Dear Santa(31)

As she pulled into the driveway of the family home, her phone rang. She reached for it and hesitated when she saw the name on the screen. It rang a second and a third time before she found the courage to answer.

“Hello, Celeste,” she said, keeping her voice cool and calm.





CHAPTER TWELVE





“Merry Christmas,” Celeste greeted hesitantly.

She said it as if they were still the best of friends. As if when Lindy had learned the truth about her and Brian, it had been nothing more than a friendly exchange of insignificant differences. Billy had been with her when she’d run into them at Leavenworth. Having him at her side had given her confidence.

Lindy remained silent. She would have spoken, if she’d been able to find the words, but none came.

Pretending not to notice, Celeste continued, as if Lindy had welcomed the sound of her voice. “Are you with your family?”

“Yes,” she somehow managed…She remembered the pastor’s sermon from last Sunday. Forgiveness had been the theme. Lindy had walked out of the service and felt free, as though a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Now that she was speaking to the friend who had betrayed her, she wasn’t sure how she should react.

    “Yeah, me, too,” Celeste continued. “Christmas is for families, right?”

“Right.” Lindy noticed she didn’t mention Brian. She wouldn’t ask, though.

“Brian is with his mother,” Celeste continued, as if she felt it was necessary to let Lindy know.

That made sense, since Brian’s parents had divorced when he was in high school and his mother lived alone. Brian chose to champion his mother and refused to reconcile with his father. From what he’d told her, he hadn’t had any contact with his dad in years.

Lindy wasn’t sure what more she could say, other than to ask why Celeste had called, especially this late at night. “I’m not sure why you phoned,” Lindy said. It had to be more than to tell Lindy that she and Brian weren’t together for Christmas.

The awkward silence that followed made Lindy uncomfortable. Celeste had been her best friend for ten years. They’d shared confidences, clothes, had been roommates, and as close as sisters. It was one thing to lose Brian, probably inevitable, in hindsight. The bigger loss was Celeste. In her view, a best friend was much harder to replace.

    “Brian and I were surprised when we saw you in Leavenworth. I wanted to say more then, I really did, only I didn’t know what.”

Lindy understood, as she’d been shocked when she first caught sight of them as well. She’d had time during the sleigh ride to recover. Celeste had been taken completely by surprise and was speechless.

“You looked great, and the guy you were with was a hunk.”

“I knew Billy when I was in grade school,” Lindy said.

“You looked happy.”

“I am happy,” she said with all sincerity.

“I’m glad. That makes me feel better.”

“Listen, Celeste, I don’t know why you called, but I’m grateful you did.”

“You are?” She sounded unsure, apprehensive, as if expecting a tongue-lashing.

“Yes, because I want you and Brian to know you deeply wounded me. I carried that hurt with me like an aching sore until I realized the only way to heal that pain was to forgive you both and move on. That’s what I’m doing. I wish you and Brian the best, and I sincerely mean that. So Merry Christmas, Celeste. And thank you for calling.”

“Wait…” Celeste pleaded. “It’s taken half a bottle of wine for me to find the courage to call you. Please let me say this one thing.”

    Although Lindy was anxious to get off the phone, she agreed. “Okay.”

“I’m so sorry, Lindy. I should have told you about Brian and me. I meant to, I sincerely did. I hated the way you found out we were together. We should have told you long before you stopped off at the apartment.”

Celeste clearly had no idea of what a shock it had been to find the two of them together. “Listen, if you’re looking for absolution, you have it. Life goes on. I should have realized sooner what was happening.” As painful as it was to admit, that was the truth. “It was right in front of my eyes, and I couldn’t see it.” In the aftermath of her discovery, Lindy wanted to kick herself for being so blind and trusting. She was foolish to ignore what should have been obvious.

“I…don’t deserve your forgiveness,” Celeste said.

“I did it for myself. The anger wasn’t doing me any good.” It was clear Celeste was dealing with a massive bout of guilt.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Lindy. Really, really sorry.”

Lindy believed her regret was real. How good it felt to tell Celeste that she was forgiven and to mean it. “I accept your apology. Now it’s time to move on.”

    “One more thing,” Celeste rushed to add. “I need to say one more thing before we hang up.”

“Okay.”

“You’re the best friend I ever had, and I mean that with all my heart. I realize our friendship will never be the same, and I accept the blame for that. But I hope someday in the future that we might be able to reconnect.”