The Christmas Phoenix (6 page)

 

The drive home was less silent. The sun smiled down from a bright blue sky. Snowplows had cleared most of the roads. People were venturing out with their snow blowers and clearing out their walkways. Children laughed as they pelted each other with snowballs and built forts and snowmen.

Jess relaxed as she pointed the truck north out of town. Her fingers held the steering wheel with less force now that visibility was better and the task was done. They had delivered the sculptures to the Pine Ridge Hotel intact, and the hotel staff had been happy to see them.

"Did you see the mayor's face when we wheeled the sculptures in?" Jake shook the snow off his hat and settled it back on his head.

"Yeah. I think he had a bet with the chef as to whether or not you'd make it there," Jess joked.

"That's because he was the one paying me. If I hadn't shown up, he would have saved a bunch of money. From the looks of that spread, he was shelling out plenty. And with this weather, he'll probably have a dismal turnout, so he won't get much of it back."

They laughed, and Jake settled back in his seat. Jess noticed he angled his body in the seat and massaged his leg. It must be hurting him.

Finally, the truck turned into Jake's drive. Jess waited for Jake to get out, declining an offer of coffee.

"I'd love to, but I really want to check on Rory. I texted him from the hotel to ask how he was doing, but he hasn't answered."

Jake nodded. "I'm sure he's fine, but he should answer if you've tried to reach him."

Jess sighed. At least he didn't think she was babying him.

She turned the truck around and drove back to the road, checking for snowmobiles. Seeing no traffic, she pulled out and drove the rest of the way home.

The house was quiet. Was Rory closeted in his room, playing video games, or chatting on his computer? Parking the truck in the garage, she jumped out. Every muscle in her body ached from the exertion she'd put it through that day. As soon as she knew Rory was okay, she'd soak in a nice hot tub. There should be some bubble bath hidden away somewhere.

She entered her house, walking through the kitchen, flicking on the light switches as she went.

"Rory?"

There was no answer. She groaned, took a deep breath, and mounted the stairs to his room.

"Rory, what are you doing?" She pushed his bedroom door open, preparing herself for the mess she expected to see.

The room was empty.

His bed was made, but he wasn't on it.

His desk was clear, his books neatly stacked on it, but he wasn't there.

His clothes were put away, the closet door and all his dresser drawers closed.

Jess' heart went into overdrive. Where would he have gone in such awful weather?

Think. Who would he have talked to? If he was in the house, his coat should be hanging by the back door. She retraced her steps through the kitchen.

The hook was empty. Looking down at the mat, she realized his boots were also missing.

Good grief, where had he gone? Surely he wouldn't have tried to drive? He hadn't even had driver's training yet. If he had gone out, someone would have picked him up. But she didn't remember an extra set of tracks on the drive when she came home.

She paced back and forth in her kitchen, thinking of the friends he'd made since they moved here. What were their names? Would she have their phone numbers? What kind of mother was she if she didn't know how to contact her son's friends?

The phone rang, startling her. She grabbed it off the hook.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jess. I left my cart in your truck. I don't need it right now, but..."

"Jake! Rory's gone!"

"He's gone? Where could he have gone?"

"I don't know! His coat's not here."

"Did he leave you a note?"

She'd forgotten to look. "I don't know." She scanned the countertop.

"No, nothing on the counter." She looked down, checking for a stray note that might have fallen to the floor. "Nothing on the floor, either."

Jake groaned. "Why would he—never mind. I'll go out on the snowmobile"

"But Jake, your leg. It was bothering you all the way home."

"I'll live. Do you see any footsteps heading out of the house?"

"I haven't looked. I'll do that now."

"I'll have my phone with me. Call me if you find anything. In the meantime, I have an idea where he might be."

"Not the creek!"

"We'll find out." He disconnected, and Jess wanted to scream at the phone. She raced to the front door, opening it and scanning the snow for signs of footprints. Nothing. Then she ran to the back. And felt her heart clench with fear.

A set of footprints led from the garage, around the house, and down the ravine. She quickly re-donned her snowmobile suit, and wrapped a scarf around her neck. She wrapped an extra one for Rory. Knowing him, he wouldn't have one. And then she started walking. She doubled back and grabbed a blanket from her truck.

She remembered she was supposed to call Jake. Her hands stung from the cold as she removed her mitten to call. She told him about the footprints and that she was on her way down. Then she disconnected and stuck the phone back in her pocket.

She wanted to run, but knew it would be safer to take the descent slowly. She slipped several times, but she kept her eyes on the footprints. They took her down, down, toward the bank of the stream flowing between her home and Jake's.

The stream was frozen over, but she was thankful the footprints didn't end. The water was deeper here, and there was no way of knowing exactly how deep the ice was. At least Rory had the sense to walk to a narrower, shallower part of the creek. Her son and his friends had built a little bridge last summer so they could visit each other more easily. She trudged along, half hoping she'd see him, half hoping she wouldn't.

She spotted the snowmobile, just past a thick bush. Jake had made it down to the creek, with a sled attached to his snowmobile. Jake was bent over the sled, tying something to it.

She ran, her heart in her throat. "Rory!"

Jake looked up then. Using the snowmobile for leverage, he pushed himself up into a standing position. His face was grim. Not a good sign. When she got closer, he nodded to her.

"It looks like he slipped on the ice crossing the creek and hit his head. He was awake, but he's slipping in and out of consciousness. I'm glad you thought to bring a blanket. Here, why don't you wrap it around him?"

She gazed down at the inert form of her son. Rory lay on the sled, his eyes closed, his face a deathly white. Quickly, she kneeled and wrapped the blanket around him, crooning to him, begging him to wake up. Realizing she wasn't going to get a response, she stood.

"We've got to bring him home so I can get him to the hospital."

Jake nodded. "Hop on."

She waited for him to straddle the seat and then climbed on behind him.

They took off for Jess' house. Though she knew Jake had to take the hill carefully, the ride seemed to last forever. Once at the house, they transferred Rory into her truck.

****

Jess paced the floor of the Emergency Room until a doctor came to speak with her. Jake sat in the waiting room the entire time, rubbing his leg.

"You should have your leg elevated."

"Never mind my leg. How's Rory?"

"The doctor says they're keeping him overnight for observation, but he should be okay."

He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "That's great. I'd never forgive myself if he didn't make it."

"Why would it be your fault?"

"I've been on his case about being responsible. He knew Charlie needed to be fed, so he was heading to my house to feed him. It's because of me he got hurt."

"No, it's because he slipped and hit his head."

"He wouldn't have been outside if I hadn't put him in charge of the dog. I should have just taken care of it myself."

"How could you? You were gone!"

"But I asked him to help. Just like—with Dan." His voice broke, and he rested his head in his hands.

"Dan?"

"My buddy back in Iraq. We were there for each other. And when I got hit, I called out to him. He turned around to help me, and—then he got mowed down. If I hadn't called out to him, he wouldn't have been standing there. He wouldn't have been hit."

Jess' heart felt heavy at Jake's pain.

She took his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. "Jake, you were under heavy gunfire. If he hadn't been hit then, he could easily have been hit farther down the road. It wasn't your fault, it was his time."

"That's what the chaplain said, but I can't help feeling it was my fault. Whenever I ask for help, it hurts the person who's helping me."

"No! Jake, that's not true."

“Yes, it is. You helped me with my Christmas shopping and ended up getting fired from your job at the hotel."

"Jake, I quit the job."

He turned to look at her. "You did? When? Why?”

"Two weeks ago. The boss wanted me to work nights. I told him I needed to be home with Rory, but he wouldn't listen. The last straw came when he said I was working Christmas Eve. I wasn't willing to do that, so I quit. The snowplowing business is starting to make money, so I can afford to. And Doug's insurance finally paid out, so I'm not so deep in debt. It wasn't your fault at all. Rory will be fine, because you helped me find him quickly. You had the sense to bring a sled so we could get him to the house. And I'm fine. None of this is your fault."

Jake shook his head and stood. “I wish I could believe you, Jess, but the fact is, whenever I start to lean on someone, whenever I ask for help, someone always gets hurt. I could handle it if that someone was me, but when it's someone else, I know I need to back off. Now that I know Rory's okay, I'm going home. I'll catch a cab outside.”

The man's stubbornness lit a fire in her. “Wait just a minute, Buster. Who do you think you are to claim responsibility for every bad thing that happens?”

Jake froze, his blinking eyelids the only things moving on his body. "Jess, keep your voice down," he muttered.

Realizing other people were staring, she grabbed his arm and marched them into a corner of the hallway for more privacy. Mindful of the hospital staff and visitors walking by, she leaned close to him and spoke through gritted teeth.

"I thought you were special, Jake. You were always there for us when we needed you. But you can't hold a monopoly on helpfulness. Rory says he and I are like the phoenix, starting over again from the ashes. You were part of the reason we've been able to do that. But it's a two-way street. People help each other. It's not wrong to ask for help once in a while."

Jake took a breath and raised his arms as if to protest, but before he could utter a word, she surged on, careful to keep her voice low. "If you think you're going to make our lives better by walking out of it, I can't stop you. But you're being silly and selfish and egotistical, thinking you're personally responsible for the events that happen to us. I'll just let you slink back into your hole so you can feel sorry for yourself. Alone."

Finished with her tirade, she turned and stalked back to the waiting room. She felt Jake's gaze boring into her back, but she kept going. There was no way she'd let him see the tears running down her cheeks.

 

Jess reached for her mug, thankful she had remembered to set the coffeemaker before she jumped into the shower. Now it was ready to drink. It was Christmas morning, and she had just finished her route. She had picked up another two customers this week, two of them commercial accounts who had also signed up for her lawn care service. It looked like she wouldn't need to look for another waitressing job. Maybe Rory could even help her during the summer.

Church wouldn't begin for another two hours. Four hours, if she decided to go to the late service. She had plenty of time to enjoy her coffee.

Tick-tick-tick.

The sound came from outside her living room window. Perhaps a winter squirrel was digging a tunnel through the snow.

Tick-tick-tick.

The noise wasn't steady. Sometimes the ticks came in quick succession, other times there were several seconds between them. If an animal was digging, it would seem more regular, wouldn't it?

Scrrrrritch, scrrrrrrrritch.

What on earth was making that sound? She pulled the drapes open.

Her jaw dropped.

A hauntingly beautiful winged snow creature stared back at her, its white wings outstretched as if ready to take flight. Its crystalline eyes bored into her soul, as if inviting her, "Come with me."

A phoenix. Rising out of the ashes.
He's ready to begin a new life.

Jake stood at the tip of one wing, chiseling the details on a feather. He turned, apparently hearing the drapes open, and nodded to her before going back to work.

Knowing better than to interrupt him, Jess got a piece of Rory's notebook paper and a marker. In large block letters, she wrote "COME INSIDE WHEN YOU'RE DONE" and taped it to the window, facing out. Then she dashed to her room to change her clothes and make herself presentable.

She was running the brush through her hair when she heard the front door open. Taking a deep breath, she walked out to the living room.

He had apparently put his tools back in his van before coming in, because he was empty handed except for his battered hat. He'd removed his boots but stood rooted next to the snow mat, and his eyes didn't quite meet hers.

"Did you need something?" he asked.

That was a loaded question. Did she need something? She sure did.

"Yeah. I need someone to share my burdens, someone to keep me from overextending myself, and someone to support me and encourage me to pursue my dreams. I need you." She stepped closer. "And I need you to need me."

He took a step toward her, dropping his hat. "Are you sure? What about Rory?"

"Rory needs you too. He told me I was an idiot."

White teeth gleamed between his beard and moustache. "Yeah, he had the same talk with me."

"Rory went to your studio?"

"Yeah, he helped me make deliveries yesterday. Didn't he tell you?"

"He said he was helping out some guy with his garage! I thought he was doing a service project for his Youth Group!"

"Hmm. I suppose that would have been accurate. Except he was the only youth. And I paid him."

"We're going to have to have a talk about bending the truth."

"Go easy on him. He's a good kid."

"Yeah. Thanks to you."

The bushy eyebrows rose. "I didn't raise him."

"No, but you helped. If it weren't for you he'd still be in his room, letting me do everything for him. We need you to keep me from spoiling him."

“I might be able to handle that. And I need you to remind me I can't do everything alone. I need you to help me be a better person.”

“You're a great person already. But we'll help each other be even better. So, do you want some coffee? Hot chocolate?"

He closed the gap between them. "Maybe later. Right now, all I need is you."

Jess shivered as his snow-covered arms wrapped around her, but she didn't complain.