Epilogue
Somewhere near theend of January, Ainsley received a package in the mail at her dorm at the college in Boston. It was from Lucerne. She shook it a bit to see if it rattled. Lucerne hadn’t told her she was sending anything. What could it be? Christmas was over, all the gifts had been exchanged, and life was resuming its normal post-holiday blues before New Year’s resolutions really kicked in.
It had been good to see Thomas again, but something had changed. He seemed more intense, more possessive of her, more of all the things she’d seen hints of that she didn’t like. And the biggest change of all was that he wanted to take their relationship a step forward. When she’d told him she wasn’t ready for marriage and he’d told her that wasn’t what he meant, Ainsley knew she wasn’t ready forthateither.
Sighing, she looked around for a pair of scissors to cut the tape on the box. Finally, she got it open and took out the Styrofoam box inside the cardboard box. Carefully she set it on her dresser. Checking the box to see if there was anything else inside it, she found a card that had her name on it. She opened it to read the inside.
Hiya, Ainsley,
Dal isn’t back to work yet, but Corey found this on his shelf in the barn and brought it to me. He said it was supposed to be for you, and that Dal must have forgotten to give it to you. He begged me to mail it to you and since your name was on the note taped on the bottom of the pedestal, I did as he asked. I hope you don’t mind.
Enjoy your spring semester.
Love, Lucerne
With trembling fingers Ainsley lifted the Styrofoam lid and saw the glass globe inside. Carefully she lifted it out and set it down. It was beautiful, and for a moment, she was back at Neamh and in the barn experiencing Dal’s mistletoe kiss. Tears stung her eyes.
Wiping the tears away, she inspected the globe and the tiny miniature of Neamh inside. It was remarkably detailed. Corey said Dal had it custom made. Why would he go to so much trouble?
Tentatively she turned the globe upside down and saw the note taped to the bottom with her name on it. She took it off and flipped it over.Something to remind ye of home. Merry Christmas. Dal
Forcing herself to squeeze back the tears, she shook the globe and watched the snowflakes swirl around her home like her thoughts swirled in her head, and then finally settle back down.
By this time next year, Dal would have moved on. He’d said goodbye and she had no doubt he meant it. She contemplated mailing the globe back to him, but then decided against it. She would take it back with her and add it to her collection of globes the next time she went home. It was beautiful and they were supposed to be friends, right? A gift from a friend shouldn’t be given back, it might offend them.
On an impulse, she reached over and grabbed her wallet out of her bag. Tucked carefully into a side pocket was the sprig of mistletoe. Taking it out, she laid it on the dresser and set the pedestal feet over it to hide it from view. There. The kiss was hidden, as it should be.
Realizing there was a turn knob on the pedestal, Ainsley cranked it up and let it play. The soft sounds ofI’ll Be Home for Christmasdrifted over her ears, taking her back to the barn again.
Impatient with herself, she suddenly picked up the globe and the mistletoe and put it back in the Styrofoam box, then set the box on the top shelf in her closet. Dal had also spanked her in that barn and she hadn’t forgiven him for that.
Standing back, she closed the closet door and dusted her hands together. Out of sight, out of mind.
That’s the way it had to be.
***
