MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS
N’SYNC
THEN
“You better get your sparklin’be-hinddown those stairs, young lady. You’re ‘bout to be late for your own shindig!” Georgia’s mother hollered from the bottom step of their family home.
“I'm comin’, Mama!” Georgia took one last look in the mirror. She rarely took the time to tame her vivacious, blonde curls or to apply an ounce of makeup, let alone an entire face full. But tonight… tonight would be special.
She let her curls fall down over her shoulders with a simple clip holding up one side, providing a small peek of the silver snowflake earrings she wore. She finished the look with a light pink gloss across puckered lips—one she thought made her natural cheek color appear a little more rosy—and smoothed slightly shaking hands down her satin dress. The silver material shimmered in the bathroom lights and reminded Georgia of frost sitting atop an icy lake. Not that she’d seen many of those since her family settled in the South.
“Deep breaths, Georgia,” she muttered to herself, “it’s only one dance.”
She knew she was lying to herself though. She’d never been so nervous, and she’d never tried to temper her expectations as much as she was at that moment. She’d spent so much time preparing, planning, and decorating for this charity dance. And, if she were honest with herself, the event had become about so much more.
Her sister’s reflection stepped into the bathroom mirror behind her, dressed in a floor length, emerald gown that made her green eyes all the more stunning. “You look beautiful, Georgie. Are you excited?” She admired Georgia’s reflection, jaw dropping, as she took in her sister from head to toe.
“Thanks. I’m… Yeah… I am excited.Youlook really pretty too, Caroline.”
Caroline squealed lightly, “EEEEkkkk! My first high school dance. I’m so,so,soooo ready!!” She took a step closer. “You, on the other hand, are… kinda twitchy.”
Georgia dropped her hands, not realizing she’d been fiddling her fingers together. Caroline held Georgia’s hand lightly. “Are you worried about something? You got a hot date meeting you there?”
Georgia rolled her eyes, trying not to be annoyed with her younger sister’s prying and her surprising intuitiveness. She pulled her hand away and put an arm around Caroline reassuringly. “Me? A date? Of course I don’t. Let's get downstairs before Mama sends up the troops.”
They bounced down the stairs together. Georgia stopped only to slip on a pair of silver wedges and grabbed her matching clutch from the kitchen counter. After another quick catwalk for their younger siblings and assuring their parents they’d be home by curfew, Georgia stepped into the unseasonably warm December evening with her sister at her side, anxiously ready for all the possibilities.
WITH BELLS ON
KENNY ROGERS & DOLLY PARTON
NOW
It wasn’tuncommon for neighbors to know one another well in a small, Southern town like Sugartree. Where folks greeted each other at the grocery store as old friends, and sayings likeI’ll put it on your taband you’re a sight for sore eyeswere commonplace in day-to-day comings and goings. Georgia Snow Remillard couldn’t remember a day when a friendly, familiar face hadn’t walked through the door of Good Start Coffee, ordered theirregular,and heldup the line for a neighborly chat.
How are your mama and daddy? You got yourself a boyfriend yet?andWhat are your brother and sisters up to nowadays?were usually in the line-up of well-meant questions from patrons waiting on their morning coffee. To which Georgia always replied in kind, “Oh, they’re peachy! … Y’all know I don’t have time for a boyfriend.” And, “They’re living their dreams. We’re so very proud.”
Georgia loved the eccentric nuances of the tiny town where she’d been born, although her parents hadn’t stayed in Sugartree too long after her birth. The Air Force moved the Remillard family from Georgia to South Carolina, and then on to North Dakota, followed by a final move to Virginia. They’d embraced nomadic military life until Georgia’s dad decided to retire—to lay down roots—and her parents remembered those same little idiosyncrasies they’d found so charming about Sugartree, GA and decided to plant the family there permanently.
At the time, Georgia had been a sophomore in high school. When many would have stumbled and even floundered entering a new school in the middle of their formative years, Georgia blossomed. She’d dove into life in the small town. Making friends, joining clubs, getting involved with a local church, seamlessly adopting Sugartree as home. But she’d eventually left for college and, after graduating, settled into life in a big city.
Initially, adjusting to all-things Atlanta had been harder for Georgia than the other places she’d called home in her youth. She missed the close proximity to her family and friends, but eventually managed to carve a little life for herself there. She loved her job and the coffee shop halfway between work and her apartment, although the scones were nowhere near as tasty as her mama’s. She enjoyed the bustle and faster pace of city living, a far cry from that of Sugartree, and was just beginning to fully embrace the city and her independence. But it was an easy decision to come home to Sugartree when her family needed her most.
She would never forget the moment she received the call that the strong, stalwart, indestructible Colonel Remillard, her daddy, had suffered a significant heart attack. She’d been frozen in fear. Afraid of what it would mean if their family lost him. She had walked the long, stark halls of the hospital for a restless few days, reassuring her mother and siblings that he’d be okay and praying desperately that she was right. When, thankfully, he’d miraculously survived, Georgia’s mama had only to say, “Georgia, we need your help.”
Georgia had packed her small apartment in the city, quit her job with a corporate marketing firm, and moved home to Sugartree. She’d settled into the studio above her parents’ coffee shop, Good Start Coffee, effectively taking over the place while her dad recovered and her Mom nursed him back to good health.
And there she’d remained.
For the three years she’d been back in Sugartree, Georgia answered those same questions. Smiled the same smiles. And greeted, served, and poured coffee for the familiar friendly faces. Day in and day out. Taking care of her parents’ shop and supporting her family the best way she knew how.
On a particularly balmy morning in November—Black Friday to be exact—Georgia woke before the sun and stared at the ceiling with bleary eyes from atop her mismatched bed linens. She’d thrown her half of the covers aside, sweaty and restless in anticipation of what was always a crazed day.
Committed shoppers inevitably stopped by in the early hours at Good Start, before breaking down the proverbial, and sometimes physical, doors of the neighboring shops for a hit of caffeine and a freshly made scone. Even now, the scent of warmed cinnamon and sugar wafted through the wooden floors of her loft from the coffee shop below. Which meant her parents had been there for some time baking seasonal favorites, and that Georgia was on the brink of being late to open the store.
Georgia nudged her little sister’s starfished body away, her sweaty skin sticking momentarily. “Ginny, are ya gonna come down with me this morning?”
Ginny’s body lay dormant, barely registering the nudge.
