Weaving the Strands (22 page)

Chapter 48

Maggie entered the parking garage
half an hour before the scheduled arrival of the plane carrying the returning
California contingent. John pulled in right after her. She didn’t have enough
room in her car to transport all five of them, plus the extra luggage they were
bringing for the holiday. John had offered his services.

Mike expected her to pick them up at the curb, but
John suggested they meet them inside. “They’ll have too much to wrangle on
their own,” he insisted. They checked the flight’s status on the large screen
and decided they had time for a cup of coffee while they waited. They gathered
their paper cups and settled into chairs facing the checkpoint.

“Excited?” John asked.

Maggie nodded. “Absolutely. I love having them
here. The girls are so excited about Santa. They’ve written him every day to
make sure he knows they’ll be at Rosemont this year.” She smiled. “Nothing is
more magical than Christmas through the eyes of a child.”

John turned to her. “I haven’t experienced that as
an adult,” he said with an air of sadness.

“You will now,” Maggie assured him. “In fact, I’ll
bet the twins would love to go see Santa tomorrow. Deliver their forwarding address
in person. Why don’t we take them?”

“The mall will be a madhouse. The line for Santa
will be a mile long,” John said, but he couldn’t keep the excitement out of his
voice.

“That’s part of the fun of it. Perfect plan!”

“What else is on the agenda?”

“We’ll go to the family service on Christmas Eve.
And I’d like to take the girls skating at The Mill. You’re welcome to join us
for everything. Whatever you can fit in.”

John nodded. “I’ve got a light schedule this week;
nobody brings their animal in for surgery during the holidays unless it’s an
emergency. But you’ll need time alone with your children; I don’t want to
interfere.”

“Nonsense,” Maggie replied. “They love you.
They’ll want you there. And I want you there.”

They sipped their coffee. Maggie checked her
watch. “They should be on the ground by now. They’ll be here any minute.” She
turned to John and took a deep breath. “One more thing. I hope this doesn’t upset
you, but—”

John put his arm around her shoulder and drew her
close. “I know, sweetheart. As much as I’ve loved sleeping with you these last
few weeks, you’re not ready to have me there with your kids and grandkids in
the house. I’ll take myself back to my lonely bachelor pad every night. We’ll
be the soul of discretion.”

Maggie sighed. “You are the most understanding man
on the planet.” She looked up at him. “And you know what else? I’m still pooped
from the tea party, and we haven’t even started this visit yet.”

“Oh yes, we have,” John cried, standing and
pulling her to her feet. He pointed to the walkway. “Here they come!”

***

After a day of collecting everyone
from the airport and getting them settled into their rooms, Maggie longed for
her bed. She was glad she’d had the wherewithal to make dinner in advance and
that the slow-cooker pot roast had been a big hit. The twins, wired after their
long confinement on the flight, had spent the evening racing through the house,
chasing a willing Eve from room to room. They, like the rest of the recent
arrivals, were on California time and probably wouldn’t wind down for another
three hours.

She had finally slipped her feet under the covers
when she heard the soft knock on her door. She briefly considered ignoring it,
but a corresponding sense of guilt prompted her to call, “Come in.”

Susan slipped gracefully through the door and plopped
down on the bed next to her. Maggie knew her daughter; she glowed with excitement
and clearly wanted to talk. How many of these opportunities would Maggie have?
She hoisted herself to a sitting position, propped herself up on some pillows,
and willed herself to remain alert.

“I haven’t told you much about this because I
didn’t want to jinx it,” she began breathlessly. “You know how I told you I’d
had a text from Aaron? Alex’s brother?”

Maggie nodded. “Of course I remember. And I think
he’s going to be in Westbury with Alex for Christmas.”

“He is, for sure,” Susan replied. “And we’re going
to spend as much time together as we can.” She burrowed under the covers.
“We’ve been emailing and texting every day. We’ve talked on the phone for
hours. There’s something there, Mom. I know it.”

Maggie looked at her daughter and nodded
encouragingly.

“We love each other. We really do. I’ve never felt
so comfortable and in tune with anybody. Do you think we’re crazy? Please don’t
throw cold water on this,” she pleaded.

“Honey,” Maggie chose her words carefully. “I
certainly don’t think either of you is crazy. I had an idea about this, because
I ran into Alex last week and he said his brother is nuts about you. He also
told me he’s the real deal—kind and dependable, honest and loving. You
just need to make sure that you really know each other.”

“That’s the thing, Mom. I always thought
long-distance relationships were doomed to failure because you couldn’t spend
time together. There may be some truth to that, but the distance has forced us
to learn to communicate. We can’t get distracted by physical chemistry.”

Maggie smiled. “Good point. He’s welcome here
anytime. And Alex and Marc, too, since he’s supposed to be here to see them.”

“Plus John, right?” Susan asked.

“Absolutely. We’ll have a full house again.”

Susan rose and smoothed the blanket. “You know
what, Mom? Westbury has been wonderful for both of our love lives. Maybe you
should work up some sort of Chamber of Commerce-type advertising—Westbury:
Supplying Fine Men to Womankind.”

Maggie laughed. “You might have something there.
Now go get a good night’s sleep. We’ve got a full day tomorrow.”

***

The mall was pandemonium the next
afternoon. Alex, Marc, and Aaron caught up with them as they waited in line for
Santa Claus. After the bare minimum of pleasantries, Susan grabbed Aaron’s arm
and announced, “We’re outta here. Where shall we meet you?”

“We’ll be here a while,” Mike said with a sigh.
“What’re we doing after this?”

“It’s a surprise,” Maggie replied. She turned to
Susan and Aaron. “I’ll call you half an hour before you’re supposed to be
there.”

“For Pete’s sake, Mom, just tell us,” Susan
scoffed, but Maggie could tell she liked the intrigue. Just as she always had.
No matter how grown up, Susan loved a secret.

Maggie ignored her and motioned to Alex. She
leaned in and whispered briefly in his ear. Alex nodded and a smile spread
across his lips.

“Perfect. We’ll be there. I can handle those two,”
he said, gesturing toward his brother and Susan.

The wait for Santa Claus dragged on interminably.
The girls grew fussy and impatient and their parents increasingly
short-tempered. John finally dispatched Mike and Amy to get a snack. He turned
his attention to the twins. “Have I ever told you about the time Roman had to
help Santa Claus?”

“No,” they replied in wide-eyed unison. John
winked at Maggie and launched into the tall tale.

By the time Mike and Amy returned, Sophie and
Sarah were next in line. They opted to go up together. Santa listened to both
intently and assured them he would know where to find them on Christmas Eve.
Satisfied, the girls bounded off his lap, shouting they were ready to “go to
the surprise.”

Maggie placed the call to Alex. “Time to launch,”
she said into the phone as they made the long walk to their cars.

***

The twins bombarded Maggie with
questions on the way to The Mill while Amy napped in the passenger seat. John
and Mike brought up the rear. The skies were partly cloudy, but the air was
still.
A lovely afternoon to learn to skate,
Maggie thought.

Alex, Marc, Aaron, and Susan were waiting by
Alex’s car when they pulled into the lot. There were other skaters on the rink,
but it was far from full. Maggie gathered her brood and announced that she and
John would be giving them skating lessons.

“You’re kidding, right?” Mike asked. “I was never
any good at inline skating as a kid. Getting on ice can only be worse.”

“Don’t be such an old stick-in-the-mud,” his
sister scolded. Mike turned to his wife. “I’m with Susan,” Amy replied.

The girls, delighted at the prospect, raced up the
stairs to the rental kiosk. Their parents followed.

“Aaron and I used to skate on a small pond near
our house as kids,” Alex told Maggie. “I was never any good, but Aaron got the
hang of it.”

Aaron quickly added his disclaimer. “I haven’t
been on skates in years.”

“I hadn’t been on skates in
decades
,”
Maggie said. “Until John brought me here last year on our first date. So I can
assure you from personal experience, it comes back to you. Like riding a bike.”

Aaron gave her a tentative smile.

“I’m counting you as one of the instructors,” she
declared. “Along with John and me.”

Resigned to their participation, the adults donned
skates and the group proceeded to the rink. Only Amy hung back, insisting she
had a headache, and would enjoy watching them from a comfortable chair inside.
The twins promptly lined up beside John, declaring that they wanted to be in
his class. He beamed, pleased to be their first choice.
The afternoon is
unfolding perfectly,
Maggie thought with delight.

“Let’s mix things up, shall we? Alex and Mike,
come with me. Marc and Susan, go with Aaron,” she called to the assembled
group. “To make this interesting, keep track of the number of times you fall
down. I’ve got a prize for the beginner who stays on his or her feet the most.”

She looked at her competitive children.

“It’s on,” Mike called to Susan.

“You won’t even be a challenge,” Susan replied
tauntingly as she took Aaron’s arm and tentatively stepped onto the rink.

***

For the rest of the Christmas
visit, long after the skating had ended, Sophie and Sarah stuck like glue to
John. He didn’t mind in the least. He even allowed them to be junior helpers at
the animal hospital one slow afternoon. Mike was skeptical, but John reported
that they had been patient and helpful, and that he’d offer them jobs if they
lived in town. The girls beamed with pride.

Maggie kept short hours at Town Hall, attending to
the few essential matters that presented themselves during the holidays. She
was surprised to find an enormous arrangement of pine boughs, white orchids,
and red roses, festooned with glittery ribbon and candles on her desk, and
stunned to read the accompanying card from Frank Haynes. From the look on his
face, she would have assumed that he had hated her Christmas tea. Either he had
good breeding or she had misjudged him. She took out a sheet of her official
“Mayor of Westbury” stationery and penned a thank-you note to slide under his
door.

Aaron slipped in and out of Rosemont with Susan.
They volunteered to do all the grocery shopping and any other errands that
needed running; anything to get some time alone together. Mike reassured Maggie
that Amy was fine; she was just taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep in
every morning. By Christmas Eve, life at Rosemont had settled into a
companionable rhythm.

Maggie stopped by Town Hall on Christmas Eve
morning to drop off plates of Laura’s Christmas cookies for each department,
and to officially close Town Hall at noon. She had just returned home and
settled into her favorite chair by the French doors in the library when the
doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Sam and Joan wished her a very Merry
Christmas and presented a dog collar for Eve.

“It’s adorable! Look at this fabric, and the
pretty bow,” Maggie said, bending down to show it to Eve. “Won’t you be the
best-dressed doggie in town?” she crooned.

Joan beamed. “I thought that fabric looked like
Rosemont, elegant and vintage-y.”

“You made this?” Maggie asked as she secured the
collar around Eve’s neck.

“I did. Glad you like it,” Joan smiled.

“It’s perfect. You could sell these.”

“I don’t know about that,” Joan laughed. “I’ve
made another one out of the same fabric, with a bow tie, for Roman. Our next
stop is Westbury Animal Clinic.”

“Won’t they just be the perfect pair,” Maggie said
as she walked them to their car.

She had barely reclaimed her seat when the
doorbell rang again; this time, it was the Knudsens bearing two bottles of
champagne. “You’ve got a lot to celebrate this year,” Tim Knudsen observed.

When the bell rang a third time, Maggie abandoned
all hope of putting her feet up. By the time Judy Young appeared at her door in
the late afternoon, Maggie remarked that she hadn’t expected so many visitors.

“It’s Westbury’s Christmas Eve tradition,” Judy
proudly informed her. “We visit our neighbors to wish them Merry Christmas and
bring them something we think they’ll enjoy. Used to be everything was
homemade, but people have gotten away from that. I’d have been here earlier,
but I just closed the shop. You were my first stop.”

 “Now I’m really embarrassed,” Maggie said.
“I don’t have anything to give anybody. I had no idea. We don’t do this where
I’m from.”

“Don’t worry about it, honey,” Judy stated firmly.
“You’ve probably had everybody over to your house at one time or another, even
if they didn’t attend the high tea. You’ve done your share all year long.
People want you to know they appreciate your kindness.”

Maggie blushed. “Take a look at this collar that
Joan Torres made for Eve.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s too cute.”

“She made a boy version for Roman, too.”

“I should carry these in Celebrations. They’d sell
like hotcakes. I’m calling Joan as soon as I get home.”

The steady stream of visitors finally stopped as
the late afternoon sunshine slanted low through the trees. Church was at seven
o’clock. She checked the large pot of chicken tortilla soup that she’d started
as soon as she got home from Town Hall, then called her family to the table for
a simple kitchen supper of soup and salad.