Jack and Annie entered the house, holding hands to find Danny and Mary snuggled on the couch, watching the home decorating channel.
“How was dinner?” Mary said, moving out of Danny’s embrace.
“It was sooo good,” Annie purred.
“How was the boat ride?” Danny asked.
“It was sooo good,” Jack said, looking over at Annie and smiling.
“How was Ashton?” Annie said, trying to break away from Jack’s spellbinding gaze.
“He was sooo good,” Mary said, emphasizing the word like they had.
Annie and Jack belted out a laugh. “We’re sorry. It’s just been such a long time since we’ve been alone, out on a date. We really should try to do it more often. It really helps with the marriage connection,” Jack said, blushing.
Danny and Mary rose from the couch. “Anytime,” Danny said.
“Oh, by the way, Grandmother called five times tonight.” Mary said, reaching for her sweater hanging on the back of a chair.
“Is everything all right? I stopped in there before we left for dinner,” Annie said with a puzzled look on her face.
“Yes, everything is okay. They were feeling a bit lonely, so I went over there and curled their hair, and gave them each a manicure.”
“Ashton and I hung out here with Isla and Buffy,” Danny said, wrapping his arm around Mary.
Mary cuddled against his chest. “Yeah, he’s trying to see how this daddy thing works. You know, in case we want to give it a try.”
Annie’s eyes widened. “Well, I’d love to be an auntie, so anytime.”
“Just promise me you won’t be like our Auntie,” Mary said, crossing toward the front door.
“Well, Auntie isn’t so bad, it’s Grandmother,” Annie said.
“I love your grandmother,” Danny said, sticking out his chest. “She’s a hoot.”
“She is that,” Mary said, laughing.
The four walked out onto the front porch. Jack wrapped his arm around Annie and the two watched as Mary and Danny made their way toward their car. “You kids, drive safe. The roads are dark out here in the country,” Jack called.
Annie waved. “Call me tomorrow, Mary.”
They watched them drive away and then then Jack turned to Annie. “I didn’t think they’d ever leave.”
Annie laughed. “I know.”
Jack stepped closer. The moonlight danced off the water and seemed to bounce off the grove of trees on the property. He could see a hint of it in her eyes. He drew her in for a long kiss and just as before, she folded in his arms like a big warm blanket.
Chapter 20
After Jack’s birthday, came Thanksgiving. Annie had pledged she’d host all the parties, taking some of the burden off of Milly.
Jack helped Annie insert the two large leaves into the wood table he’d built. She tossed one end of the red tablecloth to him and they stretched it out, covering the table. She immediately went to work placing the centerpiece she and Mary had made, a cornucopia filled with small lifelike gourds and silk flowers. When the two had decorated the church and made the swags and other embellishments, it got them onto the path of making more crafts. Now, even Sweet Magnolia had a big beautiful wreath hanging on its front door, as well as one at the granny cottage.
Jack opened the china cabinet door and began to retrieve the plates. Soon, each chair boasted a beautiful setting of white china rimmed in gold and complementary silverware, neatly arranged on top of matching red linen napkins. Annie stepped back and admired the table.
“Okay, so I have everything either in the oven or ready to go. The turkey is ready for the fryer after the men get here,” she said with her hands on her hips and her bottom lip pulled in.
“What else is there?” Jack asked with a bewildered look on his face.
“The turkey platter, can you get that down for me?”
Jack went to where they kept the step stool and headed for the cabinet over the refrigerator.
* * *
Robert, Preston, Jack, Richard, Danny, and Scott stood outside, huddled around the large turkey fryer. The women and children stayed inside. Ashton and his cousin Crystal played nicely on the living room floor. Even though she was older, she didn’t seem to be bothered by having to entertain him. Once Vicky and Scott came over with Jasmine, Ashton had two little girl playmates. He didn’t seem to mind either.
The women sat around the dining room table, chatting and glad to be inside sheltered from the cold. The fire glowed in the living room, and both Isla and Buffy were curled in their beds, soaking in the warmth from the flickering flames,
The back door flew open and Jack peered around the corner. “Ten more minutes,” he called out.
Annie rose up from her chair and crossed over to the kitchen.
“Need help, Sis?”
“Can you do me a favor and go get Grandmother and Auntie?”
“It will take them five minutes just to get to the front door,” Mary said.
Annie turned her back on Mary and opened the oven door. The wonderful smells of cinnamon and sugar wafted through the room. She pulled out the large dish with the sweet potato casserole and set it on the trivet on the counter.
“Smells so good in there,” Milly called out. “Sure you don’t need any help?” She stood just on the outskirts of the kitchen, waiting for an invitation to enter.
“Well, if you could get the cranberry sauce out of the fridge and the Watergate salad, that would be great.”
Milly began to fulfill the tasks Annie had asked her to do. When she finished, she stood like a soldier awaiting her next set of orders.
Annie handed her a set of potholders. “The green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole can go on the table.”
Soon the men entered the house with the steaming bird. All eyes were on the turkey as it made its way into the kitchen, the skin a crispy brown.
Jack sliced up the turkey after it had rested for a few minutes, despite everyone chomping at the bit. The rest of the side dishes formed a line down the center of the huge dining room table.
“Dinner is served,” Jack called out, carrying the heavy turkey platter to the table.
Annie reached for her tablemates hands, and thus began the chain of handholding. “Dear Father, thank you for the food we’re about to enjoy. Thank you so much for letting me be the host this year, and continue to bless us with your grace. Amen.”
The mumblings of amens went around the table, and then all you could hear were the clanging of utensils on china and the sound of joyful bantering. The Powells and McPhersons were in the house!
* * *
Everyone sat around holding their sides and moaning. As usual, they’d overeaten.
“Coffee and dessert, anyone?” Annie winced as she waited for the rebuttals.
More groans came, mostly from the women.
“I’ll take a slice of pumpkin, with just a small dollop of whipped cream,” Robert called out.
“I’ll second that,” Jack said.
Annie slowly made her way into the kitchen to slice the pie. After they’d passed out the desserts to all the men and Grandmother and Patty, Annie approached the subject of the next upcoming holiday, Christmas.
Standing at the backside of the sofa and giving Jack a shoulder massage, Annie watched on. “I don’t know how you have room for that pie, Grandmother.”
“I just say the word dessert and my brain promptly makes room for it.”
The entire room broke out into laughter.
“I had a few ideas for Christmas. Does anyone want to hear them?” Annie smiled at the group in the living room, and then turned her eyes to the rest who had stayed seated at the dining room table. Susan, Danny’s mother, made a noise, and then when all eyes were on her, she shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t mean anything by it. She clearly did.
“I do,” Mary quipped, quirking her brows at her mother-in-law.
“I thought it would be nice to drive through the light display
on James Island. We haven’t done that in years. Now that Ashton is bigger, he’d really enjoy that. They have a small skating area, a gift store, and they serve hot chocolate. We could go out and have a nice dinner at California Dreaming and then head over to the light show. What do you say?” Annie nodded to the groups.
“You young people go do that. It might be too much for Patty and me,” Lilly said as she forked her last bite of the pumpkin delight.
“Speak for yourself, Lilly. I want to go,” Patty said with a girlish smile on her face.
Grandmother cut her a wild look, then licked her fork one last time.
“I also thought about a tree cutting day, but I know every family may have their own tradition regarding that. Anyone is welcome to go with us when we go, though.”
“Artificial,” Lilly blurted.
“Artificial? You mean you want an artificial tree for the granny … I mean the cottage?” Mary yelled from the other room.
“Lilly, there’s nothing better than the scent of a fresh tree. I want a fresh tree. It might be our last year to ever have one,” Patty said, now cutting her a wild look.
“Now, now, you two, this is not going to be your last year, so let’s stop with that sort of talk. Secondly, we could always cut down a small tree, Grandmother. Would that be okay?” Annie raised her brow, waiting for Grandmother to reply.
“Oh, all right, I guess, I’m always outvoted it seems.”
“I’m happy to host Christmas Eve dinner here. We could do something light, like maybe hearty appetizers and snacks. We can play games and watch old movies.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life,” Robert said.
“Oh, I know, let’s go downtown and take a carriage ride and visit the marketplace during the holidays. We can make it an early day, and have lunch downtown. It’s so pretty downtown during the holidays,” Mary said, changing the subject.
“Okay, I like that idea. I don’t know how many carriages we can reserve, though. How many are interested in doing that?” Annie counted hands.
Jack, Danny, Mary, Richard, Diane, Vicky, and Scott were the only ones who raised their hands.
“Okay, so I’ll check on that, then,” Annie said, making a mental note of everything she’d willingly said she’d do. Turning her attention to the older group, Annie made eye contact with Robert’s and Milly’s parents first. “Is there anything special you’d like to do for the holidays?”
“Just be with family,” Bert Powell said in his raspy voice.
“I agree. We just love being around you all. Makes us feel fifty-two instead of eighty-two,” Cora Wiggins, Milly’s mother said.
Eighty-Two, wow, that means Grandmother and Auntie are nearing eighty. “And we love having you,” Annie said, her eyes misting.
Milly’s dad, Russell shifted his weight in the overstuffed chair. “I think if we just get together a few times during the season, all of us old folks would be good with it,” his eyes wandered left to right and then rested back on Annie’s.
Annie tipped her head. “Then, that’s what we’ll do.”
“I know,” Patty said, waving her hand around.
Annie nodded at her.
“I’d like to host a little something at the granny cottage.”
Annie’s eyes darted to Mary and then back to Patty. “Granny Cottage? How?”
“You don’t think we don’t know that’s what you girls are calling, it did you?” She breathed deeply before continuing. “Just Polly, Bert, Russell, and Cora. We can have a nice lunch together. Maybe play some cards?”
Annie chuckled. She had to hand it to Grandmother and Auntie. They would not stop living life until their last breath. “Okay, let’s set that up.”
* * *
Mary and Danny escorted Grandmother and Auntie back to the cottage. Jack and Annie waved goodbye to Milly and Robert who had Russell, Cora, Polly, and Bert with them. Vicky, Scott, and Jasmine walked Robert, Diane, and Crystal to their car, and then continued the short walking distance to their home. Susan and Preston had been the first ones to leave and hardly anyone had noticed. Annie and Jack stood on the porch, with Jack holding a very sleepy Ashton over his shoulder, and watched as all the car lights disappeared into the darkness. Annie reached out and lightly rubbed Jack’s arm. “What a great Thanksgiving, huh?”
“I’d say it will go down in history as one of the best. It was great to have everyone here.”
“I’m exhausted,” Annie stepped inside the house and motioned for Jack to come in. “Please put him to bed. I’ll finish cleaning up the kitchen and meet you in the bedroom.” She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed Ashton on the top of the head.
Annie slowly made her way into the kitchen with low slung shoulders to find the mile high stack of dishes waiting for her. She sighed loudly, then began to scrape, rinse, and stack the dishes in the dishwasher. She’d only done a few when she heard Jack come in.
He grabbed the sponge out of her hand and smiled. “Go get ready for bed, I’ll finish up.”
Annie furrowed her brows. “Huh? No, let’s knock it out together.” She swiped the sponge back out of his hands.
Jack laughed. “Okay, let’s tackle this together like we do everything.”
Soon the dishes were all done, and both of them were snoring softly, dreaming of the great family dinner.
* * *
It took a little bit of motivation on Annie’s part, but she got Grandmother and Patty to agree with the tree cutting trip. She helped them layer up with warm clothing, and then Jack met them outside the cottage with the truck.
They found a small Charlie Brown type tree for them and a seven foot blue spruce for themselves. The place they went to served hot chocolate, so while the staff carried the trees to the bed of the truck and securely tied them in, the five of them sipped on hot chocolate and scanned the aisles of the small gift store where Auntie Patty purchased a small ornament for their new tree.
“How about we get pizza for dinner?” Jack suggested as he pulled out of the tree farm.
After pizza, Annie announced she needed to give Ashton a bath. Jack took the cue and offered to get both Grandmother and Auntie, as well as their small tree home. He’d been gone a while. In fact, Ashton had finished his bath, was in his pajamas, and was looking at a book on the sofa when Jack finally returned.
“What took you so long?” Annie placed her hands on her hips and smiled. She figured they’d asked him to do something.
“Well, let’s see. The lightbulb was burned out in the bathroom, the front door squeaked when it opened and closed, and then I had to bring the tree in and set it up.”
A low belly laugh, turning into something a bit more hysterical, came out of Annie’s mouth. “Those two, they just love you so much, Jack.”
“Tomorrow, I promised to help decorate the tree,” Jack said, hanging his head low.
Annie grabbed her sides from laughing so hard. “They have you wrapped around their little fingers.”
* * *
Just as he’d promised, Jack helped decorate the little tree. When he came back to the main house, Annie quickly became suspicious of his overly flirtatious behavior. She sniffed him. “Jack Powell! It’s not even five o’clock and you smell like booze.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” he said, pulling her in and kissing her mouth passionately.
She tried to resist him by placing her hands on his chest, but it was no use. She drooped right into his arms like week old daisies. After they kissed, she stepped back and with her hands on her hips she asked, “What kind of booze did they have over there? I don’t recall buying them anything.”
“Now, you know your grandmother and auntie like their wine and scotch. Nothing’s changed. And I do believe your sister may have had a hand in the eggnog.”
“Eggnog?”
Jack nodded. “Loaded with brandy.” His eyes twinkled, and then he stepped forward and pulled her right back in for another kiss.
* * *
Annie began che
cking things off on her calendar. The next big thing on the list was the card party at the cottage with all the grandparents.
“I want those little pinwheel sandwiches,” Lilly said, seated at the dining room table with Patty and Annie.
Annie launched the color note app on her phone, another cool feature she’d discovered, and began to make a grocery list. “Chicken pâté for the spread?” She looked up to see Patty nodding.
“Fresh veggies are too hard for us to eat with all of our false teeth,” Lilly said.
“False teeth? Speak for yourself. I have all of my teeth,” Patty said, squaring her shoulders and sitting up straighter.
Lilly playfully slapped air toward her and then grunted. “How about some boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce? Everyone should be able to gum them.” She let out a snarky laugh.
“Grandmother,” Annie scolded. “Be nice. Okay, so pinwheel sandwiches, shrimp with cocktail sauce, and how about some Christmas cookies or brownies as a sweet treat?”
“How about some cupcakes, instead?” Patty raised her brows almost to her hairline.
“Cupcakes! Oh, my. I haven’t even thought about Sweet Indulgence for one second. I’ve been so preoccupied with hosting parties that I’ve forgotten about my beloved bakery and my supportive and loyal staff.” Annie hung her head low and wept.
“Now, now, child, you didn’t forget about them. You’ve just been a bit preoccupied, as you say, but it’s not too late. I tell you what, let’s all make a trip into town and pick out the cupcakes. We can take some Christmas cheer into the bakery and make the day of your employees. Let them know you’ve not forgotten about them.” Lilly reached out and cupped Annie’s hand.
“I’d like that, thank you,” she whispered.
* * *
The three of them stopped by a couple of stores and had some items gift wrapped. Annie purchased some gift cards from the local bookstore and coffee shop, as well as the movie theater, and then placed them in Christmas cards addressed to each employee. When the three of them entered the bakery, Annie’s eyes widened and Grandmother and Patty gasped. The place was decorated with red shiny bobbles, silver strands of beads, and greenery. Words like “Noel” and “Peace on Earth” were written in spray snow on the windows, and a small tree, complete with lights and ornaments, sat in the corner. Even wrapped up boxes placed around the tree skirt gave a nice finishing touch to the warmly decorated space.
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