Songs of Christmas (27 page)

He burst out laughing. “Manda Bear? That’s really cute. It suits you.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. It makes me feel so . . . unsophisticated or something.”

“I think you are very sophisticated, Amanda. No question,” he assured her. “But Manda Bear is sort of . . . cuddly. It’s sweet.”

She felt herself blushing and wished she could disappear under the table.

“So, how did you get stuck with such a creative nickname?”

“My little sister Betty couldn’t pronounce Amanda when she was a toddler, but she had learned what a panda bear was. Or at least had learned the word. So she got it all mixed up in her head and then everyone in the family started calling me that. My sister Lauren still calls me that when she wants to tease me.”

“I hope you figured out a good one for her.”

“Oh, I did. But I’m sworn to secrecy, too.”

“Did I see Lauren in church that first Sunday when you were leading the choir?”

“Probably. All three of my sisters were there that day. She’s coming home tomorrow night for the holidays, and so is Jillian. Maybe you could meet them sometime.”

She wondered if that was too much. Was she going to scare him off now, suggesting he meet her family? But he seemed pleased by the idea, his smile widening. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”

They left the restaurant soon after and headed back to Cape Light. The drive took them along the coast, and the bright stars in the dark sky mingled with the lights out along the water.

“I love this part of New England. I love being near the water,” Gabriel confided. “I couldn’t imagine a nicer place to live.”

“Yes, it’s beautiful,” Amanda agreed. “It hasn’t changed much since I was a kid, and that’s a good thing.”

She did love this area, but knew she could leave it to pursue her career. In fact, it seemed as if she had to leave it in order to reach the goals she had set for herself.

Gabriel, however, seemed content to remain here, to run his business and make his own stained-glass creations when the spirit moved him. There was nothing wrong with that. He seemed happy, very much at peace, and she respected and admired that.

When they reached her house, Gabriel parked in the drive. “This was great,” she told him. “I loved the dinner and the music. Thanks so much for taking me there.”

“I had a great time, too. Maybe I’ll turn into a baroque music buff—you never know.”

“Yes, you never know.” The light was dim in the truck, but she could see his brilliant blue eyes clearly. They were practically hypnotizing.

“Well, I’ll see you soon, Amanda. Very soon, I hope,” he said quietly. Then he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Softly at first, then slowly deepening, so that Amanda felt she might melt. She held on to his shoulders, which felt wide and strong. She didn’t know how long the kiss lasted. Only that when they parted she felt dazed and . . . amazed. He was so sweet and strong and absolutely wonderful at the same time.

He drew away slowly, brushing back her hair with his hand. “Can I see you tomorrow?” he asked suddenly. “I know, very uncool, right?”

Amanda laughed at him. She liked him being uncool with her. She hated guys who were always playing some game, determined not to show they cared. “No, that was very cool. I’d love to see you . . . but tomorrow I have to hang out with my family. We’ve been waiting for my sisters to come home, so we could all decorate the tree together.”

“Oh, that’s all right. Just thought I’d ask.”

“How about Sunday?” she said suddenly. “Is that too . . . uncool of me?”

He laughed lightly, seeming pleased by her eagerness to see him. “Not at all. I would love to see you Sunday. I’ll wait for you after the service, okay?”

“Okay.” Amanda’s hand rested on the lever to open the door. She felt suddenly shy but totally elated—and daring. She gave him a quick, light kiss, then she dashed out of the car and ran to the front door.

Wow, what a date! She couldn’t wait to tell Lauren all about it.

* * *

ESTRELLA AND HER FAMILY DID NOT ARRIVE UNTIL ELEVEN ON SATURDAY
morning. Lillian had plenty of time to prepare herself, mentally and emotionally. But it was still too soon. She couldn’t quite believe this nightmare, this desperate measure to appease Ezra, was really happening.

Luckily, Emily was there to help soften the blow and to help organize everything.

“Welcome, Estrella.” Lillian heard Emily open the front door and greet the Salazars. Lillian remained in the living room with Ezra.

“Hand me my crutches, will you, Lily?” he asked.

“We can wait here. They know you have casts on.”

“Lillian, these are our guests. We need to greet them at the door, not sit here like a king and queen in their court.”

Lillian grumbled but got up and helped him. He was getting a bit stronger and more mobile. She would be glad when the casts came off, but they weren’t there yet.

By the time they made it into the foyer, the whole family had come in. Dan had gone outside to help them with a few bags. They didn’t have much, she noticed, reminded again of their unfortunate circumstances. She brushed the thought aside. Well, she was doing her part, wasn’t she? No one could fault her now.

“Mrs. Elliot, Dr. Ezra, this is my mother, Bonita, and my daughter, Marta, and my son, Jorge.”

Her mother and son politely extended their hands to say hello. The little girl was shy. She clung to her mother and peeked out at Ezra and Lillian from behind Estrella’s leg. She held a stuffed dog that looked a bit worse for the wear.

“¡Hola!”
Ezra said brightly to Estrella’s mother and son.

“How do you do?” Lillian followed up with a tight smile.

“Why don’t we all go into the living room and chat a little?” Emily said. “We have some coffee and cookies for you.”

The coffee break was Emily’s idea, to make them feel welcome. Lillian thought it was overkill. For goodness’ sake, how much more welcoming did she need to be? She was permitting these people—total strangers, really—to live under her roof. Did she have to give them coffee and cake, too?

But Lillian did think this would be a good opportunity to go over her house rules. She didn’t want to be unwelcoming, but did think she should make her standards known at the outset. That way there would not be any misunderstandings.

The sweets were a hit with the children. They headed straight for a plate piled with bakery cookies, but much to their credit, held back, staring at it hungrily. “Mama, can I take a cookie?” the boy whispered.

“What do you say?” Estrella asked him.

“Please?”

She nodded and let him take one on a napkin, and the little girl did the same, though she took much longer deciding which one to choose.

While Emily served coffee and tea to the adults, Lillian watched the cookie crumbs raining down every which way. She held her tongue with fierce determination, until finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“You there, young man, please eat that over the napkin. You’re getting crumbs all over the rug. It’s a real Persian rug,” she added, then realized he had no idea what she was talking about.

The boy cowered and stared at his mother. Estrella gave him a firm look. “Be careful of the crumbs, Jorge. That’s all.”

Bonita sat in an armchair, watching Lillian. When Lillian looked at her, the older woman smiled. She began to say something in Spanish that Lillian did not understand, though she did catch the first word,
gracias
, which she knew meant “thank you.”

Ezra understood her and started prattling along. His Spanish had improved since Estrella had arrived, and what he lacked in fluency he made up for in volume, as if speaking louder would somehow help him get his point across.

Estrella’s family stared at him politely, but Lillian had a feeling they didn’t understand him any better than she did. Which was not at all.

“Ezra, please. I told you that I don’t want this house turning into the UN. It’s not at all polite to speak a language that many of us present do not understand.”

Emily and Dan did not understand it, she was almost positive. So she wasn’t just speaking for herself.

“Yes, of course, Mrs. Elliot. That is correct,” Estrella said, siding with her. “It is not polite, as you say. My mother needs to improve her English. It will be good for her to speak only English here.” She turned to Bonita. “Try to speak English with the Elliots,
por favor, Mamá. Sí?
”

Bonita smiled and nodded. But she didn’t say anything more.

Marta, who was cuddled on the couch next to her mother, tugged Estrella’s sleeve, then whispered in her ear. “Later, Marta,” Estrella answered. “We’ll see.”

“What’s the matter? What does she want?” Ezra leaned forward, jumping at the chance to grant some wish of their new guests. He had suddenly turned into a genie popping out of a bottle, Lillian thought.

Estrella sighed. “She’s just wondering if there’s a TV here. The neighbor we stayed with gave her a movie. She’s seen it about ten times, but it distracts her.”

Emily gave the girl a sympathetic look. “Janie, our daughter, is just like that. She can see a movie she likes a million times. Remember
Stuart Little
?” she asked her husband.

Dan rolled his eyes. “Every word of it.”

These children had been through a great ordeal, Lillian thought. Of course a movie would be comforting. But she didn’t want them to watch TV in here, that was for certain. This room really needed to be off limits.

“There’s a TV right in that antique cabinet,” Ezra pointed out before she could say anything. “Mrs. Elliot likes to keep it hidden.”

“And with good reason,” she followed up smoothly. “This isn’t really a TV-watching room. There are too many breakable items . . . and the furnishings are too fragile. I really don’t want anyone watching TV in here,” she said firmly. “Not without very strict supervision.”

The children sat back, looking as if they’d been reprimanded but didn’t know what they had done wrong. Estrella forced a smile. “I understand, Mrs. Elliot. This is a very lovely room with many fine things. I wouldn’t want anything disturbed.”

“There’s no TV upstairs right now,” Emily explained in a rush. “But my sister, Jessica, has one she can give us, and her husband will bring it over and hook it up for you. I’m not sure if he can come until after Christmas, though. He does a lot for our church and he’s very busy over the next few days.”

Lillian hadn’t thought of that. Sam Morgan was the head deacon now. She had expected he would be able to come over with the television for them sooner. This was going to be a problem.

“We have plenty of books,” Lillian said. “It’s much better to read a book than watch TV,” she told the children. “Look at my daughter. I never allowed her to watch much television, and now she’s the mayor,” she added, pointing at Emily. “You can borrow any of the books we have . . . Well, most of them,” she amended, thinking of some rare editions she didn’t want them to touch. She should actually put those away, she realized. “If you’d like to borrow a book, just show me and I’ll tell you if it’s all right,” she added.

The children stared at her, then looked at their mother. “Reading is the best thing,” Estrella agreed. “You use your imagination. Now that I’m with them every night again, I can read a story before bedtime.” She smiled at Lillian. “That is one good thing about us being all together again. Thank you for that, Mrs. Elliot.”

Lillian nodded. Well, at least Estrella understood what she was trying to say.

“There’s a TV in my room,” Ezra said suddenly. “It has a movie player and all that stuff,” he added, talking to Marta. “You can come in and watch your movie with me.”

“Dr. Ezra, that’s very nice,” Estrella said quickly. “But the story is about a pink unicorn who has to break a magic spell and find his family. It might bore you.”

“Would you really like that, Ezra?” Lillian asked innocently. “The last time you watched a film about unicorns, it was a documentary about the restoration of medieval French tapestries, as I recall.”

Ezra ignored her comment and gave Marta a friendly smile. “I would like to watch your movie. Any time,” he insisted.

Children always liked him, she reflected. He’d had a real way with them as a doctor.

“Well, it’s been lovely meeting all of you, and I’m happy that you’re here. But I’m a little tired,” Ezra confided. “I think I’ll go back to my room. If you’d like to see your movie, or just say hello, stop by anytime. I’m right down that hallway.” He pointed to his room.

Marta stared at him. She didn’t smile, but Lillian could tell she was considering the offer.

“Why don’t we help you get settled upstairs?” Emily suggested, getting to her feet.

“I’ll bring your things up,” Dan offered.

The family only had two small suitcases and some big plastic bags of belongings.

“I’ll help you, Mr. Forbes,” Estrella said. “Jorge, you help, too.”

Jorge obediently rose from the couch and followed his mother. Bonita took Marta’s hand, and they left as well. Marta paused in the doorway and glanced back at Ezra. He winked at her and she ran away.

He laughed. “She’s adorable. And the boy is very polite,” he added.

“Yes, model children. For now, anyway,” Lillian said drily. She had a feeling their mother had warned them to be on their very best behavior today. “Let’s see how it goes once they get warmed up.”

“It’s nice to have children around the house. Gives the place a sense of life.” Ezra leaned forward on his crutches and rose slowly, then swung himself back to his room.

He was whistling, she noticed. He never did that unless he was quite happy.
Well, let’s just see how he feels when these full-of-life children are running around making a racket when he wants to take a nap or watch one of his history shows
.

And just how long will these good folks be living with us?
she wondered. So far, nobody had said a word about that.

* * *

ON SATURDAY EVENING, JUST BEFORE HER FAMILY SAT DOWN FOR DINNER
, Amanda got a call from Reverend Ben. “I’m sorry to call so late,” he began, “but I’ve been visiting parishioners all day, and I wanted to discuss some changes I’d like to make in tomorrow morning’s service.