No Place Like Home (Holiday Classics) (7 page)

The sudden feeling of loss he experienced was so overwhelming, he thought he was going to black out.

Ten minutes later he was in his car. He had no destination in mind, knowing only that he didn’t want to go back to the apartment. He didn’t want to go over seating arrangements for his wedding dinner; nor did he want to discuss flowers and satin ribbons. He wanted to
think.

Alexandra didn’t sweat. Hattie had made it sound so profound. Was he just being a stupid, dumb male, or was sweating really important? His son, Sam, would probably know, but Sam didn’t want to talk to him. Maybe he needed to test Hattie’s theory by suggesting to Alexandra that they work out together.

Twenty minutes later he parked the car. Rockefeller Center. He and Margie used to bring the Trips here to ice-skate. Maybe he could get a latte, shift into neutral, and think. Before he exited the car, he dialed the Trips’s cell phone number again. The same eerie voice said the customer he was calling was still out of calling range. Shoulders slumped, he locked the car and headed for the steps that would take him down to the ice-skating rink and more memories.

*  *  *

They were gathered in the sunroom to say good-bye. It was an exceptional room, with its wide, panoramic view of the mountains that showed off the light dusting of snow that had fallen during the night. The trees and shrubs looked pretty, like the front of a Christmas card. The lighting inside was subdued, making everything seem warm and cozy. A gas fire burned brightly, more for atmosphere than warmth.

“I hate to leave, it’s so warm and toasty here,” Sara said.

“I wish you’d get a move on. If the temperature keeps dropping, the roads are going to freeze. I can hold the fort. Don’t worry about us,” Sam said. Freddie barked in agreement.

“Sam’s right, girls, go now and be sure to call as soon as you arrive safe and sound.”

“We will, Cisco,” the girls said, as they hugged her and Freddie. “I’m so glad they allow dogs to visit here in this room. Joel told me this morning that they have pet day every Friday for the patients,” Sara said.

“Will you just go already,” Sam said with feigned exasperation. “And if you smack up my car, your ass is grass, Sara.”

“Nag, nag, nag. Bye everyone. We’ll call when we get home, and make sure you call us in the morning after Cisco’s surgery. By the way, before I forget, Hannah called Laurel Hills and told them Cisco is with us enjoying a little holiday. She didn’t offer up any additional details. She then called Dad’s private number and spoke to Alexandra, who said Dad went out early this morning and has been gone all day. She said she didn’t know where he went because he didn’t leave a note. Hanny said Alexandra sounded like she was telling the truth. Anyway, Hanny told her Cisco was with us, and you were fine and dandy. End of call. Okay, okay, we’re going.” Another round of hugs and kisses ensued before they left the sunroom. Freddie hopped off Cisco’s lap, her scarf trailing on the floor as she scampered to the door with them for one last good-bye.

“You take care of her now, girl,” Hannah said, dropping to her knees to hug the retriever. She saw the boots, the jeans-clad legs, and groaned as she looked up at Dr. Zachary Kelly.

“I’m not wearing a cummerbund at the wedding,” Zack Kelly said. He was grinning from ear to ear as he pushed back his Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap.

Flushing, Hannah could only mumble, “Okay. What kind of hat are you planning to wear?” as Sara dragged her out the door and down the hall.

“I dreamed about that guy last night,” Hannah said breathlessly. “He wasn’t wearing a cummerbund at the wedding. What do you suppose that means, Sara?” she asked fretfully. “Oh, Freddie was the flower girl. She had a little silk pouch around her neck full of flower petals. I think it was a beautiful wedding. Do you think I’m losing my mind? He is
sooo
cute, though.”

“It means…it means whatever you want it to mean. Damn, the roads are starting to ice up. I hope the interstate is okay. C’mon, shake it, Hanny.”

“Well, I think I might like the dream to mean something,” Hannah said, hopping into the Rover and buckling up. “You know what else, I think I’m going to knit him a scarf for Christmas. You know, for taking care of Cisco. That’s a nice gesture, don’t you think? Brownie points and all of that. If I start on it when we get back, I might be able to finish it before we take Cisco back to Laurel Hills. I’ll wrap it up real pretty. Guys like stuff like that.”

“Go for it then,” Sara said, turning the car lights on.

“I think I will. I really think I will.” Hannah settled in for the long drive back to school.

At ten minutes past ten the following morning, Dr. Zachary Kelly strode into the sun-room, his face wreathed in a wide smile. Sam and Freddie both jumped to their feet.

“Piece of cake, Sam. That’s another way of saying it went well. Your grandmother is doing fine. One of the nurses will come and get you when it’s time for you to see her. Freddie can’t leave this room. I’ll make sure someone comes down to sit with her while you visit. You should call your sisters now. By the way, are they…”

Sam grinned. “No, they aren’t seeing anyone. You have a clear, open field. You might want to pass the word on to Dr. Wineberg. If it means anything, I wouldn’t wear a cummerbund either.” He could hear the doctor laughing all the way down the hall. He waved as he slammed through the swinging doors that led to the surgery ward.

Sam gingerly lowered himself to the small sofa and patted his leg for Freddie to hop onto his lap. “She’s okay, girl. She’s okay. Before you know it, she’ll be able to see you clearly. She’s okay. Magic words, Freddie. I have to call Sara and Hanny now,” he said, pulling out his cell phone. Freddie tugged at the scarf around her neck until she had it bunched into a ball. The golden dog lowered her head on top of the scarf and closed her eyes. She had understood everything Sam said. She could rest easy now.

The devil sparked in Sam’s eyes when Hannah answered after only one ring. “Cisco’s okay. Everything went well. I haven’t seen her yet. Someone is going to stay with Freddie when it’s time for me to visit her. I’ll call you from her room so you and Sara can talk to her. Hey, Hanny, if you wash and wax the Rover for six weeks, I’ll tell you what Zack said about you.” He held the phone away from his ear when his sister started to squawk. “Okay, okay, you had your chance. Bye.”

T
hey were a miniparade, Dr. Kelly and Dr. Wineberg walking alongside Nurse Alice, who pushed Cisco’s wheelchair down the hall to the main lobby, where Sara, Hannah and Freddie waited. Cisco, wearing wraparound dark glasses, held out her arms the minute the swinging door closed behind her wheelchair. The golden streak zipping toward her made her laugh aloud. “I missed you, too, sweet baby. Oh, you feel so good!” she said, hugging the golden retriever and smothering her with kisses. Freddie only stopped long enough to bark and bark in pure joy.

Alice pressed the button that opened the plate glass doors, and then they were outside in the biting air. She stopped, setting the brake on the chair so Cisco could stand up.

“I don’t know how to thank all of you. I can send you bushels of candy, but that hardly seems enough for all you’ve done for me. Can I donate a room, a wing, something?”

“Can I just tell you one more time how thrilled and delighted I am that you, Alice,” she said, reaching out to pat the nurse’s hand, “and you two young men are going to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our family.”

“The invitation is more than any of us expected. We’ll be there with bells on,” Zack said.

“Inviting us for Christmas is a pretty special thank-you,” Joel Wineberg said. “Look, I have a tonsillectomy scheduled in a few minutes. I just wanted to say good-bye and to wish you well. It was nice meeting you all.” He quickly offered his hand to everyone. “I’ll see you Christmas Eve.” His gaze lingered a minute longer on Sara before he sprinted off down the hall.

“You’re good to go, Mrs. Cisco. If you have any problems, call me, day or night. Take care of your mistress, Freddie. It was nice meeting you all,” Zack Kelly said, shaking hands all around. “As Joel said, we’ll see you on Christmas Eve. I have a patient waiting. Take care,” Dr. Kelly said, his tone professional, his expression just as professional.

A horn tapped lightly, as Sam swerved to the curb. Hannah stood rooted to the spot, a gaily wrapped package in her hand. Damn, he hadn’t said one personal word to her. “Men stink,” she muttered. She turned to the nurse and handed her the package. “Will you give this to Dr. Kelly?”

“Of course I will. It was nice meeting you all. Take care of yourself, Mrs. Cisco, and I’ll see you on Christmas Eve. I’m working the early shift Christmas Eve, so I won’t be able to drive with Dr. Kelly and Dr. Wineberg, but I will be there. We all get Christmas off this year, but we have to work New Year’s so staff can be with their families. I’m really looking forward to spending a holiday with a real family. I know Dr. Kelly and Dr. Wineberg feel the same way. In fact”—she winked slyly—”it’s all they talk about.”

Freddie pawed at the nurse’s leg. She bent down, tickled the retriever behind the ears, and smiled. “How does it feel to have your eyesight back, Mrs. Cisco?”

“There are no words to tell you how it feels. I think God gave me an early Christmas present. I can actually see. The snow is beautiful, just beautiful,” Cisco said exuberantly as she looked around at everything before she climbed into the car. “Each day I see a little more clearly. The orthopedic doctor said I don’t have to wear the soft cast any longer. I feel like I was just reborn. If you three hadn’t stepped in, I’d still be languishing in that awful place. I love you so much.”

“You’re not supposed to cry, Cisco,” Sam said gruffly.

“I’m not crying. Am I, Freddie? I think I can handle anything from this moment on. Good-bye, Alice, thanks for everything.” The nurse waved, a smile on her face.

“Before you can ask, her name is Alice Hampton and she’s forty-one years old. She was my private nurse. She took wonderful care of me. And she’s a dog lover like me. She reminds me of your mother. She’s sweet and gentle, with a wonderful, soft touch. She’s one of those nurses who really cares about her patients. Her husband was a fire-fighter who died in the line of duty ten years ago. She has no children, but she does have two Yorkies—Lily and Lennie. I told her to bring them on Christmas Eve. The more the merrier. I’m just so damn happy.” The Trips laughed along with her.

“You okay with the game plan, Cisco?” Hannah asked.

“I’m very okay with it. You’re dropping me off at Laurel Hills. You’re turning around and heading back to school for the balance of your finals. Then you’re packing up and coming back here to open up our house, after which you will return to Laurel Hills to spring me and take me home where I belong. Did I get all that right?”

“You’re on the money, Cisco,” Sam said. “Who’s calling Dad?”

“I think I would like the pleasure of doing that if it’s okay with the three of you.”

Cisco smiled at their collective sigh. Her world was right side up.

The lounge was as comfortable as a doctor’s lounge could be. Zack Kelly poured himself a cup of hazelnut-flavored coffee and carried it over to a recliner. He’d catnapped in that particular chair hundreds of times. He eyed the donuts in the colorful pink-and-white box.

“Don’t even think about it! Those things will kill you,” Joel Wineberg said as he flopped down in a chair across from his colleague. “So, what do you think?”

Zack grimaced. “I hate good-byes. I couldn’t think of one damn flip thing to say. I really like her. I thought I was being clever with Mrs. Cisco when I asked her to talk about her family. You know what, she saw right through me and volunteered Hannah’s whole life story. I felt like a sneak.”

Joel laughed ruefully. “Hell, I can top that. I called my sister Clair and got the skinny on Sara from the day she joined the sorority. I think I have her life story, too. They’re triplets,” he said, his voice ringing in awe. “Think about this, if we marry them, and I’m not saying we will, we could each have a set of triplets. In a way it’s kind of scary. They think like each other. They talk like each other. The brother is a guy. Brilliant observation right there. He’s just like they are only he has a slight edge. He can
anticipate
us. It kind of spooks me if you know what I mean.”

“I have their cell phone number,” Zack said, his voice sounding jittery. He seemed less like a doctor and more like a young man in love.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe we can call them over the weekend. You know, just to say hello and ask about Mrs. Cisco. A generic kind of call,” Joel said. “Of course we could find out just as easily by calling Mrs. Cisco herself.”

“Mrs. Cisco said the three of them want to work in the business when they graduate. Their corporate offices and the candy factory are in New York. She did say she’s thinking about closing up those offices and opening them up somewhere in this area. She said a lot of her employees are older, and she wants them close by because they’re like a big family. I jumped right on that and encouraged her. There’s some kind of problem with the father, but I don’t know what it is. I didn’t think it was any of my business, so we didn’t get into it. Hate to drink and run, but I have a surgery scheduled in thirty minutes. Seems kind of dull around here without all of them. I really liked that dog.”

“Yeah. Me, too. Don’t lose that number.”

Zack Kelly laughed. “Not a chance.”

“It’s only six o’clock, Jonathan, where are you going?” Hattie demanded.

“Don’t worry about where I’m going, Hattie,” Jonathan snapped. “I was in here at four o’clock this morning. If you want to stay, then stay. I’m going to work out, then I’m going home. You might not believe this, but I do work at home, too.

“Call for you, Jonathan,” Mabel, the switchboard operator, shouted. “It’s your mother!”

“You’re kidding! Put her on the speakerphone,” Hattie bellowed. “We want to say hello.” She enjoyed watching Jonathan roll his eyes.

“I’ll take the call in my office,” Jonathan said as he stomped his way back down the hall. His heart was beating so fast he thought he was going to pass out at any second. He tried taking great, deep, smooth breaths to calm himself. He eyed the dusty clock on his desk. Alexandra would pout all night long if he kept her waiting. His heart continued to slam against his rib cage. He tried to calm himself. When the red light glowed on the phone, he almost jumped out of his skin.

He tried to make his voice cheerful. “Hi, Mom. You had me really worried. Do you mind telling me where you’ve been? Where are you calling me from? You can’t just take off like that and not let anyone know where you are.”

“I’m fine, son, even though you didn’t ask me how I am. I had some things to take care of, and the Trips helped me. I had my cataracts operated on. I can see very well now. I can also think a bit more clearly and see things I guess I didn’t want to see or deal with. My arm has healed nicely, too. But to answer your question, I’m back at this place you stuck me in, but I’ll be leaving soon to return home. You know, Jonathan, you didn’t come to see me once in the three months I’ve been here. You called me twice. I’ve had a lot of time to think while I’ve been here and while I was recovering at the hospital last week. I made the decision to close the offices on Hudson Street and relocate them in Larkspur. We’ll move the factory this year, too. I want my family, all those dear people who want to relocate, to come here with us. Those who don’t want to come will be given generous severance packages. The company will pay all moving costs for our employees. I’m also going to sell the apartment.”

“Mom, what’s come over you? You can’t just…do something like that. Think of the consequences.”

“I have thought about them, Jonathan. I’ve had nothing to do these past three months but think. Cisco Candies is my company. I can do whatever I want with it. I just spoke to Hattie and the others. They’re all behind me on this.”

“Mom, this is not a good thing. You turned the company over to me. Changes need to be made. We need to move forward. Moving to some backwoods town isn’t going to do it.” He cringed at how desperate his voice sounded.

“That’s a matter of opinion, dear. There’s nothing on paper about my turning the company over to you. I wanted to see what you would do before I took that route. Think of it as a test that you failed. I’ve made my decision, so there’s no point in discussing this any further. Have a wonderful holiday and congratulations on your upcoming wedding. It would have been nice, Jonathan, if you had told me you were getting married yourself. Instead, I had to find out from the Trips. I have to hang up now. Freddie wants to go for a walk. I am just so thrilled that I can actually walk her myself. When you get to be my age, son, it’s the simple things that give the most pleasure. Good-bye, Jonathan.”

His eyes blinded by tears, Jonathan’s shoulders slumped.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Hattie even though he hadn’t heard her come into the room. He could smell the caramels she was sucking on. He waited for her to say something brash, even insulting. When she didn’t, he looked up and saw only sadness in her eyes. She patted his shoulder again before she walked out of his office, closing the door quietly behind her.

A harsh sob caught in Jonathan’s throat. He looked around, desperately hoping to cope with what he was feeling. He reached for Margie’s picture and brought it to his chest. “Tell me what to do. Help me.” Like a picture behind a piece of glass was really going to tell him what to do, much less help him.

He looked around for his coat, then remembered he was already wearing it. He held Margie’s picture like it was his lifeline. In the outer office, he stopped and looked around at Cisco’s loyal employees. Never his. “Good night, everyone.”

“Good night, Jonathan, have a nice evening,” Hattie said.

“I’m going to try, Hattie. I’m going to try.”

He drove uptown to the gym, where he was supposed to meet Alexandra. She was waiting, tapping her foot, a hundred taps to the minute. There was no welcoming smile, only irritation in her eyes. She waited for an explanation, and when none was forthcoming, she picked up her designer duffel, which probably held a designer towel and designer cosmetics, and stomped her way to an exercycle.

“What speed are you going to bike?” Jonathan called over his shoulder. “What’s your pulse rate?”

Alexandra shot him another irritated look as she struggled to position her rump just right on the hard seat. She pedaled at a little under two miles an hour. Jonathan smirked at what he was seeing. He increased his speed on the StairMaster until sweat poured down his face. “You aren’t sweating, Alexandra. It doesn’t work if you don’t sweat,” he singsonged.

The hour workout was an exercise in futility as far as Alexandra was concerned. Jonathan felt calmer, more at peace after the strenuous workout.

“Time to shower,” he said, wiping his face with his sweat towel.

“I think I’ll wait till I get home to shower. I don’t like going outside after a shower. I don’t want to get sick with the holidays around the corner.”

“Okay. Wait for me in the lobby. We need to talk.”

Alexandra frowned as she picked up her bag, coat, and Jonathan’s coat. The weight of his coat slapped against her leg. Something heavy was in the pocket. She reached in and withdrew the heavy silver frame with Margie’s picture. For one incredible second she thought she was experiencing a brain freeze. Her eyes were speculative as she looked around at the part-time athletes chugging away at the different machinery. Too fat. Too bald. Too short. Too married. Too wrong. And, not one of them was giving her a first look, much less a second one. Obviously, she’d picked the wrong gym. She shoved the picture frame back where she’d found it.