Nantucket White Christmas: A feel-good, small town, Christmas story

by Pamela M. Kelley

  “A DNA kit? Jane and I did one of those a few years ago.” Angela remembered that Jane had talked her into it and it was through an online Cyber Monday sale. “I was mostly curious to see if I really was part Irish. My mother used to say that I was black Irish, because of my dark hair, light skin and green eyes.”

  “It sounds like you took after your grandmother. She was born in Ireland.”

  “So, this grandmother I never knew, remembered me in her will? And really left me a house?”

  “It’s true. It’s a lovely cottage from what I’ve seen of the pictures online. Your grandmother was quite proud of her roses.”

  “She grew roses.” Angela tried to picture it in her mind, a tiny cottage with a rose bush or two.

  “Will you be going to Nantucket soon to see the house? I’m assuming since you live on the West Coast that you might be looking to put it on the market?”

  Angela laughed. “I can’t really afford to make the trip right now. I’ll probably put it on the market immediately, though. I need the money,” she admitted.

  “Oh, well, then. You should be there to oversee the repairs. I could transfer some of the funds to your account, so that you can buy a one-way ticket for now. And I’ll overnight the keys to you.”

  “I suppose I should do that. Thank you.” Angela’s head was spinning. She’d been mentally preparing herself to move into Jane’s guest room and now she and Sam needed to fly clear across the country. It was a lot to take in. She gave Warren the information he needed and when she hung up, she walked in a daze back to her sofa.

  She Googled the Nantucket address of her grandmother’s cottage and her jaw dropped. It was considerably more substantial than what she’d pictured as a small cottage. It had three bedrooms, with two of them on a second floor. It was a short walk to the beach and had pretty harbor views. The yard was large and her grandmother’s roses were beautiful, spilling out of flower boxes and along a pretty, white picket fence. It was lovely. And the estimated worth for the property was staggering, almost two million dollars.

  Nantucket was apparently more expensive than San Francisco. Angela smiled and felt like she’d won the lottery. If she made the repairs and sold the cottage, she could return to San Francisco and her financial worries would be gone. She could easily pay the market rent for whatever she wanted or maybe even buy a small place, and she could focus on finishing school without stressing about how she was going to afford it all. It was truly a blessing.

  3

  Angela woke up the next day and wondered if she’d dreamed about the letter and her grandmother’s cottage. It seemed too surreal to be true. But when the keys arrived the next day via Fed-Ex and money appeared in her banking account in the amount Warren mentioned, it finally sunk in that it was all very real.

  She got busy getting ready, ordering airline tickets for her and for Sam and contacting his veterinarian to get a letter stating that Sam was fit to fly. Jane was going to use Angela’s car while she was gone, as hers died a few weeks back. Angela happily offered the use of hers as she was just going to leave it at Jane’s anyway.

  Jane drove Angela and Sam to the airport. She just had one big suitcase and Sam’s soft cat carrier. She was glad that she was able to bring him on the plane with her and keep him in her lap. She hated the thought of him scared somewhere in the cargo section.

  When they reached the JetBlue terminal, Jane pulled up to the curb and helped Angela get her luggage and Sam’s carrier from the car. Jane had damp eyes as she pulled Angela in for a goodbye hug.

  “I can’t believe this is happening to you. It’s amazing and I’m thrilled for you. I just hope you don’t fall in love with Nantucket and decide to stay there. I’m already missing you!”

  Angela laughed. “I’ll be back as soon as possible. Once I sell the cottage, I’ll finally be able to afford to live here.”

  “Have a safe trip and send lots of pictures!”

  The vet had also given Angela medicine that would calm Sam and make him drowsy so he could sleep through most of the flight. Once they were settled in their seat, she reached in and rubbed a little of the calming gel on his ear and spoke softly to him. He didn’t particularly care for the takeoff but once they were up in the air, he drifted off to sleep and Angela was glad to have him on her lap. She was a nervous flier and it was comforting to have him there.

  The flight was a long one, almost six hours, and when they landed in Boston it was late afternoon. Unlike most cities that were planned grids, Boston’s streets looked like a giant tangle from the sky and the air was so much cooler. She shivered as a blast of cold air blew through the thin material of the walkway as she stepped off the plane.

  There was no direct flight to Nantucket, so she was going to catch a small shuttle flight on Cape Air. Sam woke as they were walking to their connecting flight and immediately protested by meowing loudly. She stopped to reapply some calming gel and he drifted off again a few minutes later.

  Thirty minutes later, she was settled onto the shuttle flight and an older woman who looked to be in her early fifties or so sat next to her. The plane was very small, with only about nine seats. Angela knew that the flight would be about forty-five minutes and half the time would be taxiing down the runway, and taking off and landing.

  “Are you visiting friends on Nantucket?” the woman asked pleasantly. She had a nice smile and kind eyes.

  “No. I don’t know anyone there, actually. My grandmother used to live there, Estelle Stark. She passed away recently.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. I knew Estelle well. She was a neighbor and a lovely lady. I’m Lisa Hodges. I live right down the road from your grandmother.”

  “Angela Stark. I know this may sound strange, but I didn’t actually know my grandmother. I only just found out that she existed when her lawyer contacted me and left me her house. Her lawyer said she didn’t know about me, either, until just before she died.”

  Angela could see sympathy reflected in Lisa’s eyes.

  “She never mentioned having a granddaughter. I’m sure if she did know, she would have contacted you sooner. I am sorry that you didn’t get to know her.”

  “Thanks. It has come as a bit of a shock. Do you have any children?”

  “I do. Four of them. My twins, Kate and Kristen, are the oldest, in their mid-thirties. Chase is two years younger and Abby is the baby. She just recently turned thirty. She’s the only one so far that’s married and she just had Natalie, my first grandchild, on Thanksgiving.”

  “How exciting! Do you all live on Nantucket?”

  Lisa nodded. “We do. Kate only just moved home this past year. She was working in Boston at a fashion magazine and loved it, until they were sold and had layoffs. Now she does some freelancing and writes mystery novels.”

  “She does? I love mysteries. I wonder if I’ve read any of them?”

  “She only has one out so far, Hidden Memories, but she’s working on another.”

  “It sounds familiar, but I haven’t read that one.”

  “My daughter, Kristen, is an artist, and she’s lucky that she’s able to do it full time now. Her boyfriend, Tyler Everly, is also a writer. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”

  Angela laughed. “Of course! Everyone knows him. I love his books. I didn’t know he lived on Nantucket.”

  “He hasn’t been here all that long, maybe six months. He bought the cottage next to Kristen and that’s how they met. She dated his brother first. He owns an art gallery downtown. They only went on one date, I think. It was never anything serious,” Lisa quickly explained.

  “What does your son, Chase, do?” Angela asked.

  “He’s a builder. Runs his own small business and he’s very good at what he does,” she said proudly.

  Angela smiled. It was clear that Lisa adored her children. “He actually just mentioned recently after a storm that it looked like your grandmother’s roof lost some shingles.”

  “Her lawyer said that it might need some repair
s and that I would probably want to do that before I sold it.”

  “Are you planning to sell?”

  “Yes. To be perfectly honest, I need the money. As soon as I sell, I’ll be heading back to San Francisco, getting a new place and finishing school. I only have a few classes left.”

  “Oh? What are you studying?”

  “Business, with a marketing concentration. I hope to get a marketing job at one of the Silicon Valley tech companies.”

  “That sounds like a good plan. I should give you Chase’s number in case you want to call him for an estimate on those repairs. You’ll talk to his office manager, Beth, and she’ll get you onto his calendar. She’s wonderful and we’re crossing our fingers that they’ll be the next to announce their engagement.”

  “Oh, thank you. Did one of your other children just get engaged?” Angela wasn’t sure what Lisa meant by ‘next’.

  Lisa laughed. “No. It was actually me, just a few weeks ago, on Thanksgiving. I turned my house into a bed and breakfast and my first guest was a gentleman named Rhett that was opening a restaurant on Nantucket, so he stayed for the summer. We struck up a friendship, and—well, at my age, it doesn’t take long before you know it’s right.”

  “Congratulations!” Angela was enjoying talking to Lisa, and was surprised to see after they chatted a while longer that the flight was almost over. The plane was beginning its descent to Nantucket.

  “How were you planning to get home, dear?”

  “I figured I’d just call a cab at the airport.”

  “Rhett is picking me up, and we’d be happy to drop you off.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t want to be a bother.”

  Lisa laughed. “It’s not a bother at all. We are going right by.” She pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down a few phone numbers.

  “Here’s my son Chase’s number, and also his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Snyder. I’m not sorry they broke up, as Beth is a much better match for him. But Lauren is a hustler and if you need your house sold fast, she is probably the best person to get it done. And here’s my number, too, in case you need it. Do you have plans on Saturday?”

  Angela smiled. “I have no plans at all.”

  “Why don’t you come by for breakfast around nine? My girls will be there then. They usually stop by on Saturdays and they’re about your age. It will be nice for you to meet some people here if you’re going to be around for a few months.”

  “I’d love that.”

  When they got off the plane and found their luggage, they went outside. Lisa’s face lit up when she saw a handsome older man waving at them. They made their way over to him and Lisa introduced them.

  “Rhett, this is Angela Stark, Estelle Stark’s granddaughter. She’s going to be staying at Estelle’s house for a bit. I told her we’d be glad to drop her off on our way home.”

  “Nice to meet you. Your grandmother was a nice lady. She took good care of those knockout roses.” He looked at Lisa. “We should think about putting some of those by the fence.”

  “That’s a great idea, if you don’t mind taking care of it. I have a black thumb.”

  He laughed. “I’m not sure what color mine is, but we can give it a try.”

  Rhett put their bags in his car and Angela sat in the back seat with Sam. He was starting to stir a little. She reached in and gave him a pat and he settled right down again. Less than ten minutes later, Rhett pulled up in front of her grandmother’s cottage. It was getting dark so she couldn’t get a good look at it. All the roses were, of course, gone due to the time of year, but the house looked bigger than it had appeared online and had a welcoming feel to it.

  Rhett insisted on carrying her bag to the front steps and Lisa gave her a hug before they left.

  “If you need anything, you have our number. See you on Saturday.”

  They waited until she had the door unlocked before they drove away. Angela took a deep breath. It was hard to believe she actually owned a real house. She flipped on the lights and smiled as she stepped inside with Sam in his carrier. She set him down and wheeled her suitcase in, then took a good look around. The house was lovely inside.

  There were well worn hard wood floors and soft throw rugs, an oversized, cream-colored sofa and a glass-and-wood coffee table. The kitchen was roomy and light with all white cabinets and pale blue trim. She let Sam out of his carrier, and he woke up and followed her around the rest of the house, running into every nook and cranny, sniffing everywhere.

  Angela went upstairs and found two good-sized bedrooms with lovely, distant water views and a shared bathroom. There was a master bedroom downstairs with an attached bath and huge bay windows. There was also a mudroom off the kitchen and an office beyond that. She decided to set up Sam’s litter box in the mudroom, and got the box and a small bag of litter from her suitcase.

  She was planning to go exploring the next day and knew there was a grocery store where she could stock up on everything that she needed. She also knew her grandmother had left a car, a blue Mini Cooper. She had a feeling that it was probably going to need to be jumped to get it started after sitting idle for several months, but she could call someone in the morning to do that.

  Suddenly the day caught up to her and she felt exhausted. There was boxes of pasta and jars of sauce in her grandmother’s kitchen, but Angela didn’t have the energy to cook anything. She still had a banana and a granola bar in her tote bag and ate those for dinner. She stripped her grandmother’s bed and threw the sheets in the wash while she ate, and a little while later put the laundry in the dryer while she unpacked her suitcase and watched a little TV. When the sheets were dry, she made her bed and flopped into it. Sam hopped up on the pillow next to her and a few minutes later, they were both fast asleep.

  4

  So, do you want to go to that food and wine event Sunday night? I need to let my cousin know today if we want the tickets. Philippe, do you want to go?” Jessica’s irritation was evident.

  “Sorry, do I want to go where?” Philippe looked up from his laptop and met Jessica’s icy blue glare. How could someone so beautiful look so cold? Her blonde hair fell in perfect curls to her shoulders and her pale blue sweater, cashmere probably, hugged her slim curves. And she was wearing high heels, of course. They looked painful to him, but they did magical things to her very toned legs.

  “To the Taste of the Town! On Sunday. I’ve mentioned it to you several times.”

  “Sure, that sounds good.” He turned his attention back to his laptop.

  “What are you looking at that’s so interesting?” Jessica still sounded annoyed. It was early. She’d spent the night and was heading off to work, while he didn’t have to go anywhere except across the kitchen for more coffee. He turned his laptop around to show her the screen.

  “What do you think? Should I go with Ralph with the short hair or Mandy with the long?”

  The expression on Jessica’s face was priceless. “Cats? That’s what had your attention? You’re not seriously thinking of getting one?”

  “I am. It’s been a few months since I lost Oscar and I’m thinking I’m ready.” The local shelter had pictures of the animals that were available for adoption and Philippe really wanted to bring one home soon.

  Jessica’s nose wrinkled as if she’d smelled something particularly foul. “I don’t understand why anyone would want a cat. They’re demanding and selfish, and their litter boxes stink!”

  “Well, Oscar was an outdoor cat. It’s safe on Nantucket as we don’t have coyotes here.”

  “Hm. Well, don’t you travel too much to get another cat? Are you going to be here longer now?” She perked up at the thought, which set off a distant alarm bell. It also reminded him that she was right, sort of.

  “I’m not sure yet on that. I might be sticking around longer. So, I guess I should hold off at least until I know for sure.”

  “Well, I should probably head out.” Jessica took a step back and almost tripped over one of his sweatshirts that h
ad fallen on the floor. She grabbed hold of the kitchen island to steady herself and shook her head at him.

  “You really should call someone to come and clean for you. Judy’s only been gone a week and this place is a pigsty!”

  Philippe glanced around the room. Once again, Jessica had a valid point. His housekeeper, Judy, was in Florida for six weeks visiting her family over the holidays. And in the week she’d been gone, his pack rat tendencies had taken over. There were jackets and sweatshirts strewn around the room, boxes and mail piled up on the kitchen table and a bag of trash by the door that he needed to take out. When he was deep into the writing of a book, clutter happened.

  “I’ll think about that. It’s a good idea.”

  Jessica smiled and wrapped her arms around him. “Good. I’m off, then. Thanks again for dinner last night. That wine was amazing.”

  “You’re very welcome. That Belle Glos was pretty good, huh?”

  “Delicious! See you on Sunday.” She gave him a goodbye kiss and he watched her leave, then turned his attention back to his computer, switching from the cat profiles to his manuscript. He wasn’t quite ready to dive in yet, though, so he pulled up Facebook and smiled when he saw a message from Kate Hodges. He’d mentored her a bit as she wrote her first mystery novel and he’d enjoyed their conversations.

  He’d first met Kate when she was doing an interview on the Nantucket Film Festival, which he was involved with. He’d asked her on a date after the interview because she was attractive and smart, but Kate soon let him know that she just wanted to be friends. As always, he was honest with the women he dated that he wasn’t looking for anything serious and that didn’t work for Kate. It was too soon after a breakup for her, as well. She started dating Jack Trattel not too long after and now they were living together. He was happy for both of them. Jack was a good guy and one of his regular poker buddies. He clicked open her message.