Last Chance Christmas (Last Chance #5)(20)
Author: Hope Ramsay

Lizzy had no idea what the Hebrew words meant, but they had an interesting lilt to them as David and his family spoke them aloud.

David, wearing a small white skullcap, lit the candle that sat in the tallest place on a nine-armed candelabra. Only four candles had been placed in the candleholders. The candles were all different colors and looked totally festive.

David’s father leaned over and said quietly, “The English translation is: Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in the days of old at this season.”

David finished lighting the first candle. He blew out his match, then picked up the lit candle and handed it off to his younger brother Jonathan. Robbie, another brother who was only five, looked on with a solemn face.

“Why are there eight places on the menorah, Robbie?” Mrs. Raab asked the little boy as his older brother lit the remaining three candles from right to left.

“Because the oil lasted eight days instead of one. Because a great miracle happened here,” Robbie said with the same kind of fervor that Haley sometimes used when she was repeating a lesson from Sunday School.

Mr. Raab stepped in and explained. “Hanukkah is a celebration of a miracle that happened right after Judah the Maccabee reclaimed a temple from the Syrian king. The temple was cleaned and rededicated, but there wasn’t enough oil for the light in the tabernacle to burn for more than a day. By some miracle, though, the oil lasted for eight days, until more purified oil could be found.”

“Yeah, but the best story is the one about Judith,” David said. He looked up, a gleam in his eye. “She’s the one who—”

“I know the story of Judith,” Lizzy said. “We studied it in Bible camp this summer. She’s the one who got the evil general totally drunk and then beheaded him, right?”

“Bravo,” Mr. Raab said. “Not many people around here read their Old Testament.”

“Oh, but the best stories are in the Old Testament. My grandfather says that—” Lizzy stopped midsentence before she repeated Granddaddy’s colorful thoughts on the Old Testament.

“What does your grandfather say?” Mr. Raab asked.

Lizzy gave a totally lame shrug and said, “Oh, he always says that he likes the Old Testament better. And I suppose he has a point. I mean, out at Granddaddy’s golf course, the Old Testament holes are way more fun than the New Testament ones. Y’all are in for a treat when they get the old place fixed up. The plague of frogs is the best one.”

Mrs. Raab didn’t look amused by what Lizzy had just said. “Is there truly a hole at that golf course that depicts the plague of frogs?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“How?”

Heat crawled up Lizzy’s face. Why had she even brought Granddaddy up? “Uh, well, see, there are these frogs on either side of the fairway and they spit water.”

“C’mon, Mom, it sounds fun,” David said.

“Making fun of the Passover story isn’t right,” she said, then turned and stalked into the kitchen.

David moved away from the window where the menorah had been placed. “We let the candles burn until they go out.” He stepped a little closer, invading Lizzy’s space. Her stomach fluttered.

He whispered, “What does your grandfather really say about the Old Testament?”

She looked up into David’s dark, clever eyes. “Uh, well, he says it beats television for excitement.”

David smirked. “That’s not the complete truth, is it?”

She shook her head. “No. He says that if you’re looking for sex and violence, you’ll find it in the Old Testament.” Heat crawled up her body from her toes to her forehead.

Amusement lit up David’s eyes. “Awesome. He’s got a point. Have you read the Song of Solomon?”

Lizzy felt like she might go right up in a column of flame. “Yeah, in Bible class this summer.”

They might have stood there looking into each other’s eyes if it weren’t for Robbie. He tugged on the edge of Lizzy’s sweater. “Hey, you wanna learn how to play dreidel?” he asked.

“Sure,” Lizzy said. Robbie was a mini copy of David, with the same dark curly hair and dark eyes.

“Cool.” Robbie turned and ran toward the family room.

David muttered as he and Lizzy followed, “You may regret learning this game. How many pennies are you prepared to lose? Because Robbie may look young and innocent, but inside him, there lives a gambler with awesome luck.”

“Gambler?”

“Yeah, dreidel is all about gambling.”

Lizzy sat on the floor in the family room with David and his brothers. The boys quickly explained the object of the game, played with a four-sided top, each side printed with a Hebrew letter that provided instructions on what to do with the pennies in the pot. One letter meant do nothing, another meant take half, a third meant take all, and the fourth meant put a penny in the pot. Every player antied up a penny, and the gambling started.

Robbie might have been only five, but he totally rocked at this game.

Dinner was served about the time Lizzy had lost all her pennies and pocket change to little Robbie.

She sat with the Raabs at their dinner table, surprised that they didn’t say grace. They had prayed earlier, but not now. The food consisted of potato and onion pancakes served with sour cream and applesauce. It wasn’t exactly what Lizzy would have expected for a dinner. Latkes were kind of like breakfast hash browns. But she could understand why David and his brothers loved latkes. They were totally delicious.

She also appreciated why David and his brothers loved their holiday, even though the Raabs didn’t give elaborate or expensive gifts.

They didn’t seem to miss the gifts. And it struck her that even though David was missing out on Christmas, he had things that Lizzy didn’t have.

Like a mother.

Of course Lizzy wanted Mrs. Raab to approve of her, but she also totally understood why David’s mother was uncomfortable. Probably, if Momma was still alive, she would be uncomfortable with David. Lizzy didn’t remember Momma very well, but all the folks in Last Chance sure did. They were always saying that Momma had been a real dedicated churchwoman who volunteered for every cause and who had lived her life like a true Christian.

These accolades about her mother were almost always accompanied by negative comments about how Daddy never set foot inside a church.

Yeah. Momma would probably have disapproved of David, just like Mrs. Raab disapproved of Lizzy. Not that Mrs. Raab was mean. She went out of her way to be polite, but it was the kind of politeness that sets a person apart.

Despite the awkwardness, Lizzy still had a great time, and she wasn’t ready to leave when Daddy finally came to pick her up around nine o’clock. Thank goodness her father showed up at the door wearing something other than his policeman’s uniform. Mr. Raab was some kind of brainy structural engineer, and Mrs. Raab made it clear that she kind of looked down on people who never went to college, like her father.

“Come in, Chief Rhodes,” Mrs. Raab said. “Can I get you a cup of coffee? Some cookies?”

“No, ma’am. Haley’s out in the truck waiting.” Daddy turned toward Lizzy, who was getting her coat out of the hall closet. “You ready to go?”

“Uh, Chief Rhodes,” Mrs. Raab said as she put her hand on Daddy’s arm. “My husband and I would like just a short word with you.”

And with that, Mrs. Raab practically dragged Daddy back to the kitchen.

“Oh, boy,” David said. “Mom’s going to give him an earful.”

“An earful of what?”

David looked slightly guilty. “Mom isn’t too wild about us being friends.”

“Because I’m Christian and you’re Jewish?”

He nodded. “It’s totally stupid. The real problem is she’s not happy about being here. She liked living in Michigan. My aunts and uncles are there. The only reason we’re here is because Dad had so much trouble finding a job back home. Mom is always complaining about how we have to schlep all the way to Orangeburg to find a synagogue. And the synagogue there isn’t as conservative as she’d like. She also has to drive Jonathan there three times a week for Hebrew School or he’s not going to be ready for his bar mitzvah next year.”

“That’s a total bummer, but I don’t see why any of that means we shouldn’t be friends.”

“Yeah, if you were a guy, maybe. But Mom isn’t happy about me having a shikse girlfriend.”

Lizzy’s heart kicked against her ribs. “What’s that mean?”

“It means a girl who isn’t Jewish.”

“I’m not your girlfriend.”

David took her hand in his. His palm was a whole lot bigger than hers, even if he was about the same height. “You’re my friend and you’re a girl. In fact, you’re the best friend I’ve got in Last Chance. You may be my only friend.”

“No, that’s not—”

“Yeah, it’s true. I don’t fit in here. But you don’t ever make me feel unwelcome.” He grinned. “You even know the story of Judith. You scored a few points with Dad on that one. And probably with Mom, too, but she doesn’t want to admit it. I think they both expected you to come in here trying to sign me up for Jesus, or talking about how great Christmas is in comparison with Hanukkah. She was mad about me getting home late yesterday because we put up a Christmas tree.”

“Well, that makes your mother and my father both angry about that.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. My dad is a total grump this time of year. But here’s the thing, I’ve decided not to let grumpy people ruin my holiday. I think the lighting ceremony was totally awesome. I enjoyed the latkes. I’m glad I came.”

“So am I.” And before she could stop him, David leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek that made her insides go a little crazy.

Just then, the door to the kitchen opened, and David took a big step away from her.

“C’mon, Lizzy, let’s go. Haley’s waiting.” Daddy sounded angry again.

It was annoying. Between Daddy and Mrs. Raab, it sure did look like the adults in Lizzy’s life had lost the meaning of the words “holiday spirit.”

CNN was filled with political news, and Stone wondered why he even bothered to watch it. But he didn’t turn the TV off. He liked to sleep with the television on. The voices made him feel less alone when he climbed into bed at night. His bed was just about the loneliest place on earth.

He leaned back against his pillow and tried to find his way to sleep.

But he couldn’t.

He was angry at the Raabs for suggesting that he break up Lizzy’s friendship with David. He was worried to distraction about Haley and her angel and mortified by his stupid failure to realize that his daughter was trying to cheer him up tonight. He had a raft of daily worries, not the least of which was Jimmy Marshall and the lack of action on the part of the Allenberg Sheriff’s Department.