Ashley didn’t see Mark again at church, but that was probably best considering her state of mind. Shawn dragged her and their mom out to the car as soon as he found them. He was starving and determined to get home to the roast he knew had been simmering in the crockpot all morning.
On the way home, Ashley asked Shawn about the girl she'd seen talking to Mark. She didn’t have to give many details about her before Shawn was able to figure out who she was talking about.
“Yeah, she’s a hottie, huh? Her name is Kari Allen. Her family moved in about six months ago. She’s nice to look at, but kind of stuck up.” he said dismissively.
Shawn’s appraisal did nothing to calm her fears. Girls were seldom snobbish to a guy they were interested in.
At home, Ashley pulled off her skirt, sweater and boots, relieved to get into more comfortable clothes again. Putting on an old pair of jeans and a T-shirt revived her spirits. The T-shirt was one of her alma mater shirts, bright red with Utah written in a pretty white script across the chest. She layered it with a white, long sleeve T-shirt. It was cute and warm. Perfect. She pulled on some socks and an old pair of sneakers she found in her closet before going down stairs.
Her mom, as usual, was busy in the kitchen. She had also changed into jeans and a casual shirt, but she’d put on an apron as well. She was lifting the roast out of the crockpot and a wall of mouthwatering aroma hit Ashley full force as she walked in. Nestled beneath the roast was a layer of potatoes and baby carrots. She grabbed a fork and leaned over her mom’s shoulder to stab a carrot.
“You too,” her mom exclaimed. “I already had to ban Shawn from the kitchen. Get out of here until I call you.”
“Sure mom, if you don’t want any help.” Ashley saw her mom relax her vigil so she quickly speared a carrot and left triumphantly as she nibbled on it.
“That’s the kind of help I don’t need,” her mom called after her.
In the living room, her Dad was stretched out in the recliner. Shawn was busy building a fire so she was able to claim her favorite spot on the couch. “What are you doing home so early, Dad? I thought you’d still be at the church.”
“Well we didn’t schedule any meetings since it’s the Sunday before Christmas, and I’m not feeling well so the Bishop told me to go home and rest. I didn’t argue with him.”
“What’s wrong?” Shawn asked him.
“I’ve got a headache and I’m feeling tired and achy. I think I’m coming down with something.”
“Well, if you have to be sick, I hope you feel better for Christmas,” Ashley said.
“Well, maybe it won’t last too long. I’m more worried about getting everyone else sick.”
“We’ll probably all catch it, like that year I puked all over the presents and no one wanted to touch them,” Shawn said, dwelling morbidly on the memory.
“Yeah, thanks to you, Mom had to rewrap everything under the tree to get rid of the smell. We were so mad at you.”
“Hey don’t forget that you did plenty of puking yourself.”
“Don’t remind me. That was the worst Christmas ever. We were all too sick to enjoy anything.”
“It certainly was a crazy Christmas,” their dad said, smiling a little despite his headache. “Don’t worry though. I’m sure this won’t be anything like that.”
Shawn and Ashley didn’t hear him. They were too deep in their discussion of some of their more grisly Christmas memories. Soon they were holding their sides because it hurt to laugh so hard. As she laughed, Ashley felt some of her tension begin to melt away.
Despite their noise, their dad had fallen asleep in the recliner, and he was snoring gently when they were called in to lunch. Agreeing to let him sleep, Ashley tucked a flannel blanket around him and they went to the kitchen.
As they passed the front door, the doorbell began ringing over and over again. Through the door they heard Daniel shouting, “Hey, it’s us. Let us in.”
“Who’s ‘us’ and why should we let you in?” Shawn asked through the closed door.
“Uncle Shawn, it’s me Daniel. It’s cold out here. Please let us in.”
Shawn opened the door and exclaimed, “Danny boy, you’re all grown up.”
Ashley was surprised to see Mark standing on the porch with the kids. She had expected the tall form she had seen through the frosted glass window in the door to be Justin. Becca was laughing at how silly her Uncle Shawn was being. “That’s Mark. See, Daniel is still little like me.”
“No I’m not,” her brother was quick to correct her. “I’m a lot bigger than you.”
“But you’re still a kid,” she pointed out.
Normally, Ashley would be laughing at the kids, but her eyes were drawn irresistibly to Mark. He was still wearing a white dress shirt, but the collar was open and he’d taken off his tie and suit coat. She searched his face eagerly, but silently scolded herself. Like I’d be able to tell by looking at him if he’d been flirting with Kari at church.
“We were just about to eat. Come on in,” she said, hoping she sounded cheerful.
“I should have known you’d show up in time for dinner,” Shawn mocked him.
“I wasn’t sure what time you guys were going to eat, but I happened to look out the window in time to see Daniel and Becca on their way over. I figured that they could only be coming for one thing at this time of day. Besides, now that I think about it, Ashley invited me.”
They walked into the kitchen and when Ashley’s mom saw Mark she said, “Well, hello there. I’m glad I made such a large roast.” She was smiling though, so Ashley knew that her mom was pleased he was there.
“Where are your Mom and Dad?” her mom asked the kids.
“They’ll be here soon,” Daniel answered. “Andrew had a blow out on Dad’s lap. It was really gross. Dad got mad ‘cause Mom kept laughing at him.”
“Well, we’re not waiting for them,” Shawn said, concern for his stomach far outweighing any concern for his brother’s plight. He already had a plate in his hand as he stood near the counter where his mom had laid out the meal. “Let’s say a blessing.”
Kayla, Justin, and Andrew arrived before everybody had been served, and Ashley was relieved that her dad woke up before the food was all gone. Of course it was hard to imagine anybody sleeping through such a noisy group of people talking and laughing while they ate.
It didn’t stop after lunch either, though from time to time someone would find a quiet spot and take a nap. Ashley was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch one minute, and then woke up some time later, lying face down on the floor with a pillow under her head and a blanket spread over her.
Justin and her Dad were somewhere in the room talking. She could see her mom in her favorite armchair, knitting a scarf, while Kayla sat near her winding another color of yarn into a ball for her. They were carrying on their own conversation in hushed voices, either out of concern for those napping or because they were talking secrets.
She couldn’t see anyone else from the limited view over her pillow, so she sat up and rubbed her eyes to clear the sleep out of them. She didn’t see Shawn and the kids in the living room, but she found Mark stretched out on the couch, his feet hanging off the end, and sound asleep. Ashley couldn’t hold back a surprised laugh when she saw that Becca was there after all, cuddled down against Mark’s chest and tucked so far under his arm that she was barely visible.
Ashley wasn’t surprised that her niece had fallen asleep on Mark. He was definitely a favorite with the kids, and he seemed to be pretty close to them. She also knew from the evening before that his shoulder was a supremely comfortable place to go to sleep. What did surprise her was seeing that Mark was holding Becca’s doll with his other arm. She couldn’t help the choke of laughter that was surprised out of her.
It was too funny for words. Ashley got up and ran upstairs to find her phone. Luckily, she got back to the living room before they had woken up. She took several pictures from different angles, and soon had e
verybody’s attention.
Ashley wasn’t surprised that Mark woke up once everyone was looking at him and laughing because Ashley was taking pictures. He looked a little disoriented for a second, and then surprised, but then he looked down and saw what they were laughing at. He chuckled a little himself, though softly so that he wouldn’t wake Becca up, but the vibrations of it made Becca stir. She raised her head slightly and looked around, but she apparently decided that whatever people were laughing at wasn’t worth waking up for. She closed her eyes and snuggled back down to sleep.
“What time is it?” Mark asked groggily.
“It’s almost 4:00,” Justin told him. “Why, do you need to be somewhere?”
“Actually, yes. Shawn and I have a home teaching appointment at 5:00.”
“It’s a good thing you woke up then,” Ashley told him.
“Yeah, but what do I do about…” he said, motioning with his chin to Becca.
Kayla stood up and walked over to him. “Don’t worry. I’ll move her for you.”
“Thanks,” he told Kayla, raising his arm so that she could dig Becca out of her comfortable little spot.
Becca protested drowsily when she was lifted away from Mark’s warm shoulder into the cooler air, but Kayla laid her back down on the couch as soon as Mark got up. The couch was still warm from their body heat, and softer, so she quickly drifted back off to sleep. Ashley took the quilt that had been spread over her, and laid it over Becca. She stood a moment with Kayla and Mark looking down at her, so precious in sleep.
Mark broke the spell by asking, “Where’s Shawn? Did he crash too?”
“He’s upstairs with Daniel. We haven’t seen them for a while, so who knows what they’re doing,” Ashley’s mom answered him.
“I guess I should go make sure he realizes that we have to leave in about thirty minutes. It’s a long drive out to the Garrett’s place.”
“Oh, you’re going to the Garrett’s?” Ashley’s dad asked.
“Yes. Sunday is the only day to catch them all at home.”
“Has the Bishop talked to you about them?”
“Yeah, he caught me after church. How exactly do you go about determining if they are doing ok for Christmas? I mean, I can’t go look in their fridge or ask what Santa’s bringing their kids this year.”
“Find out what you can. The Garrett’s don’t ever ask for help, but we know that Sister Garrett’s been waitressing in the evenings to make ends meet since her husband’s hours got cut at the factory. And we’d rather that they had a little extra then not have enough, so don’t worry about it too much. But you could ask them how their furnace is doing. I helped them fix it last winter, but it’s pretty old so it could go out again any time.”
“Ok, I’ll let you know,” Mark said. Then he turned to Ashley and said, “Do you want to help me find Shawn?”
Ashley nodded and led the way upstairs. She could tell that he had to adjust his long stride to match hers, but she didn’t want to walk faster. It was nice to have him to herself, even if it was only for a minute. She knocked on Shawn’s door, a courtesy that had been firmly laid down in their household as soon as Keith got old enough to want privacy from his little brothers and sister.
Shawn called through the door, “Come in, unless your name is Justin.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to wait out here,” Mark told her as she reached for the doorknob.
“What?” Ashley said, pausing before opening the door.
“My middle name is Justin,” he explained.
Ashley laughed. “No it’s not.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do. What is it really?”
“Bernard.”
“It can’t be.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t look like a Bernard.”
“Shows how much you know.”
“Bernards are old men with a double chin and a bald spot.”
“Wow. I didn’t realize that. Of course, when my mom chose my name, I probably did have a double chin and a bald spot. And some day I will be an old man, though I hope not to repeat the other two.”
They had been slowly walking across Shawn’s room as they talked, but as they neared the desk where Shawn and Daniel were intently busy with something under a bright work light, they broke off their conversation to see what the two were doing. It was a model of a car, but not a shiny new one. Instead, it was a beat up Ford Mustang with a patchy paint job and a bent fender. Ashley recognized it immediately.
“Wow, it’s Justin’s old Funk Wagon. How did you do this?”
“It wasn’t easy,” Shawn admitted. “Daniel wanted to make a model car for his dad, but it was my idea to make it look like the Funk Wagon. It’s difficult to make a model of a new car look like this old piece of junk though. Plus, Justin’s car was from 1988 and this one is 1985, but it was the closest I could find.”
“It’s our present to Daddy. He’s going to love it,” Daniel told them, his eyes shining brightly.
“That’s pretty awesome,” Mark said, squatting down to examine their work and compare it to the pictures they were using as reference points. After a minute he stood up and said to Shawn, “Hey man, I came to make sure you knew what time it is. We have to leave in about 25 minutes.”
“Oh, wow. I’d better get this stuff cleaned up. Sorry Daniel, but I have to go home teaching with Mark in a few minutes. We’ll work on it in a couple of days.”
“That’s ok. We have to let this paint dry any way. Will we get it done in time?”
“I guarantee it, unless there’s some major disaster. Mark, I’ll be over to your house in twenty minutes.”
“OK. Hey, don’t forget the plate of cookies you were going to bring.”
“Dang. I forgot. I hope Mom has some in the kitchen.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Mark said, shaking his head. In some ways Shawn was completely reliable, in others, he tended to be a bit distracted.
“Look, Mom almost always has something sweet around.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll go put something together and send it over with Shawn,” Ashley offered.
“Thanks,” Mark told her. “That would be a great help.”
“No problem,” she told him. She went downstairs with him, and paused at the front door with him. “I’ll be seeing you?”
Mark’s smile was warm as he looked down at her. “You can count on it. Good night.”
“Good night, Mark.”
He reached out and brushed her nose lightly with his finger in an oddly affectionate way, then turned and left. Ashley stood in the doorway. Nobody had turned on the Christmas lights yet, so she reached over to the switch and flipped them on. She watched Mark walking across the yard with the Christmas lights coloring his white shirt. His shoulders were hunched a little in the cold, and she wondered why he hadn’t worn his coat. She hoped he would wear one when he went out to the Garrett’s. It was really getting cold outside.
Finally closing the door on the frigid air, she went into the kitchen and poked around for some kind of goodies to put on a plate. She found a big plastic container of fudge hidden in the back of the fridge.
Her mom had already cut it into bite size pieces, so Ashley piled a generous amount on a festively printed paper plate. She wrapped it in plastic cling wrap and took it upstairs to her mom’s craft room. In her mom’s gift wrapping stuff, she found a red bow and a sticky tag to put on it. She wrote “To the Garrett Family. Merry Christmas!” in what she hoped would pass for masculine hand writing and gave it to Shawn before he left.
She knew that the Garretts would enjoy the fudge, because, who wouldn’t? Her mom made the best fudge in the world. But secretly, Ashley was also hoping that the plate of goodies would remind Mark of her. She wondered if he thought about her as much as she thought about him, but that was unlikely.
As the evening went on she ended up thinking more about her Dad however. By 6:00, he had developed a fever that made him completely m
iserable. He was never fun to be around when he got sick. While he was in general pretty easy going, he was as grouchy as a bear when he was sick. Everyone felt bad for him, but they were all relieved when he went to bed. She also felt bad for her Mom because Ashley knew she would be taking care of him all night.
Justin and Kayla went home earlier than they had planned so the house was soon quiet. Ashley made a snack for herself and her mom, but when Shawn got home, she let him fend for himself.
She told Shawn about their Dad feeling worse and running a fever. He shook his head and pronounced with doom in his voice, “Whatever he has, we’re all going to get it.”
“That’s what mom’s worried about.”
“Well, she should be. We’re going to have a big family Christmas, and we’re all going to get sick.”
“You’re optimistic, aren’t you?”
“No, realistic.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
“Hey, me too, but I’m warning you…it doesn’t happen often.”
Chapter 7
Toys in Every Store
Ashley and Kayla collapsed, exhausted, on a bench. Even on a Monday, the mall was crowded. It was so close to Christmas that it wasn’t just crowded, it was crazy. Not only was Christmas only four days away, but a winter storm was predicted for the next evening. Shoppers were driven to a frenzy at the thought of being snowed in before they were able to finish their shopping.
Kayla was certainly stressed out, but Ashley had not had much left to buy. After making her few purchases, she’d been able to concentrate on helping Kayla. Shopping had stopped being fun an hour ago, and she wanted to finish and get home.
The whole day had been a challenge so far. That morning she had gotten up and found that her Dad was still feverish. Her mom was also succumbing to the bug, though she seemed to think that she could avoid it by simply refusing to acknowledge it. Ashley had taken one look at her pale face with flushed cheeks and knew it wouldn’t be long before her mom was in bed too.
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