Page 1 of Tis The Season for Secrets
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
“Amoment of peace! Is that too much to ask for?” Juliet groaned, placing a rather lacking manuscript on her mint couch. Ms Baum, her boss, was expecting a full report by Monday on whether it was worthy of the slush pile or publishing. Not that what Juliet wrote in her reports mattered, because Ms Baum always insisted on double-checking herself.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
“Coming!” Juliet figured that Margot, her roommate, must have forgotten her keys. Just in case, she pulled her favourite Supernatural hoodie over her grey sweatpants. Not that she’d worked out today, or intended to; reading in jeans in the comfort of her small apartment just felt like a sin.
Across the small lilac living room, she caught her reflection in the long mirror by the door. She winced at the sight of her frizzed-out hair and the dark circles beneath her brown eyes. At least her hair looked somewhat deliberately styled, twisted up in a claw clip. The messy look drew attention to the honeyand copper highlights in her dark brown hair that she was impatiently waiting to grow out.
Looking through the peephole, Juliet released the door chain when she saw the courier waiting in the hallway.Baum must have messengered over more manuscripts.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’d sent someone after eight pm, or on a Saturday.Ms Baum wanted to get through as many books as possible before Harley & Rowe Publishing House went on Christmas break. Juliet also suspected her boss was punishing her for applying for the new junior editor position in the Young Adult department.
“Miss Frost?” the courier asked, revealing a wide toothy grin.
“That’s me.” Juliet smiled politely, reaching out for the box, but paused when she saw there was no Harley & Rowe stamp. “There must be some mistake. I didn’t order anything?” She tried to recall if she was guilty of any late-night book orders, but she’d imposed a book-buying ban on herself until she read the ones stacked on either side of her bed. Between Margot’s obsession with clothes and Juliet’s books, they’d be accused of hoarding soon.
“Juliet Frost, Apt 13, Willow Drive?” The courier frowned, pulling out an invoice. He handed her the carbon copy. Under ‘specific instruction’, it read:
To be delivered directly to Juliet Frost on the 2nd of December, following the death of my husband, Mr Reginald Frost.
A water stain on the paper had dulled the ink, but Juliet still recognised her nana’s handwriting and signature.This can’t be right… unless Nana is sending me parcels from beyond the grave? Why wouldn’t she give this to me before she died, and why did it have to be sent after Grandfather’s death?Still, toreceive anything from her, especially around the holidays, felt like a gift from heaven.
“Can you sign?”
The courier’s impatient tone snapped her back to reality. Juliet initialled the delivery slip, noting the company name on the man’s uniform in case she needed any further information.Stanley Couriers?Frost Industries, the mining company her family had run for generations, had its own couriers and safety deposit boxes.
Why would Nana Rose use a private company?she wondered, taking the box from his arms. She nearly dropped it– she hadn’t expected it to be so heavy.
“Do you have any more information about this? Did Mrs Frost leave any other instructions?”
“I’m sorry, but I only go where the packages take me. The only clause was that it was to be delivered on this exact date, and not to be signed over to anyone but you.”
The courier headed for the stairs– the elevator in their building hadn’t been operational for years –before Juliet had a chance to ask any more questions. She closed the door with her foot and placed the heavy package on the round white coffee table in the middle of their tiny kitchen.
She couldn’t stop staring at the box. After she’d been left on her father’s doorstep at the Frost estate twenty-six years ago by a mother she’d never known, Nana Rose had been the only member of the family to show her any kindness, while her Grandfather Reginald had done everything in his power to avoid her.
Adding that she didn’t want me to receive the parcel until after Grandfather’s death means Nana really wanted to make sure he didn’t find out.He’d died during the summer, so she couldn’t exactly ask him what his wife had been up to before she’d passed.Even if he was alive, he wouldn’t give me anyanswers. He was furious when Nana secretly paid for my college tuition, so I doubt he’d be pleased that she’s sent me some sort of secret package.The mystery baffled her as she warmed her hands with a cup of black coffee.Maybe this is some sort of secret inheritance that she didn’t want to include in her will?
Gathering her courage, Juliet grabbed a knife from the drawer to slice through the thick tape. The sweet smells of wood and cinnamon filled her senses as she opened the box. Beneath the many packaging peanuts, she found a small wooden chest.
She ran her fingertips over the F carved into the lid. Carefully lifting out the antique chest, she marvelled at the delicately carved snowflakes decorating the lid and the clasp – a golden snowflake.
Could this have been Nana’s?Once Juliet had left the estate to study English Lit, she’d only returned a handful of times to visit her younger half-sister, Beth, and for Nana’s funeral in July. Grandfather Reginald had died the following August, and Juliet was still haunted by her stepmother’s comments when she’d failed to return home forhisfuneral. How she’d humiliated the family who’d taken her in, blah, blah, shame and disgrace. Juliet had argued that her absence was her parting gift to Reginald– something he’d longed for when he was alive. Her decision not to attend had been proved right when dear ol’ Reginald excluded her entirely from his will, while Beth received money, property and shares in Frost Industries. Juliet hadn’t wanted anything from him, but the lack of recognition as a member of the Frost family stung.
Juliet shivered, wondering if it was the cold winter’s night or the memories chilling her to the bone. Either way, she turned up the heating as she noticed the frost gathering on the window looking over the bright lights of New York. She didn’t want Margot to get home and complain about the chill. Juliet didn’tfeel the cold much, whereas Margot liked to keep the apartment at tropical temperatures.
Glancing at the cloud-shaped kitchen clock, she realised Margot would be back soon from her client dinner. She’d better open it quickly if she wanted to get any answers to all her questions.
Popping open the clasp, she found a gold necklace with a golden bell charm sitting atop some letters wrapped in red ribbon. Picking up the thin gold chain, she examined it. She’d never seen anything so dainty and ornate; on the clasp, their family name, Frost, was engraved.An old heirloom?Her heart ached, remembering how much Nana Rose had loved the holidays, but she couldn’t recall her nana ever wearing such a necklace.
She shook the bell. There was no chime, but the tiny golden swirls etched into the metal caught the light, shining like new. Gently, she set the necklace down on the table, noticing an inscription on the inside of the chest’s lid.
To Find Your Way Home
Juliet thought all the family heirlooms had been left to her father or the Frost estate in her grandparents’ will. She pulled out a chair, needing to sit.Maybe this is a secret inheritance Nana put together without the rest of the family’s knowledge?It wouldn’t be the first time her nana had gone out of her way to make her feel like she was a part of the family –unlike her grandfather, who’d simply wished for Juliet, the stain on the Frost name and evidence of their son’s youthful mistake, to disappear. Her father had been attentive, but only to mould her into the perfect eldest daughter of the Frost family. A darlingof society – a society which she’d fled as soon as she turned eighteen.
Juliet chewed her lower lip, nervous, as she picked up the bundle of letters. She couldn’t undo the knot in her stomach, so she decided to unknot the ribbon instead and do what she did best: read.
