Page 36 of We Wish You a Messy Christmas

“And those colors have always looked beautiful on you.” Olivia held the gown up to Jane, hanging it on her shoulders as if she were dressing a paper doll. She gave her the hand mirror again. “You look quite regal.”

“Queen Jane.” Lulu did a mock bow.

Jane looked slightly sheepish as she gazed up at Lulu, and, unless Olivia was imagining it, her mother’s eyes were getting misty. “I really don’t know what to say.” She turned to Cindy. “And to you too. I’m just so—so overwhelmed.”

“Why don’t you just tell them both thanks, Mom,” Olivia urged.

Jane slowly shook her head, her eyes a mixture of wonder and confusion as she quietly thanked all three of them. “Really,” she finally said. “Your kindness . . . so undeserved . . . well, it’s just overwhelming.” Now her tears began to flow.

Olivia handed her a tissue, and Cindy held up the scissors. “Now, if you’re certain you want to do this, I’ll give you a haircut to make your wig fit better.” She draped the towel around Jane’s shoulders.

“Maybe you’ll look like a punk rocker when she’s done,” Olivia teased, hoping to coax a smile from her mom. But Jane just looked down at her lap, as if she really was thinking about all this. And that was probably good.

“Well, I’ve got work to do,” Lulu said crisply.

“I’ll help you,” Olivia told her. And as she trailed her grandmother to the kitchen, she felt like skipping and singing. Maybe Christmas wouldn’t be such a disaster after all.

nineteen

For a moment, Rob thought he’d walked into the wrong house. For starters, some of Lulu’s wild-looking Christmas decorations were missing. Not all, but some of the most obnoxious ones had been removed. But what really took him by surprise was seeing what looked like Jane—the old Jane—standing in the foyer and holding to the stair newel post. She had her old hair back and was wearing an attractive gown the color of sapphires and emeralds.

“Jane?” Keeping his eyes fixed on her, and hoping this wasn’t a dream, he peeled off his snow-flecked coat, hanging it on the hall tree, and went to her. As he embraced her, he noticed her wheelchair parked behind her, and Lulu and Olivia lurking in the shadows. “Is this really you?” He peered into her face. “You look beautiful.”

“I know I’m not supposed to put weight on my bad hip yet, but I just wanted to stand to greet you.”

He kissed her, then chuckled. “I thought I was hallucinating for a moment. It’s so good to see you like this. How did you get your hair back to normal?”

She explained about Cindy’s hairdresser daughter procuring a wig and how her dress was a gift from Lulu. “And thanks to Olivia’s help, some of the decorations have been toned down.” She glanced at her mother.

“Looks much better,” Lulu admitted. “I guess I did get carried away at the dollar store.”

Olivia wheeled the chair closer to Jane. “You shouldn’t overdo it, Mom.”

“I’ll help with that,” Rob offered.

“Thanks.” Olivia smiled, then glanced at something on her phone. “I have an appointment in a few minutes, so I guess I better get going.”

For the first time in days Rob thought his daughter appeared sincerely happy. He suspected the relationship between her and Malcolm was steadily warming, but he didn’t want to upset Jane by mentioning it. It was one thing for his wife to be in good spirits and feeling more like herself, even with hosting all the McEntires tonight for Christmas Eve, but it was something else for her to entertain thoughts of having one of their clan becoming a permanent member of the Bradshaw family. Baby steps, he thought as he helped ease Jane into the chair.

“And it’s time for me to go help Cindy,” Lulu said as she tugged on a puffy parka. “Wait’ll you see all the appetizers she and her girls have whipped up. We will be feasting like kings tonight.”

“Making me hungry.” Rob pushed Jane’s wheelchair into the living room, pausing by her favorite armchair.

“I’m feeling festive,” Rob said as he helped Jane into the chair. “And you sure do look festive.”

“Well, this is Christmas Eve,” she said as she smoothed her skirt.

“So how about we start celebrating with some eggnog?” he offered.

“Your special recipe?” Her eyes twinkled.

“Of course.” He grinned. “I got all the ingredients the other day. Thought we could use some extra help stirring up our Christmas cheer this year.” He stopped himself from reminding her of their houseful of guests later this evening.

But as he mixed their eggnogs, he had it in mind and was perhaps a bit more generous with the brandy. And since Jane was no longer taking pain meds, he didn’t think it would hurt. He put their drinks on a Christmas tray, added some napkins and a plate of delicious-looking cookies, then carried it out to her and set it on the coffee table.

“Very nice.” She nodded her approval.

He handed her a mug, then made a toast. “Here’s to a wonderful holiday, unlike anything we’ve ever had before.”