As my sister suggested, I went shopping for some warm attire and re-acquainted myself with Friendship. After a lovely afternoon daydreaming of the handsome stranger and getting some warm sweaters, I made my way back to my sister’s house where she was waiting for me with open arms.
“Sam!” She ran toward me as I entered, her blond curls flying behind her.
As she nearly tackled me, I squealed. “Robin!” Transported right back to our childhood when we were the best of friends, I hugged her back, holding on for dear life. Family time always caused a flood of emotions for me, and I was laughing and crying all at once.
“Oh, Sam.” She pulled away. “Don’t cry.” She wiped a tear from my cheek with her thumb and then swept a stray hair from my face.
“I’m not sad, I promise. I’m so, so happy to be here. I don’t know what’s come over me.” I started to laugh more.
“Put those bags down and come into the kitchen. I’ve been baking. Someone got into the peanut butter blossoms today, so I made more.” She winked at me and reached down, tugging at my hand to follow her. “The kids will be home from their show practice soon, so let’s catch up before they get here. I want to tell you about all the fun stuff we’ve got planned!”
I’d not forgotten about all the activities this town holds for Christmas. You’d think it was one of those movies they show during the holidays. Almost every day there’s an open house or a decorating competition of one kind or another. However, the town’s children performing the Nativity is one of my favorite events. The rest could be rather overwhelming.
“Do tell. I’m assuming that it’s the same as usual?” I tried to quell my sarcasm as I joined her in the massive kitchen.
“Well, not every night,” she replied.
I raised my eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”
“Okay, almost every night. But it’s Christmas. It’s about being together. Don’t be a grinch.” Disappointment spread across her face.
“I’m not being a grinch! I want to spend time with my family. I’m here for almost two weeks. We will have some time together, just relaxing as a family, right?”
She reached her hand across the island in the kitchen to take mine. “I promise we’ll have lots of time together as a family. And I want to make sure you and I are able to have some sister time too. The moms club is having a cookie exchange, aka wine night with cookies, and you and I are going to attend without the kids or the husband. Just us girls. I have lots of awesome things planned to make this year special.”
“I’m excited, Robin, I promise.” I felt the need to reassure her. The elephant in the room, my well-known lack of holiday cheer, had yet to be brought up, which was refreshing and yet ominous. I was waiting for the topic to arise, prepared to defend myself. And then there it was.
“I know you’re not completely thrilled with all of the festivities, but I appreciate you making an effort. Particularly for my children.” Her tone shifted to slightly stern with me.
My face got hot. “I’m not going to ruin your Christmas wonderland, Robin,” I replied defensively. I resented the implication that I was going to make the holidays something other than enjoyable. We’d already been through this before, and I was tired of hearing it. I never spread my ill feelings toward the holidays to her, and certainly not to the girls.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Sam.”
“Well, how did you mean it, Robin? If you didn’t want me around, then what am I doing here?” Part of me was almost looking for a reason to leave in that moment, even though deep down I wanted to be there, celebrating with my family.
“I never said I didn’t want you here. Stop putting words in my mouth!” We were both growing upset, and her voice became higher pitched. “I lost them, too, you know. I loved them too. It’s not just your grief. It was Mom’s favorite time of year, and it used to be yours. Don’t lose that.” She paused and softened her tone. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like I don’t want you here. I’m sorry if it came out that way.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
I got up to hug her, pulling her into my arms, and tried to control my own tears. I avoided family so that I didn’t have to feel this way. It was going to be a hard two weeks. “Robin, I’m sorry. I know you lost them, too, and I didn’t mean to make you feel like it’s all about me. I’m actually very excited about wine and cookies with the girls and the show and whatever other amazing winter adventures you have planned.”
I began to laugh a bit, lightening the mood. I wasn’t excited about all of those things, but I could pretend. Robin was all I had left, and I wasn’t going to ruin Christmas for her and her family just because I couldn’t move on.
“What do you say we practice wine and cookie night right now?” She wiped her tears away and let out a small laugh.
“I think that’s a grand idea.” I hugged her again and then took it upon myself to peruse the wine rack. The wine rack was a bit of an understatement. It was actually a rather large section of wall that had a built-in wine storage unit. The selection wasn’t lacking either. My sister had a good job. She worked as a project manager in technology, and her husband, Michael, was a financial analyst or something like that. I wasn’t totally sure except he talked about investing a lot, and they made a ton of money between them. Their house was huge and beautiful.
The holiday decorations were like what you’d find in a magazine. From the garland along the bannister, to the multiple trees of varying sizes around the house, the decor was amazing. If the holidays made you feel good, this house would be the Vatican for your joy. Robin had the majority of my parents’ decorations, and I had noted them throughout the house earlier that day. Intertwined with her and Michael’s things, they seemed right at home. I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t striking and magnificent really, but it was still a reminder to me of what was lost more than anything else.
The rest of the evening, I caught up with my sister, talked about the million and one activities we were participating in, and played with my nieces. Their excitement over seeing me gave me a reprieve from my pretending, and I ended the night tucking them in with a story. They wanted me to read the Nutcracker to them, which was my favorite holiday story growing up as well. As I settled into my bed that night, the handsome stranger from the coffee shop crossed my mind again. I wondered what he was doing, and for some reason, I wondered how he felt about Christmas.
Chapter Six
Jason
There’s no such thing as a vacation when you’re self-employed, but I was determined to take a few days off to enjoy the holidays and all the fun things going on in town with my girl while she was still young and full of Christmas spirit. I didn’t want her to spend her entire week off hanging out with me at the shop or the hangar, so I rallied to get all my loose ends tied up. She wasn’t always going to be a kid and that innocent and excited about everything, so every moment counted. She had choir practice after school, and one of the moms was going to bring her home afterward, so I had a little bit of extra time to myself. I hadn’t finished giving my plane a tune-up, and that was the first order of business.
Several folks had already called me asking if they could rent time with me up in the air to view the lights and spend a romantic flight with their loved one. It was so awkward that people could have a romantic experience with me three feet away, but it was good money, especially around the holidays, and it wasn’t always a couple. In fact, I’d booked a flight for Robin Jameson, who wanted me to show her sister the lights. Robin’s sister was in town visiting for the holidays, and Robin’s twin daughters were in Emily’s class, so I happily agreed to fly them around later that week.
I couldn’t help but be on the lookout for Samantha while I was out and about. Hoping to see her again, I milled around the coffee shop longer than I needed to when I ran into Gabe again. He seemed to pop up at the oddest times, and I was still confused by our previous conversation but also equally intrigued. I decided to grab him a coffee and join him on the bench outside, weather be damned. We had plenty of snow already, but all the sidewalks were clear, as were the benches around the square. Families had already begun their vacations, and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying time together.