Free Snow Job by Delphine Dryden

just seen Elyce a few days beforehand. Then from the older nieces, Nash and Reese, although they made it known that at twelve and ten, respectively, they were clearly getting a little old for that sort of thing. And from Karl’s father, diverted only momentarily by the new arrivals before turning his attention back to the proper placement of the Christmas tree.
    Wil and Scott, the brawn to Bil Nash’s supervisory brain, just nodded amiably in Elyce’s direction before making a clamor for Karl to come help them with “the monster”, as they had already dubbed this year’s fresh tree.
    It was easily fifteen feet tal , and it swayed dangerously as they shifted it in smal increments at the whim of Karl’s father until he was satisfied with its general appearance.
    Elyce watched, grinning despite herself at the scene that cal ed up memories of every other Christmas spent here at the cabin. Al of them, with the exception of the previous year, had been happy occasions. It felt good, like a homecoming, and she was almost a little sad to see the Nash family again in this setting. The whole thing brought too sharply to mind how much she liked Karl’s family, and how much she missed spending time with them…how much she missed being one of them. They were such nice people.
    If only ,
    she
    thought, they weren’t raping the
    environment for profit .
    It felt sour to think of it that way, and at odds with the scene before her, but she knew it was a necessary thing for her to think if she were to keep her wits about her for the next couple weeks. It wouldn’t do to fal into the trap of feeling at home here again, as she had once done. It wouldn’t do at al .

    * * * * *
    The assembled family had held off trimming the tree until Karl and Elyce’s arrival, and fol owing dinner, the boxes and trays of ornaments were emptied amid laughter and champagne. Once the lights were hung, a process that took wel over an hour, the real work started. The great tree slowly took on its holiday habit, with the highest ornaments being hung first by grownups on firmly steadied ladders, and the lowest ones placed by the children who vied hotly for their favorite decorations among the hundreds available.
    Last of al was the glistening crystal-and-filigree star, fixed into place by Alice as Karl and Wil stood below and prepared to catch her should she lose her balance atop the ladder.
    “Perfect,” she said at last, with a satisfied nod. “Now it final y looks like Christmas around here.”
    Elyce smiled to herself, looking around the cabin at the already decidedly festive decor. Even without the tree, every surface fairly screamed “Christmas”. Fresh boughs of pine and hol y festooned the top of the piano, were swagged up with red ribbons on the high-arched lintels over the doorways and al but hid the surround of the enormous stone fireplace that dominated the center of the room’s one outside wal . At least, the fireplace dominated the room after dark. During the day, the mostly windowed wal behind it provided a magnificent view that took clear precedence over anything manmade.

    For now, however, the hearth was the bril iant centerpiece to the room, the perfect counterbalance to the festivity of the tree. The fire crackled brightly, the scent of pine and pumpkin pie fil ed the air, and Elyce knew that on Christmas Eve the children would al go to bed wearing something like red-and-green-plaid pajamas in keeping with the overal theme of the occasion. There would be readings of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” and relevant passages from the Bible, and the ritual lighting of the Advent candles, which were in an enormous fresh wreath in the center of the rustic dining table. Plum pudding and eggnog, a juicy satsuma in the toe of each stocking in the morning and the gifts surprisingly restrained but always personal, chosen with genuine thought and care.
    Say what one might about the Nashes, they knew how to keep Christmas.
    Elyce wanted