Page 54 of Home for Christmas in July

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

“What I said was the quote is from the beginning of the book, when Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his old business partner.” She pauses meaningfully. “A guy named Jacob Marley.”

“Huh, that’s funny. Our family attorney is Marley Jacobs.”

She nods. “I know. And her office is next door. That can’t be a coincidence.”

We race outside and across the alley to the Law Offices of Marley Jacobs. I scan the street for men in hats and sunglasses during the fifteen-second walk, but see no one.

As soon aswe step inside the legal offices, I realize we have no plan.

Noelle looks around the minimalist waiting room. “There’s no receptionist?”

I shake my head. “It’s a paperless office. And I guess greeter-less, too. We always signed in on that tablet.” I point out a tablet in a stand on a small white table. “But we always had an appointment.”

“Well, if we guessed the clue correctly, she’ll be expecting us—or me, at least.” She shrugs and types her name in the box on the screen. Then she turns and tosses me a cellophane-wrapped chocolate peppermint candy from the bowl on the stand. “These are Merry’s, right?”

“Yep.” I unwrap it and pop it in my mouth, realizing it’s the first thing I’ve eaten since the frittata at breakfast. “Do you want to grab an early dinner after this?”

She glances at the clock on the wall. “Sure.”

We haven’t even settled on the couch yet when the door to Marley’s office opens, and she appears in the doorway. “Noelle?”

“Yes.”

I’m about to insert myself into the conversation and explain our unusual request, but Marley turns her attention from Noelle to me and says, “Oh good, you came, too. You saved me a phone call. Come on back.”

Noelle and I exchange a baffled look.

“Both of us?” she asks.

“Both of you,” Marley tells her, holding the door open wide.

I follow Noelle through the open door, and Marley ushers us into her small conference room and tells us to make ourselves comfortable. We take seats at the same glass conference table where Carol and I signed our wills. I bounce my knee, uneasy and off-kilter.

A moment letter, Marley returns. She’s holding a large rectangular box. Two thick envelopes rests on the lid. She deposits the box on the table directly in front of Noelle. Then she takes one of the two envelopes from the top and hands it to me. My name is printed on the front of it.

“Take as long as you need. I’d say if you have any questions, let me know. But the truth is, I don’t know anything. I was asked to hold these items by a client.”

“Can you tell us who the client is?” I ask, knowing it’s a long shot.

“I suspect you’ll be able to figure it out.” Without further explanation, she steps out into the hall and pulls the door shut behind her.

After a long moment, Noelle clears her throat. “So, how should we do this? Open the envelopes at the same time? Take turns?”

“This is your scavenger hunt. You go first. Want to read them aloud?”

“Okay.”

She rips the corner of the envelope’s flap, slides her fingernail underneath, and tears it open. She removes a sheet of stationery. Unlike the clues, the letter is handwritten, not typed. She reads a few lines, then refolds it, and raises her eyes to meet mine.

“It’s from Carol.”

I’m speechless. I stare at the envelope in my hands. I’m holding a letter from my dead wife. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. I don’t know how Idofeel.

After a beat, Noelle continues, “I don’t think we should read these to each other. I’m sure yours will be very private.”

I nod wordlessly and keep staring.

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