When the Wind Chimes - Mary Ting Page 0,9

bills. Geesh, look at you trying to get out of work. Slacker.”

Abby shoved me lightly and then linked her arm with mine as we continued our stroll. On my other side, Tyler slid a small, sticky hand into mine.

“I’m so happy you’re spending Christmas with us this year,” she said as we passed the bakery.

My heart swelled, easing the guilt I still carried for spending Christmas last year with my ex.

Jayden and I had been having problems and I’d decided to stay to work things out. If I’d left to be with family while things between us were unsettled, I would have been a Grinch. I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere or do anything, aside from sulk in bed. I’d thought I was sparing them the annoyance.

Jayden and I had talked about visiting my sister together. We’d planned to go snorkeling, drive along the coast, and eat all the shaved snow possible. But now I was here without him. Life was unpredictable that way.

I reminded myself I was there to lighten the mood for all of us, not wallow in the past. “Let’s get out of here and get our Christmas tree. What do you say?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Tyler whooped and pumped a fist in the air.

Before I turned toward Abby’s car, I glanced over my shoulder, hoping for one last glimpse at Leonardo. But he was gone, and so was his beautiful companion.

Chapter Four — The Interview

Abby left to take Tyler to daycare and then go to her gallery, while I had the morning to myself.

The scent of fresh pine filled the air from the Christmas tree. I felt like I was standing in the middle of a forest. Christmas always brought out the kid in me. I couldn’t wait for Abby and Tyler to see the fully decorated house.

After I made some coffee, I blasted Christmas music on my phone. “Deck the Halls” played and I sang along while opening the boxes marked Christmas.

I placed a couple of snowmen made out of socks by the six-foot tree we had set up by the hearth. Any bigger and we wouldn’t have been able to lug it on top of Abby’s minivan.

I reached inside the box and picked up a photo of Steve, Abby, and Tyler in front of a brightly lit tree, and then another one with a Santa Claus in the background. As tears pooled in my eyes, I placed them back in and decided to ask Abby what to do with them. She might not be ready.

Next, I took out three plush red stockings, each embellished with a name: Tyler. Abby. Steve. I traced Steve’s name over the soft material as an ache squeezed my lungs. I missed him, and I missed my sister’s joy. I placed his stocking back and hung the other two on the mantel.

My brother-in-law had been the sweetest. He had the biggest heart, and they were a perfect team. Where Steve lacked creativity, Abby made up for it, and where my sister lacked financial knowhow, my brother-in-law excelled at it. I wished things had turned out differently.

I placed Santa Claus on the end table and tucked reindeer trinkets on bookshelves. Then I covered the front door in metallic silver wrapping paper with a big red bow on it. It looked like a huge present. I couldn’t wait for Tyler to come home and see it.

As a child, I’d found decorating the tree the most memorable part of Christmas besides opening presents, so I decided to wait for Tyler and Abby. It should be a family activity, anyway.

By the time I had finished decorating, I still had time to spare. I picked up Tyler’s blocks scattered in the family room and piled them into a plastic container, tidied up the house, ate lunch, and dressed up for my interview.

Poipu Design was in a low, flat building—nothing like my tall, gleaming office in Los Angeles—but the interior was well designed and modern. Everything in the office space was white and spic-and-span clean.

“Hello, may I help you?” the young woman at the front desk asked.

“Hi, my name is Kaitlyn Summers. I’m here for the four o’clock interview.”

The woman glanced at her clipboard and looked back to me. “Oh, yes. I have you down. Please have a seat.”

I inhaled a deep breath, settled into the white leather sofa, and scrolled through the pictures on my cell phone to pass the time. Pictures of my parents, Abby, Tyler, and Steve, my friends, and even Jayden.

Jayden had