Roslyn and Mrs. Chubb have recovered their jewelry and once more justice has been served.”
“At a cost to my good looks,” Baxter muttered, getting in the last word as usual.
Gertie stood near the window of the library, with one eye on the street. Guests and staff alike had been invited to the ceremony, and the room was packed, with every chair taken and many people standing around the Christmas tree.
Madeline stood next to her husband, her bare toes peeking out from under the hem of her flowing cotton frock. Defying expectations that her attire would become more appropriate once she was the doctor’s wife, Madeline continued to dress as she pleased, still raising eyebrows everywhere she went with her bohemian style of fashion. Gertie admired that. No one told Madeline Pengrath Prestwick what to do.
She glanced across the room to where Phoebe Carter-Holmes Fortescue stood hissing at her husband. The colonel’s bushy white eyebrows shot up and down, and he kept tugging on his mustache, but otherwise appeared unaffected by his fussy little wife’s reprimands. Gertie shook her head. Poor bugger. Nothing he ever did would please that woman.
Sighing, she glanced out the huge bay window again, hoping to see Dan’s motorcar pull up outside.
The lamps were lit all along the Esplanade. The shops had closed, and nothing moved on the street. It all looked so peaceful outside, and she felt a sudden longing to be out there, hoping the cold wind from the ocean would blow away her melancholy.
She missed Dan. Her heart ached at the thought of being without him again. This time probably for good. The twins would miss him dreadfully, but in time they’d forget him. She didn’t think she ever would.
All around her, voices were raised in a ragged but joyful rendition of “The Holly and the Ivy.” Someone moved to her side, and she looked into the smiling face of Clive.
“You’re not singing,” he said, bringing his head closer to hers in order to be heard above the chorus.
She shook her head. “Can’t sing, can I. What about you?”
He shrugged. “Not around anyone who can hear me.”
She managed a grin. “We’re in the same boat, then, aren’t we.”
He was smiling, too, but his eyes were serious when he looked at her. “Nice place to be, in the same boat as you.”
Her smile faltered, uncertain how to take that. She was about to answer when another voice grabbed her attention.
“Hello, Gertie.”
Turning, she felt a rush of relief and pleasure. “Dan! You came!”
His smile was all she needed. Warmth seemed to flood the room, and the lamps appeared to grow brighter. Flames leapt higher in the fireplace and the voices now seemed to sing in perfect harmony. Dan was there right in front of her, and it was finally Christmas.
She barely noticed Clive as he murmured a good night and melted away. Putting her hand in Dan’s she said softly, “I’ve been waiting for you.”
For answer he raised her hand to his lips. “Happy Christmas, love.”
And it was.
Kate Kingsbury
