Page 61 of Yours for the Season
“Actually, your son provided that recipe,” Hiba said. “I offered him a job, but he said he has his hands full in Atlanta.”
Rob didn’t say anything, but Sameera noticed he reached for another helping of the dish. Tom’s eyes were on his father’s face as he scooped up the curry with his pita, and she watched with a smile as a look of understanding passed between father and son. Perhaps her earlier encouragement had resonated with Tom; perhaps the presence of another broken but healing family had inspired Rob. Whatever the reason, it was clear that something was starting to shift in their relationship. It did Sameera’s heart good to see it.
Then she met Andy’s frowning glance, and realized that Tom and Rob’s improved relationship was not what the irascible former billionaire wanted at all.
For dessert, Hiba had baked basboussa, a dense cake made with semolina and soaked in syrup, topped with crushed pistachios and saffron, and Tom presented their apple pies, to much enthusiasm. There was also cut-up fruit, ice cream, and mint tea to wash it all down. When they finally left Abu Isra and Hiba’s home, everyone was stuffed and happy. Sameera climbed into the car with Rob, Tom, and her father for the drive back to Cooke Place.
“That food was amazing. I liked your eggplant dish,” Sameera said to him. It was the first time they had spoken all night, and he flashed her a small smile.
“Just a recipe I’ve been messing around with,” he said shyly. “You have to roast the garlic separately.”
“I liked it, too,” Rob said suddenly. He glanced at Sameera and cleared his throat. “Maybe you could make it for me sometime.”
Tom seemed startled at this. “Thanks, Dad,” he said. “I’d like that.”
Hours later, in her room at the guesthouse, Sameera stared at her phone. Nadiya had ignored her for days now, and she needed her sister. No one else understood her history, her fears, and anxieties in quite the same way.
She lay back in bed and stared at the ceiling. Nadiya used to tease her that she was a chronic overanalyzer. That she couldn’t make a decision without listing out all the pros and cons, asking her friends and family for advice, and completing a future forecast. And yet when her mother told her she had bought tickets to Alaska, she had folded almost instantly—which meant that on some level, she wanted to be here. She wanted to spend time with her family. She wanted to watch old holiday classics and argue about whetherDie Hardwas really a Christmas movie. She had enjoyed the Christmas market, and ice-skating, andeven making those cooking videos with Tom. It had all felt ... nice. Like coming home.
There was something about Wolf Run. Coming here had changed her. She felt content, and more relaxed than she had in years. Braver, too. She couldn’t remember the last time she had stepped off the treadmill that was her life and simply allowed herself time to be, without judgment, guilt, or blame.
In a strange way, it felt like a callback to those first few weeks after she had severed ties with her family, when she had confused the euphoria of drastic action with happiness. Except this felt better, healthier, cleaner somehow. It felt good to be around her parents and brother, even when she found them annoying. It felt right to confront her feelings of shame and embarrassment, and to talk over the pain of the last few years with Tom.
She might finally be ready to have the hard conversation with her own parents about why she had pushed them away—and ask them why they had let her.
She must have drifted off to sleep, because she woke up to a noise. A dull thud sounded against her window.Bearwas her alarming first thought.Tomwas her even more alarming second. Groggy, she staggered to the window and looked into the darkness. Someone stood outside her ground-floor window, grinning at her.
Esa raised his cell phone, and she reached for her own.
I want to show you something,he texted.I promise it will be fun.She checked the time—it was nearing midnight. When she looked up, he had disappeared. Shrugging off her exhaustion, she reached for her jacket and slipped outside.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Esa had left a sign outside her window:Sameera Ayla Malik, welcome toThe Night Before Christmas!She stared at the cheap white posterboard, and a flurry of emotions crowded inside her heart: amusement, happiness, and more than that—an overriding relief. Her brother had truly come back to her. He was a teenager, but he still wanted to play with her, even if it was in the middle of the night.
Esa had taken his cue from the most famous Christmas story of all time, Dickens’sA Christmas Carol. On the back of the posterboard, she found instructions, and Esa had left a flashlight to illuminate the fluorescent stakes he had placed in the ground to mark her path. She followed them into the woods behind the guesthouse, and a few feet into the tree line, a shadowy figure appeared. Another flashlight clicked on and illuminated her brother’s face. He was dressed in a long cape and hood, another borrowed costume, no doubt.
“Welcome to your past, Sameera,” he intoned.
She grinned. It had been so long since playful Esa had made an appearance in her life. “Thank you, Ghost of Christmas Past,” she said seriously. “I’m ready for your vision.”
He handed her an object—a carved marble elephant, the body displaying delicate floral designs. “Hathi!” she exclaimed. “Nana gave me this when we went to India. I was sixteen, and you were three years old.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m the Ghost of Sameera Malik’s Past, and therefore timeless,” he said in a spooky voice. “But also, yeah, I was about two years old. I don’t really remember that trip at all, except that Nana’s beard was scratchy, and a lot of old ladies kept kissing me and feeding me milky chai.”
“I lost this elephant after we got back home. Where did you find it?” Sameera said. The marble elephant had taken pride of place on her desk, until the day it vanished. She had accused her little brother of taking it, which he had vehemently denied.
“I stole it when I was mad at you. I was six years old, and you refused to play with me. I thought maybe it would make you pay attention,” he said. “I didn’t even realize it was in my suitcase until I unpacked here.”
She tried to hug her little brother, but he put up a hand. “Please keep your hands off the ghost until the end of the show.” He handed her another envelope before melting into the woods.
She counted to one hundred, as the instructions asked, then followed the trail he had laid out for her. He was waiting in another clearing, flashlight illuminating his face again, at that same spooky angle.
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Sameera Malik—This. Is. Your. Life!” With a flourish, he sent a collage of pictures to her iPhone. There was a picture of her from her birthday a few years ago, wearing a silly hat and looking at the chocolate cake Tahsin had baked while Naveed and Esa sang. Another picture was one Esa had snapped during a rare visit to her condo. It was messy, her desk piled high with files, with even more files on her couch and dining table, her walls bare. She had kept meaning to decorate, but there was never enough time. Another series of pictures were from their parents’ home, with its familiar furniture and decor, the site of so many celebrations, and conflicts, over the years. A picture from Esa’s tenth birthday party, the entire family gathered around cake, a pile of gift wrap on the floor. Another from Eid prayers, Nadiya squinting into the camera as Sameeramade bunny ears above her head. She missed them. She had missed all of this so much.
The last picture was more recent, from the Eid party last week. Esa must have taken it without her noticing. Sameera was laughing at something Tom had said. For his part, Tom smiled down at her, delight and admiration clear on his face.
When she looked up, her brother had disappeared once more, and she followed the path he’d left near the tree line. They had made a full circuit around the property now. She spotted him near a large shed and walked faster, almost jogging now. It was cold, and she was starting to feel tired. Just then, another “ghost” dressed in a dark jacket popped out from the forested area. What was going on? Everyone knew the next apparition was the Ghost of Christmas Future. Perhaps Esa had recruited Calvin to help?
