Christmas at Holiday House - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,97
and Abby can figure everything out for Christmas and just tell me what you need me to do for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I’m good at pad thai and cinnamon apple pumpkin pie. And of course couscous.”
“Duly noted,” Winnie said. “Good night, my darling loves.”
Christopher chuckled at that. Despite all the sugar he’d had that evening, he looked like he was going to fall over.
“I’m going to put him to bed, and then I’ll come out and straighten things up out here,” Abby said. “You’ve had a long day and need to sleep.”
“No doubt. But I can fold up tables and chairs at least.”
As Lucy didn’t seem like she was in the mood to argue, Abby let it rest.
When she returned to the great room after helping Christopher into his pajamas and reading him a quick story, she found Lucy sitting in front of the fire, a wine bottle on the table in front of her.
“Look what I found in the kitchen. I think Mariah left it. I’m having some. You in?”
Abby wasn’t much of a wine drinker, or any alcohol, really. It made her too sleepy. But she sensed Lucy needed companionship, so she poured a little into a glass.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” she finally asked after Lucy had poured a healthy portion for herself and downed it in almost one swallow.
“What makes you think something is wrong?”
She wanted to remind her friend that she rarely drank in college and was already on her second glass in five minutes.
On the other hand, she and Lucy hadn’t lived together in years. People changed, picked up new habits. Maybe Lucy liked to party and had managed to hide it while living overseas.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “You’ve been acting off all evening. Last night, too, actually. Are the Russians being too hard on you?”
“Not at all. They’re fine. The bride, Katya, is very sweet. She’s so in love with Daniel and just wants the whole thing over with.”
“Are you sure something else isn’t troubling you?”
Lucy said nothing for a long time, taking another healthy sip of her wine.
“Why do some people have to be so difficult?” she finally blurted out.
It was a rhetorical question, one Abby really couldn’t answer. “Sometimes I find the most difficult patients are really only scared.”
“Or sometimes they’re only being stubborn,” Lucy muttered.
“Maybe. In my experience, those who fight the hardest usually have the most to lose.”
Lucy sighed and sipped at her wine. “Or sometimes they’re only being stubborn,” she repeated.
“Maybe.”
They talked philosophy for a few more moments, until she could see Lucy’s eyes close and her head begin to sag against the sofa cushions.
“Speaking as a medical professional and as your friend, you need to put the wine away now and go to bed,” Abby said. “That’s my prescription for you right now. Sometimes the best cure for dealing with difficult people is a good night’s sleep.”
“I will after this glass.”
“Okay. I’m going to bed. Good luck with the wedding tomorrow.”
Lucy made a face. “You know how much I love weddings,” she grumbled.
“Fortunately, it’s not yours. Good night.”
* * *
Lucy swallowed another mouthful of wine, barely even tasting it as she watched Abby make her way down the hall to her room, where Christopher was sleeping.
She had no reason to be feeling sorry for herself right now. She had made her own choices in life, her own path. She wasn’t selfish. Between the peace corps and the NGO where she had worked, she wanted to think she had made a difference in people’s lives.
She should handle her life with the kind of grace and dignity that Abby did. Abby had lost the love of her life to a violent crime. Instead of curling up and feeling sorry for herself, she was still compassionate, still kind. Abby was courageously embracing new opportunities.
Lucy, on the other hand, felt as if she fumbled her way through life, messing up constantly and coming up short.
The main constants in her life were Ethan and Winnie.
And José.
She had lied when she told Abby and Winnie that her day had gone well.
Oh, her translation duties had been fine. The Russian family was big, gregarious, charming. They were in love with everything about Colorado, wearing oversize Stetsons and boots and quoting John Wayne in Russian. Daniel might as well have been John Wayne himself to them.
The bride, Katya, was truly sweet, though a few times throughout the day Lucy had suspected she might be suffering a little attack of nerves.