Page 213 of The Woman Left Behind

“Ronnie doesn’t do anything but create beauty,” Harry said.

For some reason, once he did, the entire room went silent.

“I’ll be…just a second,” Ronnie whispered, got up and rushed from the room.

People kept doing what they were doing, just soundlessly.

Harry caught Lillian’s eyes.

“Did I say something wrong?” he mouthed.

She came right to him, bent and framed his face with her hands, hers an inch away.

“No, baby, what you said was just right,” she whispered.

Then she kissed him, took an ornament from Shane and went back to the tree.

“Mom’s not good with compliments. She likes to pretend she’s incognito with how awesome she is,” Shane murmured an explanation.

Well, shit.

“But with this, Sonny used to say stuff like that,” Shane continued murmuring. “He loved Mom. Thought she could do no wrong.”

“Shit,” Harry muttered it out loud this time.

“No, Harry, like Lilly Bean said, it was just right,” Shane assured.

George had given it enough time, so he traced Ronnie’s steps.

Harry caught his father’s eye, and Greg winked at him.

It was then, it hit Harry that this was their tradition.

Tree trimming at theirs, tree trimming at Lillian’s.

And now there was an added tree trimming at his dad and Caroline’s.

They’d lost.

And now they’d found.

There was fullness again.

Happiness again.

And more love all around.

He didn’t fuck up.

He just pointed it out.

So Harry got back to unpacking.

After he grabbed a stuffing bite.

“Okay, Mom and Ronnie could do it up, but Caroline? What was that?” Lillian asked after they came in the side door to clamoring dogs and a bright Christmas tree shining in their front window.

“She never came up for Christmas, spent it with her family, so no clue, except I know I have to run another two miles tomorrow, at least,” Harry replied.

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