Page 2 of Daddy’s Little Christmas Wish

For the last few months, everything I did was for Mother. Out of everybody, she had taken father's death the hardest, and I had done everything I could in order to make life easier for her ever since. When she moved into the nursing home, I thought she would be happier, but I quickly learned I was wrong. So, in order to make it easier for her, I moved back to town and took over my childhood home with the idea to bring back Calvert's Auto Body Shop.

"You didn't tell me you were friends with such a wonderful young lady," Mother said as she smiled at me. Turning her attention to the woman beside me, she extended her weathered hand to the woman. "I'm Ruth Calvert." Much to my surprise, the woman beside me accepted Mother's hand and gave it a gentle shake.

"It's great to see you again, Mrs. Calvert," the woman replied, her voice cheerful and friendly as she addressed Mother. Next to her, Mrs. Crane smiled at the young woman.

"Miss Bella Brooks is here to help us out today," Mrs. Crane informed Mother, sounding more like she was reminding Mother that the woman was a regular employee here rather than telling her for the first time. "She was here yesterday, too." Immediately, Mother laughed and shook her head at her.

"That's right," she said before giving Bella an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I've been forgetting more and more these days. Why, just yesterday, I was talking to my son, and I completely forgot what day it was." I flushed in embarrassment as I turned to look at the woman who had helped me find Mother.

"I'm so sorry about all this," I told her. "Mother ended up diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago." Much to my surprise, the woman smiled and nodded understandingly.

"I've been informed," she told me. "I started working her shortly afterwards, which is why she doesn't remember me." At that point, she smiled back at Mother and provided a bag of chocolate covered Chex mix. "I brought you some puppy chow from Moe's Coffee Hut, Mrs. Calvert. I know it's your favorite." Much to my surprise, Mother made her way around the front desk and hugged the younger woman.

"Thank you so much, dear," she exclaimed before releasing the woman and taking the bag from her. "This is my absolute favorite treat. Just wait until my son, Joel, gets here." She paused and looked back at me. "Joel?" Wincing, I nodded.

"Yes, Mom," I said with a forced smile, pained at how well the locals interacted with her while she still saw me as a stranger from time to time. "I came home for the holidays." She smiled as she hugged me back.

"Oh, Joel," she exclaimed. "I can't believe you're here. Just wait until your father hears." Stopping, she looked at the bag of puppy chow in her hands. "Where is your Father?" As much as I had tried to hold it together, I prepared to give her the bad news.

"He's at the auto shop, Ruth," replied old Mrs. Crane as she patted Mother's arm. "Remember?" Mother's face lit up, and the two of them started towards the front desk, and I turned to look at Bella.

"Does she really not remember my father?" I asked, a sick feeling rising in my gut as I stared at her. Bella winced as she shrugged.

"Sometimes she remembers, sometimes she doesn't," she informed me. "The doctor paid us a visit after seeing that she likes to spend her days at the library, and they recommended that we keep from upsetting her as much as possible. Since Mrs. Crane used to volunteer for the nursing home, they cleared her to help your mother around when she's out and about. She's never left your mother's side." The reality of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks, and I nodded as I gave her a smile.

"I suppose I should thank you for helping Mrs. Crane with my mother," I told her. "Can I buy you dinner sometime?" A smile spread across her face as she nodded in response.

"That would be great," she said as she faced me. "How about tonight?" Thinking it over, I didn't see the harm and nodded in agreement.

"Sounds great," I told her. "Meet you at Sally's tonight at six?"

CHAPTER THREE

Bella

I never knew that Mrs. Ruth Calvert had a son, especially not one who was about the same age my dad would have been if he survived the car accident he and Mom got into my senior year of high school. As surprised as I was to learn that he was the long lost Joel Calvert, I was even more surprised when he asked me out for dinner that same night. Normal people would have seen our age difference as a bit much, but there were couples with much larger age differences all over town. In fact, the age difference between Mrs. Calvert and her husband was reported to be at least eighteen years, and he died at seventy-five.

After Joel had left, I had asked Mrs. Crane about Joel, having only ever heard Mrs. Calvert mention him once or twice. According to Mrs. Crane, Joel was their only child, and, after graduating college, he tried to return to town and work in his father's repair shop, but his father, whom Mrs. Crane described as a "stubborn mule of a man," had turned him down and send him off to the city to make a name for himself. While it upset Mrs. Calvert at the time, Mr. Calvert always claimed it was what was best for their son to go out into the world and make a name for himself. A lot of people around town thought it was cruel, but, now that he had returned, everyone finally saw the logic behind Mr. Calvert's insistence on his son's banishment.

Even though we had only met for a moment, I already had a feeling that being forced to be out on his own had done Joel a lot of good. He was a mountain of a man who looked like he could lift a truck with his bare hands. From what I heard, he had been working as a mechanic in the city, and he was going to be opening his father's old repair shop.

The fact that Joel had shown any interest in me at all was amazing, and I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Normally, good looking men like him were already taken, especially at his age. I was already starting to wonder if I was overreacting, and this was meant to be an actual thank you, not a date. However, based on the way Mrs. Crane kept smiling at me, I felt as though it was a fair assumption.

By the time lunch had finally arrived, Mrs. Crane took Mrs. Calvert to Sally's Diner, where the two of them would enjoy their usual lunch while I set off for Moe's Coffee Hut. I was eager to tell Kara about Joel and how he had offered to take me to dinner that same night. The thought of Kara's famous baked chicken and roasted vegetables kept me going through the cold as I marched the two blocks from the library back to Moe's Coffee Hut, and I braved the cold air. When I finally arrived at the coffee shop, I found that Kara was already dealing with the lunch rush.

"Hey, Bella," Kara called out from the cash register. "I'll be right with you!" Waving a hand dismissively at her, I shook my head.

"Take your time," I called back. "No need to rush on my account." All around us, people laughed and shook their heads at the two of us.

Even though Kara was a few years older than me, she was my oldest and dearest friend, and it was because of her and her father that I had been able to get through my parents' death the year before. I often offered to help out at Moe's, but Kara always turned me down, saying that Mrs. Crane needed me in the library more than Kara would need my help. While I didn't argue, I wished that she would let me help out more. Seeing it get packed always made me worry about her.

Once Kara was done serving customers, she disappeared into the back only to return with her lunch, freshly reheated and steaming hot. My mouth watered as the smell of the chicken wafted in my direction. As we sat down at the empty table that had been dubbed "Kara's table," Kara handed me one of the containers of food.

"Dad loved it when I took him some last night," she informed me as we dug into the food. "He always hates the food that they serve at the nursing home. He claims that the Marines had better meals than what they serve there.” I chuckled as I devoured the food in my container.

Kara was a mastermind in the kitchen, and her food was arguably the best in town. Considering the fact that she had gone to the best culinary school around, it made sense that people would prefer her food to practically anything. Sally herself had offered Kara a job at the diner, yet Kara, who had been given Moe’s Coffee Hut when she graduated college, turned her down, saying that she preferred to keep her father’s legacy alive. While everyone in town was disappointed for a time, they still found themselves flocking to her door even before she expanded to a new location.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Kara finally asked as she looked up from her lunch. “You’re not your usual chatty self today. What happened?” Not yet ready to give up on my meal, especially with how starved I felt at this point, I shook my head.