Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
SAMANTHA
H ow long had it been since Sam had been in the attic? It was freezing up there but the huge area of rafters and unfinished wood still smelled like an attic, dry and a bit dusty. Two lights dangled from the rafters, revealing stacks of boxes, some half open. She could tell that Izzy had been going through the Christmas decorations. Really, how had her sister managed this all alone? Skirting the boxes, Sam headed to the two closed doors.
At one point this attic had been partially finished. They'd never been certain if the family before theirs had used these rooms or if they were used for the help. Some of the homes up here dated way back, belonging mostly to Chicago or Detroit families. During the summer those families would escape to the lake community, often bringing their staff.
Her grandparents, Norah and Clarence, took ownership of the house a long time ago. Both attic rooms had closets and in one she dug out a big navy coat with a hood. Mittens were stuffed in the pockets. Had this been her mother's coat? It sure looked familiar. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the fabric. But many years had passed. So she kept looking and eventually found an old pair of man's snow boots. Marlowe had a size eleven foot and those should fit fine. With the coat and boots in her arms, she went back down the stairs.
“Look what I found for you!” She knocked at Marlowe’s door.
Opening the door, Marlowe reached for the jacket. “Not a high fashion moment but good enough. Thank you.”
Slipping into the jacket, Marlowe held out her arms. “Hey, wait a minute. Wasn’t this Mom’s?”
“You could be right. Is that okay?”
“It’s wonderful. Hello, Mom.” Smiling, Marlowe gathered the coat around her and dug into the pockets. Holding up the mittens, she smiled. “And these are a Christmas bonus.”
Sam was relieved that her sister was okay with the coat. Why not? It looked warm. “See you downstairs. I want to help clean up the kitchen before we take on the driveway.” But when Sam reached the first floor, her aunt and sister had things well in hand.
“I'll be right out,” Izzy told Sam as she reached for a towel to dry the pans.
“You two go,” Aunt Cate said, taking the towel from her hands. The baby was in the Pack ‘n Play, happily playing with her fingers. “Holly and I will be fine in here.”
“Then I’m going up to change.” Izzy was already headed for the stairs. The poor girl probably hardly ever got to do things on the spur of the moment. Seeing her sister as a mother was quite an experience.
Marlowe came clomping down the steps as Izzy was charging up. She was quite the sight in her white pants and navy jacket. The huge boots were a great addition and might have been their dad’s.
But Aunt Cate’s face had paled.
“Isn’t this great?” Sam stepped into the silence. “Mom’s jacket.”
“I’m loving it.” Marlowe did a little spin. “I may not be the model of Charlevoix chic but this jacket carries a lot of good memories.”
Whatever had crossed Aunt Cate’s mind, she shook it off. Coming closer, she gave Marlowe a hug. “Sorry, dear. You just startled me for a moment. You know, wearing your mom’s coat. You look wonderful. Now get out of my kitchen.”
“Happy to oblige,” Marlowe said.
Giving her aunt a kiss on the cheek, Sam shepherded her sister down the back steps and into the garage. But she hadn’t missed the tears gathering in her aunt’s eyes.
After rummaging around in the freezing garage, they uncovered two old, battered shovels and one newer one. The bag of salt was frozen solid. Picking it up, Marlowe slammed it against the concrete floor.
Sam watched in awe. “Hey, are you working out or what?” Sometimes her sister amazed her.
“Of course.” Laughing, Sam and Marlowe began the chore of shoveling the driveway. Lifting the snow wasn’t easy. At times they had to chip away frozen snow that had been there a while.
Sam’s back began to ache when they were about halfway done. By that time Izzy had joined them. Before long, her nose was red and so were her cheeks. “And now you know why I never clear this darn driveway. It's too long.”
“You’re right about that.” Puffing out a breath, Marlowe rested both hands on the shovel. “Remember when we used to make snow angels?” She nodded toward the lower portion of the driveway they hadn’t shoveled yet.
“When we were kids,” Sam said, thinking back to their grade school days. “I sure do.”
Tossing her shovel aside, Izzy let herself flop back into the snow. With no hesitation at all Sam and Marlowe did the same, whooping wildly as they swished their arms and legs. Before long three angels patterned the driveway. The sisters stood back to admire their work.
“The angels are a lot bigger than they were when we were little girls,” Izzy said with a tinge of nostalgia in her voice.
“We have experienced angels here,” Marlowe said with her irrepressible smile. “Angels with years of wisdom beneath their shiny halos.”
“I'm not sure about the halos. But we've all been through a lot. That’s for sure.” Throwing back her head, Sam looked up at the night sky. In Charlevoix a million stars came out at night filling the sky with wonder. There were no big city lights to dim their grandeur. How beautiful it was.
Marlowe turned to face her baby sister. “Why didn't you tell us about Holly?”
Izzy ducked her head but not before Sam saw those red cheeks. “I don't know. I wanted to do something on my own that worked out. Maybe I wanted to surprise you.”
“But we could have helped,” Sam said in a quiet voice. Then she stopped. This past year? Was she kidding herself? She'd been wrapped up in her own drama. What would she have done? Come up here to do night feedings? Navigating the divorce had not been easy, both on a personal and business level. No, Izzy had done it her way and Sam respected that.
“I see that now. But I didn't back then.” Izzy glanced from Marlowe to Sam. How often had they seen this helpless look on her face? She wanted forgiveness.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you included us now. Thanks for making me an aunt.” Looping one arm around her baby sister's shoulder, Sam gave her a squeeze.
“Me too. You took the initiative and I’m proud of you.” Marlowe grabbed her shovel and started to chip away again. “I wish I lived closer.”
“Me too.” Izzy began to shovel again and so did Sam. “Debbie at work helps out a lot, but she has her own children. And the four canasta ladies that meet at Coffee and Cupcakes on Wednesdays offer to help all the time. But they might be too old to keep up with Holly.”
“I hear that when kids begin to walk, they get really active.” Sam would love to see Holly try to walk. Maybe she could drive up here more often. The three of them threw ideas back and forth in the cold night air. Possibilities. Together they were working on solutions and possibilities.
Half an hour later they'd finished the driveway. Destroying the angels was sad, but Marlowe took a picture with her phone before they cleared that portion of the driveway.
The air felt fresh and cold. For the first time in days, Sam realized that she hadn’t been worrying about her past marriage. No, instead she felt that she was at the beginning of something. The year had been pretty sad––not at all how she’d imagined her life turning out. Now she was ready to move on. Having her sisters and aunt around her made everything seem possible again.
But where was she going? After Sam had pulled her car up onto the driveway, Izzy parked behind her. She would be leaving first in the morning. Tired and with cheeks stinging, they went into the house through the garage door, stamping their feet on the back stoop before kicking off their boots. When they walked inside, the warm, but empty, kitchen greeted them. “Is that hot chocolate I smell?” Izzy called out.
Aunt Cate hustled into the room, pressing a finger to her lips. “The baby is asleep upstairs.”
The three sisters hung their jackets on the hooks in the hall and grabbed mugs for the hot chocolate. Of course Aunt Cate had bought small marshmallows at the store. She thought of everything. They all poured a handful of those into the hot chocolate. After filling their mugs, they settled down again in the living room. Sam could feel her heart pumping from the exertion outside and it felt good.
“Red cheeks.” Aunt Cate patted her own pale cheeks. “All of you. Nothing compares to the glow of a woman who’s had some exercise.”
“Speaking of exercise, have you joined a fitness center yet?” Marlowe asked.
Now Aunt Cate’s cheeks flushed. “Sadly, no. I get my exercise from shopping.”
They all hooted at their aunt’s honesty.
Their father had always said that Marlowe had “ants in her pants,” and tonight was no exception. Sam and Izzy hadn’t even finished their cocoa before Marlowe was on her feet again, starting a fire. “I don’t get a chance to do this down in Florida,” she said, lighting the crunched up papers under the stack of firewood.
“Okay, point taken. Now sit down and relax.” Aunt Cate swung her feet onto the hassock
“Thanks for railroading us into coming,” Marlowe said after a few moments of quiet.
Sam nodded in agreement. “Just think, I could be home alone in my house in Oak Brook, feeling bad because I don't have a tree.”
After taking a sip, Marlowe came away with a chocolate mustache. “Can I ask some questions about Kurt?”
Her family had known Kurt for a long time and this news must be shocking for Marlowe. Sam watched all those emotions ripple over her sister’s face. “I hope you’ll forgive me for not saying something sooner.”
“You’re forgiven…but why? I thought you two were the perfect couple.” Marlowe got right to the point. “What happened?”
“Things change.” How many times had she told herself that over the past year? “I guess I missed all the signs. Kurt thought differently.”
“And you accused me of keeping a secret?” Izzy looked over and Sam did wonder why she hadn’t turned to her sisters and aunt during that painful time.
Blowing out a sigh, she set her hot chocolate on the table and pushed her hair behind her shoulders. Baring your soul was always a gamble, but she felt safe with these women. After all, they were family.
“He'd been having an affair with someone on staff with one of our clients. Now that they’ve gone public, she’s apparently left her position.”
“That's really rotten,” Marlowe said with disgust. Sam’s sister probably would have kicked Kurt to the curb a long time ago. Those late nights? Business trips Sam had accepted when they didn’t make sense? She should have asked more questions. But maybe she would not have liked his answers.
Izzy had cuddled up behind Sam and now she wound her arms around her shoulders. The hug felt wonderful. “I'm so sorry, Sam. You didn’t deserve that.”
“What woman does?” Blinking back what looked like tears, Aunt Cate pulled a tissue from the sleeve of her sweater.
“The secret is, you have to divorce them before they start any shenanigans,” Izzy said.
“Oh dear,” their aunt tsked. “That sounds way too jaded.”
Izzy made a face and the smile came back. “I know. And I retract my statement. Both Skipper and Chuck were… are good guys. I was way too young.”
Using an amazing amount of self control, Sam kept her mouth shut. She’d tried to tell Izzy that years ago, and her sister wouldn’t listen. But no way would she bring that up now. She was proud of her self-restraint.
“Do you think we took things for granted?” Izzy asked. “You know, based on our own family. Our upbringing.” Sam’s baby sister looked so puzzled. Slipping to the floor so that she could pet Piper, Izzy tucked her feet up under her.
“Maybe.” Sam thought back to those Christmases when Dad would pretend to be Santa, shouting, “Ho, ho, ho” outside the window on Christmas Eve and coming in with a huge bag of gifts. Dressed in a Santa suit, he’d fooled them all. Well, except for Mom.
“Mom and Dad always seemed so happy together.” Izzy petted Piper with slow calming strokes. “And we never saw how they got that way. I thought every marriage was like that. A happy couple. A loving mom and dad.”
Marlowe hooted. “Like magic, right?”
“Cut it out, Marlowe.” Izzy wasn’t taking this. “At least I tried.”
“Oh, marriage is an experiment?” Marlowe chortled. “You keep on trying until it works?”
But the crushed look on Izzy’s face brought Marlowe up short. Before Sam could intervene, Marlowe said, “Sorry, Izzy. I’m an idiot and maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m too afraid to try. Afraid to risk it.”
It was hard to imagine her strong sister being afraid of anything but Sam let it pass. As they sat in front of the fire, a phone vibrated. “Whose phone is that?” Sam asked. “That’s the third time tonight.”
Dragging her phone from a pocket, Marlowe clicked it off. “Sorry. Work stuff.”
“I thought someone was handling things for you.” Sam fought a yawn.
“Yes, but she’s new.” Marlowe tucked the phone back in her pocket. “I’ll get back to her tomorrow. It’s pretty late now.”
Every muscle in Sam’s shoulders was twitching from the shoveling and, looking so content, Aunt Cate was half asleep.
“Let’s get back to marriage.” Izzy blew out a sigh, maybe still thinking about her two failed marriages. “Maybe I expected too much.”
“Is that even possible?” Sam asked. “The bit about expecting too much? Is that even possible in a good marriage?”
Suddenly Aunt Cate came alive. Eyes snapping, she jumped into the conversation. “Listen, marriage is work, period. When Monty and I got married, your dad proposed a wonderful toast at our reception. ‘Don't ever go to bed mad at each other.’”
“Sounds great. Did that work for you?” Sam was dying to know.
Biting her lip, Aunt Cate shook her head. “Not at all. I tried. And Monty tried. But there were a couple of times when sleeping on the couch seemed like the best thing to do. Then we would talk in the morning.”
Like Sam, Izzy and Marlowe seemed to be listening carefully. Sam couldn’t recall another time when their aunt had been so open about such a personal topic.
“Now about our schedule,” Aunt Cate began. Apparently they were going to move along.
“I didn't know we had one.” Sam perked up.
“Right,” Marlowe said. “I flew up here hoping to live the vida loca . Now you tell me that we have a schedule?”
But their aunt was a woman with a mission. Clearly she would not be carried off topic. “I don't want the holidays to end and then hear about things we missed.”
“Okay, so what's going on in town?” Even Izzy looked confused and she lived here.
“For example,” Aunt Cate said, “I saw a flyer today about a caroling event in town.”
“Oh right.” Izzy pushed back her long green bangs. She'd worked all day and they should let her get some sleep. “That's in the heart of town. I think I have one of those posters in my window.”
Sam turned to her youngest sister. “What is your schedule like this week?”
“I’m closing the shop at noon on Christmas Eve.”
“That’s only a couple days away.” Sam wanted to spend more time with Izzy. How could she make that happen? She felt as if she was rediscovering the woman who had been her baby sister for most of their lives. Now Sam wanted a friendship with this adult version of Izzy. “I suppose you always have to work when the shop is open.”
“Usually, yes. But Debbie has a cousin who’s in town for the holidays. Patricia is a college student and she’d like to make some extra money. When I interviewed her over the phone, she seemed to have a level head on her shoulders and she can work after Christmas. So I might get some relief there.”
“Wait a minute.” Sam thought back. “Go back to that level head part. Isn’t that how Dad always described me? I was so insulted. I pictured myself walking around with a book on my head, afraid it would slip.”
“That’s exactly what you did, remember?” Marlowe said with a grin. “I caught you more than once circling your bedroom with Little Women teetering on your head.”
Oh cripes. Her sisters were laughing so she didn’t really need an answer for that. Instead she sank deeper into the sofa.
“I’m hoping to get some time off between Christmas and New Year’s.” Here Izzy hesitated and glanced around the room. “How long are you guys staying?”
“At least until New Year’s Day.” Sam made her decision on the spur of the moment. No way did she want to go back to that empty house. This was too much fun and she didn’t want it to end.
“I think I can handle that too. I haven’t bought my return ticket yet,” Marlowe said.
“And since I’ve had perfectly capable associates, who are probably glad to have me out of the office, I could hang around. I don’t want to miss this party.” Aunt Cate looked so happy.
“So what should we do?” Izzy asked. “The caroling in town sounds good. The baby would probably love that.”
“Here’s a suggestion.” Aunt Cate brought them back to the topic at hand. “As you know, I encouraged all of you not to buy presents for each other. But I have an idea. Sam, you’ve been up in that attic. Did you see a box of movies up there?”
Sam thought back. “Maybe. I’m not sure. “
“Think I saw a carton marked ‘Movies’ behind the Christmas stuff,” Izzy threw in. “I didn’t have time to haul that box down. And I know that there’s an old TV that runs videos up in one of the bedrooms.”
“The movies,” Marlowe said, her eyes getting dreamy. “Dad was always taking movies. Mom used to complain about it.”
“That’s right. She’d need his help carving the turkey or bringing in the birthday cake, but he was always fooling with his camera.”
“I remember that too,” Aunt Cate said with a soft smile. “And that’s what got me thinking. Wouldn’t that be fun to see the old movies again?”
“Sure.” Marlowe jumped right in. “It’s been a long time now. What fun to revisit our past.”
Izzy looked so tired and she didn’t say anything. Maybe she was still already half asleep.
Movies? Something in the back of Sam’s mind told her it could go either way. Would the family movies remind them of their loss? Or would they be encouraging because they’d come so far?