A Simple Christmas Wish (5 page)

After the gifts were placed under the tree, Holly looked up at Rachel, asking her again if she’d found what she was looking for.

Rachel just shook her head. “No, and that means you and I need to talk.”

Holly blinked. “Did I do something bad?”

“No, no. Not at all. It’s not that kind of talk.” She took Holly’s hand. “But this talk might require some ice cream. I think we still have a carton of rocky road in the freezer.” As she led the way to the kitchen, she silently asked God to help her with what was sure to be another difficult conversation.

4

They were seated across from each other at the breakfast bar, quietly eating their ice cream while Rachel tried to think of a way to begin. “You know when we went to see Walt this afternoon?”

“Uh-huh.” Holly nodded as a streak of brown ice cream ran down her chin.

Rachel slid a napkin over to her, pointing at her chin. “Well, Walt had some, uh, some interesting news for us.”

“What news?” Holly took another bite.

Rachel knew she needed to put a positive spin on this. She needed, for Holly’s sake, to act like this was all wonderful news. “For starters—you, my dear, have another aunt.”

Holly looked up with wide eyes. “I have another aunt? You mean besides you?”

Rachel tried to keep her face pleasant as she nodded. “Yes. I was quite surprised too. It seems your mommy has a sister.”

“My mommy has a sister?” She tipped her head to one side as if trying to grasp this. “I always wished I had a sister.”

“Well, you might get your wish.” Rachel couldn’t remember
if Walt had mentioned whether Lydia’s other children were boys or girls, but as she recalled he’d said there were several. “Anyway, you’ll either have brothers or sisters or both.”

Holly looked stunned. “I have
brothers and sisters
?”

Rachel caught her mistake. “I’m sorry. Actually, they’re
cousins
.”

“I have cousins?” Holly brightened. “My friend Allison has lots and lots of cousins. She’s always telling me about her cousins. Now I have cousins too?”

Rachel smiled. “Yes, you do.”

“Can I play with them?”

“Yes,” she said. “In fact, you will be seeing them soon. Even before Christmas.” They’d been using the advent calendar to count the days until Christmas, so she knew Holly could easily grasp this time concept.

“Are they coming here to see me?” Holly’s eyes lit up. “For my birthday?”

“No. Actually, you will be going to visit them.”

“Really? Where do they live?”

“Someplace in Ohio. It’s called Holmes County.”

Holly gave her a blank look.

“Walt told me your aunt and cousins live on a farm.”

“On a farm?” she said enthusiastically. “I’ve always wanted to go visit a farm!”

“Great. I hear they have cows and pigs and all sorts of things.”

“And horses too?” she said ecstatically. “Do they have horses, Aunt Rachel? I’ve always dreamed of riding a real live horse.”

The image of the old-fashioned people in the horse-drawn
carriages came to her again. “Yes, I’m sure they have horses too, Holly.”

Now Holly was so deliriously happy she completely forgot about the rest of her ice cream. Instead, she was dancing around the room, singing about horses and farms and Christmas. It was so good to see her happy like this that Rachel knew she had to play along. She had to act as if there was nothing better than going to see this Aunt Lydia and the cousins and the farm. If Holly assumed it was only a visit, what did it really matter? They could sort out the rest of the details later.

And perhaps, if Rachel got lucky, she might be able to explain the whole situation to Lydia. She could plead her case and beg Miri’s older sister to let Holly remain in Rachel’s care. Maybe she could even offer Lydia something in exchange. Rachel didn’t have much in her savings, but she would gladly use all of it if she could just keep Holly with her. Not a bribe exactly—but a gift perhaps.

As she rinsed the ice cream dishes, she began to feel a smidgeon of hope again. It was possible that Aunt Lydia didn’t really want any more children underfoot. And perhaps she would be a kind, generous person who would understand how much Rachel needed her only niece—especially after losing her only brother. Really, it seemed entirely possible. After all, it was Christmastime, and she and Holly had already been through so much. Maybe miracles still happened. With all this in mind, she phoned Walt and got the necessary information for Lydia Miller, explaining how she planned to drive to Holmes County and convince the mystery aunt that Holly belonged with her, right here in Chicago.

“We’ll leave first thing in the morning,” she informed him. “I’ll use Michael’s car.”

He wished her luck, and after she hung up, she announced the good news to Holly.

“You know how to drive Daddy’s car?” Holly asked in surprise.

“Sure. I learned how to drive in your daddy’s car.”

“Mommy doesn’t drive,” Holly said somberly. She still sometimes talked about her parents as if they were still alive. Rachel wouldn’t correct her.

“I know.” Rachel considered how Miri had never wanted to learn to drive. Maybe this had something to do with her Amish roots.

“Mommy hated riding in cars,” Holly continued.

“But she liked the train,” Rachel reminded her. “And flying in airplanes.”

Holly frowned. “But their airplane crashed.”

Rachel nodded. “I know. So, anyway, if tomorrow’s weather is sunny like today, we should have a very nice drive through the countryside. And before you know it, you’ll be seeing your aunt and your cousins and the horses on the farm.” Fortunately, these expectations vanquished the gloom from Holly’s face, and she was soon doing her happy dance around the room again.

“We’ll pack our bags tonight,” Rachel explained. “That way we can get an early start.”

“What should I pack?” Holly asked.

Rachel considered this. In the unlikely event that Lydia turned her down, it would be best if Holly had whatever she needed with her. However, she couldn’t bear to think
that would actually happen. “Just pack whatever you like,” she told her. “Anything you think you’ll need if we stay for a while.”

“How long will we be there?” Holly asked as she set some of her favorite toys on her bed.

Rachel shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll see. Just keep in mind, your daddy’s car is kind of small. You can’t pack too much.” She selected a few bags and set them in Holly’s room. “Let’s stick with these.”

To Rachel’s relief, the sky was sunny and clear as they headed out the following morning. Michael’s 1967 fire-engine red Karmann Ghia started up on the first try. Although Rachel didn’t drive much, it all came back to her as she put the car into gear. The car seemed to be in good shape, but then Michael had spent many years and lots of dollars having it completely restored. Miri had wanted him to get rid of it after Holly was born, claiming it wasn’t suitable for a family, but since he had unlimited access to a company car, he insisted they hold on to this classic. It was his “baby.”

With every space of the compact convertible filled with Holly’s toys, clothes, and their Christmas presents, which Holly had insisted they bring in case they stayed until Christmas, there was just enough room for Rachel’s one small overnight bag. She hoped that was all she would need. The more Rachel considered the whole situation, the more confident she felt that Lydia was going to see her side and agree to let Holly return to Chicago after spending a day or two in the
country. They would bring their Christmas presents back to the apartment, and after celebrating Holly’s birthday on Christmas Eve, they would open them on Christmas morning, using that time to remember Michael and Miri—and looking forward to their future together.

“What a perfect day for a drive,” she told Holly after she’d topped off the gas tank and was heading out onto the freeway. “Nothing but sunshine for as far as I can see.”

“Can we take the top down?”

Rachel laughed. “It’s not
that
nice. The wind would freeze us into ice cubes.”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be good.” Holly grinned up at her. Because there were no rear seat belts, she was seated in the passenger seat in front. Not ideal, but at least it would afford her a good view of the countryside once they got out of town.

“Daddy used to take the top down when it was warm outside,” Holly told her.

“Did you go in the car with him a lot?” Rachel asked.

“Uh-huh. Mommy never went. But I did. I was never scared to ride in the car.”

Rachel smiled. “I’ll bet you and your daddy had some fun rides.”

“Yeah. We did.”

The car got quiet, so Rachel turned on the radio to a station playing cheerful Christmas songs, and the two of them attempted to sing along. Before long, the gloom seemed to evaporate. Wasn’t this just what they needed, Rachel thought as the city faded away behind them—a road trip to forget all their troubles?

Oh, she was fully aware she could be driving straight into
even more troubles, but she didn’t think so. For some reason she expected Miri’s older sister to be a reasonable woman. Why else would Miri have granted her custody of her only child?

Of course, this only reminded Rachel of why she hadn’t been listed in that important section of Michael and Miri’s will. And a painful reminder it was—something she usually tried to block out of her mind. Now, however, as they drove and Holly attempted to sing along to “Frosty the Snowman,” it all came rushing back at her.

About nine years ago, Curtis Garmin had stepped into her life in a big and flamboyant way. By then she’d been working for the airline long enough to know that pilots were risky at best, but something about this tall, handsome guy—his sparkling blue eyes and sandy brown curls—had pulled her right in.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only flight attendant who’d gotten pulled in by his charming good looks, but as far as she could see, she was the only one who’d caught his eye. Perhaps that was only because she’d been holding him at arm’s length, an attempt to respect the airline’s no-dating-coworkers policy, even though she knew her fellow workers usually ignored it, secretly dating pilots as they liked. As a result of Rachel’s prim resistance, Curtis had seemed to pursue her with more determination.

Although recently married, Miri had still been working for the airline when Rachel and Curtis first started dating. In the beginning, Miri seemed to approve of Curtis. She even talked about the possibility of another wedding in the family, but something seemed to change in the next year as Curtis and
Rachel continued their relationship. Suddenly Miri began making claims that Curtis was untrustworthy and no-good, saying that Rachel should break up with him. Rachel simply attributed her sister-in-law’s paranoia to Miri’s somewhat unwanted and unexpected pregnancy. Naturally, when Rachel suggested this, it only irked Miri more, and she insisted Michael should intervene on Rachel’s behalf. Michael, playing the part of overprotective big brother and caring husband, tried to straighten Rachel out. Unfortunately, that only made things worse.

Shortly before Holly’s birth, Rachel was not speaking to either Michael or Miri, and they seemed to have written her off completely. They didn’t even invite her to join them for the holidays. She had decided if she had to choose between the man she loved and her judgmental family, she would go with the man she loved. After all, Michael had Miri now, and they were soon to have a baby. What did they need of her? As a result, she completely missed the birth of her niece, as well as some other memorable moments during Holly’s first year of life.

Just thinking of this now made her unbearably sad. If she’d just known how limited her time with Michael and Miri would be—and now perhaps even losing Holly—she would’ve handled things differently. It was shortly before Holly’s first birthday that Rachel had begun to see the signs, furtive glances exchanged between Curtis and other flight attendants followed by some unbelievable explanations. She knew it was the proverbial writing on the wall. Yet it wasn’t until she found Curtis in a very compromising position with one of her roommates that it all hit the fan.

It still burned to realize she’d ignored her only niece for almost a year—all for a selfish, deceitful man who had ultimately broken her heart. The memory of having to confess to Miri and Michael that they were absolutely right about Curtis being a complete jerk still humbled her. At least they had welcomed her back into their tiny fold with open arms. They’d even asked her to be Holly’s godmother, which they celebrated on Holly’s first birthday. And they very graciously never spoke Curtis’s name around her again. They never said, “We told you so.” It was because of that unfortunate relationship, however, that she’d been written out of the will. It felt like adding insult to injury to realize that Michael had never remembered to change that important detail in their will. She hoped it was not too late.

5

The good weather continued until after they’d stopped for lunch in Angola. As they were leaving Indiana, it became obvious, by the thick bank of gray clouds gathering in the east, that the weather was changing. Rachel hadn’t really considered the possibility of severe winter weather, and she knew this Karmann Ghia wouldn’t be the most reliable vehicle if they ran into serious snow. In a worst-case scenario, she could use some of her free air miles to allow them to fly back to O’Hare if they got snowed in during their visit to Holmes County.

With Bunny in her arms, Holly drifted off to sleep as the car pressed on into Ohio. Rachel turned off the radio and decided to just enjoy the quiet sound of the wheels on the road, taking in the scenery around her. She’d printed out directions from the computer, and after an hour in Ohio, she found herself on a lovely country road.

“Are we almost there?” Holly blurted out as she sat up straight in her seat.

“We’re definitely getting closer.” Rachel pointed out the window. “Look at this pretty countryside.”

To entertain themselves, they played the I-spy-with-my-little-eye game, picking out farm animals and other items of interest. As the car drew closer to their destination, Rachel grew uneasy. She knew that somehow she had to prepare Holly for the fact that her aunt Lydia might be assuming she was about to get guardianship of her niece.