Page 23 of Wishing for Christmas
As much as she had wanted to go home with him yesterday, Clara knew she needed to get a handle on everything before she could talk to him about it. Every time she glanced down at the diamond on her hand, another round of nausea would sweep over her at the reminder of what she’d done. She had no idea what to say to him about any of it.
She still couldn’t believe this was really happening—that her wish had come true. When she woke up that morning, she had expected everything to go back to normal. That it all would have been a crazy dream. But when an early-morning text came in from Brent—wanting to see how his fiancée was doing—Clara knew she hadn’t imagined it at all. Unless she was still in some sort of dream.
No, everything seemed far too real. A check of her phone let her know that it was December 6. It was the day after Brent had been scheduled to leave—instead, the day he had returned. Other than the incorrect year still staring back at her from her calendar app, everything seemed just as it should.
Clara walked past the Darlington Hotel, grateful she wouldn’t be going to work today. She’d sent a quick text to the front desk as soon as she’d woken up, letting them know she was sick. It wasn’t a lie, exactly. Shewassick over this whole thing, and the last thing she needed after the weekend she’d had was to think about work. She had no idea what the situation would even be like at the hotel one year in the future.Wasthe hotel in the future, or did this absurd situation apply only to her relationship? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that, in the real world, she only had a few days before her big meeting with Mr.Spencer. She needed to get things sorted out and under control before then.
She had bigger things to worry about than the hotel, though. Clara cringed at the reminder that Brent would expect her to spend any time she wasn’t at work with him. As excited about that as she’d been mere days ago, she now had no idea how to celebrate Christmas with him. Fake engagements may be cute and romantic in the movies, but pretending to be engaged to someone whothoughtit was real did not sound like her idea of holiday fun. It sounded mean.
What she really needed was to get them both out of this mess. As much as she liked Brent, marriage was a huge step and a commitment they certainly weren’t ready for. It was her fault they were in this situation. She needed to get them out of it.
Clara looked off in the distance toward the mountains. The tops were covered by a white, hazy fog. As she scanned the horizon, her eye caught an unfamiliar shape a few blocks over. It appeared to be a new building—one she had never seen before. She squinted, trying to identify it in the faint dawn light. The building appeared to be tall and modern, unlike anything else in town. She walked toward it. Her boots trudged through a heavy slush along the wet sidewalks.
As she got closer to the mysterious building, she suddenly realized what she was looking at: the new hotel on Fifth Street. Of course. It hadbeen a year since her last walk through town. At that time—two days ago to her—it had been a large construction zone. Now, here it stood—shiny, new, and fully built. It didn’t look quite right with the rest of the architecture in the downtown area. Maybe she just needed some time to get used to something new in town. Perhaps she just needed some time to get used to everything.
She continued with her walk and tried to untangle things in her mind. So, Brent hadn’t skipped the year as she had. He had gone through it all. And he was ready to getmarried?
Clara shook her head, closing her eyes in frustration. She still couldn’t comprehend how Brent got from where they were in their relationship the other day to being ready for marriage—in an instant. Even if hehadknown her for a year now, they hadn’t actually been together. How well could he really know her when they’d spent the past twelve months thousands of miles apart?
Clara crossed the street. The Cranberry Pines Elementary School sat on the other side. She sped up her walk, eager to get to one of her favorite places in town.
She sat on a swing and cast an eye over the deserted school playground. The morning sun illuminated the snowcapped scenery. Clara couldn’t help but smile as she glanced over at the school. The handmade paper snowflakes hanging from the windows inside flooded her with a wave of nostalgia. They were the same ones she had made when she was a kid going to school there.
She stared down at her feet, planted firmly on the ground beneath the swing. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by how fast her life seemed to be moving. She rubbed at her forehead. Clara still couldn’t believe she had agreed to marry someone she’d only known for two months.
She remembered the simple decision she had made at Buddy’s the other night—that Christmas with Brent was all she needed to know if he was the one. She had just told Lily that three days ago, with all the confidence in the world. That plan, that simple plan, seemed so stupid to her now. Had she really thought that she could make such a huge decision by spending one holiday with him?
She felt more distant from Brent than ever. She needed to talk to him about this. She needed to explain what hadhappened. She needed to set things right and tell him that she wasn’t ready to be engaged.
Clara pulled her phone from her pocket to call him, then immediately reconsidered. She stared at the phone instead. How could she possibly explain any of this to him? What was she supposed to say—that she had made a wish on a magical ornament and then traveled a year into the future? She was still having a hard time believing it herself. No, she couldn’t tell him that. He would think she was crazy.Wasshe crazy?
Clara dialed her grandmother’s number instead. As absurd as this was all going to sound, she needed to tell someone, and Grams was probably the only one who could help her make any sense of it. Instead of a ringtone, she got a recorded voicemail greeting.
Hi, you have reached Phyllis Jenkins. I am currently on vacation in Paris and won’t have cell coverage in the meantime. Please leave me a message, and I’ll return your call when I get back in a few weeks.
Clara scratched her chin. She remembered what Grams had said the other night about going to Paris next Christmas. Was thatthisChristmas? She went to Paris without her? Leave it to her grandmother not to spring for an international phone plan just when she needed her most. She rubbed the back of her neck. At least her parents had cell coverage, and they would be with Grams. She dialed the number for her mom, and it went straight to voicemail too. The same happened when she tried her dad. She let out a heavy sigh.
She stared at her phone, not knowing where to go next for information. This wasn’t exactly a situation she could google. Clara clicked on her social media app and instantly noticed thatshe was logged out. She blew a stray hair off her forehead as she typed in her password. Access denied. She tried again and received the same error message. She clicked on the button to indicate she had forgotten her password. A security question popped onto the screen.
What is your most valuable possession?
Clara tapped a gloved finger against her lips. That was strange. She couldn’t, for the life of her, think what her most valuable possession would be. She wondered why she had chosen that security question in the first place. It was so vague.
She entered infamily. She supposed her family wasn’t exactly a possession. Even so, she couldn’t see putting a tangible item above that.
Access was denied.
She quickly tried again withphone.
Also wrong.
She glanced back at the school. It made her think of the toys she’d had as a child. It was the last time she could remember having possessions she truly valued. Clara decided to send a quick text to her mom, knowing it was more likely to get a response than a missed call.
Hey, Mom, quick question . . . do you remember what my favorite toy was as a child?
She knew better than to expect an immediate answer. She loved her parents, but with them spending so much time traveling internationally lately, it was becoming increasingly hard to communicate with them. They were usually asleep when she was awake, and vice versa. She couldn’t help but get frustrated with the communication delays, even though she knew it wasn’t their fault.
Clara closed the social media app and decided to give Lily a call instead. She answered after a few rings.
