Home for the Holidays (4 page)

Hope Collins, their waitress, provided a welcome distraction by coming to the table to take their orders. “Hello, ladies. What can I get for you today?”

Alice asked for a tuna sandwich and clam chowder. As the waitress wrote on her order pad, Alice added, “Hope, do you know those people over there?”

Hope glanced over her shoulder and then lowered her voice. “They’re tourists staying over at a hotel in Potterston. One of the ladies in the group—that nice, older one—told me that they’ve been going around seeing historic Pennsylvania homes for the last ten days. Sounds like some sort of new Christmas vacation package thing that’s just been started this year.”

“Is something troubling them?” Jane asked Hope.

Louise set down her menu. “Now, Jane …”

“I’m just asking.” She handed her menu to the waitress. “From the sound of things, they’re having some kind of difficulty.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, their tour guide slipped on a patch of ice just after they got to town yesterday,” the waitress said. “They had to take him over to the hospital. They came back today, expecting a new guide, but no one showed up. I don’t think the company running the tour has anyone to fill in.”

“I remember that gentleman coming up on my ward last night,” Alice said. “He’s going to be fine, but his ankle was fractured in two places. The doctor had to put him in a heavy leg cast, so he won’t be able to walk on it for some time.”

“How terrible!” Louise felt a pang of guilt over her earlier thoughts. Of course, the group had the right to be upset. She just wished they would discuss their problem
somewhere else, away from her highly sympathetic and susceptible sisters.

Jane gave her order for a bowl of chili with a side salad, and then asked, “Do you know whose homes they were scheduled to tour, Hope?”

“June said that the Bellwoods’ and Miss Reed’s were two of them.” The waitress turned to Louise. “What can I get for you, Mrs. Smith?”

After she placed her order, Louise tried to block out the continued grumbling coming from the tourists’ table by discussing holiday plans with her sisters. This year she had her heart set on getting out to visit more of their friends, and on participating in some of the community gatherings and celebrations.

Despite her efforts, however, both Jane’s and Alice’s attention—particularly Jane’s—kept drifting over to the five unhappy faces around the other table.

“I know what you two are thinking,” Louise said after they had finished lunch. “Have you forgotten that we promised ourselves this vacation? And how hard we have worked to arrange it?”

“I know, Louise. It’s just …” Alice searched for the right words.

“It’s Christmas,” Jane answered for her, “and we should do something.”

Louise sighed. She loved her sisters dearly, but sometimes
they exasperated her to no end. “What can we possibly do for these people?”

“Well, one of us could fill in for their guide,” Jane said.

“It wouldn’t take much time to show them around,” Alice said, very tentatively. “Perhaps an hour here and there at the most.” When Louise did not reply, she added, “We could take turns.”

Her silver eyebrows rose. “You are assuming that you already have my participation.”

“Oh, come on, Louise. We were planning to visit our friends anyway, weren’t we?” Jane flipped her ponytail over her shoulder as she sat back. “If we take them around, it’ll just be like visiting. Only we’ll be bringing some extra people with us.”

“I fear it may not be that simple.” Louise placed her napkin next to her plate. “The group is obviously expecting a professionally guided tour, something none of us is really qualified to provide.”

“Well, we could tell them up front that we’re simply good Samaritans and not professional tour guides.” Her youngest sister put her hand over hers. “Please, Louise. ’Tis the season, let’s help make these poor folks feel jolly.”

Louise cast another doubtful glance at the group. Some of them did not look very pleasant, particularly the biggest man.

“It would be the Christian thing to do,” Alice added gently.

Louise did not consider herself a selfish woman, and
she did believe in being a good Christian and helping people whenever she could.

Just not this week
.

Yet there was no way she could look at her sisters’ hopeful faces, or the dejected ones at the other table, and
not
feel selfish.

“Oh, very well. We can offer to help.” When Alice and Jane started to talk at the same time, Louise held up one hand. “I only want you both to remember something: Taking a group of strangers around to see other people’s homes was not my idea of how we should spend our vacation.”

“Don’t be such a worrywart,” Jane chided. “It’ll be fun. You’ll see.”

Since Jane had been the one to propose the idea, she volunteered to be the one to approach the group about their dilemma. She was also more outgoing with strangers than Alice was and more at ease with them than was Louise.

“We didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Jane said after she had walked over and exchanged greetings with the group, “but my sisters and I couldn’t help overhearing your discussion. If you’d like, we’d be happy to take you around on the home tour.”

“That’s a very kind offer,” Allan Hansford said as his white mustache framed his smile. He had introduced himself as a retired architect, and like her older sister he had
very keen, light blue eyes. “But we don’t want to put anyone to any trouble.”

“It’s better than sitting around the hotel doing nothing,” Max Ziglar said. His strong features were filled with as much dreariness as his deep voice. “There’s nothing in it for you, though.”

Jane frowned. “We’re not expecting anything, sir.”

“What Max is trying to say is that if you’re thinking of charging us for the pleasure, you can forget it,” said Laura Lattimer as she reapplied lipstick that matched her fingernails, handbag and bright red designer outfit perfectly. She had said she was an interior decorator. “I’ve already spent too much money on this trip.”

“Max, Laura, please,” Edwina Welles said, her tone as gently reproving as only an experienced grammar-school teacher’s could be. She gave Jane an apologetic look. “We’re all a little tired, I’m afraid. We’ve spent so much time cooped up in the van, and now to face the return trip without so much as a break …” she moved her shoulders. “I have to admit, I’m not looking forward to it either. Still, there’s not much we can do, under the circumstances.”

“I’m not going to sit in a hotel,” Max insisted, tapping one finger against the tabletop. “Either the company provides a replacement or I’m staying here for at least the day.”

“I guess even a walk around town beats staring at four hotel room walls,” Ted admitted.

“You’ll just end up spending more money,” Laura predicted. “If this lady doesn’t get any out of you.”

“I understand how you feel.” Jane was starting to wonder, though, if Max Ziglar ever smiled or if Laura Lattimer even understood the definition of Christian charity. “Please be assured that my sisters and I don’t want to charge you anything. We’re going to be visiting the homes on your tour anyway: The people who own them are our friends. We only wanted to offer our help.” She met Max’s dark gaze. “Absolutely free of charge.”

“Well, I’m all for it.” Ted Venson checked the snap on the case of his camera before hanging it around his neck. He pushed his thick-lensed glasses higher on the bridge of his prominent nose before he added, “I need to take at least three more rolls of film to round out my portfolio and these homes are rumored to be the best on the tour. I’m really looking forward to shooting them.”

“Are you a professional photographer, Mr. Venson?” Jane asked.

“Not exactly,” he admitted. “I work in the camera section of a department store and I take portrait photographs. You know, cute babies, families and so on. But I do my own photography on the side, and I’d like to go freelance and start selling my own work to magazines and publishers.”

“Freelancing.” Max’s voice went heavy with disapproval. “You can’t support a wife and family when you don’t have a
steady paycheck coming in, boy. You’d do better to forget this artistic nonsense and hold on to that job of yours.”

“Oh, I am.” Ted touched the gold wedding band on his left hand and a pained expression came over his face. “This is one last shot at my dream. If I can’t sell these photos, I’ll stick to family portraits.”

Jane felt sympathy for the young man. When she had left home, she had pursued her own dreams with a single-minded intensity. But she knew that not everyone could have that opportunity.

“If you’re certain this won’t put out you or your sisters, then I’d be delighted to have you as our guides,” Allan said.

“So would I.” Edwina leaned to the side and smiled over at Louise and Alice, who were watching them.

The big businessman subjected Jane to another long, silent stare. Obviously he was reluctant to trust her, Jane thought, but why?
What makes you so suspicious of people, Max Ziglar?

“Max, it would seem that we’ve been outvoted.” Laura put her lipstick away and gave Jane a decidedly narrow look. “I do hope this is not going to be a complete waste of my time. That is one thing I absolutely cannot abide. My time is precious and, truth be told, I’d rather spend it back in the city.”

For a moment the interior decorator reminded Jane of Florence Simpson, one of the more difficult women at church. Florence was the type who would not only look a gift horse in the mouth, but would hold off accepting it
until she had weighed, measured and X-rayed it. And only then if it came with an appraisal.

“We’ll do our best, Miss Lattimer. Let me bring my sisters over now so you can meet them.” Laura’s haughty remark made her repeat what she had told her sisters. “I think this will be a terrific experience for all of us.”

“I think this will be a complete disaster for all of you,” was the prediction Ethel Buckley made that evening over dinner at the inn.

Alice looked over at Louise, who seemed to be in silent agreement, and at Jane, who had a decidedly militant gleam in her eyes. “We haven’t even started yet, Aunt Ethel.”

“If you had the sense the good Lord gave a rabbit, Alice Howard, you’d call the whole thing off.”

“Stop being so optimistic, Auntie,” Jane said. “All this enthusiasm and confidence will make our expectations skyrocket.”

Her aunt glared. “What were you girls thinking, agreeing to take on this tour group? You don’t know anything about these people and you’re certainly not responsible for them. They hired a company to bring them here for a tour. Why aren’t
they
doing something about it? What sort of tour is this?”

“From what I understand, this is the first time the tour
company has scheduled a Christmas homes tour to visit Acorn Hill. This group is being used as a test for the town, to decide if they want to bring their groups here on a regular route.” Louise unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap. “The tour begins in Philadelphia and makes several visits to different towns over a period of ten days. The group pays a reasonable package price, which includes hotel accommodations and transportation.”

“How did they decide on what houses to visit here in Acorn Hill?” Ethel asked.

“The company ran an ad in the
Acorn Nutshell
, inviting locals to make their homes available for the tour,” Alice said. “In exchange, the company will make a donation in the host’s name to Toys for Tots.”

“It’s a nice idea and could turn out to be good for the inn,” Jane said. “If the tour company is looking for an annual package deal for accommodations, we might be able to offer them a discounted rate and have their groups stay here.”

“If they are small groups,” Louise added.

“Business is one thing, but I still don’t see how not having a guide for these people has suddenly become your responsibility,” their aunt insisted.

“It’s Christmas, Aunt,” Alice reminded her as she passed around the cloth-covered basket of hot rolls. “They’re visitors to our town, they’ve had some bad luck and now we’re simply trying to help out the poor souls.”

“Poor souls, my Aunt Frances.” Ethel snorted. “June told me that Ziglar fellow wears a fancy tie clip with a diamond the size of a golf ball. She also said that he paid for his lunch from a roll of bills that was three inches thick.”