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Joe repositioned himself to face her more directly. “You’re looking much better. Do you think you’ll feel up to joining us at Angelina’s tomorrow for our Christmas celebration?”
Her gaze shifted to the floor. “I’m not sure. Can we talk about it in the morning?”
Hmm, still going with the gaze aversion. Well, at least she didn’t squash the idea completely.
“Of course.”
He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek, then he gathered up the kids and left.
The Antonetti house shut down early on Christmas Eve, but not before cookies and milk were set out for Santa. The kids easily obeyed Joe’s plea for them to climb into bed. Only good children would be visited by the jolly fellow dressed in red. Mentally, Joe prepared his own Christmas list, and the only item on it was that Elizabeth’s problems go away.
The kids woke Joe early on Christmas Day. Their eagerness to open their presents was unmistakable. Max’s face beamed with excitement when he found a BB gun and Transformers under the tree, and Molly’s smile nearly stretched from ear to ear when she opened up her packages containing an American Girl doll, and a Disney Princess tea set.
He watched his kids as they played with their new toys. Though their excitement pleased him, he struggled to stay happy. Concern for Elizabeth hung over him like a dark storm cloud.
A faint knock on the front door pulled him out of his funk.
Max popped up and ran to the door. “Morning, Ms. Shaw. Santa was here and brought me some Transformers,” he said, unable to hide his sheer delight even if he would have tried.
Joe jumped up from his recliner and walked toward her to help her with the armload of gifts she carried. He set the gifts by the Christmas tree, wondering when she had found time to shop, especially with being sick and all.
“That’s wonderful,” Elizabeth replied, her voice still hoarse and raspy.
She took a seat on the couch.
“You’re looking much better. Would you like some coffee?” Joe asked.
Elizabeth nodded.
Joe slipped into the kitchen and poured her a cup. He returned a moment later, handed her a coffee mug, and then took a seat on the recliner.
She glanced at the presents she’d brought. “Don’t you want to open your presents now?” she asked, drawing the undivided attention of the kids.
Joe rose from his recliner and walked over to the stack of presents. He handed Molly’s to her, Max’s to him, he held the one with his name on it, and then reached under the tree and grabbed a couple of presents for Elizabeth and handed them to her. A flash sparkled in her eyes as she took her gifts from him.
He watched her as she studied the kids as they opened their gifts. He could tell by the glint in her gaze, and her slight smile, their excitement delighted her. Molly held up her Disney Princess hat, mittens, and nightlight, for everyone to see. Max seemed equally as happy with his Spiderman outfit and web thrower.
Joe glanced down at the gift on his lap, touched by the simple fact she bought him one. It didn’t matter what was inside, he already loved it. He opened the box and chuckled. She’d given him a pair of dress shoes to replace the ones she had thrown up on. Also included in his gift box was a one year membership to the beer of the month club.
“Thank you, Elizabeth, the gifts are really nice. Kids, don’t you have something to say to Ms. Shaw?”
Both Max and Molly looked up from their gifts. “Thank you, Ms. Shaw.”
“You’re all welcome. Joe, do you think it would be okay if kids called me Elizabeth rather than Ms. Shaw?”
“If that’s what you want, that’s fine with me. Aren’t you going to open your presents?” he asked.
She lifted the first present from her lap and studied it for a moment before sliding her thumbnail under the tape. Her movements were slow as she unwrapped the gift without even a slightest tear to the paper. She pulled the pair of heavy, black winter boots accented with a splash of pink from the box and held them in the air for a moment as she ran her gaze over them. Then she opened the second package with the same slow pace as the first, and smiled as she held up the fuzzy pink socks, mittens, and a hat, for everyone to see. She glanced at him and smiled. His heart leaped. It was a full-blown smile, not just one of those half ones he’d seen a bit earlier.
“Very nice, thank you. They’re perfect.”
He grinned. “Well, now maybe you won’t get so cold when you’re playing in the snow and building snowmen.”
In all the Christmas excitement, the morning had flown by and it was time to head over to Angelina’s. As Max and Elizabeth bundled themselves up for the trek to his sister’s, he helped his daughter with her coat and boots. She insisted upon wearing her new Disney Princess hat and mittens Elizabeth had just given her.
They loaded into his truck. He tried to make small talk with Elizabeth during the ride, but it was like pulling teeth to get her to talk. Well, at any rate, at least she hadn’t bailed out on them.
Her apparent apprehension was killing him so he decided to cut to the chase, “Elizabeth, what’s the matter?
