Read A Christmas Homecoming for Free Online

behind them, he turned to her with a shaky smile.
    “Thank you,” he said in a whisper.
    She found herself suddenly absurdly emotional. Her own voice was husky when she spoke. “How are you going to do it?”
    “I have no idea,” he admitted. “But God help me, it’s probably beyond anyone else’s ability.”
    She moved a little closer to him and slipped her hand into his. She felt his fingers tighten, warm andstrong against hers. She wanted to say something encouraging, full of certainty, but it would have been a lie. He would have known it, too, so she said nothing, just held on to him.
    Caroline found Eliza delighted to help.
    “I’m sure we can find all sorts of things,” she said eagerly when Caroline asked her. “Just tell me what you need.”
    Caroline had already given it much thought. It was of great importance to her that she help Joshua, because their success mattered so much to the company, but also because she had a hunger to be a real part of the production, not merely an onlooker. Too often she had participated only in the role of Joshua’s wife, permanently on the fringes of the emotion and the companionship.
    “We need something to suggest Mina’s home,” she replied, and Eliza led the way to one of the box rooms where unused furniture was stored. “Chairs, perhaps? And a spare curtain, if you have one. It would suggest warmth, and height. I think that would be good. We can’t have anything too heavy to move.”
    “Oh, yes, I see.” Eliza opened the door to the boxroom and led the way in. It was piled with all kinds of discarded chairs, tables, cupboards, cushions, curtains, a couple of cabin trunks, and two or three carved boxes. There were also a lot of jardinières, lamp brackets, and some large and colorful vases that would not have fitted anywhere in the parts of the house Caroline had seen.
    Eliza saw her glance and give a tiny, rueful smile. “Choices I shouldn’t have made,” she said quietly.
    “I like them,” Caroline responded before she thought. The colors were warm and unusual.
    “So do I,” Eliza agreed, biting her lip. “But they don’t fit in with my mother-in-law’s taste.” She did not offer any further explanation, but it was unnecessary. The stamp of that dominant personality was heavy in every room Caroline had seen so far.
    “My mother-in-law’s taste would have been good for a funeral parlor,” she said sympathetically. “She made one quite naturally feel in mourning, whether they had lost anyone or not.”
    Eliza gave a little giggle, and then stifled it quickly, as if she felt she should not have been amused. She met Caroline’s eyes in a glance full of humor. “Just right fora vampire story, then, don’t you think?” she asked, then blushed.
    Caroline found herself liking this side of Eliza immensely. “Perfect. But thank goodness she’s safely in London with my younger daughter. If we could use that red vase with the flowers, it would give Mina’s house something warm and bright, and the audience would remember it and know immediately where the characters are when they see it again.” She looked around the room. “And we could use that dark curtain over there to suggest the crypt where Lucy is buried.”
    Eliza gasped, then burst into laughter, her hands flying to her mouth to quiet it.
    “I’m sorry, is that not … acceptable?” Caroline felt awkward.
    “No, no, it’s perfect!” Eliza shook her head, dismissing the apology. “It was my mother-in-law’s favorite. It took some five years to get it out of the withdrawing room. Charles and I still have disagreements over it.” The laughter vanished.
    “Would you rather not remind him of it?” Caroline asked. “Or maybe it would hurt his feelings, do you think? I mean, if we use it to suggest … a crypt?”
    “It’s perfect for a crypt,” Eliza said decisively. “It looks like grave hangings anyway. Let’s see what else we can find.”
    Caroline took a deep breath and