The Christmas Arrangement by A.J. Morrow

Author:A.J. Morrow [Morrow, A.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2020-12-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: Tinsel and Truth

When Tess woke up the next morning, it was to an empty bed. She stretched out across the mattress, her hand skimming over an indent in the memory foam where Colette had slept. It was still warm, she must have left right before Tess woke up.

Tess buried her head back in the pillow and sighed in contentment. It’d been months since she got to lie in two days in a row, and the feeling was magnificent. Gone was the near constant lethargy, the grogginess of a pre-coffee morning, and in its place was another slow, happy day. If she was honest with herself, Tess was enjoying this holiday way more than expected, way more than she’d to admit to Elsie, when she eventually spoke to her sister again.

Slowly, Tess opened her eyes. The curtains were open, revealing a white, snow laden sky, identical to the ground beneath. She stood and walked over to the balcony, but didn’t open the door. From her vantage point she could see flurries of perfect snow caught up in a gentle wind, dancing around each other in spirals before falling to the ground. It must have been snowing for hours, because every branch on every tree was covered, and icicles hung from their limbs, clear as glass.

Tess blew on the window and drew a smiley face in the fog that appeared. Perfect.

The sound of life downstairs was enough to shake her from her thoughts, so Tess grabbed an outfit from her suitcase and changed quickly. When she was dressed, she made her way into the kitchen, where she found Colette and Marian, discussing some complicated business deal. They both looked up when she entered, each with a slightly different expression on their face.

“What a wonderful sweater,” said Marian, though her tone made Tess think she meant the opposite.

Tess was wearing another very ugly Christmas sweater, this one with a sequined picture of Santa blazoned across the front.

“Thanks!” she said, choosing to give Marian the benefit of the doubt, “I got it at the thrift store.”

“I can see that—”

“I think it’s festive,” Colette interrupted. She smiled warmly at Tess, her eyes glowing, and gestured for her to come sit next to her.

“‘Tis the season.”

As they ate breakfast, more people came into the kitchen to join them. Arthur and Gus both sat at the table, as well as a little boy Tess had been introduced to the day before. His name was Jamie, and he was Colette’s second cousin, or something like that.

“How’re you doing, kiddo?” Tess said as he pulled a jar of chocolate spread toward him. “Are you gonna have any toast with that spread?”

“Um, maybe,” he said. He glanced furtively around the kitchen, and then dropped his voice. “Mommy says I can’t have any chocolate today, because of the play.”

“Why not?”

“Might get sick. It’s scary,” Jamie whispered.

Tess smiled. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Jamie grinned. He took a finger full of chocolate spread and shoved it in his mouth before any of the other adults could see.

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