Free A Christmas Hope by Joseph Pittman Page B

passage of time. Why he was suddenly drudging up all these memories, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was the memories of last Christmas sneaking up on him, when it had seemed that their fragile existence was threatening to break. A year later already and they were better, stronger, the loving duo he had always envisioned they could be. But if truths were told, and it was only something he could admit to himself when alone, he missed the time they used to spend together, just the two of them. Lately Janey was consumed with helping Cynthia take care of that cute tyke, Jake, leaving Brian more time down at the tavern, as well as more downtime. The last few months, he’d been feeling the job wasn’t enough for him, that he needed something more in his life. Since his arrival in Linden Corners he had been driven first to keep alive George Connors’s traditions down at the tavern, then Annie Sullivan’s, and he believed he had more than lived up to the high ideals set by those two amazing folks, both taken too early from the world.
    Not for the first time, did Brian Duncan wonder if there was more he could be doing.
    That brought his thoughts around to Nora Rainer.
    She was doing now exactly what he’d done two years ago, restarting her life. But whereas he had stumbled upon this town along his travels, she had deliberately returned to her childhood home, and the difference seemed to be that back then Brian had every choice in the world to make his stay in this village transitional, while Nora appeared trapped in some confluence of events that glued her here. So far she wasn’t talking about what those events were, another thing they had in common. Not that her affairs were any of his business, just because he and Gerta were as thick as thieves didn’t mean Nora was open to trusting him with her own secrets. Oddly, her being back in Linden Corners and making a go of a new business, maybe she could inspire him. Her new antique store—an oxymoron indeed—seemed to be an extension of her new self, and he wondered if she could help him figure out what the heck he was supposed to be doing with his life. Learn by example.
    Janey’s happiness was everything to him.
    But her happiness was directly tied to his, and at this moment in time he doubted happy was a word he could use to describe his life.
    The phone ringing broke him from his thoughts of self-doubt.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œBrian, dear, it’s your mother.”
    â€œHi, Mom,” he said.
    â€œYou know what time of year it is.”
    â€œOf course, Thanksgiving is coming up.”
    â€œYes, about that . . .” she said, her voice trailing off momentarily.
    Like this phone call itself, Thanksgiving dinner was a Duncan family tradition, with all the disparate members of his family gathering at their parents’ house, a lovely town house in the Federal Hill district of Philadelphia that had been an upgrade over the house where Brian had grown up in the northern suburbs. Last year was the first Brian had brought Janey with him, an experience both heartfelt and nerve-racking, one destined for the books. Didi Duncan’s tone today indicated that tradition was about to be thrown to the wind.
    â€œWe won’t be home this year,” she said.
    â€œOkay,” Brian said, tonelessly. Was he pleased, or not, or just indifferent?
    â€œI didn’t think you would mind, you’re so busy with Janey, maybe it’s not the right time to take a trip all the way here.”
    â€œSure, Mom.”
    â€œRemember that cruise we took last Christmas with the Hendersons?”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œWe’re doing it again, except this time it’s a Mediterranean cruise, three weeks.”
    â€œThree weeks?”
    â€œAnd while we’re in Europe . . .”
    â€œMom, the point?”
    â€œWe’ll be away from Thanksgiving until the end of the year.”
    â€œSo, what you’re saying is, no