The December Market (Shelter Springs #2)

24

“I can’t believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow. This holiday season went by so fast!”

Amanda finished bagging ten small bottles of lotion for her friend, the gifts Holly planned to give her neighbors.

“Every year it feels like the month of December whips by faster and faster,” she answered.

“Santa’s coming tomorrow night.” Lydia’s mouth worked carefully around each word.

“I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“I been very, very good.”

“I don’t doubt it for a minute. You’re always very, very good.”

Lydia beamed at her, fifty pounds of joy.

“Thank you for these,” Holly said. “We wanted to make some cookies to take around to the neighbors but I’ve been so busy with work, I haven’t had a chance. I was panicking about it, until I remembered you always have the best neighbor gifts.”

“I’m glad you found something.”

“These are perfect. What are you doing for Christmas? Are you spending it with Birdie?”

“That’s the plan. I wanted her to come stay a few days with me at Rose Cottage like she has in the past but she wants to stay at the Shelter Inn this year.”

“Oh, that’s right. I heard Birdie has a boyfriend there.” Holly grinned.

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend. They are only friends.”

She sounded cranky, but Holly only gave her an amused look. She was one of Amanda’s oldest and dearest friends, who had grown up with her twin across the street from the Taylors. She and Hannah both knew Amanda entirely too well.

“Fine. She has a gentleman companion. I love Paolo. His restaurant made the best Mexican food in the whole county. It’s still good, but not like it used to be when he and his wife were running it.”

“Yes. Paolo is very nice.”

McKenna Dodd, who had stopped in to purchase a last-minute gift for a friend from out of town coming in unexpectedly for the holidays, joined the conversation.

“They are so cute together,” she said. “I just love to see them in the evenings, playing games in the recreation room with some of our other residents or swimming in the pool. Paolo adores her.”

At least their affection seemed to be mutual. That went a long way toward allaying her worry for Birdie.

“You’re coming to dinner tonight, aren’t you?” McKenna asked.

“I still haven’t decided. I have a little bit of wrapping to do. And to be honest, after all the chaos of the market, I’m not feeling very social.”

“I get that. But you can’t miss it. Birdie will be so disappointed. Griffin and Nat are planning to stop by. Many of the residents have invited their extended families.”

Including Rafe and Isaac? That was yet another reason she ought to stay home.

Maybe if she tried to regain a little distance between them, she could start figuring out how she would go on without them after the holidays were over.

“What’s happening tonight?” Holly asked with interest.

“We are hosting our second annual Shelter Inn potluck dinner for the holidays, a tradition that was started by necessity after the big blizzard last Christmas shut everything down.”

“That’s this little guy’s first birthday, right?” Amanda gestured to Austin, on McKenna’s hip. The baby gave his wide grin.

McKenna made a face. “Oh yes. We can’t forget that. We’ll have a cake for him, too. In case you’re wondering, I do not recommend having a baby unexpectedly at home during a blizzard on Christmas Eve. It was the weirdest holiday season ever.”

“But also one of the most wonderful,” Amanda said. “Look what came out of it!”

McKenna hugged her son. “Absolutely. If you remember, when the storm hit last year, many people couldn’t travel in or out of town. Our residents were upset about not being able to see their families, but Liz and Natalie saved the day by coming up with the idea to throw a big potluck dinner. Since everyone already had food prepared for their family gatherings, no one had to do any extra work and they all had a wonderful time. Except for me, anyway. I was in labor. Not my finest hour.”

“Unfortunately, I had to miss the fun too since I was still down with Covid,” Amanda said. “I didn’t want to give it to Birdie or any of the other residents, so I had Christmas Eve all by myself enjoying chicken noodle soup and watching Hallmark movies.”

“I mean, that’s not the worst way to spend Christmas Eve,” Holly pointed out.

“True enough.” Amanda smiled.

“The residents enjoyed the potluck so much, they decided they wanted another one this year. Sort of our community holiday celebration. We wanted to save Christmas Eve for people to spend with their families, so that’s why we’re doing it tonight. The night before the night before Christmas.”

“This is Christmas Eve Eve,” Lydia informed them.

“Exactly!” Amanda beamed at her. “This is Christmas Eve Eve.”

“If you would like to come, you and Lydia are more than welcome,” McKenna said. “The potluck is open to everyone, not only our residents and their families. Besides, you feel like one of the family. I know how much everyone at the Shelter Inn loves you and Lydia whenever she comes over to swim with Nora and Hazel.”

“Nora and Hazel are my friends,” Lydia said.

“Yes they are. Aren’t we lucky,” her mother said, smiling at her daughter with such tenderness it made Amanda’s heart hurt. Holly and Lydia deserved far better than they had received from Holly’s ex.

“There should be plenty of food,” McKenna added. “Please come.”

“We’ll have to see.” Holly held up the paper bag of small items. “We need to take these last-minute neighbor gifts around this afternoon. If we can finish that, maybe we’ll try. Lydia loves any chance to go to the apartment building, not only because all the residents spoil her but she also loves seeing all the inflatable decorations you put up.”

“My girls love them, too. We talked about skipping them this year but there was a huge outcry from Nora and Hazel, as well as several of the residents. I guess we’re stuck with them now.”

Every year, Amanda knew, Liz and McKenna chose at random a dozen inflatables to decorate the grounds from the vast collection the apartment building’s residents had brought with them when they downsized and moved in.

“You still haven’t said whether you’re coming,” McKenna pointed out to Amanda.

She really didn’t know how she could wriggle out of it, since Birdie also had specifically asked her to attend. For all she knew, Rafe and Isaac would not even go. If they did, surely she could spend one more evening with them, then do her best to make a clean break.

“I can give you an unqualified maybe ,” she said. “I will have to see how the rest of my day goes.”

“If I end up making it, we will see you there, then,” Holly said.

Before Amanda could answer, her cell phone rang from the counter beside her. Thinking it must be Birdie, who was almost the only person who preferred to communicate with her via phone calls instead of texts, she looked down at the caller ID and was shocked to see Rafe’s name.

Why on earth would he be calling her?

“Hello?”

“Amanda. It’s Rafe. I’m so glad you picked up.”

The urgency in his voice sent alarm bells clanging through her. She had never heard that particular tone from him before.

“Is... Is everything okay?”

She heard an overlong pause on the line, as if he were trying to find words. “No,” he finally said. “I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this but there’s been an accident. It involved your grandmother.”

Panic clutched at her. “What kind of accident?”

“My abuelo was driving with Birdie to Haven Point today, I guess. A tourist who was going too damn fast crossed the median and was about to hit them head-on. At the last minute, Paolo swerved off the road to avoid him and they ended up hitting a guardrail.”

Amanda sank down on the stool behind the counter, limp suddenly, as if all her bones and muscles had dissolved. No. Not Birdie. She could not lose her grandmother!

“Are they—” She couldn’t finish the unthinkable phrase.

“They’re both hurt. I don’t know how badly. I know they’re both on their way to the hospital. That’s all I can tell you at this point. The first responders called me as soon as they recognized Paolo. I’m on my way there. I’ll give you more information when I arrive at the hospital. I wanted to wait to talk to you until I found out more, but I also knew you would want to know as soon as possible.”

“Yes. I... Yes. Thank you.”

She hung up without saying goodbye and stared blankly around the store for a long moment.

“What is it?” McKenna demanded, her features suddenly serious. “What’s happened?”

Amanda couldn’t seem to think as fear and shock and dismay battled within her.

“It’s Birdie. She and Paolo Arredondo were in an accident. They’ve both been taken to the hospital. Oh!”

She felt dizzy suddenly, weak, her breath coming in sharp gasps. She lowered her face to her hands, trying to regain composure. In an instant, both Holly and McKenna were at her side.

“Breathe, Mandy. You have to breathe,” McKenna urged.

“Breathe,” Lydia echoed, her eyes round with concern.

Amanda forced herself to inhale and exhale to the count of five, just as Birdie always taught her, to help find calm when she was stressed.

“Here. Have a drink,” Holly urged, pulling Amanda’s water bottle from beside the cash register.

She sipped obediently, feeling numb yet somehow ice-cold.

“I have to go.” She rose to unsteady feet. “I have to go to the hospital.”

“Of course you do.” Cat was already ahead of Amanda, handing over her coat and her purse.

Her friend must have come back from her lunch break just in time to see Amanda fall apart.

“I’m sorry to leave you alone when we’re so busy.”

“Don’t give it another thought. We’ll be fine. I’ll call in Scarlet. Go be with your grandmother.”

“Thank you. All of you.” She was so deeply grateful for good friends.

“Let us know how she’s doing. How they’re both doing.” McKenna’s features were tight with worry. “If there’s anything we can do, just reach out. We’re here. I’ll send out a text to all of our residents right away so they can start a prayer chain.”

“Thank you.”

With one more quick hug for her friends, she rushed outside. In her panicked state, it took her a moment to remember where she had parked. She was in the employee lot of the inner block, she remembered, a few moments’ walk away.

She raced for it and quickly started driving toward the hospital, still feeling frozen with shock.

Her windshield wipers beat against a light snow that she scarcely registered as she drove out of Shelter Springs toward the hospital that had been built several years ago between Shelter Springs and Haven Point.

As she pulled into the visitor parking lot for the emergency room, her phone rang again.

She tensed, almost afraid to pick it up. When she looked at it, she saw her brother’s name on the caller ID.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her tone urgent. “How is she?”

Griffin paused for a few seconds. “I was calling to tell you Birdie was in an accident, but it sounds like you already know.”

“Rafe called me a few moments ago. I’ve just arrived at the hospital but I haven’t gone in yet. What is happening? Have you seen her?”

“Yes. I’ve seen her. My friend Michelle, Dr. Okita, is the attending in the ER right now. She’s excellent. She called as soon as she saw my name listed as one of the emergency contacts for Birdie. She is conscious and talking. They’re running tests to look for internal injuries.”

“Oh no.”

“It was a bad accident, sis. She had to be extricated and she blacked out for a little while, which is always a concern. Especially at her age. She has quite a few cuts and abrasions but so far they haven’t found any broken bones.”

“Are you staying at the hospital or do you need to head back to your clinic?”

“I’ve canceled the rest of my afternoon appointments. I only had a few, nothing urgent. I’ll stick around until we at least know if they’re going to admit her.”

The next day was Christmas Eve, Amanda suddenly remembered. As much as her grandmother adored the holidays, it would be extra difficult for Birdie to be in the hospital over Christmas.

And the poor Arredondo family. They were still grieving the loss of Rosita less than a year ago. How tragic it would be for them if they lost their beloved grandfather as well.

“How is Paolo?”

“About the same as Birdie. Banged up, but no obvious broken bones. They’re both lucky to be alive. He managed to minimize the impact as much as possible by turning off the road and hitting that guardrail, but I believe he is still racked with guilt that Birdie was injured while a passenger in his car. He’s worried about her, she’s worried about him.”

“Give her my love. I’m on my way inside now.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a few moments then.”

They ended the call and she rushed straight to the emergency department. The clerk behind the desk, she saw, was a friend who served with her on the same committee with Crista Arredondo.

“Amanda. Hi.” Pam Mitchell’s expression softened into one of sympathy and concern. “You’re here to see Birdie.”

“Yes.”

“Let me check with her nurse to see if she can have visitors.”

Amanda wanted to burst through the doors to the examination rooms, regardless of what might be allowed or not, but she forced herself to wait patiently while Pam paged a nurse.

She could only hear one side of the conversation but saw her friend nod after a moment.

“Yes. I’ll tell her.” Pam hung up the phone, then turned back to Amanda.

“She’s having an MRI right now, but her nurse said you are welcome to go back and wait in her room, if you would like. She’s in exam room twelve.”

She pressed a button on her desk and the security doors leading back to the emergency department opened, allowing Amanda to hurry through with a grateful nod to Pam.

The hospital was modern and well equipped for a facility that served a population of less than a hundred thousand people in the region.

It smelled of some kind of citrusy cleanser mixed with the sharp tang of bleach.

Before she could reach her grandmother’s room, she saw her brother talking to several other medical professionals who were gathered at a nursing station in the center of the emergency department.

He looked serious and professional in a dress shirt and tie, with a stethoscope and an ID badge around his neck. An undeniable air of authority clung to him. To her, Griffin still usually seemed like the teasing older brother who used to hide her favorite toys and complain to their parents when she tried to hang around with him and his friends, but she was suddenly deeply grateful for his years of education and his passion to his vocation.

Griffin had made it his life’s goal to be the sort of hardworking, dedicated family physician their father should have been.

Amanda hadn’t wanted him to come back to Shelter Springs to open his family medicine practice. She knew well the opposition he would face as Dennis Taylor’s son and that he would never be wholly accepted in some circles. Right now, in this moment, she could be nothing but grateful he had insisted he wanted to help the people of their hometown.

He spied her at the same moment, broke off his conversation with his colleagues in midsentence and hurried toward her, sweeping her into his arms.

“Hey, sis. Birdie is having an MRI right now.”

“That’s what Pam Mitchell just told me.”

“She should be back soon.”

She gripped his hands in hers. “Tell me the truth. How is she really doing? What are the big concerns?”

He hesitated, obviously choosing his words carefully. “In any vehicle accident like this we worry about internal bleeding, of course. She definitely sustained some degree of head trauma, most likely a moderate concussion, but she was talking coherently before they took her down to radiology. She was even teasing the staff.”

Amanda exhaled a long, heartfelt breath.

“I can’t tell you more than that. It’s too soon to say. I was just talking with the attending physician. Dr. Okita told me that even if everything checks out, she’s going to talk to the hospitalist and recommend admitting her for observation, at least overnight.”

“What is she most worried about?”

“Her age, mostly, as well as the possibility of swelling on the brain.”

She would focus on the positive, that Birdie was whole and talking. “Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose, but she’s going to hate having to stay over. Especially during Christmas.”

“Definitely. It can’t be helped. If she puts up a fuss, I’ll tell her the same thing she used to say to us. Remember, you can do hard things.”

For the first time since Rafe had called her at the store, Amanda managed a semblance of a smile as she remembered all the times her grandmother said that to both of them.

“Where is Paolo?”

Griffin gestured to the room next to Birdie’s, where she saw the number eleven on the door. “He wanted to stay close to her. It’s sweet, actually. He’s pretty torn up about the whole thing. He shouldn’t be. If not for his quick thinking, neither of them would be here.”

She couldn’t help thinking that if not for Paolo, Birdie wouldn’t have been on that road at all.

“You can wait in her room,” Griffin said. “There are a couple of visitor chairs in there. She shouldn’t be long.”

She nodded and pushed open the door. The room seemed empty without a hospital gurney. Two visitor chairs, a few treatment trays and a rolling stool were the only other furniture pieces, along with a bag containing what she assumed were her grandmother’s personal effects hanging on a hook by the door.

Amanda took a seat, her stomach still twisted with nerves. She wouldn’t be comfortable until she had seen Birdie for herself. Maybe not even then.

She was texting an update to her friends at The Lucky Goat when the door opened and a couple of hospital workers in scrubs pushed a hospital bed through. Birdie lay against the white bedding, her purple streaks a bright, incongruously cheerful contrast to the pillow.

She had a huge bandage on her forehead, with a few drops of blood still clinging to her hair, and another bandage along her chin. She also had dark bruises on one eye and cheek.

Any reassurance she might have received from speaking with Griffin seemed to disappear when confronted with the hard reality of Birdie’s physical status. Her grandmother rarely seemed frail but she did right now.

“Oh, Grandma.”

Birdie looked toward her, though she knew her grandmother couldn’t see her. “Amanda! Hello. How did you know where to find me?”

Her voice sounded weak and thready but as cheerful as ever as one of the hospital workers bustled around the bed, hooking her back up to monitors.

“You’re the talk of the town. First Rafe called to tell me you and Paolo were in a crash, and then Griffin called with the same news. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Isn’t this a mess? I keep telling these nice people that I’m fine and they’re making a fuss about nothing, but nobody seems to be listening.”

When the two medical workers left the room, Amanda pulled a visitor chair next to her grandmother’s bed and took the hand that didn’t have an IV line in it.

“What happened? Where were you and Paolo heading?”

Birdie gave a tremulous smile. “He ordered some tamales from his restaurant for the potluck tonight. We were on our way to pick them up in Haven Point. I probably won’t make the party, will I?”

Amanda squeezed her fingers gently, feeling their slight tremble. “I wouldn’t plan on it. Don’t worry. There’s always next year.”

She gave a wordless prayer that Birdie would be around the next year.

Her grandmother closed her eyes and Amanda pushed a strand of hair away from her bandage. “Go ahead and rest. I’ll be here.”

Birdie opened her eyes, spearing her with an intense expression. “I need you to do something for me.” She whispered the words, though they were the only two in the room.

“What’s that?”

“I need to know how Paolo is. How he really is. Your brother won’t tell me anything. Some nonsense about privacy laws. I just need to know Paolo will be okay. I trust you to tell me the truth. Can you go check on him for me?”

“I don’t want to leave you, Grandma.” She realized how rarely she called Birdie that but it seemed appropriate in this setting.

“I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere. They won’t let me, even if I wanted to or had a way out of here. I’ll be fine. I have to know how he is.”

She recognized the obstinate set of her grandmother’s jaw. More than that, she saw the raw fear in Birdie’s eyes.

Amanda still didn’t know for sure about Birdie’s own condition. She wouldn’t until she had a chance to talk to her doctor and until more test results came in.

Meantime, she could at least try to set her mind at ease about Paolo, if she could.

With a sigh, she leaned forward and kissed the top of her grandmother’s head. “Fine. Griffin said his room is next door. I’ll go check on him. I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you, my dear. He saved my life, you know. If not for him turning at the last moment we wouldn’t be here.”

“I’ll go check on him.”

She left the room, moving toward the room next door, where she knocked softly.

“Come in,” a low male voice answered.

She pushed open the door, expecting only to find Paolo or perhaps Louise and Al. Instead, Rafe stood just inside, leaning against a sink.

He looked big and solid and reassuring and she wanted to fly into his arms.

He gave her a small smile that didn’t hide the worry in his eyes. “Hey there. I wondered if you might be here.”

“I only arrived a few moments ago. Birdie has sent me on an urgent errand to find out how your grandfather is. I’m not sure she will be able to rest until she knows something.”

“They just took him for an MRI.”

“The radiology techs must have picked him up as soon as they took Birdie back to her room. Is he in a lot of pain?”

“He says he’s not, but I suspect he’s running on adrenaline. He’s been so upset about your grandmother. I had to practically tie him to the bed to keep him from going over there to check on her.”

He genuinely cared about Birdie, as she did for Paolo.

“Not quite the Christmas any of us planned, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. But it could have been so much worse.”

“That’s what everyone is saying. That seems a small consolation prize, though, when my grandmother looks like she literally got run over by a reindeer.”

A slow smile lifted his features and for some reason this, above everything else, made her throat tighten and tears burn behind her eyes. She fought them for a few seconds, then one spilled out and dripped down her cheek.

“Hey. Don’t cry. They’re going to be okay.”

“I was so scared,” she said, her voice small and strained. “I can’t lose her.”

He was next to her in an instant, his arms reaching for her. She wanted to press her face into the crook of his neck and weep. Instead she wrapped her arms around him, deeply grateful for his reassuring strength.

As she rested her cheek against his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat against her skin, Amanda relived that moment when she had opened the door, when for an instant, all the fear had fled and she had only been deeply grateful he was there.

She was in love with him.

The knowledge seemed to sear through her, burning away any remnants of self-delusion.

Completely in love.

Oh, what had she done?

She allowed herself to glean a few more moments of comfort from his embrace before forcing herself to step away.

“Thank you. I didn’t mean to cry all over you.”

“Not the first time a woman has cried in my arms and probably won’t be the last.”

He gave that lopsided smile she had come to adore and she swallowed hard, wondering how she could have ignored all her own warning signs and let herself fall headlong into love with him, even knowing it would only end in heartbreak.

“I should get back to Birdie. I told her I would only leave her for a moment to see about your grandfather.”

“So far everything is checking out. They’re talking about keeping him overnight. We will have to wait for the MRI results but he seems okay.”

“Oh, that’s good. She’ll be so relieved.”

“What is Birdie’s status? I know Abuelo will want to know everything.”

She told him what little she knew so far, all while hoping he couldn’t see the truth about her feelings for him on her features.

“Keep me posted,” he said.

She nodded, then escaped as quickly as she could to her grandmother’s side.