Page 119 of The Twelve Months of Christmas
“I sure admire how hard you’re trying,” Arianna said.
“What else can I do?” Sunny said. “Anyway, what’s the point of celebrating Christmas if I’m not going to honor the spirit of it. I mean, isn’t the whole message of it to love each other?”
“As God loved us,” said Molly. “Doesn’t do us much good to party if there’s no love.”
“I just don’t think I could do it,” Arianna said.
“You do whatever you have to when you have to,” Molly said. “I bet this will pay off eventually,” she said to Sunny.
Eventually. How long did eventually take?
Maybe not as long as she feared. Travis came home to report that he and Bella had had a good time. She’d called him Daddy, something she hadn’t done in a long time, and gave him a kiss when he dropped her off.
“She loved the corsage, by the way,” he added. “I didn’t think girls liked stuff like that anymore.”
“I think when they’re young and want to feel grown-up and special, they do.”
“And how about big girls? Do they like stuff like that?”
“Sometimes,” she said.
Which was the right answer, because the next morning she had a delivery from Flowers D’Amour—a beautiful arrangement of yellow roses, white lilies, peach-colored carnations and yellow snapdragons. The card saidyou never cease to amaze me, and was signedlove, Travis.
“Oh, babe,” she murmured as she carried it to the kitchen counter. “I hope you never stop feeling that way.”
One thing she knew for sure. She’d amaze herself if she ever reached a point where she and Bella could finally call a truce.
At least Bella wasn’t glaring at her when family and friends assembled at her house for their Christmas-in-August party. The twenty-fifth fell on a Saturday, which made it easy to plan to party all afternoon and into the evening. They were going to string Christmas lights on every tree and shrub in the backyard and by the time night fell, it would look gorgeous. She’d hidden Starbucks gift cards for small amounts around the yard as well as a twenty-dollar gift card for both Liberty Bay Books and Ballast Book Company, two popular local independent bookstores. Molly had contributed money for a grand prize—a fifty-dollar Visa gift card. Sunny had bought candy canes online, and for the kids there would be a competition to see who could find the most. The winner would get a free pizza from Seabeck Pizza. Oh, yes, this was going to be a fun day. Plus, she’d come up with a fabulous ice-cream dessert involving chocolate chip mint ice cream and hot fudge spread over a chocolate cookie crust and topped with whipped cream. It would never appear on Arianna’s health-wise website, but everyone would enjoy it all the same.
The day was complete when Jeanette and Harry joined them. “Well, why wouldn’t we?” Jeanette responded when Sunny enthusiastically thanked her for coming. “It is a standing invitation, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” said Sunny.
“This is such a cute idea,” she added as Sunny gave her the rundown for the day’s activities.
Would wonders never cease?
“I’m glad our grandchildren have such a good example of how to live right in their lives,” Jeanette said as Sunny settled her on the balcony with an iced coffee.
Sunny wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“She’s the same as she’s always been, Mom,” Travis pointed out as he sat down next to her. “About time you realized it.”
“I’ve always known,” Jeanette huffed. “Isn’t it time for you to go pick up my grandchildren?”
“I’m on my way,” he said, taking the hint.
“The less time they spend with their mother and that...man, the better,” Jeanette muttered as he left.
“That man?” Sunny prompted.
“That loser boyfriend of hers. He still hasn’t found a job.”
Neither had Tansy, who’d been talking about getting one for the last two years. A fact that hadn’t bothered Jeanette.
“And now she’s moved him in with her. A terrible example to set for the children.”
Ah, there it was. Tansy had finally done something of which her former mother-in-law disapproved. Would wonders never cease?
