Are you regretting it this morning?
A little.Some aspects more than others.But I’m already feeling better.
Lily tucked her phone into the pocket of her pants—one of the reasons she loved those pajamas so much—and busied herself with sorting through the boxes she’d gotten down from the attic the previous weekend.
She’d had good intentions until she’d let herself get distracted with work.
Got anything exciting planned for the day? Or are you sleeping it off?
I’m decorating,Lily replied, snapping a photo of the bare Christmas tree tucked into the corner of her living room.I’m willing to take bets on how long it lasts before Hades tears it down.
Five minutes?
Likely. Are your decorations already up?Elsa seemed like someone who’d be prepared. Less scattered than Lily, who would lose her head if it wasn’t attached to her body.
We’ve just taken them down. Hanukah ended a few days ago.
You’re Jewish?Lily hadn’t realized, but how could she if Elsa had never mentioned it before?
My mother is. I stopped following religion many years ago, but I celebrate the holidays with her.
Makes sense. I guess I do that, too. I’m not a Christian, but I celebrate Christmas.
I think it stopped being a religious holiday a long time ago,Elsa replied.Commercialization and all that. You can’t go to the store without hearing three million Christmas songs.
Why do I get the feeling you wouldn’t celebrate it even if your mother wasn’t Jewish?Lily didn’t want to call Elsa a Grinch, but she had a feeling it would be a fitting description.
Because I wouldn’t. But I bet your house looks like Santa’s grotto.
Guilty.Lily couldn’t help it. She loved the holidays: the decorations, the music, the movies. Loved spending time with her family—especially this year, with Emma to spoil. She’d already booked out a day to take her to see Santa at the mall.
Send me a picture when you’re done. I’ll rate it on a scale from one to horrific.
Lily laughed, setting her phone aside and kneeling on the floor. She had Christmas lights to untangle, ornaments and tinsel to place, and she wasn’t going to let herself get distracted again.
* * *
Christmas meant nothing more to Eva than a blissful two-week vacation.
Angela spent Hanukah with the Thomases, so they were invited for Christmas dinner—an offer Eva declined. Spending hours with Angela, her husband and their extended family sounded like hell on earth, but Eva was only too happy to drop her mother off. The prospect of a day with the house to herself was too great to ignore.
It meant Eva could do something she hadn’t done for ages, something she enjoyed whenever she needed to quiet her mind: clean.
And God, did Eva need to quiet her mind. Never mind the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future—Eva was being haunted by the ghost of Lily Cross.
Despite Eva’s best efforts, that kiss still weighed on her mind. Lily had even been in her dreams every night.
The house would be spotless by the time Eva went to pick her mother up. Was it the best way to spend a Saturday? Not by most people’s standards, but to Eva, it was a catharsis little else could bring her.
Especially without her mother trying to help—purely because she felt like she should be doing something—and only getting in the way.
“Sorry, buddy,” Eva said to Franklin when she pulled out the carpet cleaner. He hated it even more than he hated the vacuum. “I’ll take you out for a long walk later to make up for it.”
He scampered away to hide upstairs, and Eva put herself to work, gaining a deep sense of satisfaction every time she had to change the water, the carpets in every room a shade lighter once she was finished.
By the time she’d mopped the kitchen floor until it was sparkling, Eva was sweating despite the dusting of snow on the lawn outside.
She checked her phone when she paused for a drink of water and was surprised to see a text from Molly.
