The night of Jess's birthday dinner, they had a quieter celebration than Doug's, mostly because Uncle Jonathon remained silent while Jess, Doug, and Annie chatted. Jess was sure his refusal to participate put a damper on everyone's mood, but she pretended not to notice and tried not to let it upset her.
"You know, Jess," Annie said kindly. "We were so excited when we heard your mom and dad were going to have a baby." Her hazel eyes were full of warmth as she took Jess's hand under the table. "With the war and - everything, it was nice to be able to be happy about something again," she added with a sad smile. "I crocheted you the cutest little jacket and cap, and your Aunt Helen knit you a blanket."
"Aunt - Helen?" Jess asked. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Doug's mother," Annie said as she glanced at him and he dropped his head momentarily.
Jess was surprised. She'd never known Doug's mother had been excited about her being born, but it made sense. She'd died a few years later. Jess was touched she'd given her a gift, one she'd made herself, and then a memory tugged at her.
"Wait," Jess said to Annie with a growing realization. "Was it a white blanket with a yellow ribbon border?"
"Yes!" Annie said with a huge smile. "She was a swell knitter, but I had to help her sew the border on."
"That was my favorite blanket!" Jess cried, and then smiled at Doug. "I used to carry it everywhere! It was really soft. I loved that blanket."
"She was -!"
Uncle Jonathon's choked voice made all three of them turn in his direction. He was looking at his plate, his face filled with a mixture of pain and sadness as he struggled to speak. "A good woman," he finished finally.
"Yes, she was," Annie said gently as Doug dropped his head, looking at his own plate with his face turning red.
"Is it time for cake yet?" Uncle Jonathon said gruffly.
"I - I think so," Annie said, her shiny eyes begging Jess to agree.
"I'm ready," Jess said.
While they sung Happy Birthday to her, Jess looked at the fourteen glowing candles on her cake and thought about all the things she could wish for. But by time they'd finished, she'd decided on the one that was most important to her; that Marty would always be in her life.
While they ate chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, Doug handed Jess his gift. Her suspicion of what it might be was confirmed when she opened it. They were the first three volumes of the Penny Parrish series.
"Thanks, Doug," she said, looking at them with wonder. She had a hard time imagining Doug looking through such feminine books to find them. It didn't seem like something he'd do.
"Annie helped pick them out," he said quickly, perhaps sensing her bewilderment. "But since you read all the time, I wanted to get you books."
"They look really good! Thanks!" she replied with a smile.
Then Annie handed over her gift. It was much smaller, and when Jess opened it, she exclaimed, "It's so pretty!" It was a delicate silver watch with a narrow leather band.
"Now you'll always be on time," Annie said, her words carrying a double meaning.
"It's perfect. Thank you, Annie," Jess said sincerely, trying to let her know how much she appreciated it.
"Jessica," Uncle Jonathon said, handing over a flat black velvet box. When she lifted the lid, she didn't know what to say. Nestled on the white satin lining was a pearl necklace. She was puzzled why he would get her such an expensive gift. And it seemed somehow not quite right for someone her age.
"Thank you," she said, trying to sound as excited as she had for the other gifts.
"Those belonged to your grandmother."
"Oh," she said, looking down at them.
"They're real, of course, and I expect you to take care of them." he said curtly, fixing her with an icy glare.
"I will, sir." It wouldn't be difficult. She didn't know when she'd ever wear a pearl necklace.
"I have homework," Doug said, shoveling in the last of his cake before jumping up.
"It was a swell dinner, Annie," Jess said, smiling happily as stacked her presents.
"I'm glad you liked it," Annie replied, her eyes glowing. Jess wanted to hug her, but with her uncle there, she decided it would be best if she didn't.
When she climbed the stairs, Doug's bedroom door was open, the light from his desk lamp spilling into the hallway. She went to her room and closed the door. After setting her new books and watch on her bed, she took the box holding the pearl necklace to her dresser. Placing it in an unused drawer, she closed it, thinking about how it would probably be years before she'd ever wear it.
Then a thought occurred to her and she knelt on the floor, opening the bottom drawer. It was filled with the things she'd saved from her previous life. Among the old toys, china figurines, and favorite picture books, she found the item she was looking for. Even though it was more of a dingy gray than white after years of being dragged around, it was still just as soft as she remembered. She ran her fingers over the yellow satin border of the knitted blanket, noticing the fine hand stitching. Were those Annie's stitches, or her Aunt Helen's?
Closing the drawer, she stood and refolded the blanket, then she left, going to Doug's room. He was sitting at his desk writing in a notebook with open books in front of him when she knocked on the door frame.
"Yeah?" he said, lifting his head.
"I wanted to show you something," she said, crossing the room. "This was the blanket your mom made for me."
"Oh?" he said almost in a whisper. She held it out to him, but he didn't take it, his brow furrowing as he looked at it.
"I - I thought you might like to have it." He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it.
"Thanks, Jess," he said after a moment, finally taking it from her.
She thought he'd examine it, but he set it on the desk next to his open book and went back to his writing. Turning to leave, she felt disappointed by his reaction. Maybe he didn't care about his mom's blanket. It certainly hadn't seemed to mean as much to him as it did to her. When she reached the hallway, she looked over her shoulder. Doug had stopped writing and was looking at the blanket. Then he reached out hesitantly and put his hand on it, rubbing it with his fingers to feel the softness. Jess continued to her bedroom, giving him his privacy.
~
On the day before Christmas, Jess took wrapping paper and scotch tape up to her room after breakfast to wrap presents. When she was finished wrapping the gifts for Annie, Doug, and Uncle Jonathon, she carefully wrapped the small clear plastic box of fishing tackle for Marty, the whole time imagining the happy look on his face when he opened it. As soon as she was done, she took the family's presents downstairs and set them under the tree in the grand parlor, then she went back upstairs to prepare to leave.
She gathered her school books, then decided it was silly since she had no intention of doing homework on Christmas Eve. After pulling on her winter coat, she took Marty's present and tucked it under her arm before buttoning it up, holding it tight against her body. It was the only way she knew how to hide it from Annie, and from Marty. Checking in the bathroom mirror to be certain it wasn't showing through the thick wool, she went down the back stairs.
She was surprised Annie wasn't in the kitchen working on their dinner, but she could already smell turkey roasting in the oven. After checking through the window to make sure the garage doors were closed, she took the basket that was sitting on the counter and walked out the back door. Excited about Marty's gift, she didn't even notice the cold as she strode to the cabin. Entering the clearing, she saw smoke rising from the chimney and smiled, quickening her pace.
"Hi Marty!" she exclaimed when she walked in, stomping snow off her boots.
"Hey, Jess," he replied with a smile as he walked in from the kitchen.
She set the basket on the table between the two chairs, and began unbuttoning her coat.
"Where's your books? I thought we were going to get started on our history project."
Jess laughed, more from nerves than anything else. She was still holding his present under her arm and she didn't know how she was going to get her coat off without him seeing it.
"It's Christmas Eve! I don't want to spend it doing homework."
"Suit yourself," he said, shrugging while his eyes twinkled with humor. "I reckon you'll be the one with a bad grade."
Taking the basket, he headed back to the kitchen with it and Jess quickly shrugged off her coat. She put it on the chair, making sure the present was hidden inside.
"I thought we could sit in front of the fire while we eat," she said, coming into the kitchen while he was setting his books out. "Like a picnic." He looked at her skeptically. "C'mon, Marty. Please?" She didn't want to give him his present over history homework. She wanted it to be special.
"Okay! Okay!" he said, giving in with exasperation.
She laid out a blanket on the floor and the two of them sat. When she began setting out the food between them, Marty's eyes got wide. There were miniature pigs in a blanket, cheese puffs, deviled eggs, and finger sandwiches, as well as two bottles of Coca Cola.
"Is all of that for us?" Marty asked with astonishment.
"Doesn't it look good?" Jess replied with a smile.
"Didn't they get suspicious when you made all this?"
"It's the leftovers from my - from a Christmas party. Annie wanted to make sure it all gets eaten."
"Oh," he said quietly, examining the food. He picked up a deviled egg and sniffed it before popping it in his mouth. While he chewed, his expression lit up and before he'd even finished it, he popped in another one.
"It's good, isn't it?" Jess said, pulling out a bottle opener. She popped the top off a bottle of Coke and handed it to him. After he took a long drink from it, he burped.
"That's swell!" he said before choosing a finger sandwich filled with cream cheese and chipped beef.
When they'd eaten their fill, Marty leaned against a chair, patting his stomach.
"I'm gonna need a nap before I start on the project," he said, closing his eyes.
Not wanting to wait another second, Jess pulled out his gift from inside the folds of her coat.
"Marty," she said quietly.
"Hmm?" he said with his eyes still closed.
"I have something for you."
"What is -?" He stopped when his eyes opened and he saw the small wrapped present in her hand.
"Merry Christmas," she said, holding it out to him with a smile. He stared at it without moving, like he didn't know what to do. "Go ahead," she urged gently.
He slowly reached out and took it from her as he pulled away from the chair. Hunched over, he held it in both hands on his lap, looking at it for a long moment. Then he hooked a finger in one of the folds of paper and tore it off with one slow deliberate motion. She waited with breathless excitement for his reaction while he examined the contents with his head down.
"I can't take this," he muttered, thrusting the box towards her.
"What?" she asked with shock.
"I can't take it," he said more forcefully, trying to hand it back to her without meeting her eyes.
"But - it's your Christmas present!"
"Well, I ain't taking it!" he said loudly, dropping the box on her lap before jumping up and stalking into the kitchen.
"Marty!" she cried, following him. He stood at the door with his back to her. "What's wrong?"
"I didn't get anything for you," he muttered bitterly to the door.
"I don't care about that!" she said desperately.
"Well, I do!" he shouted as he turned, waving his arms with anger. "Don't you get it? I can't give you anything!"
Behind the anger, she saw pain in his eyes, and her heart sank. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Of course he'd be wounded by having it brought up that she had money and he didn't. She slumped and her head dropped as she finally understood what a terrible mistake she'd made. She'd wanted to give him something meaningful, something that would make him happy, but instead she'd hurt his pride. And then she thought of something.
"But Marty, you do have something you can give me," she said, looking up at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"You can give me one of your animals."
"What?" he asked with confusion.
"You can give me one of the animals you carved."
"You'd want one of those?" he asked, a look of disbelief on his face.
"Well, yeah. I told you I thought they were good."
He examined her closely, as if he was trying to decide if she was telling the truth, then walked past her to the fireplace.
"Which one you want?" he asked while looking at the carved animals on the mantel.
"You choose," she said, but her eyes went to the beaver. It was the first animal she'd seen him carve the second day she'd seen him. She'd been so amazed he could create something so lifelike right in front of her.
"Here," he said, taking one of them and holding it out in his fist.
Not knowing which one it was, she held her hand out and he placed it on her palm. It was a sitting cat with its tail curled around its feet. Marty had cut slight notches into its body to mimic the stripes in its fur, marking it as a tabby.
"You like cats, don't you?" he mumbled with his shoulders hunched while she was examining it.
"Yes, I do," she said, beaming at him.
"I reckoned - since you're a girl," he said with a shrug.
"It's really pretty, Marty. Thank you." He shrugged again, but the tension in his body eased.
"We should start on that project," he mumbled, turning to retrieve his books, but not before she saw his face flushing.
"Okay," she said, knowing he didn't want to talk anymore. She gathered up the remaining food and put it in the basket then went in the kitchen, passing Marty who was bringing some wood to the fireplace.
When she sat at the table, she set the cat in front of her. Then she saw him standing in front of the fire with the clear tackle box in his hands, looking at it. After moving some of the animals out of the way, he carefully propped it up on the center of the mantel. By time he'd turned to come back to the kitchen, she was pulling his text book towards her, pretending to be too busy finding the chapter to notice.
~
Jess was awakened on Christmas morning by Annie calling her name and she panicked. She'd gone to sleep holding her little carved cat, but it was gone.
"Merry Christmas, pumpkin," Annie said kindly while Jess felt around under her blankets. "Time to get up and get dressed. We're going to have breakfast and then open presents."
"Okay," Jess said with relief, feeling the cat lying near her hip.
When Annie had left the room, Jess sighed deeply and pulled off her covers. She looked at her cat, feeling a vague heaviness pressing on her. With another sigh she got out of bed and put the cat on her desk. She knew she better hurry or Uncle Jonathon would get mad at her for being late to breakfast again.
When she entered the dining room, the table was already covered with food and it was clear Annie had gone all out to provide Jess and Doug with all their favorites. She was relieved to see the extra place set for Annie next to her chair. Her uncle had been especially short tempered ever since her birthday dinner. She wasn't sure why, but she thought it might be because he was missing his wife over the holidays.
After everyone's plates had been filled, they began eating. Jess thought it all looked good, but when she had her first mouthful, she found she wasn't very hungry. Annie and Doug chatted through the meal while Jess picked at her food. When they were finished, Jess helped Annie put the food away, then they joined Doug and Uncle Jonathon in the grand parlor to open presents.
Jess's gift of a tie for her uncle was met with a tepid response, but she didn't care. She knew he'd hate whatever she gave him. She was more interested in Doug's response to his present, hoping he'd like it better than her birthday gift to him.
When he opened it, he held up the sweater, saying, "It's swell, Jess! Really swell!" but Jess thought it seemed forced rather than a genuine response. Before she could respond, Annie spoke up.
"That color blue will look nice on you, don't you think? It's the same color as your eyes."
"Oh, uh, yeah!" he agreed, folding it and putting back in its box without looking at either of them.
"I'm glad you like it," Jess said, faking a smile.
While she watched Annie open the present from her, she wished she understood what was going on with him. But maybe teen boys were just weird. Marty's moods could certainly shift just as quickly as Doug's.
"Oh, I love it!" Annie gushed when she saw the Shalimar perfume, and Jess smiled happily.
When Jess opened her gifts from her uncle and Doug, she was ecstatic. They'd given her a portable record player and a stack of rock and roll 45's, but she knew Annie had really been the one to pick them out. More than anyone else in the family, she knew how much Jess loved music. When the last present had been opened, Annie began gathering the torn wrapping paper and Jess rose to help her.
"I'll see you all tomorrow," she announced when they'd collected the last of it.
"You're leaving?" Jess asked with a sinking heart.
"I'm going to spend the rest of Christmas with my mom and sister," Annie said gently, but her hazel eyes looked at Jess with concern. "Let's take the paper to the kitchen," she suggested, and then turned to Doug and Uncle Jonathon. "You two have a good rest of the day."
"Bye, Annie," Doug said with a smile while his father grunted.
Jess followed her to the kitchen, feeling the heaviness pressing on her again. She didn't want to keep Annie from her family, but she didn't want her to leave. After they'd put the paper in the trash bin, Annie went to her room and came out almost immediately carrying her overnight bag, a coat, and hat. Doug must have called James, because Jess saw him pulling the big black car out of the garage through the window, smoke rising from the exhaust.
"Are you alright?" Annie asked Jess while she put on her coat.
"Yes," Jess lied.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning." Annie said. Then she sighed and stepped forward to give Jess a tight hug.
"I hope you have a nice Christmas with your family," Jess said sincerely, rubbing her face on Annie's fur collar.
"I will," she said, letting Jess go. "There's no need for you to cook tonight. There are plenty of leftovers and Doug and your uncle are used to fending for themselves for Christmas dinner." She placed her hat on her head and secured it with a pin. "I'll be back before you know it," she added firmly, looking Jess in the eye.
"I know," Jess said, forcing a smile. "I'll be okay."
"Good bye, pumpkin," Annie said, trying but failing to hide the sadness in her eyes. Then she picked up her bag and walked out the back door.
Jess watched her walk to the big black car through the kitchen window. Just before she got in the back seat, she waved and Jess waved back. As James pulled away, Jess waved again until they were out of sight. Turning away from the window, the heaviness pressed on her even more. She fought against it as she looked around the quiet, empty kitchen.
Wondering what she should do now, she wandered through the butler's pantry. Hearing her footsteps echoing through the rooms, she made her way down the hallway. When she entered the grand parlor, she was surprised to find Doug and Uncle Jonathon had left, taking their presents with them. With a sigh, she gathered her gifts and went upstairs. When she reached the top of the stairs, their bedroom doors were closed and it was completely silent. She went to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Setting her gifts on her desk, she saw the carved cat Marty had given her. Picking it up, she looked at it, rubbing her fingers over the bumpy surface of its stripes. This was the quietest Christmas she'd ever had. Her parents had always had a big get together in their apartment, inviting over friends and couples with children who were too far from their extended families to visit. Christmas had always been a time of happiness, laughter, and lots of friends. Now she was entirely alone and it was barely lunchtime.
She lifted her head to look through the bay window. Seeing the woods beyond the garage, she made a decision. Setting down the cat, she went to her wardrobe to get her coat before running down the back stairs. Taking the basket from the butler's pantry, she lined it with a clean dish towel and quickly grabbed food out of the icebox, filling it with the last of the party food, a turkey leg, and some dinner rolls.
Soon, she was out the door and sprinting down the drive, wanting to be well hidden in the trees before James returned. She arrived at the clearing out of breath, but was elated to see smoke rising from the chimney. When she walked in the front door, Marty jumped out of his chair in front of the fireplace with his pen knife in one hand and a small piece of wood in the other, his eyes wide with alarm. As soon as he saw her, he relaxed.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, closing his pen knife.
"Everybody just - kind of left," she said, shrugging off her coat, and then a lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to say more.
She folded the coat and laid it over the back of one of the chairs, and then she saw the clear plastic tackle box sitting on the table next to it. He'd taken it off the mantel to look at it, she thought, and her spirits lifted.
"I don't know if you've eaten already, but I brought lunch," she said, pretending she hadn't noticed the box.
"If you're hungry, I reckon we can," he said with a shrug, looking away. When he went to that much trouble to seem like he didn't want to eat, she knew he had to be hungry.
"Let's eat in front of the fire again." She wondered if he wouldn't want to, remembering what had happened the day before, but without saying anything, he got one of the blankets and spread it out for them. Once they were settled, she began setting the food out. When she pulled out the turkey leg, Marty's eyes got wide.
"Do you want it?" He nodded vigorously. "Here," she said with a smile, handing it to him. As soon as he had it, he tore a huge chunk off with his teeth and began chewing, as if he was starving. When was the last time he'd eaten, she wondered sadly.
Turning so she could lean against a chair, she chose a finger sandwich. While she watched the flames, Marty worked on the turkey leg in between bites of the other food.
"Aren't you hungry?" Marty asked, after a while.
"I guess not," Jess said, putting down the half eaten finger sandwich.
"Why not?"
She was about to say it was because she'd had a big breakfast, but she hesitated, not wanting to make the same mistake she'd made the day before by bringing up how much she had compared to him. Then she realized she hadn't eaten very much of it anyway. When she tried to think of why she wasn't hungry, the heavy sadness that had been pressing on her came back even stronger.
"I - I really miss my parents," she said, then wiped her eyes to keep the tears from showing as she struggled to stay in control.
Marty was still as she stared at her lap, willing herself not to break down and cry in front of him. After a minute, he put the remaining food back in the basket and then surprised her by crawling to sit beside her with his back against the chair. And then, to her utter amazement, he reached over and took her hand, holding it in both of his.
While they watched the flickering flames, the warmth of his hands went inside her, making the heaviness she'd felt all day began to lift. When it was finally gone, she sighed deeply as a feeling of peace came over her. Maybe it wasn't as boisterous as Christmases past, but she was spending this holiday the same as she'd always done, with a good friend.
"Jess."
She opened her eyes, and then realized she'd fallen asleep, her head resting on Marty's shoulder. She lifted it and then looked up at him while blinking.
"Sorry," she said, wondering if he'd woken her because she'd started leaning on him.
"Naw, its okay but it's getting late. You should probably go home," he said reluctantly.
"Oh, right," she said, looking out the window. She was startled to see the light fading. How long had she been asleep?
He let go of her hand and stood, then held his hand out for her. She looked at it, and then realized he was offering to help her up. He'd never done that before. She put her hand in his and he lifted her up easily, bringing her close to him. His brown eyes held hers for a long moment and then he dropped her hand and turned away from her, going to collect his coat. She took a deep breath, realizing she'd been holding it, and reluctantly picked up her coat.
They walked slowly through the nearly dark forest with their feet crunching in the snow the only sound. When they reached the road, they stopped and Jess turned to face Marty. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his coat and his head was down.
"Thanks for spending Christmas with me. I feel better now," she said.
"Sure thing, kid," he said, looking up at her with a mischievous grin, and then it fell away as he became more serious. "I - liked it too."
Even though it was hard for him to say it, Jess smiled, realizing how much he'd meant with those four simple words. "I'm glad you liked it too."
"I'll see ya tomorrow," he said, his face lighting up with a genuinely happy smile.
"See you tomorrow, Marty."
He continued to smile as he turned to leave, and while he walked away, Jess lingered, watching him. Then she headed back to her house, the memory of his warm smile keeping her from feeling the cold air.
****
Jess didn't exactly get the reaction she expected from Marty, but then they still managed to have their little moment. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. Are the sparks flying yet for these two? What did you think about Marty's reaction to his gift?
I don't often include external links in chapters, but this one is a link to a song I listened to constantly as I wrote the two Marty and Jess scenes. It's a very beautiful,mournful song by Royksopp (featuring Jamie Irrepressible) called Something in My Heart. If you like modern dance music, you may want to listen as you read.
Thank you so much for reading, voting, commenting! I can't tell you how much your support means to me! If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a vote! The video is Bing Crosby singing Let's Start the New Year Right. The picture is Johnny Crawford aka Marty at 15.