by Nancy Naigle
Feeling a little lost, she picked up her phone and called her parents. Unfortunately, there was no answer, so she got back in bed.
A knock at the front door startled her. Who would be here? Only Matt really knew she was staying here, but that wasn’t Matt’s knock. Plus, he always announced himself when he knocked.
There was another knock and then a feminine hello. The front door groaned as it opened.
“Who is it?” Liz called out.
“Sorry to intrude. I’m Matt Hardy’s sister. He told me about your fall. Can I come in?”
“I guess so. It’s kind of hard for me to get out there.” Between the pain and the pills she’d rather just go back to sleep.
A pretty blonde walked into her room. “I’m Krissy. I hope you don’t mind me barging in, but when Matt told me about your fall, I just couldn’t imagine being by myself if I were you.” She wore blue jeans and a fuzzy pullover sweatshirt with nautical flags across the front.
Liz lifted her leg back on top of the pillows. “I’m so out of it I haven’t even noticed.”
“At least they gave you something good for the pain.” She lifted a large paper sack up in front of her. “I brought you some soup. I didn’t know if you’d feel like eating, but I think something in your stomach will help you feel better.”
“I am kind of hungry.” Liz pushed herself up in the bed. “Thank you for coming. I’m pleased to meet you. Matt said you lived in South Carolina. She wondered how close they were.
Krissy dug two bowls of soup out of the bag. “Hope you don’t mind if I join you. Maizey’s soups are the best.”
“Everything I’ve had from there so far has been good.”
“Right? I love that place. Here.” She gave Liz a bowl and a spoon.
Liz took a few bites, then looked at Krissy. “You don’t really look like Matt.”
“I’m his baby sister. I look more like my mom. He looks like my dad. I’m a teacher. School’s out for winter break, so I figured I’d surprise Matt. Which I did, but he told me he’s up to his eyeballs working on a project for you, and that you got hurt yesterday.”
“There’s so much to do. This is terrible timing.”
“Matt will take care of the project. You just need to get well.”
She thought about how he’d rushed to her aid, even carried her through the snow. Not just anyone would have done that, or offered their home. “Matt’s a good guy. I’m so lucky that Maizey told me about him.”
“He’s the best,” Krissy said. “Seriously, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my big brother. If I ever meet someone as great as him I’m marrying him. There aren’t many like him around these days. I know, because I’ve been looking high and low for one. Matt’s honest, hardworking, smart, and not all that bad to look at if he’s not your brother,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m not much for guys with beards,” Liz said, then slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh sorry. Those pain pills seem to have dulled my filter too.”
“Matt said you have a follow-up with an orthopedic surgeon later this week.”
“Day after tomorrow I think. Dr. Teasdall or something like that, but I probably need to go back to Charlotte and find a good doctor.” Suddenly she couldn’t hold back the tears.
“Oh my gosh. Are you okay? Are you in pain?” Krissy put her bowl down and ran to Liz’s side. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m sorry. I never should have bought this place. It can’t be a good sign that I fell in the woods and broke my ankle. What if I froze to death? I was all by myself out there.”
“But you didn’t. This is just the pain medication talking.” Krissy took Liz’s hand. “I know I don’t know you from Adam’s house cat, but anyone could’ve fallen in this weather. Don’t turn your accident into something bigger than it is.”
“But there’s so much to do before this place is anywhere near being ready for guests. I can’t even do anything to help now. It’s a sign. A bad sign.”
“No it’s not. It’ll all work out. Just wait and see.” Krissy straightened the quilt on the bed. “You’re tired and stressed. Just give yourself a break. Well, not like another broken bone, but a rest.”
Liz turned over onto her side away from her, and propped up the angel on the bed. Elvis had been up here sleeping on it again. Not that she minded. It was kind of sweet, really. Lying there, she felt as if she were on a slow-moving riverboat. It was starting to make her a little seasick. “You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me,” Krissy said.
“I was praying for a sign that I was doing the right thing following this big crazy dream, then kerflooey, all of this happened.” Tears blurred her vision. “I’m lucky all I ended up with was a broken ankle.”
“You keep hanging on to that dream. Angel’s Rest is a good dream. Trust me, my brother is the right guy to fix up this place. He can do anything.”
She heard the words, but they didn’t register in her foggy brain. It didn’t matter anyway. “I need to go back to sleep.”
“You do that. Just let me know if you need anything. I brought a book with me. I’m just going to snuggle in front of that great fireplace and relax for a while.”
* * *
IT WASN’T UNTIL the next morning that Liz woke up. She was lying in bed reading when she heard Matt’s familiar knock at the cabin door followed by the masculine hello.
“Hey,” she answered.
“You’ve got a visitor.” Matt came in, then stepped to the side, and Krissy walked over to the bed.
“Remember me?” she asked.
“I do. I thought you were a dream.” Liz covered her face. “Oh my gosh. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. How are you holding up?”
“I’m just doing a lot of lying around mostly.” She let out a sigh. “I do feel better today, though. I was so out of it yesterday.”
“Better than being in pain,” Krissy said. “I don’t know if you remember or not, but you were worried yesterday about needing to go to the city for a good doctor, so I did some investigation on your Dr. Teasdall and it turned out he’s highly acclaimed. You’re in excellent hands right here with him. With Matt too,” Krissy said. “I think you should stay put.”
Liz flashed a glance toward Matt. She hated to talk personal business in front of him. “I’m really not sure.”
“I know what you said, but come on, even if this doesn’t end up your forever place, at least you’ll have had a Christmas here with your dream. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend the holidays at Angel’s Rest?”
“I don’t know.” She fidgeted with a broken fingernail.
Matt stepped toward the door. “I’m going to head back to the house.”
“Thanks for letting me in,” Krissy said. “We’ll be fine.”
Liz waited until she heard the front door close behind Matt. “What if I’m not? Fine, I mean.”
“Just go with the flow for a little while. Don’t make any hasty decisions.” Krissy sat on the end of the bed and took Liz’s hand. “I’m staying at Matt’s for the holidays. I live down in Hilton Head on the beach. I love it there, but there’s nothing like Christmas in Antler Creek.” She got up and walked around the room and whipped back the drapes. “You might as well make the best of being laid up. Don’t you think?”
The bulky soft cast looked like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. Way too big to be one of her limbs. “I’m not going to be up for much of anything.”
“That sounds perfect. Wait a sec.” Krissy left the room, then came back in and thrust a bouquet of flowers in Liz’s direction. “I brought flowers to cheer up the place.”
I’m lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. “That was thoughtful.”
“It’s a little selfish too. When Matt told me about your project I was dying to hear all about it, but he just wants to talk beams and man-hours. I want to hear about the decorating and design.”
Liz relaxed a little. Whe
re else could you show up a stranger and be treated like this? “Thank you, Krissy. I’m glad you’re here.”
* * *
MATT WAS GLAD Krissy had shown up when she did. He’d suspected Liz was flustered, but he hadn’t realized how close she was to throwing in the towel on this place until Krissy told him what she’d said to her. Taking that fall as some kind of bad omen was crazy. It wasn’t a bad omen. It couldn’t be. He wanted her to stay, and if he had any say in the matter she would.
He walked back to the cabin and knocked quietly on the door.
Krissy poked her head out. “She’s sleeping,” she said quietly.
“Good. It’s you I wanted to talk to.” He nodded for her to come outside.
She stepped outside, wrapping her arms around herself to stay warm.
“So, I’m worried,” Matt said. “Is she really taking this fall as some kind of sign she’s doing the wrong thing? She fell in the snow. It could’ve happened to anyone.”
“I know. I told her to not think about that.”
“Look. We’re making good progress around here. You need to talk her into staying at my place with you for the next week or so until she gets through the orthopedic visit and everything. I have a plan, and I think it’ll make her happy. It should also prove she is on the right path.”
“You like her, don’t you,” Krissy said.
He couldn’t hold back the smile. “Things up here have been much brighter since Liz arrived. I’m not the only one who thinks that.”
“So, she and I will stay at your house, and you and Elvis stay here?”
“Yes. And don’t tell Liz, but I’m going to figure out some way to make things move faster and convince her this place is the right place for her. I really don’t want her to change her mind.”
She raised her hands. “Okay, I’m not going to ask for a bunch of details. If chivalry isn’t dead, I’m going to let you prove it and surprise both of us.”
“Good. Okay. Yeah. This will work.”
“Oh, and she’s never been a fan of beards, so if you decide to shave it off…”
He rubbed his hands across his chin. “I meant to shave it off at the end of November anyway.”
“I know. It was for Dad.” She reached over and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good son.”
“Thanks, Krissy.”
“You owe me.”
“Don’t I always?”
“She’s not going to want to stay at your house. I can tell you that right now.”
“I have a feeling you can be persuasive.”
“I’ve been known to be,” she said lightly. “But she’s stubborn.”
“So make it happen. I’ll help you get her over there tonight. The house is ready for y’all. I even stocked up on groceries.”
“You knew I’d agree?”
“I had a hunch.”
“Fine.” She turned her back on him and went inside. Matt waited outside, praying things would play out the way he’d hoped.
It seemed like ten minutes passed before Krissy came back outside. “Hey, can you come inside with me for a minute? Liz wants to talk to you.”
“Yeah. Sure.” He followed her inside.
“You really want us to stay at your house?”
“Sure.” Matt nodded. “Yes. It was my idea.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be more comfortable, and it will be convenient for Elvis and me to be here since we’re working on the house anyway. You girls can enjoy a nice Christmas. Trust me, it’ll work out for everyone.”
Liz shook her head. “I can’t let you do that. I should just go home to Charlotte. You can still use the cabin if you want to, but I’m not going to impose on you or your sister just because I got myself hurt.”
“No. Your home is here, Liz,” Matt said. “You said yourself this place made you feel like yourself. Home is not Charlotte. Antler Creek is your home.”
Liz glanced at Krissy then back at Matt. “I really wanted Antler Creek to be home.”
“This is where you’re supposed to be,” Matt said. “You know it.” He held her gaze. “I believe it.” He held his hand to his heart.
Krissy gave Liz a wink and a nod.
“Please,” Matt said. “Consider it a spa week for you girls. You’ll have the run of my house.”
“See. How can we say no?” Krissy put her hands together as if she were begging Liz to give in. “Come on. It’ll be fun. Hallmark movies and everything.”
“I’ll even come build your fires for you,” Matt said.
Liz smiled. “And make us chili over the fire one night?”
“Every night if you want.” Matt’s eyes held her gaze.
“I guess we’re moving” was all Liz said.
Matt didn’t waste one minute, else she might change her mind. Within the hour he had her on his couch with her foot propped up on four pillows in front of the television with a mug of hot chocolate, compliments of Krissy.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Matt walked through the glass door next to the big barber pole mounted to the building with the iconic red and white helical stripes. The antique pole had been there since Howie Perry’s great-great-granddaddy opened the shop here on Main Street back in the early 1900s.
One of the two old-fashioned reclining barber chairs was empty when he walked in.
“Take a seat,” Howie said. “You’re next.”
Matt took off his jacket and sat in the chair, helping himself and adjusting the lever to recline.
Howie finished the teenager’s trim and sent him on his way.
“Little off the top?” Howie asked as he walked over to Matt.
“Yeah, and a full shave.”
“Thank goodness. You were beginning to look like one of those mountain recluses.”
Matt rubbed his hand across his chin. “It’s not that bad. I didn’t miss having to shave every day.” But if getting rid of it meant being more appealing to Liz, it was time for it to go.
Howie went to work, giving Matt the full hot-towel treatment. There was nothing better than a straight-razor shave.
When Howie turned him back to the mirror, Matt looked like his old self again. He ran his hand over his chin. It felt smooth as silk. That beard itched like crazy when he was first growing it, but growing a mustache or beard in November to help raise awareness of men’s cancers was a small thing he could do after losing Dad. He was glad he’d done it, and he would every year. No matter what.
But if this bought him a few extra points with Liz, he wasn’t against it either.
He drove over to the Creekside Café for lunch.
“Aren’t you looking handsome,” Maizey said when he came through the door.
George Goodwin let out a hearty laugh. “Finally back to your old self, huh there, Wolfman?”
“Was it really that bad?” Matt sat on his stool.
“Yes,” Maizey said. “You having the special?”
“Of course.”
“How’s Angel’s Rest coming?” George asked. “Heard that little gal took a nasty fall.”
“She did. Broke her ankle, and she’s taking it as a sign that maybe she shouldn’t be working on this project.”
“Well, if that isn’t the craziest notion.”
“Same thing I thought.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m afraid she’s going to throw in the towel. I need to buy some time.”
Maizey stopped and leaned on the counter. “You two are good together. You and Liz.”
Matt could feel the color rise in his cheeks, but he couldn’t argue with Maizey on that.
“Flossie told me about you being at her cabin at the crack of dawn when they delivered the furniture. And all about your big bowling night. Met your match finally, didn’t you?” She grinned big.
“Might have.” Matt looked away, trying to not come across like a goofball with the big grin he knew was on his face. “I like her. She’s smart. Pretty. Good people.”
“So what are you go
ing to do, boy?” George asked. “You better figure it out, because Buck took the first twelve-pointer I ever shot up there for her to use at the lodge. That thing needs a good home.”
Matt had wondered where that thing had come from. It darn near took over the whole corner of her dining area in the small cottage.
“If we could make some really fast good progress, she’d have to see that it would all come together.”
Maizey pushed two sweet teas in front of them.
“Y’all have already been working sunup to sundown, haven’t ya?” George asked.
“We have.” Matt took a sip of tea. “It’s coming along good too.”
“Would more people make it faster?” Maizey asked.
“Yeah. I could have a separate crew on each of the areas.”
Maizey tucked her towel into the waistband of her apron. “This might be a crazy waste of time, but you need to do something that will make it feel personal to her. What if you decorated Angel’s Rest for Christmas? She talks about those memories all the time. The town would love it too. I mean, if she abandons the project at least everyone gets one good last look.”
Matt sat taller in his seat.
“I don’t know how you could surprise her with that with her right under your nose,” Maizey said. “Just a thought.”
“That’s it, Maizey. And she’s not under my nose. Krissy’s in town. I got her to convince Liz to stay with her at my house. I think you’re on to something. Now we just have to figure out where I can find some cheap labor to help me.” He’d stumbled upon enough decorations in storage over there to do a pretty good replica of the old days.
George picked up his phone and poked at numbers on the screen. “Hey, Jeffrey. It’s your dad. Call me back.”
Matt knew George was calling in the reinforcements. George’s youngest son was at Appalachian State, and they should be getting off for Christmas break any day now.
Then George dialed another number. “Christopher. It’s your uncle George. What are you doing for Christmas break?” He nodded, listening and mm-hmm’ing. “Well, why don’t you pack up all four of you and come work on a very special project for a lady who broke her foot up here. Need some strong able bodies to string some lights and lend a hand. We’ll put you up, and feed you.” George let out a hearty laugh that almost sounded like Santa’s. “Yeah, turkey and ham both. No problem. Bring your sleeping bags. Yeah. See you then.”