AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fortunes or mottoes of some sort. Paper hats, often ones that open up to look like crowns. Small toys or prizes. My grandmother included coins and candy, and she decorated the crackers with ribbon and such so they were very appealing. She enjoyed making them as much as we enjoyed cracking them.”
“I can see why a child would be charmed,” Kati said, trying to picture Andrew as a young boy celebrating Christmas that way. She’d wanted to call him Andy when they’d first met, and that fit the image she had of him as a tot. But he’d said he’d always been called ‘Andrew’ and thus preferred it.
The name did suit him. Tall, he always stood straight, and she felt his presence whenever he entered a room.
“But what about the grownups? Do they open crackers, too?”
“Absolutely. It’s a friendly competition. There’s lots of sparring and laughter and Brits don’t outgrow their fondness for crackers. Gram and Grampa invite close friends so there is always a full house, alive with good cheer. The first couple of years after Mum’s death, the holidays weren’t happy ones. My father didn’t know how to make the celebration special. It must take a woman’s hand to pull it off. Pop would set out a small tree a few days beforehand. A sickly, fake one he bought already decorated. And beneath it, he’d place store-wrapped presents that a clerk helped him choose. On Christmas Day, he’d take me to a restaurant for the turkey and dressing or ham and yams sort of meal, and we’d eat among lonely strangers.
“After opening the presents, which didn’t take long, he’d pop corn and make cocoa, and we’d watch a movie. That was the best part of those days.”
“You must admit he was trying.” Kati reached over to pat Andrew’s hand.
He turned it over to grasp hers. “Yeah, I know he was. But I was too young to realise he was doing his best and that he was hurting, too. He’s a good father. He didn’t remarry until I graduated college.”
This was the most personal information Andrew had ever shared. Kati was touched.
”When his parents invited us to spend Christmas break with them, it was the best thing that could have happened. Pop was a college professor, and school was out for both of us, so we were free to go to England, and we had a great time there.
“Since his marriage to Thelma, they celebrate at home, and Christmas at their house is worse than the ones my father and I spent alone. Last year, she decorated the tree in pink and silver with white twinkling lights. It’s like a spread in a woman’s magazine. Stylish and cold.”
“Have you considered going to your grandparents’ alone?” Kati would love to go with him, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not until he at least started sleeping over.
“I don’t have that much time off work. People get sick. Doctors need medicine. When I’ve earned more holiday time, I might go.” Andrew was a rep for a large pharmaceutical company. He sometimes travelled but only within his assigned region.
“Are you sure a short, romantic getaway wouldn’t do you good?”
“Positive.” He rose and carried his plate to the dishwasher, squeezing her shoulder as he went past. “Christmas is a day to spend at home with the ones you love.”
Kati felt as if Andrew had slapped her.
“Don’t look so disappointed. We can still celebrate the day together.”
We can still celebrate Christmas together, even though I’m not the one you love? Kati was glad when Andrew left. She had some serious thinking to do.
* * * *
Kati rapped on Tara’s door and was promptly invited in.
A petite registered nurse, Tara worked third shift at Regional Hospital and was already in uniform. “What’s up?” she asked, waving Kati towards an easy chair.
“It’s about Andrew.”
“Of course.” Chuckling, Tara headed towards the kitchen. “What’ll it be?”
“I brought my own.” Kati proffered the half-full bottle of Sangria she’d been holding behind her back. “I knew you were on duty tonight and couldn’t imbibe. So it seemed the fair thing to do.”
Tara returned to sit on the colourful, flowered sofa opposite the chair she’d offered Kati. “I have an hour. Sit down and cry on Aunt Tara’s shoulder.”
“What makes you think it’s bad news?”
“He’s already left, and your expression is dour. Maybe I should be glad I’m not presently with a man.”
Kati shrugged and related the story about Andrew’s views on Christmas. “If I weren’t so put out by his remark, I’d try giving him what he wants. Which reminds me…” She told Tara about the events that had taken place earlier. As that tale unfolded, Kati’s mood lifted, and a smile escaped. “He gave me one orgasm after another.”
“So? Doesn’t he deserve a holiday like Gram used to give him? You could score a lot of brownie points that way. Roast a goose. Make crackers.” Tara laughed. “I’d have been thrown by that, too.”
“You really think I could pull it off? I know very little about anything British.”
