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"Dumb old bear," she sighed, trying to cozy down into her
pillow. Envious of the stuffed animal in Jake's arms, Abby at last fell asleep.
The next morning, Abby awoke only to discover that Jake had already left for her
parents' house to start breakfast. Disappointed to have missed him so completely,
Abby lingered at her bedroom window and paused to see the natural beauty of the winter
wonderland that lay just outside the pane of glass. Overnight, a storm had passed
through, covering over the unsightly tracks everyone had made in the snow, and making
everything look crisp and new. But Abby couldn't enjoy the unspoiled landscape, for
her mind was busily engaged elsewhere. Jake had left without kissing her good morning,
and though it had been a small oversight, Abby couldn't help feeling that he had
missed seeing her on purpose.
The newly fallen snow crunched beneath her feet as Abby walked to her parents' house
for breakfast. She was eager to see Jake, and to learn how he had fared sleeping
a night through without her. A part of Abby secretly wished for a confession of how
terribly he had missed her, so that she might feel less ridiculous for the miserable
night she had endured.
When Abby entered the kitchen, she found Jake busy at the stove, while Terry read
the morning paper at the table, making thoughtful remarks about the local news. Terry
looked up from his newspaper as she made her way to the coffee pot to pour herself
some of the hot beverage.
"Good morning!" he greeted his niece. "Only six days till Christmas!
I hope everyone has already done their shopping! The malls are going to be jammed
this week!" As if to confirm his prediction, Terry examined the newspaper and
shook his head knowingly.
Jake glanced up at Abby and quickly returned to his work, giving the simmering meal
of bacon and eggs more attention that it really needed.
"That reminds me," continued Terry, "I'll be with some friends from
church tonight, and we're going to do a little Christmas caroling around town. John
wants to stay home with Izzy, but I thought maybe you and Jake might want to come
along." When he heard no response, the uncle looked up from his newspaper. "Abby,
are you listening?" he asked, for she was staring into her coffee mug with a
distant look on her face.
"I'm sorry," apologized Abby, returning to earth. "You said something
about caroling?"
"Are you and Jake coming?" asked Terry.
"I don't know," stammered Abby, "are we, Jake?"
"If you want to," shrugged Jake, his back still turned to her.
"Then, I guess we're coming," she sighed, unenthusiastically.
Narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, Terry looked the young couple over. After a few
moments of silent deduction, he set the newspaper aside for John, and got to his
feet.
"I think I'll go alphabetize my bookcase," he announced, quickly exiting
the kitchen without further explanation. Terry hadn't lived with John and Izumi for
so many years, by not being able to recognize when a married couple needed to be
alone.
With Terry out of the room, everything suddenly became quiet. All Abby could hear
were muffled voices as the rest of the house went about its morning routine, and
the crackling of bacon in Jake's frying pan. With a loving smile, Abby quietly walked
across the room to where Jake was still facing the stove, and slipped her arms tenderly
around him.
Gasping in surprise at this sudden, unexpected physical contact, Jake nearly jumped
out of her arms.
"Don't ever do that to me, again," he chided her a little sharply,
relieved that it had only been Abby, and not someone else. |
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