A Wild Goose Chase Christmas: Quilts of Love Series by Jennifer AlLee

Author:Jennifer AlLee
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2012-01-04T23:00:00+00:00

14

The tree was beautiful. Curled up in the easy chair, her morning mug of tea cupped in her hands, Izzy enjoyed the festive display and mulled over the events of the previous evening.

Max’s revelation had taken her by surprise, but it explained a lot. Why he and Virgil were so close. Why family legacy and heritage meant something to him. No wonder Gran had promised him the Wild Goose Chase quilt. It represented family continuity and strength, something that had been lacking in his life.

Despite his resistance to joining in on a Christmas tradition, he’d seemed to enjoy himself. Trimming the tree had turned into a celebration in its own rite. Everybody had a story to tell about Gran. Most of them silly.

“Remember the time Gran decided we should make our own wrapping out of brown paper bags? After we bought all the stamps and markers, it would have been cheaper to buy wrapping paper.”

“What about the popcorn-stringing fiasco? After an hour of trying we had a string about ten inches long. Epic popcorn failure.”

“What about the time she took Bogie to have his picture taken with Santa? He grabbed that elf’s hat and we ended up chasing him through the mall.”

There was no shortage of tales to share. Before she knew it, Max had joined them at the tree, taking multicolored glass balls out of the packages and threading hooks through the loops, then handing them to Janice and Virgil to hang on the tree. When it came time to open Mom’s special box, Janice had explained every piece to their guests.

“Brandon made this during his Star Wars phase.”

“When was that,” Izzy asked, “last week?”

Brandon playfully bumped her shoulder as their mother held up a lopsided TIE fighter made of Legos with a satin loop coming from the center. The glue that held it together had seeped from between the bricks, making it appear as though it had flown too close to the sun.

“And this one is Izzy’s,” Mom said, holding up the next ornament. “Our tiny dancer.”

Izzy had grabbed the pipe-cleaner angel with the tulle tutu, hoping to hang it before Max noticed and asked any questions. She hadn’t been fast enough.

“You’re a dancer, Izzy?”

“Not anymore. But she used to be. She had so much promise.” Janice’s voice dropped, pulled down by disappointment.

Izzy answered Max’s questioning look with a shake of her head. “It’s a story for another time. How about this one, Mom?” The macaroni and yarn snowflake Izzy handed her had the desired effect, turning her mother’s attention to how artistic Brandon had been as a child.

It was the low point in an otherwise lovely evening.

Izzy sighed. Bogie, who lay on the floor beside the chair, raised his head and whined. She reached down, scratching behind his ear.

“Do you think she’ll ever forgive me for not living up to her dreams?”

The dog sneezed, and Izzy laughed.

“I don’t think so, either.”

Bogie jumped to his feet, ears pitched forward. A second later a knock sounded on the front door.

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