Merry's Christmas: A Love Story (14 page)

W
hat
exactly it was about classic carols that made it feel all the more like
Christmas, Merry didn’t know. But as soon as she brought the turntable in from
the garage and began to play their old holiday albums, something palpable
changed in the Bell household. The sound of those songs filled the living room
and the Spirit of the season came with them.

It might have been three years since
they’d decorated a Christmas tree together, but as soon as their chosen fir was
set in place, each family member found a way to contribute to the festivities.
Tara helped her Dad wire the tree with vintage bubble lights. Joan tucked a
skirt her mother had quilted around the tree’s base. Merry and Ollie hung
ornaments, blending family favorites from years past with their new broken
china creations. Hayden connected the train cars and set them up to circle
around the perimeter. Catherine settled into a soft chair, stringing
cranberries together with popcorn.

Once the lights were in place, Daniel
pulled out the old star they’d always put at the top of the tree. “So, who’s
going to do the honors?” he asked.

Ollie raised his hand immediately. “I
will! I will!”

“You should, Daniel,” Merry suggested.

“No, no,” Daniel insisted. “Their mom
always had us settle this by acclaim.” With that, Daniel raised the star over
his son’s head. “Everyone for Ollie.”

Ollie egged on enthusiastic clapping.
Merry put two fingers in her mouth and added a sharp whistle. Next, Daniel
moved the star over his mom, then Tara and Hayden. One by one, all received
supportive hoots and hollers. Even Catherine got a modicum of polite applause.

Daniel stopped and scanned the group.
“Now, let’s see. Who haven’t we tried?”

“Merry! Try Merry!” Ollie exclaimed.

Merry shyly deferred. “No, really.”

Suddenly, Tara began to chant Merry’s
name. Ollie, Joan and Hayden joined in. “Mer-ry! Mer-ry! Mer-ry! Mer-ry!”

“The tribe has spoken,” Daniel joked, and
with a polite bow, he handed the star to Merry.

Merry shot a concerned glance at
Catherine. “Don’t you want to do this?”

Catherine masked her feelings well. “No,
no. Go ahead. I have my hands full here.”

Joan took a seat by Catherine. “Here, let
me help you with that,” she offered.

Daniel steadied the ladder beside the
tree as Merry climbed. When she reached the next to the last step, Merry saw
that the treetop was still out of reach. “Remind me to ask for stilts next
year,” she said.

“Hey, you could borrow Catherine’s
boots,” Hayden teased, enjoying the snickers it drew from her siblings.

“Okay, okay. I know I deserved that,”
smiled Catherine.

Daniel looked up at Merry. “We’ll get you
there,” he promised, turning to his daughter. “Hayden, hold this, will you?”

Hayden secured the ladder. Daniel
extended his hand to Merry, steadying her to mount the top step. “Here you go,”
he offered.

“Here I go,” Merry echoed, climbing to
the tiptop. “Oh, boy...” Merry stretched to set the star. It was still a bit
precarious.

“Wait a sec,” Daniel instructed. “I got
you.”

Daniel took hold of Merry’s waist to
steady her, wreaking jolly havoc on her heart. Supported by Daniel, Merry
leaned to place the star. She slid it into place, provoking a round of jubilant
cheers.

But... As Merry turned, beaming, she
started to wobble.

“Wuh-oh!” Hayden blurted, grabbing for
the ladder too late.

Merry swung her arms to right herself,
but it was to no avail.

“Timber!” Ollie shouted. As if in slow
motion, the Bells tried to prevent the inevitable. Catherine jumped out of the
fray. Daniel dove as Merry tumbled headlong from the ladder, the light cord
pulling the tree down. Daniel caught Merry as she fell, and the whole family
dominoed to the floor, convulsing with laughter.

The next thing Merry knew, she was flat
on the carpet, face to face with Daniel, entwined in his arms, the tree on top
of them. Merry couldn’t help the sparks that flew inside her.

Daniel held Merry’s gaze while Joan
helped the kids pull the fallen tree off of them. “You okay?” he checked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Merry answered. “I’m
good.”

In seconds, the tree was righted. Merry
sat up and Daniel rose to help the kids reset the tree. It had only been a
moment, but Merry had seen the look on Catherine’s face.

Catherine had been gracious. She’d
resumed stringing popcorn with cranberries without a word. Still, Merry knew
that the incident had far from escaped her notice.

♥    ♥    ♥

Catherine
parked her Mercedes outside Arthur’s Downtown Diner. Warily, she eyed the
sketchy neighborhood. Sparse streetlights cast an amber glow over a part of
town Catherine never visited at night, not unless absolutely necessary. She sat
for a moment, hoping against hope that the homeless man out front would go
away.

He didn’t.

As scary as it was to contemplate leaving
the safety of her car, it was all the more frightening for Catherine to let her
mission go unaccomplished, so she opened the door and got out. Immediately, the
homeless man took a step in her direction and held up his “Will Work For Food”
sign. Spooked by him, she quickly set her alarm.

“Name’s Skeeter, Ma’am. Sure is a pretty
car,” the homeless man noted. “I’ll wash the windshield for you, if you want.”

Catherine snugged her purse under her
arm. “No, but thank you,” she answered. Unnerved, she hustled into the diner,
more than a bit ruffled.

As she entered the diner’s door,
Catherine startled to the
ho, ho, ho!
of the kitschy plastic Santa by
the register. Rankled all the more, Catherine scanned the diner. Seeing her,
Kiki approached.

“Hello,” Catherine started. “I won’t be
dining. I just—”

At that moment, Merry exited the kitchen
and Catherine quickly caught her eye. Merry waved congenially, then poured
coffee for her customer.

Catherine glanced out the window,
checking on her car. She spoke in confidential tones to Kiki. “I don’t mean
to... Is my car safe? That man out there, he—”

Kiki interrupted with a chuckle.
“Skeeter? Oh, he’s harmless.”

“Well, would you mind keeping an eye
out?” Catherine requested, handing Kiki a ten.

Kiki slyly accepted the cash. “Let’s just
ask him to.” With that, Kiki took Catherine’s money and leaned out the front
door, setting off the plastic Santa’s
ho, ho, ho-ing
yet again. “Hey,
Skeet,” Kiki called. “Watch this lady’s car.”

Skeeter lit up. “God bless ya, Miss,” he
called back. Realizing she was stuck, Catherine smiled tightly in return, just
as Merry reached her.

“Catherine. What a surprise,” Merry
greeted, looking back out to the street. “Is Daniel coming?”

Catherine gathered herself. “He doesn’t
actually know I’m here,” she replied.

♥    ♥    ♥

Daniel
descended his living room stairs, a tiny wrapped gift box in his hand. There
was something about seeing Ollie, amusing himself with the model train under
the tree that warmed Daniel’s heart. It reminded him of the joys of bygone
Christmases and the promises of the ones to come.

As Daniel approached, Ollie played
conductor, choo-chooing the string of cars around the track circling the
Christmas tree.

Daniel stooped beneath the branches,
adding the small box to the growing pile of gifts underneath. Reaching under a
bough, he jostled one of Merry’s broken china ornaments. Daniel looked at the
creation with an affectionate grin, and then hid the ring box behind it,
commenting to Ollie. “Gramma’s taking up some serious real estate with these
packages here.”

Ollie eyed the tiny package suspiciously.
“Who’s that little one for?”

Daniel checked around secretively, and
then whispered to his son. “Let’s keep it between us, but it’s a very special
gift for Catherine.”

“From all of us?” Ollie inquired.

“In a way, but it’s mostly from me,”
Daniel answered. “You like her, huh?”

Ollie shrugged. “She’s okay, I guess. I
like Merry better.”

Daniel tipped his head. “I like Merry,
too. But see, Ollie...I like Catherine in a different way. Kind of that man-woman
thing. Like Mommy.”

“Catherine’s not like Mommy,” Ollie
answered.

“Well, no, but—”

Ollie jumped in definitively. “I like
Merry. She’s pretty, don’t you think?”

Daniel scrambled for a response. “Yeah,
Buddy. I do, but...”

Daniel trailed off. He examined his
conflicted heart. How could he explain something to his nine year-old son that
he couldn’t entirely explain to himself?
 
“Catherine, she’s really special, too, and the thing is...well, I
promised her first. Now she’s gotten her father’s blessing about me. And you
know how I always taught you that a promise is a promise?”

♥    ♥    ♥

Across town at
the Downtown diner, Merry sat opposite Catherine, refilling syrup dispensers
while Kiki and Arthur closed out. It wasn’t that Merry wanted to give Catherine
any less than her full attention, but Catherine had come to her fulltime
workplace, a job Merry knew she needed to keep after the holidays.

Catherine looked at Merry directly. “I
won’t mince words, Merry. You’re stealing my show.”

Merry squinted a bit. “Come again?”

“Please don’t be coy, Merry. I already
know you’re smarter than you come off.”

A quizzical expression crossed Merry’s
face. “Thank you?”

“You’re a Christmas Coordinator, not the
Pied Piper, okay?” Catherine continued. “And I’m asking you as nicely as I know
how to stop piping, because if you won’t give me a chance, neither will those
children.”

Merry wiped a dribble off a bottle. “You
can pipe up, Catherine. Pipe away.”

“I won’t compete with you, Merry.”

Seeing Catherine’s distress, Merry put
the bottle down. Something in Merry’s heart went out to Catherine. “Then, get
in there. Take the stage solo. Show them what you’ve got.”

“I would. I could,” Catherine insisted.
“But, thanks to you, everything’s already been done.”

Merry shook her head. “Oh, it’s a long
way from done. I’ve hardly even started on the Christmas Eve party.”

Catherine reared back in frustration.
“That’s great. I’m sure this will be yet another charming extravaganza, putting
me even farther out of my comfort zone, while drawing him hook, line, and
sinker into yours.”

“Catherine, I never meant to—”

Catherine put a hand up. “Okay, no. Stop.
Do you think it’s easy for me to say these things?” Her eyes misted as she
continued; her regal voice broke. “I mean, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m a totally
insecure mess and completely off. So, please, Merry, do us both a favor. Tell
me here and now that you feel nothing for Daniel, and I’ll apologize this
minute.”

Merry stopped, a deer, caught in the
headlights. She had never been a liar in her life, and she resolved in that
moment not to become one. What in the world could she say? She shot up a prayer
for words.

“Well...” Catherine pressed.

Merry took a breath. “My job is over in a
couple of weeks. It’s not like it matters.”

“Of course, it matters,” Catherine
retorted. “It’s the most sentimental time of entire year and there you are,
Little Miss Spotlight. You’ve constantly got his eye.”

Merry swallowed the lump in her throat.
“But you’ve got his heart, Catherine. He loves you. I know it. Me, I’m like a
snowflake—a little sparkle that’s there one moment, and then the next I melt
right away, completely forgotten. Trust me. He doesn’t look at me the way he
looks at you.”

Catherine stared at Merry, suddenly
speechless.
 
Every ounce of guardedness
left Catherine’s face. “You’ve seen him look at me?”

Merry smiled encouragingly. “Kind of hard
to miss.” Merry saw a glimmer of hope as it lit in Catherine’s eyes. It
encouraged her to continue. “You’re the one he wants, Catherine. I know it.”

“Still,” Catherine allowed, “I... If you
could allow me a moment or two to shine at this...Christmas Eve Party you’re
planning.”

“Okay,” Merry nodded, “but it takes more
than a moment or two to work up a good shine, you know. Might have to roll your
sleeves up,” she advised.

Catherine cocked her head back warily.
“Meaning...?”

“Meaning, you could help me with it. Run
the whole she-bang, if you want.”

“But Christmas Eve,” Catherine sputtered.
“That’s just around the corner, now.”

“So, you might want to hop on it,” Merry
suggested. “That is, if you really want to—”