Fraying at the Edge (35 page)

Quill burst into laughter, and Ariana joined him.

All those years of her being hurt and angry with him no longer mattered. Her learning she wasn't a Brenneman and being pulled by the roots from her Amish home—that no longer broke her. She had a joy unlike anything he'd seen since before he and Frieda left.

If helping her get to this place was the only thing he ever did right in his life, it was enough.

C
hristmas music played throughout the fluorescent-lit store. Ariana followed the prompts on the computer screen. Again. “What is wrong with this thing?” she mumbled, glancing up to see if Cameron was finished shopping and heading her way.

Cameron was nowhere to be seen, so Ariana returned her focus to the touchscreen. It was Christmas Eve, and there was a party at Brandi's house tonight. Cameron and Ariana were on a tight schedule, and now this. Worst-case scenario she'd skip getting pictures made until after Christmas, but she should have time to work on the album during the party. The Schlabachs had done as she'd asked and had e-mailed photos to Brandi. Ariana would put them into a photo album for Berta, a gift she'd stealthily give to her when she was back in Summer Grove. With Cameron's help Ariana had loaded the images onto a flash drive, which she'd inserted into this machine ten minutes ago.

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone come up behind her. “Problem?” Cameron asked.

Relief washed over her. “Thank goodness it's you.”

“With that kind of greeting, who needs a dog?” Cameron pushed her brimming shopping cart to the side. “I got the snow globe we talked about and the photo albums. So what's the prob, Bob?”

“You said this thing was user-friendly, and then you abandoned me.”

Cameron reached in and pressed the Start Over button. “I apologize. I should've known a woman who actually said the words ‘What's a USB port?' less than a month ago wasn't ready to fly solo.” She pressed a few buttons and slid the credit card through its spot. A popup with the word “Success” on it appeared on the screen.

The first picture slithered from the machine into a tray at Ariana's waist.

Cameron picked it up while another one printed. “See, the computer is very user-friendly.”

“Or maybe it was giving me a sign that I shouldn't try to give a photo album to an Amish woman.”

“Maybe. There are signs everywhere. Like the one somebody put on an acre of dirt near my friend's house. It says, ‘Keep off the grass.' Or the sign on the side of a convenience store that reads ‘Eat Here, Get Gas.' ”

Ariana burst into laughter and quickly covered her mouth. “You're so bad.”

“But I'm good at getting Timmy out of the well.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Lassie didn't want to rescue Timmy anyway.”

While the pictures continued to print, Ariana checked her phone for the time. “Brandi and Gabe will be out front in fifteen minutes.”

“I'll go check out.” Cameron grabbed the shopping cart by the handle. “A Christmas party of people from Dad's work and some of Brandi's stage-production teams. Can I just poke myself in the eye instead?”

“That bad?”

“Not if you hide out in your room like I do.” Cameron shoved the cart. “Meet you out front.”

“Okay.”

The week had been busy, brimming with the new experiences of cutting down and trimming a Christmas tree and decorating Brandi's and Nicholas's homes. If she never saw another twinkling light or Christmas tree ornament, she wouldn't miss it. But this time was special. She and her two Englisch families had spent a month observing every Christmas tradition Ariana had missed in her lifetime—going to Christmas parades, riding through magical places decorated with Christmas lights, and binge watching Christmas movies.
It's a Wonderful Life
was not on her list of favorites, although she wasn't sure why. She'd watched
A Christmas Carol
with Patrick Stewart twice and wanted to see it at least one more time, but again she wasn't sure why. She'd attended special church services with Brandi and family and, on a different Sunday, with Nicholas and family. And the main pastime had truly been shop till you drop, which often happened for the Amish too, just not her family. The Brennemans made most of their gifts by hand, including baked goods, or they bought something used and fixed it up. She was so ready to see her family, and she would in three weeks. That seemed even closer than it sounded, because the Christmas holiday had begun, and the week between Christmas and New Year's always felt more like a day than a week.

When all the pictures were printed, she grabbed them and hurried out front where Brandi was waiting. Cameron came out a few minutes later, and they were off to the next place on their list.

The day moved briskly as they wrapped gifts and prepared for the Christmas party, making hors d'oeuvres, dips, and platters of finger foods. Ariana made a few specialties, and when the doorbell rang, she retreated to her room. This was an annual thing for Gabe and Brandi, but very few people knew who Ariana was, and she'd asked to keep it that way.

Christmas Eve noise soon filled Brandi's house, and Ariana set aside the snow globe she'd dismantled. It was a birthday gift for Quill that she would mail to him months from now. She tiptoed from her bedroom to Cameron's, hoping Brandi didn't hear her and ask her to come downstairs. She tapped and waited.

“Come in.”

Ariana opened the door.

Cameron was on her bed, watching television. It appeared she had a game of some type on the screen. Cameron hit Pause, stopping the movement on the screen. “What's up?”

“I don't want to spend the evening alone, and I don't want to go downstairs.”

Cameron lifted her controller. “You want to play?”

“Tetris?”

“Not this time, oh novice one. It's a game called Halo.”

“That sounds pleasant. Is it Christmassy with angels and halos?”

“Listen, Giselle.” Cameron tossed the control onto the bed and batted her wide eyes. “Halo's got nothing to do with angels unless the people shot go to heaven.”

Ariana grabbed a pillow and hit her with it. Cameron rolled off the bed, and Ariana plunked onto the bed and grabbed the control. “Can this thing make you shut up?”

“Oh yeah.” Cameron sat next to her. “I can zone out and be quiet for hours. But not tonight.” She took the control and pressed a button.

The screen animated an explosion, and a character flew limply through the air. “I'm in a team death match right now.”

“Turn that thing off. I'm not watching you shoot anyone on Christmas Eve.”

“Fine.” She sounded angry, but she wasn't. In some ways Cameron was the Englisch version of Susie. Cameron pressed the center button, going to some kind of menu, and then a different game came on the screen. “We can play Minecraft.”

“Deal. I've played that with Trent and Zachary.”

“Are Nicholas's stepsons any good?”

“They're better than me.”

Cameron laughed. “Which tells me absolutely nothing.” After a few moments Ariana and Cameron had small pixelated characters on the screen, and they began building stuff, getting materials by punching trees.

Tonight was reminiscent of so many other nights she'd spent with Cameron. After her homework was done, they often watched a movie. Sometimes all four of them—Brandi, Gabe, Cameron, and Ariana—would watch together. Usually they stuck to Disney films, and she loved the PBS miniseries
Anne of Green Gables
with Megan Follows. A memory of a movie Quill had suggested came to her. “Do you own
The Village
?”

“No, but I've seen it, and I'm sure we can download it. Seriously, you want to watch
The Village
?”

“Quill said that it's a good metaphor for how the Amish live and that if I watched it, a lot of things about myself would make more sense.”

“As much as I'll laugh hilariously watching you tense and jump and gasp throughout that movie, I gotta say I'm confused. You're going home soon. Why would you want to watch it now?” She grabbed the remote control and pressed a few buttons.

“To understand what Quill meant about it.”

“It's not the type of thing people watch this time of year. There's a certain feeling to holidays and traditions. Fall is notorious for horror flicks because of Halloween. Christmas has a warm and fuzzy feel to it, so people usually stick to warm and fuzzy movies, like…” She puckered her lips and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I know,
The Chronicles of Narnia.
We haven't watched that one yet. We can watch
The Village
on New Year's Eve or something. People like to scream and shoot off fireworks then, so the mood of the movie will sort of match the mood of the neighborhood.”

“Okay.
The Chronicles of Narnia
it is.”

There was a tap on the bedroom door. “Girls?”

“Yeah, come on in,” Cameron said.

Brandi had on a sparkly burgundy shirt and lots of pretty jewelry. “Gabe's coworkers have all left.”

“So soon?” Cameron looked at the clock on her nightstand. “How is it already nine o'clock?”

“I'm fun and entertaining. That's how,” Ariana said. “But isn't nine a little early to end a party?”

“Not on Christmas Eve,” Brandi said. “We've had this same party for years, and most people need to leave between eight and nine. That's why we begin at five.” She shifted, jiggling the doorknob. “But, Ari, the friends I told you about are still here. The ones who know about you and Skylar. I was hoping you'd be willing to meet them.”

Cameron made a face that said Ariana should go.

“Can we watch
The Chronicles of Narnia
later?” Ariana asked.

“Sure.” She dropped the control onto the bed.

Brandi winked at Cameron. “I have Chex Mix and sausage cheese balls.”

Cameron jumped off the bed. “I'm there.”

Ariana's nerves were on edge as she went down with Brandi. Should she change clothes? She still had on the jeans and sweater she'd slid into after they returned from shopping. Jeans were so much warmer than a dress.

A small group of men and women had a plate of food or a drink in hand, and half of them were wearing jeans. Those who looked up smiled at Ariana. Cameron navigated to her dad, and Gabe held out an empty plate. She took it and went to the spread on the table.

Brandi introduced Ariana to several people, and soon a casual circle surrounded her.

“Your mom said you've been traveling with your dad. How'd that go?”

“Good. I liked it. A lot.” She doubted if she and Nicholas would go on another trip between now and when she went home, but maybe.

“What was your favorite part?”

There was a lot she liked about it. Listening to books and music and then talking about those things, researching the history of the towns ahead of time, and reading historical markers. Staying in different hotels, eating at nice restaurants. But she had a definite favorite. “Going to museums with exhibits on history and culture. When we began, I thought I would most enjoy going to various cafés. And that is fun. But piecing together the tapestry of who we are and how we've changed over the centuries is the best.”

“Ariana owns a café in Summer Grove.” Brandi put her arm around her.

“Had you traveled before?”

Ariana shrugged. “Some.” She'd gone to her cousins' homes in Pennsylvania and Ohio, mostly in search of a spouse. “Not very much.”

“What was your favorite city?” a man asked.

Ariana had an instant answer. “Actually my favorite was also my least favorite: Savannah, Georgia.”

“Best and worst? Why's that?” the man asked.

Ariana shared all that she liked and then told of watching the man pay a hooker and how disturbing it was to witness.

The man nodded. “I've only been to Savannah once. It felt a bit like New Orleans to me. Have you been to New Orleans?”

“No.” And chances were, she never would go there or much of anywhere else once she returned home. She and Rudy might splurge and go to Niagara Falls. A lot of Amish couples did that.

Gabe came to Ariana, smiling at the small group talking with her. “Excuse us for a moment.” He put his hands on her shoulders and led her to the table. “Fill your plate, and you're welcome to stay or disappear. I understand there is a movie on the docket for tonight.”