Annabelle raised an eyebrow at him, a little annoyed that he was trying to ‘handle’ everything. “I’ll call when I get to the store. No one will get here that quickly in this weather.”
“Then, I guess we should get on our way.”
The drive from Meg’s house back into town was uncomfortable, especially because Annabelle couldn’t think of a single thing to say, nor could she stop fidgeting in her seat. Every so often, she would glance at James out of the corner of her eye and try to analyze the man he had become.
She could still see traces of the teenager she remembered, especially in the way his forehead creased when he concentrated on the snowy road, and the way he scrunched up his nose to propel his glasses back to their natural resting place. His hair fell in the same, almost windswept pattern, and his shoulders were still broad and strong, as though he could carry the weight of the world without flinching.
But there was something different about him, and it wasn’t the lifelong Vermonter beard or the crinkling laugh lines along his eyes. It was a sadness that had never been there before, as if he had lived an entire lifetime since they had parted. Meg knew better than to talk to Annabelle about James or tell her stories about his life, but she had heard through the social media grapevine that his wife had died in a car accident around Christmas. The only thing that upset Belle more than the idea of James being married was the idea of him being left alone in such a horrible way, but she knew the last thing he would have wanted was to hear from her. So, she had said nothing, and more years had passed.
And now, she was in his car, driving down a snowy road she knew all too well, trying with all of her might not to make eye contact with him. James made it easy, because he wasn’t looking at her either; not until they drove onto Pine Street and he pulled to a stop in front of her grandmother’s shop. Meow & Then was dark and Annabelle took a deep breath before she turned to him without actually looking at him.
“Thanks for the ride,” she mumbled.
James nodded. “Do you want me to come in with you? If the power hasn’t been on since this snow started, there’s a chance it will need a jump in the basement. The grid on this block can be a little finicky.”
Annabelle couldn’t help but smile. “You sound like an electrician. Is that what you do now?”
He shook his head but didn’t turn to her. “Nope.”
When he didn’t say anything else, Belle sighed with a shrug. “Alright, I guess.”
She jumped out of the car and as soon as her chic, but useless, boots hit the slippery layer of snow on the sidewalk, her feet slid out from under her and she crashed to the sidewalk with a thud.
“Ow,” she groaned as she rubbed her back, the snow beneath her already soaking through jeans. When James stopped in front of her, he didn’t even bother to hide his grin.
“Don’t they have snow in New York?” he said, offering her his hand. She ignored him and pushed herself off the ground without help.
“Nothing like Vermont snow. I guess I forgot,” Annabelle grumbled as she brushed what she could off her jeans before fishing the shop keys out of her jacket pocket. Now upright and with the keys in hand, Belle took one measured step toward the store and that was all it took for her to start sneezing. They came on small and cute at first, but within a few seconds, she was doubled over, sneezing so hard, she thought she was going to fall down again. At first, the strength of her sneezes drowned out the sounds around her, but then, she heard the very distinctive sound of James’ bellowing, belly laugh.
When he finally caught his breath, he managed to get out, “I forgot about those,” before losing it all over again.
“I’m so glad my,” she paused to sneeze, “misery amuses you.”
Annabelle wrapped her scarf around her face when she opened the door in an attempt to block out the dander until the allergy pills kicked in; Meg had an open-door policy for her customers’ pets and even though she cleaned the place every day, there was more than enough cat hair to go around. Belle’s eyes started to water as she tried to turn on the lights, but when she flicked the switch nothing happened. And she realized the shop was freezing.
“Is this what you were talking about?” she asked, her voice muffled by the fabric of her scarf. But James was already going down the stairs into the basement before she could finish her sentence. While she waited for him to come back, Annabelle walked around the store, looking at all the brightly-colored cat toys and organic treats her grandmother stocked. She never spent much time here as a kid, but she could remember the boxes of samples Meg would bring home to Henry, for “research and development purposes,” she would say.
Belle let out another huge sneeze just as James walked back up the stairs and into the shop.
“How did you live in the same house as Henry for all of those years?” he asked, producing a small packet of tissues from his pocket and held it out to her. Annabelle took it sheepishly and wiped her rapidly-reddening nose.
“Allergy shots. You don’t remember?”
James looked down at his feet and shrugged. “I guess not. There’s a lot to forget.” Annabelle flinched, unsure how to respond. Luckily, he didn’t give her the chance. “I’m going to have to call my guy to come replace the fuse box. That’s outside of my skillset. It might take him a while to get here with this weather, so…”
Annabelle raised an eyebrow. “You have a guy?”
“I guess there’s a lot you don’t know.”
4
James
James and Belle walked outside of Meow & Then, and James gave her some space to lock the door behind them. In reality, he wanted some space for himself, so he could try and decide what to do next. He knew he couldn’t just leave Belle standing outside the shop until his electrician showed up, but every minute he spent standing next to her was like torture. If he could, he would just plop her in Bean There, Done That up the road, but he could see from where they were standing that their power was out too. One of the only places that seemed to be lit up on the whole street was the Inn, which meant he had no choice.
“Do you want to come and have lunch at the Inn?
Annabelle snorted. “Is every other place in town closed?”
James furrowed his brow. “Kind of. What’s with the sneer?”
“That place was a dump when we were high school. Did it really get better with time?” Belle giggled in a way James used to find cute, but now… he was trying to hide the ever-so-slightly bubbling anger he was feeling. Afraid he might say something he would regret, he just turned around and started walking in the direction of the Inn. At first, he didn’t think she was coming, but then he heard her boots crunching up the sidewalk behind him.
When they got to the Inn and James opened the door, the rush of warmth from the fireplace felt like a hug from an old friend; he leaned into it with a grateful sigh. It also made him happy to see that his lunch staff was busy and bustling around, getting the place ready for the crowd of locals that would likely rush the doors when they noticed that the restaurant still had power. It happened a lot when the weather was bad, especially because James kept a couple of generators hooked up out back, just in case. He never wanted anyone to go hungry in the winter and would often deliver meals to people who were stuck in their homes because of the snow. He didn’t think it would be that bad, but it was better to be prepared.
Annabelle walked in to the restaurant behind him and kicked off her boots on the mat. He could hear her chuckling as she looked around.
“This is crazy. It’s like walking through a time portal. Nothing has changed. I wonder what poor sucker bought this place after the last owner managed to pawn it off.”
James rolled his eyes as he hung up his coat near the register. He was just about to put Belle out of her misery when Addison came running out of the kitchen. She looked like she’d run a marathon twice over. Her long dark hair was piled up in a messy bun on the top of her head and the light blue eyeliner she’d had on earlier had kind of melted off
to the sides of her face, making her look like she had stayed out a little too late the night before.
“James, I thought you were never coming back. I was the only one here when the truck came, and I had to put everything away myself and it was almost all freezer stuff and there is like, no room in there. And it’s so cold and I’m so tired and I think I’m going to die.”
James groaned and swept his hands over his beard. “Dangit, Addison, I’m sorry. Why didn’t you call me? Meg Harrison broke her leg and needed a ride home and then…” James turned back to Annabelle, who was standing a few feet behind him, her eyes wide with the realization that he owned the Middle Road Inn. “Addison Murdoch, this is Annabelle Harrison, Meg’s granddaughter. We… went to high school together.”
Addison tilted her head to the side as she analyzed Annabelle. “Oh, that’s fun! Were you like, a senior when James was a freshman?”
James knew he was going to regret it, but he snort-laughed anyway. Belle’s face settled into a deep scowl and she glared at Addison. “Not quite.”
Addison shrugged with a grin. “I guess I wouldn’t remember anyway. I was in elementary school. James, can I clock out? I don’t know if I can handle a lunch shift if everyone on Pine Street shows up to eat.”
He waved her away after confirmed there were enough people to cover, especially if he took a few tables. “You’re fine. Go home. And drive carefully. The streets are a mess.”
Addison smiled brightly at James, glowered at Belle, then spun around and left through the kitchen. Once she was gone, James turned to get the register running and found Belle just staring at him, confusion coloring her face. Finally, he got sick of the staring and yelled, “What, Annabelle? What?”
“You own the Middle Road Inn? You? You own the Middle Road Inn?”
“You can emphasize it as many different ways as you want; it doesn’t change anything.”
Belle sat down on one of the bar stools and shook her head incredulously. “I don’t understand, James. You never had any interest in food. I mean, you liked eating it. You pretended to care when I talked about it. But you never cooked for me. Not once.”
James knew what he was about to say was harsh, but any other answer would have been lie, and he never lied.
“Falling in love changes a person, Belle.”
He could see Annabelle fighting to hide whatever she was feeling, but he knew the ever-so-slight twitch in her cheek meant she was upset. “Oh,” was all she said. The last thing James wanted was to get into a conversation about Marisa, so he was just as happy to distract himself with the restaurant until Dave, the electrician, showed up.
“Can you wait out here for a minute? I want to see what is going on with the freezer.”
Belle nodded, her cheek still twitching. Normally, dealing with the administrative stuff was his least favorite part of running the Middle Road, but right now, he was happy to have a chance to walk away and breathe some air that didn’t carry the faint hint of Annabelle’s perfume. When he got into the kitchen, his chef, Raphael, wiggled his eyebrows and waved a wooden spoon at him.
“You found yourself a good one, James!”
James shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“Your girl out there. That’s Annabelle Harrison! I read about her new restaurant in the paper. I didn’t think she came back here all that often. Heck, I didn’t even know she was from Wintervale until I read the article! Why is she here? Are you guys—”
James threw his hands up in the air. “No! Raph! Her grandmother owns the cat store and broke her leg. She’s back for a few days to take care of her. That’s all.”
“You’re not telling me something, boss. I’m sure of it. What am I missing?”
James tossed a dish towel at Raphael. “You’re missing those tomatoes I brought up from the greenhouse yesterday. And let’s do a shepherd’s pie special for lunch with a green salad and apple cobbler included. I want to keep it nice and warm and easy in case we get a rush.”
Raphael tilted up a pot to show he was already making the filling for the pie, having anticipated James’ plan. “Good man,” James said with a grin as he made his way over to the freezer. Addison hadn’t been kidding; it looked like their delivery order had accidentally doubled. He groaned and set his head on the side of the ice-cold door.
“You could always put some stuff outside. It can’t be more than fifteen out there.”
James spun around and saw that Belle had walked into the kitchen and was surveying it with fascination.
“Yeah, I’m sure the department of health would love to find a few dozen containers of vanilla ice cream in the parking lot.”
Annabelle walked up and down the counters, running her finger along the gleaming silver surface, before taking a long whiff of the gravy simmering gently on the stove. “That actually smells really good.”
“If you sounded any more surprised, I might actually be surprised.”
“Well, come on, James. You remember what this place was like when we were kids. They weren’t really known for their food.”
James laughed quietly and looked at his watch. “We have about thirty minutes before the lunch rush. How about I make you something and prove this isn’t still the Middle Road Inn from when we were in high school?”
Annabelle cringed but then seemed to catch a smell of the gravy again and nodded. “Alright, but as long as it’s made with that,” she said, pointing in the direction of the pot. James began putting together two individual shepherd’s pies, which had become kind of a specialty of the Inn. He and Raphael had spent months perfecting their recipe, and now people would come by and order huge portions, so they could take them home and serve to their families. After some careful assembly, James popped them into the oven and set about dressing a simple salad. The whole time, Annabelle watched him as if she were seeing him for the first time; he found it unnerving.
“So… how are things in New York?” he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from him and his restaurant. The pies were in the oven and the salad was done so there was nothing else to do but wait and he couldn’t stand anymore awkward silences.
“Busy. Ever since we had that write-up in New York Magazine it’s been non-stop. It’s good, but it’s exhausting. What kind of business are you doing here? Fifty customers a day? Sixty?”
James laughed as he opened the oven to check on the pies. He could hear the gravy starting to bubble but the potatoes weren’t browning yet. “Triple that from lunch to dinner. On a weekday.”
Annabelle choked on nothing. “What? How? Are there even that many people in Wintervale?”
“Jeez, Belle. Did you intentionally block everything out about this town or are you being stubborn for kicks?”
“I blocked certain things out, yeah,” she said with a frown. James knew she was baiting him, but he wasn’t going to take her up. He wasn’t ready to have this conversation. Not now. Maybe not ever.
“Well, we’re the most popular place in town for lunch and are fully booked every weekend. We also do a nice delivery business, especially when the winter hits. I have a couple of plow guys who are willing to drop off when they go on their routes, just to make sure the older folks don’t go without out.”
Annabelle shook her head. “Delivery? There wasn’t even a drive-thru in town when I left.”
“Yeah, well… you left a long time ago, Belle.”
“James, maybe we should just…”
He didn’t give her a chance to finish her sentence; instead, he opened the oven and pulled out the pies as an excuse to avoid the awkwardness. “All done. And just in time, because I think I heard the bell. Why don’t you get started and I’ll check the front?” He slid the pie and a bowl of salad in front of Belle and ran out of the kitchen before she could say anything else.
Once James got into the dining room, he saw Leslie and Dawn from the coffee shop waiting at the door, bouncing from foot-to-foot and blowing warm air into their freezing hands.
&n
bsp; “Thank goodness you’re open,” Dawn shivered. “We lost our power an hour ago and had to close. What’s the special today?”
“Shepherd’s pie, salad, and cobbler! One pie for you and a veggie version for you, Leslie?” Leslie nodded happily, still unable to speak as her teeth chattered. The first real snow of the year always hit everyone hard and this one seemed to be really doing a number on Wintervale. It didn’t seem to be helping that Christmas was so close and a system like this would put a real damper on the festivities.
James hoped the weather wouldn’t cancel the tree lighting or the baking contest; it was Daisy’s favorite part of the holiday.
Once he got the ladies to a table and sent a server over to keep them comfortable, James returned to the kitchen and found Belle eating with her eyes closed, savoring every bite as if she were tasting food in general for the first time. He stood in the doorway and watched her for a moment, not wanting to interrupt, but also lost in the visual. For a moment, with her cheeks rosy from the warmth of the food and her hair brushed away from her face, she looked exactly like she had in high school. His stomach twisted into knots so unexpected that he almost turned and ran out of the restaurant. But then her eyes opened, and she was smiling at him.
“James, this is so good. You’re an amazing cook.”
James shrugged as he walked over and retrieved his own lunch. “I can’t take all the credit. Raphael made the gravy. Speaking of… I wonder where he disappeared to.”
“He came back when you went out into the dining room and said he was running up to the grocery store for something. Though I don’t think he will be running anywhere if it keeps up like this.”
A Sugar Cookie Christmas: A Sweet Holiday Romance (Wintervale Promises Book 1) Page 3