I held it in my palm longer than necessary.
At a bookstall near the corner, I found an old volume of poetry with a cracked green cover. When I opened it, a pressed sprig of lavender slipped from the pages and landed at my feet.
The bookseller, a tall man with kind eyes behind round glasses, bent to pick it up.
“Careful,” he said. “That book has secrets.”
“Don’t they all?”
He smiled. “The good ones do.”
His name tag read Thomas.
Something about him felt familiar, though I knew I had never met him. Perhaps it was the way he handled books, as if they were living things deserving patience. Arthur had done that too.
“Are you staying at the inn?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Room Seven?”
I looked up sharply. “How did you know?”
His smile faded into surprise. “Lucky guess. It’s the room most people ask about.”
“Why?”
He hesitated. “The view.”
But he looked away too quickly.
Before I could ask more, June appeared at my elbow holding a jar of cranberry honey. “Evelyn, tell this man ten dollars for honey is theatrical.”
Thomas laughed, the moment passing.
Still, as we walked away, I glanced back. He was watching me with an expression I could not read.
That evening, the lantern walk began at dusk. Dozens of people gathered by the harbor, each carrying a paper lantern lit from within by a small battery candle. The procession moved slowly along the seawall while carolers sang “Silent Night.”
My grandchildren called during the walk.
I stepped aside near a lamppost and answered the video call.
Eight faces crowded the screen.
“Grandma!” they shouted.
My chest filled so quickly it hurt.
There was Lily, twelve and serious, trying to keep the younger ones from knocking the phone sideways. Max with frosting on his chin. Sophie missing a front tooth. The twins waving candy canes. Little Oliver too close to the camera, showing me one nostril and half an eye.
“Merry Christmas Eve,” I said.
“Where are you?” Lily asked.
“At the ocean.”
“Why?”
Children asked the questions adults avoided.
I smiled gently. “Because Grandma needed a quiet Christmas this year.”