The outskirts of Charles Town came into view, and Melody glanced in the mirror to see that Michael’s head had lolled to the side. He was asleep. Maybe Reid wouldn’t want to bother with assembling her Christmas tree stand and wrestling the spruce into place when his son was so tired.
“He’ll wake up as soon as the truck stops. Guarantee it,” Reid whispered with a knowing smile.
Melody returned his smile and then turned her attention back out the window. The town was always beautiful, but there was just something about all of the old houses at Christmas time that made her feel warm inside. “What made you choose Charles Town?” she asked, quietly, turning her head so that he could hear.
Reid shrugged. “I have an aunt and uncle who live in Harper’s Ferry. They suggested it might be a good place for Michael and I to start over. I’ve always wanted to start my own restoration business, and there’s definitely plenty of supply here and in the area.”
Melody nodded. “What did you do in Montana? Where at in Montana?’
“Billings,” he said, and the word came out as if he’d had to force it. “I worked as an architect for a fairly well-known builder there, designing houses for new subdivisions.”
“Wow,” Melody said, controlling her enthusiasm so as not to wake Michael. “That sounds impressive.”
He shrugged again. “It probably sounds more impressive than it actually was. I mean, I definitely made a good living. But after six years of doing the same thing, working for the same boss, I finally decided I needed to get away from that place and see what I could do on my own.”
Though she desperately wanted to ask the burning question—where was Michael’s mom?—they had just turned onto her street, and she realized now was not an appropriate time. That would have to wait for later—if there was a later. As he backed into her driveway in the spot closest to the door, she desperately hoped there would be a next time, even though she had no idea exactly what the nature of their relationship was. Did Reid only tolerate her because Michael was so enamored with her, or did he genuinely like her as well, and if so, to what extent?
As soon as Reid turned the engine off, Michael’s head shot up off the window. “Are we home?” he asked, his voice sounding crystal clear, as if he’d never even been asleep.
“We are at Miss Melody’s house,” Reid reminded him, and she smiled over her shoulder at the little boy who gave one more yawn and unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Yay!” Michael exclaimed, and Reid grinned at her as if to say, “I told you so” before exiting the vehicle to open Michael’s door for him and help him out.
Melody pushed her way out of the cab of the truck as well, not thrilled to be back in the cold but knowing it was only temporary. Michael ran around the side of the truck and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go see if my mom got the Christmas tree stand out,” she said, and Reid followed them up the wide brick steps to the front door.
Before she even reached the door knob, her mother flung the door open. “Oh, good! You’re home!” she called, as if all of them lived there. “I just finished a batch of my famous chocolate chip cookies, and they’ll be ready to take out of the oven in just a minute.”
“Yay!” Michael shouted again. “Your cookies are the bestest!”
“Oh?” Sarah asked, looking from the little boy to her own daughter.
“He may have sampled them last week,” Melody explained. “Mom, this is Michael. And this is Reid.”
“It is so nice to meet both of you,” Sarah replied, shaking Michael’s hand and stepping out of the way as he barreled through the door. She shook Reid’s hand as well and dismissed his apologies for his son’s behavior. “No worries,” she said, “it’s been a long time since there’s been a little one running down these halls.”
“Actually, it’s only been a few days,” Melody reminded her mother as Reid followed her into the house.
“You know what I mean,” Sarah said, still smiling. “The pitter patter of little footsteps does a soul good.”
“What about the clunking of snow covered boots on your parquet?” Reid asked before he yelled at Michael to come back and take off his boots.
Melody was careful to dislodge any leftover flakes before she walked into the living room, Reid doing the same. “Did you get the tree stand out?” she asked.
“I did,” Sarah nodded. “I thought we should try something different this year. Your father preferred that corner over there, but I thought it might look nice right here, in the window.”
Melody considered her mother’s suggestion as she stood with her arms spread wide before the large picture window at the front of the room. She’d already moved the table that was usually there across the room, and it now occupied the place where Melody expected to see the Christmas tree stand.
“It would look great right there,” Reid agreed. “And everyone could see it from the street.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Sarah smiled. “And we could also see it first thing when we walked in the door.”
Melody realized her arms were crossed, but she couldn’t fight the negative comments flooding her head. “But, Mom, we always put it in the same place. Why move it now?”
“Why not?” Sarah asked with a shrug. “Why not try something different?”
There were so many reasons why not to, Melody couldn’t even formulate a complete sentence.
“We can always try it there, and if you don’t like it, I can move it,” Reid offered.
“I don’t want you to have to do that,” Melody replied, uncrossing her arms. What would her dad think if he could see that they’d moved the Christmas tree?
“Listen, Melody,” Sarah said, her tone even, cautious, “I know there are certain traditions you like to keep intact, but someday you’ll have a family of your own, and your own home, and you can put your Christmas tree wherever you’d like. I honestly don’t think your father would be upset if we put the tree here. Is that what you’re concerned about?”
Feeling another onslaught of tears coming on, Melody tried to focus on something else. Michael was playing with the Santas behind her, and she tried to listen to his conversation instead of thinking about her father. Apparently, one of the Santas was a princess and another was trying to rescue her from a group of evil ninjas. It was enough to make her giggle, so, closing her eyes for a moment, she concentrated on the sweet voice of the child behind her, and managed to say, “Okay, Mom. It’s your tree. If that’s where you want to put it, go ahead.”
“Quick, Reid! Go get it before she changes her mind!” Sarah teased, resting her hand gently on her daughter’s shoulder.
“Do you need any help?” Melody asked, ignoring her mother’s remark.
“Nope, I got it,” Reid assured her, turning a bit to flash her a smile, and he headed back out into the snow, leaving Melody to ponder what had gotten into her mother’s head wanting to change everything.