Page 24 of The Last Mrs. Parrish

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the open gates and parked her car in the circular driveway. Grabbing the bag of presents, she strode to the door and rang the bell. She saw Daphne coming down the hall, Bella right behind her.

“Welcome! Merry Christmas. I’m so glad you could come,” Daphne said, flinging open the door and embracing her.

“Merry Christmas to you. Thank you so much for letting me share this day with you and your family,” Amber said.

“Oh, it’s our pleasure,” Daphne said as she shut the door.

Bella was dancing around next to Daphne like a jumping bean.

“Hi, Bella. Merry Christmas.” Amber gave her a big fake smile.

“Do you have a present for me?” Bella asked.

“Oh, Bella, you didn’t even say hello. That was very rude,” Daphne scolded.

“Of course I brought you a present. How could I not give one of my favorite girls a present?”

“Goody. Can I have it now?”

“Bella! Amber hasn’t even taken her coat off.” She gave her daughter a little shove. “Let me have your coat, Amber, and let’s all go into the living room.”

Bella looked as if she was going to protest but did as she was told.

Jackson and Tallulah looked up from the dollhouse they were furnishing as Amber, Daphne, and Bella entered the room. “Merry Christmas, Amber. Welcome,” Jackson said with a warmth that indeed made her feel welcome.

“Thank you for inviting me. My whole family is back in Nebraska, and I would have been alone today. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”

“No one should be alone on Christmas. We’re glad you’re here.”

Amber thanked him again and then turned to Tallulah. “Hi, Tallulah. Merry Christmas. What a cool dollhouse.”

“Would you like to come see it?” she asked.

These kids were like night and day. She didn’t like children, but at least Tallulah had manners, not like the little animal who thought the sun and the moon revolved around her. Amber went and sat down next to Tallulah in front of the dollhouse. She had never seen anything like it, even in photographs. What she and her sisters would have given for a toy like this, with all the fabulous furnishings and dolls to go with it! It was enormous, with three stories, real wood floors, tile bathrooms, electric chandeliers that actually worked, and beautiful paintings on the walls. As she looked closer, she realized it was a replica of the actual house they lived in. It had to have been custom-made. What must that have cost?

“How about a glass of eggnog, Amber?” Daphne asked.

“I’d love one, thank you.” She continued to watch as Tallulah carefully placed sofas, tables, and chairs in the house. Bella was on the other side of the room, busy with her iPad.

As she sat there, Amber took in all of the presents sitting open under the tree. They were piled high upon one another, tissue and ribbon mingled in the mix and spilled far into the room. She thought back to the miserly Christmases of her youth and felt keenly sad. She and her sisters had always gotten presents that were utilitarian, like underwear or socks, never a gift that was a luxury or even just a fun toy to play with. Even their stockings had been filled with useful or edible things, like the huge orange at the bottom to take up room, pencils and erasers for school, and sometimes a little puzzle that would become tiresome after one day.

The display in the Parrishes’ living room left her speechless. She saw what looked like silk lingerie peeking out from one of the boxes and several smaller boxes that must have contained more jewelry for Daphne. Tallulah’s presents were stacked in a neat pile. Bella’s, on the other hand, were haphazardly spread out over a large part of the room, and once she put down the iPad, she went from one to another in quick order.

The one thing missing from this scene, Amber thought to herself, was Daphne’s mother. Why wouldn’t the girls’ grandmother, a widow living only a car ride away, not be invited to spend Christmas with her only daughter and granddaughters? It seemed to her that the value placed on lavish presents was way above that of family.

Daphne came back into the living room with three glasses of eggnog and put them on the mahogany butler’s table between the two large sofas.

“Amber, come sit with me,” she said, and patted the cushion next to her. “Will you have some time off before the new year?”

“I do, actually. That’s the advantage of working on the commercial side of real estate.” She took a sip of eggnog. “Are you and Jackson going away over the holiday?”

“As a matter of fact, we leave on the twenty-eighth for St. Bart’s. We usually leave the day after Christmas, but Meredith is having a surprise fiftieth birthday party for Rand the day after tomorrow, so we pushed the date.”

“How nice,” Amber said, seething inside. She would be spending the rest of the holidays in her cheerless apartment trying to stay warm while they basked in the sun.

She rose from the sofa, hoping her expression hadn’t betrayed her jealousy. “I’ve brought some presents. Let me get them,” she said.

Bella jumped up from the floor and ran over. “Can I see my present? Can I, can I?”

---