She held the swinging door open for him as they returned to the dining room. Maria beamed at both of them. “How lovely!”
The visit remained fun and friendly as they enjoyed dessert and espresso. When they were all finished, Carol insisted on cleaning up. “I might not be much of a cook, but I’m good on cleanup.”
“Okay,” Victor agreed. “I’ll escort Queen Maria back to her throne, then I can start bringing down some Christmas ornaments and things for the tree.”
As Carol took the tray of dishes to the kitchen, she heard Maria chatting merrily with Victor. And even though Carol felt a little deceitful for keeping tomorrow’s travel plans to herself, it was worth it to hear the happiness in her aunt’s voice.Besides, she rationalized as she put the last of the things in the dishwasher and turned it on, who knew what tomorrow would bring? Perhaps the weather would trap her here longer—and really, would that be such a bad thing?
As she left the kitchen, she overheard Maria and Victor talking.
“So, are you still dating Victoria?” Maria asked.
“I guess you could say that.” Victor’s answer sounded a little evasive, but maybe he didn’t like Maria prying into his personal life. Carol paused in the dining room, still listening.
“You two have been dating for quite some time,” Maria persisted. “Any plans to make it permanent? Any diamond rings showing up for Christmas?”
“Oh, Maria.” Victor sounded a little exasperated. “You still hoping to marry me off?”
“You could do worse than Victoria.” Maria’s tone sounded slightly sarcastic.
“Really? I thought you never cared for her.”
“I said you could do worse,” Maria teased. “Not that you couldn’t do better.”
Victor just laughed, then inquired about a box of ornaments he’d seen upstairs, clearly changing the subject. “They’re interesting but look pretty old. Do you want me to bring them down?”
“Oh, I don’t think so. They were Don’s mother’s. We put them up while she was alive, but they never really fit in with the ones I like to use. Still, they’re probably vintage so I hate to get rid of them.”
Feeling guilty for eavesdropping, Carol cleared her throat as she entered the room. “Should I bring down anything else from the attic?” she asked. She took in the stacks of cardboard boxes and plastic bins strewn across the living room floor and shook her head. “Never mind. That looks like plenty.”
“They’re not all for the tree,” Maria explained. “But I askedhim to bring down everything on the storage shelf up there. They’re the ones I use every year. Thought that would save us time later.” She winked at Carol. “After seeing your creativity with my dining room table, I’ve decided to put you in charge of all the decor. That is, if you don’t mind.” Maria’s smile dimmed. “Except I forgot about your aversion to Christmas. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, that’s okay,” Carol assured her. “This is different. This is for family, not work. It’ll be fun.” Still, she wondered how much she’d be able to finish before it was time for her to leave tomorrow. For that matter, she wasn’t even sure how she’d get to the airport. Victor had seemed unenthused about her travel plans, so he might not be willing to take her. Perhaps she could get an Uber. It would be expensive, but after her free lodging and meal, the fee was nothing.
“To be honest, I’ve never done this before. Not without my mom’s supervision.” Victor removed a lid from a box marked “tree ornaments.” Lifting a star-shaped wooden ornament, he looked puzzled. “Where do we begin?”
“Lights,” she proclaimed. “You might need a stepladder for that.”
As he went to the back porch for a stepladder, she began opening boxes and putting together a plan. “These ornaments are really sweet, Maria. It looks like you have kind of a farm and animal theme going.”
“Yes. I started collecting them in the early years of our marriage, when having our own farm was still a dream. I added to them over the years.”
Carol dangled a sweet little porcelain lamb on its wire hanger. “This is darling.”
A shadow darkened Maria’s expression. “Oh, yes, that ... I didn’t know it was in there.”
“Does it have significance?”
“It was for our first baby.”
“Oh ... I didn’t realize you had children.” Carol handed the lamb to Maria.
“Well, we tried,” she said glumly. “It took years for me to get pregnant. Finally I did. It was autumn of 1984. Don was so excited, he got me this little lamb to commemorate our baby’s birth. I was due the following summer.” She sighed.
Carol suspected this story had an unhappy ending.
“I miscarried that spring ... and was never able to get pregnant again.”
“I’m sorry.” Carol didn’t know what else to say.
