Jingle Bell Blessings by Bonnie K. Winn Page A

the length of the big dining room table and carried over to the second.
    Voices blended as platters were lifted, bowls were passed. Chloe couldn’t stop thinking about Perry’s words. And Evan’s. About how the company was having financial worries. She took a scoop of mashed potatoes for herself and one for Jimmy. “Mr. Perkin—”
    â€œPerry.” He speared a piece of ham, then held the heavy dish for her.
    â€œWhat would you think of Monday?” She picked up the meat fork. “For me to start helping out at the office?”
    â€œI’d think that was the best offer I’ve had in some time.”
    Next, Chloe accepted a bowl of stuffing, offering it first to Jimmy, then taking some for herself. Unable to stop herself, she glanced down the length of the table at Evan. Her thoughts were in confusion as she wondered about him, the real Evan.
    â€œPerry, is there something about Evan’s past? Something that…” She paused, seeing a sudden defensiveness in the man’s eyes.
    â€œWhat you want to know about Evan will have to come from him,” Perry replied, circling the wagons around Evan like Gordon had done.
    Chloe swallowed, wondering if Evan would ever tell her. Wondering if she dared ask.
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    Despite Thelma’s protests, everyone insisted on helping with the cleanup. Dishes were scraped and stacked next to the huge porcelain double sinks. They had filled the dishwasher, but it would take at least a dozen loads to accommodate all the dinnerware and serving bowls. It was more efficient tohand wash most of them. Besides, Thelma insisted the good china wasn’t to even get near the dishwasher.
    They all carried platters and bowls of food into the kitchen, lining the counters and filling the table. Since Thelma knew where everything should go, she was in charge of wrapping the leftovers. And there were plenty despite sending everyone home with an overflowing plate of goodies.
    But then Thelma had been cooking for days. She had roasted two golden twenty-five pound turkeys and a huge ham, prepared three kinds of potatoes, gravy, two kinds of dressing, yams, green beans, creamed pearl onions, homemade cranberry chutney, fruit salad, then baked plump yeast rolls and enough pies to outfit a bakery. Not to mention the slew of appetizers.
    They set up an assembly line to do the dishes. Evan insisted on washing, Chloe was assigned to rinse, then Ned dried and handed the stacks of plates to Gordon who shuttled them into the dining room. Thelma had instructed Gordon to place the dishes on the table and not to try putting things away where she couldn’t find them. Meanwhile, Jimmy ran underfoot, fetching and carrying.
    One side of the sink was filled with hot, sudsy bubbles, the other with rinse water. Evan wasted little time digging into the mountain of dinnerware. Chloe kept up, swiping plates and saucers swiftly through her side of the sink. A few soap bubbles collected in the rinse water and she reached for the plug to drain the sink and fill it with fresh water.
    As she did, Evan plopped a plate in her side of the sink. Realizing at the same moment, that it would fall to the bottom of the sink he grabbed for it. Having seen it coming, Chloe reached out at the same time. Evan’s fingers closed around hers as they touched the plate. Chloe froze.
    So did Evan.
    Time stopped as their fingers grazed, the water swishing around, encasing their hands in a liquid pool of sensation.
    â€œBe careful with my crystal serving dishes,” Thelma warned from behind them as she wrapped potatoes in plastic cling film at the counter.
    They didn’t jump apart. Instead, Chloe felt as though she moved in slow motion as she tightened her grip on the plate, then looked at the sink, the last of the draining water, the plug, anything but Evan.
    He turned, immediately busying himself with another handful of saucers.
    Ned and Jimmy talked in the background.
    Gordon thumped down