CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE
Marie wasn’t quite sure where Rebeka had been hiding her guitar—or her slightly-above-average ability to play it—but she was pleasantly surprised later that afternoon when she brought it downstairs and starting playing Christmas songs on it. She started with “Oh, Holy Night,” and transitioned into “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” She had an almost folksy tone to her voice, but something a bit sweeter. It was like a remix of Janis Joplin and Taylor Swift in an odd, holiday miracle sort of way.
“Where did you learn to play like that?” Marie asked as one lingering guest, Abagail, and Posey applauded.
“YouTube tutorials,” Rebeka answered. “I’ve been watching them for the last few months.”
It was an answer that made Marie realize just how preoccupied she’d been as of late; she’d never even known Rebeka even had a guitar, much less that she could play it well.
“You think you could save a few songs for tomorrow morning?” Marie asked. “If you guys don’t have anything else to do, I’d love to have you spend Christmas at June Manor.” It was something she’d been considering for most of the day—not only because Rebeka and Posey truly did feel like family, but because the thought of spending quality time alone with a mother that had been absent for thirty years during Christmas morning was a bit too much to comprehend.
“That’s so sweet,” Rebeka said. “I’d love to! Thanks, Marie!”
“Not me,” Posey said. “I’ve got to wake up far too early in the morning to make it up to Augusta for my family’s usual get-together. However, if it goes the way most of my family Christmases go, I’ll be here around six tomorrow afternoon to drink copious amounts of wine and to do a lot of griping. Have the cab company on speed dial, would you?”
In a surprising twist, though, Marie thought her mother’s sudden presence almost made it feel more like a family Christmas. The woman still did not
feel
like family, but June Manor seemed to be mending something between them. As they sat the sitting room, listening to Christmas music on Spotify and chatting, Marie found it easy to imagine Aunt June’s ghost peeking around corners and enjoying the sight of this reunion. That idea alone made Marie very happy—and happier still when she realized it was happening in front of a Christmas tree.
“So, Rebeka,” Abagail asked as she sipped from a glass of red wine. “I gather that you’re living here, is that correct?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rebeka said. “I was in a very bad place when Marie hired me and she just…well, she’s got an enormous heart. She’s allowed me to stay here for a few months now while I get back on my feet.”
Abagail looked to Marie with a sense of pride, smiling warmly. “I won’t even pretend she gets that from me. That’s her father, one hundred percent.”
It was odd and a little hurtful to hear her mother mention her father but Marie barely had time to register the comment before Rebeka was speaking again.
“And I suppose now, on Christmas Eve, is the best time for me to give her an update,” Rebeka said, looking almost comically at Marie. “Because of your generosity and my willingness to pawn off just about half of my belongings, I’m finally able to afford a place of my own. I love it here, and I love you, but I’ll be looking for apartments at the beginning of the year.”
Marie wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this. All she knew was that she was walking across the room to hug her right away. She was proud of Rebeka in that she was finally able to take this huge step, but she also knew that she was going to miss her terribly.
“One question, though,” Rebeka said. “Can I still have the job?”
“Of course you can,” Marie said, hugging her tightly and doing her best to fight off tears. “I’d be very sad if you left June Manor altogether.”
It was a sweet moment, made slightly awkward by the presence of her mother. Her mother did not know Rebeka, she did not know the things they’d been through together as June Manor had grown. Yet somehow, she was very glad that her mother could see some of the friendships she had made and what her life was like now. It created a rather peaceful feeling that seemed to radiate through most of the house, making the Christmas cheer a bit more special.
Apparently, Rebeka could sense that there was unfinished business between Marie and Abagail, though. Yes, there was cheer and peace in the house, but the tension and awkwardness between mother and daughter was quite clear, too. So, with her bombshell dropped and endearing hug from Marie received, Rebeka gave a thin smile and nodded towards the stairs.
“I’m going to head on up,” she said. “I’m pretty much just a big kid at Christmas and I’m sure I’ll be up super early. Ms. Fortune, it was so nice to meet you.”
“You, too, dear. Merry Christmas.”
Rebeka gave Marie one last hug and then bound up the stairs with her guitar in hand.
“She seems like a sweetheart,” Abagail said once Rebeka’s footsteps had receded into nothing upstairs.
“She really is,” Marie said. “She and Posey both. There’s no way I could have made it this far without their help.”
“You’ve really made something of this place, that’s for sure,” Abagail said. “I mean, I’ve always loved coming here, but you’ve given it an…well I don’t know
exactly
what it is. It just feels warm and inviting. Again, I have to say, I think June would love it.”
“Oh, apparently she does,” Marie said rather conspiratorial. “She likes it enough to poke her head in every now and then.”
“June?” Abagail said, sitting up straight, he eyes going wide. “She’s still around?”
“Sometimes. Just like when she was alive, she just seems to come and go when she pleases. Come to think of it, though, I haven’t seen her in about a week or so.” Saying this out loud brought a question go her mind. It was a big question, and one she felt she probably shouldn’t even ask. But once she’d formed it, she had to. If not, she knew it would never leave her alone. “Did you ever see Dad?” she asked. “After he died, I mean?”
Abagail shook her head. “No. You?”
“No. All of this ghost stuff is new to me. It’s like Port Bliss or June Manor sort of activated it in me. But you…you’ve had it forever. How did you live with it?”
Abagail shrugged. “It’s one of the reasons I travelled so much. Part of it was trying to escape it, I guess. But most of it was because I was looking for others that had the gift. I wanted to figure out how to live with it as if it were a blessing and not a curse.”
“And did you figure it out?”
“I think so. It cost me nearly twenty-five years, a marriage, and a daughter, but I did.”
Marie wasn’t quite sure why, but this comment softened her heart a bit. It helped her to see that her mother had come to terms with what she had done, but it did not mean that she was okay with how things had turned out by any means. She’s made sacrifices to get her answers and stayed away from her family to make things easier on them. She was sure it had to be hard…had to have been gut-wrenching at times.
“Mom, if I’m being honest,” she said, speaking before she was aware the words were even coming out, “it will always hurt. But you’re here now and we haven’t screamed each other’s heads off yet. I think we can stop with the self-abuse. Stop beating yourself up.”
“If you’ll allow it, I think I
have to
for a while,” Abagail said, wiping a tear away from her eye. “I came here expecting June. The absolute last person I expected to see was you and it…well, it’s rocked me. And I think it’s the universe’s way of telling me that I can get another chance with you…if you believe in that sort of thing.”
Marie smiled, looking around the sitting room. “Oh, you’d be impressed with some of the things I’ve started to believe since moving here.”
Abagail smiled and nodded to the Christmas tree. There were only a few present under it—gifts to and from Posey, Rebeka, and Marie, along with small gifts from a few local businesses. But it twinkled and gleamed as if it held treasures for an entire family beneath it.
“Things like Santa, perhaps?” Abagail said.
Marie laughed out loud and said, “You know…I think in this house, anything is possible.”
Marie really wished she’d known Rebeka played guitar before buying her Christmas gift. When Rebeka opened her gift card to a local spa, she seemed genuinely overjoyed, but Marie hated to give impersonal gifts. The spa gift card was not nearly as personal and thought-out as the gift Rebeka had given her: two books wrapped together with a ribbon; the first was
These Old Haunts: A Recorded History of Seaside Hauntings Along America’s East Coast
and the second was
101 Tricks for Your Unique Dog.
The ghost book looked like it had come from a specialized bookshop and bore a printing date of 1965.
“Rebeka, this is perfect,” she said. And as she gave her a huge hug (apparently a trend over this holiday season), she noticed that her mother had picked up
These Old Haunts
and was looking at it with much interest.
As promised, Rebeka pulled out her guitar a bit later and played a few songs, even if it
was
just the three of them. Boo was quite curious about the guitar and made a habit of sniffing at the strings between songs. After that, they had a lazy lunch of leftovers and cleaned up all the wrapping paper from that morning. Afterwards, there wasn’t much talking; Marie watched as her mother made her way slowly through the house, taking a tour of her past. Abagail seemed to go from moments of happiness and whimsy to a forlorn sort of regret. Those slow hours contributed to Christmas Day winding itself down in that bittersweet way it always does.
“I just can’t believe she’s really gone,” Abagail would say from time to time as she made her way through the rooms.
Marie joined her later in the day as she ventured into the additions Benjamin had just finished before Christmas. Marie herself hadn’t quite gotten used to them. It was odd to not have the downstairs hallway end where it was once had. But Benjamin and the interior decorators had done an amazing job of making the new entryway, small lobby area, and three rooms look just like the remainder of the house.
“I don’t know you well enough to know if you enjoy the occasional cheesy sentiment,” Abagail said. “I know as a girl, you used to laugh at just about everything…but how are you with cheesy sentiment?”
“I tend to roll my eyes,” Marie said. “But let’s see what you’ve got.”
Abagail was standing in the perfectly square lobby of the new addition. A bench sat along the center wall, and the other wall was adorned with two chairs and a small book case. It was perfectly cozy…another way it was just like the rest of the house.
“This might be the best Christmas present I could have gotten,” Abagail said. “Well, aside from an unexpected reunion with you. To see this house transformed and June’s memory sort of living on and thriving…”
Marie surprised herself when she went to her mother, hugged her tightly, and said, “Just call me Santa.”
They stood like that for a while and when Boo ventured in to see what all the commotion was about, even he turned around and left them alone to their private moment.
Posey was just about as joyous on Christmas Day as Marie thought she’d be. When she came by at 6:30 in the afternoon, she was just as promised. She looked aggravated and was carrying two bottles of red wine. After presents were exchanged, she sat down with Marie in the sitting room, sipping on tea and listening to quiet Christmas tunes.
“Where’s your mother?” Posey asked, looking around the room suspiciously. She then realized that the answer may not be so simple and cringed. “Oh, I’m so sorry. It was not my place to ask…”
“It’s okay,” Marie said, perfectly understanding the afterthought. “She didn’t leave again. Well, not for good. She took Boo out in my car. She said she wanted to look around the town and get reacquainted. But I thought you’d want to vent about your family. I was expecting some juicy insults.”
“Meh…it’s Christmas. I’ll take it easy on those overbearing, jealous, loud and obnoxious imbeciles.” She sipped from her third glass of wine and asked: “Boo went with her willingly?”
“He did. He seems to really like her.”
“And how about you? I know this was sudden and, please forgive me for saying so, I’ve never heard you say a single positive thing about your mother. How are you holding up?”
“Better than I should be,” Marie said. She was surprised to realize that she meant it. The resentment and hesitation were still there, but it had all shrunk down enough to also allow in some excitement. Her mother had turned back up after all these years and it turned out that deep down, she may not be quite as selfish as Marie had always expected.
“Do you think there could be reconciliation there?” Posey asked.
Marie didn’t answer this question as quickly. She knew what she
wanted
to say but she also knew that a day and a half was not quite enough to properly gaze a mother-daughter relationship that had a thirty year chunk missing. Still, she hesitantly answered: “I really think there might be.”
And, like most things in her life as of late, it was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. But she also knew that ever since moving to June Manor, surprises tended to come in pairs—or even threes. And she was almost afraid to even consider what that next surprise might be.