Twelve Days of Christmas

  Pullleeeease.

  This experiment has gone from a mission to a battle, and at the moment the opposition (Ebenezer) is winning. A woman can take only so much. It just so happened that I had an excellent reason for being where I was. One he discovered soon enough. I know he regretted his accusation, but did he apologize? Did he admit he was in the wrong? Not Ebenezer. When I next looked for him he’d disappeared, and truthfully, that was probably for the best, because I wasn’t exactly in a forgiving mood.

  Then this afternoon, through no fault of my own, I inadvertently met Ebenezer in the lobby of our apartment building. I waited for him to accuse me of having prearranged that as well. Thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, he seemed to be in a much better mood.

  I, however, wasn’t. I glared at him, daring him to say a single word.

  You won’t be able to guess what he did.

  He smiled.

  Yes, smiled as if nothing had happened…as if I should forget what he’d said and pretend all was right with the world. I, however, am unwilling to ignore his error in judgment.

  And then. Then he added insult to my already injured pride, and he said he might find me attractive if I wasn’t so cheerful in the mornings.

  As if I would even want him to find me attractive!

  Can you believe this guy? That did it.

  I’m not quitting.

  If anything, I’m going to be all the more merry and bright. I’ll blind him with how upbeat and sunny I’m going to be.

  What I didn’t expect was that killing him with kindness would be the death of me. But I can do this, thanks to you and the encouragement you’ve given me.

  Wish me luck.

  When Julia asked for encouragement, it came in the form of more than two hundred comments. This blog had grown at a shocking pace. By the following afternoon, her latest entry had more than three thousand views and five hundred shares in addition to pages and pages of comments.

  Wow.

  Even though it was the weekend, Julia checked the hallway before leaving the apartment for fear she might inadvertently happen upon Cain on his way out. It wasn’t likely, seeing that it was Sunday, but she wasn’t taking a chance. She’d taken Saturday off and therefore was working Sunday instead, which bummed her out. It was the holiday season, and the store and other sales representatives depended on one another to carry their own weight. One day, God willing, she’d be able to work a nine-to-five job doing social media. Julia had to believe that or she’d be really depressed.

  While waiting at the bus stop, Julia watched as her favorite barista shot out the door of Starbucks.

  Phil was excited as he rushed up to greet her. “Julia, you’ll never guess what!”

  “What?” she said, watching as the Metro bus approached the stop.

  “That guy. Cain, I think his name is. He was in earlier this morning and he bought you a drink. A peppermint mocha; said it was your favorite.” Phil held up the drink for her to see.

  “Cain…bought me…this?” She was so shocked she could barely get the words out. “You’re kidding?”

  “He said to give it to you the next time you stopped in, but I saw you waiting here and whipped it up. I thought you’d want to know.”

  “You said he asked about me the other morning,” she said. “What did he want to know?”

  The bus arrived and people started to board.

  “He asked if you were always a cheerful pest in the mornings or if it was an act put on for his benefit. I told him you were always kind and friendly.”

  “Thanks, Phil.”

  “I didn’t really answer his question and he noticed, so I don’t know if that was any help or not. He might have thought I liked you because you’re thoughtful enough to leave a tip. In retrospect, I should have told him you’re upbeat and personable, because you are.”

  The bus driver leaned toward the open door. “You getting on or not?”

  “I’ll let you know if he asks anything more,” Phil said. “I’ve got to get back inside.”

  “Yeah, later.” Flustered, Julie took the Grande-sized cup Phil held out to her and boarded the bus. She found a seat and held on to the drink with both hands. Cain had bought her this drink, the very one she’d mentioned a few days earlier as being her holiday favorite. The way she figured, this was about as close to an apology as she was going to get.

  This was big, as in GIGANTIC!

  Clenching her fist, she nearly thrust her arm up and let out a shout of victory. The thick wall Cain had built around himself had cracked. Sure, he’d held the door open for her and given her a smile that looked like it pained him, sort of like he was trying to turn the top of a rusted-shut jar lid.

  This peppermint mocha, however, was solid proof. Kindness was working, and she’d only begun to scratch the surface. She could hardly wait to tell Cammie. And update her blog! Her readers were going to eat it up.

  —

  Following her shift at the department store, instead of returning to her apartment to put her feet up and write Christmas cards, Julia made an impromptu visit to Manor House, the assisted-living complex where the choir had performed the day before.

  The complex was beautifully decorated for the holidays. Because of all the extra holiday hours she’d worked at Macy’s, plus her volunteer efforts, she hadn’t put up her own Christmas tree. Her plan had been to do it that very day, if time allowed.

  The woman at the front desk looked up and smiled as Julia approached. “I’d like to see Bernie Maddox,” she said.

  “Are you a relative?”

  “No. I was here on Saturday with the church group.”

  “Oh yes, that was lovely. The residents talked about it for a long time afterward. Everyone enjoyed the music.” She glanced down at the resident sheet. “Bernie’s in room 316, but I don’t think you’ll find him there.”

  “Oh, is he out for the day?”

  “No, he isn’t listed as having left the building. Bernie tends to spend a lot of time on the fifth floor, in the game room. My guess is that’s where he’ll be.”

  “Thanks,” Julia said appreciatively. Then, fearing she might run into Cain, which in her opinion would be nothing less than disastrous, she asked, “He doesn’t happen to have company, does he?”

  The woman, whose name tag identified her as Sharon, shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “Bernie’s one of the kindest residents we have, a real gentleman.”

  That would be a startling contrast to Cain Maddox. They had to be related, seeing that they shared the same surname.

  Julia took the elevator to the fifth floor and wandered down the wide hallway until she found the game room. Sure enough, Bernie Maddox sat at a large table, holding on to a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. After a careful examination, he set it back down and reached for another, studying it with a frowning intensity.

  “Are you Bernie Maddox?” she asked, although she knew he was. He was the man she recognized with Cain from the day before.

  Bernie glanced up. “That’s me.” His eyes narrowed briefly. “Do I know you? You look vaguely familiar.”

  “I was here yesterday with the church group. I played the piano.”

  “Oh yes, now I remember. What can I do for you?”

  Julia pulled out a chair and sat down beside him. “I live in the same apartment building as Cain Maddox. Are the two of you related?”

  “Cain’s my grandson. Is he in any kind of trouble?”

  Interesting that Bernie would ask that particular question. She was half tempted to explain that Cain was trouble, but that wouldn’t have been fair. “No, no, at least not that I know of. Does he get in trouble often?”

  “If he does, he doesn’t tell me about it. You know Cain?”

  Unsure how best to answer, she said, “Sort of. His apartment is across the hall from mine, so we see each other fairly often. Let me put it like this: Cain isn’t exactly the neighborly sort.”

  “Sounds
like my grandson. That boy has a bad attitude, especially when it comes to women. Been that way for a good five years.” He paused and studied Julia, his eyes twinkling. “You got the hots for Cain?”

  Julia’s head snapped back in shock. “Ah…not really.” The question flustered and caught her off guard. She could feel color invading her cheeks. “Cain’s an…interesting person.” She was unsure how best to describe him, which left her stumbling over her words.

  “Giving you the cold shoulder, is he?”

  “Something like that.” Julia made a quick decision. She would tell Bernie about her experiment. “We had something of a run-in recently. Cain took my newspaper and, well, it made me so mad I complained to a friend. Cammie’s got a big, generous heart, and she suggested the best way to deal with Cain was to kill him with kindness.”

  Her words hung in the air for an awkward moment before Bernie slapped his knee and laughed boisterously. “You’re killing Cain with kindness? Tell me, how’s that working for you?”

  “At the moment not so well, although I got a bit of encouragement this morning.”

  “Oh?” Bernie was all ears.

  “Cain bought me a latte from Starbucks.” She explained the circumstances of how he’d arranged it for her.

  The old man’s eyes widened. “He went to all that trouble? Seems to me you’re getting him good, girl.”

  “It isn’t like that.” Julia felt she had to explain. “I believe this is about as close as Cain’s going to get to apologizing to me for the way he acted yesterday.”

  Bernie’s face folded with concern. “What did he do yesterday?”

  Julia told him how Cain had accused her of following him and had basically warned her off.

  “Why’d he think that?”

  She explained that as well, which meant at this point she’d done the majority of the talking. That wasn’t so bad, except she’d come to learn what she could about Cain. Instead of being upset, Bernie chuckled. “In other words, you’ve been in his face for the last few days. I can just imagine his reaction to that. You’ve made escaping you nearly impossible for my boy. Wonderful. I love it.”

  “He doesn’t make it easy. I baked him cookies, which he refused.”

  Bernie shook his head. “Bet they were chocolate chip.”

  “They were.”

  “Thought as much. He won’t eat them, but I’ll gladly take them. Been a month of Sundays since I tasted home-baked cookies.”

  A good portion of the batch had gone into the break room at Macy’s, but she’d held back a dozen or more. Bernie was a dear, just the way the receptionist claimed. Julia decided then and there to make sure the remainder went to Bernie.

  “I delivered his newspaper to his apartment, too…until he demanded that I stop.”

  “Not even a thank-you?”

  “No.”

  Bernie grinned. “Seeing as he left you that fancy coffee drink, my guess is he’s struggling with what he feels.”

  “I make sure we leave for work around the same time each morning.” It wasn’t like Cain could avoid her. “But I won’t any longer.” She’d been determined earlier, but not after this latest episode.

  Bernie frowned. “Why not?”

  “Well, because…he thinks I’m stalking him.”

  “You listen to me, Julia. Don’t you change a single thing. If he doesn’t want to take the elevator with you, then he can always use the stairs.”

  Julia liked the sound of that.

  “Cain doesn’t like me much,” she confessed. “That’s fine. I didn’t really expect he would.” Although she wasn’t willing to admit it, she’d started to have feelings for Cain. Not necessarily romantic ones; she found that she wanted to know more about what made him tick.

  “Think you’re wrong about that,” Bernie said with a thoughtful look. “He’s attracted to you, but knowing my grandson, he’s fighting it tooth and nail.”

  “Doubt it. He said I’d be far more attractive if I wasn’t so cheerful in the mornings.”

  Bernie laughed so hard, Julia was afraid he was about to fall out of his chair. “That boy hasn’t got a romantic bone in his body. He probably thought he was giving you a compliment.”

  Julia wanted to clear up any misconception. “I’m not interested in Cain romantically.”

  Her comment sobered Bernie in quick order. “Why not? He needs a pretty girl like you in his life.”

  Rather than explain that Cain Maddox was the last person on earth that she’d date, she said, “He isn’t open to a relationship—not with me, at any rate.” And from what she’d seen of him, not with anyone.

  “He’s interested. I know my grandson. You might not realize, it but buying you that frou-frou coffee was a major concession on his part.”

  Julia thought it best to change the subject. “Can you tell me why Cain’s so…standoffish?” She searched for the right word. Standoffish sounded better than cold or mean-spirited, both of which she’d once considered him to be.

  Bernie’s amusement faded quickly. “The boy hasn’t had an easy life. His mother abandoned him when Cain was around four. Our son knew nothing about raising a child on his own so he brought Cain to me and my wife. Carl, that was our son, was brokenhearted after his wife left him. He never did recover emotionally nor did he bond with his son the way he should have. He felt guilty about that and after a while he stopped coming around.”

  “Oh.” Basically, both Cain’s parents had abandoned him.

  Bernie continued, “Cain needed his father. I tried to fill in as best I could, but it wasn’t the same.”

  Julia was beginning to feel terrible for judging him.

  “Then our son died in a car accident. Cain was about twelve at the time. He took his father’s death hard.”

  “Did he ever connect with his mother?”

  Bernie shook his head sadly. “Fortunately, my grandson was close to my wife, but then she died about three years after Carl.”

  “Oh dear.” Julia sank lower in the chair.

  “Her illness came at a crucial time in Cain’s life. He was going into high school, and until that point had always gotten good grades. I’m afraid I wasn’t much help, grieving as I was.”

  Julia placed her hand on Bernie’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s years ago now. One adjusts, although you never fully recover from the loss of a loved one. I sort of figured out a way to walk around that black hole in my life. I did the best I could, but it wasn’t near enough. Thankfully, he wasn’t the kind of teen to get into trouble or anything like that. He sank into himself, grew quiet and withdrawn. It’s like he’s afraid to let anyone too close for fear they’ll abandon him.”

  Julia was almost afraid to ask the following question. “Has Cain had any meaningful relationships?”

  “Romantic ones, you mean?”

  She nodded.

  Bernie rubbed the side of his face as he mulled over the question. “He doesn’t share a lot with me. After his grandmother’s death, Cain seemed to turn off his emotions, sort of the same way his father did when Gayle left him. I know there was this one woman a few years back. They worked together. Cain became a mentor to her, and then I suspect they became more. How much more I can’t say, but I do know Cain was serious about her for the simple reason he mentioned her a few times. It encouraged me that he was willing to open himself up. Then there was nothing and the light went out of his eyes.”

  “What happened?”

  Bernie shook his head. “I was never completely sure, but reading between the lines, I got the impression that this woman cozied up to him in order to gain his favor for a promotion. I assumed once she got what she wanted she dumped him.”

  Julia briefly closed her eyes. That explained a lot.

  “I’ve asked him about his social life, but he refuses to answer or quickly changes the subject.”

  Every ugly thought Julia had entertained about Cain vanished. Learning about his family and the woman who’d used him for her o
wn personal gain changed her perspective.

  “Now you can see why I think this kindness experiment you mentioned is exactly what my grandson needs.”

  “I feel terrible.”

  “Why?” Bernie asked.

  Julia was sure guilt was written all over her face. “I haven’t exactly been thinking kind thoughts about Cain.”

  “No worries. Those will come in time.”

  The comment struck her as odd. “They will? What makes you say that?”

  “You’ll see.” Right away he changed the subject. “By chance, do you happen to know how to play cribbage?”

  “I do. My grandfather taught me.”

  Bernie’s face lit up like a Christmas Eve candlelight service. “You got time to humor an old man?”

  “Sure. You think you can beat me?”

  “I can try.”

  Julia ended up spending an hour with Bernie, the cribbage board on the table between them. Bernie was happy to tell her story after story about Cain until she felt she knew far more about him than she’d ever imagined she would.

  “Cain ever mention his dog?”

  “You mean Schroeder?”

  “No, Bogie.”

  “No, I can’t say that he has.” But then they weren’t exactly on the most friendly terms.

  “Raised Bogie from a pup. Loved that dog like he was human. The two of them did everything together. Bogie lived until he was eleven, which is old for a large dog. Devastated Cain when we had to put him down. I wanted him to get another dog, raise him, too, but Cain refused. Said he’d had his dog.”

  “But he has Schroeder now.”

  “Schroeder was my dog. Couldn’t have him here at Manor House, so Cain agreed to take him. I know he sees to his needs, but I worry that Schroeder isn’t getting the TLC he used to.” He looked to her as if she could tell him what he wanted to know.

  “I can’t say, but I do know Cain walks Schroeder every day.”