Page 74 of Something Borrowed

Vic opened her mouth to explain, again, that there’d never been a rat, then thought better of it. If thinking there’d been a rat allowed Audra to make peace with the idea of there being a cat in the house, hooray!

“All right, I’m going to run. There are leftovers in the fridge if you want lunch, but I’ll be off around 4:30, so we could just eat then, if you prefer. And it’s Christmas Eve. Maybe we can watch a show or two tonight?”

“NCIS?”

Vic had been thinking of a Christmas special, but honestly, this sounded better.

“Sounds great.”

Audra nodded, but seemed distracted, staring down at her egg for a long time as if not quite recognizing what it was.

Vic tried not to worry. Or tried not to worry more. The new year was coming soon, and Audra would be going to a doctor soon, whether she liked it or not.

Chapter 36

Christmas morning, Cal slept in—or slept in for him anyway. Made it all the way till 8:20 am.

He brewed coffee and enjoyed his first cup by the lights of his Christmas tree (Yes, he’d gotten himself a little tree!), while starting a book he’d picked from a display of “Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Reads” at the library: Dave Cooks the Turkey by Stuart McLean. The guy used to have a radio show called The Vinyl Café where he’d read his own work, stories about a married couple named Dave and Morley. He was so funny that one time, when Cal was listening to his story “Odd Jobs” on the way to work, he’d had to pull over he was laughing so hard.

He wasn’t disappointed. Just a couple of pages in, he almost sprayed coffee out his nose at something Dave did.

He had more coffee. Then he made himself eggs and bacon with toast and hash browns for breakfast. Finally, he figured it was probably late enough to video call Carrie and the kids and wish them a Merry Christmas. He was right. They were up and about—barely. He watched them unwrap the gifts he’d sent, feeling nervous, or worse, vulnerable or something. He’d taken a risk. Usually, he sent gift cards or transferred them cash. This year, inspired by Vic and the Second Chance Shop, he’d bought them things, which was definitely taking a chance with minimalist millennials.

“Uncle Cal!” Kelsey exclaimed breathlessly. “This is one of those handwoven blankets like Mom has—it’s too much.”

“Do you like it?”

“I don’t like it. I love it. Thank you!”

Her reaction made the fact that Cal was starting to feel that between him and Carrie they were almost singlehandedly supporting Sylvia’s cottage business worth it. He’d gone directly to Sylvia for this one, though, because he’d wanted to see if she would do one in soft mauve, purple and teals—unicorn colors Kelsey had been obsessed with what seemed like a blink ago. In a woven wool blanket, they were surprisingly soft and well-blended, not garish at all . . . still, Kelsey wasn’t a kid anymore.

“And the colors?” he asked. “Not too much?”

“Are you kidding me? They’re perfect—and you remembered!”

“Remembered what?”

“My passion for unicorns.”

Cal got a little misty. What a sweetheart of a kid.

Jordy was equally pleased with the starter toolbox Cal had put together for him.

“How did you know I needed this? And the inscribed top is so cool!”

“A little birdie you call Mom might’ve mentioned you were interested in doing some repairs to your place.”

“Now what could my gift card be?” Carrie asked as she opened the little envelope that Cal hadn’t even tried to disguise. There was never any fooling her anyway.

“The card for Complete Pet is a no-brainer. For when I get my dog.”

He smiled and nodded, then motioned to the small blue box she was still holding unopened.

She shook it lightly and looked through the camera at him, half suspiciously, half curiously. “You got me jewelry?”

He shrugged and held back a small laugh. Carrie so wasn’t a jewelry person.

Carrie flipped open the box and grinned like a kid at Christmas, instead of the middle-ager at Christmas that she actually was.