by Jenny Hale
“Okay,” she said, nodding in complete understanding now. She turned around and walked out, deciding right then and there that she wouldn’t be coming back to his shop. This was about spending time with her friends on probably their last Christmas trip together. There was no way she would allow Theo to distract her from that anymore.
“I think we should try the bakery first,” Piper suggested, pointing to the tiny storefront with the red-and-white striped awning as they walked down Main Street. After her confrontation with Theo, Lila had suggested they all get ready and take a walk in town, hoping the icy winter air and poinsettia-filled sidewalks would put her back into the festive mood. Then they could figure out their big outing for the day.
The town’s little Main Street was perfectly preserved from its original construction at the turn of the century—one tree-lined avenue with a string of independent businesses and shops running along its edges.
They peered past the Christmas trees in the main window of Gingerbread Mama’s Bakery at a line of caramel apples sitting on the counter to cool.
“Oh my…” Charlotte said, as she squinted at the menu through the glass from outside. “They have pear brûlée-filled donuts with a sugar glaze. If I go through those doors, I swear, I think I’m going to gain ten pounds.”
“Well, I’m absolutely game,” Piper said, tugging on the long vintage door-pull and dragging Lila inside, the others following.
“Of course Piper doesn’t mind,” Charlotte teased under her breath. “She’s like a hundred pounds dripping wet.”
Lila laughed but was distracted, immediately overcome with the sweet scents of caramel and chocolate. She browsed the display tables of treats—containers of peppermint bark, bourbon almond chocolate truffles, and salted caramel buttercream buttons—all adorned with mistletoe and holly, every table draped in swags of fresh pine. A Christmas tree, filled with sugar cookie dough ornaments, glistened in the corner.
“I already know what I’m getting,” Edie said, pointing to a tray behind the rounded glass display case piled with raspberry lavender dark chocolate bites.
“Have we walked into heaven?” Piper teased. “I’m getting one of those too.”
“Me too,” Charlotte said, peering down at her phone and typing.
“Let’s make it an even four.”
An older woman with a bright smile and a flour-covered apron greeted them. “Hey there,” she said as she rang them up. “I’m Carol. Y’all grab yourselves a table and I’ll bring them out to you.”
Lila paid for them all and they crossed the small space, taking the only table with four chairs.
“Work,” Charlotte said as she sat down, when Piper looked questioningly at her phone. “My agent wanted to know where I was. Like I can’t take a week for myself.” She slipped her phone into her bag, turning her attention to the treats coming their way.
“These go amazingly well with espresso,” Carol said, as she grabbed their chocolates with a little square of parchment, dropping far more than four into their bag and bringing them over to the table. “I keep thinking I should get an espresso machine…”
“Maybe you could partner with the local coffee shop,” Edie suggested.
Carol bit back a look of disgust. “Maybe…” she said, in a way that Lila could tell really meant, “Not on your life.”
“I know that the owner isn’t the most personable…” Edie continued.
“Definitely not.” Carol passed them all paper napkins with Gingerbread Mama’s written in curling green and red for the holiday season. “Y’all from out of town?” she asked, clearly moving on to a more pleasant subject.
“Just a few hours’ drive. We’re staying at Fireside Cabins for the week,” Lila replied.
“Eleanor is just the sweetest woman,” she said, shaking her head affectionately. “Has she told y’all the best shops in town yet?”
“Not yet,” Lila replied.
“Well, there’s Wishful Thinkin’, a shop full of collectibles that’s owned by my sister Arlene, so you know I’m gonna mention that one first,” she said with a warm grin. “And if you want some vintage charm, you can get glass-bottle Coke and classic treats like ice cream floats and banana splits at Americana. And one of my favorite places is Imagination Books. They sell everything from rare novels to local indie authors. You never know what you’ll find in there.”
“Well, our day just got a lot more interesting,” Piper said.
Just like Lila had hoped, this little trip into town had melted away the toxic atmosphere created by Theo. This was what she would focus on from now on, she told herself, as she soaked up the festive vibes and made the most of being surrounded by her friends.
With their arms full of shopping bags, the others had gotten cold and returned to the cabin, but Lila had wanted to stay out a little longer, swept away by the selection of volumes in Imagination Books. She’d settled in one of the oversized chairs tucked away in a corner of the shop under strands of white lights, and switched on a little reading lamp next to her, as she sat with the pile of books she’d gathered from the eclectic grouping of shelves that lined the walls. She promised her friends she’d be fine, relishing the time she could spend in that adorable shop. She told them she’d walk home, and only be about thirty minutes behind them, but she’d ended up taking almost an hour, arriving home with a bag of books under her arm.
“Don’t be angry,” Charlotte said with her hands held up, standing beside her suitcases when Lila opened the door to the cabin. “My agent called. One of the stylists on set at the network is sick. They need me to fly out to LA immediately to take over for him.”
“Right now?” Lila asked in disbelief, setting the bag of books down with a thud and shrugging off her coat, already realizing that was a stupid question given the fact Charlotte’s bags were packed.
“Yes, I’m so sorry. They’ve already sent a car to pick me up. It should be here any minute. Just keep my Christmas decorations until I get back. Piper said she’d take them down for me and box them up when y’all leave.” A car horn honked outside and Charlotte opened her arms for a hug, Edie and Piper coming into the entryway to say goodbye. “I’m so sorry, Lila. I really wish I didn’t have to go, but this is huge,” Charlotte said. She gave Lila a squeeze.
“I totally understand,” Lila told her, as regret sank in. What else could she say? She did understand how important this was for Charlotte, but it stung to know her friend wouldn’t be there for the rest of their last trip together. Now she wanted to kick herself for wasting her precious time with Theo.
There was another honk, and Charlotte gathered up her things and opened the door. “Have fun!” she said over her shoulder, before hurrying out and leaving them in silence.
“And then there were three,” Edie said with a sad smile.
“It’s okay,” Piper replied, trying to lift their spirits. “We’ll have a great time for Charlotte, and we’ll show her all the photos when she gets back.”
“You’re right. I say we make a deliciously festive drink, go into the living room, and decide what our big adventure will be today,” Edie suggested.
The three of them made mugs of mulled cider, put on their fuzziest socks, and gathered on the sofa. Piper turned on the radio, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” filling the room and instantly lightening the mood as they all relaxed. Edie pulled out the brochures and Lila searched the area for Christmas activities on her iPad.
“There’s a wreath-making class twenty minutes away…” Lila said, scrolling through her feed. The holiday images of the quaint town lifted her spirits. Pinewood Hills was a sleepy little place, but there was a certain charm to it. It managed to keep its quiet streets secluded from the growth in surrounding areas, and the more time Lila spent there, the more she felt like it was a reprieve from all the craziness that went on in the rest of the world. It comforted a piece of her that she’d never realized needed comforting.
Edie wrinkled her nose. “We’ve got our shar
e of greenery at the moment. What else is there?” She wrapped both hands around her mug.
“Laser tag, and there’s a movie theater…” Lila scrolled down a bit more.
Piper chewed on her lip. “It feels weird already without Charlotte and she’s only just left.”
“I know,” Lila told her. “That’s why we have to find something really fun to do, to take our minds off of it. Plus, we want to make her incredibly envious when she sees our pictures, since she left us, right?” she teased, making her friends laugh. “Oh wait,” she told them, clicking on a link. “We couldn’t do it until dark, but there’s an enchanted forest.” She read the description aloud: “‘Find your Christmas spirit among millions of holiday lights as they tower above you, scattered along the trees tucked away deep in the forest of the Tennessee hills. Keep warm with hot cocoa stations along the way or follow the peppermint road to our bakery, restaurant, or Santa’s toy shop.’”
Piper sat up straighter. “That would be fun.”
“I think so too,” Edie said. She turned around the pamphlet she’d been reading. “We could do this during the day. It’s a tour of Christmas confectioneries.” She turned the leaflet back around to read them the description. “They’ve got something called a Sugarplum Christmas Bomb, peppermint chocolate drops, and… Oh my goodness.”
“What?” Piper asked, excited.
“They have fried homemade banana bread dipped in chocolate and rolled in powdered sugar,” she replied with wide eyes.
“I can feel my hips growing just hearing you read that,” Lila said with a laugh. Then, suddenly, she sharpened her hearing. “What’s that noise?”
Piper and Edie stopped and listened.
The hum was getting louder. It sounded like the groan of an old creaky door. Piper got up and turned off the Christmas music, the three of them craning their necks in an attempt to hear the noise better.
“It sounds like it’s coming from your bedroom, Edie,” Lila said. She stood up and the other two followed her down the hall. The closer they got to the room, the louder the sound—now a thunderous banging and clanking—all of them looking at each other in alarm.
Tentatively Lila pushed open the door. “Oh no!”
It looked as though a spring rainstorm had cropped up in Edie’s room, the ceiling gushing with water, the light fixture swaying from its electrical cord while water poured out around it.
“Grab your coat,” Lila said, taking both Piper and Edie’s arms and dragging them down the hallway. “We need to get out of here until we know it’s safe. The water’s too close to the electrical work.” They snatched their coats and handbags from the hooks by the door and plunged themselves into the freezing cold, the ice on the cabins glistening under the dull light that peeked through the clouds.
“Let’s go tell Eleanor, so she can get a plumber in right away.”
The three women ran across the large expanse of yard between their cabin and the main house, which was so frozen it was like jogging over a solid rock. They knocked wildly on Eleanor’s door.
When she opened it, Eleanor looked filled with worry, her hand over her heart, her eyes wide. “What’s wrong?” she asked, nearly breathless.
“Edie’s room is flooded, and there’s water pouring from the ceiling,” Lila told her.
The elderly woman looked past them toward their cabin. “Oh, no.” Then out of nowhere, she started to cry.
“Are you okay?” Lila asked, putting her arm around her. They all stepped inside the musty cabin onto the tattered entry rug, and Piper shut the door behind them against the cold wind.
Leading Eleanor to the sofa in her living room, Lila sat down beside her. Piper and Edie sat on the other side, and Piper took Eleanor’s hand.
“My body’s failing me, and I can’t do the handiwork I used to do. I’ve paid for questionable work on this place… I had a leak in another cabin and I just closed it off. It was going to cost about seven thousand dollars to repair. Fireside Cabins are aging. I’m not getting renters anymore, except for the odd few. The last couple that came requested a refund, and I can’t blame them. I’m so sorry that I misrepresented what I had to offer.” She sniffled. “I just don’t have the money or the manpower to keep the cabins and grounds at their best, but without renters, I never will.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a painful sigh, wiping her eyes.
“What are you going to do?” Edie asked, handing her a tissue from the box on the table beside the sofa.
Eleanor blinked her tears away, dabbing under her eyes. She took in another deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “I’m going to try to find a plumber, and then I’ll see what I can do about replacing your things, Edie.” Her lip wobbled.
“Don’t worry, I can cover the cost of anything of mine that’s been ruined,” Edie said. “Let’s focus on getting the leak fixed.”
“I don’t even know what that’ll cost… And where will you sleep?”
“It’s fine,” Edie replied. “Charlotte had to leave for work, so I can have her bed.”
“We need to see if we can get a deal from a local plumber,” Piper said.
“What if we did before and after photos and I gave him free advertising? It’s what I do for a living,” Edie told Eleanor. “I could even offer him a couple of commercial television spots. I can make a few calls to people I know in the business. They’re usually fine doing a favor for me here and there.”
“The only plumber I know is Judd Johnson,” Eleanor said tearfully.
“Yes, that’s right,” Lila said. She remembered the conversation with Theo and Rex about his daddy. “He does irrigation or something, along with the farming, right?”
Eleanor nodded. “He’s got so much going on with the farm and the business already though… I don’t feel like I could ask.”
“I know someone who might,” Lila said, a pinch forming in her shoulder. “But I’m not sure if he’ll help us…”
“Who is it?” Eleanor asked, and the hope in her face sat like a cinderblock in Lila’s stomach.
“Theo from the coffee shop.” She braced herself for Piper and Edie’s eye rolls.
Eleanor grimaced. “He’s a recluse and doesn’t really mingle with the locals. I went in once and he was less than cordial.”
“Want to try to talk to him, Lila?” Piper asked.
“I can try, but I’m not promising anything.”
Eight
“Back so soon?” Theo said when Lila approached the bar, as he loaded chocolate croissants into the front window at the register. His lips were set in their usual straight line of annoyance.
“Something’s happened and I need your help,” Lila said, happy the coffee shop had emptied out. This was going to take some time, so she needed his attention. “And you don’t have to talk to me to do it.”
“What is it?” he asked, the aggravation leaving his face but his expression remaining guarded.
“You know Eleanor Finely down the road, who owns Fireside Cabins?”
He stared at her, still holding one of the croissants he was loading.
“A pipe burst in one of her cabins and she doesn’t have the money to pay a plumber. I was wondering if you could talk to Judd Johnson for me. I heard you mention that he has a plumbing business. My friend Edie would offer free PR and take before and after pictures for advertising if he’d help us.”
“I doubt pictures of a wet rug will help his commercial farming irrigation business.” His words came out harshly, but a hint of compassion showed on his face. Looking at him wrestling with his emotions, Lila wondered why he was putting up such a wall.
Her shoulders slumped. “I know Christmas might not be a big deal for you, but it’s the season of giving and I can’t bear to see Eleanor in tears like she is. I want to help her, and if I can’t find someone, then I’ll find a way to pay for it myself. I’ll pick up extra shifts at my restaurant if I have to.”
Interest flickered across his face. “You own a restaurant?”
“I’m a waitress.” She lifted her chin proudly.
He finished placing the pastries in the display case and closed the sliding door at the back, the whole time looking thoughtful. Grabbing a rag, he walked around the bar to wipe off the glass. Lila put her hand on his bicep, ignoring the electric current that shot through her when he stopped in response.
“Please help her,” she begged.
His jaw clenched as he peered down at her. Then, surrendering, he said, “I’ve worked with Judd before and he’s taught me quite a bit. We replumbed this entire shop. I’ll lock up this afternoon and take a look at it, and either fix it myself or call Judd for you.”
Lila squealed, and in pure joy at being able to help Eleanor, she threw her arms around him. In all the movement, his hands found her waist and he broke out into a reluctant smile that took her breath away. Together, they stopped still as if they both had to get their bearings. The smile that had emerged lingered on his lips as he looked down at her, and in that moment, she felt like she was finally able to see him for who he was behind that wall he’d worked so hard to build.
Lila gazed deeply into his eyes.
He let go of her and turned away, and she considered whether his reaction was some sort of defense mechanism or something else. “Theo,” she said, with no idea of what she planned to say but not wanting the moment to end.
His gaze shifted over his shoulder and he turned around.
“Thank you for helping Eleanor.”
He nodded, not saying anything else.
“Oh, look!” Piper said to Edie and Lila. She grabbed their arms and skipped down the frosty path, past rows of decorated Christmas trees, up to the glittering carousel in front of the confectionery shop. Tinkling music sailed through the air as kids and their parents climbed aboard the giant horses, or piled into the curling-edged sleighs of the carousel.