Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
T he flickering flames in the fireplace cast a soft glow over the living room, illuminating the Christmas tree in muted shades of green and gold. Eloise smiled as she took in the sight. The red and green plaid stockings hanging over the mantel, the twinkling lights of the tree, the pile of presents beneath the boughs.
All of it represented countless hours of hard work, planning, and preparation, and she was so glad she’d been able to do it. She watched as Matt helped Asher put out the milk and cookies for Santa. Every man who’d been here had helped around the manor in some way, from grilling during the pool party, to working on the electrical issues, to keeping the firewood stocked.
Everyone had taken a turn with meals here and there, some more than others, but all had helped in some way. Eloise felt full to bursting, because Robin and Kristen had done an enormous ham feast for tonight’s Christmas Eve dinner, and Eloise couldn’t get enough of Kristen’s cheesy, delicious, “miracle potatoes.”
Eloise watched as Asher carefully placed a carrot next to the plate of cookies and then watched it roll. His chubby fingers reached out and brought it back, and then he smiled proudly at it when it stayed where he wanted it.
“That’s perfect, buddy,” Matt said, ruffling his son’s hair. “Santa’s gonna love it.”
The warmth of the scene enveloped Eloise, and she found herself blinking back tears. This was what she’d hoped for when she’d first conceived of the idea for this holiday getaway—moments of joy, of family, of togetherness.
“El.” Aaron’s voice came from behind her, soft and questioning. She turned to find him holding two mugs of steaming hot chocolate. “Hot chocolate is done.”
“Mm, is this the mint?” She took in a long breath of it and smelled the peppermint on it.
Aaron’s arm slipped around her waist as she took her first sip, and she leaned into him, savoring the moment. Billie, Mandie, Ginny, and Jamie worked in the kitchen, finishing up the dessert for tonight’s single-gift opening. They had plans to put a movie on downstairs later, after everyone got one gift from beneath the tree a day early.
“Who’s picking your gifts?” Duke asked, pausing in front of them.
“I am.” Eloise handed her hot chocolate back to her husband and followed Duke into the living room. They’d agreed that tomorrow, they’d go around and open their gifts, then show them to the group, but that tonight, they could each get their present and open it at the same time.
So Eloise bent to pick up the four gifts—one for each person in her family—from where she’d stashed them under the Christmas tree.
The couches and chairs and hearth got filled quickly when they all gathered here, and Aaron started bringing over some of the dining table chairs. El simply waited for him and Duke to get enough seating for everyone, and then she went to check on the girls in the kitchen.
She found Billie eating the bottom round of a snowman, and she froze as El joined the younger girls at the counter. “These look ready,” she said as she drank in the brightly decorated sugar cookies. Reindeer, sleighs, Santas, snowmen, snowflakes, and stars.
She smiled at the girls, and Billie grinned back at her with cookie crumbs on her lips. “We ready?”
“Yes.” Mandie picked up the platter of cookies and gave Eloise a side-eyed look.
“All right,” Eloise said lightly. “Let’s head into the living room.”
She waited for Jamie and Ginny to follow the cookies, and Billie quickly crammed the last of the snowman in her mouth before she went with them too. Eloise brought up the rear, and when she reached the row of chairs behind the couch, she clapped her hands together.
“Everyone find a seat,” she called, noting that Billie camped right next to Ian on the floor, their backs resting against the couch behind them. Mandie and Charlie sat on the sofa behind them, their legs tucked up under them. Billie grinned at her lap and laced her fingers through Ian’s, then peered up at him through her eyelashes, almost like she thought her father wouldn’t see her.
“Let’s pass out the gifts,” Eloise said, and she turned to pick up the presents she’d already plucked from the pile. She leaned over the couch and gave Grace’s to her, then tossed Aaron’s gift to him, and then crossed the room and handed Billie hers with a stern-feeling look on her face. Billie had the sense to release Ian’s hand to take the gift, and when Eloise had sat next to Aaron in one of the dining chairs and faced them again, Billie had put a few inches between them.
Smart girl.
A chorus of excited voices filled the air as packages continued to get distributed.
“Everyone have a gift?” she asked as Alice settled into a seat, and then Laurel, then Clara, Jean, and Kelli.
“We’re ready,” AJ said, and Eloise smiled.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s open them.” She didn’t wait to se what others were doing; she tore into her gift. She already knew it would be the orange-ginger lotion she loved, as the body care store only sold it during the holidays, and she restocked every year.
Exclamations of delight and gratitude chimed in the air as gifts got opened, some faster than others. “Thank you, Dad,” Billie called, holding up a delicate silver necklace with a star-shaped pendant. “Thank you, El.”
Eloise grinned at her, then watched as Ian put the necklace on for her.
Laughter erupted as Charlie opened a gag gift from Mandie—a book titled “How to Survive Your First Year of College Without Your Girlfriend.”
“Very funny,” he said, rolling his eyes even as he grinned.
“Open the real one,” Mandie urged, handing him another package.
As Charlie unwrapped a framed photo of the two of them on their first day of their sophomore year, Eloise felt a pang in her chest.
A shriek of delight from across the room pulled Eloise from her thoughts. Lena was bouncing up and down, clutching a stuffed, sparkly purple unicorn. “Mom! Dad! Thank you, thank you!”
Robin’s girls got new pajamas, and Jean and Rueben had gotten Heidi a toy vacuum cleaner. She currently pushed it around the a small patch of carpet in the living room, pure joy on her face. If only she’d like vacuuming half as much later in her life.
New ties, new shoes, new jackets—they all got opened, and Eloise recognized the abundance in all of their lives. Just the fact that they could pool their resources and rent a house like this for over three weeks testified of how much they all had.
“Eloise, look what I got.” Parker arrived in front of her, wearing a bright green jersey. “It’s my favorite player.” He turned around so Eloise could read the name there. She had no idea who he was, but she knew Parker loved basketball.
“That’s amazing,” she said, and the teen smiled at her.
“Thanks for doing this,” he said, and he semi-lunged at her and hugged her awkwardly.
Eloise could barely pat him on the back before he pulled away, and he moved back over to Ian and Billie. Eloise caught Kelli’s eye, and her friend mouthed a silent “thank you.”
Ginny stood up and held one of the platters of cookies. “Time for dessert,” she said, and she moved around the room like a cocktail waitress, lowering the tray so others could take the cookie of their choice.
It didn’t take long for the little kids to start yawning, and AJ scooped Asher into her arms, saying, “Come on, buddy. Santa won’t come if you’re still awake.”
“That’s right,” Aaron said. “Everyone to bed.”
“Bed?” Billie asked. “Dad, it’s eight o’clock.”
“Movie time, then,” he said. “Santa will be flying by soon, and he won’t want to be seen.”
Eloise grinned at him, because she knew he’d told his girls the same thing when they were younger so he could finish getting their presents ready while they played or colored in their bedroom.
“He’s not a young as he once was,” Duke said, joining in on the game. “We definitely all need to get to bed a little early tonight.”
“Let’s go put on a movie,” Billie said.
“And when the boys go up to their bunk room, they should pretend like this floor doesn’t exist,” Liam said, really puffing out his chest. “Santa’s presents disappear if they’re seen before Christmas morning.”
“Sure, Dad.” Ian rolled his eyes at his father, and then he followed Charlie and Parker downstairs.
“Be careful with that frosting,” Eloise said to Grace as she went by with a plate of cookies. “We don’t own this house, remember.”
“Okay, El.” Grace smiled at her, and Eloise sure loved her.
Finally, only the adults remained in the living room, and Robin set down a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. “Who wants a drink?”
“There’s eggnog too,” Alice said.
“And I have some of those whiskey chocolates,” Kristen said as she moved into the kitchen to retrieve them.
“Let’s get the presents out and done, so we can go to bed,” Aaron said, and Eloise wasn’t going to argue with him. She poured herself half a glass of wine and retrieved a laundry basket from the top of the dryer. She handed it to Aaron and said, “All of our gifts are in the master closet.”
She didn’t want to climb up and get them, but Aaron grinned and said, “I’ll be right back.”
“I can’t believe how fast this month has gone,” Alice mused, carefully swirling her wine. “It feels like we just got here yesterday.”
Eloise nodded in agreement. “I know. Part of me doesn’t want it to end.”
“Well,” Kristen said, a thoughtful look on her face. “Who says it has to? I mean, not this exactly, but…why can’t we do something like this every year?”
The idea hung in the air, full of possibility. A spark of excitement ignited in Eloise’s chest. “It’s not a bad idea,” she said. “But it’s a lot of work.”
“Many hands make light work,” Laurel said as she joined them. She sipped from a can of ginger ale. “As my mother would say.” She smiled at everyone, and Eloise reached to put her arm around her.
“It’s something to think about,” Eloise said, but she didn’t want to do that right now. She only had two more days before they’d have to all pack their bags, pull the sheets and towels out of their bedrooms and bathrooms, and return to their own houses.
Eloise would have to go back to the Cliffside Inn. Regular life would resume, and the bubble the holiday house had provided for her would burst.
But they still had Operation Santa to finish, and Christmas Day, so the holidays weren’t over yet.