Page 121 of Season of Gifts

Those two had seemed as cozy and gossipy as sisters during the tree-trimming yesterday.Which felt like it had to have been a week ago, with everything that had happened afterward.But other than that, what did she know about the woman?“Henry said she knitted his baby blanket.The one in the library?”

Mother gasped.

Alice tensed, every muscle in go mode.Her phone was in her pocket for emergencies.If her putting her foot in her damn mouth sent Henry’s mother to the hospital, they would have a whole lot more mending to do.

“Oh, she did, the wonderful sneak!”Mother clasped Alice’s hand, bouncing their hold gently on Alice’s knee.“I was paranoid, superstitious; I couldn’t bear to put together the nursery.”

What had Mother said last night?She’d been a woman with a six-year-old son and two other wrenching pregnancies behind her.Carrying Henry would have been terrifying.“That must have been incredibly hard—wanting him so much and being afraid to hope.”

Mother nodded slowly, her hand fierce around Alice’s.“I hope you never have cause to know the feeling, darling girl.”

They breathed in silence, deep and steady.Seconds ticked by, the house around them still.Alice swallowed the rising tide of questions, the fears and expectations, the unknown future for Mother, for herself, for Henry and Jay.Life wasn’t always linear.Sometimes she couldn’t know what would be until she got there.

Sitting up straight, Mother disentangled their hands and brushed hers down her black slacks.“Lina was my salvation.When we brought Henry home, she was waiting with the blanket she’d made him and a nursery ready to receive him.”

Lina had the hallmarks of an excellent planner.And an even better friend.That had possibilities.“You’ve known each other a long time.”

“Oh yes.”Mother pushed to her feet, and Alice handed her a corner of the quilt.“When I was pregnant with Henry’s brother, Robert’s grandmother declared it time to look for a nanny.”As they pulled the quilt up the bed, Mother’s side-eye spoke whole encyclopedias.“She preferred matronly women with decades of experience.I resisted for weeks.And finally Lina arrived for an interview.She was so green—the position would be her first out of high school, though she provided extensive babysitting references.Robert’s grandmother was aghast.”

“Is that why you picked her?”Interfering relatives could all pull a massive fuck-you from the grab bag ofI don’t give a shit about your opinions.Starting with Jay’s oldest sister.

“I can’t say I wasn’t tempted, but no, I did have other reasons.”With the quilt smoothly tucked around the pillows, Mother waved Alice toward the door.“We’ll do the boys’ beds next.”

“And then a break?”She offered Mother her arm, and the older woman took it, leaning more heavily than just politeness would demand.“Something restful?”

“Yes, and then a break.Thank you for making it sound like a question, darling.”Mother headed for the linen closet with small, careful steps.

“I learned that from Henry.”He could coax agreement and emotional revelations out of a stone.When he wasn’t busy being a stone about his own headspace.“The first time is a question.Or an invitation.”

“The sideways approach.He’s always been a clever boy.Subtle, intuitive.”Mother hummed as she pointed out the sheets for the twin beds.“That’s partly how I knew he’d been so rattled by my heart trouble.He stopped asking questions and began making changes without including me.”

“Like the tea.”Pouring water yesterday at breakfast hadn’t seemed like something that would spark sniping.

“Mm-hmm.He was exceedingly displeased when the cardiac care team approved a small amount of daily caffeine.I’m fairly certain he believed they were trying to hasten my death.”A squint flashed across her face, her eyes like pale jade beads.Shaking her head, she turned to the next bedroom as Alice shut the closet behind them.“But he comes by it honestly.His father did the same, out of pain and fear.Though that was the time, too.”

Mother pushed open the door, and sunlight gleamed around the navy-blue curtains across from them.Alice hustled over and pushed them back, turning the room bright and cozy.“The time?”

Sitting on the bed nearer the door, Mother folded her arms across her chest.“Do you know, the doctors spoke to my husband more than they spoke to me?I was the patient, but I had very little say in my own care.”

“What the f—” Mother-in-law.She was speaking to her mother-in-law, for fuck’s sake.“I mean, that would be so frustrating.”Alice skimmed the quilt from the other bed and attacked the sheets.Blue, like the curtains.Henry would have to back off on the medical directives—and he’d need support and encouragement to get through the fear.Going to the market with Jay was a good start.“People looking past you, talking over you like you aren’t capable.”

“Devilishly so.”Rising, Mother ceded the second bed to Alice and perched on the completed first.She did seem more tired after helping.Or all the walking.“That’s why I hired her.”

Alice leapfrogged backward until she landed on the thought.“Lina?”

“I didn’t know then that it was agency I was seeking.But she addressed me in the interview.Not Robert’s grandmother—me.” Mother thumped a finger against her collarbone, flashing the deep rose nails Lina had done for her yesterday.“She didn’t care about the pecking order, she was nearer my age, and I hungered for a friend.A hundred years and more of Robert’s family history weighed down every room in this house.His mother and grandmother parroted outdated advice at me whenever I did the slightest thing they felt unbecoming of the Webb name.”A heavy sigh flowed out of her, and she closed her eyes.Her smile tiptoed into place.“Lina immediately made herself a buffer.I’ve been attempting to repay her for forty-five years.”

“And she’s retired now?”Alice could have rushed through making the last bed, but giving Henry’s mom more time to sit before they had to walk again wouldn’t be such a bad thing.And she could ask more questions.“But still in good health, right?”

“Retired from managing the house here, yes.”Mother watched her, assessing like Henry, but her eyelids drifted shut more than once.“She receives copious amounts of exercise chasing after her grandchildren.That will keep anyone young.”Covering her mouth, she yawned silently.“Excuse me.I’m afraid I have reached the midmorning doldrums.What was I… Oh, Lina, yes.Her daughter appreciates her help immensely, and the girls love their oma.I’m certain I have pictures on my phone.”

“You can show me after you’ve taken a rest, okay?”The grandkids might be a dealbreaker to getting Lina back by Mother’s side full time, but the idea was worth suggesting to Henry.Mother would be comfortable with her friend keeping tabs on her.But letting Mother think it was her idea would be even better, and Henry was the master of that skill when he wasn’t having a panic attack.“Let’s get you comfortable in your room, and if you want to nap, you can, and if not, we can do something else.”

Alice pulled the quilt into place, the second bed the exact twin of the first, and nodded her satisfaction.Mother had pointed out the towel sets in the linen closet; she could add those to the guest baths later.

The walk to the primary bedroom took minutes, not seconds.But Mother didn’t want to lie on the bed, so the chair by the window it was.A few good shoves lined up a footrest to keep the blood circulating properly in her legs after all the standing and sitting.Alice draped the quilt from the bed over her—yards of fabric spilling out on either side—and crouched next to the seat.

“How about I bring you some water and strip the bed while you relax.Do you have winter sheets you want?Maybe a flannel set?”When they were little, she and Ollie had squealed with glee as the flannel sheets emerged for the season; flannel meant winter break and snow days weren’t far away.Henry didn’t seem to own a heavy winter collection for their bed—but they had Jay, and he was better than even an electric blanket.

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