Christmas Alone

I vacationed at a cabin alone over Christmas. I wasn’t the best at setting up lights, but I did it. I plugged them in, and a cycle of colors filtered through the string of holiday cheer. I clapped the dust off my hands and uncapped the thermos with hazelnut coffee. I blew steam from the brim and took quick sips. I moved my sleeve across my mouth and capped the thermos lid. I moved to a living room window and separated the blinds with my fingers. I turned my head and moved my eyes around. The next cabin was a mile away. When I stopped at the store, I pumped my brakes as needed. Ice stretched the side roads, and the winding street narrowed as plows pushed accumulated snow to either side of the road. A dump truck spread salt, but the road was still slick.

I lifted a dark device and pressed a red button. Soft holiday pop played on the radio, pushing Snow by New Found Glory through the pine speakers. I pressed another button, and the TV turned on, but I muted the sound. Home Alone played on the large TV above the fireplace.
My pocket buzzed. I removed my phone and unlocked it. Please, people, just leave me alone, I thought, blowing out my lips.
I glanced at the contact. “Mom?” I said, clearing my throat.
“I’ll skip the small talk, honey,” Mom said, her voice stumbling to make sense. “I know you wanted to be alone this Christmas.”
“What is it, Mom?” I nibbled on my thumb and paced the mahogany living room.
Old framed family pictures brought me back to times when Dad had a smile on his face.
“It’s Raelyn…”
My eyes widened. “No,” I said, “whatever it is, the answer is no.”
“Mark.” Mom sighed. “Raelyn is in the area.”
Heat washed across my face. “What’s that got to do with me?”
“She needs a place to stay,” Mom said, her voice tinged with hope for our reconciliation.
“What’s that got to do with me?” I said. “Mom, I needed space from-”
“Dad,” she said, “I know, son. He’s hard on you because he sees himself in you.”
“I’ll worry about Dad later,” I said.
“Fair enough,” Mom said. “You and Raelyn didn’t end on the best of terms,” Mom said, her tone attempting to soften the blow of Raelyn leaving without saying goodbye. I dated Raelyn in middle school. We broke up for a year and slept together at our high school graduation party. I couldn’t even blame it on alcohol. I was sober, and so was she. I gave up dating when Raelyn left for the Navy. Her service gave her a chance to climb the rank of captain. Mom was friends with her mom, so I heard updates from time to time. As far as I knew, she had a suitor in Georgia. My mom went to high school with her mother. I heard more than I’d wanted to know about her parent’s fights.
“Are you still there?”
“I see a car approaching,” I said before I realized Mom had given her the address. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, but I did.” Mom ended the call.
I swallowed hard and moved my thick, dark hair in place. Raelyn’s BMW rolled to a stop near an oak tree. Light flakes resumed their pleasure, making driving terror. I saw her fixing her lipstick and wrapping her long, brown hair around her neck. Raelyn exited her car and pushed her arms through her dark cardigan over her thin frame.
“Howdy, stranger,” Raelyn said with an awkward inflection.
“What do you want?” I said ruder than I’d wanted to.
Raelyn pointed in the general direction of the freeway. “The pass is closed. I called Mom, who called your mom. She said you’d lend me a bed.” She hugged herself, giving me a serene gaze.
“I don’t know.” I uncapped my coffee, took another sip, and tightened the lid.
Pinewood burned through chimneys in scattered cabins. Mocha and vanilla lattes escaped the cafe’s doors, and banana muffins from a bakery a mile away watered my mouth.
Raelyn mouthed in silence, “Okay.”
“You know what?” Raelyn said, gesturing. “Maybe this was a mistake.” She turned to leave. But I couldn’t let her go again.
“Raelyn.”
She spun around, moving her sleeve across her damp eyes. “I had to leave,” Raelyn said. “My mom puts on this front about how wealthy we are. But when Dad lost his job as a banker, I had no college money,” Raelyn said as her emotions ran the bus and her heart ran my compassion.
I set my coffee down and approached her. “I had no idea.” I embraced her, and she spilled into my arms as though I were the piece missing from her puzzle. “You could have called and just told me.”
“Mom would have died if word got to your mother.”
“Your dad…”
“He’s got a job now. Same line of work, and he’s making good money.”
“What about your suitor?”
“What about him?”
“Well…” I motioned. “Are you still with him?”
Raelyn laughed, stepped back, and reached to move her hand through her hair. “We dated for three months, and the dude started talking about marriage,” Raelyn said. “Oh, and get this.” She motioned. “I came home from the base and caught him sleeping with my friend.”
“Poor girl,” I said.
“No,” Raelyn said. “Poor guy.” She gazed into my eyes as if to study my soul.
“Wait a minute.” I rubbed my temples. “You walked in on your man having sex with another man?”
“It was an eyeful-let me tell you,” she chuckled.
“I was going to sleep on the couch, anyway.”
“So, I can stay?”
“Only if you promise to never leave my life.”
Raelyn squinted and chewed on her fingernail. “Our parents set us up.”
“No,” I said, laughing.
“What?”
“I set us up.”
“You knew I’d go over the pass,” Raelyn said, as though she didn’t mean to say it out loud.
“We can unwrap each other,” I said.
Raelyn blushed. “I think I’d like that.”
I swooped her off her feet, and we went inside.
Raelyn held up her pinky, and I held up my end of the bargain. Forever’s after of the rearview mirror.