Sheila Roberts - Christmas In Icicle Falls

Talk turned to plans for the holidays. “I’ve booked a cruise,” he announced.

“Really? Where are you going?”

“To Germany.”

“Germany, how lovely.”

She’d always dreamed of going there. That had yet to happen. With her first husband, Stephen, she’d been busy raising a family, keeping things together on the home front while he ran the family chocolate business. She and her second husband had talked about taking a trip but then Waldo had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, and that had been that. She couldn’t help feeling a little wistful. She would’ve loved to have seen some of those German towns after which Icicle Falls had been modeled.

“It’s a river cruise and we’ll be stopping at all the famous Christmas markets—Nuremberg, Bamberg, Heidelberg.”

Heidelberg. She’d always wanted to see the castle ruins.

He pulled out the brochure with its glossy pictures of outdoor markets, smiling couples leaning on the railing of the river barge, lit-up cities. It all looked so romantic.

“Joe, from the Yakima branch of Cascade Mutual, invited me. He had a group from the bank going and a couple of them had to cancel at the last minute. I was able to book their staterooms.”

“How fun! Good for you,” Muriel said, impressed. Arnie was rarely spontaneous and always careful with his money. It was nice to see him taking a step toward living large.

“Actually, I’d like you to go with me. You’d be back in time for Christmas with the family,” he hurried to add.

“With you?” she repeated. Like a couple? But they weren’t a couple. They were simply friends. Good friends, dear friends. But that was all. She’d never thought of Arnie as anything else. Besides, at this point in her life, after being widowed twice, she had no intention of starting anything with anyone. “Oh, Arnie, I couldn’t.”

His smile flipped upside down.

“It’s a lot of money,” she explained, trying to soften the blow of her refusal.

“Muriel, you don’t think I’d ask you and then expect you to pay,” he said, shocked.

She couldn’t let him spend that kind of money on her even though she knew he had it to spend. “It’s sweet of you, but...I can’t.” She’d feel like she was using him. He’d get his hopes up. It would get awkward.

Dot had returned with more coffee to tide them over as they waited for their food. “Can’t what?” she asked, having caught the tail end of Muriel’s rejection. “Arnie, you look like you’ve got indigestion and your food hasn’t even come yet. What’s going on here, you two?”

“Arnie’s taking a river cruise in Germany,” Muriel explained.

“Go, Arnie,” Dot said encouragingly.

“I wanted Muriel to come with me,” he said, and Muriel felt the weight of his disappointment settling over her. Their waitress arrived with their breakfasts and he moved his plate away.

Oh, dear. Muriel felt awful about upsetting him. “Arnie, I’m sorry.”

“I know how much you always wanted to see Germany,” he said, his expression wistful.

“I do.” But not with you. She bit her lip.

“Seriously, you don’t want to go?” Dot asked, and she and Arnie exchanged glances. Muriel, the ingrate.

“I have too much going on. The new book and everything,” Muriel added feebly. It was a flimsy excuse and they all knew it.

“I guess I should have checked with you before I bought the tickets, but I needed to act fast,” Arnie said. Then he added, “I was sure you’d be all over something like this.”

“You should still go,” Muriel said, not wanting to be responsible for spoiling her old friend’s good time, not to mention being responsible for him losing money. At such a late date, he’d never be able to get a refund.

Maybe she should go, if only not to have his money go to waste. She’d make it clear that they were going only as friends...

“Yeah, Arnie,” put in Dot. “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip.” She shook her head at Muriel. “You’re crazy not to go, Muriel. I’d be all over that like white on rice.”

Now there was an idea. “Maybe you should go,” Muriel suggested. Dot was single, Arnie was single—they could become travel buddies.

Except now she’d just put Arnie on the spot. She looked to see how he was taking her suggestion.

He did blink in surprise, but before he could say anything, Dot settled herself next to Muriel and set down her carafe. “What do you say, Arnie? Would you like some company?”

“Well,” he said slowly, the gears turning as he worked to keep up with this sudden change in his plans.

Now Muriel regretted her impulsive suggestion. How could poor Arnie be honest about whether or not he wanted to bring Dot along with her sitting right there?

“How much did that extra stateroom cost? I’ll write you a check today,” Dot said.

“So you’re serious?” Arnie asked.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Well,” he said, hesitating. He was probably looking for a polite way to get out of this, the same as Muriel had just tried to do with him.

“We’ll have fun,” Dot assured him. “Unlike Muriel, I can get away for a couple of weeks.

“We can do our Christmas shopping over there. Talk about ringing in the holidays. This is a great idea, Arnie!”

Yes, it was, wasn’t it? Muriel looked at the excitement in Dot’s eyes and suddenly felt the stirrings of regret. Maybe she should have said yes...

“I thought so,” he said. The look he gave Muriel showed how disappointed he was that she hadn’t taken him up on his offer.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to see Germany,” said Dot.

“Same here,” Arnie said.

“Well, then, let’s do it. You only live once. Anyway, I bet you can’t get your money back at this point, so you may as well go and let me pick up the tab for the other half.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Good point.”

“So, what do you say? Shall we see how the other half lives?”

Her last argument about saving some money seemed to have tipped the scale and he gave a decided nod. “Why not?”

Arnie’s smile returned and suddenly he was digging into his pancakes, and he and Dot were deep in discussion about their upcoming adventure. How much currency to convert into euros, flight departures, how early they needed to get to the airport. Did either of them have a window seat on the plane?

“There’s a whole group of people going,” Arnie told Dot, “so we’ll be partying our way across Germany.”

“I like the sound of that,” she said.

The discussion continued. What should they pack? What was the weather doing over in Germany? They’d have to try a real German schnitzel so they could see how the schnitzel served at Schwangau measured up. In all their excitement, neither urged Muriel to change her mind and come along.

Arnie chuckled as Dot demonstrated what little German she knew, holding up two fingers and saying, “Zwei bier, bitte.” Oh, yes, Dot would be the life of the party. In fact, it looked like the party was already starting right here in Pancake Haus.

Muriel smiled and nodded as the two continued their conversation. Of course, she was happy for them. Arnie would have a companion on his trip and Dot would enjoy a well-deserved vacation. She hadn’t taken one in years. They’d both have a lovely time together and Muriel could be relieved that she hadn’t spoiled his vacation by turning him down. Yes, she’d been positively inspired to suggest Dot go in her place.

Arnie certainly hadn’t mourned being turned down for long. Muriel’s omelet suddenly tasted a little off. She set down her fork.

“Something wrong with your breakfast?” Dot asked, pointing to the half-consumed meal.

“No, I guess I’m not very hungry,” Muriel said. She looked at her watch. “You know, I should get going. My new Christmas tree is due to arrive this morning.”