Free Starlight in Her Eyes by Joann Durgin Page B

“I think I’ve found the one.”
    Interesting choice of words. Colin popped into Serena’s mind yet again, filling her with warmth, but she dismissed it. Her daughter was waiting. “Coming!” Tossing her empty cup in the nearby trash can, Serena headed her way.
    A half hour later, Serena pulled into the parking space outside her townhome. Climbing out of the car after her rambunctious daughter, she prayed under her breath. “Lord, how am I going to get this tree into the townhome without straining my back or anything else?”
    “I can’t wait to decorate our tree! I’ll go get the ornaments.”
    As soon as Serena unlocked the front door, Lily raced past her and up the stairs. After removing her outerwear, Serena glanced at the clock. Not bedtime yet. Maybe she could somehow put Lily off until tomorrow night.
    Hadn’t they had enough excitement for one evening?
    The tree would be all right for one night if she left it on top of the car, wouldn’t it? Maybe not. What did she know of these things? Serena eyed the sofa but no way could she sit down for even a few precious minutes or she’d fall fast asleep.
    Within two minutes, Lily bounded back down the stairs minus her outerwear and boots. Depositing the green plastic ornament box near the fireplace, she gave Serena a triumphant grin.
    “Did you hang up your coat and wet things, young lady?”
    With a small protest, Lily darted off again. That request would only buy Serena another minute. Her child’s energy was something to be envied. If only she could absorb some of it herself.
    Sure enough, Lily was back in no time. “All done, Mommy.”
    “Thanks,” Serena said. “Now I need to find someone who can help unload the tree from the top of our car. There’s no way I can manage it all by myself.” A little advance planning would have been good. Not knowing what else to do, Serena pondered her options.
    Feeling all kinds of silly, and after more prompting from Lily, she broke down and called Evie’s mom. Turned out Bruce Spruce—she’d almost slipped and said the nickname while on the phone—was out of town on business for the rest of the week.
    Her neighbors to her left were two elderly spinster sisters and the townhome to her right was vacant after the nice young couple had moved to Cleveland to be closer to their families.
    Her home church was nearly thirty minutes away, so that wasn’t a possibility at the last minute. She really should try to find a congregation closer to home for reasons that had nothing to do with her current predicament.
    After Graham’s death, she’d sold the large house in the suburbs and moved into her modest townhome. If she’d continued to live in the “big house,” as she’d called it, the constant reminders of everything her marriage had, and hadn’t, been, would have smacked her in the face at every turn. The mansion with its three-car garage, guest house, two kitchens, eight bathrooms, and more bedrooms than she could count had been Graham’s dream, not hers. He’d grown up with privilege.
    While she’d been blessed with a comfortable, upper middle-class upbringing, she’d never become accustomed to having a staff to do her bidding, preferring to be self-reliant and autonomous.
    “I know. We could decorate the tree on top of the car and then everybody would come to see our beautiful Christmas tree car!” Lily beamed with pride, obviously thrilled with her suggestion. “You know, like the bubble car that man drives all over the city.”
    Serena laughed. “That’s a very creative and interesting idea, sweetie, but if we did that, we’d lose all our Christmas ornaments one way or the other. They’re too valuable.”
    “You mean they cost a lot of money?”
    “They hold sentimental value because our family and friends gave them to us.” A quick glance told her Lily was still confused. “Looking at them on our Christmas tree helps us to remember who gave them to us and all the good times we’ve shared