Page 18 of Ten Christmases Without You
The saleswoman rang her up. “That’ll be twenty-nine sixteen.”
Emmy brightened. “Really? I thought it was forty-five dollars.”
“No, it was originally forty-five. It’s forty percent off.”
“Oh, wow. That’s great.”
Emmy finished up her purchase and left The Garnet & Petticoat. A cheerful electricity crackled in the air, and she couldn’t help but feel optimistic about the upcoming holiday.
CHAPTER EIGHT
This was shaping up to be the perfect Christmas. Emmy found a mini magic fortune-telling ball that would be entertaining for the White Elephant gift. The ball’s answers caught her attention with things like “Not on your life” and “If you’re lucky.” When she saw it in the toy store, she imagined the family sitting around it, asking it questions and snickering at the unconventional responses. She’d wrapped it up in cheerful gold-and-red paper with a trailing bow on the top.
The next day, more good luck: Emmy’s flight arrived in Nashville a few minutes early, under a bright blue sky. Her bag was the first to show up on the conveyor belt at the baggage claim, which was unheard of. As if she’d been doused in Christmas cheer, she’d scraped up enough money to rent a small vehicle rather than getting a cab since she’d be there for a few days. They’d run out of compact cars at the car rental hub, so they upgraded her rental. She drove to her childhood home in a roomy SUV hybrid.
On the drive, she rehearsed conversation starters to use with Charlie when he arrived. If he, or anyone else for that matter, asked her about her job, she decided that she wouldn’t lie about it, but she might try to scoot around the topic if she could.Then, after the holiday, she’d focus on her job situation. She’d put herself in Vivienne’s calendar for after the holiday, to sit down with her and get clarity on whether she had a future at The Moreau Agency. But she didn’t plan to talk about work at Christmas anyway.
Just in time for Emmy’s trip, her old high school friend Adrienne had reached out to get her address: She was engaged to a banker she’d met on a blind date and wanted to send out a wedding invitation. That would give her and Charlie common ground until they opened presents, since they both knew Adrienne. Then, her magic ball would be the hit of the night, and she and Charlie could come up with funny questions to ask it. She’d thought through enough to get them going. Filling in the empty time would be easy with Charlie.
After a big hugfrom her dad and her sister, Emmy was gathered in the kitchen with everyone, sipping a mug of cinnamon tea while Aunt Elsie complimented her on her new shirt.
“Do you usually wear your hair like that?” Elsie asked happily, squinting at her.
Emmy ran her fingers through the curls. “No, it’s just something I started doing recently.”
“It suits you.”
“Your hair always looks pretty,” Madison said, as she pinched a brownie bite with crushed peppermint garnish and popped it into her mouth.
“Those are for dessert,” Aunt Charlotte scolded. “We’re having our big dinner in the dining room first this year, remember?” She shooed her away. “Have a Christmas Sparkler.”Charlotte nodded toward the champagne concoction. “I found the recipe online.”
“I’m just eating backwards like we did when we were kids,” Madison said.
Emmy chimed in as she and her sister said, “Dessert first.”
Fondness for her sister bubbled up.
As Elsie settled into a nearby conversation about pie crust techniques with Charlotte, Emmy finished her tea and set the mug in the sink.
“How’s it going in the big city?” Uncle Stephen asked from behind her.
She turned to face him. “It’s going…”
“Any interesting clients on the horizon?”
He was only making conversation, but she’d already decided her job wasn’t going to be the topic of conversation. “I was thinking about finding some new clients,” she said. “Maybe go out on my own.”What?Why had she saidthat? Sure it had crossed her mind, but she’d never intended to act on it. She was trying to make this a better holiday, yet there she was, lying about her job like she said she wouldn’t do. She’d just blurted the words, without thinking. What had been her motivation?
She busied herself with nibbling a ham biscuit.
A wave of fear brought with it the realization that she didn’t think she was really happy in her job. Not just the position, but thejob. With all the commotion, she was probably just overly thoughtful or something. Surely, she’d be fine.
“Have you ever started a business?” Uncle Stephen asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. “It takes a lot of work. And money.”
“Yeah, it was just a thought,” she said.
Her dad, who’d evidently caught wind of the conversation, put his arm around her. “Dreams are good to have,” he said with an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Maybe start looking intoit while you’re doing your job now. It’s a lot easier to plan when you have full health and dental.” He snagged a fistful of pretzels, then took the remote control from the counter and flicked on the small kitchen TV. “I recorded the big game on DVR so we could all watch together.”
“Who’s playing?” Jack asked.
