The Christmas Secret Read online

  I turned off my headlights before I pulled into the driveway. The front door was locked and I was careful as I turned my key; I didn’t want the kids to hear me and come running. I poked my head inside and saw Gloria smiling at me from the sofa. “Are the kids in bed?” I whispered. She nodded. I stepped through the door holding the bag and tiptoed around the sofa.

  “What is going on?” Gloria asked.

  I ran down the hall to make sure the kids were asleep and closed their doors behind me. “I can’t believe it. You won’t believe it,” I said, throwing my coat on the couch. “Where’s Miriam?”

  “She left to walk the neighbor’s dog. One of those hairless varieties named Sweetie, which she ain’t by the way. If Miriam doesn’t take her out by nine Sweetie pees all over the floor. Why are your eyes bugging out of your face?” I put the bag on the sofa and pulled out the dress with wings. “Oh, she’ll love it,” Gloria said, whispering. “Where’d you get it?”

  “In my backseat. Along with this building set and this,” I said, handing her the envelope. Gloria opened it and looked at me, shocked. “I know! It’s crazy.”

  “How’d they get in your car?”

  “I have no idea,” I said. “It’s always locked.”

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing happening,” she said. She hugged me and we bounced up and down together.

  “Thank you, Gloria,” I said. “Please thank Miriam, too.” I turned and looked at the living room. “You cleaned.” She smiled. I stepped around the corner to the kitchen. “You really cleaned.”

  “It’s actually the only thing that Miriam can do,” she said. She opened the closet for her coat. “You should know that your ex-husband showed up.”

  What a way to end the night. I felt my shoulders sink. “Claiming visitation?”

  She nodded. “He was squawking but Miriam shut him up.”

  I leaned on the back of the couch. “I’m so sorry. He hasn’t paid child support in months but loves to take me to court claiming abuse of power, overstepping my parental authority or whatever.” Gloria put on her coat and began buttoning it. “I don’t know why I married him. I look back on it and still can’t believe it.”

  She finished the last button and looked at me. “We can’t live our lives looking back; if we did we’d turn into a pillar of salt.” She pulled on her hat. “I’ve seen quite a few of his kind over the years. I’ve noticed that they just seem to fade away over time.” I couldn’t imagine Brad fading away. “Now we’ll be back tomorrow, too, because I know you’re working that insurance Christmas party.”

  “How’d you know that?”

  “Zach told me,” she said, smiling. “We’ll be here at noon. You go on at twelve thirty, right?”

  “Yes,” I said, opening the door. She walked out and I pushed my head outside. “I forgot to ask. How were the kids?”

  “They were great,” she said. “You should be proud of those two.” I closed the door and looked over my house. It hadn’t been this clean in months. I sat on the sofa and held the dress and wings, building set, and money. I still couldn’t believe it. The envelope I’d put under the tree caught my eye and I reached for it, pulling out the shredded pieces.

  I walked to the kitchen and got a pen and some tape to piece the torn paper back together. I smoothed out the wrinkles and spread the paper as flat as I could get it. Thank you, I wrote.

  Gloria pulled into her driveway and walked across the lawn to Miriam’s house. She knocked on the door and let herself in. “Hello!” she yelled over the television.

  Miriam swept into the living room wearing a long flowing pink robe and gold-colored house slippers and carrying a bowl full of popcorn.

  “What did you put in the car?” Gloria said.

  Miriam threw a handful of popcorn in her mouth. “A dress and wings.”

  Gloria snapped off the TV. “So who left the building set and money?”

  Jason’s phone rang before he was awake on Sunday morning. “Jason. It’s Louis.”

  Why would his headhunter call on a Sunday? Jason strained to see his clock. “What’s up?”

  “Your interview needs to move.”

  Jason threw an arm over his eyes. “To when?”

  “Tomorrow morning,” Louis said.

  Jason leaned up on one arm. “Why? What’s wrong with Tuesday?”

  “Sal Rubin needs to go out of town so all the interviews have shifted. They sent an e-mail Friday but my server was down. I just read it. He’s leaving midmorning so they scheduled you at ten. If you get past Rubin you’ll interview with Chip Holmes Tuesday at three.”

  “I have to be there for two days?”

  “It would have been one but what can you do? These things happen. Can you make it?”

  “It takes seven hours to drive,” Jason said. “I’d have to leave today.”

  “This job is yours to claim,” Louis said. “Your profile is perfect. What do you want to do?”

  Jason flopped his head back on the bed. “I’ll be there,” he said. He hung up and started to dial the number for Marshall to see if he could borrow his car earlier than expected but hung up and called information first. “Betty’s Bakery,” he said. The restaurant didn’t open until noon on Sundays; Jason worried no one would be in yet. The operator connected him and a man answered. “Is Rosemary working?” he asked.

  Craig was doing stock inventory and writing a list of supplies. “No. She’s not in.”

  “Can I leave a message for her?”

  “Yep.”

  “This is Jason. Can you tell her I can’t make it tomorrow? I’ve been called for a job interview and have to leave right away but I’ll be back Wednesday. Can we have coffee then?”

  “Got it.” Craig scribbled Rosemary’s name on a take-out order sheet and wrote, Jason can’t make it tonight. Job interview. Back Wednesday. He thumbtacked it to the message and scheduling board and didn’t notice that it was Rosemary’s day off. She’d never see it and no one else would pay attention to it.

  . . .

  “How can they pay that much money to a young kid?” Marshall asked, handing over his car keys. “Big firm and lots of clients,” Jason said. “I’d be stupid to blow off this interview.”

  “I agree.”

  “Sorry to leave you in a lurch the week of Christmas.”

  “Don’t be. You’ve been waiting for this.” He watched Jason reorganize his backpack. “You don’t seem very excited.”

  Jason zipped the pack and slung it over his shoulder. “I think I am.”

  “You think?”

  “All through college I thought I needed this, this, and this. Now I think I want something more.” He opened Marshall’s garage door. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  But it did. Marshall watched Jason back out of the garage and had the sense that in spite of himself he was finally hearing.

  The party that evening was easy to work (they all ate the same thing and I never had to input one order) but it paid less than I could have made on a regular shift with tips. “It’s honest money,” my mom would say. “Take it and run.”

  Ann and Lori and I cleaned up and were out the door by nine. I was whipped. We hurried across the parking lot to our cars and as I unlocked the door to slide inside, the view of something in my backseat took my breath. I reached for the bags and pulled out a football and Sorry game out of one, and a princess game, Barbie doll, and an envelope with two hundred dollars cash in the other. I screamed and spun in my seat, looking at the cars and buildings around me. I put the key in the ignition and the car made a rer-rring sound, the motor trying to turn over but not starting. “Oh, no! Not tonight,” I said, trying the key again. The engine finally roared and I headed for home pounding the seat beside me. “I can’t believe this!” I shouted. “I can’t believe it!”

  I turned off my headlights before pulling into the driveway again and threw the car in park. I was careful as I opened the front door. “Psst,” I said, looking for Gloria and Miriam. Gloria
stepped around the corner from the kitchen. “Are the kids in bed?” She nodded, waving me in. I ran inside carrying the bags and fell down on the floor.

  “Is that more stuff?” Gloria whispered.

  I nodded, sitting up. “Where’s Miriam?”

  “Naked dog.”

  I pulled the gifts from one bag and Gloria dug through the other one, pulling out the princess game, Barbie doll, and the envelope of cash.

  “Gloria,” I said, sitting up on my knees. “Do you believe in miracles?”

  Gloria counted the money in the envelope. “You better believe I do.”

  Gloria didn’t bother to knock on Miriam’s door. She swung it open and marched to the living room, standing in front of the TV to block Miriam’s view. “A football and Sorry game. That’s what you left, right?”

  “Yes,” Miriam said, her eyes getting big with anticipation.

  Gloria held up her fingers one at a time and counted off the list. “Then who left the princess game, Barbie, and wad of cash?!” Miriam smacked her head. “I have a plan,” Gloria said. A miracle was afoot and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

  Dolly stepped inside my house Monday morning and noticed boxes lining the walls. “Just packing up books and stuff we don’t use that often,” I said.

  She grunted and shook her head. “Any closer to finding a place?”

  I reached for my coat and put it on. “Not yet but I’m calling and looking every day.”

  Haley heard Dolly’s voice and ran down the hall, throwing herself into her legs. “Dolly!” she said, taking hold of her hands. “Mom said you’re watching us! We’re going to have so much fun today.”

  “That’s exactly what I said to myself this morning. I even wondered if you could come to my house and help me make and decorate Christmas cookies.”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Haley said, wrapping her arms around her again.

  Dolly laughed and patted her back. I finally found a neighbor as I was packing up to move. Sad, really.

  When Jason got back into the car after his first interview he knew he had the job. It went so well that Sal Rubin would have adopted Jason if possible. He didn’t want to head back to his friend’s place but he didn’t want to walk around the city, either, so he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He had another full day to think about Rosemary and her smile and about a job that was going to give him everything he’d ever wanted.

  I made my rounds to the table of mechanics, Clayton, Julie and their kids, the insurance execs from the agency up the street, the old man with the ill-fitting teeth, the Asian college students, Lovey Love (who was an angel) and his mother, and finally Tamara. She was there earlier than usual. I wondered if she’d even show up since her new job had started. I set a day-old cinnamon pastry and a cup of coffee in front of her and knelt down next to her table, pulling something from my apron. “Merry Christmas,” I said.

  She stared down at the envelope and pulled it to her. “Christine, why did—”

  “It’s Christmas,” I said, stopping her.

  She opened the envelope and covered her mouth. “I can’t,” she said, moving the ticket toward me.

  “Yes, you can,” I said, sliding it back. “It’s Christmas and they’re your kids and you love them and would give anything to see them. It’s a round-trip bus ticket but you’ll have to book the return date yourself.”

  She started to cry and her voice came out in cracks and whispers. “But how did you—”

  I stopped her. “My mom always said God makes a way. I never got that. I still don’t totally get it but hope I’m getting closer.” Tears streamed down her face and she held the napkin to her eyes. “Will you go?”

  She leaned out of the booth to hug me. “Thank you,” she said. She brought the napkin to her face and her hands trembled. “I’m so scared.”

  “They love you. They over-the-moon love you.”

  She smiled and picked up the ticket, looking at me through watery tears. It was the best money I’d ever spent.

  I was going to take the kids to Glory’s Place while I went out with TS but Dolly insisted they stay with her. “We had such a day,” she said.

  “We brought some cookies home,” Zach said, holding up what looked like the results of a baking experiment gone wrong. I picked up a green and red sprinkled one that I was told was an elf on a pogo stick and ate it with gusto.

  “Dolly said I could take some to Jason,” Haley said.

  “Who’s Jason?” I asked.

  “At Glory’s Place. He’s my half boyfriend. Remember?”

  I hadn’t but pretended I did. Dolly said she’d be back before six and I ran to the bathroom to shower and get ready. While in the shower I realized this wasn’t the ideal way to tell TS I had children but then chastised myself for never bringing them up until now. When isn’t it a good time to talk about my children?

  My brown sweater was clean so I put it on and a pair of jeans. I wondered if that was the best outfit considering I wore jeans to work every day and held open my closet door looking for another option. “You’re pretty, Mom,” Haley said. She was dressed in her pink princess gown and brown rain boots. “He’ll think you’re pretty, too.” That was good enough for me and I closed the closet door.

  There was plenty of Gloria’s day-old chicken and rice casserole for the kids. I warmed it up and sat with them at the table, watching the clock. Five thirty, five thirty-five, five forty. “Mom, can I have another cookie?”

  Five fifty. He’s wasn’t going to be early. “Can I have some more milk?”

  I checked my lipstick and hair. Five fifty-five. Dolly let herself in.

  Six o’clock. “Can I have another cookie? Pleaaase?”

  I stood at the door and looked out. Six ten, six fifteen. Six twenty.

  “Maybe he worked late,” Dolly said. “What time does he get off?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, sitting on the sofa. “I don’t know where he works.”

  Six thirty. “The roads are slippery,” Dolly said. “On the news they said we’re getting six inches tonight.”

  Six forty-five. Dolly sat at the table. “Can you call him?”

  “I don’t know his number,” I said. “I don’t even know his name yet.” I looked at her. “How stupid is that?”

  “Not stupid at all,” she said, smiling. “I never knew my husband’s name for four whole months.” She watched me fidget on the sofa. “He’ll probably call.”

  I laughed and covered my face with my arms. “He doesn’t have my number! It gets better all the time, doesn’t it?”

  She got up and sat next to me. “You think a lot of this young man, don’t you?”

  I felt my throat tighten and nodded. “I don’t know why. I don’t even know him.”

  “But there’s something about him that you feel you know.”

  I nodded. “I don’t know what it is.”

  “It’s just that thing people have when they’re falling in love,” she said.

  I shook my head. “I’m not falling in love. I’ve been burned so many times that I know I am not falling in love. Plus, this hurts too much to be love. Just some wild thought I had.”

  She reached over and patted my hand. “Pain is part of love, Christine. I don’t think we’d recognize love without it.”

  Before Jason’s second interview, a woman who looked like she was in her forties showed him around the building, complete with cafeteria on the bottom floor. “There’s a workout facility on the eighth floor,” she said. “And a coffee bar on the tenth that overlooks the city.” Her heels clicked on the shiny floors as she pointed out the boardroom, meeting room, and break room. Jason couldn’t tell if she liked her job; she was all business and brains and tight A-line skirt.

  “Any questions?” she said, riding the elevator back to the twentieth floor.

  “Do you like it here?”

  “This building has everything we need right here,” she said. “I forgot to show you the mail fulfillment an
d copying center.”

  “But do you like it?”

  She watched the numbers light up above the elevator doors. “It pays great and I have two children. I love it here.”

  She walked him to Chip Holmes’s office and that was the last Jason saw of her tight skirt. As suspected, the second interview was a formality only. After several minutes of answering inane questions, Chip extended his hand and offered Jason the job.

  “Turn the car on, Gloria! I’m freezing!” Miriam sank lower in the passenger seat and pulled a blanket up to her chin.

  Gloria unscrewed the cap on the thermos and poured black coffee into a cup. “We’ll be conspicuous sitting here in a running car. Here. Drink that.”

  Miriam took the coffee and swallowed hard. “Why did I let you make the coffee? I can’t believe you talked me into this. This is absurd. We’ve sat here for more than an hour and no one has even walked by Christine’s car.”

  Gloria pulled her scarf up over her nose. “Don’t you want to know who else is leaving gifts in her car?”

  “Not if it means that I lose my extremities and will be up all night peeing. You don’t own the market on being nice, you know.”

  Gloria saw a man walking toward them and shouted, “Here comes somebody!” They each dove to the center of the seat and clunked their heads together.

  “Why didn’t you go that way?” Miriam boomed, sitting up.

  They gasped when they saw the man near Christine’s car and dove toward the center a second time, nursing their heads again in the aftermath.

  “He’s getting in his own vehicle,” Miriam said. “We are not built for a stakeout.”

  “No, we are not,” Gloria said.