Christmas Eve was clear and cold, snow swirling around in gusts. But the storm that Tucker had feared had mostly missed us, and the roads and sidewalks were clear. In short, I had no good reason for missing Vi’s dinner.
Nervous as I was about spending time with Kendrick—also known as having to be pleasant to him after having told him off to his face in public, something which I hadn’t mentioned to either Vi or Mike—, the upside to having an upscale dinner was getting to wear the Christmas dress I’d purchased. It was simple, a pretty teal velvet with princess seaming, a three-quarters skirt, and a heart-shaped bodice with long tapered sleeves. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be too dressy for Vi’s dinner, but I wanted to wear it anyway.
Giselle continued to improve and was eating like a little Christmas piglet. I gave her a handful of extra treats before Mike picked me up, and she was happily eating when I left.
Mike looked dashing as he opened the door for me, his black suit crisp under his dress coat, his teal shirt matching mine. “Did you do that on purpose?” I asked, as he shut the door.
“No, you’re just lucky that you picked the same color my niece did for her wedding this past fall,” Mike said, as he drove toward Vi and Kendrick’s home. “Teal was the color she chose for her groomsmen. This is what I got to be in her wedding. It’s the only dressy suit I own.”
We parked in front and walked up the path to the front door, which Vi opened before we could knock. “Thanks for coming,” she said. “Come in!”
I handed her one bottle of wine, and another to Kendrick, who came out of the kitchen, his wary look at me priceless. It also put me at ease instantly. “So good to see you again,” I said to him, trying not to laugh. “I’m Cy, but you know that.”
“I do indeed,” Kendrick said, nodding and smiling. “And I’m never likely to forget, either.”
I did laugh then. “Good.”
“Good to meet you,” Mike said, offering his hand to Kendrick. “I’m Mike.”
“Kendrick.” They shook hands. “Would you two like a drink?”
“Sure. Cy? What would you like?”
“Let’s open the wine we brought, unless you already have some open?”
“No, let’s open one of these.” Vi handed Kendrick her bottle, which he took to the kitchen. “The food order was placed, the Golden Pheasant said it should be another half hour. Can I take your coats?”
She hung up coats and we sat down in the living room. “How was the tree?” I asked.
She motioned to their elaborate Christmas tree, which was decorated with colored balls. To the side of it on a credenza was the ficus tree, some of the chocolate pears missing, the foil-wrapped partridge still sitting under it. “The chocolates were excellent, thank you. We’re saving the bird for the Christmas day feast.”
Kendrick came back with a tray with four glasses. “Shall we toast?” he offered.
“Sure,” Vi said, as we raised our glasses. “To Christmas with friends and family.”
“To Christmas with friends and family.” We all drank.
Kendrick kept his glass raised. We looked at him one by one until finally, we were all looking at him. “To my good wife, who I was stupidly thinking of divorcing,” he stated formally.
I almost lost my grip on my glass, but managed to save it from dropping, sloshing a bit of wine on the end table. Vi and Mike handled it in their stride with no spills. I discreetly began to sop the spilled wine up with a paper napkin from the table, as Kendrick began to speak.
“There’s no good way to say this, Vi: I’ve been an idiot. It took a good friend to make me aware of that.” His eyes cut to me, then back to her. “Thank you for all the special things you planned for us this Christmas and for helping me to remember why I love you so much.” He reached in his pocket and brought out a realistic miniature pear ornament made of wood and handed it to her. “For our tree. I made it for you while I was sitting in the hospital.”
“It’s beautiful,” Vi said. “Thank you.” She hung it on their Christmas tree, then sat back down, and gave me an extremely happy look.
“I’m not done,” Kendrick said, as if it was a warning not to start talking. “I understand now that I didn’t make time for you, Vi, just like I didn’t make time for enjoying art. Death became the focus of my life when it should have been living and enjoying life with you.” He paused, set down his glass, and took her hand. “I had a talk with my sister, Stephanie. She’s going to stay here and help with the funeral home business. That will let my mom and me cut back our hours. We may also hire another host to help with the weekends and evenings, so I’m not gone all the time.”
“That would be good,” Vi said, wiping at her eyes. “Really good, Ken. I have something to say, too. I’m also going to cut back my hours, and hire some help, so it’s just not me handling everything. Our marriage didn’t get like this on its own, we both put our careers ahead of everything else. That was important when we were just beginning and I’m glad we worked so hard. I never resented that, just like I said to your mother at our dinner.” She paused. “But I also haven’t taken time for what’s important to me, or I should say, what used to be important. I’m going to start making time for my art as well, even if it’s just an afternoon once a month painting. And I’m going to make time for us, too.”
“I’m glad to hear that, honey.” Kendrick said and kissed her hand. He turned to look at me. “Cyprus, I have to commend you for your originality and for helping me see the woman I love. Those moments based on the twelve days of Christmas were truly inspired. Miss Romance deserves every success. Thank you.”
He’s not a heel after all. “Thank you for saying that. When did you notice the theme?” I asked.
“The seven swans tub for two at the spa was when I first suspected, but then with the rescued six geese following right afterwards, I knew for sure,” Kendrick said, and winked. “That’s how I knew to make the pear, so we’d have a pear tree. I didn’t guess you’d arrange a whole tree aside from the Christmas one.”
The doorbell rang.
“That must be the food,” Vi said, wiping again at her eyes. She went to the door and opened it.
There on the doorstep was the shelter volunteer I remembered, with Bailey the dog, his tail wagging fiercely. “Delivery for Mrs. and Mr. Bohannon,” she said merrily.
“But you said you wouldn’t adopt out on Christmas?” Vi sputtered. “Because too many people get pets for presents and then return them after Christmas is over?”
The shelter worker laughed. “When both the husband and wife of the same couple come to us and ask if they can adopt the same dog as a present for the other as a secret Christmas surprise, well, we kind of figure that the adoption will be a success. Especially when both of them have been at the shelter every few days walking the same dog and bringing him treats.”
“Come in, come in,” Kendrick said, beckoning to them. “I got the food, treats, and everything else, it’s in the spare room.”
“Then just sign here, and I’ll be on my way.” The shelter rep handed him papers, and he and Vi both signed them.
“Good luck, Bailey,” the shelter rep said, giving the wagging happy dog a hug. “Have a good life.” She stood up and gave us all a friendly wave. “Merry Christmas to you all.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said aloud, staring at the excited giant dog and Vi, who was hugging him, apparently having lost all her fear of dogs. This isn’t a happy ending, it’s a perfect one. And perfectly unconventional, too.
“He happens to be a partridge hunting dog, at least partly,” Kendrick said, as he closed the door. It promptly rang again, which set Bailey to barking.
“Dinner is here,” Kendrick said, as he took the offered bags and handed over payment. “Shall we eat?”
Mike grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Yes,” I said, squeezing back. “And another drink for me, please. This is truly a night to celebrate.”