Page 6 of Candy Cane Dreams
"Well, when she gets to the third grade, she'll meet Lilly."
"Yes. I don't expect her to be there until tomorrow."
Jack nodded. Hopefully this counselor would be a little better than the last one, although he'd done everything he could for Lilly. He couldn't imagine that a counselor would make much difference. The little girl had just been through so much trauma, losing her mother and having to learn to deal with him. He wasn't much of a dad, at least most of the time he didn't feel like it.
And then this summer she'd been sick, and spent so much time in the hospital. Almost two weeks. Whatever progress they had made before that seemed to be totally erased.
"I look forward to meeting her," Jack said, as he held his hand out, and Mr. Stevens shook it.
He did look forward to meeting the new counselor, but he wasn't holding his breath that anything was going to change.
Chapter Three
Kate parked her still fully loaded car in the driveway of Roland and Nelly's house.
It was a huge old farmhouse, gorgeous in that way of years gone by, where no expense had been spared for the trim and the detail work on the front porch that wrapped around the side of the house like a hug.
Christmas decorations brightened the front of it even more, with a pretty green wreath and sparkling red decorations hung on the front door.
It was obvious the family used the back door, though, and that was where Kate headed as she got out of her car.
She felt like she should be bringing something, a loaf of homemade bread or something, but she'd gotten herself settled in her hotel room and then scoured the internet looking for places she could schedule an appointment to go see, so she could get something to rent as soon as possible.
She hadn't expected to have this much trouble.
She'd been busy wrapping things up at the end of her tenure in Baltimore, and while she had checked out a few places, she hadn't realized it was going to be so difficult. Obviously,she should have been more prepared. But she had been busy preparing her successor to take over her job.
Walking up the back steps, where Christmas lights twinkled on the banister and a sweet nativity display sat sheltered in a corner, she knocked on the back door and tried to tamp down her nerves.
Nelly was one of the nicest people she knew. And she remembered the McBride family as super warm and welcoming from when she’d met them years ago.
"Hello!" an older woman said as she opened the door.
"You must be Mrs. McBride," Kate said, offering her hand and a gentle smile.
"I sure am, Kate. It’s been years since you visited our town with Nelly, but you’ve not changed that much," Mrs. McBride said, ignoring her outstretched hand and instead wrapping cinnamon-scented arms around her and squeezing tightly.
Somehow, the hug felt like home and family, and memories of childhood, warm and soft, floated through Kate's mind. She didn't have a whole lot of good ones, but hugging this woman brought them all to the surface.
"You can call me Marjorie. And you are welcome to come on in and make yourself at home," Marjorie said, pulling the door open further and stepping back so Kate could walk in.
"Kate!" Nelly said, hurrying over. "I'm so glad you could come. I know I promised you that we weren't going to make anything special, but Marjorie insisted on whipping up her homemade baked mac and cheese." Nelly lowered her voice and waggled her eyebrows. "It is so good."
Kate laughed at Nelly's overdramatization. "It sounds like it is," she said. Baked mac and cheese? When was the last time she had that? All of her friends from Baltimore were on low-carb diets. Mac and cheese was definitely on the do-not-eat list. Ever.
Kate really hadn't jumped on that bandwagon exactly, but it was just easier to go along to get along, and she definitely ate fewer carbs than she used to. Still, baked mac and cheese, along with the cozy interior of the farmhouse—pale blue kitchen cabinets, gray tile floor, and white granite countertops along with a butcher block-topped bar—made the place feel warm and cozy. Of course, there was a sprig of mistletoe above the door, greenery in the windows, along with lighted candles, and a scented candle burning on the mantle.
This place could have come out of a Norman Rockwell painting, especially combined with the laughter and good-natured teasing of the adults.
"You already know my husband, and I assume Mom introduced herself."
Kate nodded. "She sure did," she said, remembering the hug that Marjorie had greeted her with.
"This is my sister-in-law, Isadora. She lives here with her three kids. I'm sure you'll see them in school," Nelly said, as a beautiful but sad-eyed woman walked into the kitchen.
"It's so nice to meet you. You're the new counselor, right?"
"Yes. I start after the Christmas break, but Principal Stevens and the school board agreed that I could float around for the month of December, getting to know the children and the teachers."
