The Christmas Cottage

by Samantha Chase

  Feeling satisfied at her current direction, Lacey found herself smiling and anxious to, for once, talk wedding plans with her best friend.

  Chapter Seven

  Life was busy and it took two days before Lacey and Ava could get together. They decided on take out at Ava’s; Lacey was bringing the Chinese food and Ava was providing the wine.

  Arriving promptly at seven, Lacey had barely knocked when the door swung open and she was embraced by an overly excited Ava.

  “Wow! That was some greeting! What’s going on?” Placing the Chinese food on Ava’s kitchen table, Lacey went about getting them set up to eat. Her day had been long and there hadn’t been time for lunch so traveling with the wonderful aroma of dinner in her car had kicked her appetite in to overdrive.

  “So? You saw it, right? Didn’t you just love it? Did you bring the binder? You can see how all of my plans will fit perfectly, right?”

  “Take a breath, Ava,” Lacey laughed and handed her a plate. “I am not discussing anything until I have at least a couple of bites of food. I’m so hungry; I could gnaw on my own arm!” They each served up a plate and went to sit in the living room where, Lacey saw, Ava had out decorating magazines as well as bridal magazines. She stifled the groan that was begging to come out.

  Ava was fairly vibrating with excitement and wanting to know what Lacey had thought of the cottage. When she felt that enough time had passed, she pounced. “So? C’mon, tell me, tell me, tell me!”

  With great patience, Lacey put her plate down and got comfortable on the couch and very diplomatically described what she thought would work in the cottage and what she felt would be overkill. Remarkably, Ava wasn’t too disappointed with the results.

  “So no cactus?” she asked.

  “I think it’s a little unnecessary. Between the Christmas tree, the wreaths the roses…it’s overkill. You want it to look romantic not like the stock room for an after-Christmas sale.”

  “Okay, I’ll trust you on this but everything else will work right? You had no trouble with the other things, did you?”

  Lacey thought about the flannel sheets versus satin discussion and figured now was as good of time as any to bring it up. “How attached are you to the idea of satin sheets?” she asked cautiously.

  “It’s my honeymoon; we have to have satin sheets!”

  Rolling her eyes, Lacey made her pitch. “Yes, satin sheets can be very romantic but you’re also dealing with winter in the mountains. Even with the fireplace, you may not enjoy the feel of cool sheets. The cottage is your little winter wonderland, Ava; think of how nice a good set of flannel sheets would feel.” Lacey knew from personal experience how great those flannel sheets would feel but she could never admit that to Ava.

  “Well, I don’t know…” Ava began.

  “I’ll tell you what, I’ll stock the cottage with both of them and then you can decide.”

  “Lace, I’m not going to want to do laundry and change the sheets on my wedding night. Just stick with the satin, please?”

  Reluctantly Lacey agreed and they moved on from the talk of décor to food choices and then finally the conversation turned to the traveling part of the honeymoon which Lacey had no part in the planning of. Finally, she could sit back and enjoy herself with the pressure being off.

  “I really wanted to go to Hawaii, you know, especially after having a winter wedding. I thought it would nice to go someplace tropical to relax; you know to balance out the cool and hot.”

  “Wait? Are you saying that you’re not going to Hawaii now?” Lacey was confused. Two weeks ago Ava had been modeling bikinis for her honeymoon.

  “Mason felt that it was more money than we needed to spend.”

  “So where are you going to go?”

  “New York for four days,” Ava said flatly.

  “Why New York?”

  “Well, Mason said that we could go and spend time in Manhattan, see a Broadway show, go to Central Park and Rockefeller Center. It’s really beautiful this time of year.”

  Taking a sip of wine to fortify her, Lacey waited a moment to respond. “Yes, I’m sure it’s very beautiful but it’s also cold and crowded and not what you want. What did Mason say when you told him that wasn’t where you wanted to go?”

  “You know Mason; he made a good point. We don’t want to start out our marriage with a lot of debt and he said that he compromised on the wedding ceremony so I should compromise on the honeymoon.”

  This was all brand new information. How much more was Ava keeping from her? They were supposed to be best friends! “How did he compromise on the wedding?”

  “He wanted the big church ceremony, two hundred people – you know, cousins you never knew you had – and then a big reception at one of those expensive hotels or catering halls. That’s all fine and well for a lot of people but we have a tradition in my family and I want to honor that.”

  “Are you sure? I’m sure your folks would understand if you wanted to wait and plan a big wedding like Mason described.” Actually, Lacey wasn’t so sure the Callahan’s would take that decision lightly but she wanted to be encouraging.

  “Please, I never wanted a circus for a wedding; you know that,” Ava said as if the whole thought of the wedding Mason described was repulsive. “I want a sweet, intimate ceremony, surrounded by people that mean the most to me and that’s what we’re having.”

  Weighing her next words very carefully, Lacey was just about to ask Ava if she was really sure that she wanted to go ahead with the wedding when there was a knock on the door. She could only hope it wasn’t Mason because that would certainly put a damper on talking about possibly breaking up with him.

  Ava stood and went to the door while Lacey poured herself another glass of wine and settled back against the comfy cushions when she heard Ava squeal with glee. “Ean! You’re here! You’re really here! Lacey, look! Ean’s home!”

  A knot formed in Lacey’s belly. What was Ean doing here? How was she supposed to act with him in front of Ava after their wild time together up at the cottage? She took Ean’s lead and went with it after his rather formal ‘hello’.

  “It’s good to see you, Ean,” she said softly, not making eye contact with him. “We didn’t expect to see you until closer to the wedding.”

  Removing his coat and hanging it by the front door, Ean took a minute to drink in the sight of Lacey. He had no idea she’d be here tonight; he just had the urge to get with Ava and figure out what was going on with her and Mason and to see if everything Lacey had told him was true. Not that he had any reason to doubt her words, but he needed to hear it for himself so that he could figure out how to help.

  “I hadn’t planned on coming home so early but with Thanksgiving coming up next week I figured, hey, I’m the boss; I can take some extra time to come home and see how I can help my baby sister get ready for her wedding.”

  Ava beamed at his words and dragged him to sit next to her on the sofa opposite the one Lacey was on. She placed her head on Ean’s shoulder as she smiled at Lacey. “Do I have the best brother or what?”

  With a non-committal sound, she picked up her wine and took a long drink.

  Sitting up, Ava turned to Ean. “I still cannot believe that you’re here! Did mom and dad know you were coming home?”

  “No; I wanted to surprise everyone and you were my first stop. So tell me how the plans are going!” His tone was overly enthusiastic and it was all the encouragement Ava needed to lunge in to her grand tale of her fairytale wedding. The only things that she seemed to omit were all of the disagreements she and Mason were having.

  Ean looked at Lacey out of the corner of his eye and finally caught her attention. His eyes were saying, “Do you believe this?” to which Lacey responded with a short shake of her head.

  Having heard enough, Ean took one of Ava’s hands in his and got her attention. “So you’re telling me that you and Mason are on the same page for everything? No disagreements?”

  Ava pulled back and mad
e a face at him. “What? Why would you even ask that?” She looked between Ean and Lacey, looking very much like a caged animal.

  “Relax, Ava,” he consoled. “It’s just that most engaged couples have a lot of disagreements where the wedding is concerned. I’m just wondering how it is that you and Mason managed to avoid all of the pre-wedding craziness.”

  “Well, maybe we’re just more in love than most and…”

  Lacey had had enough. “Ava? Can’t you see that your brother is concerned for you? You need to tell him what is really going on. You won’t seem to listen to me but maybe Ean has something useful to say that will help you.”

  Standing and full of rage, Ava lashed out. “Why can’t you just leave this alone, Lacey? I told you that I had everything under control! Why is it so hard to believe that? You know nothing about being in a serious relationship or planning a life together! For crying out loud when the last time was you even went out on a date? Who are you to keep judging my relationship with Mason?” She stormed from the room and went to her bedroom and slammed the door. Lacey sat, mortified at her friend’s outburst.

  “Now that’s the sister I remember living with,” Ean said, trying to lighten the mood. Looking over at Lacey, he saw his remark fell short. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “I just never expected that kind of rage from her.”

  “She’s under a lot of pressure and by what you told me, it’s got to be weighing heavily on her to be keeping up appearances to everyone when she’s really not happy.”

  Not knowing what else to do, Lacey went to the kitchen and cleaned up their dinner. She was placing take out cartons in the refrigerator when Ean stepped up behind her. Wanting nothing more than to lean in to him and feel his arms around her, she had to force herself to keep moving. This was not the time or the place to get in to that with him again.

  She could easily blame their passionate time at the cottage to proximity and perhaps getting one another out of their systems but right now, she didn’t want to look to closely at why she was still aching for his touch.

  He stood by silently; watching her go about the process of cleaning up Ava’s kitchen even when his sister didn’t deserve such kindness. When everything was in its place and there was nothing left to do, Ean stood back and watched Lacey gather her things and prepare to leave.

  “I’ll give her a couple of days to calm down. I guess I shouldn’t have pushed,” she said quietly, needing to say the words out loud so that she could convince herself it was the truth.

  “Lace, she didn’t mean any of that. She’s just confused right now and you were just a handy target.”

  She smiled weakly at his attempt to make her feel better. “I think she meant it a little bit. What she doesn’t realize is that you don’t have to be married or to have planned a wedding to know that when two people disagree on so many things, it’s not a good sign.” When Ean tried to reach for her, she stepped aside, not trusting herself to not throw herself at him. “I better go.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, reaching for his coat.

  “No, it’s okay, really. Go see how Ava’s doing. She’s the one who really needs you right now.” So do I but I can’t let myself near you or I’ll never want to let go!

  Merely nodding, Ean held the door for her and watched from the porch as Lacey walked to her car. He waited until she pulled away and her tail lights were out of sight before he closed the door and went in search of his brat of a sister.

  ****

  “So I suppose she’s been out here blabbing all about the problems Mason and I are having,” Ava said as soon as she emerged from her bedroom at the sound of the front door closing.

  With a patient smile, Ean walked over to her, took her by the hand and led her back to the couch. “Care to tell me what that little temper tantrum was about?” That was all it took; Ava broke in to tears and told her brother all of the hurdles she was trying to overcome on her way to the altar.

  “Has it occurred to you, Ava, that Mason might not be the man for you?”

  “We do love each other, Ean; opposites attract and all that.”

  If she had grown a second head his expression couldn’t have been more confused. “Ava, yes it’s true that opposites attract but they usually have some common ground. It seems to me that you both like the idea of getting married – just maybe not to each other.”

  “What am I supposed to do? Everything is in motion! The wedding is a month away!”

  He pondered that thought for a moment. “You need to sit down with Mason, and an impartial third party, and talk about all of these problems. If you cannot overcome them, then I’d have to say that this marriage is not a good idea. If you both agree to some compromises that don’t leave you feeling devastated, you might have a chance. Marriage is hard work, Ava. Once the party and honeymoon end, you have to be able to live together. It doesn’t sound like you’re going to be able to do that.”

  “I want to; I really, really want to,” she began.

  “Do you? Or do you really, really want to experience this fairytale legend that our family has made up.”

  “It’s not made up, Ean! God, you sound just like Lacey!” and that’s when it hit her. “Oh, gosh, Lacey!” She looked around as if she thought her friend was still somewhere in the apartment. “Oh, Ean, I was horrible to her, wasn’t I?”

  He simply nodded and that brought on a fresh wave of tears from his sister. He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay, Lacey will forgive you. You both just need a couple of days to cool down and then everything will be okay.”

  “I hope so, Ean. She’s my best friend and I love her.” He hugged her a little bit tighter and thought to himself, that makes two of us.

  ****

  Thanksgiving week had been exhausting for Lacey. While no one was doing intensive interior design jobs, everyone seemed to want help decorating their homes for the holidays. She was averaging two homes a day and as she pulled up in front of her parent’s home on Thanksgiving Day, Lacey realized she’d missed out on all of the traditional holiday preparations that she normally did with her mother.

  Sighing, she looked down at the store bought pie in her hand with disgust. They normally baked together every year; made a day of it. Unfortunately, Lacey’s job required some unusual hours this time of year and although she missed being a part of some of her favorite childhood memories, she knew it all went with growing up.

  There were several cars parked in the driveway already and Lacey had to wonder who was joining the Quinn’s this year. Her parents had a tradition of making an open invitation to everyone they knew and then being surprised by who showed up. Some years they had over twenty people while others it was just the immediate family. By the look of the cars there had to be at least a dozen people here so far.

  Sure enough, after she’d been greeted at the door by both of her parents and her two older sisters’ and their spouses, she heard other voices coming from the kitchen. It took less than a minute to recognize the Callahan’s voices.

  “Hey, Uncle Jack! Aunt Linda! How are you?” They each stood and hugged and kissed Lacey hello before turning her to face Ean.

  “Surprise!” they said in unison. “Can you believe it? Ean came home early and is going to spend the month with us!”

  Before Lacey could utter a word, Ean stepped forward and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek that made her go weak at the knees. “Good to see you again, Lacey,” he said quietly. This time, she was unable to avoid eye contact with him and for a brief moment it seemed like it was only the two of them in the room.

  “Oh, Lacey, thank goodness you’re finally here!” Ava cried as she nudged her brother out of the way in order to get to her friend and hug her. When she finally released Lacey, Ava said a quick ‘Excuse us’ to everyone and led Lacey up to her old bedroom.

  “So tell me the truth, do you hate me?” Ava asked dramatically, dropping herself on to Lacey’s childhood bed.

  “No, of course not. You�
��re my best friend and I should have kept my mouth shut. After all, who am I to be doling out relationship advice, right?”

  “Dammit, I knew you were going to focus on that point!” She sighed loudly. “Look, I was angry because everything that you were saying was right. I’m letting Mason call all of the shots and between you and Ean I know that I have to put my foot down and force him to listen to me so that we can discuss these issues before the wedding.”

  “Why? What did Ean say?”

  “It was a little spooky; I’ve got to say. It was like the two of you were completely in sync. He said everything that you’ve been saying.” She looked at Lacey through slitted eyes. “You didn’t happen to talk to him before he came over, did you?”

  Startled by the question, Lacey started to choke. “Me? How would I have talked to Ean? For crying out loud, Ava, we haven’t seen each other in nearly a dozen years!” Liar! Liar! Liar!

  Ava considered Lacey’s words. “I’m sorry, you’re right. Gosh, I’m getting so paranoid! This wedding is making me crazier than usual. Please forgive me, Lace. I know I’m not myself and I want you to know that I know that you are genuinely concerned for me. What you’ve said hasn’t fallen on deaf ears. I’m planning on talking to Mason this weekend and working it all out and if that means giving up the cottage and the fairytale,” she sighed again, “then it’s for the best.”

  They walked back in to the kitchen, arm and arm, both with wide grins on their faces. “Everything okay?” Linda Callahan asked, concern marking her face.

  “We’re fine,” Ava answered and there seemed to be a collective sigh around the kitchen.

  It was controlled chaos as everyone had a task to take care of in order to get the massive dinner on the table at the same time. It didn’t take long to confirm that it was just going to be the Quinn’s and the Callahan’s this year and while Lacey was happy to see everyone, she couldn’t seem to keep herself from sneaking glances at Ean, and him at her. At this rate, someone was bound to question what was going on between the two of them and that was something that she just wasn’t willing to deal with right now.