Missing Christmas
By Lisa Scott
Smashwords Edition
Missing Christmas
Copyright © 2011 Lisa Scott Macdonough
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the Author. Your support of author’s rights is appreciated.
All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
“Missing Christmas”
By Lisa Scott
Before dashing off for work, Ryan came back to the bedroom and kissed me goodbye. “Two days until Christmas, Ginny. Are you excited?”
Normally when the holiday was that close I’d be up early, wearing musical antlers and doing improvised ballet moves to The Nutcracker while baking cookies. Instead, I was snoozing in bed. I sat up. “Yeah, really excited,” I lied.
It might as well have been two hundred days until Christmas. Living in Florida after spending my whole life up north, the days down here all seemed the same. But, I’d only been here a month. Maybe that feeling would change.
“I’m looking forward to it, too. These sixty-hour weeks are killing me. Can’t wait to take the day off and just hang out with you. Have a great day, babe.” He kissed me again and left.
The house was empty and quiet without Ryan, and I faced another long day alone. I’d already unpacked our things, cleaned the house and the garage, and rearranged our furniture three times. I was running out of things to do until I found a job.
I fell back asleep and the doorbell rang, which was strange. I hadn’t made any new friends here yet. Every time I told my girlfriends back home things were just awesome, I was lying. I couldn’t tell them I might have made the biggest mistake of my life moving away from Rochester and everything—and everyone—I knew.
I peeked out the front window to see who was there. A delivery truck idled in my driveway. Hopefully it wasn’t baked goods from my mother; that was possibly the only good thing about moving down here—avoiding her cooking.
“Hi, there,” I said, opening the door.
“Good morning. Are you Ginny McDonald?
I nodded.
“I’ve got a delivery for you. Sign here, please.” The deliveryman handed me a clipboard and I scrawled my signature before taking the cardboard box from him that, sadly, was just the right size for a few fruitcakes and a bunch of unpalatable cookies. I crossed my fingers, hoping for cute shoes instead. “Thanks!”
My neighbor next door saw me and waved. She stopped watering her flowers and wandered over to my porch. “Beautiful day, huh? Aren’t you two going to decorate for Christmas?” I noticed she was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a glowing Christmas light on front and the caption ‘Christmas Turns Me On.’
She saw me inspecting her shirt and looked down at it. “You like it? It glows in the dark. The gentlemen down at the senior center think it’s a hoot.”
“It’s great.” I’d only talked with Edna twice, but in those short visits she’d informed me she was a widow from Michigan who’d moved down to Florida after her husband died, thrilled to make their winter home her permanent residence. Oh, and she didn’t have children, but she did have two little Shih Tzus who yapped at the mourning doves that roosted in our backyard and we were to pay them no mind, unless they got into our garbage, in which case we were allowed to squirt them with the hose.
Holding my box, I forced a smile. “It just seems weird to decorate when there’s no snow.”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “Nonsense. I put out more decorations down here because there’s no snow. My husband and I never got up all our lights since it was always too darn cold outside. This is just lovely.” She smiled up at the sun, and then looked at me. “So, you haven’t found a job yet?”
Great. She was one of those kinds of neighbors. “Um, no. You know how bad the economy is.” I’d applied to four bakeries in town, but no one was hiring. I’d even looked for a seasonal position at the local Save Land, but they’d finished all their Christmas hiring already. So, I kept myself busy unpacking and setting up our new house. I’d moved around the pictures in the family room four times. Ryan hadn’t noticed when I showed him. “Just decorate however you want, Gin. I’ll leave that up to you. You do a real good job with that.”
Edna planted her hands on her hips. “Well, you must be glad you aren’t up in Rochester. Heard on TV a big storm’s headed that way.” She made a disapproving face, like the residents had voted on having a holiday blizzard.
“Really? I better check that out.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Must’ve been tough moving away from your family. I would’ve missed my Mama too much. Good for you, you brave thing.”
I plastered on a great big smile. “Yep. That’s me. Brave Ginny. Well, have a Merry Christmas if I don’t see you.”
“Oh, I’ll see you. I’m stopping by tomorrow with a fruitcake for you.” She nodded after delivering that bit of good news.
I gulped. “Awesome.”
She started back toward her house, then turned around. “I didn’t notice a ring on your finger. Aren’t you two engaged?”
Out came another fake smile. “Not yet. We’ve been together less than a year.”
Her eyes widened. “And you moved all the way down here with him?”
I hugged the box against me. “Love will do that to you, right?”
“I suppose it does. Well, I’ll see you kids later.” With a wave, she returned to her house.
I stood on the porch, staring at my package. I’d spent three minutes with the woman and she’d picked up on one of the things niggling at my heart. Ryan and I had talked about getting married, but he’d told me, “I’m not ready yet.”
That was reasonable, I’d thought. We hadn’t been together that long, but my friend Harper had warned me not to move down here without a ring. “I’ve read some statistics about the percentage of women who get married after living with a guy, and the numbers aren’t pretty.”
“We’ve only been dating ten months!” I’d argued. “Maybe I’m not ready.”
“I’m just sharing the research,” Harper had said.
I reminded myself that studies weren’t always right and went inside, setting the box on the kitchen table. I ran a knife through the tape on each side. The scent of pine hit me, and for a moment I worried Mom had come up with some new crazy cookie recipe. Then I pulled out the tissue paper wrapped around a gorgeous holiday arrangement. Boughs of pine formed a cute little basket, and it was filled with pinecones, cinnamon sticks, clementines, and berries. I opened the card nestled inside.
“Dear Ginny,
Hope Florida is treating you well. Your moving down South to chase love got me to pluck up my courage and take a few chances of my own. I’ll tell you all about it next time I see you. Just wanted to send along one of the new arrangements I’m making at the florist shop to say thanks. These have been a big hit. Chelsea and I will be missing you at your mom’s party. Love and kisses, Marnie.”
I set the basket on the kitchen table and admired Marnie’s work. It was great she was finally getting over her divorce. I’d somehow inspired her? That was shocking. Good thing she didn’t know how uncertain I was feeling now. Then, remembering Edna’s news about the storm, I hustled over to the TV and turned on the Weather Channel.
“The snow is flying in Rochester, New York, and folks here can expect a foot or more of the white stuff in the next twenty-four hours. A winter storm watch is in effect until Christmas Eve.” The forecaster sounded way too chirpy to be delivering news of a holiday storm. Her snowflake earrings swung like pendulums as she turned to the camera with a grin. “Looks like they won’t have to dream of a white Christmas—they’ll have one, guaranteed.”
I flicked off the TV and went out into the backyard. Truthfully, I was jealous. I loved hunkering down and waiting for a storm to cover the ground in a fresh coat of white while I nestled inside under a blanket with a mug of cocoa and a good book. Howling wind and driving snow only made me feel that much cozier. Even better was snuggling up with Ryan during a storm. It just wasn’t the same in an air-conditioned room on a balmy night. After so much complaining about shoveling and bundling up in the winter, I’d had no idea how much I would miss it.
I closed my eyes, trying to imagine I was back home, but a bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face, bringing me back to face the eighty-five-degree day. I padded across the lawn, the thick grass rough on my feet, and sat down under the shade of our big orange tree. No oranges yet, but the realtor had promised it always yielded a bumper crop. Maybe I could make marmalade. Fresh-squeezed orange juice would be nice, too, right?
Ryan wouldn’t be home from work for another five hours. Sure, it was two days until Christmas and most everyone else had the day off, but he was the newbie, so he got stuck working the holiday week. His job as a lineman for the electric company had brought us down here from Rochester. We’d moved the day after Thanksgiving. He’d made a bunch of new friends at work and was completely in love with the Sunshine State. I hated complaining, ruining his happiness with his new situation.