Chapter Two

Chantelle looked overjoyed when Emily and Daniel arrived to pick her up from school the next day, with Patricia sitting patiently in the back seat. She looked very out of place in the truck in her two-piece outfit and blazer combo but Chantelle didn’t seem to notice. She leaped into the backseat, beaming, her cheeks pink from the chilly weather.

“Christmas tree time!” she declared.

Daniel drove them. The weather still hadn’t fully turned yet, though it was much colder than it had been. There wasn’t even any frost, which was common at this time of year. Emily was grateful that the weather had held up so far. It meant that Evan, Clyde and Stu had been able to do their work on the island unimpeded.

The Christmas Tree farm was quite a way out of Sunset Harbor. They could, of course, just go to the depot at Ellsworth, but that was hardly a magical experience for Chantelle! So they went even further, to the one in Taunton Bay.

As they pulled down the small, bumpy, potholed road that lead to the farm, Emily could see the extra journey was well worth it. The Christmas Tree farm was enormous, and thanks to the sloping hillside that ran all the way down from the road to the lake, they had an amazing view of all the trees.

“It’s like a whole forest of Christmas,” Chantelle said, in awe.

Daniel pulled up into the makeshift lot, which was really just a patch of flattened ground, covered in hay to stop it becoming too muddy. There was a small wood-panelled house to one side, with a handmade sign proclaiming; Christmas Trees!

Emily looked over at Patricia in the backseat beside Chantelle. She was wearing her typical snooty expression, and peering out the window with a fearful expression for the dirty ground she was about to step on. But she held her tongue and Emily smiled to herself. That, in itself, felt like a small victory.

Everyone climbed out of the pickup truck, just at the same time the front door to the house opened. A man stepped out, waving at them. He seemed very jolly, with a round belly. Emily wondered if he’d ever considered becoming a Santa, he certainly had the look for it.

“Hi folks!” he said, grinning. “I’m Terry. Are you here to cut down your own tree?”

“We certainly are,” Daniel said.

Chantelle hurried up to the man. “Actually, we need five trees. We have an inn, you see, and a restaurant and spa and they all need a tree. So does the ballroom.”

“How about we just start with one?” Emily suggested, thinking of the fact there were no guests at the inn right now to enjoy the trees. “Then if we need more, we can come back for another day trip.”

That seemed to please Chantelle, and she nodded in agreement.

Terry showed them the tools they would need, then they waved goodbye and headed out into the forest of trees. Emily thought of the farm they’d visited last year, which had been very busy, run more like a fare with tractor rides and hot chocolate to purchase. She liked this more back-to-basics experience, especially since the moment they were inside the forest everything became very quiet.

“It’s like we’re the only people in the world,” she said, her hands protectively cradling her bump.

She looked back to see how Patricia was getting on. Despite walking on her tiptoes and wearing a slightly pinched expression, she wasn’t complaining at all. Emily wondered if perhaps she might be enjoying herself, though too proud to admit it.

“Nana Patty,” Chantelle said, hurrying back and grasping her hand. “I think there’s some really, really dark green ones over here. Come on!”

Emily smiled to herself as she watched her daughter pull her mom along. She couldn’t recall a time when Patricia had been so compliant, joining in with an activity. Chantelle was clearly rubbing off on her.

Daniel put an arm around Emily’s shoulders, bringing her body close to his.

“This is wonderful, isn’t it?” he said. “I love how enthusiastic she gets about these sort of things. I can’t wait to see how much she enjoys Hanukkah.”

“What date does it start this year?” Emily asked him.

“Sixteenth.”

“So after Charlotte has joined us?” she asked, grinning, thinking about having a newborn in the house during this wonderful time of the year, when everyone was celebrating.

“Maybe even on the first day,” he said, smiling. “Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

Emily nodded in agreement. It would certainly be delightful for Daniel to have his daughter born on such a significant day.

Just then, they heard Chantelle calling through the trees.

“Mom! Dad! We’ve got it!”

They smiled at one another then trudge towards her voice. Chantelle was standing next to gorgeous tree, with the darkest pines Emily had ever seen. It was wonderfully symmetrical, too, the sort of perfect tree that would be used in magazines. And of course, it was enormous.

“Nana Patty chose it,” Chantelle said, looking proudly at Patricia.

“Did she now?” Emily asked, pleased to see how well the two were bonding.

Even Patricia looked quietly pleased.

“In that case,” Daniel said, “Nana Patty ought to have the first go.”

“Oh goodness, no,” Patricia said, shaking her hands at the saw Daniel was offering her.

“Yes!” Chantelle cried, jumping up and down, clapping her hands. “Please Nana Patty! It’s really fun. I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

Patricia hesitated, then finally relented. “Oh, all right then. If you insist.”

She took the saw from Daniel and glared at the tree like it was an enemy. Daniel bent down and moved the large branches out of her way, exposing the truck where she was to cut. Patricia squatted, clearly in an attempt to not let her knee touch the muddy ground. Emily couldn’t help but laugh to herself. Her mom looked like a frog!

Patricia reached in and sawed across the trunk of the tree. She squealed, elated, and looked back at the family watching on.

“You’re right,” she said to Chantelle. “That is fun!”

Emily chuckled aloud. Just a few days in Maine with her family and Patricia had eaten smores and chopped wood!

Terry arrived then with his tractor and put the tree in the back.

“All aboard,” he said.

They all got into the back with the tree, but Patricia didn’t move. She looked stunned.

“You want me to ride in that?”

Chantelle bounced up and down on the wooden bench. “It’s fun! You have to trust me!”

“Do I have a choice?” Patricia asked.

Chantelle shook her head, still grinning wickedly.

Patricia sighed and climbed into the tractor trailer.

Once everyone was settled, Terry drove them back to their car and helped Daniel secure the very large tree onto the roof of his truck. Then they paid him and left the farm, all feeling exhilarated.

“I can’t wait to decorate it,” Chantelle said. “Will you help Nana Patty?”

Patricia nodded. “Yes, but then I must leave after that. Okay?”

Chantelle pouted, looking a little sad. “If you have too. But I’ve loved you being here. Will you come back for Christmas?”

Emily watched her mom in the rear-view mirror. She couldn’t even recall the last time they’d spent Christmas together. Even when she was living in New York with Ben, they’d tended to spend Christmas with his family rather than Patricia. It wasn’t like the woman ever particularly got into the Christmas spirit and it seemed like a dumb idea as far as Emily was concerned to put themselves through the misery. She wondered whether the softer side of Patricia she’d seen over the last few days could extend that far.

“Maybe,” she said, evasively. “I think your mother and father might have a lot on at that point in time. The baby will be born by then, won’t she?”

“Even better!” Chantelle pressed. “She needs to meet her Nana Patty.”

Clearly realizing that she’d come up against Patricia’s stubborn side, Chantelle offered another suggestion. “Or if not Christmas, maybe New Years? We have a party at the inn. You can come to that, right?”

Patricia remained evasive in her answers. “We will have to see,” was all she’d commit to.

Chantelle looked over at Emily next. “Do you think Papa Roy might want to come for Christmas?” she asked.

Emily felt tense. It was even less likely her father would be able to come with his health deteriorating.

“We can ask,” Emily told her, and the conversation died down to silence.

They reached the inn and Daniel parked up. Stu, Clyde and Evan were home, so they came out to help carry the tree inside. Then, together, the four men heaved it up into its position in the foyer.

“That’s one big tree,” Clyde said, whistling. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead and looked down at Chantelle. “How are you going to get the angel on the top? Even on my shoulders I don’t think you’ll make it.”

To iterate his point, he swept a giggling Chantelle up into his strong arms and plonked her on his shoulders. He began parading her around. Emily noticed Patricia wincing. Probably worrying about the hard wooden floor beneath them, a mother’s instinct that even Patricia possessed!

“I’ll go get the ladder,” Stu said, heading off in the direction of the garage.

Evan and Clyde helped, too, by carrying all the boxes of decorations out of the garage. Then the three men headed off into town to watch the game and have a drink after their long day working on the island, leaving just the family to decorate.

“We need to put on Christmas music,” Emily said, heading over to the reception desk where the sound system was set up. She found an old Christmas Crooners CD and put it on. Frank Sinatra’s voice filled the hall.

“And,” Daniel added. “We need to have hot chocolates!”

Chantelle nodded enthusiastically, and they all hurried into the kitchen. Daniel boiled milk on the stove, while Chantelle searched the pantry for leftover marshmallows. She returned with not only marshmallows, but also rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream.

“Excellent,” Daniel said, as he poured them each a mug of hot chocolate, then topped them with cream, marshmallows and sprinkles.

Emily had never seen Patricia consume anything like that in her life! The smores had been a sight enough to behold, but this was a whole other thing. It was like Patricia had been transformed by the spirit of Christmas, at last, after sixty-odd years of resistance!

They headed back into the hall, where the giant Christmas tree stood waiting to be decorated, and got to work. Of course, Chantelle took the lead.

“We need lights over here, Daddy,” she said to Daniel, pointing at a bare patch. “And Nana Patty, those reindeer need to be on this branch.”

Emily leaned in to her mom and said, “Chantelle has a very specific vision.”