The Mystery Before Christmas

Thursday

The snow had begun to fall with impressive intensity by the time Thursday rolled around. It would actually be a perfect day to snuggle up by the fire with Alastair and read, but I had a story to write and a deadline to meet. I’d worked on outlining the first article, which was due on Monday, yesterday, and my plan for today was to interview as many of the gift recipients as I could. I’d called and made appointments with Billy Prescott, Connie Denton, and Gilda Frederickson, and was waiting to hear back from Donnie Dingman and Grover Wood.

“Something smells good,” I said to Gracie after coming down to the kitchen.

“I’m baking muffins. The tree lighting is tomorrow, and the Santa’s Village opens on Saturday, not to mention that Christmas in the Mountains is in less than two weeks, so the planning committee is meeting to go over everything. I offered to bring muffins. The meeting is at the inn, so Ida and Maude are supplying the coffee.”

Ida and Maude Cunningham owned the local inn. I suspected that Christmas in the Mountains was a real moneymaker for them since the inn usually filled up on the weekend of the event.

“I’m really looking forward to all the community events this year,” I commented. “I know I said I’d help out, and I know I haven’t gotten around to volunteering for anything specifically, so just put me where you need me. I’m planning to make myself available to you for the entire weekend of Christmas in the Mountains.”

“Thank you, dear. That is very generous. It might be a good idea to try to attend the volunteer meeting Hope and I are planning for Saturday morning. I suspect that everyone will choose their volunteer duties then.”

“Okay. I’ll be there. Just tell me when and where.”

“The library at ten a.m.”

I supposed that made sense since Hope ran the library and would probably need to be nearby in the event one of her volunteers had a problem. “Are we still going to decorate the big tree in the living room after that?”

“We are. I’m really looking forward to it.”

I smiled. “Me too. I haven’t had a Christmas tree since I moved away from Foxtail Lake, and now this year, I have two trees to decorate.”

“So, what are your plans for today?” Aunt Gracie asked.

I poured myself a second cup of coffee and then sat down at the kitchen table. “I have a series of interviews set up with Secret Santa recipients. I’m doing my column on how these gifts have affected the lives of those on the receiving end. I’m going to pick Paisley up from school after that. We have a piano lesson today, and then I thought I’d help her with her homework.”

“I’m making a big pot of soup for dinner if she wants to stay,” Gracie offered.

“That sounds perfect. I’ll ask her. I know how much Paisley appreciates the fact that we’ve integrated her into our family. I think she is happy here. I know she loves her grandmother, but I think there are times that Paisley feels like she’s a burden.”

“I doubt Ethel feels that way.”

“Maybe not, but Paisley is a smart girl. I’m sure she understands that having a ten-year-old underfoot is not always easy. Of course, Paisley is the most mature ten-year-old I’ve ever met. I actually think she helps Ethel more than she realizes.” I glanced out the window at the steadily falling snow. “I guess I should head up and take a shower. My first interview is less than two hours from now.”

“Who are you speaking to first?” Gracie asked.

“Gilda Frederickson. She was given an entire season of snow removal. I’m not sure that I’ve met her before.”

“She moved to the area a few years after you moved away. She originally came to Foxtail Lake to help her mother after she had a hip replacement. Gilda’s mother passed away maybe five years ago and left her house to Gilda.”

I pulled up the address in my mind and tried to recall who used to live there. “Are you talking about Mrs. Ewing?”

“Yes. So you do remember her. Gilda is Mrs. Ewing’s daughter. She’s a very nice woman. She does a lot of volunteer work in the community. I guess she fell and broke her hip a while back. She is doing better but still has a long recovery ahead of her, which is where the help with the snow removal comes in.”

“So, Gilda must be around seventy?”

Gracie nodded. “Yes. I’d say around that. Maybe a few years younger. She worked as a librarian before she moved to Foxtail Lake. After her mother recovered from her surgery, she worked part-time with Hope until she decided to retire and focus on volunteer work. I think you’ll enjoy speaking to her. She is well-read and seems to know something about a lot of different topics.”

“I’m sure I’ll enjoy getting to know her.”

“Maybe you should take her some muffins,” Gracie suggested. “I have plenty, and I think she might enjoy them.”

“I will. Thank you. Muffins will serve as a great ice breaker.”

“Be sure to dress warmly,” Gracie cautioned. “The high temperature is going to be in the single digits today. In fact, I think the high is supposed to remain in the single digits for the entire weekend, but I understand there will be a slight warming trend next week.

Well, that was something, at least. I had to admit the bracing cold of a Rocky Mountain winter was going to take some getting used to, but I was still happy to be back in this little town that was feeling more and more like home. During my years in New York, I’d been happy. I’d been chasing a dream that seemed to be within my reach and rarely thought about the mountain home that I’d left behind or the people who lived there. But since my return, I’d found myself wondering why I’d ever wanted to leave in the first place. There are places in the world that I’d enjoyed, but Foxtail Lake was the only place that had ever felt like home.

When I arrived in my bedroom, I found Alastair sleeping on the bed. I felt a little bad that he’d started sleeping with me after I’d arrived back home. He was, after all, Gracie’s cat, and I was sure she enjoyed his company. I’d asked her about it early on, and she’d said she was fine with him sleeping with me, but now that I was staying, I sort of felt like I should give him back. Of course, I hadn’t done anything to lure the cat to my room, and Gracie hadn’t said another word about it, so perhaps I’d just leave well enough alone.

“Cords or jeans?” I asked the cat, holding up two pairs of pants. The cords were old, and I was pretty sure they were out of style by this point, they were dark brown, and lined with fleece, which made them extra warm. I supposed they’d look cute tucked into boots with a wool sweater to top them off.

Alastair yawned but didn’t reply or get up, so I settled on the cords, found a sweater to match, gathered my underthings, and headed into the bathroom to shower. By the time I got out of the shower, dressed, and dried my hair, Alastair had joined Gracie downstairs. I was about to head back down myself when I noticed a book lying on my bed. It was a book from my childhood that I was pretty sure had been packed away years ago.

I picked the book up and opened it to a colorful page near the middle. The story was about a young girl who lived in a town that had suffered a great loss and had fallen into darkness. The girl’s mother had taken the loss of the town’s light hard and had fallen into a state of deep depression. The girl wanted to cheer her mother up and bring the smile back to her face, so she devised a plan to give her a very special gift. The problem was, she didn’t have money to buy a gift, so she set out to earn some by doing small chores for her neighbors.

It seemed like a good idea when she’d thought of it, but when she approached her neighbors, who also lived in the town which had been thrust into darkness, she found that, while each neighbor needed help with something, none had the money to pay her. The girl, being the sweet thing she was, helped each neighbor anyway.

As the story progresses, the girl begins to fret about her inability to earn the money she needs to buy the gift she wants for her mother, but as she helps each neighbor, the town begins to change. Those who lived in fear and isolation begin to emerge from their homes, and over time, the town, which had seemed to have settled into permanent darkness, begins to lighten.

In the end, the gift that the girl is able to give to her mother is not the trinket she hoped to buy, but a town filled with new hope for a brighter future. With her good deeds, she’d brought love and promise to a town that had lost its faith along the way.

I smiled as I set the book on the bedside table. This was exactly the message I needed as I headed into my day. Leave it to Gracie to know exactly what I needed to see, exactly when I needed to see it.