A Valley Ridge Christmas

Josie smiled. “More guilt won’t be necessary. Plus, I’m not sure what one-handed basketball is, but I’m sure I’m not up for it. You’re right. My husband will feel much better about everything if I can tell him I got checked out.”

Maeve took Carl as the other two women left. “What do you say we start some water for tea?” she said.

She held the boy on her hip as she filled the kettle.

As they passed the fridge, Carl reached for a postcard that the Langley kids had sent her from Disney World. When Mattie and Finn had gotten married in August, they’d taken the kids—his nieces and nephew—on a family honeymoon to the Magic Kingdom. Abbey, the youngest, was still telling anyone who would listen about her honeymoon.

Carl reached for the card and said, “Mickey.”

She let him grab the postcard. “Yes, that’s Mickey Mouse. Let me put the kettle on the woodstove. I think I have a Disney book that we can read together.”

She carried the toddler into the front room where she had some books waiting to go to the library. “I think I saw...” she muttered as she dug one-handed through the pile. “There.” She pulled out the Mickey Mouse storybook and carried both Carl and the book back into the warmth of the kitchen. They’d read the first few pages when Lily and Josie rejoined them.

“Everything all right?” she asked them both.

“I think so, but I want Josie to come in and see the doctor. No one’s at the office yet. To be honest, I don’t think any stores or offices are open except Jerry’s and the grocery store, but I’m sure Neil will be in soon. After I’ve talked to him, I’ll call you with a time today or tomorrow.”

“Really, we can’t afford a doctor’s visit,” Josie protested.

“Of all the things you need to worry about, that’s not it,” Lily said gently but firmly. “Neil owes me.”

“But...” Josie looked as if she was trying to find an argument.

Lily put her hand on top of Josie’s. “One of the things I love about Neil’s practice is that we see everyone regardless of insurance or means. He could have practiced anywhere. He had offers and to be honest, still occasionally gets offers from bigger towns. He chose a small town because he wanted to make a difference. He’s not in this for the money.”

“Boyd is very proud,” Josie said softly. “He won’t accept charity.”

Maeve might not have known him long, but she knew that was the absolute truth. “He’s paying me back for some oatmeal and an electric outlet by single-handedly clearing half of Valley Ridge’s sidewalks and driveways.”

Lily thought a moment. “Okay, Josie, I’ll tell you what. You come in for a visit, and if Boyd is willing he can help us out with a couple of projects around the office.”

“He can do anything. I mean, absolutely anything. I’ve never met a job Boyd couldn’t do,” Josie gushed.

“Well, then, it’s settled.” Lily reached out for the toddler. “May I?”

Josie nodded and Maeve handed him over. “He’s adorable.” Carl reached up and wrapped his hand in a clump of Lily’s hair. She gently unwound his chubby fist.

“That’s why I go with a braid or ponytail most days. We call him the hair monster. Boyd likes to quip that his hair is thinning out of self-preservation.”

Maeve had a hard time imagining Boyd joking. But people could hide things behind their public faces. She knew this from experience.

When Carl was unwound, he held his hands out for his mother and Lily passed him over to Josie. As she cuddled the toddler, Josie said, “Thank you so much, Lily. First Maeve, now you. I think that snowstorm stranding us in Valley Ridge was the first bit of good luck we’ve had in a long time.”

“You wouldn’t be the first person to find yourself coming to Valley Ridge for a quick visit, then falling in love and staying,” Lily said. “I came here for a nursing assignment. When it was over—” Lily’s voice caught on the word over, then she continued “—I stayed. I’d made friends here and fallen in love with the town itself.”

Maeve remembered when Lily came to town. She’d watched as Lily bonded with Mattie and Sophie as they all cared for Bridget Langley. It was true that most of the community had pitched in to help the sick mother of three, but Lily, Mattie and Sophie had shouldered the bulk of Bridget’s care. As Bridget got sicker, the three of them had become so close. When Bridget had passed, their friendship had buoyed them.

Maeve envied their friendship. She wasn’t jealous. At least she didn’t think she was. She tried not to be, but she couldn’t help feeling as if she’d spent her whole life on the outside looking in. She’d watched each of the three friends fall in love. Mattie and Sophie were married, and Lily was on her way to the altar. Maeve wasn’t jealous of that, either. At least most days she wasn’t.

She rarely shared too much about herself, but this once, she forced herself to say, “I grew up here, but I left home for college and didn’t think I’d be back. Yet here I am. Once Valley Ridge gets its hooks in you, it’s hard to tear yourself away.”

“So far, it seems like a lovely place,” Josie said wistfully. “Not that I’ve seen much more than Maeve’s house and the library parking lot. But the company here has left a very good impression on us.”

“Where are you all headed?” Lily asked.

“North Dakota. Boyd read an article that said jobs were to be had there, so we sold pretty much everything we owned, bought the RV and are going to see for ourselves. The article also mentioned a housing shortage, and Boyd thought we could live in the RV until we got settled.”

“Traveling in your condition must be hard.” Maeve knew what it was like to call someplace with four wheels home. Granted, she hadn’t had an entire RV, but she remembered how awful it was.

She hadn’t thought about those times in a while. It didn’t take a psychologist to see why her subconscious was making a connection between Josie’s circumstances and her own back in the day.

Josie answered, “No, it’s not hard. I’m sitting in the front passenger seat, and that’s not any worse than sitting in a recliner at home. Frankly, the RV is so small that cleaning is a breeze. And...” Josie continued to entertain them with all her happy reasons why living in an RV had some huge advantages over living in a house. Lily was laughing, but Maeve couldn’t join in. She made tea and served everyone and pretended to laugh along with Lily at the appropriate places in Josie’s soliloquy, but Maeve knew deep in her heart that no matter how nice a spin Josie put on the situation, being homeless was no laughing matter.

Lily checked her watch. “I’ve got to run. I need to get to the diner because a few of our employees are snowed in. Then I have a couple of home visits that can’t be put off until later. But I’ll call you soon with a time for your appointment.”

“Thank you again,” Josie said.

Lily smiled. “It was no problem at all.”

Carl’s head was nodding against his mother’s shoulder. “Josie, if you want, he can have a nap in my bedroom. The whole house has warmed up quite nicely, so he should be fine.”

“Thank you, Maeve.” Josie hefted herself to her feet.

“Do you want me to carry him up for you?” Maeve asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Josie assured her.

“The stairs are a bit steep and narrow.”

“Are you saying I can’t fit up a narrow staircase?” Josie asked.

Maeve felt utterly embarrassed. “No, honestly, Josie. That’s not what I meant at all. I would—”

Josie held up her hand, interrupting Maeve’s apologies. “I was just kidding. Honest. Boyd tells me all the time that my sense of humor is warped. I’m afraid he’s right.” She picked up the toddler and went through the living room to the stairs.

Maeve turned to Lily. “Thank you so much for helping. I’ve just met Boyd and Josie, but I know they’d pitch a fit if I offered to pay for her visit, but maybe we could work it out on the sly.”

“No need for that,” Lily assured her as she started to put on her layers. “I meant what I said. I don’t even have to ask Neil to know that he’ll work something out with them. Last spring he got paid in chickens for a home visit. I used to watch stuff like that on TV when I was younger, but really, I didn’t imagine it ever working in this day and age.

“Neil insists he didn’t go into medicine to be rich. Plus, we’ve got honey-do jobs galore at the practice. Neil is a very gifted doctor, but he’s hopeless when it comes to a paintbrush or screwdriver. Ask me sometime about the time he decided to change a washer in the bathroom faucet.” Lily shivered as if to say the project hadn’t gone well.

Maeve didn’t know what else to mention. That was part of her problem when it came to making friends. She was no good at the easy give and take, but she did ask, “How are the wedding plans?”

“Everything’s in order. Mattie keeps teasing me, but I don’t see what’s wrong with being well prepared. Look at last night’s blizzard. I know Valley Ridge gets snow in November, but normally not this much all at once. I have a bunch of friends with plows on standby in case we get another storm and...” She let the sentence fade. “Short of some unexpected volcanic eruption, I’ve planned for every contingency I could think of.”

Maeve was impressed. “Well, if you need something, you only have to holler.”

“All I need is you there,” Lily assured her. “Of course, if you need a date...”