Sophie Love - Christmas Forever

“Papa Roy?” Chantelle asked.

“Yes,” Patricia said. She smiled. “He was very gifted at the piano. And he loved it. That’s why he had to have one in this house, even though we were only here a few weeks a year. But he’d light the fire and play us the piano, and Emily would wrap herself up in a blanket and fall asleep.” She let out a melancholy sigh. “There were always wonderful moments in between, weren’t there, sweetheart?”

Emily knew what she meant. In between the pain of losing Charlotte. That after her death, when the silence grew between her parents like an invisible wall of glass, there were some moments of normalcy, of joy, even, when the quietness was filled with beauty and their minds were given a reprieve from grief.

“I love Papa Roy,” Chantelle told Patricia. “Was he a very good husband?”

Patricia looked back at Chantelle. And to Emily’s shock and surprise, she reached out and stroked the girl’s head.

“He was. Not always. But no one is perfect.”

“Did you love him?”

“With all my heart.”

“What about now?” Chantelle asked.

“Hush,” Emily interrupted. “That’s a personal question.”

“I don’t mind,” Patricia said. She looked Chantelle squarely then, and spoke in an undeterred voice. “We spent many years as husband and wife, many good years. But we weren’t happy and the most important thing in life is to be happy. It was very hard to say goodbye to him, but in the end it was for the best. And yes, I still love him now. Once you love someone you can never really stop.”

Emily turned away then, wiping the tear that had formed in the corner of her eye. During her entire lifetime, Patricia had only ever bad-mouthed her father. Never once had she heard her admit that she still loved Roy.

Silence fell then, and the family quietly put the last decorations on the tree. The melancholy air that hovered around them dissipated only when Daniel took the angel statue out of the box.

“It’s time,” he said, handing it to Chantelle.

With an excited smile on her face, Chantelle climbed the ladder, stretched her arm as long as she could, and placed the angel on the top branch of the tree.

“Ta da!” she cried.

Daniel helped her back down the ladder and everyone stepped back to admire their handywork. Emily felt overcome with emotion as it occurred to her that this was the first tree she had decorated alongside her mom for close to twenty years. Patricia had withdrawn from the ritual shortly after Charlotte’s death. But now, with a new family around her, and a new child growing inside Emily, she had come back. The timing felt poignant to Emily, as if the spirit of Charlotte had had a hand in making it happen.

“I think this is the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen,” she said, looking with gratitude to each of her family members.

With the tree complete and the hot chocolates drunk, it was time for Patricia to say goodbye.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” Chantelle said, clasping her arms around Patricia’s waist.

Emily watched her mom hug the child back, looking significantly less awkward than she usually did with overt displays of affection.

“We can speak on the telephone, if you want to,” Patricia told the child.

“Will you Face Time with us?” Chantelle exclaimed, her face breaking into a huge grin.

“Will I what now?” Patricia asked, looking bemused.

“Video messaging, mom,” Emily explained. “Chantelle loves it.”

“We video message with Papa Roy all the time,” Chantelle told her. “Can we? Can we? Can we?”

Patricia nodded. “Of course. If that’s what you want.”

She looked genuinely touched, Emily thought, that Chantelle would want to keep in contact with her.

“And,” Emily added, “Please do think about coming for Christmas. We would love to have you.”

“I don’t want to get in the way,” Patricia said.

Daniel piped up then. “You wouldn’t be in the way,” he said. “We have no bookings at the moment. If you want a bit of your own space we could even put you in the carriage house.”

“Well,” Patricia said, looking like she was trying to hide her touched expression. “I will certainly consider it.”

Her cab arrived then, coming down the long drive, its tires crunching on the gravel. Daniel picked up Patricia’s case and carried it down the porch steps. The rest of the family followed. Even Mogsy and Rain came out to see her off, wagging their tails in unison as they peered through the posts.

Daniel put the case in the trunk, then hugged Patricia goodbye. Chantelle clung to her.

“I love you Nana Patty,” she exclaimed. “Please come back soon.”

“I will darling,” Patricia said, stroking her head. “It won’t be long at all.”

Then it was Emily’s turn. She hugged her mother, feeling herself filled with gratitude and appreciation. It may have taken years to get to this point – and the horrible, sobering shock of Roy’s illness – but it seemed like things were finally changing for the better between them.

“Please stay in touch,” Emily said to her mom.

“I will,” Patricia replied. “I promise.”

They released one another and Patricia climbed into the cab. Emily joined her family, feeling Daniel’s arm reach around her shoulders and Chantelle’s hands clinging onto her. She cradled her bump with one hand, and waved goodbye to her mom with the other. They stayed there until the cab had disappeared out of sight.

As they turned back to head into the inn, Emily heard the phone start to ring. She went over to the reception desk and answered it. It was Amy’s voice on the other end.

“Em, I just saw the bulletin outside the town hall,” she said.

Emily was still struggling to wrap her head around the fact that Amy was a Sunset Harbor resident, that she paid attention to the goings on of their little town.

“What bulletin?” Emily asked.

“Raven’s inn! The meeting is tomorrow. The one they postponed until after Thanksgiving.”

“Tomorrow?” Emily exclaimed. “That’s a bit short notice! And hardly much of a postponement!”

“I know. What do you think it means that it’s so soon?”

“I can only assume that means the zoning board came to a quick and unanimous decision,” Emily told her, recalling the process of getting her own inn licence.

“A unanimous yes or a unanimous no?”

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Amy sounded incredibly stressed about the whole thing, which Emily found a little odd considering she was the one who’d be most affected by the outcome.

“We have to go to the meeting,” she said brusquely. “Can you clear your calendar?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure why I need to though. I already said my piece.”

She could hear the impatience in Amy’s voice. “Emily, you have to go. You have to shoot it down! If Raven opens an inn in Sunset Harbor your business will struggle.”

“You should have more faith in me,” Emily told her. “I don’t mind competition.”

“Well you should,” Amy told her. “Especially coming from Raven Kingsley. She’ll crush you.”

Emily thought of the moments she’d spent with Raven. They hadn’t bonded, as such, but they were on friendly terms. Raven had helped her when Daniel was in his boating accident, and she’d even come to the town Thanksgiving dinner Emily had thrown. She perceived Raven’s inn as friendly competition.

“What makes you say that?” Emily said, shaking her head. “Raven’s just like any other business owner. She wants to work hard and make a success of herself. I know she’s been a bit of a vulture in the past, but she wants to settle here. Her husband left her and she just wants the kids to be in one place for some stability.”