“How many boxes will you fill?”
“Oh, I think fifty. At least as many as we can.”
“Is the poor population so high around here?”
“No, it’s not too bad. But we do have working families who feel the strain and we want to help them as well. The very poor get assistance from the county, but it’s never quite enough.”
Mel handed her a list and she got to work. She wrote the name of the recipient on the side of the box and began to gather the groceries. She learned that Jack and Colin Riordan had gone to one of the big box stores on the coast and filled up their truck beds with supplies. And the gift boxes weren’t limited to food—they also had soap, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, diapers, baby wipes, bleach and shampoo.
While she was loading the boxes with essentials, Kaylee became profoundly aware that all her life, even in the leanest of times, she had always had what she needed. Her mother, a single mom, had managed not only to feed and house Kaylee, but there were also lots of those special things. A new outfit for a party, a day at Disneyland every now and then, a prom dress, a wedding. They’d never received a box of food over the holidays because they were in need.
And she made a silent pledge to remember that Howard had contributed to her well-being and education, which had been costly. She might have a grudge because he left, but he had been there with the checkbook when it counted.
Of course, the women were all talking and laughing. She got Vanessa’s recipe for lemon bars and fudge; Ellie started them singing Christmas carols and oddly enough, Kaylee survived a little Christmas spirit. The men were joking around, making the women laugh or scold them. And the thing that Kaylee noticed most was the affection that passed between these couples. Even the preacher leaned close to Ellie to give her a little squeeze and kiss on the cheek. Every couple, it seemed, took a moment for a touch or a hug or a whisper. As if they were all still madly in love.
Kaylee realized that’s what she wanted. Not just a boyfriend or lover. She wanted a future. Permanence. Something that lasted and endured. She wondered if that was even possible.
Preacher put out a buffet of sandwiches and salads and the women took breaks to eat and chat. Kaylee heard about the kids, how they were doing in school, what they wanted for Christmas, how the local football teams had done this year. A couple of women were knitting and talking while others were eating. A great stack of big boxes was lined up in the middle of the floor, ready to go.
After lunch, some of the men began carrying them out.
“Kaylee, would you like to come with me?” Mel asked.
“That would be great, since I don’t really know my way around these mountains yet,” she said.
“I’m going to deliver five, as long as I can get them all out before dark. And I’ll do it again tomorrow.”
They bundled up against the cold and once they were in Mel’s SUV, Kaylee asked who paid for the food baskets. “We take donations. We’ve been passing the hat since spring. Whenever we have a town party, Jack puts out a jar just for holiday food baskets and it’s amazing how well we do.”
“Can I make a donation?” Kaylee asked.
“We will never turn down money!”
They drove out of town to a tiny isolated house in the mountains. The road to the house was not well kept or smooth and inside the little house they found an old man wearing long johns on the outside of his jeans. “Well, aren’t you looking good, Cyrus,” Mel said.
“You’re looking mighty good, too, miss.”
“And how have you been feeling?”
“Just fine, ma’am, thank you.”
“I’m going to put this right on your table and you can go through it. Is there anything you need? You need a doctor or a pastor?”
“No, ma’am.” He laughed. “I don’t wanna see both of ’em at once, that’s for sure. That usually means bad news.”
“How’s your firewood holding out?”
“Plenty good.”
Those same questions were asked everywhere they went. There was a young woman with three small children in a small house out on the ridge, no man in sight. There was an elderly couple in the lower valley in a little weather-worn house with a barn behind it. There was a family with four children near Highway 36. And their last delivery was to a mother and daughter—the mother was in her eighties and the daughter in her sixties and they occupied a very small, very old house that was scrubbed clean as a whistle even though the wallpaper was peeling and the linoleum was cracked.