some point they’d have to make choices, but they didn’t have to make those choices tonight. Tonight all they had to do was enjoy their time together.
And that’s what they did.
Gayle
“Nanna! Wake up.”
Gayle woke to find Tab jumping on her bed holding a bulging stocking and Bear, her ever-present guardian, sitting patiently by the door.
Ella appeared in the doorway. “Sorry! Tab, I told you that you weren’t to wake Nanna.”
“But I want to open my stocking with her.”
Gayle sat up and pulled Tab into the bed so she wouldn’t be cold.
“Ella, you might want to check the end of my bed because there is something there.”
It had been gone midnight when she’d finally finished wrapping, and she hoped she’d done the right thing.
Tab checked and found the two stockings. “They’re for Mommy and Aunty Sam. Santa must have come into your room, Nanna. Did you see him?”
“I was sound asleep the whole night.”
Samantha appeared in the doorway. “Did someone say Santa?”
“He left a stocking for you!” Tab pushed it toward her and Samantha glanced at her sister, and then at Gayle.
“Santa filled a stocking for us?”
Aware that Tab was watching, Gayle mirrored Ella’s excitement. She wasn’t going to blow this. “It seems that way.”
“A stocking.” Ella sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled it onto her lap. “I can’t believe—”
“Can I open it for you?” Tab bounced on the bed. “Can I?”
“No you can’t,” Michael said. “You have your own to open. This one is for Mommy.”
Tab started opening her presents and Ella took wrapped packages from the lumpy, bumpy stocking with her name on it.
“I feel about six years old. I can’t believe Santa did this for us.” Ella pulled a dome-shaped parcel out of her stocking and gave her mother a knowing look.
“I can’t believe it, either.” Samantha was opening her own. It was full of extravagant treats, and watching their faces, Gayle wondered why she’d ever thought that fun for fun’s sake was a waste of money. She pushed aside regret. The past was done.
“A snow globe!” Ella pulled it out of the wrapping and shook it, watching as snow swirled around the winter scene inside. “I always wanted one.”
“And I predict you will play with it for five minutes,” Michael murmured, kissing her on the neck as he headed for the door to get dressed.
After breakfast, Gayle pulled her daughters to one side.
“There’s something I’d like us to do.” She’d been thinking about it since that conversation in the kitchen with Mary. “We’re going to build a snowman.”
Ella grinned. “Great idea. I’ll call Tab—”
“Not Tab. Not this time. Us. The three of us.”
Samantha frowned. “You want to build a snowman?”
“Yes, because we never did it and we should have done. And you’re probably thinking that it’s too late now, that we can’t turn the clock back—”
“We don’t think that, do we?” Ella glanced at Samantha, who shook her head.
“It’s never too late.” Something about the way she said it made Gayle wonder if she was thinking about more than simply building a snowman. There was a new lightness to Samantha that Gayle hadn’t seen before. And although she was no expert on romantic relationships, she was sure it had something to do with Brodie.
“Let’s go while Tab is playing with Michael.” Ella grabbed the coats and they spilled outside into the snow and crystal clear air, shivering and wrapping up as they walked.
“This place is fantastic.” Ella spread her arms and did a twirl. “Can we just book it ourselves every year?”
“I’ve already costed it and we wouldn’t be able to afford it. Ironic, no?” Samantha scooped up snow and threw it at her sister.
“Oh you—” Covered in snow, Ella retaliated, and soon the two of them were throwing snow and Gayle found herself caught in the crossfire.
“And here was me worrying you were too grown-up to enjoy playing in the snow.” She wiped snow out of her hair. “Good to know I was wrong about that.”
Ella shivered as she freed snow from the neck of her jacket. “She started it.” And then she realized what she’d said and burst out laughing. “Let’s build that snowman, before we get frostbite.”
They did it together, the three of them, layering snow onto snow and as it grew Gayle realized they were building more than a snowman.
“I’ve been thinking—” She paused to take a breath, watching as Samantha smoothed more snow onto the snowman’s head. “If you wanted to see a photograph of your father, I