Christmas in Bayberry

Kate touched his arm, reminding him that she was still standing next to him. “Is it what you remember?”

He nodded, not believing he’d just decorated the whole house in his mind. “It’s exactly as I remembered. My mother used to sit with me on the front porch and we’d clean corn for dinner. After dinner, I’d ride my bike all around here.” As he waved his arm around, his gaze strayed across a For Sale sign.

And then a woman exited the house. She locked the front door before heading down the steps in their direction.

“Maybe we should move on.” He didn’t want to linger and cause an awkward situation.

“It’s okay,” Kate said. “That’s Mary Trimble. She’s a real estate agent.” And then Kate’s eyes lit up as though a thought had just occurred to her. “How would you feel about having a look around inside?”

“Really? I’d like that.” He didn’t usually let himself get caught up in the past, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.

Kate hurried over to Mary. They talked for a few moments. And then Mary went in the opposite direction and Kate smiled at him as she held up a key.

“Come on,” she called out.

He rushed to catch up to her. “Shouldn’t she be here with us?” He glanced over his shoulder at the agent’s retreating back. “Are we allowed in by ourselves?”

“Relax. I know Mary and she trusts me. And I know the owner, Mrs. Harding. She just moved to a senior community. I know she’d be the first to invite you in. So it’s all fine. I just have to drop the key off at Mary’s office, because she forgot a lockbox for the front door.”

Kate stood aside, letting him lead the way. Yet he didn’t move. The years rolled away, and in his mind’s eye, the property was the way it’d been when he was a teenager. His gaze dropped to the sidewalk. He remembered racing down it on his bicycle. He could still recall the bump-bump-bump as the tires bounced over the gaps between the red bricks.

He could feel Kate’s gaze on him. It spurred him into motion. At the base of the steps, he reached out for the railing. He’d hoped that this house would be his family’s forever home. He wasn’t the only one. He recalled his mother being the happiest he’d ever seen her when they moved here. She’d joined the knitting group and the women’s group at the local church. He’d picked up that after-school job delivering papers. Dad had seemed content in his new position, though he’d often been too busy to spend much time with his son. Everyone had been happy.

Kate unlocked the front door and pushed it open. She stepped aside, allowing him to enter first. The house had been emptied, but that was okay. He remembered how it used to look. The wood floors had been well preserved. The banister on the steps still looked perfect for sliding down. He smiled, recalling his mother reprimanding him for not coming down the stairs properly. Not that she was really mad at him.

They toured the downstairs, from the spacious living room where his father used to fall asleep in the recliner with the newspaper open and the news playing on the television, to the kitchen with its many white cabinets, but there was no lingering scent of cinnamon from his mother’s famous apple cobbler. His mouth watered at the memory. It’d been so many years since he’d tasted it.

Then he showed Kate where his bedroom had been upstairs. It was so much bigger than his bedroom in New York. This house was more than triple the size of his entire apartment. Not that he was comparing the two places. One was his home and one was a part of his past—nothing more.

As they made their way back outside, Kate said, “You know, it’s for sale. You could always buy it.”

He shook his head, refusing to acknowledge just how tempting the idea sounded. “My work is in the city. I’d never have time to visit it.”

“It’s just something to consider. Properties around here sell quickly.”

A dog started barking. Wes saw a golden cocker spaniel running through the snow toward them. Wes turned to make a hasty retreat, but Kate had come to a stop in front of him.

The dog was still barking up a storm.

“Hey, Princess.” Kate crouched down to greet the dog. “How are you, girl?”

The dog let off one bark, as though understanding Kate’s question and answering her. Kate fussed over Princess, who ate up the attention.

And then Princess turned to Wes. He stood perfectly still as she sniffed his boots and then his pants.

“You can pet her,” Kate said. “She’s friendly.”

He crouched down. He held out his hand for the dog to sniff. When Princess licked his hand, he smiled.

“You two look good together,” Kate said. “Maybe you should consider getting a dog.”

“I always wanted one as a kid, but my father said I couldn’t have one because we were always moving around.”

“Maybe now that you’re settled.”

He shook his head. “They don’t allow pets in my building. And I’m not home enough.”

“Kate, is that you?” A woman’s voice called out to them.