“Good morning.” Jesse’s low voice called out from theliving room.
“Morning.” Iaverted his gaze and kept my head down low.
He rose off his seat, after folding the newspaper in half.
“There’s fresh coffee brewed and a bottle of Tylenol beside it. Help yourself to anything. Sorry that there’s not a lot of fresh food.” He opened a tiny drawer beside the fridge and pulled out a scratch pad and pen, along with a keychain. In terrible chicken scratch, he wrote down a name and address. “This is Lenny’s place. If you’re not familiar, it’s just off the main drag, tucked closer to the wharf.”
I was sure the locations in the Bay would come back to meonce I drove around.
“And here’s a key so you can come and go.”
I stared at it as it skittered across the island. “But you don’t… I’m a…”
“You’re Lily and Eric’s sister. That’s enough for me. Besides, small towns talk, right?”His empty coffee cup rattled in the sink as he set it down.
I nodded. Slowly. “About last night…”
“I promise to not say a word.” He gave me another once over but settled his gaze on my face. “I need to work for a bit today, but I should be back by two.”
“What do you do?”
He hesitated, and his mouth opened quickly and shut with asnap.
“Sorry, I was being nosey. You don’t need to answer.” I wrapped my fingers around the keychain and lifted it into the air, stillavoiding eye contact. “I promise to guard it with my life.”
He moved a couple feet closer toward the front door and stopped. “Would I be out of line to see if you wanted to go to dinner tonight?”
I blinked twice and looked into his eyes, feeling a gentle pull into them. “No. Not at all.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you later.”
With that, he left his house, leaving me alone. As my stomach growled, I inched open the fridge to see what was quick to grab for a bite to eat. He wasn’t kidding when he said there wasn’t much; it was nearly empty. I did a little poking around his bare cupboards, noting a few things while setting up a small list of items to buy. Assuming there was still a grocery store in town, I was going to stock his fridge and pantry full. After all, he’d put me up for a night, and had helped me with a flat tire. It was the very least I could do, and I hoped I wasn’t overstepping.
Once, when I was down on my luck my first semester in college, my dad had done it for me. Dead broke, my roommates and I couldn’t even scrap together enough cash between the three of us to buy a bag of apples and a jug of milk. Dad took it upon himself to fill our cupboards and fridge and freezer. To this day, I’ve never forgotten how savoury a fresh apple was and how wonderful it felt to not have to eat another bag of cheap ramen, which incidentally I noted Jesse had a small stash of.
Aftermeeting with Lenny, I wasn’t too comfortable with going back to Jesse’s house and just hanging out, so I walked the main drag in Cheshire Bay wondering how much things had changed. Spoiler alert, nothing had. The store names remained the same, all funky little town Mom & Pop types of names; Belles et Garcons, Daisy’s Delights, Sylvia’s Bakery. All stores I remember visiting when I was in my teens, especially the bake shop with its gigantic cinnamon buns.
As the snow fell in picturesque flakes, Christmas carols played from some mystical places, as I never saw any speakers. The storefronts all had a holiday display of some sort, whether it be holly and berries, or angels, or a nicely painted Christmas tree.
It was overload though, and the thought of hearing ‘Have Yourselves a Merry Little Christmas’ was enough to make me leave. I couldn’t be the only one in town who didn’t enjoy Christmas, and yet, as I scanned the street, people were chatting with smiles and friendly pats as their arms were loaded up with bags.
Maybe Iwasthe only one.
Ipopped intoWhimsical Whims, a tchotchke paradise. The window display promised something for everyone, and I appreciated a good challenge. Near the front of the store there were a variety of handmade ornaments, and I searched the tree for a better part of a half hour looking for the perfect gift for Lily, testing the stores promise. In addition to the sizeable cheque for her wedding gift, I wanted to find a nice ornament to bestow upon her as a memento of the season. Mom had always given us a special one for the tree every year since I was born, until… she couldn’t.
While I was on the huntfor Lily in a half-hearted effort to reboot the tradition, I stumbled across one for Jesse - a twinkling Christmas tree that reminded me of his front yard. I held the lightweight ornament in my palm and in doing so, spied the gift beckoning me. Buried into the branches was a silver snowflake baring an etched sentimental saying about the love and bond between sisters. It was too perfect to not get it, even if Lily and I weren’t quite there in our relationship, it was certainly on its way.
I took both up to the register, stopping at another display casefilled with hand-carved wooden ornaments. “These are gorgeous.”
Despite the multitude of options, I selected a 2D snow globe and added it to the two others.
“Would you like this engraved?” The teenaged boy asked as he pulled out a pile of tissue paper.“It would go here.” His nail-bitten fingertip touched the bottom.
“Sure.” I tipped my headto the side in deep thought and glanced to the display, hoping there was a sign or something to give me a spur of the moment idea. There was nothing. “What about ‘The Morris Family’ and add the year?”
It should work. Something to commemorate their Christmas Day wedding.
“Sure thing, ma’am. It’ll take about an hour for Gus to do it.”