Later that afternoon Savannah deftly tied the bright green velvet bow on the gift box. Daisy Torres, the lead gift wrap consultant had given her a lesson once when Savannah filled in for a sick elf and learned the fine artistry of gift wrapping and bow tying. By her own admission, she wrapped gifts horribly, never cutting the paper straight enough or leaving enough for the ends to match up perfectly. And tying bows? When she was a kid she was lucky if her shoelaces were tied as they were always coming loose, leading to the inevitable tripping over her own feet. She secretly envied Patrick’s childhood velcro shoes and she would have had a lot less tripping over untied shoelaces if such a thing existed in her own youth.
But Mrs. Claus needed the skills that made a gift look as if it was just pulled from Santa’s sack, and thank goodness for Daisy. Savannah marveled at Daisy’s nimble hands as expertly she cut thick swatches of wrapping paper, with the most perfectly even edges Savannah had seen.
“Thicker paper is not only prettier,” Daisy explained, ”but it is easier to manipulate and much more forgiving. Thin wrapping paper tears very easily, and you can’t hide it. Well, I can’t and then I have to start all over again. With thick paper!”
Daisy attached an almost invisible piece of tape to the edge and turned the beautifully wrapped game of Monopoly over for the piece de resistance—the bow. Daisy explained in origami terms how to tie the perfect bow, but Savannah shook her head.
“Daisy, this is like a geometry lesson. I could barely tie my shoes when I was a kid, never mind a Christmas present bow!”
Daisy smiled. ”Well,” she said, reaching under the work table, ”when all else fails, use these!” She handed Savannah a big bag of Christmas-colored stick-on bows.
Savannah laughed, accepting the bag. ”Now that is definitely my speed, but at least I can understand the wrapping part. See?” She took a shirt box and mimicked what Daisy did moments ago for the Monopoly game. She handed it to Daisy who gave it her Christmas glove test, and after carefully examining it handed it back to Savannah.
“A+!”
“But I will practice my bow tying skills. I promise.”
“I think I should be worried about my job!” Daisy laughed.
“Not a chance,” said Savannah, secretly pleased that Daisy deemed her gift wrapping lesson a success.
Savannah’s bad gift wrapping was a family legend, and she and Bradley laughed about competitions over who could do the worst wrapping job. No matter how hard Bradley tried to outdo her, Savannah always won, with the tape never lying flat, always having a ridge within it and sometimes a bit of visible dust or dog hair. She always had extra paper hanging from the corners of a perfect square box. At Yankee Swaps and gift exchanges, everyone knew which gift was Savannah’s, due to her wrapping inability. Her gifts, however, were always chosen first, because even though her gift wrapping skills were less than zero, her gift giving skills were beyond stellar. Savannah had a knack for choosing gifts that were beyond the ordinary, but still practical and pretty. From exquisite boxes of European candy to French silk scarves to tiny jars of Moroccan spices, Savannah’s gifts were the ones people clamored for and the ones most cherished. Savannah stared at the box containing the train tickets and reservation at The Blue Spruce Inn, very proud of her handiwork. The box was wrapped exquisitely in frosty silver foil with the green bow tied expertly, the loops and ends exactly the same size. A tag with a drawing of Mrs. Claus and labeled The Siddons Girls hung daintily from the box. Savannah then summoned the courage to ask permission to leave early.”I’d never ask, Matthew, as I know we are down to the wire, but this is for the Siddons girls, so I didn’t think you’d mind?” It came out more as a question than a statement, and she shrugged her shoulders in anticipation of his hopefully affirmative answer. ”And I’ll come straight back to help clean up for the night. I promise.”
“Well,” Matthew said, ”how can we refuse the Siddons?” He shot her that smile which sent her heart racing as fast as a sled dog in the Iditarod.
Impulsively, Savannah ran to him and kissed Matthew on his cheek, something that had totally taken her by surprise, feeling the warm blush rise to her cheeks.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, stepping back, straightening his tie. ”Sylvene and Jolene mean so much to me.” Her blushing went from warm to hot in seconds and there was no way Matthew could not have noticed, his piney aftershave lingering in her nostrils, making the goosebumps rise even higher on her skin.
It's those eyes, she scolded herself, watching his eyes dance with merriment upon her kiss. His smiling face sent her heart fluttering. She wanted to remain loyal to Bradley, but as hard as she tried to fight it, Matthew’s awkwardness and humility was just as attractive a feature as any physical one, and kissing him felt natural. Savannah made a difficult promise to keep the day her husband died—the promise to never love another man. As much as she tried to hold on to Bradley, he was no longer here, but Matthew was. It was just all too much, this collision of the past and the present, the love for her husband, and now her emerging feelings for another man. Her head pounded with guilt, and her throat constricted.
“I’ll be back in an hour or so.” She turned to leave as fast as she could and then felt his gentle touch on her shoulder.
“Savannah, is everything alright?” Matthew asked, coming closer, and she heard the concern in his voice.
“Yes,” she replied, slowly pulling away from him, trying to keep her distance. She had gone too far and would not make the same mistake again.
“It’s just a little later than I thought, and I’d like to get this to them.”
She forced a smile, and she could tell by the hurt look in his eyes that Matthew knew it was not genuine. ”You’d better get going,” he said, heading to the floor.”Don’t worry about coming back tonight. Go ahead on home. Tomorrow’s the last day and we’ll see you then,” he said, dashing through the doors as if he now needed to get away from her.
Now I’ve done it, Savannah thought, knowing her sudden abruptness hurt him. She then realized something else: Bradley’s presence. She noticed these last few weeks that he wasn’t occupying her thoughts as much as he always had, and she chalked it up to her exhausting holiday schedule. But for the last day or two especially, he was in her mind constantly. Everywhere she looked she saw Bradley, especially now closer to Christmas. Are you trying to tell me something, darling? Savannah half expected an answer from him, but, of course, none came.
She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs that left her in tangles these past few days. Savannah would have plenty of time to think about it after tomorrow, when The Enchanted Land of Claus closed for the holidays, but right now, Mrs. Claus had one last Christmas wish to grant.