Merry's Christmas: A Love Story by Susan Rohrer Read Free Book Online Page B

memories. For
Christmas!”

 
     
     
     
     
    five
     

     
    T ara and
Hayden cleared the Bell’s dinner table as Merry sat guiltily with Ollie on the
living room sofa. Tara lingered, a look of concern on her face, as her father
silently paced in front of the culprits.
    Merry kicked herself. The thrill ride of
her first day had come to a screeching halt. Her mind whirled. Why hadn’t she
been clearer with Ollie? Though she feared it would get her fired, Merry knew
what she had to say. Her heart pounding, she prodded herself to open her mouth
and speak. Finally, the fearsome words that she knew could end it all came out.
“It was all my fault. Really, Mr. Bell.”
    Daniel studied Merry, and then turned to
his young son. “Ollie, did you not know that was the good family china?”
    “She said it was okay!” Ollie protested.
    “I did, Sir. In a way,” Merry admitted.
    “Please, do not call me Sir ,”
Daniel blustered. “And I assume you have an explanation why you’re encouraging
my son to engage in vandalism?”
    “It was a mix up,” Merry explained. “I’d
bought these thrift store dishes. I got them to break and make ornaments from
the pieces. Then, I went up to talk to the girls and—”
    Daniel cut her off. “Yes. So they tell
me,” he said. He turned to his son. “Ollie, would you go do your homework?”
    Ollie glanced at Merry, his brow knit
with worry. “But what’s going to happen to—”
    Daniel quickly gestured to the stairway.
“Now, Oliver. I’ll be up in a bit.” Ollie obediently headed up the steps. Next,
Daniel pivoted to address his eavesdropping daughters. “Girls, I believe your
grandmother could use your help in the kitchen.”
    As the twins reluctantly disappeared,
Merry stood, imploring, “Please. Take the price of the china out of my pay.”
    “And just how do I dock you for the
sentimental value of it?” Daniel countered. “That platter was an heirloom. From
their mother’s side. Let alone worth a small fortune.”
    “And can I tell you how completely awful
I feel about that?” Merry rued.
    Daniel kept pacing, then abruptly he
stopped. He turned back to Merry, weary and forlorned. “You promised me the
perfect Christmas.”
    “I did,” Merry replied. “But Mr.
Bell...perfect doesn’t mean everything goes exactly right. That kind of
perfect, it’s pretty much forgettable, I think. But when something goes
wrong—well, that really is the kind of thing you hang your memories on.”
    The tiniest flicker of a change on
Daniel’s face told Merry that somehow, she was starting to get through to him.
She knew that she was still a long way from out of the woods, but it encouraged
her to continue. “Years from now, think of it,” she said. “Ollie will be
putting those ornaments on his own tree. Can’t you just hear him laughing,
telling your grandkids the story?”
    Daniel crinkled his lips, softening ever
so slightly. “I suppose you could spin it that way. But what’s this with these
lists? The girls don’t want to do it. At least, Hayden doesn’t.”
    “You said you wanted a family Christmas,”
Merry reminded.
    “Which I expected you to handle.”
    Merry braved stepping closer to Daniel.
She kept her voice calm and quiet enough so as not to be overheard by the twins
she presumed might be listening in, just past the kitchen door. “That’s why I’m
trying to get them to be part of it. If I just think it up, buy it up, put it
up, and wrap it up myself, how special would that be?”
    Daniel sat tiredly, his tone changing. He
scratched the back of his head. “You sound like Amanda. Next thing, you’ll tell
me I work too much.”
    Merry sat back down beside him. “Do you?”
    “Maybe,” Daniel replied. “It’s not like
it’s been easy. Raising them alone. Trying to get them past what I—maybe not
get them past it. That’s not the right word. It’s not like I want them to
forget, but... Why am I telling you this?”
    Merry smiled softly,