by Nancy Thayer
And Andy.
Her optimistic mood sank, not completely, but slightly, so she reminded herself that she was hungry and set about making scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon and toast with slabs of butter and cherry jam. Simply working in the kitchen lifted her mood. She remembered all the times she’d been downhearted as a child, and her mother had said, “Oh, you’re just hungry. Find something good to eat.”
It was a wonder she didn’t weigh three hundred pounds. On the other hand, her mother’s advice had almost always worked.
The coffee and breakfast filled her with energy for the day. It would be super busy, and she had to get in early to do the books for yesterday, which she hadn’t gotten done because of the Oscar incident. Outside her kitchen window, she saw that snow layered everything in a thick cover of sparkling white. The wind had stopped howling and the sun was out, making the icicles dangling from the trees shimmer like prisms.
She flicked on the radio and sang along to the Christmas carols as she made a thermos of hot coffee and a quick and easy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Upstairs, she dressed in her warmest clothes and pulled a wide woolen headband over her hair. She pinned a snowman to the headband, slipped on her dangling Christmas earrings, and for extra protection against the cold, she tied a wool scarf around her neck.
Ready to set out for her shop, she paused. She hadn’t returned anyone’s calls. Well, she’d see Mimi and Jacob on the wharf, and Louise would assume Christina was busy and overwhelmed with her store, which was the truth.
She drove carefully to the wharf. The sun was coming out from behind puffy white clouds. Houses and shops wore sparkling white hats and the trees were frosted with glitter. Christina smiled, remembering what Wink had said when Christina asked her what she wanted for Christmas.
“I want a makeup kit and a sparkly slime-making kit!” the little girl had declared.
And that’s what it was to be nine, Christina thought, poised between childhood and tween-hood. Nine years old was such a perfect time. It was too bad it couldn’t last for three or four years.
She slid her Jeep into a parking place across from the A&P and stepped out into the snow. The sun was almost completely out now, and it sparked off the windows and snowdrifts like scattered diamonds. The harbor water was a calm, innocent blue, as if it hadn’t been a black explosive cauldron last night.
Really, the little shops, with their Christmas wreaths sprinkled with snow and their windows bright with decorations, seemed like a vision from a fairy tale—one with a happy ending.
Christina stopped, got out her phone, and snapped some shots. No one else was open yet, and she was early, wanting to catch up on the work she hadn’t done yesterday.
She opened her shop door and stepped in to what felt like a refrigerator. She turned on the lights and the electric heater. Soon the place would be tolerably warm. She sat on her stool as close to the heater as she could get, and put together the checks and cash for a bank deposit. She had done well yesterday, and she’d do well today, she knew.
She was walking around her shop, straightening, organizing, turning dolls to face front, when her cell buzzed.
“Hi, Delia,” she said happily. “How’s Oscar?”
“He’s just like he always is. I’m calling to tell you that Wink might stop in to see you today. She says she misses you.” Delia’s voice was completely neutral, not her usual snobby pinched-nose cheese-grater sound, but not especially friendly, either.
“Oh.” Wink missed her? Christina couldn’t speak for the lump in her throat.
“Okay, then. That’s all.”
“Merry Christmas!” Christina chirped.
“Merry Christmas,” Delia replied, and somehow she made the words sound like “whatever.”
Christina went back to her organizing with a heavy heart. She missed Wink’s company. Really, she’d let herself get too attached to the child, a foolish thing to do. Now, not only would she lose Wink’s friendship, but she would lose her shop, too.
She had to start thinking of alternatives for her life. Her shop, and all the Shedders’ shops, were geared toward the tourists visiting Nantucket for a day or two. These people didn’t have cars, and didn’t need them. The town was compact and easy to walk around. For that reason, rent in any space in town was exorbitant. Maybe she and Mimi and the others could find a space they could all share…
Someone tapped on the door. Surprised, Christina saw that it was nine o’clock. She hurried to let the customer in, and for the rest of the morning she was ringing up sales and couldn’t think about anything else.
At noon, the rush of customers slowed, then vanished. Everyone treasured hot lunches on this cold day. Christina was just about to call Mimi to see if the Shedders were having lunch at her shop when she saw Andy walking to her door.
“Merry Christmas, Andy,” she said, letting him in, locking the door behind him, and changing the small plastic OPEN sign in the window for the WILL RETURN IN THIRTY MINUTES one.
“Merry Christmas, Christina.”
Before she could think twice, Andy took her in his arms and kissed her quite thoroughly.
“Wow!” she said when they came up for air. “You’re in a fine mood today!”
Andy grinned. “I’m always in a fine mood when I’m with you, Christina. But wait,” he joked. “There’s more!”
He reached into his breast pocket and brought out an envelope.
“My father wants me to give this to you.”
Christina took a step back. “Is he suing me?”
Andy laughed. “Just the opposite. Open it!”
Warily, Christina slit open the envelope and took out two crisp sheets of paper.
The first one was an official letter from Oscar, stamped by a notary public.
The second sheet was the deed to her shed.
Christina gasped. She read Oscar’s letter carefully.
“Read it out loud,” Andy urged.
“Okay. ‘I, Oscar Ferdinand Bittlesman, do hereby freely and without compulsion, give the deed and title to Building 36A to Christina Antonioni.’ ”
Christina stopped reading and simply stood there, staring at the paper.
“Well?” Andy asked. “Isn’t that great?”
Christina straightened her shoulders and stared Andy in the eyes. “I can’t accept this, Andy.” She handed the papers back to him.
“I don’t understand.”
“Andy, I can’t take ownership of this shed and let my friends lose theirs. They can’t pay ten percent more in rent. It wouldn’t be right.” She blinked back tears.
“I’m sorry,” Andy said. “Father thought this would please you.”
“I’m sorry I’m so prickly,” Christina answered. “Look, I have to focus on my shop now. I need some time to think.”
“Can I see you tonight?”
Tonight the Shedders were caroling Oscar. “Not tonight, Andy. I’ve got plans.” She smiled, thinking of her secret. “Although, it’s just possible that you will see me tonight.”
“I’m confused,” Andy said.
“That makes two of us,” Christina told him. She stepped back. “I’m sorry, but I see customers headed this way.”
“Will you call me?” Andy asked.
“You’ll definitely hear from me tonight,” Christina promised.
She changed the sign again and opened the door. Two women, chatting excitedly about Christmas Eve, swept in. Andy squeezed Christina’s hand tight, kissed her gently on her cheek, and left.
* * *
—
The store was stuffed with shoppers. Christina rang up sales and handed out credit card receipts as fast as she could. She felt like a racehorse on the last length of the track. Outside, the sun was sinking and the sky was dimming to gray.
“Christina!”
“Hi, sweetie!” Christina wanted to rush around the counter and seize the little girl and hug her long and hard. “Do you want to buy something?”
“Uncle Andy says you’re mad at us. I don’t want you to be mad at us, Christina.”
All at once, every eye in the shop was on Christina. Christina knew she couldn’t get around the counter to Wink without squeezing herself past people bulging in quilted parkas. She leaned over the counter and said, as quietly as she could, “Oh, dear, Wink, of course I’m not mad at you. I love you, sweetheart. Listen, I’ll call you, tonight or tomorrow, and maybe after Christmas we can do something together in town, go to the library, maybe the ice skating rink…”
“But what about Christmas?” Wink asked. Tears were gleaming in her eyes. “I have to see you on Christmas! I have a gift for you.”
Now half her customers were watching this little drama with fascination and the other half were loudly clearing their throats and coughing, making it known they wanted to buy their presents and leave.
“I’ll call you, Wink. We’ll work something out. I promise.” She almost said: We have a surprise for you and your family. I’ll see you tonight. But she knew the importance of secrets, so she kept quiet.
Wink nodded. “And you’re not mad at us.”
“I’m not mad at you,” Christina told the little girl, and it was true, she wasn’t mad at Wink.
“Okay!” Wink threaded herself between the shoppers and left the shop. Christina could see the child skipping along the snowy path. Her heart was lighter.
“Who’s next?” she asked, ready to ring up the next sale.
Christina stood in front of the full-length mirror in Elsa Fartherwaite’s guest bedroom and curtseyed.
“No, no, you can’t do that,” Mimi said. “You’ve got a green velvet cape with a white fur hood. People curtsey to you.”
“No one curtseys,” Harriet announced. “We’re all aristocrats.”
“I certainly am,” Jacob said, lifting his black silk tall hat and bowing.
“Here,” Mimi directed. “Let’s all squeeze in together in front of the mirror.”
They obeyed, and smiled at the sight.
Harriet was the most beautiful, with a wreath of holly and ivy in her blond hair. She wore a red silk gown that managed to elevate her marvelous breasts upward. Over that, but not completely over that, she wore a red velvet cloak.
Next to her, and unabashedly looking sideways down Harriet’s magnificent bosom, stood Jacob, wearing a black tailcoat with a red vest and a white bow tie and a very tall black hat.
Next to Jacob stood Christina, who knew she looked fabulous in her green velvet cape with the white hood and matching white fur muff. She’d swept her long brown curls up and tied them with red and green silk ribbons, letting the ribbons and some of her hair curl down around her face.
The truth is, her Inner Christina whispered, you’re more beautiful than Harriet.
Stop that, Christina whispered back. Be good!
By far the most sensational was Mimi, clad in a purple velvet cape embellished with black embroidery and an enormous purple hat ornamented with fake flowers and jewels and black bows and even a cluster of purple grapes.
“These costumes really set the mood, don’t they?” Mimi said. “I swear I’m going to walk out and find a horse and carriage waiting for us beneath the gaslight lamps.”
“Okay,” Jacob said, “it’s time to get going.”
“Now I’m nervous,” Christina confessed.
“Don’t be,” Harriet assured her. “I’ll be there.”
With all their capes and skirts bustling, they crowded out into Elsa’s hall.
Mimi, with the other three behind her, stuck her head into Elsa’s living room. Elsa, in her seventies and widowed, sat in a wingback chair in front of the fireplace.
“We’re ready to go, Elsa!”
Elsa clapped her hands together. “You all look beautiful! Have fun!”
Mimi directed the others to her SUV. “I’m driving. Christina, you ride shotgun. Harriet and Jacob can share the backseat.” Her mouth quirked up in a mischievous grin.
Once they were settled in, Mimi handed Christina a bag of throat lozenges. “Pass them around,” she said. “Can’t hurt.”
It took only ten minutes to drive up the winding road to the cliff and Oscar Bittlesman’s house.
A BMW was parked in the driveway. All the lights were on downstairs and a few upstairs, too.
“I guess they don’t worry about electric bills,” Harriet grumbled.
“Now, now,” Mimi cautioned. “No negative feelings. We’re here to entertain and delight.”
“I’m going to drive on a house or two and park so it doesn’t look like we’ve come specifically to them.” Mimi slowly drove along. She parked the car. She asked, “Ready? Do you all have your presents?”
“I’m terrified,” Christina said.
“Deep breaths,” Jacob told them. “Let’s all do a scale together to loosen our throats.”
Mimi raised her hand to start them off. They raced up and down the scale. “Maybe more gently, my dears. We’ll start singing ‘White Christmas’ when we reach the end of their drive, and we’ll keep it up until they open the door. Once Oscar’s there, Harriet and Jacob can sing their duet.”
Christina’s heart thudded away as they walked, singing, up the drive and onto the Bittlesmans’ porch. She was glad she had the others with her, but that was why she was so nervous. It was one thing for Oscar to be mean to her, but she didn’t want him to insult her friends.
They continued singing as they stood on the porch. And continued. Maybe, Christina thought, maybe they were all watching television and couldn’t hear the carolers.
Finally, the door opened.
“Oh, my! Carolers!” Janice was there in a blue dress with an apron over it. She smiled at the quartet. “Let me get the others!”
They sang the last verse of “White Christmas” for the fourteenth time, and then Janice returned with Oscar and Wink in tow. Delia stood behind Wink, rolling her eyes. Andy showed up, grinning with delight.
Wink clapped her hands and jumped up and down at the sight of the carolers.
Oscar stared at them grimly, as if they were another task to finish.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Harriet began to sing.
“In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone.”
Janice gasped and placed both hands over her heart. Wink clasped her hands to her face in wonder. Andy’s eyes lit up in surprise. Oscar didn’t change expression, but at least he didn’t walk away.
Harriet sang easily, purely, her voice rich even in the highest notes. Jacob’s quiet baritone gave solemnity to the song.
Christina’s eyes filled with tears and the tears spilled over. What a gift Harriet had, and what a gift she was giving.
After Harriet sang the final line—“I give him—Give my heart”—Wink asked, her voice trembling, “Are you an angel?”
“Yes,” Jacob said. “Yes, she is.”
Oh boy, Christina’s IC whispered, has Jacob got it bad.
“Here’s a song for you, Wink,” Mimi announced.
The group launched into “Frosty the Snowman,” which delighted Wink so much she laughed and clapped. They segued right into “Winter Wonderland.”
Janice, Andy, and Wink applauded. Oscar stood unmoved.
Mimi said, “And, Oscar, since the older of us often miss out on Santa Claus, we’ve each brought you a gift.”
“I’ll put them under the tree!” Wink cried.
The Shedders handed their carefully wrapped packages to Wink, who raced away to put them under the tree.
“Merry Christmas!” the Shedders cried.
“Merry Christmas!” Janice replied.
“Merry Christmas!” Andy replied.
Oscar walked away.
The quartet was silent as they returned to Mimi’s car. They remained silent until they were down in the town.
“Oscar didn’t seem to appreciate it,” Harriet said sadly.
“Oh, you never know with someone like him,” Christina hurried to assure the other woman. “He probably didn’t crack a smile when his first child was born.”
“Wink loved us, and Janice almost cried,” Mimi reminded them.
“Well, I hate him,” Harriet announced darkly. “He’s mean and he’s heartless.”
“I hate him, too,” Jacob said loyally.
They returned to Elsa’s house and divested themselves of their costumes. Jacob changed into street clothes in the bathroom, leaving the three women to change in the bedroom. They hung the capes tidily in the wardrobe filled with Christmas outfits. Mimi returned her extravagant hat to the hat cupboard, and Christina could tell she regretted having to leave it behind.
Maybe she’d make Mimi a fabulous hat for next Christmas. No, for Easter! That would be a fun project.
Elsa was waiting in the hallway. “Would you all like a little sip of sherry?” Seeing their faces, she added, “Or maybe a spiked eggnog?”
“No, thanks,” Mimi said. “We’ve all got to get home. We have to work tomorrow and I must say we’re exhausted. I don’t know how you carolers manage to sing all during the Stroll.”
“Oh, we’re used to it,” Elsa said, with a wave of her hand.
“Well, we’re very grateful for the loan of the costumes,” Christina told Elsa.
The other three chimed in. Elsa opened the door and the four left, returning to the cold outdoors. Christina had driven there in her own car, and Jacob had driven Harriet, so they all said goodbye and wished each other “Merry Christmas,” but their voices weren’t very merry at all.
As Christina waited for her Jeep to warm up, she said, “I hate him, too.”