Read The Ghost of Christmas Present Online
Authors: Scott Abbott
The Ghost of Christmas Present (19 page)
Patrick lowered his head, and Ted's attorney took note of it.
“The plaintiff moves that the court make a decision now based on the defendant's own admission that he is not only unemployed, but financially desperate enough to dress up in a Christmas pageant costume and publicly beg for money.”
Ramirez nodded to himself and thought hard under a silence that hung in the courtroom like a ripening storm cloud.
Patrick sat in the witness box and looked to Ted. “I did it for Braden.”
“The witness will silence himself,” Ramirez said.
Still, Patrick looked at Ted. “I loved her, too.”
“I'll say it one more time. The witness will silence himself.”
“Every Christmas she'd wait for you to arrive at our door. Every New Year's, Easter, Fourth of July.”
“You are dangerously close to being held in contempt, Mr. Guthrie.”
Yet Patrick continued to address Ted, both men locking eyes. “Every performance, she'd search the audience for the sight of you, a man she always knew had been secretly denied the opportunity to be an actor himself, and now looked to deny her the same thing.”
“Mr. Guthrie!” Ramirez said as he slammed his gavel down. “Not one more word, sir. I warn you.”
Patrick sat in the witness box; all was lost except maybe the truth. “To thine own self be true,” he said to Ted, who finally looked away.
“Bailiff,” Ramirez said, “arrest Mr. Guthrie for contempt of court.”
The bailiff approached Patrick and lifted him by the arm to his feet. Ted did not watch as Patrick was cuffed and led out of the witness box and toward the prisoner's exit. Patrick was to the door and almost out of the court when Ted turned back.
“And it follows, the day the night,” Ted said.
Ramirez held up his hand for the bailiff to stop.
“Thou cannot then be false to any man.”
“What is this?” Ramirez could only ask.
“
Hamlet
,” Patrick and Ted said in unison.
“I know it's Shakespeare. They don't let you be a judge unless you've attended high school. I mean, what is
this
?” Ramirez looked at both Abe and the Nutcracker attorney. “What's going on between plaintiff and defendant?”
“This man isn't the defendant,” Ted said. “He's my son-in-law.” Ted looked at Patrick, tears filling his eyes. “I miss her so.”
Chapter 28
THE THIRD THURSDAY
I
t was the third Thursday of November, and Ted Cake was giving thanks.
Today there was turkey, cranberry sauce on the side, stuffing moist enough to not have to worry about strategically hiding it under a drumstick so as to not offend the chef, and a mince pie that Mila had sent from London.
And today there was also Braden at his left, Rebecca at his right, and Patrick at the table's other end.
“You have a quote for every occasion, Patrick. Please say grace.” Ted watched Patrick trade surprised glances with Braden and Rebecca, then nervously bow his head.
The old man smiled to himself and bowed his head as well.
Patrick hesitated, and then began. “I have lifted up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh help? My help cometh even from the Lord which hath made heaven and earth.”
Ted raised his head and thought for a second. “Shakespeare sonnet?”
Patrick gave Ted a wide grin. “The Book of Common Prayer.”
Braden chuckled. “Dad knew you'd put him on the spot, Grandpa. So he remembered the Lord helps those who help themselves.”
The whole table erupted into laughter as the plates began to be passed around, and the room began to fill not only with Thanksgiving, but with the spirit of many Christmases yet to come.
Acknowledgments
T
his book would not be in its present form without the generous support of Becky Nesbitt, the incisive and thoughtful editing of Holly Halverson, and the cheerful assistance of Jessica Wong.
Thanks also go to Wendy Heller, Esq., for her legal services and advice.
And finally, the kindness and encouragement of our literary manager, Carey Nelson Burch, has been invaluable.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL RAY
SCOTT ABBOTT
is a screenwriter whose first script,
My Father's Keeper,
earned him a place in the American Film Institute Screenwriting program, as well as semifinalist recognition in the prestigious Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His credits include the feature adaptation of Anne Rice's
The Queen of the Damned
as well as HBO movies
Winchell
and
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
, which earned both Stanley Tucci and Halle Berry an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL RAY
AMY MAUDE SWINTON
is a native of New Mexico. She has a theater background and is a certified sommelier. This is her first novel.
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COPYRIGHT © 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Scott Abbott and Allison Harris
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Howard Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Howard Books hardcover edition October 2012
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Abbott, Scott, 1962â
The ghost of Christmas present : a novel / Scott Abbott and Amy Maude Swinton.
p. cm.
1. Christmas stories. gsafd I. Swinton, Amy Maude, 1962âII. Title.
PS3601.B3925G48 2012
813'.6âdc23
2012005646
ISBN 978-1-4516-6039-5 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4516-6042-5 (eBook)
Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible, public domain, and the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.