Page 25 of No Time for Traditions

“Hey, there’s Greg.” Scott pointed above her head on the photo.

“Yeah, it is.” Brittany put the photo back in the album as if she didn’t care. But she did. And maybe a little too much.

Back then, she’d hated the boy who threw rocks. Now, he was the man who cheered her up, and the one she subconsciously wrote as a love interest. Crazy as it sounded, she cared about him, and maybe evenforhim.

They looked at photos for another half-hour while Sarah and Amber finished the cake. Scott found plenty of their school days, and Brittany was surprised to see how many photos they had of Greg. She wondered why she’d never noticed him in all of them until today. He’d played football with Scott as a freshman, and they were in the same class several times.

“Who wants to help ice the cake in a minute?” Sarah came into the living room, disrupting Brittany’s thoughts of Greg.

“I can.” Brittany stood and dropped the photo album she was holding onto the coffee table. She needed a distraction from all the Greg memories—good and bad alike.

She followed Sarah into the kitchen and watched as Scotty licked his lips in anticipation of eating the actual cake and not just the batter. Sarah handed everyone a knife and showed Scotty how to ice the sides. The whole time, she explained why they made red velvet cake. It was a symbol of Jesus’s sacrifice, in honor of his birthday.

Scotty globbed on big chunks of the homemade goo, leaving large mounds of icing for the rest of them to have to spread out.

A few minutes later, the cake was ready. Amber called the men into the kitchen so that they could sing “Happy Birthday,” as was their tradition. Scotty sang excitedly, eyeing the cake during the entire chorus. Of course, Sarah let him have the first piece.

Brittany took her cake into the living room and sat back on the couch. She noticed an album of Christmas photos open on the coffee table. As she started flipping through the photos, Sarah came in with her own piece of cake.

“I love old photos.” She sat beside Brittany.

Brittany nodded in agreement and continued looking at the photos as she ate her cake. In the very back of the album was a photo taken last Christmas at Grandpa Barnes’s house. She held it up, and memories of that day flooded her mind.

“That was a great Christmas.” Sarah smiled before popping a bite of cake in her mouth.

“Yeah, too bad it won’t ever be like that again.” Brittany tossed the album on the table and sat back on the couch.

“Sweetie, just because it’s different doesn’t mean it won’t be good.”

Brittany closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “I don’t like change.”

“I know, sweetie. But sometimes, change is good.” Sarah put her hand on Brittany’s and gave it a light squeeze.

Her mom meant the squeeze as a comfort. Normally, it worked. When she was small and scared to sleep alone or moving to a new place—college or New York. Especially New York. This time, however, it did nothing but amplify the stress of everything Brittany loved about Christmas coming undone.

“Mama?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

Brittany opened her eyes and swallowed. “Would it be possible to have Christmas in Grandpa Barnes’s house just one more year?”

* * *

Armedwith a huge mug of hot chocolate, Brittany stepped out of Old Blue and into Grandpa Barnes’s front yard. She hadn’t been here since the day they buried him. A whirlwind of emotions shot through her veins as she walked up the wooden steps to the front porch.

Brittany loved everything about this house. From the metal roof and narrow windows to the front and back porch, both of which stretched the length of the house. Some of the white wood planks had started chipping, showing the age of the place. And the top porch step wobbled a little when she stepped off it.

She wiped a tear from her eye. The house needed some tender loving care just to remain standing. For the first time, Brittany viewed the place not as where her grandparents lived, but simply as a house. Still, she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on trying to make her family fall in love with it again.

Last night, when she’d asked Sarah for one more Christmas in the house, she’d had more in mind than making a memory. Brittany believed getting everyone together again under Grandpa Barnes’s roof might convince some of them that this house needed to stay in the family. Maybe they could rent it out instead of selling it. Or, better yet, maybe some of her family members would decide to move in.

It was up to her to show them what they’d be missing without it.

Using Marty’s key, she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Tears burned her eyes when she saw dust covering the wood floors and bedsheets draped over the furniture. It all looked so . . .

Dead.

She wiped her tears and set her hot chocolate on an old end table near the door. The floors would need a good dust mopping before she could decorate. But first, she needed to turn on the lights and heat. Although the house was half a century old, Grandpa Barnes had central heating and cooling installed when it was built. Something he’d bragged was a big deal back then. Brittany was thankful for it today, and even more thankful that her dad hadn’t canceled the power service.

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