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“That’s all she had planned or that was all the further she got?” he asked quietly, his hands in his pockets now as he stared at the floor.
“She signed it at the bottom the same way she did all the other displays, so I think that’s what she had planned.”
He lifted his head and sighed, his gaze focusing on the gazebo ceiling. “It’s November fourteenth. We missed her deadline already.”
I tucked the book back in my pocket and turned to him, resting my hands on his forearms. “Maybe we missed her deadline, but there’s plenty of time before the Christmas season officially begins to get a simple display like this one finished.”
He nodded a couple times but avoided my gaze as he thought about it. “I don’t think we have a Mary holding baby Jesus. We have the wisemen, but not Mary.”
“We can find one. I’ll look online, and if we’re lucky, I can locate one in Saginaw we can pick up tomorrow.”
His laughter was a relief to hear when his gaze finally met mine. “How do you think we’re going to get something that size in Coop?”
“Hey!” I exclaimed with feigned hurt. “Don’t insult Coop! You’d be surprised what he can hold. You’re probably right, though. We could always take the bakery van. If I’m lucky, Ivy will give me the go ahead on the gumdrop cake I want to make for the season. When she does, I’ll need to stop at the candy shop in the mall for more gumdrops.”
“Gumdrop cake? Okay, things have gotten out of control with you!”
I punched him lightly in the arm. “Watch it, buster! Besides, Mel loved my gumdrop cake, and the kids will go crazy for it this holiday season. Just wait until I give a slice to Ivy tomorrow at the meeting. It will be all over but the crying then.”
He held up his hands. “Okay, if you can convince Ivy that your gumdrop cake is the baked good no one knew they needed this Christmas, I’ll go with you to Saginaw after work. What if they don’t have a Mary, though?”
“I’ll order one. Shipping won’t take long, and we can work on all the other stuff in the meantime.”
His nod was swift but sad. “Sounds like a plan. It won’t win the neighborhood display this year, but—”
“But your neighbors will be happy to see you carrying on the tradition that your mom loved so much.”
He turned back to the tree and gazed up to the top of it once again. “I suppose you’re right. I just hope it’s what she would want.”
“I don’t think she would have written it down and put the book on the top of her craft supplies with a weird note on it if she hadn’t.”
He dropped his gaze to mine. “A weird note?”
“I think it might have been a mistake that it was on there. It was like a square, a circle, a triangle, and a few other shapes. It may have been how she was planning to lay it out in the yard.”
An emotion I couldn’t decipher skittered through his eyes before he nodded. “She did that every year.”
“That’s why it caught my attention. I knew it had to be her book. I don’t want you to feel pressured though. If you decide you’d rather not, I’ll understand.”
He bit his lower lip while he shook his head, drawing in a breath before he spoke. “We’re going to do it. As long as you agree to stay with me through the holidays.”
I tipped my head in confusion. “Your condition is that I stay at the house for the holidays? Why?”
“I like having you there, Gumdrop. Is it okay if I call you that or is it too kiddish?”
I rested my hand on his arm and took a step closer, his sudden shift in emotions drawing me to him. “Gumdrop is fine. I always secretly loved how you were the only one to call me that when everyone else called me Indie.”
“And now little Lucy calls you gumdrop too,” he said with thoughtfulness.
I laughed quietly into the night. “You mean wumdwop.”
His laughter followed as mine died off. “You have to admit that it’s cuter when she says it. I suppose she knows how special you are too. She’s intuitive that way, kind of the same way I am. I’ve learned to cut through the fake personas people use to deflect who they are on the inside. I don’t have to do that with you or Lucy. You’re both your true self all the time.”
“I don’t know how to be anything but authentic. My childhood taught me that lesson well.”
“Your home life was hard. I can see where that would change a person.”
“In my case, it was more like it shaped me. I didn’t want to show one face to the world and another face to the people I was supposed to love. Living in that house reminded me every day that I’d rather be my true self than pretend to be someone else. That’s how I’ve lived my life because, honestly, it’s easier to be who I am, even if someone doesn’t like me, than it is to be someone I’m not.”
