Page 9 of Christian Clause

Chapter Four

Hope

A smile crosses my face as my eyes flutter open the following morning. I can’t remember the last time I had such a refreshing sleep.

Hearing sleet fall on the roof makes my smile widen. I stretch gracefully, yawn, and shiver from the cold. Sighing, I tuck the thick bed covers securely around me to ward off the iciness. It hadn’t been so cold the previous night, so I have on only a pair of thin pajamas. I forgot I was no longer in the small and cozy apartment in Atlanta.

Last night, I was too tired to look around the room. Nothing has changed much. My room has always been done in shades of baby pink and blue. I’m glad to see that Debra left it the same. Only the pink carpet was changed to cream. I don’t mind at all; I’m just blessed to have a place to lie my head.

The four-poster bed Mom bought in a yard sale, the antique table and chair, a small closet, and pictures on the wall are still the same, though. I remember choosing this room out of the other three rooms in the house because I wanted to always see what was going on in the street. Debra loves quietness, so she chose the room overlooking the yard that has been turned to a nursery, while my parents’ room is down the hallway.

I’m still musing about my childhood when I hear a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I call, eager to see my sister.

The door opens to reveal a smiling Debra, who peeks her head around the corner.

Before I can say anything, she sprints across the floor and jumps on my bed. She dives under the sheets and gathers me in a loving embrace. We both laugh in memory of how I used to jump on her bed when I was younger.

Debra used to enjoy sleeping in, but I never allowed her. And as a rule, Mom never allowed us to lock our doors with keys, so I always took delight in going to Debra’s room and waking her up for a long talk.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re finally home.” Her voice holds so much joy; all I can do is smile brightly. “I have missed you terribly. Having you living so far away is so not cool.”

I laugh. “I’ve missed you, too, Deb. I’m home now.”

Placing a kiss on my forehead and she says, “Well, I hope it’s for good this time around. I know you love Atlanta ever since you schooled there and don’t like the cold weather here, but I missed you dearly.”

I understand the way Debra feels. We have always been close growing up with four years’ difference between us in our ages. All that changed when I moved away. Debra went to Colorado State University so she would be close to home. We keep in touch, but it isn’t the same as seeing each other and spending hours talking until Mom came to look for us.

“I know, Deb. I miss our time together, too,” I admit with a grin as we snuggle closer.

“I just pray Ray can get you a job in his workplace,” Debra says in a voice filled with hope. “I won’t miss you so much anymore.”

I have mixed feelings about settling down in Cedar Crest. But at the moment, I’m grateful to be home with loved ones. I know little about Ray’s job, except he’s an engineer at Clause Enterprises.

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” I finally say as I don’t know what the job entails, not that I should be choosy at this point in time of my life.

“Me, too,” Debra concurs. “Anyway, we can look at other places, you know. Maybe you can join me in my interior decoration business.”

I chuckle. “Maybe.” Changing topics, I ask, “Where’s everyone?”

“Aria is still sleeping. Ray is at work. So, it’s just the two of us for breakfast.”

“I like the sound of that,” I remark and we laugh.

We continue catching up on childhood memories until we hear Aria call for her mother.

“And her royal highness is awake.”

We burst into laughter and Debra rises from the bed.

Watching her with fond eyes as she crosses to the door, I say, “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Alright, take your time.”

Humming, I push aside the bedcover and rise from the bed. I catch my shoulder-length hair into a low ponytail before doing my morning stretches. After moving my body, I take several yoga positions.

Satisfied with my little exercise, I pad across the carpeted floor to the window to draw back the flowery silk curtains and stare out of it with a fond smile. Snow pings against the window and the faint sound of wind graces my ears.

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