Bring Me Home for Christmas

been a few teachers who made major changes in her life with their encouragement and positive reinforcement. At the end of the day, Becca graduated from high school with good grades, though she was nowhere near competing for valedictorian. She left college with a 3.2 GPA—a completely respectable performance.
    She’d gotten very good reviews on her teaching, but the feedback that meant the most to her was from the kids, most of whom seemed to strive to impress her. And there were parents of second graders who thanked her. She took that very seriously.
    The three of them worked on homework until Lorraine Thickson came to collect her kids. Her coat thrown over her pink waitress uniform, a great big purse hanging on her shoulder, she came into the conference room. “Ellie said you were working on homework,” she said by way of greeting.
    “That we are,” Becca said. “What a smart girl you have here. We’ve hardly started on this week’s work and she’s almost ready for that spelling test!”
    “Oh, that’s so nice!” she said, holding her arms open to her daughter. She leaned down and said, “Go find your brother and get your coat, honey.”
    Once Megan had run off, Danielle following her, Becca faced Lorraine. “I’m going to ask Ellie if we can do homework together after school again. Would that be okay with you?”
    A look of surprise and hesitation came over her face.
    “I have nothing to do except elevate my leg,” Becca said. “And they’re such fun. I should probably ask Christopher if he wants to join us, too.”
    “That’s awful nice of you,” Lorraine said shyly. “The teacher keeps asking me to work with her, but it’s almost impossible. I work five to five and—”
    Becca’s jaw dropped. “Five to five? A.M to P.M?”
    “The overtime comes in handy. My husband had a job injury and he’s home with the two little boys all during the day. By the time I get dinner and some chores done, Megan’s off to bed. I know she needs the help and Frank just doesn’t have the patience.”
    “She doesn’t need that much help,” Becca said, shaking her head. “She’s smart. She just needs a little encouragement. I looked at her papers—she’s doing fine. Nothing on her papers that would alert me to a learning problem, though I only saw about a week’s worth.”
    “She’s had a very hard year,” Lorraine said.
    “She told me about her dad. I’m sorry—it must be hard. I hope things will go better soon.”
    “Thanks,” Lorraine said. “That’s appreciated.”
    “So? Is it okay? Can we have a little homework club after school?”
    “If it’s okay with Ellie, I sure wouldn’t mind. In fact, I’d be so grateful.”
    “I’ll check that out. I have a feeling she’ll be okay with it.”

    Becca met Denny for dinner at the bar. Since there were no real cooking facilities in his little efficiency and given the fact that he helped out at the bar on most of his evenings, it made sense he would take almost all his meals there. During Thanksgiving week, the place had been fairly quiet—townsfolk had family obligations. But on this Monday night after the holiday, there were quite a few of the locals. Mel was there; Becca learned that it was pretty common for Jack’s wife and kids to have at least a couple of dinners a week there, often more. Jack’s sister, Brie, and her husband, Mike, turned up with their little daughter, making it a family affair.
    And there were others—Paul Haggerty and his family. Denny’s landlady, Jo, and her husband. The preacher stopped by for a cup of coffee before heading home. Connie and Ron from the store across the street came out for dinner. Paige stole out of the kitchen with Dana and Chris to sit with their friends. There were a couple of ranchers who dropped by. The owner of a local orchard stopped in for a beer. The doctor Mel Sheridan worked with came over for a few minutes before going home for his dinner. Each time the door opened, Becca could see the gentle glow from the giant tree outside.
    Becca met each one. When Denny introduced her as his girl, a teacher from San Diego, chatter started.
    “We been trying to get a teacher around here for a long time,” someone said.
    “We?” Jack asked. “Old Hope McCrea was looking but I don’t know that anyone else was, and Hope’s gone now.”
    “Did she move?” Becca asked.
    “In a manner of speaking,” Jack said. “She’s gone to the other side. Dead.”
    “Oh,” Becca said.