A Cranberry Inn Christmas

by Beth Ehemann

  “Well, looks like I might live to see another Christmas after all, so I’m fantastic. Why are you just okay?”

  “It’s been a long couple of days. Long story short, we had a few games and were supposed to be back at the inn by now, but the weather stepped in and gave us the middle finger.”

  “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “I was watching it on the news and thinking about you. Are you stuck in St. Louis?”

  I inhaled sharply. “No. But don’t tell Michelle if you talk to her.”

  “What? Where are you?”

  “We rented a car—”

  “If that’s what you can even call it . . .” Brody mumbled from the front.

  “—And we’re driving home. We’ve been in the car for like eighteen hours or something. I don’t even know how long anymore. We’re hungry, delusional and exhausted.”

  Silence from the other end of the line.

  “Gam?”

  She sniffed. “I’m here. I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  I frowned and rubbed my forehead. “What’s sweet? Driving?”

  “Yes, the whole gesture. Driving through this horrible weather to be home with Michelle and the kids for Christmas. All of you, frankly. You’re good boys and I think it’s sweet.”

  “You’re getting soft in your old age,” I teased.

  “Screw you!”

  “There’s my girl!” I laughed out loud. “But seriously, are you sure you guys don’t want to come to the inn for Christmas? Sophia makes a mean ham, and there’s plenty of room for all of you.”

  “I appreciate it, Lawrence, but no. I’m going to stay home this year with Regina, Phil and George. Besides, this gives me a reason to stay alive and spend next Christmas with you guys.”

  I never knew a ninety-one year old’s giggle could sound that adorable.

  We walked out of the gas station with turkey sandwiches that were God knows how old, but when you hadn’t eaten in almost twenty hours, it tasted like Thanksgiving dinner. We sat in the car for a minute and ate them, washing them down with a nice cold Red Bull.

  “Are you guys getting a little excited that we didn’t tell them we’re trying to get home?” I asked as I took another bite. “They’re going to be so fucking surprised.”

  “I know,” Brody agreed from the passenger seat. It was Andy’s turn to drive for a while and I was happy in the backseat all by myself. “The only thing—” Brody glanced down at his phone and frowned, “—is that at this rate, they’re probably going to be in bed by the time we get home.”

  “So we’ll be sneaking in the house in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve? Holy shit! I really am Viper Claus!”

  Andy popped the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth, crumbled up the paper and tossed it at me in the backseat. “You’re more like an elf.”

  “Yeah, if elves were badass hockey players who solve problems like a boss.” I gloated.

  Brody nodded. “Ya know, I’m man enough to give credit where credit is due. You did jump in and solve this problem like a boss, Viper. Without your help, not only would this whole little sleepover at the inn thing not be happening, but we would be sitting in that hotel in St. Louis spending Christmas with each other instead of our families.”

  I leaned forward and peeked my head around the seat to look at him. “Awww, Brody Murphy. Are we having a moment? Wanna hop back here and consummate it with me?”

  “Aaaaaand now it’s ruined,” Brody quipped.

  “Why did the snowman have a smile on his face?” I asked.

  Brody and Andy sighed out loud in unison and I continued, “Because the snowblower was coming down the street.”

  Ignoring me, Andy turned and looked at Brody. “Would it be wrong to tie him to the roof for the last hundred miles?”

  After the kids were asleep, we set out all the presents and filled the stockings. It took us over an hour to place everything, and we had to move two couches out of the way, but it turned out perfect. I couldn’t wait to see their faces in the morning. Once again, I decided to go back to my own house. And just like the night before, Fred wanted to walk me home.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I said as I slipped my coat on.

  He opened the front door for me. “I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

  I smiled to myself when he reached out and held onto my arm as we walked down the wooden steps of the front porch. “You’re cute, Fred, but I’m okay.”

  He turned his head toward me. “What? This,” he motioned down at his arm. “I’m not helping you, you’re helping me.” We both laughed and made our way down the path he’d cleared toward my house.

  “So things have been kinda crazy around here lately and I haven’t had a chance to ask . . . how are things coming along at the new house?”

  “Good,” he nodded. “Great, actually. I think we’ll be ready to move everything in there in about a week, right before the closing.”

  “I can’t wait to see what else you guys have done to it.” I meant it. They’d worked so hard and were so excited for their new adventure that I was starting to get excited too.

  “Thanks, Kacie. I know it’s meant a lot to your mom to have you so supportive and helping out over there. It’s meant a lot to me too.”

  I glanced over and gave him a tight smile as he squeezed my hand. “I love you guys and I want you to be happy. Of course, part of me is sad about losing the inn, but you guys are more important.”

  “I have to be honest, I’m ready to let it go,” he admitted softly, like it was a confession.

  “Are you?”

  “Yeah. It’s been fun, but it’s a lot of work. I’m ready for some down time with your mom. I want to wake up on Saturday morning and have coffee with her on our deck instead of running right outside to mow the lawn for three hours. And I want her to spend half an hour making dinner for two people instead of taking up half her day to make dinner for twelve. We’re losing the inn but we’re gaining so much time together. That means more to me than anything else.”

  A tear dripped from my cheek and landed on my coat as we walked up to the front of my house and I turned to face him, looking him right in the eyes. “Fred, you are the most amazing man and I’m so glad my mom has you. I’m excited you guys are going to have so much more free time too.” I sniffed. “But you better still be planning on making those big dinners some of the time because I’m going to be bringing my gang over often, especially the further along I get in this pregnancy.”

  He let out a heartfelt laugh and I rose up on my tippy toes, planting a kiss on his scratchy cheek. “I love you, Fred. Good night.”

  “Good night, Kacie. I love you too.”

  I climbed the steps to my house and turned to watch him as he walked back through the woods to the inn one last time. Tears stung my eyes as I took a deep, shuddered breath and went in the house. I quickly changed into pajamas and climbed into bed with Diesel, falling asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

  A soft thud woke me, but not enough for me to open my eyes. My ears were awake but my eyes felt heavy as sandbags, so I assumed it was Diesel hopping off my bed and going to his own in the corner.

  Something soft ran along my arm and I sat up straight, my heart pounding wildly inside my chest.

  Brody’s beautiful grin was the only thing I saw in the moonlight shining through my window.

  “Brody?” I choked out as I rubbed my eyes, not sure if I was really awake yet.

  “Baby, it’s me. I’m home,” he said softly.

  My eyes instantly filled with tears when I realized I wasn’t dreaming. “You’re home! What? How? I can’t believe this.” I held my arms out and he crawled across the bed toward me, hugging me tighter than he’d ever hugged me in our whole lives. “When did you land? Why didn’t you call and tell me?”

  “We didn’t land,” he mumbled into my shoulder, refusing to loosen his grip on me. “We drove.”

  “What? You drove? In this weather?”

/>   He finally released me but didn’t let go of my hands. “Yeah, took us a little over twenty-four hours.”

  “Wait,” my head jerked back. “When we were texting and stuff yesterday . . . you were in the car?”

  He nodded. “Don’t kill me. We didn’t tell you guys in case we weren’t able to make it home for some reason. We didn’t want to disappoint you twice.”

  “I’m not mad.” I bit my lip, trying to contain the emotion I was feeling, but it was no use. Tears spilled out of my eyes as I stared into my husband’s face. The face that made me smile every single day. The face that had been passed down to our daughters. The face I didn’t think I’d been seeing for Christmas, yet here it was, sitting on my bed smiling back at me. “I’m so happy you’re home, Brody. I take that back . . . there isn’t a word big enough to describe how I’m feeling right now.”

  “Me too, baby. I can’t wait to see the girls. I peeked in on all of them and it was so hard not to wake them and scoop them up.”

  “You saw the girls? Just now?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I thought you were over there, so that’s where we went, and then your mom said you were here, so I ran through the woods as fast as I could.”

  “You ran?” my voice cracked.

  “Are you kidding me? Those last fifty miles were the longest of my life. I couldn’t wait to hug you.” He took a deep breath and let it out, staring at me with his hypnotizing green eyes.

  “Take your coat off, get under the covers and snuggle me, Murphy,” I demanded. “I need your arms around me for at least three straight hours.”

  “Deal.” He stood and yanked his coat and shirt off, climbing back in bed and hugging me from behind, scooting in as close as he could. “By the way, it looks amazing over there. Did it take you guys forever to set all that up? The presents fill the whole room.”

  “I know. I think we all went a little overboard, but we had fun.”

  I laced my fingers with his and pulled his arm tighter around me. After being apart for so many days and then thinking he wasn’t going to make it home at all, I could not get close enough to him.

  “Hey, Kacie?”

  I turned my head just a little toward him but didn’t say anything.

  “It’s twelve twenty-five in the morning.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Merry Christmas, baby.”

  For the third time in fifteen minutes, my eyes teared up. “Merry Christmas to you, Brody Murphy.”

  Kacie and I set our alarm to go off long before we knew the kids would be awake over at the inn so that we could be there when they ran down the hall and saw the mountain of presents around the tree.

  We got up early, made love, took showers, made love again and headed out for our short walk through the woods, praying the kids were still asleep when we got there. I pushed the big wooden door of the inn open and we both froze.

  Silence.

  “Oh, thank God,” Kacie said, breathing a sigh of relief.

  “Kacie, it’s barely five thirty in the morning, did you really think they’d be awake yet?”

  “With these girls . . . you never know.”

  We walked quietly through the house and headed back to the kitchen. Sophia and Fred were sitting at the island with two cups of hot coffee in front of them, talking quietly with their heads close together.

  “Merry Christmas!” Kacie said softly.

  Sophia’s head snapped towards us and it was obvious she’d been crying.

  Kacie froze. Her smile dropped and her eyes zeroed in on her mom. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Sophia said as she shook her head quickly and wiped her eyes.

  “Mom, don’t lie. What’s going on?” Kacie said, her tone growing more panicked.

  “I promise, honey. It’s nothing. I’m just having a moment.” She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Reality is just starting to set in that I’ll be handing over the keys to this place soon and I’m feeling a little emotional about it.”

  “Awwww!” Kacie’s bottom lip shot out as she rushed over and wrapped both arms around her mom. “It’ll be okay, Mom. I know it’s hard to let go, but just think about how awesome your new place is and how much more free time you’ll have.”

  Sophia sniffed again, letting out a quick laugh. “Look at this. I’m supposed to be the one comforting you, not the other way around.”

  Kacie squeezed her mom tight. “Yeah, well, maybe I’ve learned a few things over the last month or so.”

  “Daddy!” Emma squealed as she appeared in the doorway. The instant our eyes connected she broke into a full sprint and didn’t stop until she was in my arms.

  “Hi, baby girl!” I picked her up and squeezed her as hard as I could without hurting her.

  She pulled back and looked at me. Her face was still puffy from sleep and her eyes were barely open but she lifted her tiny hands and cupped my cheeks. “I didn’t think you were gonna be home in time.”

  “I didn’t either, but me and Uncle Viper and Uncle Andy drove all night long and made it just in time.”

  Her eyes inspected my face as if to make sure I was really there. At that moment, I would’ve given anything to know what thoughts were swirling around in that little head of hers.

  Suddenly, her eyes grew huge and her mouth fell open. She leaned forward and put her face so close to mine that our noses were touching. “Do you think Santa ate our cookies?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know. Should we go check?”

  She nodded and we walked to the family room together.

  On the coffee table was the big red plate that had little Santa faces painted all over it. For as long as I’d known her, Kacie only took that plate out on Christmas Eve and it only had one purpose. Santa’s cookies.

  As we got closer, Emma let out a soft gasp. “Daddy, look!” she pointed and squirmed to get out of my arms. I set her down and she rushed over to the table, leaning down for a closer look. The cookies on the plate were half eaten and crumbs were scattered on the table next to the plate. “Whoa! He was hungry!” she exclaimed.

  “He’s not the only one!” Viper bellowed as he walked into the kitchen, stretching his arms high above his head. He headed straight for Sophia and wrapped his big arms around her from behind as he kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas, mama Sophia.”

  She planted a kiss on his cheek. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Viper.”

  “How’d you sleep?” I said to Viper as he walked toward me.

  “What sleep?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. He held his hand out to me and I shook it as he learned in close, “The beds in those guest rooms squeak really loudly when you get movin,’ huh? If we were paying to stay here, I would definitely owe Andy and Dani a free night.”

  I laughed and shook my head as Emma tugged on my hoodie to get my attention.

  “When can we open presents, Daddy?” She looked up at me with impatient, eager eyes.

  I rubbed her soft, pink cheek with the back of my finger. “Why don’t you go wake the other kids?”

  “But Gigi said I’m an early bird and that I should try and be quiet in the morning.”

  I shrugged. “It’s Christmas. Go for it!”

  Her mouth fell open for just a second before her lips morphed into a big grin and she took off down the hall, her little feet stomping against the wood floors as she ran.

  “Santa came! It’s present time!” she yelled when she got to the room. Within seconds, the kitchen was a chaotic scene of hugs and sleepy, excited faces. I stood in the family room, leaning against the back of the couch with my arms crossed over my chest as I took it all in. Lucy and Piper looked through the sea of people, finding me at the exact same time. They both ran over and crashed into me so hard that I almost flew backwards over the couch.

  I put my arms around them and squeezed back, thinking they’d let go but they didn’t. Kacie saw us and walked over, her eyes red-rimmed.

&nb
sp; “Don’t you guys want to open presents?” I said with a chuckle.

  “We don’t care about presents,” Piper mumbled into my hoodie.

  “We’re just happy you’re home” Lucy’s voice shook.

  I leaned back and tried to look down at her. “Are you crying, Lucy?”

  She nodded, and I looked up at Kacie with a frown, wondering if I did something wrong. Her nose scrunched up and she grinned at me with a shrug. “Hormones,” she mouthed.

  I narrowed my eyes, glaring at her playfully. “Not funny.”

  It took over four hours to open all of the presents under the tree, and it included a thirty-minute break for breakfast because Viper complained that he was wasting away to nothing. Sophia had made a breakfast casserole the night before and filled three crockpots with it. I had no idea crockpots were for breakfast, too, and honestly, it was a life game-changer.

  After we finished, and wadded up wrapping paper had taken control of every corner in the room, the kids took their favorite presents and ran back to the playroom. Everyone except for Grace, who’d been glued to me since she saw me. I sat on the couch with her resting against my chest.

  “She’s kinda in love with you today, huh?” Kacie stared at us with a look in her eyes. I don’t know what that look was called but I’d seen it many times. It was that loving look a mother gets when she finds something sweet in the simplest of moments.

  “Yeah, she is . . . and I’m eating it up for as long as I can.” I put my hand on Grace’s back, feeling it rise and fall with each breath.

  Sophia walked into the room with a big tray full of different Christmas mugs and set it on the table. “Some are coffee, some are hot chocolate. Take whatever you’d like.”

  Viper passed out mugs to Michelle, Dani, Darla, and Kacie first, then looked over at me. “What do you want, brother?”

  I shook my head quickly. “Nothing right now, I’m good. Thanks.”

  “So what’s the plan the rest of the day?” Viper asked as he sat back in his chair and took a sip of coffee.

  Fred lifted his hands in the air, holding them open to the room. “I think you’re looking at it. Keep the fire burning in the fireplace, watch a little football, maybe take a nap at some point.”