Page 26 of Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall
And the lights. So many lights. Marc looked at the ropes of lights on display and wondered which ones would be right and if there was a method of putting them onto the tree.
‘Can we get an ornament each?’ asked Seth. ‘And then we can use it next year and the year after and forever and it will be our own ornament – just ours.’
Marc was deciding between cool white twinkle lights or multicoloured globes and wishing he knew which option was the best. He put both into the basket and figured Paul would be able to help him choose.
‘Yes, get what you like,’ he said.
‘You have to choose one for you and Adam and Paul and Christa too,’ said Ethan. ‘So we all have one.’
Marc wanted to roll his eyes but looked at the huge array of ornaments.
He chose a navy and silver painted glass bauble for Adam and a red and gold one for Paul.
What would he get for Christa?
There were cooking ones, which were cute, but she was more than that and he wanted her to see that he knew. Choosing the right ornament mattered to him, and he looked through the options.
There were silly ones with Santa Claus and champagne bottles and traditional partridges and even glass squirrels.
Then he saw one that made him smile. A family of deer. A stag, a doe, and a little fawn standing in front of a pine tree. It was mercury glass and hand-painted in shades of gold and green. He didn’t know why he liked it but he did and he thought it would make her smile. Holding it, he felt the cool glass, heavy in his hand. It reminded him of Christa, maybe because the doe had blue eyes and long lashes, like Christa’s.
‘Is that for you?’ asked Seth, peering at the ornament.
‘No, it’s for Christa.’
‘Does she like deers?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘I hope so.’
‘Don’t forget to get one for you,’ reminded Ethan.
He looked again and saw a Christmas pudding with a sprig of holly on top. It reminded him of her pyjamas and he smiled as he picked it up. Perfect, he thought.
After he had paid and corralled the boys he guided them from the store, telling them they didn’t need a life-sized blow-up Santa for the living room.
Finally the tree was tied to the roof of his four wheel drive and the decorations in the boot of the car when he heard the boys yell.
‘Christa, Christa.’
He saw Christa across the road in a pink coat and white woollen hat with a pom-pom on top. She looked like cupcake and he smiled at her, feeling shy but not sure why.
Christa was carrying many shopping bags filled with all sort of goodies poking out of them.
‘Hello there,’ she said and she looked at the tree on top of the car. ‘A tree – how wonderful! You can have a fun time decorating that. We can make sugar cookies to hang on the branches if you have some ribbon.’
The boys jumped with excitement. ‘Can we get some ribbon?’ they asked.
He laughed. ‘Sure thing. Do you want to put your things in the car? I can drive you back.’
Christa shook her head. ‘I drove here but thank you.’
She really did have the prettiest smile and he liked that she ignored that he had been rude about the decorations the night before. His ex-wife would have gloated at him changing his mind.
‘Why don’t you put them in the car, come and help us choose some ribbon and then you can head back without breaking your shoulder with all of your shopping?’
‘I have to cook lunch,’ she said.
‘We can eat here in town. Why not? Make a day of it?’
