A Vineyard White Christmas by Katie Winters

Author:Katie Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sisters fiction, contemporary fiction, women's fiction, clean & wholesome fiction, family fiction saga, holiday fiction
Publisher: Katie Winters
Published: 2020-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Later that week, Beth received word that Trevor Montgomery would begin physical therapy with her over the next few days. She hovered over the pot of macaroni and cheese she had cooked up for Will as her heart pounded. This physical therapy was the sort of task she had done countless times. The joy that came with giving someone their freedom back after an accident was the kind of joy that gave you wings. In this case, however, the stakes felt terribly high. She couldn’t make any kind of mistake. It was for Andrew. It was for Kerry. It was for Steve and Kelli and Charlotte and Claire. But most of all, it was for their shared past, the sights and sounds they had all experienced together, and the fact that once upon a time, they’d all known Kurt when he was alive.

The morning of Trevor’s first physical therapy session started out like any other. Little Will scrambled into the kitchen with his shirt on both inside-out and backward. After he fixed it himself, he sat for a plate of eggs, turkey bacon, and toast, which Beth tried to cook up for him every morning, as she knew it helped his anxiety ten-fold if he had something good in his belly. Then, they gathered up his homework assignments, his books, and the one toy he was allowed to bring to school before they stuffed themselves in their coats and rushed off into the chilly morning.

As there was a bit of extra time, Beth decided to park in the lot near the school and walk her son to the front door. He didn’t require it, not at eight, but she always took pleasure in it: the sounds of their feet crunching through the snow and the chill of the air against her cheeks. He told her wonderful things about a new dinosaur he liked, and she listened intently. She needed to remember it for next time, whether that next time be tomorrow or three years from now.

When they were no more than fifteen yards from the front door of the school, a snowball smacked across Will’s stomach. The whack was a hard one, the kind that left a red mark. Beth’s eyes found the perpetrator immediately: a kid in one of the other classes who sometimes liked to tease Will because of his autism.

Panic overwhelmed Beth, although she knew better than to show it. Will’s face crumpled up as Beth fell to her knees to whisper to him. “It’s okay! He’s playing with you,” she tried. All the while, the young boy’s laughter rang out like a horrible chorus.

“No, he’s not,” Will wailed.

“Baby, it’s okay.” She held him tightly against her and placed her chin on his shoulder as he shook. She held him like that until the kid got bored and paraded into the school with his other friends. She held him like that long-after the line of parent-drop-off had receded and minutes after the first bell had sounded. It became clear that Will wouldn’t enter the school that day; she had to make alternate plans.

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