The Christmas Promise(12)

I needed to get home, and I stepped into the street. “But I have to find a mechanic before my neighbor gets back into town.”

Robert took me by the arm and opened the car door. “Call Jack Andrews at City Auto Service. He’s done my work for years.”

“I can’t pay a lot,” I said.

“He won’t ask a lot. Gloria, you need a place where you can put all the stuff you collect.”

“I got a place. My garage.” I started the car and rolled down the window. “Thank you, Robert. Say hi to Kate.”

He walked back to the sidewalk, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. “You bet. Let me know if I can ever do anything to help.”

I scribbled Jack Andrews’s name on a pad I kept in the car, and watched as a homeless man across the square pulled a hat farther down on his head. It was getting colder. I squinted to see who he was, wondering if he was new to town, but the light turned green before I could see his face, so I drove away.





My kitchen and living room were strewn with boxes filled with shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. Dalton and Heddy were helping me inventory what we had so we could figure out what items were still needed for care packages we’d be giving to the families with whom we worked and to the street people downtown. It was our fourth year putting the packages together, and each year we managed to add more things. I heard a car and looked up from the kitchen table to see Miriam pulling into her driveway.

“Do you hear that?” Heddy said. “Dogs have stopped barking. Birds have stopped chirping.”

“She has a way of doing that,” I said, watching Miriam drive into her garage. She’d been gone five days, but it felt like one glorious year without her next door. I worked at breaking down a box, but stopped when I heard something. “What was that?”

“Probably Jack working on the Silver Fox,” Dalton said.

Heddy and I looked out the window when the noise grew louder, and saw Miriam shouting on her cell phone, waving her arms. I pressed closer to the window. “What is she doing?” Miriam’s voice grew strident and shrill, and Heddy and I ran to the front door, leaving Dalton at the table.

“Everything! I mean everything,” Miriam shouted. “How soon? I can’t wait that long. I need someone over here now. Forget it!” She snapped the phone closed.

Jack Andrews was bent over the engine of the car, but lifted his head to listen. I shrugged my shoulders as I passed him, and walked into Miriam’s yard. She looked as if she’d just stepped out of the pages of Town & Country, wearing her beautiful long camel-hair coat, black leather gloves, and fur-trimmed hat. “Miriam?”

She jumped. “What! What, Gloria?”

“Is something wrong?”

She pointed to her house. “Everything’s destroyed. Everything.” Her voice broke and Heddy and I walked up the front steps, opening the door. Water seeped over our shoes, startling us. “You’re telling me you don’t have one room? Not one single room?” Miriam was screaming. “I can’t wait four days. I need a room now!”

My eyes widened as I watched water cascade down the living room wall. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Heddy said, whispering.

I reached to flick on the light switch but caught myself. “You didn’t walk through there, did you?”

“I’m not an imbecile, Gloria,” Miriam said.

Heddy leaned farther into the doorway and listened. “Is that a toilet running?”

I pointed upstairs. “It’s probably been running since she’s been gone,” I whispered. “For five days.” Heddy slapped her head.

“When will these people be leaving town?” Miriam was pacing up and down her driveway, shouting again. She hung up, defeated. “Every hotel is booked for the annual Christmas in the Colonies craft fair.” She spat out the words. “Every room is filled with nutters dressed as Puritans!”

I knew what needed to be done, but put it out of my mind. “How long is the fair in town?” I asked.

“Four glorious days of all things crafty! Since I need a place to sleep, maybe I should go down there and snuggle up with a Pilgrim.”

“I don’t think she’d be their type,” Heddy muttered behind me.

I swatted behind my back to hush her, and sighed. It was going to take a great deal of courage to form the words in my mouth. I thought about them for the longest time, hoping the earth would swallow me, but a cataclysmic event never happens when you need one most. “Miriam, you are welcome to stay at my house until something is available.” Heddy slapped her head again and I turned to shush her.