Seth steered her farther down the aisle. “Say, did you hear they have a divorced Barbie?”
“No.” Reba couldn’t believe it.
“Yup,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “She’s got all of Ken’s things.”
Reba laughed and elbowed him in the ribs, and Seth chuckled, too.
All in all, she felt good. Generally the holidays were an unhappy reminder of the problem between her and her sister, and this year was no exception. Although she’d agreed to spend Christmas Day with Seth and his family, a part of her resented that it was Vicki who’d be with her aunt Gerty and uncle Bill. Reba would have liked to introduce Seth to her parents and her aunt and uncle, but that was out of the question now.
“Judd said something about wanting Power Ranger walkie-talkies,” Seth said, breaking into her thoughts. “Do you have any idea where those might be?”
Reba knew next to nothing about the setup in toy stores. “Your guess is as good as mine. This is all new to me.”
“New. You act like a pro with all those kids at church. One would think you’d been doing this for quite some time. You make it look easy. You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? You’ve talked yourself into a job for the next ten years.”
Frankly, she wouldn’t mind. The benefits from volunteering to direct the Christmas program had been an unexpected blessing. While her motives hadn’t been pure, she’d reaped untold rewards. Sure, there was the hassle factor, but again the sense of accomplishment outweighed any problems.
The Christmas Eve program would be a wonderful success, and she’d like to think it was due in part to her efforts. Naturally Seth and his in-laws would be there for the performance. Reba would have liked to have her family there as well, and the knowledge that they would not be coming brought a twinge of disappointment.
Her spirits lifted again when she reflected on yet other unexpected benefits of volunteering her time: she’d made friends with several of the other women, and she’d even picked up a number of new clients. It felt good to be an active member of the church family, contributing more than just her presence in a pew on Sunday morning.
For the first time in four years she was reaching out, charting new ground, planting seeds. She cast a glance at Seth, who wore a perpetual frown as he wandered aimlessly down one aisle after the next. Poor fellow. He needed her.
Next year she’d…Reba stopped herself, amazed at how she’d imagined them together twelve months into the future. She stood proudly at his side, happier than she could remember being in a very long while.
“Reba…”
The soft voice cut into her thoughts like the sharpest of sabers. Even after all this time, she recognized the speaker.
Vicki.
Reba tensed and slowly, deliberately, turned around. Seth must have sensed the way her muscles tightened because he turned with her.
Reba said nothing. She couldn’t.
It felt as if her tongue had frozen to the roof of her mouth. The old, familiar resentment rose like bile in the back of her throat. Her gaze slid from her sister to the tall, good-looking man at her side and the little girl in his arms. So this was Ellen, the much-loved grandchild. Vicki and Doug’s daughter. She was beautiful, sleeping contentedly on her father’s shoulder, her blond hair spilling down his back. Reba’s heart softened with an instant flow of love for this child she’d never seen.
“I talked to Mom this morning,” Vicki said, her delicate voice shaking slightly. “She explained that there’s been a misunderstanding about Christmas Eve.”
“There was no misunderstanding.” Her mother had sided with her sister, the way she had from the beginning. Seth must have realized who Vicki was because he moved closer, protectively, to her side. She was grateful for both the physical and the emotional support.
“I want you to know that I feel bad about that.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Reba muttered.
“I talked it over with Doug,” Vicki continued, and glanced up at her husband, “and we decided it wouldn’t be that much of a problem to change our plans.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Reba made her voice as cold and as unfeeling as she could. She was horrified to feel a lump form in her throat. “I’ve already made alternate plans for Christmas. You go on ahead and visit with Aunt Gerty and Uncle Bill.”
“But they’re your godparents.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to remind Vicki that John had been her fiancé and it hadn’t stopped her from sleeping with him. Hadn’t stopped Vicki from ruining her life.