Christmas In Icicle Falls
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Addition and subtraction. Other kids Leo’s age were on to multiplication and division and Leo was putting pencils up his nose. This behavior wasn’t anything new but it was still disheartening. Sienna heaved a sigh.
“This is not unusual,” Mrs. Brown said gently. “Children with special needs often prefer to ignore dealing with unpleasant tasks. As do most of us,” she added with a smile.
“I know. And I have talked to him in the past. I’ll speak with him again.”
“He is making some progress,” Mrs. Brown assured her. “If you could work with him a little more at home, that might help.”
“I’m doing all I can, Mrs. Brown, believe me.”
The woman gave her a sympathetic nod. “I know. It’s hard. Don’t give up. And remember, he needs concrete examples and step-by-step direction. I’m sure you have other aspects of his life where you have to do this.”
As a matter of fact, she did. Even simple tasks like taking a bath could get complicated. Leo needed to be reminded that washing his hair required another step beyond simply sudsing up his scalp. When she forgot to remind him to rinse it out, he often wound up crying with soap in his eyes. Setting the table was done with everything mapped out and she still had to stand over him when he loaded the dishwasher and supervise the process.
“We have a lot of the school year left,” Mrs. Brown assured her.
Sienna wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for that or depressed by it. She thanked the teacher and left.
She saw Leo standing at Rita’s living room window when she went to pick him up, but by the time she got inside, he was hiding behind the couch. Rita had her toddler on her hip, and at the sight of Sienna little Linda squealed happily and reached for her, crying, “Si-si.”
“Hello, my beautiful niece,” she said and took the child. She would have loved to have had another child, but that probably wouldn’t happen now with no husband in the picture. As a single parent, she felt that one child was all she could handle, especially when that one child had special needs.
Still holding Linda, she walked into the living room. “You can come out now.”
Leo’s head popped around the corner of the couch. “Hi, Mama.”
“Have you been behaving yourself for Tía Rita?”
He nodded but still stayed behind the couch.
“How’d it go?” Rita asked.
Leo’s head disappeared.
“It could have been worse.” Sienna kissed the toddler’s head. “Your teacher says you’re a sweet boy. Is that true, my son?”
Leo peeked around the corner of the couch and made a silly face.
“And she says you’re a clown.”
“I like clowns.”
“That’s nice, but you can’t be a clown when you’re supposed to be doing your schoolwork,” Sienna told him.
He frowned.
“Tito will be disappointed if he hears you’re not paying attention in school,” put in Rita.
The frown dug deeper.
“But we’re going to work on that, aren’t we?” Sienna said cheerfully.
Leo went back behind the couch and now Sienna frowned.
“Remember, the teacher said what a sweet boy he is. I know a lot of parents who’d give anything to hear that from their kids’ teacher,” Rita said. “Come on out to the kitchen, have a cup of coffee.”
“No, we should get going. The snow’s starting to stick and I want to get home.”
“You’re good to go now. You’ve got snow tires.”
“I also want to get my lights up before it gets dark.”
“Okay, fine. Linda and I both should take a nap, anyway.”
Sienna gave back the baby and summoned her son, and he reluctantly came out of hiding. She felt as though she should give him a stern talking-to on the way home and insist that there would be no more showings of Cars until he stopped clowning around in class. But really, clowning was preferable to tears. So instead, she hugged him as they walked down her cousin’s front walk and told him she loved him.
“I’ll try harder, Mamacita,” he said softly.
“You just try your best. That’s all anyone can do.”
When she’d first left for her conference, only a few little snowflakes had been drifting lazily toward the ground. Now an entire army of flakes was falling, quickly smothering the street and adding to the thick blankets on the lawns.
“It’s snowing!” Leo announced.
Brrr. Maybe she’d rethink hanging her Christmas lights.
Except Leo hadn’t forgotten that decorating the house was on the agenda. “Can we do our lights now?”
“Yes, on one condition. You have to promise you’ll try to have a good attitude about schoolwork tonight.”
Leo frowned. “I promise,” he said reluctantly.
Once they got home, she fetched the boxes of lights she’d purchased earlier in the week. “This is going to look like Disneyland,” Leo predicted as he followed her out onto the front yard.
Hardly, but it would look nice.
The new snow had lured out many of the neighbor kids and they were racing back and forth through yards, throwing snowballs at each other. She caught Leo watching them, yearning to be a part of the fun. The last time he’d joined in, the fun had involved a baseball sailing through Mr. Cratchett’s living room window and it hadn’t turned out so well.
Jimmy Wilson, a nice little boy who lived a few houses down, came running up to them. “Can Leo play?”
Jimmy was one boy in the neighborhood who was kind to Leo, who didn’t see him as different. Jimmy was seven and Leo was nine. The age difference worked to Leo’s advantage.
“Yes!” Leo cried. “Can I go play?” he asked Sienna.
“Of course,” she said. Snowball fights were infinitely more exciting than putting up Christmas lights.
The words were barely out of her mouth before he and Jimmy were charging off across the lawn. As far as Leo was concerned, snow was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Sienna smiled until she heard a boy call, “Here comes the retard.”
Her jaws clamped together and her good mood evaporated. When Rita had suggested she leave LA and move to Icicle Falls, it had seemed like a good idea. Leo had been having trouble in school and she’d grown weary of the traffic, pollution and worrying about staying in a neighborhood that was becoming increasingly more populated with unsavory characters. A move to her cousin’s idyllic mountain town had seemed like the best solution, especially when Rita had painted a glowing picture of Icicle Falls. Gorgeous scenery, clean mountain air and a good school for Leo, friendly people.
But Sienna had quickly discovered that a small town could be just as hard on a child’s psyche as a big city. It hadn’t taken the other kids long to figure out that Leo wasn’t as mentally sharp as the rest of them. Then the bullies had surfaced and the name-calling had begun, leaving him hurt and angry.
She’d love to have aimed a snowball at whoever had just called out those hurtful words.
“I am not a retard,” Leo cried hotly.
Sienna turned to summon him back just in time to see Mr. Cratchett checking his mailbox, kids racing past him down the sidewalk. And here came Leo after the biggest one, a scowl on his face and a tightly packed snowball in his hand. He hurled it with all his might.
And missed.
His target danced away, laughing, even as the icy weapon beaned Mr. Cratchett on the head. Sienna watched in horror as Cratchett blinked, staggered and lost his balance, stumbling backward onto his lawn.
Chapter Four
Be sure to include that new family member in your holiday preparations.
—Muriel Sterling, A Guide to Happy Holidays
Laughing and whooping, the herd of boys moved on, taking their snowball fight to the other end of the street.
Leo’s friend Jimmy stood for a moment, wide-eyed, and then he bolted.
Leo simply froze in the street, staring in horror.
“Leo, get out of the street!” Sienna called as she rushed to help Mr. Cratchett.
An approaching car honked and Leo jumped and moved out of the way. He slowly approached Cratchett, who was struggling to his feet, and said in a small voice, “I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay, Mr. Cratchett?” Sienna asked as she bent to help him up.
He waved away her hand. “I’m fine, no thanks to your son. I could’ve broken my hip. As it is, I think I’ve sprained my wrist.”
Oh, no. What if he had? What if he expected her to pay the doctor bill?
Now he was upright again and brushing the snow off his backside. Leo tried to help him and was promptly told to keep his hands to himself. “You’ll get the doctor bill for this,” he informed Sienna. Of course she would.
Just what she wanted for Christmas. “Absolutely,” she said. “I’m really sorry.”
“You’re lucky I don’t sue you,” Cratchett added.
Oh, Lord. She wouldn’t put it past him.
“I didn’t mean to hit you,” Leo told him.
“Well, you did. Didn’t you?” Cratchett snapped.
“I didn’t mean to,” Leo repeated, tears beginning to make their appearance. “I was trying to hit Tommy Haskel.”
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Sienna said, patting her son’s arm.
Cratchett glared at her. “It is not! These kids run around throwing snowballs every which way, hitting innocent bystanders, and then you coddle them.”
“He said he was sorry,” Sienna snapped, her mama-bear side showing itself.
Now Leo began to cry in earnest and she hugged him.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Sienna scolded Cratchett.
“Me?” he protested. “Who’s the one who got hit?”
At that moment a red truck pulled up to the curb. A large man with a dark beard wearing jeans, boots and a black parka stepped out of it. “Hey there, uncle. Making friends with the neighbors?” he said with a smile.
Cratchett told him he was a smart-ass and stomped back up his front walk.
This man was related to Mr. Cratchett? Poor him.
“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” said the man. “You must be the killer of the juniper bush.” He had a deep voice and a nice smile.
But Sienna was in no mood to smile back. “Your uncle is...impossible.”
“Yes, he is,” the man agreed.
“He’s made my life miserable ever since we moved in.” Why was she complaining to this man? As if he had any control over his uncle’s behavior?
“It’s a gift.” The man held out a gloved hand. “I’m Tim Richmond.”
She took his hand and shook it. His big hand swallowed hers and she felt a little tingle in her chest. Tingle bells, tingle bells... It’s been way too long.
Oh, stop, she commanded herself. Anyone even remotely related to Cratchett wasn’t worth getting stirred up over. He was probably married, anyway. If he took off his glove, she was sure there’d be a sign of ownership there on his left hand.
“Sienna Moreno,” she said, all business so her hormones would get the message. “This is my son, Leo.”
“I saw him in action when I was coming up the street. That’s quite an arm you’ve got on you, son, if you can knock a grown man over,” Tim said with a wink.
Leo looked at the man suspiciously and wiped his runny nose with his coat sleeve. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”
“I know you didn’t. Don’t mind the old guy. He gets grumpy sometimes.”
Sienna cocked an eyebrow. “Sometimes?”
“Well, okay, a lot of times.”
Now Cratchett had his front door open. “Are you going to get in here and fix my sink or just stand out there jawing all day?” he hollered.
“I’m coming. Keep your shirt on,” Tim hollered back.
“His shirt is on,” Leo pointed out.
“So far,” the man said. He had a nice smile. He opened the passenger door of his truck, reached inside and pulled out a toolbox. “Don’t mind my uncle. He’s got issues.”
As if that excused his behavior? “Well, I’m going to have issues before he’s done with me. Anyway, that’s no excuse for being rude to a child.”
“He’s mean,” put in Leo.
“Yeah, sometimes he is.”
“Are you coming?” roared Cratchett.
Tim scowled in the direction of his uncle’s house. “Shut the door, unc’,” he yelled. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” Cratchett’s door slammed shut and Tim turned his attention back to Sienna. “Nice to meet you. Maybe next time it will be under better circumstances.”
“If your uncle’s around? I’m not holding my breath,” Sienna replied. “Maybe you can give him kindness lessons,” she said, adding a smile to show her grumpiness wasn’t directed at him.
“Trust me, I keep trying.” He gave a friendly nod and then made his way up Cratchett’s front walk.
Wouldn’t it be nice to get someone like him for Christmas?
Sienna pushed away the thought. Her life was full enough with Leo and her family and friends. Besides, Cupid hadn’t exactly come through for her lately. After her ex and the losers she’d dated since her divorce, she didn’t trust the little guy.
“Come on,” she said to her son. “Let’s finish stringing our lights.”
Putting up the Christmas lights was enough to make Leo forget his earlier misery. His sunny disposition quickly surfaced once the front porch and windows were glowing with multicolored bulbs.
Sienna, too, was pleased with how pretty their house looked. There were certainly benefits to living in a gorgeous small town like Icicle Falls, and the home she was able to provide for her son was one of them.
An older couple from the neighborhood strolled by and waved. “Your house looks lovely,” the woman called.
“Thanks,” Sienna called back.
At least most of her neighbors were nice. If only the Grinch would come along and steal Cratchett. Then they’d have peace on earth.
* * *
Once the guests had checked out, Mondays were often a quiet day at the Icicle Creek Lodge, and Olivia took advantage of that to run errands or go shopping in nearby Wenatchee. She usually tried to buy from her fellow business owners in town, but many of those shops were closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. In addition to that, while the town was filled with charming specialty shops that catered to tourists, as well as a grocery store and drugstore, it was lacking the malls or department stores the larger cities boasted. When a woman wanted new underwear or a nightgown, she had to look elsewhere.
Today Olivia was in need of a new bra. She also wanted to do a little Christmas shopping, and this was as good a time as any to slip away and do it.
She mentioned her intention to scoot off while she and Brooke were in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast.
“Would you mind if I come with you?” Brooke asked. “Eric needs some new jeans and I want to pick up a few things for the baby.”
“Of course not. I’d love the company.”
She always enjoyed spending time with Brooke. Her daughter-in-law was sweet and generous and she shared Olivia’s love of elegant home furnishings, fancy soaps and all things lavender, especially the lavender lemonade and lavender cookies to be had at Bailey Black’s tearoom.
When they’d first met, Brooke had been mourning the loss of her mother and hadn’t been enthused about another woman taking her mom’s place in her father’s heart. But in the end she’d been happy to see both James and Olivia find love again, and while Olivia knew she could never take the place of Brooke’s mother, she and her stepdaughter had become good friends.
Once the last guests departed, Olivia and Brooke left, also. “We’ve been so busy it seems like we’ve hardly had any time together, so this is a real treat,” Olivia told her as Brooke drove them down Highway 2 out of town.
“Yes, it is,” Brooke agreed. “Gosh, I wonder if Meadow wanted to come with us.”
Olivia should have asked her, but really, she’d been looking forward to getting away from the girl for a while. “I’m sure she and Brandon are going skiing today,” she said airily, determined to silence the nudge from her conscience.
“I thought that was tomorrow.”
“Was it?”
“Should we go back?”
“They probably have plans. After all, they’re still newlyweds.” And brides wanted to spend time with their husbands. This bride did, certainly. She was always there. Every time Olivia hoped for a moment to enjoy her son’s company, along came Meadow, demanding attention, wanting him to go somewhere with her, needing Brandon’s advice. Sometimes Olivia thought the girl was jealous of the relationship she had with her son.
Who else is sounding a bit jealous? Olivia pushed the thought away, consigning it to a far corner of her mind, right along with her earlier vow to look for the good in her new daughter-in-law.
With all guilty thoughts gone, she enjoyed her afternoon with Brooke and got most of her holiday shopping done. She still had to think of something for Meadow. What would the girl like? Olivia had no idea. Well, she still had plenty of time until Christmas. She’d figure out what to get later.
“That was fun, Mom. Thanks,” Brooke said as they walked back into the lodge, laden with packages.
“Yes, it was,” Olivia agreed. The words were barely out of her mouth when she caught sight of Meadow on the first stair landing, looking down at them, the hurt plain on her face.
Oh, no. Olivia could feel her cheeks go hot with shame. She should have asked Meadow to join them.
Meadow whirled around and vanished down the hall and Olivia was aware of Brooke looking at her with concern. “I’d better ditch your father’s present before he returns from his errands,” Olivia said and beat a hasty retreat. There was going to be fallout from this.
Sure enough, she was barely done putting away her purchases when her son came to the apartment looking for her. It didn’t take a psychic to know why he was there.
She gave him a kiss and forestalled the unpleasant conversation by asking if he’d like a cup of coffee.
“No, thanks.” He wasn’t smiling.
“Were you and Eric able to fix those burned-out lights on the trees out front?” A silly question. She’d seen the two firs out front when she and Brooke returned and all the lights had been working fine.
“Yeah. Mom.”
Here it came. Olivia retreated to her kitchenette in search of coffee, Muffin, the cat, following in the hope of getting more cat food.
“Meadow’s feeling left out. She’d like to have gone shopping with you and Brooke.”
They should have gone back and invited Meadow. Wicked Mother-in-Law of the Year, that was her.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, dear, and she was nowhere in sight.” Olivia took a mug from the cupboard, keeping her back turned to her son.
“Would you have asked her if she was?”
She wasn’t that awful. “Of course.”
He frowned. “Mom, I know you don’t like her.”
Olivia focused her attention on putting a pod in her Keurig. “Don’t be silly. Of course I like her.” Oh, what a whopper.
“Is that why every time you smile at her, you look like you’ve got gas?”
“Don’t be crude.”
The scold didn’t sidetrack him. “You spend time with Brooke. You’ve got her doing a lot of stuff around here. Meadow could help, too.”
Ah, now here she at least had a leg to stand on. “She did on Thanksgiving Day, and I had her help decorate on Saturday.” Not content with being a handicap in the kitchen on Thanksgiving, Meadow had managed to drop a box of imported glass balls the day they decorated, breaking several. She’d been quick to point out that they hadn’t been very well packed. “Really, Brandon, what more do you want?” Olivia hoped he’d realize that was a rhetorical question.
He moved to her side and put a hand on her arm. “I want you to give her a chance. Can you do that, Mom? For me?”
Of course, she had to. If she didn’t, she’d lose her son. She turned to face him. “I’ll try. But honestly, I don’t know what you saw in this girl,” she couldn’t help adding.
His eyes narrowed and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “Try harder—then maybe you’ll see.”
Okay, she deserved that. Even so, her son’s displeasure stung. She managed a nod.
Brandon’s expression softened. “She’s got a good heart, Mom, and she really wants to be part of the family.”
“I want her to be, too.” Another lie, but at this moment honesty would not be the best policy.
“Good, because otherwise it’s probably not going to work out for us to be here.”
The ultimatum made her blink, but she knew she shouldn’t be surprised by it. When it came to picking sides, a wise man sided with his wife. Sad for her, but that was how it should be. What God has put together, let no mother-in-law put asunder.
Anyway, a man shouldn’t have to choose. It was wrong of her to put her son in that position. “Darling, I really will make more of an effort, I promise,” she said with tears in her eyes. The thought of him leaving so soon after he’d decided to move back in with them was not one she wanted to consider.
He came around the counter and hugged her. “Thanks, Mom. I knew I could count on you.”
Theoretically. So far she hadn’t been very reliable. And that was hardly to her credit.
“I don’t think she’s got a good relationship with her mom,” he continued. “She could use someone in her corner.”
He was right. Olivia would do better. She’d try harder. “Maybe Meadow would like to help with breakfast. We only have a few guests checking in later today, so tomorrow will be easy.”
“Good idea,” he said, grinning.
That settled it, then. “Tell her to be in the kitchen tomorrow at six.”
“How about you tell her?”
After that moment in the lobby Olivia wasn’t particularly excited about facing her daughter-in-law, but she nodded. “All right.”
She didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome when she went to her son’s little suite at the opposite end of the lodge. The look Meadow gave her shot her back to an incident in her childhood when she and a friend had snubbed another little girl on the playground at lunch. The hurt had come off the child in waves and Olivia hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything the teacher said the whole rest of the afternoon. Those same waves were coming at her now.
“May I come in?” she asked.
Meadow nodded and moved aside, opening the door farther.
Olivia stepped in. The TV was on. Dr. Phil was working with a dysfunctional family. Olivia could almost hear him saying, You’re next, Mrs. Claussen. She cleared her throat. “Meadow, I’m sorry I didn’t think to invite you to come shopping with me today.” And sorry I didn’t want to think to!
Meadow studied the roses on the carpet. “It’s okay.”
Of course, it wasn’t, and the fact that Meadow was so quick to forgive only shone a spotlight on Olivia’s lack of kindness. “Maybe we can fit in an outing, just the two of us.” Penance.
Meadow’s gaze lifted and the gratitude Olivia saw in her daughter-in-law’s eyes made her feel small. “Yeah?”
“Yes. Meanwhile, I could use some help at breakfast tomorrow. Would you be up for that?”
The girl was beaming now. “Sure. What time?”
“We start serving at seven, so I need you in the kitchen at six.”
Meadow’s eyebrows shot up. “Six?”
“If that’s too early for you...” I’ll be off the hook.
“No, I can do that,” Meadow said gamely. “I’ll tell Brandon we have to wait and go night skiing.”
“Oh, if you had plans...”
“No, no. I’ll be there.”
“Are you sure? Because if you’re already busy...”
“I can change my plans. Really. I want to help.”
Olivia smiled weakly and tried not to think about the so-called help Meadow had been with the Thanksgiving Day meal. Well, they weren’t serving gravy at breakfast, so maybe it would be okay.
“If you’re sure,” she said in a last-ditch effort to give Meadow an out.
Except the one she was trying to give an out was herself. Once more that spotlight exposed Olivia’s own ignoble attitude. Who was the real ugly tree here?
“Oh, yeah,” Meadow said, still smiling. “I’m sure.”
Okay, the girl did seem to have a good heart. “Wonderful,” Olivia said. And darn it all, she was determined to mean it.
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