Snowstorm at Cedar Creek

by J. L. Jarvis

  Connor went on with his story. “Ella was upset, obviously. But to her credit, she held it together and made her apologies to the hosts. She said she wasn’t feeling well. Somewhere deep inside, she must have believed me a little because she didn’t just walk out. She found the hosts and told them she’d seen a young woman who looked like she’d had too much to drink. The couple hosting the party thanked her and said they’d take care of it. Ella graciously slipped her arm into mine, and we left.

  “And she hasn’t talked to me since.”

  Finn leaned back. “Well, that sucks.”

  “Thanks. I feel better already.” There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his son’s tone.

  “Have you told this to Ella like you told it to me?”

  “When I said she hasn’t talked to me since, I guess what I really meant was she hasn’t listened.”

  “When’s the last time you tried?” Finn asked.

  “The last time we were here.”

  “She’s got to have calmed down a little.”

  “Yeah, but you know what? I don’t care. She didn’t trust me. And if she doesn’t trust me, how can we build a life together?”

  “I get that, but imagine how you’d feel if you were in her place.”

  “I’d trust her.”

  “Maybe you would, but it’s not always easy. You’re both new to this. This is hard for Ella. Marriage is hard.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I had no idea.” He smirked.

  Finn smiled. “Look, I’ve been there—well, not there with a bed full of coats—but every marriage has difficult situations. This won’t be your last argument.”

  “Yes, it will, because I’m pretty sure my marriage is over.”

  “You’ll get through this, and other arguments to follow, because you’re in love, and you made a commitment. And if both of those are true, you’ll work it out.”

  “You make it sound like I have a choice. Tell all of that to Ella.”

  “Ella’s hurting. And the only reason she’s hurting so much is because she loves you so much.” That seemed to make an impression. “Be the one to reach out and try again.”

  Connor looked unconvinced. “I’ll think about it.”

  12

  The next morning, Finn pulled onto the road with Annie beside him. Today was their big shopping day. With one week left until Christmas and a goal to finish all their shopping before the stores closed, they had their work cut out for them.

  Annie glanced back toward their houses. “Do you think the kids will be all right?”

  Finn laughed. “Are you thinking we should have called a sitter? ’Cause you just made it sound like they’re ten.”

  “I was thinking more long term, or at least till the end of the day.”

  Finn’s grin faded. “If it were up to me, I’d lock the two of them in a room and not let them out till they figured it out. But it’s not up to me.”

  Finn filled in Annie on Connor’s side of the story.

  “And you believe him?” Annie asked.

  “If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said absolutely, but after what his mother did… absolute trust isn’t easy.”

  “That's a hard thing to deal with.”

  Finn said, “Trust is a fragile thing.”

  “I know.” They were inching toward that uncomfortable zone, so Annie refocused. “I’ve veered off topic. We were talking about Ella and Connor.”

  “My fault. I’m the one who veered off course. I didn’t mean to make it all about me.”

  “You didn’t.” He had never been selfish. That was one of the things that she loved about him. “So, fingers crossed, Ella and Connor will have a good talk today. And we’ll come home to find them together again.”

  “I hope so. I can’t believe Connor would hurt Ella like that. But convincing Ella…” His eyebrows drew together. “We might have to stop and see Santa today, ’cause I think it’s going to take a Christmas miracle to bring those two back together.”

  “That’s the hard part about being a parent. You can’t put a Band-Aid on every wound.”

  Finn shook his head. “No, but I have faith in our kids. After all, they’ve got two brilliant parents.”

  Annie said, “You’d better be talking about the two in this car.”

  “I was hoping that was obvious.” Finn’s eyes sparkled. “Okay, it’s game time. Gotta focus. If we’re going to finish our shopping today, we have to have a firm plan and stick to it.”

  Annie had no idea what he was talking about. “Okay, coach. And your strategy is?”

  “Shop till you drop.”

  “That is some strategic plan. I hope you didn’t lose sleep over it.”

  “As it so happens, not a bit.”

  “Oh! I just remembered, when we get home, I have to find the ornaments. I’ve searched everywhere for them. They’ve got to be up there in that attic. If I don’t find them, my tree will be naked.” Her face went blank. “There is no tree. I don’t have a tree.”

  “Now that you mention it, neither do I.”

  They looked at each other and both said, “Tomorrow.”

  Over lunch, Annie said, “I’m done.”

  Finn leaned back. “What? One morning of shopping has done you in?”

  Now Annie felt guilty. “No. I mean I’m done shopping.”

  Finn slowly blinked.

  She looked up and sighed. “Last night, while I watched Christmas movies, I did some—well, a lot—of my shopping online.”

  “Cheater.”

  “All the stores have sales and free-shipping deals. I couldn’t resist.”

  Finn shook his head in disgust. “I should have laid out some ground rules earlier.”

  “On the plus side, there’s less shopping to do.”

  “By which you mean now you’ll help me? Thanks, Annie!”

  She tried to act as though she didn’t want to help, but the mischievous glimmer in his eyes made that almost impossible.

  After lunch, Finn took Annie’s hand and led her into a candy shop. Seeing her questioning look, he said, “Stocking stuffers.”

  “Does that mean Connor will be with you Christmas morning?”

  “No. He decided to go to Vermont to spend Christmas with Georgina. But I’ll be alone with one stocking that needs to be filled.” He leaned closer, as if revealing a secret. “It’s not Christmas without a chocolate Santa.”

  He bought two and dropped one in Annie’s shopping bag. “Come on, Oakley, get with the program.”

  Once outside the store, Finn said, “That just about does it.”

  “Does what?”

  “My shopping.”

  “What? But you said—”

  “I was checking my email last night when I had a brilliant idea.”

  Annie’s jaw dropped. “No fair! You made me feel guilty when you shopped online too!” She tried to give him a playful shove in the shoulder, but he intercepted it and put an arm around her shoulder to immobilize her. It also rendered her helpless to the exhilaration of being so close. He released her, much to her disappointment, and they continued to the car. On the way, they passed the pond in the center of the village. Behind it, the village Christmas tree stood, lights twinkling. The gazebo was decked in red bows and greenery, with a red carpet leading to Santa and his elves. It was magical despite the lack of snow. But her inner child still loved a white Christmas.

  Annie stopped to admire the scene. “Look at what we missed out on by only being here in the summer!”

  He studied her with a look she’d seen before. Nothing good ever came from that look. He hooked his arm through hers. “Come on.”

  “What? Oh. No, I haven’t skated in years.”

  “It’s like riding a bike.”

  “No, Finn. Riding a bike is like riding a bike. This is like—”

  “Fun? Yes, it is.”

  They were already halfway to the booth that rented out skates, and she didn’t know how to say no. Well, that wasn’t quite true. She knew
how to say it. But Finn had never lost his youthful enthusiasm, and it was contagious. Soon, they were sitting on a bench and lacing up their skates. Annie watched skaters gliding carelessly along as though it were a perfectly natural thing to do. Finn took her hand and pulled her to her feet. As she hobbled along toward the ice, she tried to remember the last time she’d skated. She was pretty sure it had been in her single-digit-age era.

  She proved Finn wrong. It wasn’t like riding a bike. If Finn hadn’t put a steadying arm around her waist, she would have fallen as soon as she stepped onto the ice. Instead, he more or less dragged her along as she unsteadily clung to him. Under any other circumstances, that would have made her ecstatic, but the fear of falling negated the thrill of their bodily contact.

  “How are you doing this?” she asked.

  “Doing what?” He looked blissfully unaware of her torment.

  “Skating.” Another near loss of balance convinced her that simultaneously talking and skating was a lofty ambition.

  “I play hockey with some guys a couple times a month.”

  Annie glared, much to Finn’s amusement.

  A couple of middle schoolers were racing each other when one brushed Annie as he passed and threw her off balance. Finn said, “Relax, Annie. I won’t let you fall.”

  Then the kid’s buddy zoomed past and bumped Finn on the opposite side. The next moment, Finn and Annie were both horizontal. While Annie sat up and brushed bits of ice from her sleeves, she muttered under her breath, “‘Relax, Annie. I won’t let you fall.’”

  Something about her disgruntled state amused him as he quickly got up and helped Annie to her feet. After a concerted effort to suppress his broad grin and appear sympathetic, he asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I will be once I make it to that bench over there.” Once she was securely planted on the bench and unlacing her skates, she said, “I’m signing you up for a ballet class next week for revenge.”

  He laughed. “Come on, Annie, it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

  “The thing about skating as an adult is you’ve got so much farther to fall.”

  “But it’s a fun kind of fall.”

  “Is it?” Tell that to my tailbone. Although, truth be told, it was almost worth the pain to have Finn’s arm around her.

  On the drive home, Annie gave in to her curiosity and texted Ella. How are things with Connor?

  Her answer was a terse, Haven’t seen him.

  She put her phone away and said, “Two days is a long time to go without talking.”

  Finn said, “I know it looked bad, but I’ve thought about it a lot. I don’t believe Connor did anything wrong.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I know Connor. I’m pretty sure Ella would come around if she gave him another chance to explain, but he won’t even try anymore. Ella’s lack of trust hurt his pride.”

  Annie bristled. “Hold on. She told me what happened, and, given the facts, her lack of trust was justified.”

  He lifted his palm in defense. “I didn’t say that it wasn’t. I said it looked bad, and it did. No one can fault Ella for her reaction. I’m just saying that Connor has a good explanation.”

  “Oops, I fell into my coworker’s arms?”

  “His overserved coworker made a pass at him, which he was resisting when Ella arrived. Annie, he loves her.”

  “Who, the coworker?”

  “Ella! He loves Ella. Please don’t make this worse!”

  “Then why hasn’t he tried to explain what really happened? He didn’t even try to defend himself to her.”

  “He tried, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  “She must’ve been really upset.”

  Finn said, “And understandably so. But when she wouldn’t listen, he gave up trying. Now he’s too proud to go begging—his words, not mine. And, as I said, he’s hurt that she doesn’t trust him.”

  Annie stared out the window. “That kind of trust must be hard so early on in a marriage.”

  “They’ll figure it out.”

  “Will they?”

  “If they want to stay married, they will.”

  Annie sighed. “I hope that’s not too big an if.”

  The next morning, Annie climbed into Finn’s SUV. “Go ahead. Ella’s not coming with us.”

  “But we’re going to a Christmas tree farm. I thought women love that sort of thing.”

  Annie frowned. “I’d like to point out what a sexist thing that was to say, except I do happen to love Christmas tree farms, so I’m not sure what to do about that.”

  “And what about Ella?”

  “She loves Christmas tree farms too.”

  Finn blinked. “I meant, why isn’t she coming?”

  Now that question was simply ridiculous. “Because, as you well know, Connor left for skiing in Vermont early this morning. She’s miserable about it.”

  Finn backed out of the driveway. “I think he gave up hope. You have to admit, he has tried for a week just to talk with her.”

  “I know. To be honest, I've never seen her like this. She just lies in bed all day, watching holiday movies and sleeping.”

  Finn drove down the road toward the Christmas tree farm. “Maybe with Connor gone, she’ll snap out of it.”

  Annie couldn’t believe he’d just said that. “I really don’t think this is the sort of thing you just snap out of. It’s the sort of thing that stays there until you talk it through.”

  Finn spoke in measured tones. “Which she refuses to do. Can you really blame him for choosing to go skiing in Vermont rather than standing outside her door and begging for an audience?”

  “An audience?”

  “That came out wrong.”

  “I’m not sure there’s a way you could make that come out right.”

  Finn wrinkled his face. “Probably not.”

  His tone was so apologetic that she couldn’t stay annoyed with him, especially when she agreed that Ella had been harsh not to hear Connor out. Of course, Annie wasn’t about to admit that to Finn, lest it go to his head—or worse, lest it get back to Connor.

  Finn said, “What I meant to say was, sooner or later, they’ve got to figure this out for themselves.”

  “I know. You’re preaching to the choir.”

  “So how ’bout we table this topic and focus on tree shopping?”

  “Agreed.”

  13

  As Finn pulled into a parking space in front of the tree farm, he felt lucky they’d found one at all.

  Annie surveyed the field that served as a parking lot. “Looks like a few others had this idea before us.”

  “Come on, Oakley, we’ve got some hiking to do.”

  Once they’d made it through the barn and out the other side to the rows of Christmas trees, it took Finn less than five minutes to spot a small tree for his cabin. Twenty more minutes passed before Annie found hers. After leaving their trees to get shaken and baled, they grabbed two bowls of loaded-baked-potato soup and settled down at a picnic table near one of the outdoor propane heaters. Annie shivered.

  Finn said, “You know, we could take these home where it’s warm.”

  She stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. “Finn. Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly. What do you smell?”

  At first, he thought it might be a trick question. “Pine trees?”

  “Exactly! Now look around. What do you see?”

  “Besides pine trees?”

  She lifted her eyebrows.

  “Lots of green stuff…” He watched for signs that he’d gotten the answer. “And lights… and decorations?”

  “And?”

  He knew there had to be an obvious answer, but he just couldn’t come up with it. He was going to have to disappoint her. He offered an inadequate shrug.

  She rolled her eyes. “Christmas magic!” She lifted her palms and said nothing, but her expression said, Duh!

  Doing his best to be serious, Finn said, “You know, I was just about to
say that.”

  “Of course you were.”

  He realized she was on to something when he glanced outside and saw about two dozen children and families lined up outside Santa’s workshop while Christmas carols played throughout the area. In the other direction, a doorway led to a gift shop filled not only with gifts but ornaments and Christmas village buildings. “Annie!”

  Alarmed, she asked, “What?”

  “The ornaments! Did you find them?”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I’ve been so focused on Ella, I completely forgot about those.”

  He took her hand and led her to the gift shop.

  Apparently realizing where they were headed, she said, “Oh, Finn, that’s okay. I know they’re in the cottage somewhere. They’ll turn up.”

  “Of course they will. My guess is sometime around Easter. I’m buying some ornaments and lights.”

  “But I’ve got more than enough for both of us.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Ignoring her protest, he proceeded to fill a basket with ornaments and lights.

  A voice from behind them said, “Sorry, sir, but we don’t allow ornament hoarding.”

  They both reeled around to find Regi grinning. After holiday wishes and hugs, Regi said, “Would you mind if I stopped by tomorrow?” Her eyes sparkled. “I’ve got a couple items to drop off.”

  Annie said, “Sure! I’ll cook dinner. Bring Derek. Finn, you’ll join us, won’t you?”

  Before he could answer, Regi said, “Cooking dinner is too much trouble so close to Christmas.”

  Finn said, “I buy a mean pizza.”

  Annie considered. “That could work.”

  Regi’s eyes lit up. “How can I turn down an offer like that?”

  “You can’t. How does seven sound?

  “Seven it is. See you then.” Regi headed out toward the trees while Finn and Annie went to load their trees into the car.

  Five hours later, Finn plopped down beside Annie on her sofa. “Whose idea was it to decorate both houses today?”

  Ignoring his fatigue, she said, “I don’t know, but it was a good one! Look around you.”