Chapter Four
B ack in the kitchen, while the band loaded in, Jeannie surveyed the mountainous platters of food her grandmother had spent all day putting together with Jeannie’s and her mother’s assistance. There were cream cheese pinwheel sandwiches, large ramekins of baked mac and cheese, and individual hand-held French onion soups waiting to be broiled at the last minute before guests arrived.
Later in the evening, the dessert trays would be rolled out: the melt-in-your-mouth shortbreads that had tied for first place at the Legion earlier that day, chocolate peanut butter marshmallow squares, Hello Dollies, and miniature crème br?lée tarts.
Jeannie plucked a few grapes from a fruit and cheese platter, then went upstairs to get ready for the party.
There were two outfits to choose from for the evening, and whatever she didn’t wear tonight she’d wear for Christmas dinner.
She plugged in her hot rollers, then pulled the dresses from her overnight bag. The first was a nice pinafore style dress in a red tartan. She held it up, inspecting it, then frowned. What had she been thinking? It was a dress for a nine-year-old posing for a family Christmas portrait at Sears.
The second was much more revealing than what she was used to wearing: a form-fitting dress with little red sequins sewn into it. Margot had convinced her to buy it when they’d gone shopping at the Stephen Avenue Mall after work one day. The neckline dipped lower than she was comfortable with, and the short hem was… short .
She glanced at her watch. Kayley’s, the women’s clothing store in town, would be closed by now, so unless there was a miracle hanging in Sue’s closet, red sequins it was.
Jeannie pulled the dress over her head, then carefully rolled her hair in the hot rollers and applied some light make-up. Anything too dark, combined with her dress, would make it look like she was heading to the Pink Panther Club in downtown Calgary rather than a community gathering.
A knock sounded at her door. “Come in,” she said.
Her mother popped her head through. “Wow, that’s quite the get-up,” Gloria said, her red lips curling down in disapproval. “Where’s that lovely blue silk I sent you from Eaton’s?”
“It’s at the cleaner’s,” Jeannie lied. She wasn’t about to tell her mother she’d dumped the blue silk in a Goodwill donation pile during her last spring cleaning.
Gloria was dressed in a long patterned caftan dress, her signature emerald earrings sparkling next to her dyed auburn hair, which was styled in a layered flip. She was the most glamorous woman in Keystone Ridge, a woman who belonged in the city but had chosen love and settled for a life in the country.
She crossed the room and began fussing with the collar of Jeannie’s dress. “So, the Morrisons are coming tonight,” Gloria started, and Jeannie groaned.
“Mom, I will never, ever date Lincoln. I know the Morrisons are your best friends, but I find him repulsive.”
“He’s grown up a lot,” Gloria said, reaching to adjust the rollers in Jeannie’s hair. Jeannie swatted her hand away. “And honey, you’re turning twenty-nine next year!”
“Do I have to remind you his nickname was Stinky Linky?” Jeannie said pointedly. He’d earned the nickname both from a chronic case of halitosis and cemented it the year he’d peed his pants in the car on a day trip to Yoho National Park.
“That was almost twenty years ago. He’s gotten to be quite handsome and popular around here. And he’s going to inherit the resort,” Gloria said. “You know what that means.”
“I’m making my own money at my job,” Jeannie said. And she planned to continue doing so, eventually as partner at the firm one day.
“You won’t want to work forever once you have kids. Trust me. You be nice to him tonight. Your grandparents are just as worried about you as I am. It’ll make them happy.” Of course her mother had to play that card.
“Fine, I’ll be nice. But that doesn’t mean I’m ever going out with him. I’m not kidding. I’d sooner be single for the rest of my life.”
“Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t get the wrong idea from that dress then,” Gloria said, returning to the doorway. “We might have already told him you were excited to see him. Ta!”
Jeannie grumbled under her breath as Gloria disappeared down the hallway. She should have just fabricated a love interest in the city so her mother would leave her alone.
How pathetic that she needed to make up a boyfriend.
She pulled the rollers from her hair, combed everything into place, then went to join the party.
At least the music would be good.
*
The lodge didn’t necessarily scream rock and roll, but it had been a long time since Everett had been in a place so festive on Christmas Eve. As he descended the porch steps to collect the last of the gear from the parking lot, he did his best to ignore the familiar pangs of nostalgia that always seemed to surface at this time of year.
He pulled a speaker from the trailer and lugged it inside to the side of the stage, then started to fiddle with the set-up of the equipment for the best acoustics.
An hour later, the tech was sorted, and they’d made a few tweaks to account for the ceiling height of the great room, which boasted twenty-foot ceilings and what Everett guessed was an amazing view of the lake when it wasn’t dark. Instead, blazing firepits surrounded by blanket-covered chairs were visible from the windows, and the room itself was filled with a warm glow from the fireplace and the twinkling lights on the huge tinsel-covered balsam fir on the other side of the room.
When Sue invited the band to the kitchen for something to eat before the guests arrived, Everett hung back to tune his guitar. He still wasn’t entirely sure how their set list would go over with the crowd, although Duke was clearly a music enthusiast.
“It gets wild in here,” a voice sounded from the doorway.
Jeannie had changed out of her jeans and sweater into a knockout of a sparkly red dress. Her hair was now loose from her ponytail and fell over her shoulders in a way that made Everett’s heart skip right up into his throat. She had a playful smile on her pink glossy lips. He’d never seen such a beautiful woman.
She approached where he was standing and perched on one of the speakers he’d just set up. Everett did his best not to fix his gaze on the hem of her dress, which showed off her legs quite nicely.
“Is that right?” he managed to say. What he wanted to ask was what her version of wild was.
“Last year we had to buy all new lampshades for this whole floor after they became popular party hats. My grandma won’t let a single bottle of hard liquor through the door this year. Only beer and wine. The Aussies…they’re a good time. And the rest of the town knows how to tie one on too.”
“Sounds like my kind of people.”
Jeannie raised an eyebrow. “I figured.”
He put his guitar down and looked at her straight on. “Now who’s making snap judgements again?”
Jeannie grinned. “Fair enough.” She stood up. “Are you coming to get something to eat, or what?”
Everett’s stomach growled. Whatever was cooking in the kitchen off the great room was smelling pretty spectacular, but he wasn’t sure if he’d get Jeannie alone again for the rest of the night. Or ever, maybe. This was his chance.
He was about to speak when a large commotion sounded from the front entranceway, and Everett turned to see four men in ski suits, all wearing Santa hats and holding gear bags and cases of beer, laughing and shouting about some kind of ski jump one of them had pulled off.
“I’ll take it those are the boarders?” Everett asked.
“You got it,” Jeannie said, grinning. “Life of the party.”
One of the guys bounded over from the entrance, while the other three retreated upstairs. “You made it!” the young twenty-something said. He had a blond ponytail and wore a bright-turquoise ski suit that matched his blue eyes.
“Hey, Archie!” Jeannie said. She turned to Everett. “This is Archie. It’s his third year staying here. He’s Grandma’s favourite.”
“After you, of course,” said Archie. “Merry Christmas, Jeannie.” He turned to Everett. “Nice to meet you, mate,” Archie said, shaking Everett’s hand. “I heard a rumour about a proper band from the city. This guy cracking onto ya?” he asked Jeannie.
Trying my best , Everett thought.
Jeannie smiled. “He’s behaving himself.”
“So far,” said Everett. “But I’ve heard the boarders bring the fun.”
Archie grinned. “You know it. Well, you call if you need me! I’m going to go chuck these in the esky,” he said, nodding toward the case of beer in his hands. “Looking forward to the show!”
Archie left, and they were alone again in the great room, but the clatters from the kitchen and the sounds of people moving through the lodge filled the place with infectious energy. It was an odd collection of people under one roof, but Everett found himself excited to play for the party.
“I’m going to get something to eat,” Jeannie said. “Need anything else?”
“I think I’m all set,” said Everett. “But wait. You said you owed me big time for filling in so last minute.” He leaned his guitar against the makeshift stage and took a seat on the other speaker.
Her eyebrow raised again in that adorable way he’d seen at the bar, and it was everything he could do to keep himself from reaching out and tucking that silky strand of hair behind her ear. “Did I? I don’t remember that. I remember us negotiating a fair rate, and you exchanging in a mutually beneficial contractual agreement.”
Everett laughed. “Is that right? Maybe next time I should get everything you said in writing.” He watched as she moved toward the bookcase, plucked a book off the bookshelf and flipped through it, then put it back in its place. “What I’m hearing about lawyers is true.”
Jeannie turned to face him. “And what’s that? I’m sure nothing I’ve never heard before.”
“Deceitful.”
A look of mock horror came over her face. “Never.”
“Well. I seem to recall making an offer. And I just want to remind you about my offer. I’d like to take you on a date.” Although where he’d take someone like Jeannie Carmichael would take some consideration. She’d been okay to go to a neighbourhood pub, clearly, but a woman with hair that glossy? With a business card? He had no doubt she’d have certain expectations of a first date, which probably meant the kind of places he tended to avoid.
For a moment it seemed like Jeannie was going to reject him right to his face. Instead, she started walking toward the kitchen, then turned back at the last second. “Play my favourite dance-floor song, and you’ve got yourself a deal.” With that, she disappeared behind the door.
“Oh, come on, that’s not fair!” he called, but she was gone.
Sitting alone in the great room, Everett couldn’t help but laugh. He liked Jeannie. He liked her a lot. He also liked a challenge.
It might take a Christmas miracle to figure out the song, but he was game.
*
Between the dinner and the party, Everett asked Sue if he could use the phone.
“I’ve got one in the office where it’ll be a bit quieter. Right in here, honey,” Sue said, leading Everett to a small room off the lodge’s foyer. There was a desk with files and papers all over it, a bit of a mess, but it appeared there was some kind of a system in place. The wall was covered with framed family photos, advertisements for local events from over the past few decades, and painted landscapes of the mountains and lakes of the area. Sue caught him looking at a picture of Jeannie standing on the dock in a yellow bathing suit, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, holding a bottle of Coca Cola and smiling widely.
“You’ve met our Jeannie, then,” Sue said. “Our pride and joy.”
“Yeah, she’s great.” Maybe Sue could help him out. He cleared his throat. “Hey, any idea what her favourite song is?” he asked. “To dance to?” No harm trying.
Sue raised an eyebrow. “Not sure, no,” she said. “Why do you ask?”
Everett paused. He probably shouldn’t tell her, but there was something trustworthy about the woman. “She told me she’d only let me take her on a date if I guessed.”
Sue let out a hoot. “That’s my girl, all right. She’s a firecracker. I’ll leave you here. So, you’re not calling a girlfriend, then?”
“Nah, no girlfriend for me,” he said. “Just…family stuff. It’s complicated.”
“Every family has something,” said Sue, her expression softening.
“I don’t know. Yours seems normal. Pretty much the opposite of mine.”
“Well,” Sue said, “I’ll leave you to it. Take as long as you need.” She exited the office and closed the door behind her.
But this would likely be a short conversation.
Everett steeled himself and dialled his mother’s phone number. A male voice answered on the third ring. “Yeah?”
“Is that Jason?” Everett asked through gritted teeth. The low rasp and slow drawl could only belong to one short-on-IQ loser. Jason was the on-again, off-again boyfriend, and Everett was just waiting for his mother to realise she’d be much better off turfing the guy to permanent off-again designation.
“I’ll get your mom,” he said, and Everett winced as the phone clattered onto the counter.
He could hear some back-and-forth in the background. “Hey, honey,” his mom’s voice came through the receiver after a minute. “How’re you doin’?”
He could tell by the slight slur in her voice that she’d already gotten into the spiced rum. “I’m okay Mom. I’m up at Butterfly Lake, playing a gig tonight.”
“That’s nice, honey. I love when you sing. Can you sing me a song?”
Everett closed his eyes and took a steadying breath in. “I just wanted to see when—if—there was anything going on for Christmas.”
“Nothing special. We ordered in take-out and Jason’s taking Kimberly to ride her new tricycle in the apartment hallway. But sure, honey, you know you’re welcome here anytime.” He heard her take a puff of her cigarette. Actually, he didn’t know that. His mom would be happy to see him. But whatever low life hanging around at her place never was.
“I’ll come by sometime in the next few days. It would be great to see you.” He glanced up at the wall, taking in the photos of Jeannie’s family. A Canada Day barbecue. What looked like a fundraiser at a ski hill or something. A younger Duke with his arm around Sue in front of the lake, both of them tanned and grinning. Every wholesome, happy picture had the Carmichael family members smiling, arm-in-arm, like in some kind of cereal commercial.
“Hey, you heard from Jessie?” he asked, taking a chance. His mom and sister weren’t always on good terms. His mom didn’t believe there was anything wrong with her daughter beyond what she considered laziness for not leaving the house, as though his mother were some kind of model of excellent health herself.
“Not since she skipped Charlene’s wedding, no,” his mom said. “Cost them an arm and a leg for catering, and Jessie just plain doesn’t show up. It was rude!”
Everett paused. “Go easy on her, okay, Mom? Things are tough for her.” His sister went for long stretches of time not leaving her apartment, and when she did she got anxious and upset and panicked in busy public places.
“They’re tough for everyone, sweetie. ’Cept maybe for you. My Golden Boy.”
Everett heard Jason yell something. “Sounds like you’ve gotta go, Mom,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, baby. Love you lots.”
“Love you too, Mom.” He hung up the phone and slumped back in the chair. Maybe he’d call Jessie. But she wouldn’t pick up. He’d have to go see her.
It was almost showtime, anyway. And he’d promised the Carmichaels a good time.
Before leaving the office, Everett leaned in to look more closely at Jeannie’s photo, warming slightly at the sight of her easy, carefree smile. He felt desire, yes; there was no denying that. But was something more. He’d known the woman for less than forty-eight hours and found himself in the strangest way unable to picture life without her.
At the pub, Jeannie had been making eyes at the smarmy loser whom Everett had seen hitting on a different girl every night, either a member of the staff or a pub patron. The guy was all country club and trust fund, with a fresh haircut and brand-new loafers to match. If that were her type, he had no chance.
The truth was Everett could give her that life, twice over.
After graduating with his master’s degree in natural sciences from the University of Calgary, he’d met an educational publisher at a conference, and they’d hit it off. The series of high school science textbooks he’d written for the publisher and sold over the past five years to every school in the province had put enough money in his bank account to last him a good long time, and the publisher wanted more, to align with the other provinces’ curriculums. With a few tweaks here or there, he’d be in the hands of every biology, chemistry, and physics student in the entire country, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were also asking him to propose some ideas for a series of nature guides which would be sold at regular bookstores. But he didn’t want Jeannie to know all this. Not yet.
He was taking a break between contracts, and for now playing in a band with his buddies was just good plain fun.
If he were ever lucky enough to get Jeannie Carmichael to agree to go on a date, he wanted it to be about him and not about what was in his bank account.