Home for Christmas, page 12
The story of what happened to him and Darcy was long and short, but nothing he was prepared to share. They were best friends and they were the biggest enemies. They were twins in every definition and variation of the word. He loved his sister and he was so thankful they were moving back toward each other, but he couldn’t risk messing with their tentative reconciliation on oversharing, even with the lovely Miss Harper Jessup.
She folded her blanket as she stood. “Thanks for walking me home.”
“Harper Jessup, I’d be happy to walk you home anytime.”
“I will keep that in mind, Bennett Langston.”
32
“Darcy, I am perfectly capable of getting my own cup of tea.” Aunt Lulu shifted to move off her hospital bed stationed in the main living room.
“Aunt Lulu, you are under strict instructions to stay in bed until the physical therapist arrives. Those are doctor’s orders.” Darcy gently nudged her aunt back onto the bed. “Actually, multiple doctors’ orders.”
“Well, I know my own body and lying in a bed in this house when it’s daylight will cause me to have an allergic reaction.”
“Aunt Lulu, please work with us,” Ben said. “Your physical therapist will be here in a couple hours and you have an in-home nurse coming for an evaluation this afternoon. You need to keep up your strength. The more you fight, the longer healing will take.”
“Well, if you say so Bennett. Darcy, you can get me that tea now.”
Darcy turned toward the kitchen. “Why do all the women in this family listen to the male doctor instead of the female doctor?”
“Hey, Darc, wait up.”
She whipped around to face Ben. “Seriously. I went to medical school, too.”
Ben shrugged. “She’s staying in bed. Does it really matter who convinced her?”
“Does it really matter who convinced her?” Darcy mumbled. She snatched the copper tea kettle from the range, and filled it to the brim. With three clicks, the pilot lit and she set the kettle on to boil. “Ben, you’re right. You’re always right, but I would just, for once, like someone in our family to recognize I actually know what I’m doing.”
Ben slung a long arm over her shoulders and squeezed. “Does it count if I know?”
Sliding her arm around his waist, she hugged her brother. “I missed you.”
“Right back at you.” Stepping back from her, he rested his hip against the island. “Tell me about the Christmas play. Or better yet, about the pastor.”
“Or why don’t you tell me about Harper Jessup.” She laced her arms over her chest. Ben’s cheeks flamed pink. He always was an easy mark. “Never mind. You make it too easy to tease you. The play is going better than expected. I’ll update Aunt Lulu over tea. It’s kind of a cool story.”
“I heard it’s an original play.”
The tea kettle whistled. “Oh, who did you hear that from?” she asked, as she reached for the box of peppermint tea leaves and infuser.
“Come on, Darc…we haven’t spoken to each other in five years and you choose snarky sister?”
She chuckled. “Who knew you would grow sensitive? I’ll let my questions about the lovely Miss Jessup wait.” She tamped down the tea leaves and plopped the infuser in a teapot. Pouring a steaming stream of water into the antique pot, she pointed toward a tin with her free hand. “You want to place a few shortbread cookies on a plate for her. We shouldn’t leave Lulu alone much longer. She may decide the parlor isn’t decorated enough.”
He reached for a tin and trailed behind.
Having Lulu home settled a bit of the swirl in Darcy’s person, but with her aunt clearly on the mend, the worry of what was next in her life tilted her personal teacups into spin city. With lips stretched wide, she sucked in a deep breath, and tried to slow the imaginary internal theme park ride.
“Here we are. A nice pot of tea.” Darcy set the tray with teapot and cups on the tall end table Ben had found in the attic. She rested the strainer against the wide rim of the cup and poured tea for her aunt. “Cream and sugar?” Aunt Lulu nodded and Darcy added the accoutrements. She repeated the same steps in her own cup and Ben’s before setting on the wide settee they’d arranged for Aunt Lulu’s anticipated visitors.
“This is wonderful.” Aunt Lulu nibbled on a cookie. “What delightful shortbread.”
“As it is yours, I would expect nothing less than perfection,” Darcy said.
“I’ll take the compliment, Darcy darling.” Lulu took another sip of tea, and shifted her focus to Ben. “Benny boy, it seems your sister is still wearing the same mismatched set of clothing. When Harper called this morning, she asked if she could do anything, and I told her she could pick up some clothes from Darcy’s apartment. Would you be a dear and run Darcy’s apartment key to her?”
Ben’s eyebrows tilted to create a deep crevasse in the middle of his forehead. “Why can’t Darcy go home and get her stuff?”
OK, Lulu, let’s see how you swing this one.
“Because, Benny boy, I need to get caught up on the progress of the Christmas play. And you and Harper have been working together on the cookie sale, I thought you’d be fast friends by now. You don’t mind doing this little favor for your favorite aunt, do you? Maybe you’d like to keep her company? Harper said she needed to come back to Gibson’s Run tonight for the opening of the festival.”
Oh, she’s good.
Ben stretched to stand. “Anything you need, Aunt Lulu.” He leaned forward and kissed their aunt’s cheek. Turning to Darcy, he lifted an eyebrow. “Are your keys in your coat pocket?”
She nodded. “I made a list of things for her to pick up when Lulu said Harper would swing by my place. It’s on the notepad on the fridge.”
Nodding, he lifted his hand in a wave and shuffled toward the kitchen. At the click of the back door, Darcy drew her knees to her chest, resting her tea cup on top. “Sneaky, Aunt Lulu. But not very subtle.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Aunt Lulu sipped another dainty drink. “How are you and Pastor Finn making out?”
Darcy snorted hot tea through throat and nostrils simultaneously scorching both orifices.
Lulu winked. “I’m too old for subtlety, Darcy darling.”
The doorbell gonged, giving Darcy the reprieve she needed from the flash bomb of memories exploding through her mind and body as every part of her relived the feeling of her lips touching Finn’s. If Lulu only knew how supremely accurate her question really was.
Yanking the heavy door open, there stood her memory bomb in the flesh. “Hi, Darcy.”
“Hi.” Her heart sped and she struggled to draw a deep breath.
“May I come in?”
Shaking her head, she laughed. “Of course.”
“Darcy darling, is that Finn at the door?” Lulu’s voice charged into the foyer.
“Yes, Aunt Lulu.”
“Well, don’t let him languish in the door way.”
“Let’s not languish, Pastor Finn.”
“After you, Darcy darling.”
33
Finn sipped a second cup of tea and listened to the niece and aunt bounce ideas off each other. They had a matched intensity. Perhaps it was genetic?
“What do you think Finn? Should we raise our prices for the cookie sale?” Lulu asked.
“From the pictures Harper shared with us, I’m not quite sure how you put a price tag on the artistry.”
“See, Aunt Lulu, Finn agrees.”
“However, as the event is a way to reach out to the community while raising funds for clean water, I understand why you want to keep the prices at their historical levels,” Finn said.
“See, Darcy, Finn agrees with me.”
A chuckle rumbled through Darcy’s chest and over her lips. “Aunt Lulu, he just agreed and disagreed with both of us. The most politically correct pastor answer I’ve ever heard.” Darcy swiveled to him. “You might be in the right job after all.”
“But Finn,” Lulu said. “You do agree with me, don’t you?”
“Ladies, I have truly enjoyed visiting, but I must get to the church’s Christmas Festival booth. The small groups are rotating each of the twelve nights, but for the preview, Uncle Tom and I are in charge.” He set his cup on the wide tray and stepped to Lulu’s hospital bed. “You be good, Lu. I expect to hear excellent reports from the physical therapist and your nurses.”
Lulu squeezed his hand. “I’ll be a perfect angel.”
“Ha!” Darcy said with a snort.
“Finn, didn’t Tessa write one of those angels to be strong willed and always correct?”
“Yes, she did. I believe her name is Proper.”
Lulu nodded. “See, Darcy darling. I’ll be a proper angel.”
Darcy sighed. “Finn, let me get your coat.” She padded out of the room leaving him and Lulu.
“You like her. And don’t give me one of those two-step-pastor-answers.”
“How could I not, when she reminds me so much of one of my favorite people on the planet?”
“I can tell a few days with your influence and she’s already starting to settle.”
“I can’t take credit. Darcy’s as strong willed as you. She has decided she’ll make the play the best it can be and help to get you well. Beyond the next couple weeks, I don’t think I have much influence.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Finn ignored the slight twist in his heart at the thought he had any impact on Darcy. Her aunt was likely living a senior fantasy of her family all tucked into Gibson’s Run.
He kissed her forehead. “You take care, my friend. I need you.”
“Don’t worry. One little fall won’t get me.”
Walking into the entryway, Darcy held his coat folded over her arm—a soft smile on her lips. “She loves you very much. I wanted you to have a moment without me.”
“Thank you,” he said, slipping on his boots. “It’s good to see she hasn’t lost a step of stubbornness. That’ll help her heal.”
“I hope so. Her stubbornness might send me on a five-mile run fueled by frustration, but her always-right mentality will definitely help her heal.”
She handed him his coat. His hand clasped her smooth palm sending a shiver through his system. Her head shot up and she locked her gaze with his. Clear wonder flittered through her amber eyes. His breath lingered on his lips unable to fully exhale or inhale.
“Well…I guess you need to go.”
Nodding, Finn couldn’t seem to move. His hand stilled over hers unwilling to break the tender connection. He leaned forward, narrowing his focus to her slightly parted lips. She’s leaving. He released her hand as if her touch was fire. Tugging on his coat, he hoped the heat burning his neck would be hidden by the puffy down. “Thanks for the tea.”
“Anytime.” Darcy dropped her focus to the floor lacing her arms across her middle.
“I’ll see you at the church tomorrow for practice?”
“Yep.”
“Good bye, Darcy.”
Lifting her glassy gaze to meet his, she whispered, “Good bye, Finn.”
34
“Your sister is creepily neat.” Harper said as she walked through Darcy’s tiny living room. Ben followed her gaze and took in the two-bedroom apartment.
The wall leading from the hallway into the living room was lined with built-in bookshelves. The books were arranged by color family. An overstuffed leather chair sat in the bay window overlooking High Street. A perfectly accented gray and white throw was draped across the chair and a matching pillow was tucked in the corner. Her couch was dark gray, with similar pillows and blankets symmetrically arranged, and on the coffee table three different medical journals were set at ninety-degree angles across the smooth wooden surface.
Harper continued to wander, but Ben stopped in the center of the living room and lowered onto the sofa. His heart ached with the complete perfection of the space. His sister was drowning. She had always been meticulous about her space from the time they were too small to know they were moving more often than the rest of the world. After his rotation in psychiatry, he better understood Darcy’s need to keep order with her things. When her life felt chaotic, like moving every six to twelve months, Darcy could command her surroundings. Her apartment, the place he was fairly certain she had called home since starting her research project five years earlier, showed ample signs her life was spinning out of control long before her grant funding was terminated. And, unfortunately, Ben knew why.
“Hey, do you think your sister has a preference over which dress she wants for Christmas Eve?” Harper walked into the living room holding two dark green dresses. “Her note says, ‘one dark green dress from the middle of the closet for church.’ She has four dark green dresses. I assume she doesn’t want the silk brocade, but I don’t know if she wants the sweater dress or the shirt dress? What do you think?”
Harper looked at Ben for an answer, but when she locked her gaze with his she dropped both dresses and slid beside him on the couch. “Oh, my goodness, what’s wrong?”
Ben wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks and shook his head. “This place.”
“Your sister’s apartment?”
He nodded. “This is awful. She’s in so much pain. How did I not know? Why didn’t I force her to make up with me?”
Harper squeezed his hand and began to gently stroke his back. The comfort of her oozed through her touch. “You didn’t know. It’s OK. You two seem to be getting back on track.”
“Yes, but this…” he said, glancing around the room. “This is how Darcy deals with pain she can’t manage. The more out of control her life becomes, the more order she tries to make with her environment. This perfection isn’t simply losing her grant funding. She only found out about the grant the day of Lulu’s accident. She wouldn’t have had time. Does her bedroom look the same?”
Harper nodded. “Her closet is arranged by type of garment and then by color. Even for an interior designer it’s a bit much for me.” She unwound her scarf and slipped off her coat. “All right, Dr. Bennett Langston, it’s time to talk. What happened?” Harper loosely crossed her hands in her lap and leaned back into the corner of the sofa.
Silence hung in the small space, practically yelling at Ben to share the heartbreak of losing his sister for the last five years, or rather the elongated loss over the last decade. How could one secret have such a devastating impact? He glanced at Harper and settled into his end of the couch. “It started with a secret relationship.”
35
Harper listened to Ben’s description of the whys behind the disintegration of his relationship with his sister. The white lie over his college girlfriend. The disagreement over their mother’s treatment. Between the storyline she heard care and consideration. Harper knew there were always three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth. But she was also one of six, and knew siblings could cut deeper than any other relationship known to man. What Harper also heard was the heartache gentle Ben had endured with the separation. He was paying penance with his clinic and by deferring to his sister’s wants at every turn.
“Did you think it was a good idea to bring Mrs. Penhearst home?”
Ben puffed a breath out and rubbed his forehead. “Honestly, I don’t know. As a physician I know the best place for elderly, orthopedic patient is in a rehab facility where they can support her care. But then again, Aunt Lulu isn’t the typical orthopedic patient, nor the typical elderly person. She was doing very well when I left today. I guess we’ll see how therapy goes and how the nights go. The nights will be the trickiest. In the stillness, we are often more aware of the pain we’ve been able to ignore.”
“That’s a fairly poetic view.”
“I watched my mom show the bravest face to the world. Always smiling. Always laughing. Never complaining. Not one day she was sick. But at night, when she didn’t know I was listening the pain she endured was agony. I think our minds can overshadow nearly every aspect of being ill. Positivity, purpose, and prayer are the three p’s that no doctor can actually prescribe, but every physician I’ve met agrees there’s no replacement and no scientific explanation for why they help.”
“I’ve never met anyone with more purpose than Mrs. Penhearst. Even her Saturdays have a schedule. After Mr. Penhearst passed, I started visiting her at least once a month. Half the time I had to wait for her to get home. She seems to be always on the go.”
“That’s my other fear for Aunt Lulu. She’s too much like Darcy. She always has to have a plan and a project. If something is bothering her, she needs to control her controllables.”
“But can’t her ‘healing’ be a project? Her purpose?”
“I hope so. And her rehab will be a nice focus for Darc, but once she’s better, then what?”
“That’s for Darcy to figure out. Not you to fix.” Harper gently patted his hand.
He turned his palm up and laced his fingers with hers. “Thank you for listening. And thank you for caring for my aunt.” He stroked her thumb with a soft touch. A slow and steady pace quickened Harper’s heart with each gentle stroke.
“We’re Gibson’s Run family. May not be blood but we’re tight in our own way.”
“I’d say you’ve been her special company for more years than she could count.”
His focus locked with hers. Harper’s throat tightened and her chest burned. She swallowed thickly against the lump rising in her throat. If she wasn’t careful, she might need to have the Heimlich for no other reason than simply sitting on the couch with a dreamy doctor.
“Harper, I know our paths have crossed at an odd time, but I believe we are intended to be more than simple acquaintances. More than ‘special company.’ Don’t you think?”
Hearing his words over the rush of blood that pounded through her body was nearly impossible, but she couldn’t misunderstand Ben’s intention. “Ben, I really like you.”
Ben shifted closer to her on the couch. “Well, that’s a good start.”
