Nantucket White Christmas

by Pamela M. Kelley

  When Angela got home, she pulled out the slip of paper that Philippe had given her and called Jessica. She answered on the second ring.

  “This is Jessica!”

  “Hi, Jessica. It’s Angela Stark. Philippe gave me your number and said you are interested in having your place cleaned?”

  “Yes, thanks so much for calling. I’m home tomorrow morning, if you’d like to come by. My condo is the furthest one out on the docks. You can’t miss it.” She rattled off the exact address and Angela jotted it down.

  “I’m working in the morning. But I could come by around three, if that works for you?”

  “I suppose that will have to do. See you tomorrow.” Jessica ended the call before Angela even had a chance to say goodbye. She smiled and shook her head as Sam walked across the room, meowing loudly.

  “Someone’s hungry,” Angela said as she opened a can of food for him. She hoped that she hadn’t made a mistake by agreeing to clean Jessica’s house. She’d agreed mostly because she was curious about the woman and because she could use the money. Until she sold her grandmother’s cottage and cashed the check, she needed to watch her spending. Taking on cleaning jobs could help ease her ever-present fear of running out of money.

  Angela jumped in the shower, dried her hair and dressed in the pretty sweater that Lisa had made for her. She paired it with her favorite jeans, a turtleneck and boots. She had a bowl of leftover chicken soup and froze the rest as there was still quite a bit left.

  Philippe knocked on her door at exactly a quarter to seven and they set off for the movie theater.

  “Are you excited about your parents’ visit? What time do you expect them tomorrow?”

  “I am looking forward to it. As long as they don’t have any delays, they should be here around this time tomorrow.”

  “Will you still do your big Christmas dinner for them?”

  “Yes. Gary dropped everything off earlier today. All I have to do is heat it up tomorrow.”

  “Will you tell your parents you made it?” She teased him.

  He laughed at the idea. “They know better than that.”

  Kristen, Kate and Jack were at the theater waiting for them when they arrived. Philippe bought tickets for Angela and himself, and she insisted on buying the popcorn and drinks. The movie was a good one and after it finished, they walked to the Irish Pub for a drink. They all agreed that it was one of the better romantic comedies that they’d seen.

  Kristen was quieter than usual and Angela asked her if everything was all right.

  “Everly’s mother passed yesterday. So, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I’m actually heading out day after tomorrow to go to the wake and funeral. Tyler’s going to stay a few more days with his father and then he’ll be home.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

  “Thanks. It’s really awful. I think it’s hitting Tyler and Andrew really hard. But, how could it not, right?”

  “Right.”

  Angela excused herself to go to the ladies’ room, and while she was in the stall, she heard a familiar voice.

  “No, I’m not back with him yet, but I’m working on it. I invited him to my New Year’s Eve party.”

  “Is he coming?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

  “He said he’ll try. His parents are in town, so I’m not sure. But, either way, we’ll get back together. I’m not letting him go that easily.”

  “He does have a reputation. Maybe he won’t settle down with anyone.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I just underestimated how long it would take. I didn’t get a ring this year, but I will next year. Just wait.”

  They both laughed, while Angela couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Jessica was delusional. Or was she? Maybe she could eventually win Philippe over. He had almost agreed to go to her party, after all.

  When Angela came out of the bathroom, she wasn’t surprised to see Jessica talking to Philippe. Angela walked over to where Kristen and Kate were standing. Kristen and Kate exchanged glances when Angela reached them. “You should go over to Philippe,” Kate said. “Make it clear that you’re with him, so she’ll go away.”

  Angela laughed. “I don’t think so. We’re not together like that. Besides, maybe he wants to get back together with her. He can do whatever he wants.”

  Kristen sighed. “We just don’t like her. He’s too nice of a guy to tell her to beat it.”

  About ten minutes later, they were all happy when Jessica and her friend said their goodbyes and left the bar. Philippe quickly came over to join them. His eyes found Angela’s. “I’m so sorry for that. I tried to tell Jessica I was here with friends, but it took her a while for it to sink in.”

  Angela thought about telling him what she overheard in the bathroom, but decided against it. He’d find out soon enough what she was up to. And it was up to him to decide what to do about it. Suddenly, Angela was very tired and just wanted to go home and go to bed.

  Luckily, Kate and Kristen were yawning too and when they finished their drinks, they paid their tab and headed home.

  “Have fun with your parents tomorrow,” Angela said when Philippe pulled into her driveway.

  “Thank you. And good luck with Jessica. Remember, it’s not too late to say no!”

  17

  When Angela arrived at the Inn the next morning for coffee, Lisa’s friend Sue was there instead of Rhett. Angela poured herself a coffee and joined them.

  “Angela, you’ve met my friend Sue, I think?”

  “Yes, we met at the church for the Christmas basket giveaways.”

  “Where’s Rhett today?” Angela asked. He was always there, every morning that Angela had been.

  “He had to go off-island this morning and took the early boat. He’s meeting with a new supplier.”

  “How are you enjoying Nantucket?” Sue asked. “Lisa said you’re only here for a few months, until you sell your grandmother’s house?”

  Angela nodded. “I’m liking it here more than I expected. I didn’t know what to expect, though. It’s a beautiful place, and the people are so friendly.” She smiled at Lisa.

  “You could always decide to stay, and just live in your grandmother’s cottage,” Lisa suggested. “We love having you here.”

  “It is tempting, but I could never afford to live here,” Angela said.

  “How much money do you need? You own your cottage outright. Real estate taxes on Nantucket are the lowest in the state, and you’re already building a cleaning business,” Lisa said.

  Angela laughed at the idea. “I’m filling in for your regular person and I’ve picked up a few odd jobs cleaning. I don’t think that’s enough to support myself.”

  “You’re majoring in marketing, right? You could use what you’ve learned to market your own business and find new clients.”

  Angela smiled. “I’ve been cleaning houses for years now. I went to college to do something else.”

  “It was just a suggestion. You do seem to enjoy the work, and if you build it up, a cleaning company could be a good little business.”

  “I’ve never thought about that before. I was planning to work for a software company.”

  “And that’s a good idea, too.” Lisa turned her attention to her friend. “Speaking of growing a business, how is your new girl working out? What’s her name again?”

  “Brandi. And she’s great. She’s about fifteen years younger than us, blonde and drop-dead beautiful. If I wasn’t so secure in my marriage, I might be worried having her work so close to Curt every day, but I really like her. And business is up since she started.”

  Angela smiled. “Speaking of beautiful, I did agree to take a new client on. Philippe’s ex-girlfriend, Jessica, wants me to clean her condo. I’m going over later this afternoon to meet with her.”

  Lisa looked less than thrilled at the news.

  “Oh, honey, are you sure you want to do that? She seems like she could be a handful. I’ve heard she’s not the nicest person to wo
rk for.”

  “Who is she?” Sue asked.

  “Jessica Lavin. Her family is one of the richest on Nantucket and she manages one of their stores downtown. It’s full of overpriced clothes that the average person could never afford.”

  Angela smiled. That summed up how she’d felt about the store perfectly.

  “I’ve worked for plenty of difficult people over the years. I think I can handle Jessica.”

  “I have no doubt that you can. But why would you want to? Don’t let her give you a hard time.”

  “I won’t,” Angela promised. She thought it was sweet that Lisa was so protective of her.

  “I’ll want to hear all about it tomorrow,” Lisa said.

  Jessica’s condo was at the end of a long pier and was about as ‘on the water’ as you could get. Angela double-checked that she had the right unit number and then knocked on the door. No one answered, so Angela waited a moment and then knocked again, louder. Just as she was about to knock for a third time, the door swung open and Jessica stood there with her cellphone glued to her ear. She motioned for Angela to come in and turned around and walked away.

  Angela followed her into the kitchen and waited while Jessica finished her call.

  “I don’t care that you’re closing at six, I need you to finish my dry-cleaning by then. I have an event to go to tomorrow. I’ll be by just before six. Fine, goodbye.” She ended the call and spun around to face Angela.

  “Most places have such horrible customer service these days, don’t you agree?”

  Angela said nothing, sensing that Jessica wasn’t done yet.

  “I mean, I dropped my dry-cleaning off this morning and they don’t want me to pick it up until Monday. That’s ridiculous. I need it today. They said something about being short-staffed, but that’s not my problem, right?”

  “Hm,” Angela said.

  “Anyway, crisis averted. They said they’ll do their best to have it ready for me. So, you’re a friend of Philippe’s? He said you do a great job cleaning his place.”

  “Yes, he’s great. I met him through Kate Hodges.”

  “We’ve dated a bit, but he says he doesn’t want anything serious,” Jessica said. “Is he dating anyone else that you know of? I mean, have you seen any other women there?”

  Angela shook her head. “No, it’s always just him and his cat, Mandy.”

  Jessica made a face. “I told him not to get a cat. Horrible creatures. Did you know his cat bit him? What kind of a pet does that?”

  Angela tried not to laugh. Mandy was smarter than anyone realized.

  “Anyway, let me show you around.” Jessica gave her a tour of the condo and it really was lovely. There were two big bedrooms, three bathrooms and a spacious living room and kitchen that had huge, oversized windows that looked out over the water. It almost felt like they were on a boat the way the water surrounded them.

  “Have you lived here long? Your views are so beautiful.”

  Jessica beamed, pleased by the compliment.

  “Thank you. It was a present from my father on my twenty-fifth birthday. He thought it was time that I had my own place.”

  Angela didn’t know what to say to that. She couldn’t imagine having the kind of wealth that resulted in being given such a gift at such a young age. At any age, really. And the condo was beautifully decorated, too. Jessica had exquisite taste. There were plush, winter-white sofas and ocean blue throw rugs, accent pillows and knit throws in soothing neutral shades. The overall effect was one of comfortable elegance.

  The bedrooms were just as beautiful, and there was also a small office that was spotless and looked as though it had never been used. The master bath counter was piled high with all kinds of beauty products and Jessica’s walk-in closet was bursting with gorgeous clothes, many of them still with the price tags on them.

  When they finished the tour and were back in the kitchen, Jessica wrote out a check and put it on the counter.

  “Well, I’m going to head out. When you finish up, please just make sure the door is locked and pull it shut behind you. I’ll be in touch in a few days to see about scheduling your next visit.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Jessica.” Angela was eager for her to leave so she could get started. Jessica’s place was fairly neat, so it shouldn’t take too long. Once she left, Angela put her music on and started cleaning. Two hours later, she was completely done except for Jessica’s office, which didn’t need much more than a little dusting and a quick vacuum. As she was about to leave the room she noticed the screen on the desktop and did a double-take. It was Angela’s LinkedIn page which showed her online resume and most recent employer, Happy Cleaners. At first, it gave Angela an uneasy feeling, but then she shook it off a moment later and figured Jessica was just checking her out and obviously was fine with what she saw there.

  Angela enjoyed a quiet weekend. Abby invited her to hang out Sunday afternoon while Jeff was off with his friends watching football. They ordered pizza and ice cream, and had a Hallmark movie marathon. Abby still hadn’t lost her baby weight but didn’t really seem to care. She was exhausted while their baby slept by fire while they watched the movies. They also ordered soap-making supplies from Amazon and selected several different scents. Once Angela received everything, they were going to have a soap-making party as Kate and Kristen had said they’d be interested in trying it, too.

  On Tuesday, just as she was about to head out the door to clean Philippe’s place, her cell phone rang and she was surprised to see it was Nora from Happy Cleaners calling.

  “Hello?” Angela couldn’t imagine what Nora wanted.

  “Angela? It’s Nora from Happy Cleaners. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, thanks.” She didn’t feel like making small talk with the woman that had fired her.

  “I owe you an apology. I knew in my gut that you couldn’t have possibly stolen that bracelet.”

  “Oh? Did she find it?”

  “Sort of. Her daughter Julia is in rehab now for heroin addiction. She confessed that she stole the bracelet to get money for drugs. I just wanted to let you know and to offer you your job back, if you’re still interested and even living in the area? I also had a call from someone checking a reference on you, from Nantucket of all places.”

  “Was it Jessica Lavin?”

  “It was. I told her you’d been fired, but also told her it was all a terrible mistake and that I’d love to have you back. You were one of our best cleaners. I hope it’s not too late.” So, Jessica had actually called Happy Cleaners. That was surprising.

  “Well, I am in Nantucket, but it’s temporary. I’m hoping to be back in San Francisco in a few months.”

  “When you’re ready, just give me a call, then. And again, I’m so sorry, Angela.”

  Angela felt bad that Julia was suffering from the same addiction that Chrissy had struggled with. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone. She was glad and relieved that she’d confessed about the bracelet. It had been a horrible feeling to be accused of something she hadn’t done and to be fired for it. It was also a relief to know that when she did go back to San Francisco that she could start working right away. She wasn’t in a hurry, though, as she was enjoying her time on Nantucket, and wasn’t eager for it to end.

  When she reached Philippe’s house, she could hear a flurry of activity and voices even before he opened the door to let her in.

  “Angela! Come in. Meet my parents, Miriam and Pierre Gaston.” She shook both of their hands and in heavy French accents, they both said they were happy to meet her. Philippe looked very much like his father. They had similar dark hair and eyes. Philippe was just a few inches taller. His mother was lovely. Like most French women, she seemed effortlessly beautiful and stylish. She was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and tailored, charcoal gray pants. Her hair fell in a sleek bob to her chin and her eyes were a pretty blue-gray. When she smiled, her whole face lit up.

  “Have you had a nice visit so far?” Angela asked.

  “Y
es, we love Nantucket. Philippe has been a very good host. He cooked for us and has taken us to several of his favorite restaurants.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “Millie’s for tacos and the Brotherhood of Thieves for burgers. It was delightful.”

  Philippe grinned. “We’re going to kick it up a notch and go out in Boston New Year’s Eve. My mother wants the chocolate cake at Abe and Louie’s.”

  She nodded. “He said it’s the best. And I do love chocolate.”

  “I’m trying to get tickets for Hamilton,” Philippe said.

  “Oh, I heard that is amazing,” Angela said.

  “They’ve been sold out for weeks, but my ticket guy is trying to find a few for us. Fingers crossed.”

  “Good luck,” Angela said as Mandy came running over to her. She reached down and patted her.

  “She likes you,” Miriam said.

  “She loves Angela,” Philippe said. “She was with me when I got Mandy from the shelter.”

  His parents exchanged glances but said nothing.

  Angela wasn’t sure if they were planning to stay or go off somewhere. “Where would you like me to start?” she asked.

  “Oh, anywhere. We’re heading into town and will be back in a few hours. If you finish before we get back, your check is on the counter.”

  “Are you going shopping?” she asked.

  “Maybe. But I think we’re going to go through the whaling museum first. They haven’t seen it yet.” The whaling museum was down by the pier, and was one of the first things Angela had explored when she arrived and had some time to kill. It was fascinating seeing the history of the island.

  “Oh, you’ll love it. I found it very interesting,” she said as they headed toward the door.

  A few hours later, just as she was finishing up and about to leave, Philippe and his parents returned.

  “Oh good, you’re still here,” Philippe said when he saw her.

  “I was just about to leave. Did you have fun at the museum?”