Chapter 17
The truth was that for Shanti, the week sped by so much faster than any she could remember in years that it felt like fast-forward.
Shane the vintage guy came over with his vintage friend from Syracuse and between them took away almost everything Shanti didn't want to keep for sentimental value.
They left the furniture, but had a plan to collect it later when she was renovating.
It was a good thing Shane had pointed out she'd have nowhere to sit if they took it now, or she'd have just sent it away with them.
But her days revolved around the evening meal with Peter, whose presence made everything feel so possible.
He was patient and gentle and funny, and the comfort she took in just spending time with him was indescribable.
She still went down to the train station every day, but not all day anymore, and now she was watching the rail line itself, waiting for the workers to come into sight in hopes of glimpsing Peter.
It made her feel like a teenager, and Shanti went back and forth between embarrassment and delight about that.
She had been being focused and grown-up and responsible since her late teens, and being able to just be silly and relaxed felt wonderful.
Maybe it wasn't too late for her to reinvent herself, after all.
She never would have believed that, though, without meeting Peter.
By Thursday evening she was nearly hopping with impatience to go out around town with him during the opening ceremonies of the holiday festivities.
It felt like wanting to show off her new boyfriend, and maybe that's exactly what it was.
She loved it, though, and it made leaving the house easier than Shanti could basically ever remember it being.
The children's choir performance on Thursday evening began at six, and she didn't expect to see Peter there because it was a little too early, but she went anyway, knowing she'd meet him afterward.
To her delight, though, he slipped into the church about twenty minutes into the show, and with murmured apologies to the people he passed, worked his way down the pew to sit next to Shanti.
She tucked her arm in his and leaned her head on his shoulder, eyes closed as she listened to the music and smiled.
One young woman's voice made her open her eyes to watch, though.
Shanti vaguely remembered that she'd been discovered in Virtue a few years ago and had done incredibly well on one of the TV talent shows, but she hadn't ever heard the girl sing before.
She had an absolutely gorgeous voice, and the whole church was rapt with silence until her song ended.
Uproarious applause and cheering met her efforts, leaving her beaming and blushing.
Then she stepped back to join the choir, and it became clear that she'd come home to perform not just as a soloist but with the choir, because they were all wonderfully well-rehearsed, the choir's voices supporting the soloist with skill and grace.
Another round of heart-felt applause finished the performance, and Shanti left the church at Peter's side, smiling happily.
"I'd seen her on the talent show," Pete said in admiration as they left. "I didn't realize she was from Virtue, though. That's so cool."
"I knew about her, but I hadn't heard her sing. Not even on TV. She's really wonderful."
Hundreds of people were exiting the church with them, or already out in the square, gathering for the tree-lighting ceremony.
The scent of cinnamon and cloves hung in the air from somewhere within the marketplace, and voices were breaking into spontaneous carols that whole groups of people joined in with as they shuffled across or down the streets.
It was just a little warmer than it had been the past few days, clouds having come in, and Shanti hoped it might snow.
As they broke out of the crowd, a boy of ten or eleven ran by.
Without thinking about it, Shanti called, "Noah! Oh, hey, Noah?"
The kid—blue-eyed and wearing a hat and an unzipped winter coat—skidded to a stop and spun around with the cheerful assurance of a child who assumed everybody knew him, even if Shanti had never talked to him before.
"Hi! Are you here for the tree-lighting?
Do you need directions?" He pointed toward the giant tree sticking out of the giant gazebo, and, with a very straight face, said, "Go there. "
Shanti couldn't help a laugh. "Thanks. No, I was wondering if your dad is around, actually? I need to talk to somebody about home renovations."
Noah visibly lost interest. "Oh. Yeah, he's with Mom and Mabel at Mom's clinic.
" He pointed the other direction, at the massage clinic in the middle of the row of boardwalk businesses.
"They'll be out later but Mom says Mabel's too little to be out in the cold all night.
I think she'd be fine. She has like a hundred hats. "
"That's a lot of hats," Peter said in the tone of an adult trying not to laugh at a perfectly serious child. "But your mom probably knows best."
"I guess. Mostly. Anyway, Merry Christmas!" He went tearing off around the edge of the holiday market, clearly heading for the playground along with hordes of other children.
"Confident, isn't he?" Peter asked, still audibly amused. "Do you want to go talk to his dad?"
"Maybe after we've walked around a little.
If I don't catch him tonight, it's fine.
I've got all the time I need to do renovations.
Wow," Shanti added under her breath. "Wow, that really feels different from how I felt about it a week ago.
A week ago I couldn't face any of it. Tonight it seems—well, not easy to deal with, but like I can do it!
It's all because of you," she told Peter with a smile.
He puffed up, hooking his thumbs in imaginary lapels and strutting for a stride of two, but then grinned down at her. "I'm sure you would have managed to face it all in the end anyway."
"Maybe. Eventually. But I'm doing it now and it doesn't seem awful the way it did before.
Oh, there's Jake." Shanti had never, to the best of her recollection, spoken with Jake Rowly, either, not any more than she'd talked to his son Noah.
That didn't stop her from raising her voice and calling, "Jake?
Mr. Rowly?" and watching his head swivel, an expression of amused dismay on his face.
He saw Peter first, which was fair enough: Peter was several inches taller than Shanti herself.
He smiled, waved, and re-focused on Shanti like he wasn't sure who she was, but honestly, that was fair too.
He was probably close to twenty years older than she was, and they'd had no reason to cross paths since she'd reached adulthood.
She still waved back and led Peter to his side.
The men shook hands immediately, with Jake saying, "Nice to see you again. How's the railroad going?" before smiling at Shanti and offering a hand. "I don't think we've met, and I'm going to pretend you were calling for my dad when you said 'Mr. Rowly.'"
"Shanti Davis. I didn't want to be rude, using your first name without an introduction. Even though I'd just shouted it." Shanti made a face and Jake grinned.
"Sure, makes sense. What can I do for you?
I'm here, Mabs," he said over Shanti's head, and waved again.
A few seconds later a short purple-haired woman with a four-year-old on a leash came over, smiled at both Shanti and Peter, and said, "I'm taking Mabel up to the front for the tree-lighting.
Noah is either going to join us or is already up the tree, God only knows. "
"Probably both," Jake mumbled, bending to give Mabs a kiss. "I'll see you there in a minute."
The little girl, who was wearing two hats and a pair of reindeer earmuffs over them, was also pulling on her harness eagerly. "COME ON MOMMY WE'RE GOING TO MISS THE WIGHTS."
"Let's hope we miss the wights," Mabs muttered as she let the child drag her away. "Wights are undead monsters. I want to miss the wights."
Jake watched them go with an affectionately bemused expression. "Why does she know wights are undead monsters? I didn't know that. Anyway, what's up?" He turned his attention back to Shanti, who was still smiling after Mabs and Mabel.
"Oh, um, I need…I think I need some renovations done.
I inherited my grandparents' house recently and I don't know if I want to sell it yet, but it hasn't been updated since the nineties and I thought I might just try to bring it into this century?
And everybody knows you're the man to go to about renovations in Virtue. "
Jake perked with interest. "An older place?"
"Not old-old. Turn of the century. Last century."
Peter let out a sudden big laugh and looked sheepish when the other two glanced at him. "There are almost no buildings in Alaska that old. It just made me laugh that that wasn't old-old."
"And then there's England," Jake said to him wryly. "Where a hundred miles is a long way but a hundred years is recent."
"I'd never make it in England," Peter replied solemnly.
"I'm not sure any of us would," Jake agreed, then turned his attention back to Shanti. "Is it okay if I don't come over to look at it until the new year? I'm kind of taking the holiday season off work."
"Oh no, that's fine, I wasn't expecting—are you sure? I was just hoping for a recommendation?"
"I can recommend somebody better if I've seen the place, and if it's something I can work on, then it'll be easy as pie."
"Peter and I are going to Alaska for Christmas," Shanti said. "Could I call you to set up a meeting when I'm back?"
"Absolutely." Jake dipped a hand into his coat and came out with an actual old-fashioned paper business card, and grinned at Shanti's astonishment. "I have a lot of older clients and claim that a QR code business card won't cut it with them, but the truth is I kind of hate them."