Time continued to moveat a rapid pace for Joseph Moore. November came and went, as did River’s sixth birthday. Before he knew it, he and his son were bringing home a tree to decorate for their first Christmas in their new home. Their first Christmas without Rachel. Joseph wasn’t feeling particularly festive, but was too busy to notice. Renovating the dining room and the study on the first floor took the better part of December and helped him to keep focused.
Thankfully, Carolina had decided to materialize more often and join the family, keeping company with River during his winter break from school. The spirit and the boy spent hours together in art lessons, reading and just talking as Joseph pounded nails and painted walls. It did his heart good to hear his boy laugh along with the spirit that shared their home, and soon, Carolina became just as much a fixture in their lives as any family member. Joseph felt ashamed of himself for not trusting Carolina with River at first. She clearly loved the little boy and cared for him, but not as a mother. She never tried to overstep those bounds, and for that, Joseph was grateful.
The accident occured the day before Christmas Eve. It happened in the blink of an eye as Joseph was putting the finishing touches on the decorative molding in the office. He could hear Boomer barking in the distance over his softly playing classic rock station, and initially brushed off the noise. He was used to Boomer barking after all. It wasn’t until Carolina appeared that he realized something was wrong.
“It’s River! You have to come quick!”
Carolina breezed into the office like an icy blast of winter air and curled a freezing hand around Joseph’s wrist. He didn’t have time to think or react, only to follow Carolina’s glowing form out into the front yard, down the drive and into the slash pine forest. There, some three hundred yards from the house was River, lying in a heap with Boomer at his side.
“What happened?” Joseph said, breathless. His son was curled on the ground, clutching his arm.
“He was running with Boomer and tripped,” Carolina explained.
“My arm hurts,” River said, in between sobs.
“It’s okay, bud,” Joseph said, trying to keep calm. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“I’m so sorry!” Carolina said, sobbing herself. “I was watching him! It all happened so fast!”
“It was an accident,” Joseph said, placing his son in the back seat of his Jeep. “It’s not your fault.”
Joseph dug his keys from his jeans and without even locking up the house or putting Boomer inside, peeled out of the manor driveway toward Flagler Hospital. The last thing he saw as he looked in the rearview mirror was Jacaranda Manor slowly growing smaller and smaller. Carolina was nowhere to be seen.
***
“Jaiden and Malik signedmy cast.”
River looked up at his father and beamed proudly with a jack-o-lantern grin as he displayed the artwork on his brand new green cast. They had just returned home from a holiday gathering with Rachel’s side of the family and both he and River were sleepy and full of eggnog and cookies. Along with fracturing his wrist the day before, River had also managed to completely knock out a loose front baby tooth. It had been a banner couple of days for River Moore, but one that still left him smiling just the same.
“That’s really nice,” Joseph said. “You need to get to bed soon. Santa might not come if you’re still awake.”
“We have a real fireplace and chimney this year,” River said with a yawn. “Do you think he’ll find our new house?”
“Sure he will,” Joseph said. “Tell Carolina goodnight.”
Carolina looked up from her spot by the tree in the front sitting room. She had been more reserved than usual since River broke his wrist, despite the fact they both tried to reassure her she wasn’t to blame. Still, she smiled weakly at the boy and blew him a kiss.
“Merry Christmas, River,” she said.
“Merry Christmas, Carolina,” he yawned. Joseph followed him to the back study, which was now serving as their makeshift bedroom. After the new year, Joseph planned to begin to tackle the second floor renovations, but for the moment, they were both happy to have a change from sleeping in the sitting room. With River tucked away in his bed, Joseph returned to the sitting room where Carolina still sat aglow in front of the tree.
“We used to put real candles on our tree,” Carolina noted, regarding the string of LED light bulbs wound around the tree. “This seems to be much more efficient.”
“Safer too,” Joseph chuckled, and poked at the fire. He looked around the sitting room and nodded in appreciation at the work he had done. Even though the exterior of the property and the second and third floor still needed plenty of work, Jacaranda Manor was shaping up to be a very nice home.
“Well, I’ll leave you to your Christmas Eve,” Carolina said, smiling up at him weakly. She rose from the chaise lounge, but Joseph held up his hands.
“Wait,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you about yesterday.”
Carolina frowned and stared at the ground.
“I shouldn’t have let him fall.”
“You couldn’t have avoided it,” he said. Joseph wished that he could put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, or brush the wave of dark hair from her eyes.
“Children play rough. He was bound to get hurt at some point.”
“I still feel awful.”
