Winter Falls (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Chapter 25

twenty-five

The tree had been an absolute hit with the kids and parents alike.

I leaned my shoulder against the wall in the kitchen and watched them do the final touches on the tree. Amos was standing behind me, his hand on my shoulder. I was stunned to think how things had changed between us so quickly. There were still some things that needed sorting out, but for now I decided to enjoy the moment and embrace the Christmas cheer that was filling his house.

I looked up at him from over my shoulder. "Ready to do some cooking?" He smiled down at me, and my heart did a little tumble.

"Whatever you say, boss." His hand ran down my arm and took my fingers, leading me back into the kitchen. "What did you have in mind?"

"I guess Christmassy stuff. Cookies, uhm." I made a grimace realizing I really didn't know what to cook.

"We have a family cookbook, it's ancient, but I'm sure there's something in there." He hesitated for the brief moment and then looked at me. "My mom used it all the time."

Him mentioning his mother without any prompting was a huge deal. I nodded my head, and didn’t say anything, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"It's here somewhere, let me look." He reached up and opened the cupboard above the massive fridge. His height made it super easy, whereas I would've needed a step stool. "Aha! Here it is, and it looks like it’s seen better days." He placed it on the counter and rested his hand on it. "It hasn't been opened since…"

I moved forward and said, "Then we best take care with it."

He slid it towards me and I opened the cover. It crackled with age, and it had to be at least 2 inches thick with loose sheets of paper stuck in between the pages.

One red envelope stuck up above the other pages, and I gently flipped to the page. It was address to Mr. and Mrs. Winter, Amos, Asher, and Alana.

Amos fell silent, and picked it up, waiting a moment then then took the card out.

"I remember this. We were all going to this Christmas party, it was a snowy night and I waited here to bring Asher and Alana to the party while Mom and Dad went ahead."

He fell silent and he didn't have to tell me this was the night of the crash.

I put my hand on his forearm, and let him process his thoughts.

A few minutes later, he pulled the recipe book over and looked at the page.

"Wow. This was what Mom made to take along. Everyone always asked her to bring them--they were amazing and she only ever made them at Christmas time."

I read the recipe, and it would be perfect to make right now. "Shall we honor her by making this today?"

I looked up at him, but he was still looking at the recipe and he nodded. "I'm pretty sure we have everything we need for this. Mrs. Carter is good at keeping the house stocked. Let's see what we can find."

A few minutes later, we had all the ingredients we needed to create his mother’s Christmas cinnamon buns.

As we poured and measured the ingredients, Tess came in to see what we were up to. She saw the recipe book and carefully turned the pages. Asher came in behind her and looked over her shoulder.

"That's Mom's recipe book," he said in a low voice. "I haven't seen that book in forever." Sadness etched his voice. He cleared his throat and brightened up. "What are you guys making?"

Amos told him.

"Excellent choice. Exactly what she would've wanted us to do today. Do you remember her shortbread cookies? They were so good. Tess, how’d you like to help me make some of those?” He put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him.

"I'd love to."

Amos and I looked at each other, and raised our eyebrows. What was going on with them had happened quick.

The four of us prepared our Christmas treats, and it wasn't long before the smell of baking filled the kitchen and spread throughout the house. It was nice working alongside Amos, Asher, and Tess. Almost as if we’d been doing it for years. It was comfortable, with pleasant banter, and reminiscing.

I could almost imagine it continuing in Christmases to come. Whoa! Don’t get ahead of yourself, girl.

Some of the moms came in and asked if they could bake, and of course, Amos and Asher welcomed them.

Soon the kitchen was a busy assembly line with family favorite recipes being made. Christmas carols were being played, and some singing along. We'd finished the cinnamon buns and they were rising before going in the oven when I thought about dinner. I pulled Amos aside.

"This is so wonderful--I love how everybody is pitching in. And while baking is great, we haven’t given dinner a thought. I think we need to make a plan.”

"Yes, we should. You and your plans, without them all would be lost."

I checked the time. It was about 3 o'clock and if we wanted to have everything ready for six-ish, we needed to decide.

"Shall we see what's in the freezer first?" he suggested.

In the pantry were two chest and one stand freezer and they were packed to the gills.

"Holy cow, all ready for the Apocalypse, I see."

He chuckled. "Like I said, Mrs. Carter is a fanatic for keeping food on hand. And she’s done this here for years, she just keeps restocking and refreshing, rotating, and donating."

"Remind me to send a thank you to Mrs. Carter."

We found three pans of casseroles, a lasagna, and there were some huge cuts of meat in there as well, but they'd never defrost in time, frozen bread, and vegetables.

"Is that a turkey?" I leaned into the freezer to try and pull it out. "There's another one here, but I can't get it."

Amos grasped my waist and lifted me aside. “Let me.” He easily plucked the two large birds out of the freezer and set them in the farm sink. This pantry was like its own separate kitchen.

"Do you think anybody will be able to go home tomorrow? I know today's out of the question because it's ridiculous out there," I asked him.

"Depends on how quickly the town can dig out, and when the snow stops. I doubt even a dog sled or snow machine could get through. When I last went to the barn, it was up to my hips, and drifts were even higher."

"Oh wow.” I put my hands on my hips. “We have to remain the pillars of strength. If we lose it, then they lose it and all will be lost in panic." I reached down to pull out four pans of casseroles and handed them one by one to Amos.

"Well, I know you'll have no trouble being a pillar. I've seen you in action." He tone wasn’t at all accusatorial and I smiled.

"I hope so. All the kids will be waiting for Santa to come tonight, and nobody was prepared for that, I'm sure all of their gifts are at home. I heard some of the children saying yesterday they're worried Santa won't find them. I’m not sure there’s anything we can do about that. I think four pans are enough to feed everybody, and perhaps we can make garlic bread to go with it."

"Like I said, I've seen you in action."

We carried the food into the kitchen. With the oven still on from all the baking, I put the pans on the lower racks to begin defrosting and heating up.

The kitchen looked like a war zone, and I was grateful the moms had shooed the kids back out into the other room and they were vigorously tackling the mess. In no time the kitchen was spotless and the ladies had started to prepare for the upcoming meal.

"Thank you so much for being such a great help," I said to them. "Without you I would've been at an utter loss."

"It's the least we can do, we were talking about it earlier and that if we’re unable to get back to town, we can't just sit around and have you do all the work. That's not fair." The others echoed in agreement.

"Plus, look what you did with the decorating. The kids were thrilled and the tree! That was the icing on the cake."

Amos had left the kitchen to do something, I don't know what, so I stayed with the ladies. "I'm sure there is wine here somewhere. They have everything else, it shouldn't be hard to find. Let's look," I said, and they laughed.

We found a lovely stash underneath the counter by the window where Amos had put the huge coffee percolator. Surprisingly, there was also a wine fridge and beer fridge. Both were full, and I waved my hand at the contents.

"Would you look at that," said one of the moms.

"Jackpot," said another.

"I'll get the glasses."

The sense of camaraderie between the women warmed me. It was times like these situations when people came together. And I wondered why this sense of unity couldn't always be present. Was it Christmas spirit? Was it a sense of helplessness and everyone working together? What?

If I could have a Christmas wish, it would be to carry this sense of community through all the days, not just during the holiday season.

Maybe this whole blizzard had been a blessing in disguise.