. He’s kind of protective. In a good way, though.”

  Vanessa laughed. “Misty, every father says that. Don’t worry. You’ll survive it. I did, and my dad scared my first date so bad the poor guy could barely speak for the first hour we were at the dance. I was mortified.”

  “Oh my gosh.”

  “I still remember it like yesterday. His name was Brad. But it turned out fine. I think most dads act that way. Must be in their DNA or something. Don’t worry, you’re going to have a great time. Tell me all about your dress.”

  “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s kind of a deep blue color. Dark, but bright at the same time.”

  “A jewel tone.”

  “I guess.” She shrugged. “It’s kind of simple, but it looked pretty online.”

  The rest of the night was mostly talking about the food. Who liked what best, until they both tossed their napkins on their plates and admitted defeat.

  “I can’t eat one more bite,” Misty said.

  “Me either. This was such a treat.”

  The waitress came over and with a playful tinge in her voice said, “What, you can’t finish?”

  “No way. Thank you for suggesting this. We’ve really enjoyed it.”

  Misty nodded her head the whole time Vanessa spoke. “It was fabulous.”

  Vanessa handed the waitress her corporate card.

  Misty placed her hands on the edge of the table. “Tonight was better than I’d even hoped. You made my whole year.”

  Vanessa loved her enthusiasm. “I tell you what. If we can implement those changes together in a super quick time frame, we will come back to celebrate that too.”

  Misty sat back in her chair. “Really. You’re taking me … my ideas … seriously under consideration?”

  “I am. They are sound, and well thought out. If you have data to back them, we’d be crazy not to put them into action. It’s all the work I’d have had to do to make a plan, only you have the benefit of having worked in the environment. We’re going to sit down Monday with your plan and documents. We’ll tighten them up, and get down to work.”

  “Oh my gosh. I can barely breathe right now.” Misty fanned her face. “I’ve dreamed of this, but I never thought it would happen.”

  “I promise you this. Whether we’d ever met, you are going to do great things. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Sunday morning, Vanessa woke up before the sun came up, beating Anna to the kitchen to make coffee. She sipped a cup of coffee thinking about the parade this evening. Her first impression of Mike had been good. He was handsome and nice. If they’d met anywhere else, when she wasn’t shutting down a company, maybe things would’ve played out differently for them.

  Staring into the fireplace, she argued with herself. The odds of meeting Mike, or anyone, somewhere other than a jobsite were slim to none. She never did anything but work. The problem was she didn’t know how to rearrange her priorities and balance out her life.

  Work was what kept her going. Anytime she slowed down she couldn’t stop thinking about the work she should be doing.

  She tucked her bare feet underneath her, resisting the urge to go check on the status of things.

  “Good morning.” Anna pulled the belt of her fluffy robe around her as she came down the hall. “I love the smell of coffee in the morning.”

  “Me too.” Vanessa jumped from her chair and made a cup for Anna, meeting her in the kitchen doorway with it. “Here you go.”

  “Big day with the parade this afternoon. Buck said the tree lighting is at six at the hospital. I bet it’ll be beautiful.”

  “We can do both.”

  “We? You’ll be doing the parade with Mike.”

  “It’s not a one-on-one date. Everyone in town will be attending that parade. Including you.” She scrunched her lips. “All I care about is spending time with you.”

  “You should meet Mike for the parade without me. Just let go and enjoy all this town has to offer. We can do something tomorrow.”

  “You need to come to the parade. It’ll be fun. Besides, I have to work tomorrow.”

  “Actually, I was going to talk to you about that. Buck offered to take me to get a tree tomorrow. A live tree. We’re going to cut it down ourselves.” Anna gulped down the rest of her first cup of coffee. “Are you ready for more too? I’m a two-cup-a-morning gal.”

  “What? When did that happen? You don’t just drop a headline like that and then offer to serve coffee.” Vanessa was stymied a bit, but also excited about this for Anna. “I want details.”

  “As soon as I get us more coffee.” She disappeared into the kitchen, then came back in and sat on the couch next to Vanessa. “I went for a little walk yesterday. I met the nicest lady at the bakery. I think she was a friend of the owner of the place. She and I got to talking, and she recommended the best cupcake. Oh gosh. You missed out, but we’ll go back together and get one. Anyway, while I was there, Buck came in. I’d asked the shop owner about where we could buy a tree, and she was telling me where the local tree lots are. Buck overheard and insisted he take us to his friend’s tree farm. We’re going to pick out, and cut down, our own tree.”

  “That’s going to be fun.” Vanessa rubbed her hands together at the thought of all that sticky sap getting on her hands. “I bet fresh-cut pine trees are sappy. I bet you’re as sticky as duct tape.”

  Anna ticktocked a finger in the air. “I’m going to let that big strong man carry it! Chivalry is not dead, my dear.”

  “Since when?”

  “Sometimes you just have to remind men what they need to do. Trust me, it’s not hard, and I think they kind of like all that door opening and pampering when given the chance.”

  “Clearly I’ve been doing this all wrong. I need a date coach.”

  “Careful what you wish for, Vanessa. I do grant wishes.”

  Anna always had been like a
fairy godmother. “I was joking about the date coach. I’m not ready for all that, but I’m glad you have plans you’re so excited about. I don’t feel nearly as bad about working now.”

  “I never want you to feel bad about working. I just wish you had better work and life balance. You do what you have to do tomorrow. Don’t you worry about me, but promise me we’ll make a plan to attend some of the festivities together too.”

  “Deal. We can get them on my calendar and I can work around them.”

  “We’d better get dressed,” Anna said, jumping to her feet.

  “The parade isn’t until this afternoon. They are calling for snow, though. I wonder if they’ll still have it if it snows.”

  “Oh, Edna said the parade is rain or shine.”

  “Edna?”

  “Yes. The lady I met at the bakery. Weren’t you listening?”

  “You never mentioned her name. Edna Barkley?”

  “Well, she never mentioned her surname. I don’t know.”

  “Older woman, about your height with white hair and rosy round cheeks? Glasses?”

  “That sounds like her. Isn’t she great?”

  Tightness at the back of Vanessa’s neck caused her to raise her shoulders and take in a breath. “That’s the woman I gave the retirement package to that everyone in town is so upset about.”

  “Oh?” Anna pulled her lips into a tight line. “She seemed to be on top of the world.”

  “In a small town I guess we’re bound to run into people.” Vanessa wished Anna hadn’t run into Edna, though. No telling what they talked about, and the last thing Vanessa wanted to do was raise any more emotion in this town than necessary.

  “Anyway,” Anna said. “It’ll be fine. She’s a delight and Buck seemed to be very tight with her. Church service is in an hour. We better get dressed.”

  I’m pretty comfortable right here. “I haven’t gone to church in a long time.”

  “All the more reason for us to go while we’re here together.”

  “I really try to keep my distance from the people impacted by the changes I bring to their community. It makes things easier,” Vanessa explained.

  “Come on. It’s the holiday season, and have you seen the church? It’s so inviting. It’s begging for us to attend today.” Anna put her hands together. “Please do this for me.”

  “How can I say no to that?”

  “You can’t.”

  * * *

  At the tiny white church on the hill, there wasn’t going to be any chance of fading into the crowd. A few people waved at Anna, and she was cheerfully reciprocating as if she’d known them her whole life.

  “I love this town,” Anna remarked as she waved to another lady across the way.

  Vanessa slid into the second-to-last pew, and Anna scooted in next to her. Her body temperature rose in response to the narrowed gazes from the people around her. One woman even grabbed her child’s hand and pulled her closer, as if Vanessa were some kind of outlaw. How did Anna not notice the reverberation of resentment surrounding them?

  Anna sat there beaming.

  The preacher came out and welcomed everyone, making the announcements for the upcoming events and church-related gatherings, including a game night.

  “Now, that sounds fun.” Anna nudged her.

  Then he announced the details for the Christmas cantata and encouraged everyone to come and bring someone new along.

  Anna nudged her again. We should come, she mouthed.

  Vanessa relaxed as the preacher began the service and all hearts and minds clung to his words. By the time they’d sung and made it through the service, she found herself smiling at the others rather than worrying about how they felt about her.

  When they walked out Buck approached them. Edna was in his wake.

  “You made it,” Buck said to Anna.

  Anna made a beeline for them. “I didn’t see you come in.”

  “We always sit on the other side in the back row together. Kind of our spot.”

  “Hello, Ms. Larkin,” Edna said, extending her hand. “It’s nice to see you here.”

  A baked-potato-size lump formed in Vanessa’s throat. “Thank you. It was a lovely service.”

  “We both enjoyed it,” Anna chimed in. “Will we see you at the parade later?”

  “No one misses the parade,” Edna assured them.

  Buck nodded. “She’s right.”

  “We’ll see you there.” Anna grabbed Vanessa’s hand. “I love this place.”

  Vanessa squeezed her hand, and the two of them walked over to Anna’s car.

  Anna followed the other cars out of the parking lot and then made the turn on Buck’s road. “Everything is so close. It takes me longer than this just to get out of my neighborhood to go somewhere back home.”

  Inside, they each had a bowl of Mike’s chicken stew, then went about getting ready for the afternoon festivities.

  * * *

  At 2:40 P.M., Vanessa and Anna stood in front of the fire station, dressed in layers and their wool coats along with the earmuffs Anna had brought for the two of them. Vanessa’s hands were so sweaty she wondered if they’d ice over in the frigid air. Dark nimbostratus clouds hung low, looking weighty enough to really drop a load of snow.

  “Do you smell that?” she asked Anna.

  “It smells fresh.” Anna took in another lungful. “Nice.”

  “That’s the smell of snow.” Vanessa loved how the world got quite before a big snowstorm.

  “You came,” a man’s voice said behind her. Mike walked up looking very sharp in a heavy black wool collared shirt, and a deep red wool vest with antiqued silver buttons. FRASER HILLS PERCHERONS was embroidered on the left chest with bright green holly with shiny red berries circling it like a wreath.

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” Vanessa answered, but truth be told if Anna hadn’t been in town she never would have shown up. But here she was. “Thank you for the chicken stew.” She reached back for Anna’s coat and tugged her closer. “Meet my cousin, Anna.”

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He touched the brim of his black cowboy hat. It was clean, but had a well-worn look to it.

  “Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too,” Anna said. “And I’ve got to tell you, that chicken stew you sent over was delicious. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He focused in on Vanessa. “What did you think?”

  She’d been contemplating how to answer that all afternoon. “It’s hard to compare the two so far apart. I didn’t get any spilled on me this time, that was a plus.” She let out a sigh. “If I’m completely honest, yours was better.”

  “Told you.” He looked proud.

  “So you did.”

  “Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do for the parade.” He slapped his hands together and rubbed them, crouching a little as he spoke. “Y’all are going to get comfortable right up here on the parade line. Me and a couple of my buddies are going to carry some chairs out here in a minute.”

  “We don’t need chairs. We can stand,” she argued.

  “Chivalry,” Anna whispered to Vanessa. “Let him do it.” She lifted her chin. “Thank you, Mike. Chairs would be lovely. Right, Vanessa?”

  Vanessa smiled. “Thank you. Yes. Very thoughtful.”

  “It’s a long parade, and you’ll stay warmer in the chairs because they block the wind from your backside,” Mike said. “I’m telling you, it’s the only way to go. You won’t be the only ones sitting.”

  Vanessa and Anna looked at each other and shrugged. “Okay.”

  “I’m in the parade, so about—”

  “You’re in it?” Vanessa’s eyes widened with realization. “Are you riding that horse and carriage—wait, wagon, I meant horse and wagon, like that first day I was in town?”

  “If you thought that wagon was special, hold on to your earmuffs.”

  Is he making fun of my earmuffs?

  “So, midway through the parade I’ve got to run to the other end and get
ready. Y’all stay here after the end of the parade, and I’ll meet back up with you. Okay?”

  “Got it,” Anna chimed in.

  “Good.” Mike jogged off toward the fire station.

  Anna had a sly look on her face. Rather than let her engage on whatever she was about to say about Mike, Vanessa said to her, “You’re going to be amazed when you see his horses. I’d never seen anything so big and powerful. It’s quite impressive.”

  A moment later Mike and three other guys were back with chairs on each shoulder. They lined them up to the left of the fire truck doors on the road two rows deep, staggered so everyone would be able to see. “Ladies.” Mike led them to the two end chairs on the second row. “Warmest spot to be unless you planned to watch from a window.”

  They sat down, mildly amused by all the effort.

  “Where did he go now?” Vanessa turned in her seat.

  “There are so many people here. There must be people from nearby towns here for this too.” Anna pointed out a man across the way in camouflage coveralls and a camouflage hat, standing next to two kids in full snowsuits. “Everyone is bundled up for the weather.”

  In the distance music from a marching band filled the air.

  The crowd pulled in closer. A few whistles followed by hoots and hollers started the excitement. Everyone turned their attention to the parade route.

  Kids wearing light-up Christmas-bulb necklaces waved and jumped up and down in anticipation of the floats. NICE LIST pennants waved in the air. Suddenly, Vanessa felt seven years old again.

  Mike walked over carrying three cups of steaming hot chocolate with whipped cream and a cherry on top. “This helps keep you warm too.”

  Vanessa looked into his smiling eyes. “Thank you. You’ve thought of everything.”

  “I’m a real process guy. Can’t help myself.”

  What’s not to like about that? But she hadn’t said it out loud, because she was still hung up in his gaze and that smile. “I didn’t know that about you.” Vanessa blinked, weighing the rocking-chair emotions that took over when Mike was around.