“Definitely.”
Ashley, the barista, called out Michelle’s order and she got up.
“I’ll see you later? Uh, do you want me to tell anyone who asks if I’ve seen you that I haven’t?” Yes, Michelle and I definitely should become friends.
“That would be amazing, thank you. I think your family is obsessed with me being a shiny new toy, and all the attention is a little much. I’d like a break.” I’d also like to avoid questions about my car and sympathetic looks and pats on the shoulder and hugs. I just needed to be on my own. I was used to being alone, and I felt like I’d been surrounded by people forever, even though it had only been a few days.
“You got it. I’ll also steer anyone away from the café if they ask about coming.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Seriously.”
“You got it,” she said, giving me a salute before she left. The old guy huffed again, annoyed by our talking voices. The teens were quiet, both heads pressed together over one of their phones, sharing a pair of earbuds. Cute.
I went back to my book and savored my latte. The combo of gingerbread and white chocolate was heavenly. I was going to have to start ordering this when I got back home. I fell into my book and got lost in the story. Movement made me look out the large front window that faced the street and little flakes of snow floated through the air and landed on the ground. The temperature had dropped enough that it was probably going to start sticking as the day wore on into night.
The moment was almost perfect. I had a Danish, I had coffee, I had a book, and I had a beautiful scene. This was very similar to what I’d imagined my Christmas vacation to be like. Ashley hummed softly as she cleaned the espresso machine and arranged the pastries and loaded the dishwasher.
The scene was sweet and peaceful, until someone walked through the door.
Laura.
I shoved my book in front of my face and wished there was somewhere for me to hide. The room was so small that there was no way she couldn’t see me.
“Hey, Colden,” she said, coming to stand in front of the table. “I have something for you.”
I glared at her over the top of my book.
“What?” I said. I didn’t want to see her. I had come her specifically to get away from her and the rest of her clan. Guess Michelle hadn’t been able to keep her away.
“Merry Christmas, Grinch.” She held up my car keys and jingled them before dropping them on the table where they clattered and made the older guy REALLY clear his throat in annoyance. I glared at the back of his head and then looked back at Laura in disbelief.
“What is this?”
“Your car is fixed. It’s back in the parking lot at the inn.”
I gaped at her.
“And who paid for it to get fixed?” Because that price Craig quoted me wasn’t cheap. It was more than my rent for one month.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been taken care of.” Oh, shit. My initial feeling was nausea.
“You didn’t,” I said, needing her to tell me this was a joke. I didn’t want them to do this for me. I didn’t want them to do anything for me.
“I didn’t, but Craig did, and I think you can probably thank my mom and maybe a few more of my relatives. I think it was a group effort. I thought you’d be happy. You were so upset about it earlier and now you don’t have to worry about it.” Was she serious? Now I was beholden to her family and I would have to find some way to pay them back. This was even worse than abandoning my car in a ditch somewhere, or pushing it into the ocean.
“I can’t believe you let this happen.” I snatched the keys from the table.
“You can’t believe people would actually care about you and want to do nice things for you? What the hell, Colden?”
The older guy slammed his laptop shut, packed up his bag, and huffed away, as if we’d driven him to it. Whatever.
“Your family isn’t my family. They don’t know me. You don’t know me. And now I’m beholden to them and I’ll always be haunted by that debt. I’m going to pay them all back, but now I have to think about it. Jesus, Laura, can’t you get that?” I closed my eyes and wanted to cry again. I could feel Ashley watching the exchange. She probably didn’t get a lot of entertainment in here, so she was getting a good show today.
“You’re being ridiculous. There are no strings with this. It’s done. It’s over. No one expects you to do anything. It’s a present. Can’t you accept that?”
“No,” I said, slamming my book shut. “You just don’t get it.” I shoved my book back in my pocket and put the dishes on the counter for Ashley.
“Thank you,” I said to her before I headed out the door, Laura following right behind me.
“Can’t you just leave me be? I came all the way up here to get away from you, to get away from everything, and I got fucked over!” I yelled right outside the café. I’d had it.
Several passersby glared or stared at me. I didn’t care if I looked like a jerk screaming in the streets. I was pissed and annoyed and no one was listening to me.
“Why can’t you all just leave me alone?” I kept walking and I didn’t know where to go because I didn’t live here, but I stomped down the road and I heard Laura following me.
“Did you not hear me?” I asked, whirling around.
“I don’t want you to get lost. You don’t know where you’re going,” she said. Okay, that may be true, but I wasn’t going to admit it.
“I don't care,” I said, turning around and starting to walk again. I kept going, fueled by the caffeine buzz from the latte. Laura stayed behind me. I stomped and walked and got snow in my hair and on my eyelashes and there might have been a few tears in there too. I walked and Laura followed until I was on a side road that was barely plowed. I trudged and Laura trudged behind me until the road ended in what looked like an abandoned cabin.
“Are you ready to go back yet?” Laura asked, and I finally turned around. I really wanted to sit down, but there wasn’t a place to do that, so I just leaned on one hip.
“I can’t seem to make any of you understand how weird it’s been for me to come up here and have all of you take care of me out of the blue. I’m just . . . it’s weird, Laura. It’s really weird for me. I think it would be weird for anyone to have a bunch of strangers treat her like one of their own. I’m not close to people. The only people I was ever truly close to left me or died.” I crossed my arms and tried not to cry again. I was so tired of crying. I’d done more crying in the past few days than in the past few months. Like, what the fuck was this place doing to me?
“I understand that it’s weird for you, but everyone really likes you and it’s probably a little weird, but it’s not unheard of. People give to strangers all the time. And you’re not a stranger. You’re Colden, and they’ve gotten to know you and they want to help you and this will make your life easier. Also, it’s the season of giving.” Our eyes met and I knew what else she wasn’t going to put words to: that her family had money and fixing my car was a drop in the bucket for them. I knew she was rich. She knew I knew she was rich, but it was just too uncomfortable to say out loud.
That was another reason I was so uncomfortable. The money. It mattered to me and it didn’t matter to them, which made me feel gross inside.
“Come back to the inn with me. It’s cold out here and I have to pee,” she said.
“There’s a tree right over there.” There were a lot of trees.
“Yeah, I need a bathroom. I went on a class camping trip once and I found out that there was just an outhouse and I called my mom to come get me. I had to lie and say I was puking my guts out to get her to come, but she did. Then I got in big trouble for lying and being a baby.” I couldn’t lie, that was a cute story, but it didn’t make me feel any better.
“Do you want to go back to the café? Have another cup of coffee? I’m really trying here, Colden. Can you give me something?” I clenched my teeth, but she did have a point. A tiny part of me knew that a lot of this was my i
ssue and not hers, but I was stubborn as fuck and would rather die than admit I was wrong.
“Fine. But you’re buying me another Danish.” I definitely needed another Danish.
Five
We made it back to the café without incident and Ashley was even more thrilled to see us. Probably hoping for more drama. I decided on a chai this time and Laura got us both Danishes.
The teens were gone, but there were a woman and someone who looked like he could be her son having coffee and laughing together. Sweet. There was a bitter taste on my tongue that I tried to wash away with a sip of the chai. It was creamy and full of spice. Ashley was a damn good barista. I hadn’t had drinks this good in a long time.
“Okay. I let you buy me a Danish. Are you happy now?” I asked. Laura picked up her latte. She’d gotten three shots in it.
“Maybe,” she said. “I’d be happier if you were okay.”
I stared at her.
“Why do you care about me?”
“Are we back to this again? You have a really warped idea of yourself, Colden.” I wanted to yell at her again, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to abandon my Danish. I shoved half of it in my mouth so I wouldn't make a snappy retort.
“I would like to be your friend, Colden. I really would. You’re funny and smart and really fucking good at your job. You see the magic in a submission that I might pass by because I can’t see past a few errors. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“Don’t act like you know me,” I said, through a mouthful of Danish. I didn’t like other people telling me about myself. Let me tell you about myself.
“I’d like to get to know you. If you’d let me.” I wiped my mouth and sipped my drink, thinking about it. She did push all my freaking buttons, that was for sure. And I was never going to get over what she’d done to me at work. But we had had a good time last night with the frosting fight, and I was starting to see that the face she put on at work might not be her true self. Laura bundled up her personality in layers and I had to admit, I was intrigued to find out what was beneath the façade I saw every day. Plus, I guess I owed her for helping out with my car.
“Fine. We can attempt to be friends.”
“Don't look so excited about it, Colden.” I liked the way she said my name, which only grated on me more.
“I’m so excited to be your friend,” I said sarcastically, and then flashed her a smile and two thumbs up.
“I’m beginning to regret my decision,” she said.
I was out of practice making friends, apparently. After the coffee was gone and I didn’t have anything to do with my hands, I didn’t know what to do. We sat there and kind of stared at each other.
“Sooo,” she said, drawing out the word.
“So,” I said. “Uh, what are your opinions on potatoes?”
She stared at me as if I’d spoken another language.
“Potatoes?”
“Yeah. You can do so much with them. Fries, chips, baked potatoes, gnocchi. It’s a versatile thing, the potato.”
She blinked a few times and then smiled slowly.
“Well, I prefer garlic mashed potatoes over potatoes with no garlic. Garlic makes everything better.” I hated that I agreed with her. “Ketchup or no ketchup on fries?”
“I’m pro-ketchup.”
“I’m anti-ketchup. Let the potatoes stand on their own merit,” she said.
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not sure if I can be friends with someone who doesn’t like ketchup.”
“I eat it on hot dogs. Just not on potatoes. That’s just wrong.” I growled and she laughed. “I didn’t know you had such intense ketchup opinions.”
“I have many opinions,” I said. “You sure you’re ready to hear them all?”
She grinned. “Bring it.”
We spent the next however long arguing about condiments. I’d literally never talked with another person about mayonnaise this intensely before. In the background, Ashley leaned on the counter while pretending to clean and listening to the whole thing. People came and went from the café, especially as it started to get dark, but Laura and I kept talking and arguing about which was the best brand of hot sauce.
A sound made me jump and she looked down at her phone.
“Oh, shit. Uh, I was supposed to be helping serve dinner apparently. I have to get back to the inn. You want to come with me, friend?” I made a face and put the dishes on the counter for Ashley.
“Thanks,” I said, as she grabbed them from me.
“Come back anytime,” she said in an overly perky voice.
“I will,” I said. There was an upside to having the Sterlings fix my car: now I could physically leave.
Laura and I shuffled through the slush to get back to the inn.
“Are you going to stay?” she asked me, and I didn’t have an answer for her.
“I don’t know. I feel like I have to now, to thank your family, but it will make me feel even more like a leech, eating your food and sleeping in your bed for free.” We reached the inn and stood there for a moment, looking at it all lit up.
“It’s really beautiful here,” I said, looking at her in the glow of the lights strung along the porch.
“I think I'm so used to it that I don’t see it anymore. It’s cool to see it through someone else’s eyes.” I could feel her watching me and I met her eyes.
“You’re lucky. To have them. To have this.” I gestured to the inn. I had nothing from my family. My dad’s house, the home I’d grown up in, had been taken by the bank when I couldn’t come up with money for the mortgage. I hadn’t been able to do anything to stop it.
“I guess,” she said, and I wanted to smack her. She had no idea what she had, which pissed me off. She had everything and she couldn’t fucking see it.
“I’m going to check on my car,” I said. I wasn’t ready to be faced with what I didn’t have in my own life yet.
“Okay,” Laura said, getting the hint. “I’ll let you know what the specials are when you come to dinner.” I didn’t want to come to dinner. I wanted to get in my car and drive and forget about this place.
I headed for my car and got in, turning it on. It purred to life like it was brand new. It even smelled new, as if it had been detailed. I looked around and even in the dark, I could tell it had been. Fucking hell. What was wrong with these people?
It was so damn tempting to back out of the driveway and head to Boston, but all my shit was in the room. I couldn’t leave my books, even though they’d probably mail them to me. Assholes.
Sighing and resting my head on the steering wheel, I closed my eyes and tried to figure out what my options were. Basically, unless I wanted to abandon my shit in the room, I had to get out of the car and go back to the inn and face all the people who had done something so kind for me.
Let’s get this over with.
“You’re back!” Michelle said, rushing over to me.
“I am?” I said. She had her hands out like she wanted to inspect me for injuries or something.
“Are you okay?” She seemed overly concerned.
“I’m fine?” I said, taking my jacket off and folding it over my arm.
“Oh, good. We were worried.”
“You were?” Had I missed something? I’d only been out in my car for a few minutes. Laura must have come in and told them where I was.
“I mean, I was.” Her cheeks turned red and I was beginning to suspect something when Minnie came barreling out of the dining room to crash into my legs and nearly knock me over.
“Oh my god, hi, yes, I missed you too,” I said, reaching down and scratching her with both hands. It was strange how used to a giant pig you could get in a short period of time.
“I think someone missed you,” Laura’s voice said. I looked up to find her dressed in the server uniform.
“Hey,” I said, even though I’d seen her just a few minutes ago.
“You coming to dinner?” she asked. Michelle coughed next to me.
“Yeah, just going to go upstairs and switch my boots out.” I blew Minnie a kiss and she ran back into the dining room.
“Your bed is all made,” Michelle called out, as I ascended the stairs.
“Oh, thanks.” I wondered if she’d made it up for me. “You didn’t have to. I can make it up myself.”
“It was no problem.” She seemed a little breathless and my suspicions increased.
“Thanks,” I said again, giving her a little wave as I kept walking up the stairs. Michelle having a crush on me was a complication I hadn’t seen coming. I wasn’t reading too much in that, wasn’t I? Sure, I’d been oblivious in the past, but that was pretty clear-cut. Yikes.
The suite I’d come to think of as mine had clearly been cleaned and when I went to the bedroom I found the bed made, a towel swan, and a plate of cookies on the pillow. That was as clear a sign as any. Sure, Michelle was cute, and fun, but I wasn’t into her that way and I didn’t think that was going to change. Plus, even if I was, how could it work? She lived and worked here and there was no way I could handle a long-distance thing. Hell no.
I blew out a noisy breath and switched my shoes and hung up my coat. If I wasn’t so hungry, I’d hang out up here longer, but I was hungry, so downstairs I went.
Nearly every head snapped in my direction and I had to look down to make sure it wasn’t that dream where you walk into a room and you’re naked and everyone else is clothed. Nope, I had jeans and a shirt on. Phew.
“Colden, it’s wonderful to see you,” Laina said, coming over and putting her hand on my shoulder. Ugh, I didn’t want to talk to her. The car thing was going to come up inevitably.
“Would you like to talk for a moment? Laura filled me in on how you felt about the car.”
“Sure,” I said, and we went back into the kitchen where Laura’s dad Antonio was singing and sautéing. She took me all the way to the back, near the laundry room and next to the walk-in freezer.
“It’s a little quieter out here,” she said, but tossed a glare at the sound of her husband’s singing.
“It’s a good thing I love him,” she said with a sigh, before returning to look at me.
Christmas Inn Maine Page 7