“Now”—Carol took the empty glass back—“what can I fix you for dinner?”
Maria’s brow furrowed. “Well, that’s a good question. I didn’t take anything out of the freezer, and I’m afraid my fridge is a little bare. I’d meant to get to the grocery store today. Although my freezer is well-stocked with beef and—” She was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “That must be Victor. Let him in and we’ll figure out dinner later. How do you feel about tuna?”
Carol laughed as she headed for the door. “It’s a standby at my house.” She opened the door to a gust of wind and a good-looking guy well-dusted with snow.
“Ho, ho, ho,” he said heartily. “Anyone need a Christmas tree here?”
“Come in, come in,” Carol said. “Before all the cold air comes with you.” Then she went outside to help him get the tree into the house. She was glad to see he’d already secured a stand to its trunk. But the bushy tree took a bit of finagling to get it all the way inside. When they finally closed the front door, Victor sat the tree upright, albeit a little cockeyed in the tree stand.
“It’s a handsome tree.” Carol inhaled deeply. “And it smells amazing.”
“They called it a concolor fir. Don’t think that’s its scientific name, but I guess it’s supposed to smell like oranges.”
“It does.” She nodded with enthusiasm. “Very citrusy.”
“Well, bring that tree in here,” Maria called from her recliner. “Let’s see it.”
Victor managed the tree on his own and set it in the center of the living room. “What do you think?”
“It’s crooked.” Now Maria beamed at him. “But absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much, Victor.”
“Do you want it right there like usual?” He pointed to the front window, where Carol had just closed the drapes.
“Yes, but we’ll have to move a few things.” Maria shifted in the chair, looking as if she was about to get up.
“You stay put,” Victor commanded. “Carol and I got this.”
Maria leaned back with pursed lips. “Fine. I’ll be a silent spectator then.”
“No need to be silent. You can be the director,” Carol said as she reached for one of the plants from the marble tabletop flanking the window. “Where should we relocate these plants?”
“Put them on that lowboy dresser in my bedroom,” Maria told her. “The light’s not quite as good, but they’ll be okay for a couple of weeks. But could you put a towel beneath them to protect the dresser top? It was Don’s mother’s.”
“Consider it done,” Carol told her.
“The linen closet is down that hall,” Maria called.
Before long, Carol had a heavy towel in place and was setting up the first two plants. Then Victor came in with a couple more. Carol moved a framed wedding photo to make more room, then paused to really study it. “Is this Maria and Don?” she asked incredulously.
“Looks like it to me.” He leaned closer to peer at it. “She was a real beauty with that long thick dark hair and dark eyes.” He looked from the photo to Carol, then blinked. “Man, you two could be twins.”
“There’s definitely a family resemblance.” She set the photo back down, eyes still fixed on the happy couple. “Judging by the clothes and hair, I’m guessing they were married in the 1970s.”
“Sounds like a good guess to me.” He nodded, still staring at Carol with a hard-to-read expression.
“I’ll help you move that table.” Feeling uncomfortable with his focused attention, she moved toward the door. “It might be small, but it looks heavy.”
Maria instructed them to put the table near the front door. “I always set the nativity on it for my guests to see as they enter the house.”
“Yeah, I remember being fascinated by that when I was little,” Victor said as they transported the table. “The pieces looked so real.”
With a few other moves and tweaks, they got the tree into place and, after a little more finessing, got it standing up straighter in the stand. “I’ll get some water for it,” Carol offered.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Victor said suddenly. “Mom sent over some dinner.”
Maria sounded surprised. “Dinner?”
“If you already ate, you can have it tomorrow. It’s just a lasagna that she took out of the freezer to make room for some Christmas cookies. I think she was trying to hide them from Dad. His sweet tooth is out of control.” He grinned. “But I have to admit I snuck a few too.”
