The Christmas Elf, A Secret-Santa Story

Chapter 28 - Serenity to accept the things I cannot change...

Friday 23 December

The ice on the roads required careful attention as the cold pushed its way down from the North but had nothing to do with the white-knuckled grip of the woman behind the steering wheel.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to drive?" Claudia asked and Eileen caught the way she was looking at her hands. She forced herself to relax her grip. Slightly.

"No, it's okay – I'd rather have something else to concentrate on," Eileen said truthfully. It was the first words she had said since they left the pub and she knew Claudia had to be wondering what was going through her mind.

"This is one of those times where that saying – about 'no good deed goes unpunished' seems strangely apt," Claudia observed.

Eileen thought about that for a minute, "Noooo....I think I'll go with 'everything happens for a reason'."

"Really? What possible reason could the universe have for putting us there at that unfortunate time?" Claudia scoffed.

"If you were me," Eileen said seriously, "would you rather not know?"

"No. But how can you be so calm? Did you see the way she was draped over him!?"

"Yes, I saw that. But I also saw that he wasn't hugging her back and that he was quick to put and keep distance between them," Eileen said.

"So you're saying there's nothing going on?" Claudia sounded like she wanted to believe that but could not see how it was possible.

"No. I am saying the Universe knows that there's some sort of unfinished business that needs to be dealt with and that I need to be aware of it." Eileen said. She strove for and managed to sound calm and collected.

In truth, she didn't fully know how she felt. It had been such a shock to open the door and see him standing there with another woman in his arms. She had felt a direct blow to her heart and stomach at the same time, an out-of-breath and disoriented feeling.

Her years of training at work, to always present a calm and collected façade to the client, had helped her out. She knew too well how hard it was to recover from a loss of respect or to retrieve a situation in which one allowed the baser emotions to show. So she had put herself in her best 'meeting a new client' mode and responded in a manner that would not reveal anything of what she felt.

"Can you do me one favor thought?" she asked.

"You need an alibi for when you go back? Done!" Claudia said, prompting a startled laugh.

"Thanks – but it's much easier than that. Can we not talk about this in front the parents? Michael looked like he had something to say and I want to give him that chance to explain himself. It's only fair."

"Sure," Claudia agreed easily, "but the alibi offers stands."

Eileen laughed again, something tight and uncomfortable easing in her chest as she did so. They were home by then and she parked the car in the driveway.

"Uh oh," Claudia said, "looks like something's wrong." Eileen looked up to see her father was already out the door, fully dressed and waiting for them. They both jumped out with the same question on their lips.

"Everything's fine here," he said immediately. "It's your mother. She sent me out to help you get everything inside and quickly. They've been saying the storm is moving much faster and warning everyone off the streets and back home."

Eileen grabbed bags out of the trunk and handed them over to her father. Then she and Claudia took others and lugged them up the steps. It took two trips but the car was fully unloaded in record time. The wind was already picking up and the snow blew around them but it was not yet falling from the sky. Soon visibility would begin to be a problem and it was a relief to get inside.

"You know," she said to her father as they hung up their coats in preparation for taking everything they had deposited in the entryway through to the kitchen, "this may sound selfish – but I sure am glad you and mom are here to ride this one out with me."

"It's not selfish," her father said, "someday when you have kids, you'll realize there is nowhere else you'd rather be than by their sides when things like this happen. Otherwise, you'll be going out of your mind with worry."

"That means my father probably is doing that right now," said Claudia. "I should probably give him a call. I'm guessing there'll be cancellations and he might not be making his flight tomorrow."

"Go ahead," Eileen said, "dad and I can manage from here." Claudia nodded her thanks and went to make the call in the other room. Eileen and Mr. O'Connor continued the unpacking, putting everything away neatly. Mrs. O'Connor held out a batch of freshly baked cookies when they were done and they both took a seat. "We've been going through cookies in record time so we baked while we waited."

"I helped!" Ella announced triumphantly.

Eileen took a bite, "Mmmmm....these are delicious!" The little girl beamed and got down from the seat to go looking for her mother to tell her about her success in the kitchen.

"Everything okay?" her mother asked, dicing vegetables for a stew that already smelled heavenly. Sometime Eileen wondered if she had psychic powers because a soup was exactly what she needed. Something hearty and warm to fill the cold places inside her. The baking and cooking also said how worried her mother had been because it was the way Mrs. O'Connor coped with stress.

"No," Eileen leaned her chin on her hand and let out her biggest sigh.

"What's wrong honey?" her mother's concern was immediate. Eileen would have loved to tell her the whole truth, but she didn't feel like opening up about that yet.

"A few things, none of which we can do anything about. The top of the list is what the storm will do to our lovely trees out there. The decorations will be blown all over the state by the time this is over. Then there's the dinner we had planned for tomorrow night, which most assuredly will not be happening. Lastly, but by no means least, there's how I'm going to survive until the stew is finished."

Her mother laughed and slid the cookies back over. "I'm sure you'll manage. Somehow."

"I'll try," Eileen said, taking another cookie. "It's gonna be tough, but I'll try."

She wondered what the look her parents exchanged meant, but decided not to prod. She had secrets enough of her own right then.

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Author's note: The storm's almost here. Stay tuned for what happens next.

Please let me know what you guys think!