Merry's Christmas: A Love Story (15 page)

“No,” Catherine interrupted. “I couldn’t.
“

“Couldn’t or won’t?”

Dejectedly, Catherine sat back in the
booth. “I don’t think like you, Merry. Sometimes I wish I did, because I don’t
want to lose him, but face facts. I’m not folksy. I’m not fun. I’d have no idea
what to do.”

Seeing Catherine’s genuine despair, Merry
pondered it, wrestling mightily with her heart. She could let Catherine
flounder and allow things to take their natural course. Or, she could remember
what the season was all about. She could be the larger person and do what she
could to help.

Merry smiled warmly at Catherine. “We may
be way different in a lot of ways, but you want to know how we’re exactly
alike? I really do know what it’s like to be in a tough spot with no earthly
idea what to do. So, maybe that’s what I can give you for Christmas,
Catherine,” Merry offered. “An idea or two.”

eleven

T
here was
always something about the twenty-fourth of December that seemed every bit as
special to Merry as the stage it set for following day. As the sun descended
behind a blanket of winter clouds, a light snow began to fall, dusting the
streets with the promise of a white Christmas. Anticipation filled the Bell
household, for the first time in years. Merry knew that her job was essentially
done. All that was left was to stand back and watch it unfold.

Strong Bank & Trust had closed early
for the holidays, releasing Daniel for a well-earned week of vacation. Arriving
at home, Daniel brushed the snow crystals off his coat as he entered the
kitchen door.
 
A look of surprise lit up
his face to find Merry, his mother and kids, all dressed as elves in a
makeshift assembly line. Busily, they stocked dozens of holiday bags with
treats, gifts, and personal supplies.

“Whoa! What’s this?” Daniel queried.

Ollie looked up from his work. “Duh. It’s
Christmas Eve, Dad.”

“Yeah, try to keep up,” Hayden quipped.

As Daniel took off his coat, Tara eyed
his attire. “You’re not wearing that, are you?”

Daniel glanced around, puzzled. “To what?
I thought we were having our party here tonight.”

“You said I could outsource,” Merry
reminded. “So, Catherine volunteered to throw together a little something.”
With a gesture toward the living room, Merry gave the floor to Catherine, who
sashayed in wearing a darling Mrs. Santa outfit.

“Better run upstairs and put this on,
Father Christmas,” Catherine beamed, handing Daniel his costume on a hanger.
“Your ride’s coming in twenty minutes.”

Soon, a carriage drawn by four horses
sporting reindeer antlers clip-clopped through the snowy downtown streets. The
Bell contingent snuggled under warm tartan blankets, caroling as they traversed
the winter wonderland. Merry purposefully remained in the background as
Catherine led the singing from a festive booklet of Noels.

As the sleigh pulled up outside the
Downtown Diner, Merry gave Catherine an encouraging grin, seeing what she had
accomplished. A
Merry Christmas
banner was festooned across the font
awning, welcoming the neighborhood homeless.
 
A long row of shopping carts, overflowing with the belongings of the
area’s transients, stretched along the walk.

When the Bells hopped out of the carriage
and headed inside, Skeeter greeted them with a gentlemanly tip of a vintage top
hat. Sporting a dashing cutaway, he “parked” another shopping cart neatly at
the end of the line. The lady who owned it sifted through her belongings.
“Lemme give ya something, Skeet,” she said.

Respectfully, Skeeter waved her off. “No,
Ma’am,” he assured. He smiled at Catherine as she passed by on Daniel’s arm.
“Nice lady here’s payin’ me good to work this. Go on in. You’re our guest.”

Merry was the last to enter the diner. As
soon as she did, she saw that the old
ho-ho-ho-ing
Santa had been
replaced with a much nicer, more welcoming version, no doubt Catherine’s doing.
A trio played from the corner, filling the air with holiday cheer.

As she scanned the decorated diner, in
some ways Merry’s heart was breaking, but then again, it felt incredibly full.
She was doing the right thing and she knew it.

In no time, the Bells were at their
stations and the party was in full swing. Kiki and Hayden gave out festive
headwear to arriving homeless. Each and every party guest was crowned with
holly or stars, halos or antlers, just as soon as they walked in Arthur’s door.
Joan ladled hot chocolate and steaming cider to grateful street folk.

Merry headed to the kitchen just in time
to see Catherine as she leaned down to serve holiday cookies to an elderly
woman in a wheelchair. “Thank you, Darlin’,” the old woman said with a
toothless smile. “These look just like the kind my mama used to make!”
 

Merry pushed through the swinging doors
and into the diner’s kitchen where Arthur hustled to refill service trays with
scrumptious treats. There were buffalo wings, stuffed mushrooms, fruit chutney,
steamed shrimp, fancy cheeses, and hors d’oeuvres, the likes of which had never
been tasted by this crowd. Catherine had insisted that they should have no less
than she would serve at any other party she’d ever thrown, and Arthur had been
game to deliver. Since Arthur had given her so much time off, Merry thought
about how grateful she was that Catherine had decided to give him the business.

Through the open service window, Merry
could see the whole family pitching in and having a wonderful time. Daniel and
Tara passed out gift bags to each man, woman, and child who approached their
table. Merry watched their guests revel over the great many surprises inside,
no matter how small. To most it may have just been a hand towel, a comb, or a
pouch of bus tokens, but to these people, the gift bags were a treasure trove.
An indigent mom kissed the new toothbrush Hayden gave her. The woman’s eight
year-old son was thrilled to discover a pocket video game in his sack; a man
paraded around to show off his new hand-knitted scarf.

As the night progressed, Merry filtered
through the crowd, watching as downtrodden souls forgot their troubles and
danced joyously to the music. Ollie kicked up his heels with a homeless girl,
having the time of his life.

Skeeter bowed deeply in front of
Catherine and extended his open hand. “May I have this dance?”

Merry noticed that Catherine was a little
taken aback at first. But apparently, in an instant, Catherine thought better
of it and offered Skeeter her hand.

“It would be my pleasure, Sir,” Catherine
answered.

As Merry loaded a fresh tray of goodies,
Kiki elbowed her, eyeing Arthur. He was still busying himself with food
preparation. Merry whispered that Kiki should go for it.

Kiki sashayed over to Arthur. “Got enough
for three parties now,” Kiki cracked. “Time for you and me to go have us some
fun. You do know how to dance, don’t you?”

Arthur looked up, confused. “You. Asking
me. To dance.”

Merry stifled a giggle.

Kiki exhaled dramatically. “Been asking
you for most of fifteen years, case you ain’t noticed.”

Slowly a light dawned for Arthur. After
all those years working side by side with Kiki, he was finally starting to get
it. He pointed as he spoke, to make sure he’d understood. “You mean you. And
me. Dancing.”

“What do you think,” Kiki sassed, “I been
hanging ‘round here all this time for the tips?” With that Kiki grabbed
Arthur’s hand and pulled him out of the kitchen.

As Merry passed by with her tray of
treats, Daniel offered to take it for her. It was tempting to enjoy a moment
with him, but Merry redirected Daniel’s gaze to Catherine, dancing with Skeeter
near the musicians. “I’ll get this. Go. Try your moves.”

Daniel obediently made his way through
the crowd toward Catherine. Merry circled the perimeter and handed her tray to
Joan.

“You doing okay?” Joan asked.

“How could I not be?” Merry covered.
“Just look at everybody. They’re having such a great time. Look at your
granddaughter.” Merry directed Joan’s gaze across the room where Tara helped a
middle-aged woman to try on a new tube of gift lipstick. Tara held up a mirror
while the woman blotted her lips together, delighted with the results.

Arthur and Kiki cut a mean rug, capturing
Merry’s attention. It seemed now that Arthur could finally see Kiki, he could
hardly take his eyes off her.

Merry took their pairing in with a
bittersweet sigh. She was off the charts thrilled for them, but—truth be
told—it made her feel her own singleness all the more acutely. Merry shook it
off, purposely turning her gaze to Hayden as she helped a few homeless kids
toss wreaths onto candy cane striped posts for prizes.

Merry nodded across the room at Daniel,
signaling him to go ahead. Daniel turned and politely tapped Skeeter’s shoulder.
“Mind if I cut in?”

Skeeter bowed out like the gentleman that
he was, making way for Daniel to take Catherine into his arms. Indeed, they
made a striking couple.

As the band transitioned to a slower
tune, Kiki and Arthur spun right by Merry, nuzzling like old marrieds. Daniel
swayed nearby with Catherine.

Merry watched it all from the sidelines.
Shoving her pain inside, she retreated to the kitchen alone. With so much
Christmas wonder going on, she couldn’t bear to be thinking of herself, but the
price she had paid in giving this gift to Catherine was almost more than her
breaking heart could bear.

♥    ♥    ♥

Caught up in
the moment, Daniel stopped counting his steps. He began to actually enjoy
dancing with Catherine, and she couldn’t have looked happier, swaying with him
to the music. As much as he almost hated to admit it, Merry had been right, he
thought. She’d been right that Catherine would enjoy dancing. She’d been right
about his kids. She’d been right about absolutely everything.

Suddenly, though it was Catherine that he
turned in his arms, in Daniel’s mind’s eye he flashed back to his dancing
lesson, on his backyard patio with Merry. All over again, it was Merry he spun
in his arms, lost in the brilliance of a thousand lights.

Catherine broke Daniel’s reverie. “You’ve
been holding out on me.”

“What’s that...?” Daniel asked, training
his mind on the present.

“I never knew that you danced,” Catherine
remarked. “We should do it more often.”

Daniel nodded, deep in thought.
Where
had that come from?
Through the service window to the kitchen, he saw Merry
working diligently by herself. What it was that had told him to hire her, he
didn’t really know. But he found himself thanking God that he had. In just a
matter of weeks, she’d become a surprisingly meaningful part of their lives. It
was hard to imagine that she’d ever been a stranger. He would miss her, he
realized, when the holidays were over. So would the kids.
 

Exactly what it was about Merry, Daniel
wasn’t sure. In some ways, he found her so comfortable to be with, and in
others she completely unsettled him. He hadn’t hired her to do it, but
something about her had made him question himself, since the first day she’d
asked for the job. From the very beginning, she had pushed past the boundaries
of professional service and into their still-grieving hearts. She had gone
beyond the seasonal trappings of Christmas to the core of his family’s need.

As he moved across the dance floor,
Daniel watched his children. They were coming back to life again in ways that
amazed him. Ollie wanted to connect with him in an entirely new way. Tara was
maturing, becoming more selfless before his eyes. Even Hayden seemed to be
forgetting her troubles. That dark cloud that had persisted for the past three
years was finally beginning to break.

Despite Merry’s unconventional approach,
and probably because of it, she had been exactly what they’d all needed this
Christmas.
How did she get to be so wise?
 
Merry had the gentlest way of leading him to answers that seemed
to have been there all along, he pondered. And this evening, it seemed that she
was leading him straight to Catherine.