“I do know how to put on chains, John,” she said.
“Okay, fine. You home yet?”
“Yeah, and I’m about to take a bath.”
Oh, there was an image to make a man smile. “Get good and relaxed,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Okay, bye.” And then she was gone.
He pulled up behind a Honda that had seen better days, where a woman in a black parka and jeans and tennis shoes was struggling to get chains around one of her rear tires. Unlike Holland, who was leggy and svelte, this woman filled out her pants with a well-rounded bottom. She wore glasses and had curls of blue hair escaping from a red knit hat. Two little kids, a Latino boy and a cute little girl with big brown eyes and cornrows, were hanging out the back windows, trying to catch snowflakes in their mittened hands. Meanwhile, the woman was still struggling with the chain. It wasn’t hard to see why; she wasn’t wearing gloves. Her hands had to be frozen. She stopped to blow on them and glared at the chain.
Here was a job for Super John. He got out of his car and came over. “Can I help you with that?”
She looked up at him gratefully and rubbed her hands together. “That would be great. I just can’t seem to get these stupid chains on.”
“It’s hard when your hands are cold.”
“I forgot to pack my gloves. Here we are, going to the mountains, and I forget to pack gloves. Can you believe it?”
“Looks like you were packing for more than yourself,” John said. The girl had joined the boy at his window and was now regarding John. She was cute as a button with her big brown eyes and that goofy tiara on her head. Her parka was a little frayed but clean. The boy’s coat looked too small for him but it, too, was clean and his mittens looked new.
“My mom needs help,” said the boy. “I could’ve done it.”
“I’m sure you could,” John agreed. He wondered what had happened to these kids’ dads. This woman sure wasn’t alone because she was a dog. She had a round face and blue eyes and Angelina Jolie lips. Cute, he thought. Not that he was interested, of course. It was just an observation.
He introduced himself to the mom and learned her name was Missy Monroe. Cute name, too. “Where are you guys headed?”
“To Icicle Falls,” she said. “We’re going to spend Christmas up there.”
“No way. Really? Me, too,” he said.
“All I want is to get there in one piece. I’ve never put on chains before,” she confessed.
She had them laid out properly, with the connector facedown. Unfortunately, she was putting them on the wrong tires. “Well, you made a good start,” he said, “but I’ll bet this is a front-wheel-drive car, which means you need those on the front tires.”
She took that in. “Oh. Oops.”
“Easy to fix,” he said. “Let’s move the tires off the chains and try again.”
She nodded and hopped behind the wheel. Moments later the chains were matched with the correct tires.
“Gosh, I’m glad you came along,” she said as he hooked them up. “Even if I got them on, they would’ve been useless.”
“No problem,” he said. Yeah, good thing he’d decided to come up today. Otherwise, this poor woman would’ve worked away at those chains until her hands turned as blue as her hair. “So, where are you staying in Icicle Falls?”
“We’ve got reservations at this place called the Icicle Creek Lodge.”
“No way,” John said again. “That’s where I’m staying.” That made her face light up like a Christmas tree. Uh-oh. Maybe she thought he was single. “Uh, with my girlfriend,” he added.
Her face reddened. “Oh.” She looked over to his car, where there was plainly no girlfriend.
Now he felt embarrassed. “She had to work late. She’s joining me tomorrow.”
The woman nodded slowly, taking that in. “Oh.”
“And are you, uh, meeting someone?”
“No.” For a moment she seemed a little sad, but that was replaced by a forced brightness. “Just the kids and me. We’re going to have a perfect, old-fashioned Christmas.”
He nodded approval. “Great.” He finished with the last chain and stepped away from his handiwork. “Okay, you’re good to go.”
“Thanks,” she said, and smiled at him as if he was some sort of genius.
He waved away her thanks. All in a day’s work for a holiday superhero. “If you have any problem, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Well, I guess I’ll see you there,” she said.
“Yeah, see you.”
“And thanks again for helping me with the chains.”
“No worries.”
She gave him a bashful smile and then hopped into her car. He could hear her instructing the kids to buckle up. The car started and the sounds of “The Little Drummer Boy” drifted out to him. The son leaned his head out the window and waved, and John waved back.
“Come on, Carlos, we’re not moving until you’re buckled in and the window is up,” said his mom.
Up went the window and the car chunk-chunked its way back onto the highway. John gave them one last wave and then got busy with his own chains. Someday that would be him, he thought as he pulled back onto the highway, taking his kids up to the mountains for Christmas. Maybe they’d even cut their own Christmas tree.
They’d have to do that without Holland. She wasn’t much into hiking, even in nice weather.
But she liked to shop and she liked good wine, and that was another reason he’d picked Icicle Falls. He’d done a search for holiday getaway spots in Washington and the town had come up at the top of his search list. It wasn’t hard to see why. In addition to its charming town center it had lots of those cute shops chicks loved, along with local wineries and good restaurants. Oh, yeah. It was a Holland kind of place. And the Icicle Creek Lodge was the frosting on the red velvet cake. They were going to have a great time.
Do You See What I See?
There were oohs and aahs from the kids the moment they hit town. Driving past all those buildings with the fancy paintings on them and the cute little signs dangling above the doors, the potted Christmas trees strung with twinkle lights sitting on every corner, it was as if they’d gone to Germany for the holidays. One shop even had a life-size Nutcracker standing guard outside. Wow.
Once they’d gone through the town itself, Missy’s directions sent her down Icicle Creek Drive, a wooded road surrounded by snowy woods. “See the llama farm?” she said, pointing. “That means we’re almost there.”
Sure enough, there was Holly Road, the side road veering off the main drag. She turned onto it and followed a scenic, curved road. She could already see herself walking down it, taking the kids into town to see the sights.
Then she saw their home for the holidays. Carlos and Lalla stared in awe at the Icicle Creek Lodge as if it was the Taj Mahal. It was pretty impressive—a big stone-and-timber building that looked like something from another time with a sweeping front lawn carpeted with pristine snow. The roof was strung with icicle lights and a tree bejeweled with colored lights sat on the front porch, which ran along the front of the building. Oh, yes, just like in the picture.
“Wow!” cried Carlos, racing toward the lodge.