“Sure thing.”
I duck out of the kitchen as fast as I can before she ropes me into a conversation right then and there. Walking into the living room, my dad and sister are sprawled out on the couches watching a football game.
Paige is a few years younger than I am and is the apple of my dad’s eye. She’s a sport-playing, takes no shit type of woman. Which made for a lot of bruises growing up. She’s always down for a beer, going for a run, or watching any type of sports team. Seriously, she’ll sit and watch bowling if nothing else is on. And she getsinvested. Yelling at the screen and chatting with the commentators, invested. She’s in her last year at Rosewood College and is majoring in Sports Medicine to become a trainer, which suits her personality to a t.
Paige kindly lifts her legs for me to sit on the end of the couch—the nicest gesture I’m sure she’ll make all day. “Hey, bro.” She lives on campus, but she can often be found parked right here on the couch next to dad. “Oh, come on ref! That’s a clear holding!” Paige sits up and angrily points at the tv screen where the play is under review.
Dad, as per usual, is a more laid back sports watcher. Always watching, but never commenting. It’s funny to watch my dad and my sister watch a game together. Paige is dramatic and loud while dad is stoic and silent. I guess that’s why they get along so well.
“Hey, son.” I tend to take after my dad. Carter Ross is the chill, calm Dad. He’s got dark hair and eyes while my mom and sister have light hair and eyes. Growing up, he had a full beard that he would carefully groom. As time passed, his beard got shorter and shorter. Maybe the speckles of gray hair are what eventually made him shave it all off.
One thing about coming to my parent’s house for our weekly dinners is that they are loud. The ladies chat in the kitchen while preparing the food—well my mom and aunt, not Paige—the tv will be on any sports channel, and there will be yelling. Angry screams at the television, not with each other thankfully.
Dinner is special tonight since it’s my first one since moving back into town. Mom made my favorite: pot roast. We all sit around the table, catching up with Dad’s job as an accountant for several local businesses and Aunt Lo goes on and on about how the town is getting out of control since Mayor Desmond was elected.
After helping clean up after dinner, I hurriedly make my rounds of goodbyes. Just when I think I’m about to slip out without being harassed about the Christmas Spectacular, my aunt follows me out the front door with her coat wrapped tightly around her waist. “Now, Levi, just wait a minute.” My back’s to her, so I use the opportunity to silently curse before turning around.
“Yes, ma’am?”Maybe if I play dumb, she’ll get sidetracked…
“I wanted to speak with you about the Christmas Spectacular. Didn’t you remember?”
Feigning ignorance, I say, “Oh, yeah. That’s right. I forgot.”
“It’s a good thing I caught you then!” She playfully smacks my arm, her grin wide. “Now, tell me. How’s everything going?”
In the dark lighting of the driveway with the Christmas lights shining, my aunt looks so similar to my mom. She’s really a lovely lady, even though she’s meddlesome. She hasn’t always been this way. After Uncle Rob died of a heart attack several years ago, she’s taken to keeping busy: joining the city council and bustling around town getting into people’s business.
“We’re busy working,” I point out. “Sammie’s got some great ideas and we’re seeing it through. I think it’ll be great.”
Pursed lips and eyes narrowing, my aunt stares at me. “You wouldn’t be lying to your aunt now, would you? You know how much this Christmas Spectacular means to me.”
Sighing, I rake my hand through my stubble. “No, Aunt Lori, I’m not lying. I think she’s great. You should give her a chance. She’s ambitious and creative…” I have to trail off because other attributes that don’t need to be shared with my aunt keep popping up.Sexy. Charming. Mysterious. Passionate. “She’ll be good for this town.”
She clicks her tongue before turning and walking back up the drive and up the front steps. She turns around at the top of the stairs, “I guess we’ll have to see if you’re right.”
***
Instead of heading straight home to an apartment full of unpacked boxes, I take a detour through town. Sometimes a nice drive around town in the dark is just the sort of thing you need to reset. Houses on either side of the street glisten with Christmas lights, invoking some of that beauty that Sammie spoke so passionately about.
Nearing the far side of town, I head in the direction of the Miller’s house. Each year they set their yard up with decorations set to Christmas music, creating a show of lights. They’ve been setting it up for the past ten years since seeing it on the news and they couldn’t get enough of it. There are several cars lined up on the curb watching the lights flash to the beat of the music.
Mr. Miller went all out this year. The whole front of the house is covered in lights with alternating rows of color. A giant Frosty is on the roof waving at passersby and there’s even a little workshop with motorized elves working on toys. A miniature train is set up on the front lawn with Santa and his reindeer riding and waving as they pass by.
I don’t stay long knowing there’s a line already gathering behind me. On a whim, I decide to drive by the town square and look at the gingerbread houses in all their glory. The houses are completely decorated with swirly red mints, gumdrops, and sprinkles. They even added snow and ice detailing on the roof and eaves. They look great.
Just as I’m about to turn and head home, a movement and flash of light catches my eye. One of the large ornaments that Sammie was working on earlier are lit. My brows furrow in confusion because we haven’t had time to put those lights up. Another quick movement catches my eye.
Is the ornament… moving?
Chapter Seven
Sammie
After completing the houses and ornaments, my evening was spent wandering down aisle after aisle at stores in Lake Elkins. It’s about a thirty minute drive west, but it has more options for shopping than Rose Prairie. I was able to get many items from local stores, but today I’m picking up ones I can’t find in town.
Trunk full of items, I make the drive back into town, the sun setting in my rear-view mirror. It doesn't take long before the Christmas Spectacular comes to mind. There’s just so much left to be done and not enough time to do it. Levi and I have managed to get many of the items replaced and ready to go this week, but with one week left we’re down to crunch time.
All I can think about on the drive is how we’re not going to finish. That I’m not going to be able to fulfill my vision for the town square. All the extra time to think has created a rolling ball of anxiety in my gut.
