A Vineyard White Christmas

by Katie Winters

  Lexi hurried around them and hustled up the stairs to her bedroom. This left the four siblings and their brother-in-law face-to-face.

  Finally, Steve stepped toward the front door, waved a hand, and said, “Well, good to see you, Mike. Always a pleasure.” His voice was about as hard as steel.

  One by one, Steven, then Charlotte, then Claire stepped out onto the front porch. This left Andrew with his limp and the suitcase. His eyes remained focused on Mike’s. He just knew Mike wanted to say something.

  “I should have known,” Mike growled suddenly, just low enough so that his daughter didn’t hear upstairs.

  Andrew arched his eyebrow. “Should have known what?”

  “That you would mess everything up,” Mike hissed. “You were always nothing but trouble. Your father always knew it. So did your brother and sisters. We were all better off with you off the island. And now, you’re just going to blow everything up for the rest of us, then take off again.”

  The door remained open. Claire, Charlotte, and Steven stood out in the chilly wind and watched Andrew intently. For a moment, Andrew wasn’t fully sure how to respond. He could have gone his previous routes—punched the guy in the mouth, that kind of thing. But it just wasn’t worth it anymore.

  He was so past that mentality.

  “Mike, since I saw you last, I have been all over the world. I have seen so, so many people hurt and killed—countless bodies. I have buried good friends, and I have had to acknowledge some of the horrors of the universe. But beyond all that, what you do to my sister is too much for me to handle. I hope I never have to see your pathetic face again.”

  Andrew turned on his heel and stepped into the blistering wind. The moment he joined the others, Lexi appeared at the top of the staircase and hollered, “I’m ready!” Her voice was vibrant and alive. She hadn’t heard a thing of what Andrew had said.

  Andrew was grateful for that.

  When they arrived at the house, Andrew noticed that Kelli was patiently waiting for them, her cheeks were blotchy and her eyes were brimming with tears. Lexi rushed toward her, her face panicked. “Mom, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

  “Thank you guys, for doing that for me,” Kelli said to her siblings. “It means the world.”

  She then drew her arm around her daughter and led her upstairs to the bedroom she’d once had as a rock-music-playing teenager. Up there, there was the sound of the door clicking closed. All the siblings knew that it was time for Kelli to explain that she planned to leave Mike for good.

  It was one of the heaviest moments of their lives.

  Kerry walked into the kitchen. Her face had lost all its coloring as she said, “I’m going to get dinner started. Would you girls like to help?”

  “Let me call up Rachel and Everett,” Charlotte said. “That is if you don’t mind having a few extra mouths to feed.”

  “The more, the merrier and you know that,” Kerry affirmed. “Claire, get Russel and the girls over here. And Steve, if you can wrangle your family over here, I’d love that too. You know how I feel about my great-grandbabies. I lose my mind for them.” She then directed her gaze toward Andrew, who still held onto the suitcase with red-tinged, bone-cold hands. “Your father’s physical therapy is about to finish up. Do you mind heading over there to pick him up?”

  ANDREW STOOD OUTSIDE that now-familiar window and watched as Beth and his father facilitated the last movements of his physical therapy for the afternoon. As Beth discussed his father’s pain limitations, she caught sight of Andrew and waved her hand to beckon him in.

  “Hey there,” she said brightly. “I hope everything was okay last night.”

  “It is now,” Andrew said. “How was it today?”

  “Just as difficult as ever,” his father said. “It’s going to be a long road ahead, but as I already told Beth, I know that the journey is worth its weight.”

  Andrew found his first smile of the day as he stepped around to grab his father’s coat from the coatrack. “Always an optimist,” he said of his father. “I love it.”

  Beth donned her own jacket and said, “I’d better run off and pick up Will. I hate leaving him with the babysitter, but they’re all finished for the semester and I still have several more rehabilitation appointments before Christmas.”

  “Does he like his babysitter?” Andrew asked.

  “He loves her,” she said with a laugh. “She studied archaeology in college, and so she just gives him random fact after random fact about some of his favorite things. Sometimes, I have to drag him out of there. What good am I, a mother without any new facts about dinosaurs?”

  “I think you probably have your own things to offer him,” Andrew said with a laugh.

  “Shelter and food, I guess.” Beth giggled.

  Andrew’s heart again found his throat. He could have stared into her eyes for the rest of his life.

  “Beth, I don’t know if you and Will have plans for Christmas,” he said suddenly.

  His father, of course, took this moment to interject. “Ask her to come to our Christmas gathering!”

  “I think we’re going to have a big one with all the Montgomerys and the Sheridans together,” Andrew said. “At the Sunrise Cove Inn. Maybe, if you and Will aren’t too busy, you can come by? I mean, I still remember that last Christmas with Kurt overseas. It was such a beautiful day. We tried our best to recreate the magic we used to feel at Christmas. You know? And anyway, I would love to have you there with us. I feel like you belong to the Montgomery family.”

  Beth’s voice was so quiet when she answered.

  “I only want to belong to the Montgomery family.”

  BACK IN THE CAR, TREVOR Montgomery splayed his hand out toward Andrew. His eyes shone with excitement.

  “What?” Andrew asked sheepishly.

  “Come on, son. Give me a high five. What you did in there? Asking Beth to Christmas? It was slick.”

  Andrew rolled his eyes as an easy laugh erupted from his throat. “Come on, Dad. Don’t make it weird.”

  “As your father, it’s my legal right to make it weird,” Trevor said. “And I will continue to make it weird, up till your wedding day, and when your first child is born, and on and on, as long as I can. I lived through this car accident for a reason, you know, and I have to believe it’s because embarrassing you is my new life’s work.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  It was Ellen who dared her to do it: Text Andy. Ask him to go with you. You know he’ll say yes.

  On Christmas Eve, Beth drummed up the courage to do exactly what Ellen said. Her heart was all over the place; her mind whirled around and around like a Ferris wheel. In the minutes while she awaited his text in response, she felt so crazy that she thought about throwing her phone out the window.

  “Mom! Mom?” Will hustled in from the family room with one of his dinosaurs in-hand. He beamed at her from under his bowl cut as he said, “When do you think Santa gets started today? Probably early, right? Because there are so many countries ahead of us? I just did the math. It’s already tomorrow in Australia. Which means maybe he’s already been hard at work for hours.”

  Again, Beth was mesmerized by her son’s incredible mind. “I think you’re right, Bud. Although to be fair, Santa does have a pretty cushy life for the rest of the year. He lets his elves make his toys, and then he works for twenty-four hours straight, one day per year. I wish I had that kind of life.”

  “I think he probably has to take a lot of meetings with the elves to design the toys,” Will said. “There’s no way he treats them like slaves. He’s Santa, for goodness sake.”

  Beth chuckled. For a moment, she actually forgot about the message she awaited. When the phone buzzed on the counter, she glanced at the name, and nerves shot through her like electricity.

  ANDREW: I’d love to go. What time?

  IT HAD BECOME A TRADITION before her parents had passed away. Each year after Kurt’s death, they would spend some time at his grave on Christmas Eve, where
they told him stories about the year, about what they missed most about him, about what had gone on in the world, somehow, without him. Now, his grave had two neighbors: their parents. Beth made sure to visit them, too.

  Will’s babysitter arrived just as Andrew’s car pulled up in the driveway. Will was a frequent visitor to the gravesite, but there was something about this night in particular that meant she and Andrew had to see Kurt’s grave alone.

  “Hey, Denise,” Beth said in greeting. “Thanks so much for doing this. I promise we won’t be gone long.”

  “Denise! Come check out my excavation site!” Will called out from the living room.

  Denise chewed her gum as she grinned. “Don’t worry about it, Beth. You know how I love my Will time.” She raised her voice to call out, “I hope you secured the site so that tourists can’t walk through, William!” as she disappeared into the family room.

  When Beth reached Andrew’s car, she was dizzy with fear, excitement and, of course, the sadness that came with visiting your family’s gravesite. When she sat herself down in the passenger seat and found Andrew’s eyes, she felt a wave of calm come over her.

  “You look nice,” she said softly.

  Andrew glanced down at his suit jacket and tie. “I just wanted to dress up for him. I don’t know why. I guess because I imagined him saying something sarcastic, like, ‘So glad you made such a great effort, Andy,’ if I came in jeans and a sweatshirt.”

  Beth laughed almost too long at that. “I can hear him saying that. He was hilarious, wasn’t he? I sometimes tell him little jokes in my head. The ones I know he would understand.”

  They drove to the graveyard in silence. On the way, they passed by countless houses decorated with Christmas cheer: bright yellow and red and green lights that twinkled joyously. When they paused for the light near downtown, they heard the sound of a caroling group, only about a half-football field away. Beth opened her window, despite the chill of the air, to allow the music to fall through the crack.

  Christmas time is here.

  Happiness and cheer.

  Fun for all that children call

  Their favorite time of the year.

  “Why is it that so many Christmas songs sound so sad to me?” Andrew asked with a dry laugh.

  “They do to me, too. I just think Christmas is a time to remember everyone you’ve ever loved and create new memories with the ones you have close to you now. There’s always a shadow to it. But it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.” After a pause, Beth added, “Especially this year, I suppose.”

  Andrew nodded. “I have to agree with you there.”

  Andrew parked outside the graveyard as the sun began to flicker beneath the horizon line. Slowly, they got out of the car and met at the front hood, where they instinctively held hands before heading the rest of the way toward the fence.

  When they reached Kurt’s grave, Andrew’s thumb traced a delicate motion over the palm of her hand. “There it is,” he murmured. “Kurt Henry Leopold. 1985 to 2005. He’s been gone so, so long, now. But you’re right. I can still hear his voice in my head.”

  Beth squeezed his hand a little bit harder as a tear trickled down her cheek. Softly, she said, “Kurt, I wanted to tell you that Will still talks about you all the time. He never knew you in real life, but I tell him so many stories that have made him fascinated. We have photos of you everywhere, so, in some ways, you’re just as real as anyone else Will knows. He lives so much in his head all the time. You were like that too, a little bit, especially when we were younger—always so shy. But you were always just waiting for the right people to be yourself around. Like me. Like Andy.”

  Andrew heaved a sigh. “You remember how I used to tell you, Kurt, how great your sister was? I’m surprised to say that, even though I was wrong about almost everything else back then, I wasn’t wrong about that. I’ve missed you, buddy. I’ve missed all the optimism we shared together back when we wanted to go out and conquer the world. I hope you’re proud of me up there. I hope you’d say something like, ‘You were too stubborn. I’m glad you got over all that.’ I hope you know how much we wish you were here with us. Love you, man.”

  “Love you, Kurt,” Beth whispered. She dropped forward and traced a finger over the top of the grave.

  About a half-hour later, Andrew and Beth walked along the water near the ferry docks. The Christmas lights reflected from their eyes and their bright red cheeks, and they found ways to laugh and share stories and fall deeper into whatever it was they were building: was it love? Beth didn’t know. She’d never really experienced true love yet. She hoped it was.

  As they stood beside the empty ferry boats, parked for the night and for the holiday, Andrew reached out and grabbed her. Then in one fluid motion, he pressed his lips against hers. Safe in his warm embrace, Beth allowed herself to forget all the traumas of her life. She knew only the warmth and the softness of his lips; she knew only the tilt of her body against his as he traced his tongue across hers; she knew only that whatever this was, she wanted more of it. It made her weak in all the right ways.

  When their kiss broke, Beth touched her lip with a finger and looked up at Andrew. Her cheeks were flushed as said, “I swear to god you know how to steal a girl's heart.”

  Andrew smiled as he looked down at her and said, “I’ve been waiting seventeen years to do that.” He pulled her into his embrace as they started walking back to their vehicle.

  THEY ARRIVED BACK AT her place later to relieve the babysitter. Denise was up to her ears in dinosaurs and fake archaeology equipment.

  “Absolutely, Santa was around during the dinosaurs,” she said matter-of-factly. “How do you think he designed these beautiful toys? He knew them. He was even friends with some of them.”

  Will looked at her, bug-eyed. “That makes sense,” he said.

  “Hey there,” Denise said. She hopped up from her position in the archeological site and swept her hands over her jeans. Her eyes turned curiously toward Andrew, who Beth hadn’t mentioned anything about. “Merry Christmas Eve!” she said to him brightly.

  “Merry Christmas Eve,” Andrew returned. “My name is Andy. Andy Montgomery.”

  “I’m Denise, the babysitter,” Denise said, her grin widening. “How is it out there? Freezing, I bet?”

  “Would you want it any other way on Christmas Eve?” Andrew asked.

  “Of course not,” Denise said as she draped her coat over her shoulders. “I only dream of white Christmases.”

  “That’s another sad Christmas song,” Andrew said to Beth as Denise bid them goodbye. “I swear, every single one is like that.”

  Will had only met Andrew the one time, after Andrew’s father’s rehabilitation session. As he was Will Leopold and only Will Leopold, he recognized Andrew immediately.

  “I remember you. Andy, right?”

  “That’s right. And you’re Will,” Andrew said. He reached out to shake Beth’s son’s hand, expressing the urgency and respect he felt for the young boy. “It’s good to see you again, especially on such a special occasion.”

  “You too. I hope you know that you have to sleep through the night to make sure Santa comes,” Will informed him. “It’s a part of the rules.”

  Andrew nodded somberly. Beth was so grateful she didn’t have to explain to Andrew that you had to take Will at face value. You couldn’t make fun of him; you couldn’t think what he said was overly silly. His emotion and his compassion were both unparalleled.

  Beth suggested that they play a game together, the three of them before they put out the milk and cookies and went to sleep. Will changed into his Christmas pajamas, which were covered in reindeer, and burrowed himself under a blanket while Andrew assembled the board game Will picked, which was Sorry. Together, they teased one another and play-bickered as they went through the game, which luckily, resulted in Will defeating both Andrew and Beth.

  “Wow. You’re good at this,” Andrew told Will as he gathered up the game.

  “I
know,” Will said. “I’ve never lost.”

  Andrew checked with Beth, who nodded. “I’ve never seen him lose in my life.”

  “It’s all about strategy,” Will explained. “You’d have to play as much as me to get it.”

  Once Will was off to bed and fell asleep, Beth found Andrew at the edge of the couch, with his hands clasped across his lap. He leaned forward slightly, as though he prepared to leave. Only then did Beth fully realize how much she wanted him to stay the night.

  Was that really a good idea?

  Could she really get away with this?

  What would Will say if he saw him the following morning?

  Andrew’s smile told her everything she needed to know: he would stay if she allowed him to. He wanted this if she did.

  “Will’s such a great kid,” he told her.

  Her heart felt like a cracked egg. She collapsed beside him and again laced her fingers through his. “I can tell he really likes you. He’s still testing you, of course, but all signs point to good things.”

  “That’s a relief,” Andrew said. “I know this was kind of an audition, wasn’t it? And on Christmas Eve of all nights. Pretty cruel of you.”

  Beth laughed at the joke. “I know. But you passed with flying colors. Which means I think you deserve a glass of wine? If you want one, that is.”

  “Only if I can have a cookie along with it,” Andrew said with a wink.

  “I don’t know. Is your name Santa Claus?”

  Before he could answer, Beth rose, grabbed a bottle of merlot from her wine shelf, and dotted two frosted cookies on a little Christmas plate. They were in the shape of bells.

  When she returned, she said, “I don’t think that Silver Bells song is that sad.”

  Andrew considered this as he lifted his Christmas cookie. “City sidewalks. Busy sidewalks. Dressed in holiday style.”

  “In the air, there’s a feeling of Christmas,” Beth continued.

  “Children laughing, people passing—meeting smile after smile,” he said.