“Where’s Brian? I thought last night was his late night to work,” I said when Jacy showed up at the lighting contest alone.
Under a red-and-white knitted hat, her blue eyes sparkled. “Someone called in and he jumped at the chance for the extra overtime before we close on the new house, so I figured I’d come waddle around and look at the lights by myself. Who do you think will win?”
“You realize they can probably see this town from space.” Bundled up in her long wool coat over a pair of the jeans she’d had to break down and buy from the bait shop, Patrea half smiled to take the sting from the statement.
“And all it took,” I said, “was a fifty-dollar-value gift from every business in town to make it happen.”
“Hey, we were happy to donate our share.” Neena wore no hat, only a scarf pulled up around her neck, and a band to cover her ears. A riot of curly hair framed her face. “The publicity you generated would have cost us ten times that at least. The shop’s been hoppin’ all week.”
“I can’t take too much credit for this one. This contest has been running since I was a kid. I only suggested taking the prize and advertising up a notch.”
Except that in Mooselick River, if Martha Tipton was involved, one notch was more like ten. Honestly, though, the town looked amazing in its holiday finery. Anything that stood still for more than five minutes ended up with a string of lights stuck on it. The town even coughed up the funds for two dozen sets of solar-powered lights for the welcome sign, the town monument, and anyplace else where outlets were too far away to run extension cords.
Pine swags, also lighted, adorned lamp posts and light poles, which had been wrapped in candy-cane-red-and-white bands. The high school marching band stood ready to launch into a spirited rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and the jolly elf himself—played by none other than my boss, Leo Hanson—was slated to arrive in a horse-drawn carriage within the next ten minutes.
As we slipped behind the crowd waiting for his arrival, Patrea and I shared a grin when we heard someone say, “This is better than a Hallmark movie.”
I worried she might be a little shaky still, but after a good night’s sleep and a couple of decent meals she seemed much stronger.
“This way!” Jacy grabbed my arm and pulled me between two buildings, through the narrow access that spilled into the parking lot behind her shop. “I cordoned off the steps so we’d have the perfect place to watch the spectacle from.” She hustled us through the shop and out the front door just in time to hear the band strike up the first notes.
Next year, she’d watch for Santa with a baby in her arms. I didn’t begrudge Jacy her burgeoning family—that’s not my style at all—but I did envy her a little. This latest business with Paul only solidified my decision never to get tangled up with another man. Ever.
When it came to men, I wasn’t comfortable trusting my own judgment. I’d laughed when my mother warned me about Paul, but she’d been right. To make it worse, I’d moved back home and spent several weeks treating David—the son of my father’s close friend—a fine and decent man, with enough disrespect that I was still ashamed of myself. Granted, he’d moved in with my parents and I thought he might be taking advantage of them, but that was no excuse for my behavior.
I’d have to settle for being the best aunt I could be to however many babies Jacy and Brian decided to have, because one of my own was off the table.
Santa arrived and, after waving and hamming it up for the crowd, took a seat to listen to the children’s Christmas wishes. Judging by the length of the line, he’d be at it until the lighting contest judges counted the votes and announced a winner.
“Who are you betting on for the win?” Jacy asked while we warmed up inside the shop for a few minutes before hitting the far end of town. “I’ve got ten bucks on Viola Montayne. Sorry Neena.”
Neena rolled her eyes. “Oh, she’ll win all right. She’s weighing heavily on the pity factor. Did you hear she hired some guy to recreate Hudson’s face in lights on her roof? It’s tacky, that’s what it is. My poor Hudson would be mortified if he knew.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he’s not hanging around and haunting the place.” Jacy nudged me in the ribs. I’d had to tell her about my spate of hauntings when she almost became the next victim of murder.
“Oh, I don’t believe in ghosts, even if my granny claimed she could see her dead husband right up until the day she died.”
“What about you, Everly?” To my utter shock, Patrea seemed genuinely curious. “Any ghosts roaming around your place?”
“Not at the moment.” I told the truth. “I’d like to keep it that way.”
I should learn to keep my big mouth shut.
Warm, and ready to buck the crowd, we headed back out the way we had come in. I didn’t notice the others had stopped to wait for Jacy to visit the restroom, so I kept going. Outside alone, I heard half of a phone conversation from somewhere close.
No. I was here on time, but she never showed.
Yeah, I checked her room, and I called her cell, but she’s not picking up.
If you hear from her, call me. It’s not like Amber to flake out on a story.
No, I haven’t sent the footage yet. Data’s iffy here, so I’ll have to use the satellite link…
The man’s voice faded as he left the area, and I turned back in time to see Patrea coming up behind me.
“They’re bickering over a display like an old married couple.”
“They do that a lot. It doesn’t mean anything.”
My point was made when, all smiles, Jacy locked the back door behind her, twined her arm around Neena’s, and stepped out into the frosty air.
“Let’s go gawk at Hudson’s face in lights,” she said. “No disrespect intended. Unless seeing him immortalized like that would be too painful, because if it is, we’d completely understand.”
“If I said yes,” Neena bumped Jacy with her hip, “you know you’d only go back later and look, and then I’d have to wonder forever what you saw.”
Neena had pegged it. Now that I knew what Viola Montayne had done, I really wanted to see, and I was sure Jacy felt the same. “Not if it bothers you, though. You’re more important to me than satisfying a burning curiosity.”
“No, it’s okay.” It was too dark to see if there were shadows in Neena’s eyes, but her tone sounded okay to me. “I need to see for myself. People are going to be talking about it for years to come. Besides, I don’t want to hide my Hudson away, seeing his photos on the wall brings comfort. Talking about him isn’t always easy, but not talking about him makes it seem as if I’m trying to forget him, and I’m not. My life was on track and headed in one direction until Hudson died, and now I’m over here in this new place and it’s going somewhere else. I can’t go back there because where I was is gone, and it doesn’t do to dwell in the past. I can only pick myself up and move forward from where I am now.”
Since Jacy was closest, she was the one to pull Neena in for a hug.
“That might be the most profound thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.” Patrea’s voice and tone were gentler than any I’d ever heard her use before. Sooner rather than later, I intended to pry her story out of her.
“Hudson was a good man. He loved you and he’d want you to be happy.” His ghost had assured me of that before he left, so I had it on good authority.
Neena’s eyes might be misty, but her smile said more. “He’d want me to climb up on his mother’s roof and take his face down off of there, is what he’d want.”
“Hey,” Jacy said, “I know a couple of his friends who would do it for you for a case of beer. Probably for a six-pack.”
“It’s a thought.”
As we chatted, we strolled past the diner and toward the first of the residential streets on that side of town. Viola and her husband lived three blocks over on Maple. Taking our time, we twined through Oak and Elm—the area known as the tree streets—looking at all the lights.
“I think this is my favorite so far.” Jacy stopped beside a picket fence outlined in pink and purple lights. More of the same colors mixed with off-white decorated a pair of evergreen shrubs flanking the walkway. “Look how they wrapped the tree trunks so tightly. It must have taken hours and a big ladder to go that high. Makes the trees look like torches. It’s lovely.”
She’d have stood there longer, but Neena dragged her away. “I like Santa’s workshop over here, and they’re handing out candy canes. Let’s get one.”
“You know that’s a blatant bid for votes, right?” I said.
All attendees were allowed one vote in the lighting contest. Anyone wishing to vote could visit Martha and her cronies at the booth set up near Santa’s chair and pick up a token—one per person. Voters were encouraged to look at all the entries and drop their token in the box in front of the home they liked the best. It was a simple system and not exactly foolproof, since there was no way to stop family members from voting for their own.
Based on the reactions of people coming back from the Montayne house, we knew we were in for an experience. Some grinned, some whispered with their companions, some just shook their heads. Then again, that was the effect Viola had on people most of the time anyway.
Still, as prepared as I thought I was, I stood open-mouthed when I got my first look.
