Harriet woke up in the dark, nestled in a bed of straw. Warm, sweet breath filled her nose, and soft whiskers tickled her chin. She opened her eyes to find Becky nuzzling her.
“What’s going on?” she asked the horse as she sat up.
Becky looked at her with big brown eyes and pawed the floor with her hoof, being careful not to touch her. She stopped and looked anxiously at Harriet. Harriet stood and patted her on the neck.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.” She tugged on the bottom edge of her pajama top as Becky rubbed her face against her chest.
“I wish you could talk,” she said with a sigh.
“He can’t, but I can,” James said, and lifted Fred up and off of Harriet.
She opened her eyes.
“Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was in Becky’s stall at the barn. She was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand what she wanted.” She smiled. “It was surprisingly warm, given I was barefoot and in my PJ’s.”
“Was she actually talking to you?” James asked and pulled her into his arms.
“Of course not,” she said with mock indignation. “That would have been ridiculous.”
He smiled.
“Because waking up in her stall was so normal by comparison.”
She pushed on his chest. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not. You just have such interesting dreams. I dream of mundane things like a crowd of people showing up without reservations, and when I go into the walk-in refrigerator, it’s either empty or the food is all rotten.”
“That’s kind of gross.”
“See? Not nearly as interesting as your dreams.”
“Any indication Luke is up yet?”
“The house is quiet. I’m sure if he was awake, the dogs would have made him go out.”
Harriet smiled. The dogs had taken to sleeping in Luke’s room since he let them sleep on the bed, something that was strictly forbidden in Harriet and James’s room.
“Shall I go downstairs and heat up the cinnamon rolls?” he asked.
“Works for me.”
Historically, there was about a ten-percent chance of snow falling on Christmas day in Foggy Point, and this was not one of those rare occasions. The day had dawned crisp and clear and full of promise.
“Be sure you get lots of pictures of Luke as he opens his presents,” Harriet reminded James.
He held up his phone. “My battery is fully charged.” He reached across the kitchen table, where they sat sipping their coffee and tea, and took her hand. “Don’t worry. His first Christmas with us will be perfect. By definition, the fact he’s having it with us will make it perfect, no matter what happens.”
Luke appeared in the doorway.
“Merry Christmas?” he said tentatively. “Is everything okay?”
James stood up, smiling at him. “Oh, Harriet’s just worried about whether Christmas will live up to your expectations.”
Luke grinned. “It already has.”
“Food first or presents first?” James asked.
Luke looked torn. “Can we do both?”
“Sure,” Harriet said. “Grab a cinnamon roll, and I’ll fix some hot chocolate real quick. You can take them into the living room.”
“Anyone ready for another round of cinnamon rolls?” James asked when all the presents had been opened.
“I am,” Luke said without looking up from his new laptop computer.
Harriet closed the cover of her new mystery novel.
“I’ll help you. I think I need some orange juice to cut through all the sugar.”
“Do you think he likes his present?” Harriet asked when they were back in the kitchen.
James put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed the tension from her neck as she poured juice into her glass.
“I think ‘like it’ is an understatement. He’s hardly taken his hands off it since he opened it.”
Harriet turned into his arms.
“Did you notice he’s wearing his boots? I wouldn’t embarrass him by asking, but I wonder if he wore them to bed?”
“I slept with my first baseball glove for about a week, I think.”
“I don’t think I ever slept with anything, but I did sleep in the manger at boarding school one Christmas. I guess I was researching the whole Mary-and-Joseph thing. I didn’t think you really could sleep in a barn.”
James laughed. “How did it go?”
“Better than you might imagine. I curled up with our school milk cow. It was nice and warm. It was a little gross when she decided to lick my head, but otherwise, not bad.”
“No wonder you dreamed you were sleeping in the horse barn. It wasn’t a dream, it was a memory.”
Harriet was in the kitchen rinsing her cinnamon roll plate when the phone rang.
“Merry Christmas,” she answered it.
“Aren’t you just the cheery one,” Lauren said.
“It’s Christmas, what’s not to be cheery about?”
“Oh, you have no idea, but enough about me. I’m calling about Vern.”
“Vern, like Outdoor Store Vern?”
“Yes. When I got up this morning, there was a message on my phone from Vern. Unfortunately, it was garbled, like he was getting really poor reception. I have no idea what he might have wanted from me in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve.”
“I didn’t know you guys were friends.”
“That’s my point. We’re not friends. I made him a quilt. I’ve shopped in his store. That’s it.”
“That is mysterious.”
“That’s all you have to say? ‘It’s mysterious?”
“What were you looking for?”
“I’m hoping you want to go with me to check on him.”
“I have to be at my aunt’s in a couple of hours, and you don’t have anything but a garbled message as a starting point.”
“Given what’s been happening downtown, I would feel better if we at least checked his store.”
“By we, are you asking me to go with?”
The phone was silent.
Harriet sighed.
“Let me see if James is okay with this.”
“Call me back.”
Harriet hung up and went back to the living room. Luke was still putting his computer through its paces while James looked on. She cleared her throat, and James looked up.
“Could you two do without me for a half-hour or so?” She explained her phone call from Lauren. “I’m pretty sure Vern is at home, or with his family, and he probably pocket-dialed Lauren by accident; but she’s not going to relax and enjoy her day until we go by his shop and confirm it’s closed up tight.”
James came over and took both her hands in his.
“Do you promise that if you find anything but a closed-up dark shop you’ll drive away and call Detective Morse on your way home?”
“Of course, but that’s not going to happen. We’re going to meet out front, admire Lauren’s quilt in the window, get back in our cars, and return to our holiday celebrations.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Luke asked without looking away from his computer screen.
Harriet smiled. “That’s really sweet of you, but there’s no need for you guys to spoil your Christmas because of Lauren’s paranoia. I’ll be back before you know it.”
James followed her to the kitchen, where she collected her down jacket and wool scarf. He reached into the closet and got her purse from its hook and handed it to her. He kissed her.
“Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Don’t worry.”