Home with My Sisters (36 page)

“His arms and legs are good,” Joy said.

“Could he improve?” Faith said.

“Recovery is variable,” Dr. Kaplan said. “He could. Or he might backslide. I'm afraid we simply don't know.” He set his clipboard down and adjusted his glasses. “I'm going to be honest. You should be celebrating his condition. I saw him when he first came in. We never thought he'd make it out of the coma. The fact that he's as high-functioning as he is is a gift.”

“What about more treatment?” Hope asked.

“Your grandmother had him in treatment for years. He reached a certain point and stopped coming. But that in itself was a good sign. The ability to make decisions for oneself.”

“I'm his wife,” Carla said. “But he hasn't seen me in twenty-four years. Will I be inflicting more damage on him if he interacts with me?”

“Does he seem to recognize you?” the doctor said.

“He's been avoiding her,” Hope said.

“We think that means he does recognize her but he's embarrassed,” Faith said.

“Or,” the doctor said, “he's just not comfortable around a new person.”

“He recognizes us,” Hope said. “On some level anyway.”

“He may feel a bond with you without knowing why,” the doctor said.

“But you don't think we run the risk of traumatizing him further?” Faith asked.

“Not if you let him take things at his own pace. I wouldn't force anything on him. If he's avoiding you, that's his choice, isn't it?”

Tears came to Carla's eyes, but she nodded. “It is. I won't stand in his way. I'll leave tomorrow.”

“Mother,” Faith said. “You will not.”

“It's beyond painful. I want to look him in the eyes again. I want to hug him. I don't care about his injuries. He's my Thomas. I just want to hold my Thomas.” She started to sob. The doctor glanced at Hope and motioned her to the corner of the room.

“She may need to see someone,” he said. “Get something to keep her calm. The more calming and loving influences around Thomas, the better.”

Hope thought of all the fighting they'd been doing around him. “Got it,” she said. Give their mother a tranquilizer. Nothing new there.

“Come on, Mom,” Hope said, linking arms with Carla. “We know a great dive bar just around the corner.”

CHAPTER 38

The entire gang gathered downtown for Leavenworth's Christmas lighting ceremony. The streets pulsed with people. Brittany grabbed Hope's hand as the crowd was instructed to sing “O Christmas Tree.” As soon as they reached the end, the tree in the center of town lit up like a giant firecracker. The crowd cheered. “Let's all count down from ten for the lighting of the shops,” the announcer called over an intercom. “Ten, nine, eight . . .” Voices chanted in unison. “Three, two, one!” Up and down the street, the chalet shops flipped on their lights, setting the strip ablaze. This time the cheer was raucous. Last, but not least, the trees on the perimeter came to life, white lights twinkling like stars. The crowd began to follow along with the next song, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” Voices swelled up and out into the night air.

Hope marveled at the spectacle. Kids were sledding, costumed Santas led lantern parades, and everywhere people were embracing the old-world Christmas traditions. “Light and love to you all,” the announcer called. “To your homes wherever they may be, from ours.” The Gingerbread Factory had all their gingerbread houses on display, from mini-cabins to gingerbread mansions, and every shop had their doors thrown open for guests to wander in.

“Has Dad ever come down here?” Joy asked, turning to Yvette.

“Not since his accident,” Yvette said. They'd invited him, which meant talking to him through the closed door of his cabin, but he hadn't come out. Hope hated to admit it, but their mother's arrival had set him back.

“Do you think crowds at our place will bother him?” Hope asked.

“He stays in the background for sure,” Yvette said. “But it never seemed to cause him great distress. Then again, he hadn't shown much interest in anything until you girls showed up.”

“Interest in them, but not in me,” Carla said.

“You said it,” Yvette said.

“I should leave then,” Carla said.

“Mom,” Faith said. “You're not going anywhere.”

“It's almost Christmas, Grandma Carla,” Brittany said. “You have to stay.”

“He'll come around,” Faith said.

“He's still stubborn,” Carla said. “I should sit in front of his door until he opens it.”

“Let's just enjoy the evening,” Hope said. “Who wants some hot cocoa?” Everyone, it turned out, and soon they were strolling by the shops taking in the lights and the carols, and the characters, hot cocoa in hand. “It's magical,” Hope whispered to Austin.

He gazed at her and grinned. “It is this year,” he said. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Get a room,” Joy said.

“Good one,” Harrison said. “Why don't we do the same?”

* * *

There were only six days until Christmas and the Garland Girls had finally settled into their sweet spot, making breakfast together in the mornings, putting finishing touches on the grounds in the afternoon, and playing Scrabble with Yvette in the evenings along with hot cocoa, and popcorn, and Christmas specials on the television. At night they would light up the grounds and play Christmas carols through the loudspeakers, and delight in the sights and sounds. Roger still wasn't coming out of his cabin, and Yvette was now the only one who could bring him his meals.

Every day Mr. Jingles would come out and join the rest of them, but in the evening he was always back at the cabin door waiting to be let in. It was bittersweet for Hope; she was so grateful their dad was bonding with Mr. Jingles, but sad he was shutting the rest of them out. Yvette seemed to be getting weaker, although she was still as feisty as ever, which Hope took to be a promising sign. Austin said she was now refusing to go to her doctor's appointments, which in a way made complete sense to Hope. If she was terminal she wouldn't want to waste time at the doctor's either. They needed to get Roger engaged with them again, that would lift Yvette's spirits. Family was so connected, Hope realized. When one was hurting, they all hurt. Likewise sometimes all it took was one genuine smile from Brittany to lift the entire group. Tomorrow would be day one of the public festivities on their grounds and as they erupted in a flurry of activity, the excitement became palpable.

The lights and decorations were ready, the skates were dusted off and organized by size, there was plenty of firewood for the fire pit, and the menu of hot chocolate, chestnuts, popcorn, and S'mores were also stockpiled and waiting. And although admission would be free, they would be taking gift donations for children in need, as well as donations for the local animal shelter and suicide prevention.

“Suicide prevention?” Stephen asked.

“Austin works for a suicide prevention center,” Hope said.

“I see.” Stephen glanced at Faith, who made a point of not making eye contact. She hadn't told him about Josh's call to Austin. Maybe there had been too much going on to mention it, or maybe Josh's earlier cries for help was a point of contention between them. Hope made a mental note to ask Faith about it later.

* * *

The grounds were set to open in thirty minutes and there was already a line of people waiting to get in. The lights were on, the music was playing, and the skates were ready. Hope kept expecting Roger to come out of his cabin at any minute. Was he really going to miss this? Were they doing the right thing, letting him withdraw like this? Would it be better if they confronted him, or should they ask Carla to leave? Now that their mother was here, Hope wanted her to stay. She wanted all of her family, no matter how flawed, to be together for Christmas. Especially their father. He was the one who was supposed to love the holiday more than any of them.

Austin came up, his eyes bright. “Do you think we should let them in early?” he said, glancing at the line of people just beyond the gate.

“Let's do it,” Hope said. “We're ready.”

“Great. I'll tell the others.” Hope hurried to the fire pit; her first assignment was to make the S'mores and roast the chestnuts. They'd all assigned themselves roles, and they would switch out every hour. She grabbed a few sticks and marshmallows and smiled as she held them over the roaring fire. Even Yvette seemed to be getting into the spirit of things; she was manning the donation booth. Brittany and Josh were passing out the ice skates, Harrison was overseeing all the lights and making sure they stayed on, and Stephen had somehow been talked into wearing a Santa suit. Even Mr. Jingles was sporting his antlers and trotting around sniffing all the guests. Big dogs were a lot less scary when they were adorned in Christmas gear.

Faith and Joy were supposed to be helping Hope, but so far Joy seemed to be eating more chocolate than she was melting, and Faith was sneaking sips out of a thermos that Hope suspected was spiked. She'd seemed on edge ever since Stephen had asked her why they were giving donations to a suicide prevention organization. Even though Josh had certainly seemed to pull himself out of his dark pit, Hope could tell that Faith and Stephen were still traumatized from the earlier incidents. Faith was probably debating whether or not to tell Stephen what had gone down here. Oh, life was so complicated. Beautiful, but complicated. Soon Hope was too busy handing sticky S'mores to outstretched hands to worry about anything else. The sound of children's laughter and conversation filled the air along with the swoosh of skates and music over the loudspeaker.

“Rupert would have loved this,” Yvette said an hour later when Hope went to man the donation table.

“I was hoping Roger would come out,” Hope said.

“He's been watching from the barn,” Yvette whispered. “Don't look.” It was so hard not to turn her head, but Hope was obedient. Watching from the barn was progress.

“Where's Carla?” Hope said.

“I thought she was with you,” Yvette said.

“No, Faith and Joy were with me.”

“Oh no,” Yvette said. In unison, they began scanning the grounds for a pink trench coat. It wasn't long before they spotted her, trotting toward the barn.

“I knew it,” Yvette said. She headed for the barn herself, Hope trotting after her. “Look after the booth,” Yvette called over her shoulder.

“Maybe we should just let her approach him,” Hope said.

“It's obvious he doesn't want to see her,” Yvette said.

“We can't control people,” Hope said. “I think I'm finally learning that.” Carla was at the barn door. Roger was on the other side of it. They stared at each other. Slowly, the barn doors started to close. Carla tried to take a step forward, but Roger was able to shut the doors before she made it inside. Even from ten feet away they could hear the sound of it being latched shut. Carla started to pound on the doors.

“I think we're going to need more whiskey,” Hope said.

* * *

That evening the Garland Girls sat in the living room trying to console Carla. It was just after midnight when the last of the guests had left the grounds. The kids were in bed, exhausted, Stephen had gone back to his room downtown, Austin was back in his cabin, and Yvette and Harrison had gone to their rooms to give them some privacy. Carla had been crying nonstop since Roger had shut the barn door in her face.

“He's not my Thomas,” she was saying over and over. “I thought I was going to have my Thomas back.”

“We tried to tell you, Mom,” Faith said gently.

“I thought it would change when he saw me. I thought our love would make it change.”

“Traumatic brain injury made it change,” Hope said. “We can't undo that.”

“I have to leave,” Carla said. “This is too painful.”

“He still needs us,” Hope said. “Maybe more than ever.”

“He needs you,” Carla said. “It's obvious he wants me gone.”

“We just need to give him space,” Joy said.

“Why is Stephen staying at a hotel?” Carla said, eyeing Faith.

“Because we're getting a divorce,” Faith said simply.

“Didn't I tell you?” Carla said to Hope.

“You have no idea,” Joy said gleefully. Faith shot her a look.

“Tell me,” Carla said.

“I'm in love with someone else,” Faith said. “I'm in love with another woman.”

Carla laughed. The girls all stared at her until she stopped. Then she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. “That's not funny,” she said.

“That's why we're waiting for you to stop laughing,” Faith said.

“You're not a lesbian,” Carla said. “You're just athletic.”

Joy laughed. “I'm going to put that on a T-shirt.”

“Stop this right now,” Carla said. “You are not a lesbian.”

“I don't care what you call me,” Faith said. “I'm probably bisexual.”

Joy turned to Hope and flashed a grin. “Told you!”

Hope reached over and grabbed Joy's ankle. “You're psychic,” she said. “What a waste buying you that crystal ball for Christmas.” Joy kicked her.

“Well, where is this woman?” Carla said.

“She was here, but then Stephen showed up,” Faith said. “We agreed it was best to wait until after the holidays to see each other.”

“What did Granny Dearest have to say about that little development?” Carla asked.

“I don't think Yvette is worried about anything but Roger,” Faith said. “Dying has brought out a softer side of her.”

“I see she has you all fooled,” Carla said. “How can you forgive her for keeping him from us for all these years?”

“I think we're all just worn down,” Faith said. “We'd rather just get along, enjoy the time we have.”

“Well, enjoy away,” Carla said. “I'll be leaving first thing in the morning.”

“It's five days until Christmas,” Faith said. “You're staying.”

“I could be smoking a Cuban cigar right now,” Carla said.

“Why didn't you go?” Joy asked.

“Fernando had a few complications with his identification,” Carla said.

“Just like you,” Joy said to Faith.

“Ha-ha,” Faith said.

“Fernando hasn't posted on Facebook for a while,” Joy said. Faith and Hope looked at her. “Harrison got me hooked,” she added.

“He's in jail,” Carla said. They stared at her. “If you haven't bought my Christmas gift yet I'd appreciate if you'd donate to his bail fund.”

“You should start a Kickstarter,” Joy said.

“This family is so dysfunctional,” Hope said.

Faith shook her head. “My annual Christmas letter just keeps getting longer.”

“He's innocent,” Carla said. “They've got him mixed up with his cousin who's in a smuggling ring.”

“And better,” Faith said. “It just keeps getting better.”

“I mean it,” Carla said. “They could be twins.”

“I wish they gave prizes for the most dysfunctional family Christmas,” Joy said.

“Sadly we probably wouldn't even be in the top ten,” Hope said.

“I've never loved anyone like I loved your father,” Carla said. “But I still have to spring Fernando from the pokey.”

Nothing says Merry Christmas like getting your mother's boyfriend out of the pokey,
Hope thought. Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Austin.

 

Would you like to come over for a nightcap?

 

Later, Faith and Joy would recall that Hope was off the sofa, into the mudroom, and out the door before they could even say, “
And to all a good night
.”