“Knowing you, that really surprises me, but it’s never too late to start,” Orene said.
Sheila went upstairs and gathered the gifts she’d wrapped for Natalie and Randy and put them in the fancy gift bag she’dbought at Hobby Lobby last week to carry them over to the cabin on Christmas morning.
She packed some of her things to clear the room enough to get down to the work at hand—wrapping presents.
With the pretty paper spread out across the bed, she began the process, one gift at a time.
It took her nearly four hours to get everything wrapped. She’d run out of store-bought rosette bows, but made do with extra ribbon simply folded over in a one-loop bow.
The gifts looked nice stacked by the door.
After lunch, she went to the store to get everything to make from-scratch cheddar wafers and a big pot of tomato basil soup. Mom taught her to make both. She and Cassie could devour a whole batch of them in short order. To this day it was her favorite winter meal.
Orene wasn’t home when Sheila got back, so she got right to work. It didn’t take long for the aroma from the savory spices in the cheddar wafers to fill the house. The soup simmered as her first batch of crispy cheese crackers were about ready to take out of the oven.
Sheila watched through the oven window as the edges of the lacy wafers began to brown.
She’d made extras so even after she filled the big mason jar with them for Tucker, there’d be plenty for Orene to enjoy.
The timer buzzed, and the wafers looked perfect. She switched a new baking sheet for the finished ones to let them cool a bit before putting them on the rack.
“What smells so good in here?” Orene walked in wearing a red skirt and white blouse. Her Christmas vest had snowflakesappliquéd on the front. “When you said you were going to use the kitchen, I didn’t expect to come home to this. It smells so homey in here.”
“It always smells better when someone else does the cooking, don’t you think?” Sheila felt at home in the kitchen. Truth be told, ever since she and Dan split, she hadn’t done much cooking or baking, so this was a treat.
“You’ve got a point.” Orene wandered in, looking at everything. “I don’t remember the last time someone made themselves at home in this kitchen. I love it!”
That made Sheila happy. As lonely as she was for her own mother, she could only imagine how lonely it must be sometimes for Orene. “I made plenty for you.”
“May I?” Orene’s hand hovered over the cooling cheddar wafers.
“Please do.”
Orene lifted one to her mouth and took a delicate bite. “These are so light and crispy. Very nice.”
“I made tomato basil soup to go with them.”
“My favorite.”
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll serve some up for us right now.” Sheila took down two soup mugs from the cabinet. The sweet smell of basil rose from the mugs as she filled them. She carried them to the table and set a small plate of the crackers on the table between them.
Orene reached for her hand as Sheila sat. “I’m so glad you’ve spent this holiday here with me. It has been so nice having you here. Please know, honey, you are always welcome. Any time, for no reason at all.”
“It’s special for me too, Orene.”
“Tucker has added to a lot to the holiday for you too, hasn’t he?” Her lips pulled into a smile.
“I’m almost afraid to admit it.” She couldn’t deny it, though. “I hope he likes this as a gift. Something simple, but personal.” She didn’t mention that she had one more thing she planned to put with the gift, as a remembrance of their time together. “I’m meeting him tonight. We’re going to set up for the holiday food drive boxes over at the fire station so the team can just assemble them in the morning and get them delivered. He says it’ll take all night, but he hasn’t worked with someone as organized as me before. I figure we can knock it out in a couple of hours.”
“I know he’ll appreciate your help. Gifting your time for others is always a good way to spend time together.”
“I’m planning to do a lot more of that next year,” Sheila said.
“Already thinking about New Year’s resolutions?”
“Sort of, except different this year. I want to make tangible ones that I will keep. Maybe I’ll just call it a change of pace. Resolutions seem so easy to break.”
“If your heart is in it, then I’m sure you will be true to the change.” Orene ate her soup, and took another cracker. “These are addictive!”
