Home with My Sisters (25 page)

* * *

The next day passed quickly with a doctor's appointment for Yvette in the morning, skating on the pond with Brittany in the afternoon, and starting a to-do list for Christmas. Before Hope knew it, evening was nearly upon them and it was time for her date with Austin. The best thing about it is she didn't even have to get ready. He said to dress casual, and so all she did was slip on her coat and jump into his truck when he stopped to pick her up. She told him to hurry, hoping no one else would even catch on that she was with Austin. The first thing they did was to go on a horse and carriage ride through the snow. It was magical. The horse clopped through town at a reasonable pace, and from atop the carriage Hope could take in all the Christmas lights and decorations. Everything was aglow. Hope couldn't stop smiling.

“Can I ask you something?” Austin said.

“Of course.”

“Do you regret breaking up with that guy?”

“Michael?” Austin nodded. “No, I'm relieved actually.”

“Good.” His hand slid across the red satin lining of the carriage and soon it was holding hers. “I just had to ask.”

“My turn,” Hope said.

“Uh-oh,” Austin said.

“When was your last relationship?”

“It's been about three years.”

“Does she still live around here?”

“No, she moved to New York.”

“Is that why you broke up?”

“It is, actually. I don't think I ever want to leave here. I don't mean I won't travel. But this is home.”

“And she didn't feel the same way?”

“She did for a while. And then she didn't. She wanted to go back to New York.”

“And you never regret not going with her?”

“No, there were other reasons too. Who knows. Maybe I would have gone if she had been the right girl. But I know I made the right decision.”

The carriage made a loop around to the starting place at the top of a small hill that overlooked the entire village. Hope gazed out at the shops and the mountains, and the backdrop of the trees. “I can see why you love it here,” Hope said.

“It's magical, isn't it?”

“It is.”

“This is where we get off,” Austin said, doing just that and holding out his hand to help her off. “Would you like to go get some hot chocolate and a piece of pie?”

“That sounds fabulous.”

“Good.” He held out his arm and she linked hers, and soon they were walking to town.

“Do you think Joy has a point about Roger?” Hope asked.

“How do you mean?”

“What if he does need medical care in the future?”

“There would be options of course. The bigger question is—why in the world would she even ask this of you or anyone else?”

“I'm not really surprised. I think she's come to think of Roger as a son.”

“But she shouldn't expect you to treat him like family.”

“Are you still suspicious of Roger?” Hope asked. She found herself crossing her fingers, praying he would say no. For some reason she found herself growing extremely attached to Roger. Like her grandmother, she had an urge to make sure he had a place to live the rest of his life. Who in the world would want to throw an old man out of his modest cabin? Joy and Faith, for two, but that was another matter.

“Actually,” Austin said, “I'm not. Whatever his story is he seems to genuinely care about Yvette. And you girls.”

“I like him too. And it's not really based on facts. Just a feeling.”

“You are a really special person, you know that.” Austin stopped and put his arms around her waist, then pulled her closer.

“I'm just average,” she said. “Just the girl next door.”

“Literally,” Austin said, and threw his head back with laughter. Hope realized what she said and then joined in. “I've always wanted to fall for the girl next door,” Austin said. He leaned in and kissed her. They went to the Winter Biergarten for dessert. Austin excused himself to go to the restroom. Hope was still replaying the evening and smiling to herself, not caring at all that the waitress seemed to be ignoring her, when she felt her phone vibrating madly in her purse. By the time she retrieved it, she'd missed the call. She stared at the phone, dumbfounded. She had forty-two missed calls from her mother.

CHAPTER 27

Josh snuck around the back of the barn. He'd finally been able to snatch his mother's cell phone when she was in the shower, and Brittany and Granny and Joy were downstairs watching Harrison make a pie. Josh didn't see what was so exciting about that, but he was glad to be able to slip out unnoticed. Charlie. He now had his phone number. There was no picture next to his name. Josh scrolled through the most recent texts.

 

CHARLIE

 

I miss you

 

FAITH

 

Josh curled his fist. Disgusting! How could she do that to his dad? That's it, he wasn't celebrating Christmas. Not with her at least. His dad would fix it now. He had to. Josh didn't want to read any more. He would give his father Charlie's phone number. His hand shook as he called his father. Maybe he would sneak one of his mom's pills, just to calm his nerves.

“Hey, buddy,” his dad said on the fourth ring. Relief washed through him.

“Dad,” Josh said. “You have to come now.”

“Too much estrogen over there?” his father joked.

“What?”

“Too many women?”

“I know about Charlie.” Josh could feel the silence on the other end. “Dad?”

“Is she there?”

“Mom? She's in the shower.”

“Is Charlie there?”

His father wasn't making sense. Why would Charlie be here? “Of course not.”

“So your mother told you she was seeing someone?”

“You knew?” Josh demanded. Why wasn't he doing anything about it? Probably because he didn't have Charlie's phone number. Well, he would have it now.

His dad sighed. “I know,” he said. “We were waiting until after the holidays to tell you. Does Brittany know?”

“Yes,” Josh said.

“I'm sorry, buddy. I'm sorry you found out like this.”

“How could you let Mom date another man?”

“You're talking about Charlie?” his dad asked.

Why did his dad sound so stupid? Was he drunk too? “Who else? Is she dating more than one other man?”

“No,” his father said. “Charlie is the only one your mother is dating.”

“Dad! Don't you care? You don't even sound like you care.”

“I do care. But it's complicated.”

“It's not complicated,” Josh said. “It's simple. You have to do something. You have to fix it.”

“You're missing key elements of the situation,” his dad said. He still sounded so freaking calm.

Josh couldn't understand why he was so calm. Maybe his dad was taking Xanax too. Maybe they were the Xanax family. Josh was keyed up enough for all of them. “What key elements?”

“This is not a conversation we're going to have over the phone. Tell your mother to call me.”

His dad sounded mad now. But he sounded mad that they knew, not that his mom was dating another man. “Are you dating someone else too?”

“No,” his dad said. “I'm not.”

“Dad. You have to come get me.”

“You'll be home soon.”

“I won't stay here. I won't.”

“I thought it was a ski lodge with a skating rink.”

“I don't care. All they do is fight. I want to come home.”

“Just do your best to enjoy it.”

“You're coming here for Christmas, right?”

“That wasn't the plan.”

“I won't stay unless you say you're coming. I won't celebrate Christmas.”

“What will you do?”

“I'll hitchhike back to California.”

“That's not funny.”

“I'm not joking.”

“I'm going to call your mother.”

“Why don't you call Charlie instead? I have his phone number.”

“What are you doing with Charlie's phone number?”

“I snuck it off Mom's phone.”

“Why are you behaving like this?”

“You don't want the number?”

“Josh. Sit tight. I'm going to work this out with your mom.”

“You mean you're going to kick Charlie's ass?”

“Don't go anywhere. I'll talk to you soon.” His dad clicked off. Josh couldn't believe how that just went down. His dad really didn't care. He didn't even ask for the phone number. Josh stared at the number. He'd wait and see what his dad said when he called him back. He'd wait. But if his dad didn't come around, then Josh was going to have to take care of this. He would call Charlie. He would tell Charlie to stay away from his mother. And he'd hitchhike back to California.

He shouldn't have called Austin. Now Austin thought he wanted to kill himself and he was hanging around all the time. Maybe if he tried it would finally wake people up. All they did was argue. He hated it. Forget taking just one Xanax. You could probably kill yourself if you took enough of them. That's what he'd do. He'd take the rest of the bottle and float in the hot tub until he was gone.

Josh felt a nudge on his thigh. He turned around. Mr. Jingles was behind him, looking up at him, his big mouth open in a smile.

“Hey,” Josh said. Mr. Jingles whined and then licked Josh's hand. Josh patted his big head. Mr. Jingles nuzzled up to him. “You want to go play in the woods?” Josh began to run, and Mr. Jingles followed. Josh would think about killing himself later. And maybe he wouldn't even do it. But he'd definitely start sneaking some of his mom's pills just to have some on hand. Just in case.

* * *

Brittany thought Granny was funny. Maybe she wasn't all sweet and cuddly, but neither was Carla. She'd rather have grannies with personality. But she got the feeling that this one really didn't know how to make a pie. And her hands shook every time she picked up a knife. So Brittany started to do all the cutting. Her mom never let her use sharp knives like this. But she was doing a good job, slicing the apples. She thought pumpkin pie or cherry pie was better for Christmas, but her granny had all these apples lying around and Harrison said he knew how to make the best apple pie. From the smells coming out of the oven, he was not lying.

Outside, Josh was sneaking around the barn. He was up to something. Brittany knew it had something to do with their mom. Brittany didn't want to believe her mom was seeing another man. She didn't even want to think about it. She was glad Josh was planning on doing something. She wondered what it was. She wondered if it was too late. Brittany was standing by the window looking outside when Granny came up to her.

“Did your mother ever tell you about your grandfather?” her granny asked.

“Who?”

“Thomas. Your mother's father. Did she ever tell you about him?”

Brittany shrugged. She didn't like the tone of Granny's voice. Like she was already mad. “I know he really liked Christmas,” Brittany said.

“That he did,” Yvette said.

“I love Christmas. Don't you?”

“I love that you love Christmas,” her granny said.

“I want to get everyone a present for Christmas,” Brittany said. “But I can't get to town by myself.”

“We should draw names,” Granny said.

“Draw names?”

“You'd go broke buying a present for everyone. We could put everyone's name in a hat and whoever you pick—that's who you buy a present for.”

“Oh,” Brittany said. She didn't like that idea at all. Of course she had to get a present for Mom, and Dad, and Josh. But she also wanted to get a present for Aunt Hope and Aunt Joy, and Granny. Maybe even Roger. A new cap for Roger. And Mr. Jingles. She was definitely going to get him a present. And Austin. And Harrison. Her grandmother's idea was never going to work. “I don't mind buying lots of presents,” Brittany said. “I've been saving my allowance.”

“That's very nice of you.”

“Is there a Ninety-Nine Cent store in town?”

“No.”

“I could make presents.”

“We're making a pie right now.” The tune of “Jingle Bells” rang out.

“That's for me!” Brittany reached for her phone on the counter. She saw Carla's face light up her screen. “It's my other granny.”

“Don't answer it,” Yvette said. But it was too late, Brittany had already accepted the call and said hello.

* * *

Hope replayed her date with Austin over and over in her head. Was this really happening or was it a dream? She was bursting to tell someone, but Faith had her own complex problems when it came to love, Joy was too preoccupied with herself, the kids were too young, and she didn't feel a close enough bond with Yvette to confide in her. Although the moment she came back into the house, Yvette gave her a look that fully conveyed she knew of the budding romance.

The scent of sweetly baking apple pie filled the air.

“You missed dinner,” Brittany said. She and Yvette were seated at the kitchen island playing Scrabble. Joy and Harrison were curled up on the couch watching television. They were there so often Hope was starting to imagine them as an actual part of the furniture, like decorative throw pillows.

“Aunt Hope?” Brittany said.

“Yes, darling?”

“I'm going to make presents for everyone this year.”

Hope went over and kissed Brittany on the top of her head. Her hair was so soft and this time smelled like peaches. She loved this girl to death. “That is so sweet of you. Homemade presents are the best.”

“What do you want me to make you? A bookmark? Or a picture?”

“Surprise me,” Hope said.

“Where is Faith and Josh?”

“Mom's in her room,” Brittany said.

“And Josh?”

Yvette looked around, as if she'd never seen her living room before. “I thought he was here.”

“Joy? Harrison?” Slowly, they turned their heads toward her. “Have either of you seen Josh?”

“I think he's out by the barn,” Harrison said.

“This late? Again? In this weather?” Hope tried to relay a bit of scolding, but nobody took the bait.

“Grandma Carla is coming for Christmas,” Brittany said. Hope's head jerked toward Brittany. Her face was still, not a twitch of a smile on her face. Hope's eyes flicked to Yvette, who locked on her.

“We should really have a discussion,” Yvette said. “In fact, I need to discuss something with all three of you.”

Hope had tried to call her mother back in the restaurant, but there had been no answer. Why on earth would she be coming here? Had something happened with her boyfriend? Did she get in trouble in Cuba? No. Josh said she didn't go to Cuba. She must have gotten into trouble in Florida. Or was she racing out here to try to claim part of the inheritance?

“It will have to wait,” Hope said. “We have to locate Josh.” She went to the bottom of the stairs and called out to her sister. Soon Faith appeared at the top of the stairs, face flushed.

“What do you want?”

“Is Josh in his room?”

“I don't think so. Why?”

“Would you please check?” Faith stared at Hope for a minute, then nodded. A few seconds later she was back.

“He's not in his room,” Faith said. “What's wrong?”

“It appears he's been outside for a while,” Hope said.

“This late?” Faith said. “Why didn't anyone tell me?”

Why didn't you notice?
“No worries,” Hope said. “I'm going to go look for him. Thought you might want to join in.”

“I'll be two seconds.” Faith flew into her room and came back out dressed and ready to go.

“When was the last time anyone saw him?” The panic in Faith's voice was clear. She tripped down the steps.

“Did he join you guys for dinner?” Hope went on one little date and everyone fell apart.

“No, he was moping. He went outside. But that was hours ago.”

“Joy. Harrison. Boots and coats.”

“I think he's with the dog,” Joy said. “That thing follows him everywhere.”

“Mr. Jingles is his name,” Hope said. “And I'm relieved to hear that.”

“Why?” Faith said. She was still in a near-panic.

“Because Mr. Jingles has an excellent sense of direction, and at his size he would definitely protect Josh against the elements—or whatever.” Hope didn't want to make it sound too dire. Should she call Austin? No, they'd just parted ways, he said he was looking forward to his chair and book. She loved that about him. There was no need to involve him. They would probably find Josh out by the barn. Or even in the cabin with Roger. She hoped so, because it was freezing out there. One could definitely get frostbite if one weren't careful.