Christmas Inn Maine

by Chelsea M. Cameron

  “I’m Lillian,” she said. “Laina is my granddaughter and Laura is my great-granddaughter.” Holy shit. I had no idea how old she was, but if she was a great-grandmother she was probably up there. Her age was actually kind of intimidating.

  “I'm Colden. I, uh, work with Laura, but that’s not why I’m here. That’s just a coincidence.” I wasn’t sure how much, if anything, Laura had told her about me. Probably nothing nice. It was surprising that they would be so nice to me.

  “Well, it’s so nice to meet one of Laura’s friends from the big city. I haven’t been to Boston in years.”

  I didn’t correct her that I wasn’t one of Laura’s friends. “Do you mind if I sit down? The bones are giving me a hard time.” She sat with a flop, and I worried she might tip over and fall right off the chair, but she got herself situated without incident.

  “So, Colden, tell me about yourself.” She leaned back in her chair and regarded me with those eyes that reminded me far too much of Laura. I’d never seen such a strong family resemblance before. Those were some strong genes.

  “There’s not much to tell?” I said, hoping that would be that. I had many methods to scare people from not asking too many personal questions about myself. I wondered how many I’d have to go through with Lillian before she’d give up.

  “Oh, I don’t believe that for a second. The most interesting people always turn out to be the ones who think they’re the least interesting. Come now, indulge an old woman.” She patted my hand and winked.

  “You’re not that old,” I said, and the corners of her eyes crinkled in a smile.

  “You’re sassy, I like that. Now tell me where you come from, Colden.” I didn’t want to, but for some reason I started telling her that I was from just outside Boston and had always wanted to get to the big city, but hadn’t been able to until college. Before she could ask about my parents, I told her that my mom had left me. I had no idea where she was and it didn’t matter. I’d burned that bridge, drained the river, and salted the earth.

  “I’m so sorry that she did that to you. No one deserves to have their mother leave like that.” I appreciated her words and they almost made me want to cry. This was why I didn’t talk about my parents.

  Before I could get into the sob story about my dad, Laura came over with my food.

  “Nan, what are you doing?” she said, turning to her great-grandmother.

  “Just chatting with your friend, Colden. She seems like a very nice girl.” Lillian motioned for Laura to lean down and she whispered something in her ear that made Laura’s face go red. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to know what she’d said. Laura stood up and then stumbled away as Lillian cackled.

  “You young things don’t know how much you’re wasting,” she said, standing up. I leapt up to help her, but she waved me off.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Hopefully you figure it out before you get too old. Come on, Minnie.” She patted her leg and Minnie popped out from under the table and ran in circles around Lillian’s feet. I hoped the pig wouldn’t trip her, but she moseyed on back over to her table and I looked down at my food. Time to enjoy it and then get the fuck out of here.

  I saw with surprise someone had cleaned my car off when I dragged some of my luggage back out to throw it in the trunk. They’d even scraped the windshield. I wondered who had done that, because I definitely needed to thank them.

  I went back to the front desk to talk to Michelle and tell her I was leaving.

  “Thanks so much for the room and for everything. I really should have fought harder to pay, but I’m a little bit broke, so just tell everyone thank you, again. From the bottom of my cold and rotted heart.”

  That made her laugh.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little bit longer? We’ve got the room. And you’re new and shiny and from the city. Tell me about the city.” She put her elbows on the desk and leaned her chin into her hands while sighing wistfully.

  “It’s not that great,” I said.

  “It has to be better than here.” This place didn’t seem so bad, but I’d been here for less than two days. I could imagine it could get pretty monotonous after a while. And seeing the same people all the time and having to make small talk with them? Kill me now.

  “Well, uh, thank you and I’m going to get on the road. Long drive.”

  “It was really nice to meet you. You should come back sometime.”

  “You could always visit me in Boston,” I suggested.

  “Someday,” Michelle said with another sigh. I waved goodbye to her and looked around for Minnie, but didn’t see the pig running around and didn't hear her. I also didn’t see or say goodbye to Laura for obvious reasons. I wasn’t going to see her until after Christmas and that was fine with me.

  It was a relief to get in my car and fire up the GPS in my phone to take me away. Until I turned the key and nothing happened.

  “Fucking fuck,” I said, trying again. Nada.

  I sat there for a second and thought about laughing or crying or doing both at the same time, but I didn’t. I tried the car one more time and then went back into the inn.

  “Uh, so my car won’t start?” I said to Michelle, who’d been scrolling something on her computer.

  “Oh no, that’s awful. Do you have AAA?”

  “That would be no.” I’d always thought about getting it, but never had. Now I was kicking myself.

  “Listen, I bet someone here has jumper cables and could help. I might even have some in my trunk.” Michelle put on her coat and we went back to out to my car and for the next half hour, she tried to jump my car. We’d get it started and then it would run for a few moments and then die. The check engine light came on and I was beginning to think there was something else wrong with it other than the battery.

  “Well, fuck,” I said, taking the keys out. I looked at Michelle and shrugged.

  “Thanks for trying.”

  “You can call the local tow company. They might be able to take it somewhere to work on it. The closest place is Dave’s, but he’s on vacation for the next two weeks, so you might have to get it towed to town.” Now I was ready to scream.

  I shut the door of the car and wondered how long it would take to walk back to Boston.

  “Come on inside and take a minute to get warm and come up with a plan.” Michelle ushered me back inside and put me in a chair by the fireplace.

  A few moments later, a cup of tea was pushed into my hands and then I was looking into the face of Laina.

  “Michelle told me about your car trouble. Listen, how about you stay another night here and we can see about getting your car to town to get it fixed.” I was suddenly incredibly tired. “Your room is still available. Why don’t you go up and rest for a little while?”

  I just nodded and let her take me upstairs and shove me back in the room.

  “We’ll bring your luggage up right away.”

  Whatever. I went into the bedroom and flopped facedown on the bed. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. It had crown molding and beautiful tiles. They’d really made this place gorgeous.

  There was a knock at the door and then someone let themselves in. I rolled off the bed and stumbled into the main room.

  “Oh, hey,” I said as Laura rolled my suitcases into the room.

  “Can you just make a decision about staying or going and stick with it, so I don’t have to do this again?” She panted a little, putting her hands on her hips.

  “I didn’t mess up my car on purpose,” I said. “What happened to the other guy who moved my bags?” Laura rolled her eyes.

  “That would be my useless cousin, Griffin, who always seems to disappear when any work needs to be done. He’s probably smoking weed in the barn right now.” That sounded about right.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing.

  “It’s fine. It’s fine. So, you’re staying again?”

  “Looks li
ke it. I’m just . . . I’m so fucking tired.” I didn’t mean to say that to her. I didn’t like showing any kind of vulnerability with Laura. I was afraid she was going to use it against me, not that she ever really had. Mostly because I was never vulnerable in front of her.

  She stood there for a second, as if she didn’t know what to say.

  “Sorry,” I said again, and cringed. I didn’t like all this apologizing. It was annoying.

  “It’s fine,” she said again. “I just didn’t expect to see you here.” I mean, same.

  “This is a beautiful place. Has your family always owned it?”

  “Yup. Six generations.”

  “Your great-grandmother is hilarious.” I was not doing great at making small talk with her and I should probably cut it out.

  “She is,” Laura said, looking out the door as some people passed by in the hallway. “I have to get back to work. These rooms won’t clean themselves.” Shit, she had to clean rooms too? That sucked.

  “Are you getting paid?” I asked, which was probably rude, but whatever.

  “Not nearly enough,” she said, closing the door behind her.

  There was a knock at my door a few minutes later and I wanted to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob so I could have a mental breakdown in peace. I’d burst into tears the second Laura left. I was tired and stressed and just . . . everything was hitting me that I was totally and completely alone.

  My initial plan to be cozy and only rely on myself was falling apart and I didn’t know what to do. I’d been lonely before, but it was easier to be lonely when you were alone and not surrounded by people. Like pressing your face against a window. I hated it.

  I opened the door and found Laina there.

  “Just wanted to check on you. I went ahead and called a local guy who sometimes works on cars. He’s a good guy, second cousin. He’s around to see his family and he’s going to come over and look at your car and make a diagnosis. Might take him a while to fix it, though, because he might need parts.” I sniffed and hoped she didn’t see my red eyes.

  “Thank you,” I said, and Laina came into the room.

  “Do you need a hug?” she asked, and the request was both so weird, and so welcome, that I just nodded and she enfolded me into her arms.

  I couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged me. It might have been at my father’s funeral three years ago. What an utterly depressing realization.

  “It’s okay, we’ll get it sorted out,” Laina said, as I breathed in her perfume.

  “Thank you,” I said and sniffed, trying not to get snot on her beautiful designer blazer. I pulled back and she reached for a tissue that was hidden in a porcelain box that had a painting of a ship on it.

  “You’re welcome to stay here with us, always. I know there is a little tension between you and Laura, but don’t let that run you away. You can stay as long as you want, no charge.”

  I tried to protest, but she put her hand up.

  “It’s not charity. If you want to do something, we always need help with laundry and folding napkins and carrying bags and vacuuming carpets. We always need extra hands to help around here.” I could imagine. Just the cleaning alone must be a time-consuming job.

  “I can fold napkins,” I said, blowing my nose quietly.

  “Great. How about you meet me in the dining room in fifteen minutes and we’ll go over some things.”

  She squeezed my shoulder with her hand and gave me a motherly look. At least I thought it was a motherly look. I hadn’t really seen one in a long time, if my mother had ever looked at me like that. She’d left when I was so young that all my memories of her were hazy. I’m sure there were pictures somewhere, but I didn’t want to look at them.

  Laina left me again and I went to the bathroom to wash my face and get myself together before I went downstairs.

  Laina took me into the laundry room in the back where there was a long table for folding various items like towels and napkins and so forth.

  “This is Gen, my niece, and her brother Griffin is around here somewhere.”

  Gen looked to be about thirteen and was diligently folding napkins, her tongue between her teeth.

  “Hi, Gen,” I said with a little wave. She didn’t look up.

  Laina tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up. That was when I noticed the earbuds. Gen pulled them out and smiled.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Gen, this is Colden, and she’s going to help you fold. Is that okay?” Gen nodded and then went back to her meticulous folding.

  “Gen is autistic, and she might need to stim, just so you know.” I blinked at Laina.

  “She needs to flap her hands sometimes, or move her body. Okay?”

  “Got it,” I said.

  Laina sat me in a chair across the table from Gen and put a stack of white napkins in front of me.

  “We put them through the ironing machine and then fold them. I can teach you how to use that if you end up staying for a while.” I could tell that she was trying to convince me, but I was still on the fence. I wanted to see what was up with my car before I made any other decisions.

  Laina showed me how to fold the napkins and made sure I could do it a few times without help to her standards before taking a call and saying she would check on me later.

  It was pretty quiet in the laundry room, with the exception of the constantly grinding of the washers. One of the washers finished its cycle and a few moments later Laura walked in.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Working for my keep,” I said. I didn’t think I’d done a bad job with the folding. I had a nice stack of napkins going.

  “You’re working?” She didn’t seem to be able to process me in the laundry room. She walked over to the washer and pulled a load of sheets out and threw them in the dryer before turning it on.

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to feel like I was mooching, or getting something for free. Your mom told me I could help.”

  Laura shook her head and sighed.

  “I can’t believe her. Okay, fine. Whatever.” She left the room and I went back to folding. Laura’s hostility toward me seemed to be growing by the hour and I wondered what would happen when she exploded. Hopefully I’d be on my way out before that happened.

  Michelle came back to the laundry room and told me that Craig had looked at my car and wanted to talk to me. Great. I left the napkin folding and walked out to the lobby of the inn.

  Craig looked just how I expected a man from Maine to look: flannel and a fisherman’s knit hat.

  “Hi, Craig, I’m Colden,” I said, shaking his hand.

  “Nice to meet you. So, I would need to get it on the lift, but I think you’ve got a couple of problems, in addition to needing a new battery.”

  My stomach dropped to my feet.

  “I need a new battery?” I said. I didn’t know how much that was going to cost me.

  “Yeah, definitely at least that. I can drive to a parts supplier and get one for you, but that might not fix everything. I can tow it today and get a look at it. I’ve got a buddy that has a garage that will let me use his lift and tools. I can’t take it until tomorrow, though.” I wanted to cry again, but seriously, this guy was already going out of his way to help me.

  “How much is this going to cost?”

  Craig shuffled his feet and cleared his throat.

  “How about you don’t worry about that right now?” How could I not worry about it? Just the parts alone were going to be expensive, and then there was the labor? Fucking hell.

  “Listen, it might be fine. I just need to check it. Don’t panic before we know all the answers.” There was something about his voice that steadied me. He seemed like a good guy, like Laina said.

  “Okay,” I said, because what else was I going to do? I wasn’t good at any of this stuff. I didn’t know what to do. I was just going to have to trust him.

  Laina appeared at my shoulder and I turned to her.

>   “Hi Craig, thank you so much for coming,” Laina said, and I wanted to cry again, but I wasn’t going to let myself. I’d already cried too much at this place. Too much meant at all. I didn’t like crying in front of anyone, because then they’d try to take care of you and that was just the worst. I just wanted people to leave me alone. That hug I’d shared with Laina earlier had been a fluke and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. I blamed all the holiday cheer for weakening my defenses. I needed to freeze my heart up again.

  “No problem. I’m just going to come back and tow the car tomorrow and once I get it on the lift, I can let you all know what’s going on in there.” He gave me a smile, but it wasn’t reassuring. This was going to cost me, I knew it.

  Laina pulled Craig aside and they talked in hushed tones. Like I wasn’t even there. Craig looked back at me and then to Laina and nodded.

  “I’ll get back to you tomorrow,” Craig said to me and then shared some more words with Laina before exiting.

  “I’m so sorry about your car, but I’m not sorry that you’ll be staying with us for a little longer. It’s almost lunch, are you hungry?” I was and I let her lead me into the dining room and put me in a seat. There were a few people sitting at tables and drinking coffee and even a few people playing board games. I didn’t even remember the last time I’d played a board game. Probably with Dad.

  I stopped that train of thought before it could pull out of the station and looked out the window instead. The snow sparkled in the sun like diamonds. A few people were outside near the gazebo, walking and pausing to throw snowballs at each other. One of them kind of looked like Griffin, the slacker.

  “Hi, are you Colden?” a voice asked, and I looked up.

  “Yes?” I said, wondering who this was and how they knew my name.

  “Hi, sorry, I’m Greta Brown. I’m Laura’s cousin.” Yup, there was that resemblance again. Like they’ll all been made at the same beautiful factory.

  “Hi,” I said. Was I going to be subjected to meeting the entire Sterling family?

  “I just wanted to introduce myself. You met my daughter, Gen, and my son, Griffin.” These people had a thing with names all starting with the same letter, didn’t they?