Read Online Shadows on a Maine Christmas (Antique Print Mystery Series Book 7) by Lea Wait - Free Book Online

started looking through his mail. Maggie poured herself a Diet Pepsi and then followed Aunt Nettie.
    The elderly woman glanced through the cards, hesitated, and then slipped one envelope into her pocket before carefully arranging the others on the mantel among the pine boughs.
    Maggie smiled to herself. Even Aunt Nettie had her secrets. Perhaps an old admirer? Or a special card she’d kept to put in her own room.
    “The cards look very festive there,” she commented. “You’ve gotten so many you’ll need to find another place to put them soon.”
    “They do look nice, don’t they,” said Aunt Nettie, standing back a bit. “I always do enjoy getting Christmas cards. It’s like seeing all your old friends and family at the holidays, even if they’re not with you in person. Every name on a card brings back memories. At my age, what more can I ask for?”
    “Now, that’s not true!” said Maggie. “As long as you’re still alive, you’re still having experiences. Making new memories.”
    “You’ll see, the older you get. At every age you experience life differently. When you’re a child all you can think about is growing up. Every hour seems to last forever. Then you’re a teenager, like Doreen’s granddaughter, Zelda, full of horrible and wonderful emotions, all at the same time. You’re sure no one else has ever felt the way you do. Then, all of a sudden, you’re grown up. You still have hopes and dreams and all the crazy plans you had as a teenager, but now you also have responsibilities. Some people ignore the responsibilities and refuse to grow up. Some people ignore the dreams.”
    Maggie listened.
    “Neither of those ways works in the long run. You’re grown up a long time. You need those dreams to keep you focused. But the responsibilities you take on…they’re what earn you your place in this world.”
    “Do you still have dreams, Aunt Nettie?”
    “At my age, they’re more like hopes. But, oh my, yes.”
    “What do you hope?”
    Aunt Nettie paused. “I hope I’ll live a bit longer, but not be in pain. I hope when my end comes it’ll be quick, and I won’t be a bother to anyone. And I hope I’ll be around long enough to know what happens to people I care about. People who’re making decisions that will make a difference to the rest of their lives.”
    Maggie grinned at her. “You know a lot, don’t you?”
    “I keep my eyes and ears open, young woman. Life would be pretty boring if I didn’t. You’d be wise to do the same. And,” she looked directly at Maggie, “if an old woman can be forgiven one bit of advice. Don’t be foolish. You’ll regret the things you didn’t do, not the things you did. Now—what’s that man in the kitchen going to suggest we have for lunch on this snowy day? Or is he going to leave that to us women?”
    Lunch turned out to be grilled ham and Swiss sandwiches with potato chips. Will declared he’d become addicted to Cape Cod chips after his October trip to the Cape. Maggie grated carrots, cabbage, and a bit of red onion, and made coleslaw while he was grilling.
    After lunch she cleaned up while Will helped Aunt Nettie settle in for her afternoon nap. She’d almost finished when she heard Will on the telephone.
    Maggie couldn’t hear every word, but she was pretty sure he was talking to Jo Heartwood, making an offer on the Walter English house. She crossed her fingers that it was the right thing for him to do, and that the emotions of the moment hadn’t pushed her too far when she encouraged him. And that the only offer he was making to Jo was for the house.
    It truly was a majestic house, full of possibilities. His possibilities.
    “Offer made?”
    Will had come back into the kitchen.
    “I couldn’t help hearing you on the phone.”
    “Offer made, to Jo, anyway. She’ll call Walter’s realtor. If the deal looks as though it’ll go through I’ll have to get a lawyer,” Will said, almost as though he was talking to himself. “I don’t