Abby's Christmas

“I can’t believe…” she said faintly. Then she looked beyond him. “Get that dog out of my flowers! What the hell is he doing in my yard? Get him out, get him out!” There was nothing at all faint about the order.

Noah turned at the same time as Abby, and they both went after the dog. The mutt, of course, decided the chase was all a game. He dashed from corner to corner, wagging his tail and panting, refusing all pleas to come, to be a good dog, to get the hell out of the flower bed.

Marian Blake stood on the porch step, yelling instructions. “There he is! He’s heading toward the back—don’t let him run over the irises! Don’t you step on my daylilies, Noah Blake!”

Vaulting over the fading lily leaves, Noah bent to crawl under the camellias next to the wall of the house. “Stupid dog. I’m gonna strangle you when I get my hands on you.”

“That’s not incentive.” Abby crawled in beside him. “I wouldn’t come if you talked to me in that voice.”

“Yeah, you’ve been real successful in getting hold of him so far.”

“I came closer than you did.” She eased farther down the house wall, peering under the bushes, crooning, “Come on, sweetie. It’s okay. Nobody will hurt you.”

The dog sat halfway between them, among the fallen camellia blossoms, feinting one way, then the other, every time one of them reached for him.

“I’ve had enough,” Noah growled.

“What are you going to do?”

She gasped as he lunged toward the house. He slammed his shoulder into the concrete block foundation, but he came up with an armful of dog. “Don’t hurt him,” she cautioned.

“I’m not going to hurt him,” he told her irritably. As proof, the dog proceeded to lick as much of his cheeks and chin as he could reach. “Stop it.” Noah pushed the scruffy head away. “Yuck.”

Abby started to laugh, then stopped suddenly. “You’re hurt.” Holding the dog’s head away, she pressed with her fingertips to turn Noah’s cheek toward her. “You must’ve scraped your face against the wall. Does it hurt?”

“No.” He pulled his head away from her scrutiny, from her touch. “This is nothing. I’ve been punched by some of the best.” He walked ahead of her, wondering how much worse the day could possibly get.

His mother had come down to the sidewalk and was surveying the garden anxiously. “I hope he didn’t dig something up. I bought some new daffodils this fall, just got them into the ground.”

“I don’t think he had time, Ma.” Noah moved up beside her. “He’s a pretty small dog.”

She turned toward him and glared at the dog. “What are you doing with a dog, anyway? You know I don’t like dogs.”

“Sorry. I forgot.”

“Like you forgot to call and tell me you were coming? Like you forgot to come home since you were eighteen? Like you forgot to let me know you were still alive for the last four years?” She snorted and turned toward the house. “You have a serious memory problem.”

Noah took one step in the same direction.

“And don’t think you’re bringing that dog into my house,” she said, without looking back. “I won’t have any filthy animal in my home.” The screen slapped shut, then the front door.

The dog squirmed in his arms, but Noah stood still. His first impulse was to run as far and as fast as the full tank on the bike would take him. His second impulse was to slam inside the house and tell the bitch exactly what he thought of her, then take off for the farthest corner of the country.

“Noah?” He’d forgotten Abby entirely. “Noah, I’ll take the dog.”

He looked over at her, not understanding. “What?”

“I’ll take the dog home with me. We’ve got a fenced yard and an enclosed porch where he can sleep.”

“I can just—” He didn’t really have another option. “I guess that’ll work for tonight.”

“What’s his name?” she asked, reaching around the dog so that she was practically in Noah’s arms. He got a whiff of the sweet flower scent in her hair. When she drew away, with the animal cuddled against her own chest, he missed her warmth.

“I don’t know.”

Her eyes widened. “You didn’t name him?”

“No. I didn’t—” This might not be the best time to confess that he hadn’t planned to keep the mutt. “I didn’t have time to think up a name.”

“I guess not.” Her smile was a flash of brightness in the darkening afternoon. “We’ll work on that tomorrow. See you then.”

“Sure.” She made tomorrow sound like something to look forward to. Noah watched her leave the yard and cross the street to her car, an old red Volvo, where she settled the dog on the passenger seat before getting in herself. The sound of the engine, when it finally started, called for a major tune-up, but Abby gave him a cheerful wave and another smile before she pulled away from the curb.

As she left, Noah realized his first impulses had weakened, letting a certain degree of reason take hold of his brain. He wasn’t going to run out on his mother again. Not before they’d had a chance to…settle things. Not before he made sure she would be taken care of for as long as she needed. He owed her that much.

So he opened the screen and pushed back the door into the house. A wave of heat hit him—the thermostat must be set at eighty degrees—along with the scent of onions and hot grease. His stomach churned, but he forced himself to walk to the kitchen.

His mother glanced at him. “I was beginning to think you’d just run off again.” With a tilt of her head, she directed him to the table by the window. “I was cooking when you showed up. Sit down. Go on, sit. This’ll be done in a minute.”

Noah eased out of his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. Even his sweatshirt was too hot. Since he wasn’t sure he was staying, though, he wouldn’t take it off.

“There.” A plate thumped onto the table. She still used the same dishes he remembered from fifteen years ago, made of unbreakable white glass, with blue flowers around the edges. Two hamburgers anchored the meal, framed by a pile of potato chips and a couple of pickles.

“Here’s some rolls.” A bowl of hamburger buns plopped onto the table. “I’ve got mustard and mayo. No ketchup.”

“This is good, Ma. Thanks.” He only hoped he could eat without choking.

She set a soda can by his plate, and then brought her own dinner plus a cola to the table and joined him. Her eyes closed. “Thank you, Lord, for this day and the blessings it has brought. Amen.”

Noah barely got his own eyes shut before she finished, and was a little slow in opening them. The first thing he saw was his mother’s fork, carrying a piece of dull gray hamburger, pointing into his face.

“So why don’t you tell me,” she suggested, “just where you’ve been for the last fifteen years?”

He took a deep breath.

“And why the hell,” Marian Blake continued, “you bothered to come home now?”

CHAPTER TWO

The Diary of Miss Abigail Ann Brannon

September 2, 1981

Dear Diary,

The first day of fifth grade was just like the last day of fourth grade. We got our books and they all look boring. Why do we have to study North Carolina history? We live here, so what’s to learn? I want to know about England and Africa and Japan. No such luck.

They mixed up the kids in different classes, like they do every year. Dixon and Rob and Jacquie are with me in Mrs. Davis’s room, but Adam and Pete have Miss Lovett for a teacher. We get to see one another at recess and lunch, though.