So distinctly I remember it was in a cold December, And every village member came rejoicing to my door . . .
Gavriel here, hoping you’ve enjoyed another sneak peek at the happenings in Heavenly Daze. The month’s end found us with many changes on our little island—Stanley Bidderman vacated the B&B’s attic room in favor of Vernie Bidderman’s guest room. Vernie took to her bed with the flu on Christmas Day, and Stanley proved to be a most compassionate and caring nurse. Now she doesn’t object so much to “sweetums,” and there’s talk they might actually renew their marriage vows in the spring . . .
A bit of a brouhaha erupted when Annie and Bea invited Vernie to the bakery for a surprise intervention . . . and the town learned that it had been vanilla syrup, not schnapps, that Vernie had been hiding beneath the counter. After being offended, Vernie softened when she realized that her neighbors cared enough to confront her with what they feared was a self-destructive habit.
Romance hit our humans hard this Christmas. Annie and A. J. hardly spent a minute apart during the holiday, and even when A. J. was called back to New York for a medical emergency, his pager kept flashing with Annie’s special message: 703870. Apparently, to a love-struck mortal, those numbers look somewhat like “tomato.”
On the thirty-first, as the second hand was sweeping in a new year, Birdie Wester convinced Captain Gribbon that the lighthouse needed more than the occasional woman’s touch . . . as did he. Wedding bells may be ringing soon, because mortal life is a fleeting thing.
Patrick Gribbon and his children shared a sweet time of fellowship with Salt at the lighthouse, and Patrick has agreed to seek help for his alcoholism. Salt will continue to keep Bobby and Brittany, and Birdie is delighted to help.
The folks at Frenchman’s Fairest enjoyed a truly blessed holiday. Olympia found Annie’s gift of a cashmere sweater delightful. Caleb especially liked the Humphrey Bogart video Annie bought him, a movie called We’re No Angels. I hear it’s a comedy, but the title alone is enough to make me chuckle.
But amid all the renewed relationships and tinsel and wrapping, one of the best gifts to grace the island crept quietly onto the scene. Shortly before lunch on Christmas Day, as Annie went out to the carriage house to call Dr. Marc and A. J. in for Christmas dinner, she discovered it on the ground, dusted with snow: a perfect, ruby-red tomato.
Sometimes miracles bloom in the most unlikely places.
Until we meet again,
—Gavriel