Home for the Holidays (3 page)

“That or some very glittery honey,” Alice said with a laugh.

Wilhelm noticed them and stepped outside to exchange greetings. “Are you contemplating a new tea service for the inn, ladies?”

“We are being sorely tempted by that and your teas, Wilhelm,” Louise told him. “But the silver is a bit out of our price range.”

“Wait right here.” The shop owner disappeared inside, and returned with a small brown bag, which he handed to the eldest Howard sister. “These are some samples of my new holiday blends. Try them, let me know what you like and I’ll make up a box of them for you. Christmas discount included.”

They thanked Wilhelm and then walked on to the florist shop.

It was good to be out in the crisp, cold air, Alice thought. The combination of bright decorations and Christmas music and happy faces was positively exhilarating.

“That’s the last item on our list,” Louise said as they emerged from Wild Things. “Do you need anything else for your wreath, Alice?”

“No, I’m going to use some of the old ball ornaments we have from last year, and I already have a spool of metallic ribbon for the bow.” Her stomach rumbled. “Is anyone else hungry?”

“I’m always hungry,” Jane said. “Let’s take these bags back to the car and stow them in the trunk. Then we won’t have to bother with them at lunch.”

As they walked to the parking lot behind Town Hall, the sisters exchanged greetings with friends and neighbors
they passed who, like them, were out doing their holiday shopping. There were many visitors in town too, so the sidewalks were somewhat crowded, and occasionally the sisters had to stop and step aside to allow someone struggling with bundles to pass.

“I don’t recall seeing this many people last December,” Alice said as they made way for a young couple who emerged from the antique shop burdened with a large porcelain lamp and a tapestry-upholstered footstool. “Tourism seems to have picked up quite a bit.”

“I have had to refer a number of last-minute requests for reservations to the Burgeron Inn in Potterston,” Louise said. “The last time I called, the reception clerk told me that they were booked through to New Year’s Day. All the other hotels and motels are filling up fast too.”

Alice frowned. “Why are they so packed?”

“There’s a parade and two conventions in Potterston, according to the
Innkeeper’s Journal
,” Jane said, referring to the trade magazine to which she subscribed. “The hotels will probably stay that way through Christmas.” She gave Louise a mischievous look. “Sure you don’t want to open our doors? We could probably fill all the guest rooms without any trouble.”

“I’ve waited all year for this vacation, Jane.” She gave her a stern look. “We’re going to enjoy it, even if I must nail the front door closed.”

A young man with black-rimmed glasses stepped up to the sisters. “Excuse me, ladies, but would one of you mind taking a photo of us?” He had a large, expensive-looking camera on a strap around his neck. “I’ve already adjusted it. All you have to do is frame and shoot.”

“Sure, I’ll try.” Alice gingerly took the complicated-looking camera and peered through the frame window.

The young man was standing with two ladies and two other men by a minivan with a round logo on the door depicting a house and the words “Country Home Tours” scrolled around it. A middle-aged man wearing a driver’s hat tried to step out of the picture, but one of the women urged him to remain in the shot. A couple of sour expressions suggested that not all were enthusiastic about the picture taking.

“Smile, everyone.” Alice snapped the photo and then carefully handed the camera back to the visitor.

“I really appreciate it, ma’am,” the young man said. “Happy holidays to you.”

“Thanks.” She grinned back. “The same to you and your friends.”

Once they had secured their purchases in the car’s trunk and had walked over to the Coffee Shop, Alice checked her watch.

“We’ll still have some free time after lunch,” she said, catching Louise’s eye as she opened the door to the restaurant. “Would you like to do some browsing?”

Louise understood what she meant immediately. Both she and Alice had yet to find a gift for Jane. In years past she and her late husband, Eliot Smith, had sent her youngest sister a gourmet food basket, and Alice had sent her gift certificates, but now that Jane was living with them, they wanted to get her something more personal. They had discussed buying something for the kitchen or the gardens, but overseeing those areas was Jane’s work.

“We should get her something for fun,” Alice had said. “You know, something that she doesn’t need or that she wouldn’t buy herself.”

The only problem was that Jane would not give them a clue regarding what she wanted.

Louise had even asked her sister point-blank what she would like for Christmas, but Jane had only shrugged and replied that anything would do. Alice’s suggestion of browsing was clever; while they were walking through the stores they could pay more attention to Jane, who might show interest in something.

“That’s fine,” Jane said, evidently unaware she was the reason for it. “I love to browse.”

“Good afternoon, ladies.” June Carter, the owner of the Coffee Shop, came from behind the counter to greet them. A robust woman, she had the easy personality of someone who enjoyed being around other people. “Would you like a booth or a table?”

The middle-aged driver who had been with the group Alice had photographed excused himself as he passed by the sisters and went to use the pay phone outside.

“A booth,” Louise said. An unfamiliar odor drifted near her face and made her nose wrinkle. “Is that cigar smoke I smell?”

“I do believe it is.” June scanned the room. “Excuse me for one second, ladies.” She strode to a table of five people, where she tapped a heavyset man on the shoulder. “Sir, I’m sorry, but there is no smoking permitted in the restaurant.”

The man scowled up at her. “Why not?”

June blinked. “Out of courtesy for others.” Because she had no ashtrays, she took an empty saucer from a nearby table and placed it in front of him. “I must ask you to put it out or smoke outside.”

“You should have a sign up somewhere,” the older man grumbled as he stubbed out the end of the big cigar he had just lit. “Can we order now or what?”

“Thank you for cooperating. I’ll be with you in just a moment.” June returned to the sisters and rolled her eyes as she picked up three menus. “Tourists.”

Chapter Two

J
une showed the sisters to the only unoccupied booth, and excused herself again. “Hope will be with you in just a minute.” She went back to take the orders from the cigar smoker and his four companions, who were sitting a table away from the Howards.

“So where shall we browse first after lunch?” Louise asked as she opened her menu.

“I haven’t been to the antique shop in a while,” Alice said. “Or Sylvia’s Buttons.”

“I’d like to go to Fred’s Hardware,” Jane said, and then saw her sisters’ expressions. “We need a new outdoor bulb for the porch light. The old one was flickering when I switched it off this morning.”

“I suppose Fred’s new train display has something to do with why you didn’t pick up one at the general store earlier,” Louise said.

“Not at all.” Jane put on an innocent look. “If I had, I’d still have thought of some other sort of hardware we needed to give me the excuse.”

“Let’s not forget that we have gift baskets to make up for our friends, and tomorrow I would like to start delivering them,” Louise said. “Perhaps we could go by Viola Reed’s in the evening, after she closes the shop.” Viola, who owned the Nine Lives Bookstore, was one of Louise’s good friends.

“I promised Rose Bellwood that we would come by to see the Nativity presentation at her farm,” Alice said. “She mentioned that Samuel has built a new crèche for this year’s performance.”

“I’m not interested in getting my money back,” a low, gloomy voice said.

Jane and her sisters could not help looking at the speaker at the table across from them. It was the man who had been smoking and he was evidently discussing something with his four companions.

“Those are the people I took the picture of, aren’t they?” Alice murmured.

Jane recognized the young man in the black-rimmed glasses from the street. At first glance the two women and the older man seemed like nice, contented people, but the big cigar smoker looked as unhappy as he sounded.

“Their problems are their problems,” the man continued, jabbing the air with his unlit cigar. “They have an obligation to us and we can’t let them walk all over us like this.”

Jane thought he looked like the type of man who
expected people to jump when he snapped his fingers, but there was something else about him. She sensed a deep melancholy from the tone of his voice and the brooding quality of his dark eyes. Had it been any other time of year, she might not have noticed. But now, during the holidays, when everyone else seemed so happy, the big man’s dismal expression made him stand out from his companions.

“I didn’t see anything about refunds or rescheduling, but let me check the brochure again,” a thin, suddenly agitated-looking woman with spiky short brown hair and rather heavy makeup said. Her big, dangling silver earrings bobbed as she sorted through her purse. “We could call the Better Business Bureau and lodge a complaint.”

“I don’t want to make complaints.” The cigar smoker twisted in his seat, making the large platinum and diamond clip he wore on his tie flash. “We purchased the full package, not two-thirds of it. I don’t think we should leave until we get what we paid for.”

Jane wondered what could have been bought that someone would only deliver in thirds.

“Be reasonable, Max,” the other woman in the group said. Salt-and-pepper curly hair framed her plump face, which was as pleasant and calm as her voice. “What happened is no one’s fault. Naturally the company can’t send a replacement. People want to be home with their families during the holidays.”

Now Alice looked up from her menu and started watching the other table.

“They should have thought of that before they scheduled these dates.” Max clamped his cigar in his teeth and chomped on the end. “This is no way to run a business. Doesn’t matter that it’s Christmastime. If it were my company, I’d have had at least two replacements on standby, ready to get to work.”

Jane’s sympathy quickly faded. “I bet one of them would be named
Cratchit
,” she said under her breath.

Louise gave her a direct look. “It’s not polite to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, dear.”

“This isn’t eavesdropping.” Jane gestured to the short distance between tables. “This is being made to overhear.”

Alice leaned close. “Should we ask June to move us to another spot?”

Louise shook her head and gave the other group a slightly disdainful glance. “I’m sure they’ll quiet down when their meal is served. Just ignore them.”

But trying not to listen in on the conversation at the other table was difficult for Jane. Especially when what they were discussing sounded so interesting.

“Do we really need a replacement?” the young man with the camera asked. “After all, we are expected. We’ll just explain what happened and ask the people to let us go through by ourselves.”

“I don’t know about that, Ted.” The fifth member of the group, a lean, tanned man with thick white hair, finished his coffee and patted his trim mustache with a napkin. “The residents might object to us simply wandering around unsupervised. These are private homes, after all.”

What on earth are they talking about?
Jane decided she was not leaving the restaurant until she found out.

The pleasant-looking older woman excused herself from the table.

The thin woman with the silver earrings made a rude sound. “We can be trusted to go about on our own. Are we schoolchildren, Allan?”

At that moment the other woman from the group was passing by the Howards’ table on her way to the restroom, and Jane heard her murmur, “If the shoe fits.”

Really, people should have better manners when they are in a restaurant
, Louise thought.
The next thing you know one of them will take out a cellular phone
.