AllFreeNovel
Share Us
thirty
When Clementine got out of bed on Christmas morning, the house was unusually quiet. Lily was always the first one up for the holiday, coffee made, bread in the toaster, eggs on the stove. It’d become a kind of joke about who was the real mom around here.
Today, when Clementine peeked in her room, she saw Lily’s hair splayed across her pillow, nothing but a mound beneath the covers, with Terrence wrapped up behind the small of her back.
“Hey, Nugget,” Clementine whispered.
He lifted his head, stretched and wagged his tail. Then he laid it back down and closed his eyes.
“Loyal,” Clementine observed with a laugh. She padded into the kitchen and started the coffeepot, knowing the smell of the rich brew would have Lily awake within the next twenty minutes. She went to the living room and opened the curtains, letting in the bright morning sun, which sparkled over last night’s snow. Maybe an inch had fallen; just enough to make the world look like a fairy tale, gilded in crystal.
She settled on the sofa, waiting for the coffee, and eyed the handful of presents under the Christmas tree. Both she and Lily were practical. They only bought each other things that struck their fancy, avoiding the glut of commercialism and limiting themselves to a few special gifts. This tradition had started when they were on a tight budget but had blossomed over the years into a mutual respect for the notion of less being more, and their time together being the most important of all.
Clementine spied her journal on the end table and lifted it. She opened it up and realized that the last time she’d written to Tyler had been the day she’d gone for a run with Terrence. She hadn’t signed off that day, and had never gone back in to do so.
She fiddled with her pen, clicking it open and closed, over and over again. Clementine looked closer at the journal and saw that it was down to the last page. After this entry, she’d have to start a new one. No use starting a new one, of course, until she’d signed off in this one.
“Hey.” Lily suddenly appeared, bounding down the stairs in her pajamas. “Merry Christmas.” Terrence followed at her heels.
“Merry Christmas, kiddo.”
At the foot of the stairs, Terrence flopped over on his back. “You’re not trash, are you, boy?” Lily said as she rubbed his belly. “No. You’re my good boy.” After a moment she stood back up and stretched. “Writing in your journal?”
Clementine looked down at the last entry and clicked her pen closed. “Nope,” she said. She slid the notebook back on the table and rose up. “The journal’s done.” She paused, letting that thought sink in for a moment. Yeah. The journal was done. And she wouldn’t be needing a new one. “I’m just about to pour some coffee. Join me?”
Lily eyed the notebook, then eyed her mother. A slow smile spread over her face. “Definitely.”
After coffee and presents, they snuggled on the sofa and clicked on the TV, which was something they rarely got to do with their busy schedules. “Oh my gosh, look! It’s George and Gracie!”
“Dad’s old TV show,” Lily said, her smile both sweet and sad, but mostly sweet. “I know Hannah and Hobbs are going to adopt them, by the way. They’re in good hands.”
“I think you’re right.”
They were quiet after that, their silence punctuated with laughter as they watched the show. “Do you think about him much?” Clementine broached, when the show was near to ending.
Lily didn’t clarifywho. “Enough,” she said. “But in a good way.” Her hand dipped down to Terrence’s head, where he lay on the floor. She stroked his ears absentmindedly. “What about you?”
Clementine offered a quiet smile. “Maybe too much. But I’m working on it.”
“Cool.”
The show ended and Lily turned off the TV. “Time for T’s walk,” she said. She rose up and stretched.
“Hey, I was wondering,” Clementine said, the thought suddenly coming to her. “There was a guy at the party last night. Tall, sitting with the group, but never said a thing to anybody. Do you know who he was?”
Lily looked toward the ceiling, like she was thinking. “I remember him. But I don’t know, either.” Her gaze locked into her mother’s. “But I could find out.”
“No, that’s okay,” Clementine said quickly. “I was just curious.”
Lily grinned a little bit. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“All right. Let’s walk T.”
“Let’s do it. C’mon, Nugget.”
