Chapter 3
Chapter Three
ISABEL
O h boy. The time had come to level with Sam, and Izzy didn’t know if she was ready. Struggling to hide her confusion, she rushed from Sam’s room. Avoidance had been her usual tactic with her older sister.
“Coming, coming!” she called out in a voice loud enough to be heard in her bedroom. When she opened the door, Holly was standing up in the crib. Almost one year old, the baby had learned to find her balance but she still wasn’t walking. Right now she had the railing in a fierce grip. Her gummy smile turned Isabel’s heart upside down. “Ready to get up, sweetheart?”
Smacking one hand on the railing and rocking back and forth, Holly broke into her usual gummy monologue. She loved to talk, not that Izzy could understand a word.
Picking the baby up, Izzy bobbed her up and down in her arms. She loved to smell the baby powder. But it was time to change her. Putting Holly back into the bed, she grabbed a diaper and some cream.
Sam was supposed to arrive tomorrow. Had Izzy gotten it all messed up? It wouldn’t be the first time. She still hadn’t decided how she was going to explain things to her older sister. But she’d been practicing. Oh yes, she’d taken several trial runs in front of a mirror. And she’d practiced while wearing a clean shirt and hair combed up into a ponytail.
But she’d expected her big sister tomorrow, not today.
Why was she so nervous? After all, it was Christmas, a time when families come together. But their family hadn’t been together in a very long time. They all had a right to come to Sunnycrest. The three sisters owned half of it, and Aunt Cate, the other half. But they were all so busy living their lives. Having Sam visit should have been encouraging. Her older sister had always helped her in so many ways, but sometimes Sam could have a heavy hand with her suggestions. Did Aunt Cate realize that?
Of course she did. Their aunt understood relationships. She’d been a highly successful attorney in New York for quite a long time. That career had probably saved her when Uncle Monty passed away a few years ago. Following his unexpected death, Aunt Cate had thrown herself into her work, and everyone seemed to understand that.
“Now you’re all fresh and clean.” Picking Holly up, Isabel buried her face in the baby’s neck, loving the soft skin and chubby cheeks. Feeling eyes on her back, she turned to find Samantha leaning in the doorway studying her. Her older sister was so beautiful.
Sam was the whole package. A woman who had everything. Wonderful marriage, successful career and a beautiful home outside Chicago. Sam and Kurt must have decided not to have children. Maybe they were smart because their lives had moved along according to plan.
Izzy’s life was more topsy-turvy. Hard to figure out. Sometimes she didn’t understand it herself.
“Good thing these rooms are large.” Wearing a tired smile, Samantha glanced around the room. She might be smiling, but those dark circles under her eyes reminded Izzy that her sister had had a rough day.
“Yes, plenty of room for the baby bed. And now I think she’s hungry.” She wanted to run from the room. “Maybe you should lie down, Sam. You look tired.”
“Then I won’t sleep tonight.” Sam ran a hand through her hair that had been clipped up and now was straggling. It was rare to see her sister this way.
“Maybe I’ll unpack,” Sam said. “Get straightened out.”
“Can we make the bed later?”
“No problem. Doesn’t matter.”
“Okay. I’ll be in the kitchen.” Dashing from the room, Izzy headed for the back staircase. The top newel post gave a little bit in her hand. One more thing on her to-be-fixed list. With Holly tight in her arms, she stepped carefully down the stairs.
When Izzy reached the kitchen, she slid the baby into the highchair. Grabbing a clean Christmas bib decorated with holly from the back of the chair, she tied it neatly around Holly’s neck. Making her delighted mumbling sounds, the baby began whacking the Christmas elf toy attached to her tray. Someday Izzy might be able to understand those sounds. She knew the baby was trying to tell her something. Going to the counter, she sprinkled cereal in the dish with some formula and grabbed a spoon to mix it all up.
“Can I help you with anything?” her sister asked behind her.
Izzy wheeled around, painfully aware of the dishes piled on the counter and the Cheerios crunching underfoot. “That didn’t take you long.”
“I decided it could wait.” Rubbing her eyes, Sam was studying the baby as if Holly had dropped from another planet.
This must be foreign territory for her older sister. Sure, Sam had babysat a lot for Marlowe and Izzy but that was a long, long time ago. And at the time, they had not been babies.
“There are jars of baby food in the pantry.” Izzy really could use a hand. “Can you find some pears? Holly likes those.”
“Holly?” Her sister smiled. “Sounds as if she might’ve been a Christmas baby.” Going into the old pantry, Sam found the pears. Coming back, Sam opened the jar with a firm twist and handed it to her.
Izzy say down next to the baby. She usually fed Holly her fruit straight from the jar and picked up a spoon. “Now here you go, little girl.” No way was she going to answer Samantha’s question.
Always one to tidy up, Sam was pouring warm water into the kitchen sink, along with some dish detergent. Izzy wanted her sister to relax while she was here. “Please, you don’t have to do that, Sam. I’ll get to it.”
“No problem. I like to keep busy.” Turning off the faucet, Samantha brushed the curtain aside. Outside the window, it was getting dark. The moon was rising, casting blue shadows over the snow.
“Will you just look at that, Sam? Isn’t it beautiful?” Izzy stopped spooning the pears into the baby’s mouth until Holly drummed her little feet against the highchair.
“Okay, okay. I get it.” She began to spoon cereal into Holly’s waiting mouth, alternating the cereal with the pears. The baby looked like a little bird.
Reaching below the sink, Samantha brought out a strainer and set it to one side of the sink.
Oh, would you please stop working . “Sorry that the dishwasher is broken.” Her sister’s constant activity made Izzy nervous.
“So what else is new?” Samantha said with a smile. Their father used to try to fix the dishwasher himself, so it broke a lot.
In some ways, being together in the kitchen felt like old times. When their parents had been alive, they’d alternated chores. Doing the dishes was one of them. Every week, one of them would wash, and the other would dry and put away. But no doubt Sam hadn’t washed dishes in a very long time. The dishwasher in her fabulous home probably always worked.
“Must seem strange to be back here.”
Turning, Samantha nodded. “Right. Not a bad thing, though. I’m glad I got here safely.”
Sam seemed shaken by her trip on the highway and Izzy didn’t blame her. The snow in northern Michigan was no joke. By the time Izzy finished feeding Holly, Sam had finished the dishes and put them all away. She was amazing in that way.
When they were growing up, her big sister could dedicate herself to any chore and neatly accomplish it. She’d set a high standard. Izzy usually got distracted from her chores, often by a phone call from some boy. On the other hand, Marlowe wanted to do things faster. Not better but fast. Some of the dishes in their Chicago home had been broken that way.
By that time Izzy was finished feeding Holly. Grabbing a dish towel, she wiped the baby’s hands and mouth. Holly smiled up at her. “Why don’t we go into the living room? I started a fire earlier and we could decorate the tree. I’m not quite finished.” She’d barely started. Her goal had been to finish tonight to surprise Sam with a tree that looked like their family tree.
“Sure.” Sam trailed behind her down the hall. “When will Holly’s mother be picking her up?”
Anxiety swirling in her stomach, Izzy pretended she hadn't heard and scurried into the living room. Balancing Holly on one hip, she snapped on the tree lights with the tap of one foot. Old fashioned Christmas lights brought the tree to life. Their mother’s collection of nutcracker ornaments were always the first ones to be hung on the tree. “Oh darn it, the fire has gone out.”
Izzy had found a Pack ‘n Play at Goodwill. Now she plopped Holly into the netted play area and handed her a couple of the toys to chew on. The baby was teething and would be drooling in no time. Then she twisted on the carousel mobile dangling over the baby’s head. Gurgling with delight, Holly dropped the teething ring and reached for the giraffes and horses slowly swirling above her head.
Behind her, Sam got busy crinkling up old newspapers that Izzy kept next to the firewood stacked on the hearth. Her sister knew what to do. After the newspapers, she piled some logs over the embers that had died out sometime ago. “The lighter is on the mantle.” Izzy pointed.
“I see you’ve put up the nativity set.” Sam nodded to the glassed in bookcases on either side of the fireplace. On top of one sat their creche set.
“I’ve had it up since Thanksgiving.” Going over to the bookshelves, Izzy puffed up the white sheet that she’d arranged over some shoeboxes to resemble the hills of Bethlehem. “Oh Sam, remember this?” Their mother always took so much time with the nativity set.
Flicking on the lighter, Sam bent to touch the flame to the dry newspapers. Thank goodness this time Izzy had the flue open, and the fire caught easily. She didn’t want all that smoke in the house again. “Who could forget the crib set? Mom loved it.” Sam set the lighter back on the mantle and then came over to pick up her favorite wise man. Sam loved the figurine with the purple robe, offering his gold container of myrrh.
Since Holly was being quiet, Isabel took the opportunity to finish stringing the tree lights. Despite her protests, Sam joined in. “I thought I'd have this all done before you came,” Izzy murmured. “I wanted everything to be pretty.”
“It's been a long time since I've decorated a tree,” Samantha said.
“Don't you and Kurt have one every year?” Izzy couldn't imagine Christmas without a tree.
Sam jerked her hand away. “At first we did. But it's been a while.”
“I suppose running your agency keeps you busy.” How she admired her sister, starting that company with her husband and building it into a successful business. That was so like Sam.
“It’s a lot of work all right.” But Sam’s voice was distant. She must be worn out.
Before long they had finished the lights and Izzy turned them on with a foot pedal she’d picked up last year. By that time Samantha had grabbed a box of the old ornaments Izzy had dragged down from the attic. The angels were fashioned from yarn, their cork faces painted by hand.
“Did Mom make these or did Grandma Norah?” Izzy hung one on the tree.
Sam glanced over. “It's been such a long time. I don't really remember. But their white skirts are so yellow, it might have been Grandma Norah.”
Outside, the wind had kicked up. Sparks flew up the chimney and Izzy was glad that Sam had come early. Sometimes this old house could creak in the night. Having someone here would be nice. “Time for some music.”
Their dad had always had Christmas carols playing while they decorated the tree. That was one of the unwritten rules in the Quinn house. Walking over to the FM radio on one of the shelves, Izzy soon had Andy Williams singing “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” For a second Holly stopped playing with the teething ring. Then she began to gurgle and clap her hands as if she was singing along. Isabel chuckled and grabbed another box of ornaments. “Mom and Dad weren't very creative when they chose their color scheme for the tree, were they?”
“Color scheme?” Sam said with a shake of her head. “I don't think they even had color schemes for a Christmas tree back then. Everything was red and green.”
“The years have gone by so fast, haven’t they?” Izzy thought back.
“Sometimes,” Sam said, an empty note in her voice.
“Maybe we should go up and make your bed.” Izzy felt torn. She wanted to finish decorating this tree, but she didn't want her exhausted sister struggling with that big old bed herself.
Her eyes looking heavy, Samantha glanced back toward the old brown sofa that flared into big comfortable arms. A red and green hand crocheted afghan was tossed over the back. Their mother had crocheted that afghan and Izzy had discovered it in one of the Christmas boxes up in the attic. Her sister's soft smile told her that she recognized it too.
Izzy’s heart warmed when Samantha settled onto the sofa, positioning one of the brown cushions behind her head before pulling the afghan over herself. “Just ten minutes,” Sam murmured. “Then I'll help you finish up that tree.”
Soon her sister was fast asleep. Creeping over to the radio, Isabel turned down the volume of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Pressing a finger to her lips, she said, “Sssh,” to Holly. But the baby giggled back at her. When Holly tried to make the shushing sound herself, it sounded more like a strawberry.
The tree was finished in no time. Leaving the tree lights on, Izzy lifted Holly into her arms and crept up the steps. Sam would probably be asleep for a while and darn it, Izzy was going to finish putting those sheets on the bed so Sam didn’t have to do it. Piper had come in from the kitchen and, tail wagging, followed them up the steps.
But Izzy had forgotten about Bogart. When she entered Sam’s room, the cat gave her one startled look and scurried under the bed. Piper immediately dashed to the bed, wanting to play. Izzy had quite a time getting the dog out the door and closing it.
Grabbing an old quilt from the end of the bed, she spread it out on the floor so that Holly could play on it for a while. Izzy took a couple of small teething toys from her pocket and handed them to Holly, who giggled with delight. Going back to the bed Izzy lifted the dust ruffle and peeked. Poor Bogart was cowering in a corner.
“You poor thing,” she told the cat. “You can come out now. Piper’s gone.”
But Bogart stayed curled up, no doubt wondering where he was. “It’s safe here. You’re safe,” she told him. But he wasn’t coming out. “Okay. Have it your way.”
Stepping over to the window seat, she lifted the cushions. The sheets were always stored inside. In no time at all she had sheets on the bed and the pillows in their pillowcases. Everything smelled fresh and welcoming.
Those dirty dishes in the sink had not been a pretty sight. She certainly didn't want Samantha to think that this mess was how she ran the house. Her plan had been to have the house tidied up and the tree decorated by the time her big sister arrived.
Things had been so chaotic for the last couple of weeks. They’d turned out so many Christmas cupcakes and cookies at her shop. Her arms ached from lifting the heavy trays. But she was grateful to have her business. Somehow Izzy would get everything done. She wanted Sam to see her as competent. Wanted her to think that she could handle everything.
Lifting Holly from the floor, she grabbed the comforter and as best she could threw it over the bed. Then she went into her own room, plopped Holly into her white baby bed and gave her a pacifier. “I'll be right back.”
Racing downstairs, she grabbed a bottle of milk from the refrigerator. At least Holly didn't need warmed formula anymore. She was way beyond that but she did like the comfort of a bottle before bed. On her way back, Izzy detoured through the living room and found Sam sound asleep, one hand flung above her head. How good of her to come. Izzy was glad Sam seemed to like the tree.
All those old family ornaments still had a place in Izzy’s heart. They took her back to happy years with her parents. No way would she ever outgrow them. Some of the ornaments dated back to their grandparents. Grandma Norah had crocheted the white snowflakes. Izzy remembered watching her grandmother press them with a hot iron every holiday.
Giving the tree a final look, Izzy decided to leave the tree lights on so when Sam woke up, she would see the tree. She’d looked so tired when Izzy first opened the door. Sam was way too thin. Izzy had never seen her with those dark circles under her eyes and the hollow cheeks worried her.
Outside the winter wind rattled the eaves and some icicles clinked as they fell into the snow below. Tiptoeing over to the sofa, she tucked the afghan up under Samantha's chin. The house could get cold at night when Izzy turned the heat down.
Izzy had always felt proud of her big sister and maybe a little jealous too. Things always worked out for Sam. Upstairs, Holly sent up a piercing wail. Piper came rattling down the steps, passing her as Isabel raced up with the bottle of milk. She had to chuckle when the dog quickly turned around to follow her up the stairs. Piper was always very protective of the baby. That dog really was something else. Isabel hoped that she would get along with Bogart. She wanted everybody to feel at home here.
Peace and harmony. That’s what she wanted this year, peace like all the Christmas songs.