Free An Island Christmas by Nancy Thayer Page B

draw him into their little group, but he only nodded a polite hello toArchie and Felicia, then walked away. Jilly saw Felicia staring after him—was that a look of regret on her face? Or did Jilly only hope it was?
    The third Sunday in December, the Gordons and Archie attended the annual Christmas pageant at the Congregational Church where well-known members of the town acted out the ancient nativity story. Dolly and Mike Mills, who had a baby three months old, played the parts of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Elementary schoolchildren in halos and wings were backup singers for Tricia Carr, a senior in high school and on her way to Juilliard. The Kastner family played the part of shepherds, complete with three woolly sheep from their farm, and three of the town’s selectmen appeared as the Three Wise Men, which added a great deal of levity to the occasion.
    When the congregation sang “Away in a Manger,” Jilly’s thoughts drifted. She knew this was the calm before the storm. Tomorrow Lauren, Porter, Lawrence, and Portia would arrive. In three short days Christmas would be here. Not only that, Felicia and Archie would be married and twenty people would gather in the house on Chestnut Street for the wedding reception.
    Jilly was a great one for making lists. At night she lay in bed mentally reviewing what she had checked off and what still needed to be done. She couldn’t wait to see the gown Lauren had made for Felicia. Lauren had such exquisite taste. If the children could keep from wrecking the house … if the weather cooperated so they could playoutside … if Archie didn’t lure George or Felicia out for some other extreme escapade … if the planes made it to the island in time for Archie’s mother to arrive … if Archie’s mother was not too difficult to deal with … if she’d ordered a large enough turkey … if Rex didn’t slip out the door with all these people coming and going … if Felicia would stop acting so politely cold toward Jilly … if only Felicia were going to marry Steven …
    If only Jilly could get one good night’s sleep!

10
 
    In her childhood bedroom, Felicia also tossed and turned through the night.
    Her first few nights there, she’d found it amusing to sleep in her girlhood twin bed while her gigantic fiancé lay snoring in the twin bed next to her, beneath a lavender, violet-dotted duvet. They’d had fun messing around and making love in the twin beds, enjoying the challenge of not making noise. She’d relished the sight of her fiancé’s huge shoes beneath her tall white bureau with the mermaid-shaped pulls.
    But now, as the first white light of day dawned, Felicia found herself realizing how much work her mother had done to make this bedroom such a private girlish sanctuary. Jilly had made the lined, white muslin curtains trimmed with lavender grosgrain ribbon and the tiebacks adorned with felt flowers. Jilly herself had painted the walls a pale violet with marshmallow white woodwork. And it had been Jilly who discovered the old desk at the Hospital Thrift Shop, brought it home, sanded it smooth, andpainted it white, with iris twining up the sides and bunnies and birds in the grass. Okay, it wasn’t a professional job, but it was darling, and Felicia was fond of this little room.
    Lauren’s room had been rose-themed until she turned fifteen, at which point she went into an earthy-crunchy hippie save-the-earth phase and hung posters with peace signs and pictures of U2 all over her walls. Lauren’s desk had become a repository for her eye shadow and lipstick, CD player and piles of CDs, and tie-dye scarves. Funny how Lauren had ended up as much a happy homemaker and mom as their mother.
    Felicia had never changed her room because she’d seldom spent time here. When she entered junior high, she went mad for sports—swimming, girls’ hockey, gymnastics, and baseball. She didn’t have time even to consider the decor of her room although she did alter its