Chapter 12
Something was off with Sadie, Vanessa could tell that much. She just had no idea what it was. Hudson, maybe. The danger he’d
been in lately. Whatever her problem, they’d have to talk about it later.
The Columbus Cares Annual Christmas Military Dance was in two days, and this morning was the first time they were allowed
into the Veterans’ Hall to bring the place to life. Sadie seemed happier once they started working. They brought ten bags
in from the car and then stood in the entrance watching dozens of volunteers scramble in different directions.
“Okay, Mom.” Sadie looped her arm through Vanessa’s, the way she’d done when she was younger. “What should we do first?”
Vanessa checked her list. Maria was overseeing the assembling and decorating of the Christmas trees, and Leigh was helping
a team of college kids set up thirty round tables that would frame the dance floor. In the next two days the other women on
the committee would bring tablecloths, centerpieces, and garland.
The hall was about to be transformed into a Christmas wonderland.
Along one wall a series of tables had been set up for the team working to assemble the baskets for the sponsored families.
“Let’s start there.” Vanessa walked toward the tables and Sadie followed.
Vanessa glanced at her daughter. “Thanks for helping.”
“Of course.” Sadie pushed up the sleeves of her sweater. “I look forward to this every year.”
It was true. The dance was something they always pulled off together.
The first annual military dance had taken place right after they had returned from Breckenridge, that vacation they took months
after Alan had been killed. The one when she had lost her Christmas ring.
They made that first dance in late December so they could always take the Colorado Christmas trip earlier in the month. And
even though they hadn’t gone back to Breckenridge since Sadie was a high school sophomore, prepping for the dance was fun
for them both.
“Getting the baskets ready will take all day,” Vanessa said. “So many donated items this year.”
They unpacked one bag after another, setting out the largest items first. Old Town Market had donated a ten-pound bag of organic
flour for each family. Vanessa and Sadie started there.
They lined up ten empty baskets. Then one at a time they put a flour bag at the center. “This is going to work.” Sadie laughed.
“Nothing else we give them could possibly be bigger than that.”
There were other food items and books that framed out the back side of the baskets. They were about to open the bag of teddy bears when Leigh and Maria came running from across the hall.
“Mrs. Benson needs us.” Leigh waved her arms. “Something terrible happened!”
Vanessa and Sadie left the baskets and met Leigh and Maria. Vanessa faced her friend. “Slower, Leigh. What is it?”
“The wind! Mrs. Benson was hanging garland, and that wind we’ve had lately was just too much. Too windy.” Leigh took a quick
breath.
They were getting nowhere. Maria held up her hand. “Let me tell it.” She turned to Vanessa and Sadie. “Mrs. Benson fell off
her ladder. She went to the hospital last night and turns out she broke her ankle. The high school group is already at the
house, but they need a few adults to supervise.”
“Oh no. Poor Mrs. Benson.” Sadie grabbed her purse. “We can help. Come on, Mom, let’s go.”
Vanessa found her bag and made a plan with her two friends. “Sadie and I will take care of Mrs. Benson. You two stay and oversee
the decorating. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“This is what Columbus Cares is all about.” Maria smiled at Vanessa and Sadie. “Go make a difference.”
On the ride to Mrs. Benson’s, Vanessa looked at her daughter. “I’m proud of you. For stepping up like this.”
“Thanks.” Sadie gave Vanessa’s hand a sweet squeeze. “I learned it from you. Plus, Mrs. Benson is military. She’s one of us.
Part of the family.”
In the background Michael Bublé’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” played from Vanessa’s phone. She waited a moment. “You seemed a little quiet this morning. Everything okay with Hudson?”
“It is.” Sadie looked more relaxed. “We talked last night. He didn’t seem as down.”
“That’s good. I ask God every day to protect him.”
For a minute it seemed Sadie might say more, as if there really was something on her mind, but just then they pulled up to
Mrs. Benson’s house and the moment passed.
“Oh dear.” Vanessa cut the engine and stared out at the woman’s front yard. Kids were moving trash cans and boxes of decorations
and bush clippings in what felt like barely organized chaos. Others hung lights in the tree out front. And there was Mrs.
Benson, sitting in one of her high-backed velvet dining room chairs in the middle of the yard.
Giving out orders.
“Yep.” Sadie allowed a quiet laugh. “That’s Mrs. Benson.”
“Let’s do this.” Vanessa led the way as she and Sadie walked up to the older woman. Mrs. Benson’s ankle might have been broken,
but nothing was wrong with her voice.
“You over there.” The woman cupped her hands around her mouth so the students hanging garland on her porch could hear her.
“A little higher, please. That’s right. No, a little higher still. More.”
There wasn’t a stitch of meanness or lack of gratitude in Mrs. Benson. But she had a particular way about her. And if the
kids were going to help her, she was going to tell them how to do it.
Vanessa reached her first. “Mrs. Benson.” She put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Should you be out here? Your foot’s in a cast. Maybe it should be elevated.”
“No, dear.” Mrs. Benson looked past Vanessa. “Sadie Mayfield, aren’t you the spitting image of your beautiful mama. I see
college is agreeing with you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sadie sidled up next to Vanessa. “Can we help you back to the house?”
“Not at all.” The woman cupped her hands around her mouth again and yelled at two other teens, “See that branch that hangs
down? Make sure it has less lights than the others. That way no one will see the thing’s about to fall off the tree. That’s
right. A little less.”
A teenager feebly shouted back, “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
Mrs. Benson turned to Vanessa again. “You know what they gave me at the hospital? A scooter.” She looked at Sadie. “Can you
believe that? A scooter! As if this old woman is going to bebop around the neighborhood on a scooter!”
“Actually . . .” Vanessa folded her arms. What was she going to do with the woman? “I think it’s more about keeping weight
off your broken ankle.”
“Fine, but a scooter?” She looked at Sadie again. “You still dating that handsome army Ranger of yours, missy?”
“I am. He can’t make it home for Christmas.” Sadie looked disappointed. “Of course, that’s part of the job.”
“It is, my dear. That it is.”
Vanessa took note. Maybe that was the problem. The closer they got to Christmas, the more Sadie missed Hudson.
Mrs. Benson yelled again. “The garland has to go closer to the roofline. Yes! That’s it.”
“So what happened?” Vanessa studied the woman’s cast. It went nearly to her knee.
“Oh, that wind.” The woman waved her hand like she was shooing away a fly. “I do believe it’s the windiest December in ages.”
She pointed to the ladder, the one the teenage boys were using. “I was up on the ladder hanging my lights just fine all by
myself when a gust came up and blew me right to the ground.”
“I suppose it goes without saying, Mrs. Benson”—Vanessa smiled—“that at your age you probably shouldn’t be climbing ladders.”
“Now Vanessa, I’m fine on a ladder. Just not on a windy day.” She motioned to the house. “And now I have six high schoolers
cleaning my living room and not one of them knows where to find the Windex.”
Vanessa nodded. “Okay. You stay here. Sadie and I will take the house.”
Half an hour later things on the inside were under control. Sadie worked on the laundry. Already the towels were folded, and
two more loads were being washed and dried. At the same time, the students had vacuumed the house and tidied the main rooms.
Mrs. Benson needed more help than Vanessa had realized. She worked in the kitchen, cleaning the woman’s stove. Sadie came
up to her and leaned against the kitchen counter. “You’re amazing, Mom.” She watched Vanessa. “This whole Columbus Cares thing
is because of you.”
“And your dad.” Vanessa felt a wave of sorrow. The way she didn’t often feel it anymore. “This is just what he always wanted. A way for the military families to help their own.”
“Well . . . he’d be proud of you.” Sadie looked around. “You made it happen.”
“We all did. You, me, Leigh, Maria. So many people.” Vanessa never felt like it was her idea alone. There were more than a
hundred thousand military family members in Columbus after all. Many people did what they could to help, even beyond the year-round
assistance from Columbus Cares.
Sadie was quiet for a beat. “Can I tell you something? I’m sorry for cutting you off the other night. When you wanted to talk.”
The admission surprised Vanessa. She slipped her arm around Sadie’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, honey. We can talk later.
It wasn’t the best timing on my part.”
They both laughed. Ten minutes later when things were sufficiently under control, she and Sadie helped Mrs. Benson back to
her house. The woman used the scooter to get set up in her recliner. “The pillows on that far sofa should be straighter.”
Mrs. Benson smiled. “If y’all wouldn’t mind.”
Vanessa and Sadie laughed again. The sensation felt wonderful, she and Sadie sharing the humor of their time at Mrs. Benson’s
house.
And later, Vanessa would find time to bring up the idea of dating and the specifics about Ben. Sadie looked ready to talk,
and that was all Vanessa could ask for.
The back room at Millers’ Antiques was overrun with boxes when Ben set to work that day. He wasn’t going to return to Columbus until tomorrow morning. He’d already told Vanessa. Too much work to do here to help his dad.