Christmas In Icicle Falls

“I didn’t mean to,” Leo repeated, tears beginning to make their appearance. “I was trying to hit Tommy Haskel.”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Sienna said, patting her son’s arm.

Cratchett glared at her. “It is not! These kids run around throwing snowballs every which way, hitting innocent bystanders, and then you coddle them.”

“He said he was sorry,” Sienna snapped, her mama-bear side showing itself.

Now Leo began to cry in earnest and she hugged him.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Sienna scolded Cratchett.

“Me?” he protested. “Who’s the one who got hit?”

At that moment a red truck pulled up to the curb. A large man with a dark beard wearing jeans, boots and a black parka stepped out of it. “Hey there, uncle. Making friends with the neighbors?” he said with a smile.

Cratchett told him he was a smart-ass and stomped back up his front walk.

This man was related to Mr. Cratchett? Poor him.

“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” said the man. “You must be the killer of the juniper bush.” He had a deep voice and a nice smile.

But Sienna was in no mood to smile back. “Your uncle is...impossible.”

“Yes, he is,” the man agreed.

“He’s made my life miserable ever since we moved in.” Why was she complaining to this man? As if he had any control over his uncle’s behavior?

“It’s a gift.” The man held out a gloved hand. “I’m Tim Richmond.”

She took his hand and shook it. His big hand swallowed hers and she felt a little tingle in her chest. Tingle bells, tingle bells... It’s been way too long.

Oh, stop, she commanded herself. Anyone even remotely related to Cratchett wasn’t worth getting stirred up over. He was probably married, anyway. If he took off his glove, she was sure there’d be a sign of ownership there on his left hand.

“Sienna Moreno,” she said, all business so her hormones would get the message. “This is my son, Leo.”

“I saw him in action when I was coming up the street. That’s quite an arm you’ve got on you, son, if you can knock a grown man over,” Tim said with a wink.

Leo looked at the man suspiciously and wiped his runny nose with his coat sleeve. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”

“I know you didn’t. Don’t mind the old guy. He gets grumpy sometimes.”

Sienna cocked an eyebrow. “Sometimes?”

“Well, okay, a lot of times.”

Now Cratchett had his front door open. “Are you going to get in here and fix my sink or just stand out there jawing all day?” he hollered.

“I’m coming. Keep your shirt on,” Tim hollered back.

“His shirt is on,” Leo pointed out.

“So far,” the man said. He had a nice smile. He opened the passenger door of his truck, reached inside and pulled out a toolbox. “Don’t mind my uncle. He’s got issues.”

As if that excused his behavior? “Well, I’m going to have issues before he’s done with me. Anyway, that’s no excuse for being rude to a child.”

“He’s mean,” put in Leo.

“Yeah, sometimes he is.”

“Are you coming?” roared Cratchett.

Tim scowled in the direction of his uncle’s house. “Shut the door, unc’,” he yelled. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” Cratchett’s door slammed shut and Tim turned his attention back to Sienna. “Nice to meet you. Maybe next time it will be under better circumstances.”

“If your uncle’s around? I’m not holding my breath,” Sienna replied. “Maybe you can give him kindness lessons,” she said, adding a smile to show her grumpiness wasn’t directed at him.

“Trust me, I keep trying.” He gave a friendly nod and then made his way up Cratchett’s front walk.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get someone like him for Christmas?

Sienna pushed away the thought. Her life was full enough with Leo and her family and friends. Besides, Cupid hadn’t exactly come through for her lately. After her ex and the losers she’d dated since her divorce, she didn’t trust the little guy.

“Come on,” she said to her son. “Let’s finish stringing our lights.”

Putting up the Christmas lights was enough to make Leo forget his earlier misery. His sunny disposition quickly surfaced once the front porch and windows were glowing with multicolored bulbs.

Sienna, too, was pleased with how pretty their house looked. There were certainly benefits to living in a gorgeous small town like Icicle Falls, and the home she was able to provide for her son was one of them.

An older couple from the neighborhood strolled by and waved. “Your house looks lovely,” the woman called.

“Thanks,” Sienna called back.

At least most of her neighbors were nice. If only the Grinch would come along and steal Cratchett. Then they’d have peace on earth.

* * *

Once the guests had checked out, Mondays were often a quiet day at the Icicle Creek Lodge, and Olivia took advantage of that to run errands or go shopping in nearby Wenatchee. She usually tried to buy from her fellow business owners in town, but many of those shops were closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. In addition to that, while the town was filled with charming specialty shops that catered to tourists, as well as a grocery store and drugstore, it was lacking the malls or department stores the larger cities boasted. When a woman wanted new underwear or a nightgown, she had to look elsewhere.

Today Olivia was in need of a new bra. She also wanted to do a little Christmas shopping, and this was as good a time as any to slip away and do it.

She mentioned her intention to scoot off while she and Brooke were in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast.

“Would you mind if I come with you?” Brooke asked. “Eric needs some new jeans and I want to pick up a few things for the baby.”

“Of course not. I’d love the company.”

She always enjoyed spending time with Brooke. Her daughter-in-law was sweet and generous and she shared Olivia’s love of elegant home furnishings, fancy soaps and all things lavender, especially the lavender lemonade and lavender cookies to be had at Bailey Black’s tearoom.

When they’d first met, Brooke had been mourning the loss of her mother and hadn’t been enthused about another woman taking her mom’s place in her father’s heart. But in the end she’d been happy to see both James and Olivia find love again, and while Olivia knew she could never take the place of Brooke’s mother, she and her stepdaughter had become good friends.