by Nancy Naigle
Maizey was nodding like one of those dogs in the back of a car window. “I’ll feed everybody. I can do that much to pitch in.”
“That would be great, Maizey.” Matt got up from his chair. “I’ll check with Flossie to see if we can use the barn up on Mill Hill to house kids if we run out of room.”
“She won’t mind,” Maizey said, waving a hand in the air. “I’ll call and get it arranged for you.”
“Perfect.” Matt called Krissy as he was leaving to tell her the plan. Krissy was completely on board. “Maizey said that making Angel’s Rest feel more personal to Liz would help her feel more connected. The lights are a special memory for her.” He snapped his fingers. “You know what else is special? Her grandmother’s quilt.”
“What are you talking about, Matt?”
“She bought this quilt at the antique shop because it reminded her of the one she had as a kid. Blue and white. Counting Stars pattern, I think she said.”
“Yeah, it’s on her bed.”
“Do you still do those barn quilts?”
Krissy laughed. “I haven’t done a big one in a while, but I’m not that out of practice. I have my class make them for their families every year as a project.”
“Can you make one to fit on the left side of the house there when you come in the lower driveway? In that pattern?” Oh man, this would be perfect. Not just a memory, but also something personal and just for her.
“Get the measurements and the board. If you get your guys to sand it and set it up out in your garage I’ll work on it. Liz can’t get around, so she’ll never know.”
“You’re the best sister.”
“I know. You’re not so bad yourself, and I can do you one better. I still have my contacts from the North Carolina Barn Quilt Trail. I’ll drop them a line. They love my barn quilts.”
“Sis, if you can pull that off I’ll owe you big-time.”
* * *
THE NEXT DAY, Matt was keeping the original crew to task on the priorities Liz had set, but everyone else was pulling together to clean up the overgrowth and give the place a quick face-lift so that they had a decent canvas to decorate.
He went through the storage boxes and found all of the elves, then dropped off the ones that had the big “X” on the boxes over at Barney’s Small Appliance Repair Shop to see if he could work any magic, then stopped back over at the barbershop. One thing for sure, every woman in this town would be making her husband come get cleaned up before the holiday. This was a good place to get the word out.
“You’re back already?” Howie said, as he buzzed a razor over a young boy’s head.
“Need your help.” Matt filled him in, and now he had a drop-off point for all extra lights and decorations. “Thanks, man.”
“Happy to help.” Howie swept the hair on the floor into a pile. “I’ve got a ton of those old glass lights. Mandy insisted on going with the new LED ones last year. You can have them for keeps. They are just taking up precious space in my man cave right now.”
“Sounds good. Call me when you’ve got something for me to pick up.”
Matt stopped by Ginger’s house and asked her if she could talk to the girls about possibly helping out too. She was more than ready to tackle the job. “Plus we can make cookies and hot chocolate for the help. Happy workers make better progress.”
He had no doubt that was true.
* * *
MATT STOPPED AT the store and picked up a spiral notebook, then went back to the cabin and started sketching out designs and walking off spaces for them. He hadn’t felt this alive in a long time. With a cup of coffee in his hand, he walked back to the house. He flipped on the lights and walked through the empty house. It was coming together, and they could make some significant progress, but Liz had to believe in this place. If it had been his dream he couldn’t imagine letting go so easy. It was an accident.
He dragged a six-foot stepladder over in front of the window. He got two strands of Christmas lights out of his truck and plugged them in under the window. Then he ran them around the ladder from bottom to top. It had the right shape. He turned off the light and stepped outside. It looked like a Christmas tree—from outside no one would ever know it wasn’t.
“And now we can begin.”
Music. He remembered there being music. He called in a few favors with some buddies. An old boom box, CDs, and a ton of speaker wire should do the trick.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING Howie showed up at Angel’s Rest.
“Hey, Howie. I could have picked those up.”
Howie carried two boxes stacked on top of each other. “Yeah, but I have a slow morning. I thought I could deliver them and give you a hand.”
“Awesome. Thanks.”
An hour later, George showed up with a van full of college guys. They piled out of that van like clowns from a VW bug. They were put on cleaning up the overgrown landscaping, and by the end of the day there was already a huge improvement.
“There’ll be real work to do on the landscaping come spring, but for now it’s cleaned up,” Matt said to George.
“Yeah, but it does look better. If it weren’t so darn wet we could burn all that mess. I’ll have someone come haul it off to the dump on my flatbed trailer for you.”
“That’d be great, George.” Matt hated to look a gift horse in the mouth, but he had to know. “I know my motivation for this, but George, what’s yours?”
“Probably not so different. That girl is stirring up memories from better days around here. She’s been like a breath of fresh air. I like that. I liked the Westmorelands. They did a lot for this town. For all of us.”
“They did.”
That night George and Matt carried all the workers down to the Creekside Café for a buffet that would smack your momma’s lips for her. After dinner, they took them all over to Flossie’s barn, where things had been set up for them to get a warm night’s sleep after some sledding and bowling.
Matt stopped by his house to check on Liz and Krissy and deliver two dishes of Maizey’s banana pudding. He was a bundle of nerves at his own house. Something is wrong with this picture. He wasn’t even sure if he should knock before he came in. He decided to knock and just announce as he entered. If Liz was asleep she’d be in the bedroom, and that was at the back of the house, so he wouldn’t disturb her anyway.
Krissy poked her head out from the living room as he walked in. “Do come on in. We’re breaking in the Hallmark Channel.”
“Uh-oh. I didn’t even know my TV got that station.”
“It does now.” Krissy moved to the side and let him in. “We’ve got company, Liz.”
Matt walked in, and Liz was dabbing at tears with a tissue, her foot propped up in the recliner on top of a pile of pillows.
“I thought these were happy movies,” he said.
She sniffled. “They are. They’re wonderful.” Liz tore her gaze from the television to him and almost choked. “Wow! You shaved? You look amazing.” Clearly embarrassed by her overenthusiastic reaction, she pulled her lips tightly together beneath a grin. “I mean you looked great before, but … I like it. I mean without the beard.”
Elvis walked over and lay at the foot of Liz’s chair with a loud sigh.
“Thank you,” Matt said. “It was just temporary.” He didn’t offer an explanation. That was personal. “Maizey asked me to bring this over. Banana pudding.” He handed one to each of them. “She makes the best around.”
“That sounds so good.” Liz clicked the pause button on the remote.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
“I am. I’m a little anxious about going to the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. I don’t really know what to expect.”
“I can understand that, but there’s no need to worry. You can’t change it, and you’ve got lots of friends to help you out.”
“Thanks, Matt.”
“You girls getting settled in okay? Anything I can do?”
“Not a thing,” Krissy
said.
“Thank you for the hospitality, Matt.” Liz looked good in this room.
“You’re welcome. So, chili tomorrow night?” He clapped his hands together. “I make a mean corn bread too.”
“He’s not kidding,” Liz said.
“Oh, I know. He’s an amazing cook,” Krissy said. “Her appointment is at eleven, so we’ll be gone most of the afternoon.”
“Good. I’ll have it ready for you when you get home.”
Liz pushed herself up in the chair. “Matt, do you think the two of us could go over estimates and the project plan again tomorrow? I just want to think through some of it again.”
“Sure. No problem.” They’d already prioritized the kitchen, mandatory for a bed-and-breakfast, and the two cabins. That way she could have an income stream as they worked on the other things. It was a good plan, but if she wanted to talk he’d go over it a hundred times, because as long as she was reviewing that plan she was still invested in it. “Anything you want, Liz.”
Elvis got up and walked out of the room, then came back with a pinecone in his mouth and dropped it in Liz’s lap.
Liz lit up.
Who knew Elvis could be a wingman.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Liz woke up with a knot in her stomach. She hoped the news would be good at the orthopedic surgeon today. Surgery scared her to death. She’d never been put to sleep for anything, and she really didn’t want to start now.
The soft cast was hard to maneuver around in, and she was lousy with the crutches. At least if they put a real cast on her she could put her foot down to balance herself. She was afraid she was going to break her other leg just trying to get around on the crutches.
Please don’t let this mean surgery. The thought of surgery made her want to cry. All those years of team sports, cheerleading, and gymnastics, and she’d never broken more than a nail. Now, at thirty-two, she had her first broken bone. There wouldn’t be a ski trip this winter.
Liz slipped on her jeans, since they were the only thing that would fit over the cast, having been slit up the side. “We’re going to need to stop and get me some sweatpants,” she called out to Krissy. She hadn’t really thought about it, because she’d been in her stretchy pajama bottoms until today. “I can’t get by with just one pair of jeans.”
Krissy put her purse on her shoulder. “We can stop on the way back from the doctor. Are you about ready?”
“I think so.”
The two of them made it out to the front porch, but then going down the stairs seemed a lot more ominous than going up.
“I think I’d better just sit on my butt and go down,” Liz said.
“That’ll work.” Krissy spotted her to a seated position, then Liz bumped down the stairs one at a time. She was at the bottom stair when Matt pulled up in front of the house.
“Good morning. I wanted to make sure y’all got off okay,” he said as he got out of Krissy’s car. “Looks like you got creative.”
“Whatever works,” Liz said, standing up.
“Let me help you into the car.”
“Thanks, Matt.” She leaned on him and let him balance her as she slid into the passenger’s seat of Krissy’s car.
“Good luck.”
“Thank you.” She raised her crossed fingers, and Krissy started the car and headed down the mountain.
* * *
MATT WENT INSIDE and worked on the chili fixin’s. He figured he’d make it now, then put it over the fire when they got home this afternoon. Then they could eat whenever they wanted to tonight.
He had a lot to do, and as much as he would like to share a cozy dinner with Liz and Krissy, there wasn’t going to be time for that tonight.
Liz called when they were on the way back. “Good news,” she said. “I don’t need surgery. It’s a stable fracture, and they’ve recasted me. I’ll be in a cast for at least six weeks. He said it could be eight weeks, but I’m good at coming in ahead of schedule, so I’m banking on six.”
“I don’t think it works that way, Liz.”
“Can’t hurt to hope. I’ll still be on crutches, but he said it could’ve been a lot worse.”
“That’s great news. When will you be back?”
“Krissy says the GPS is showing about forty minutes.”
“Great. I’ll be there to help you get settled back in.”
“That would be great,” she said.
He was relieved she was at least accepting his help now. That was progress.
When they drove up he was just taking the corn bread out of the oven. He shuffled the hot pan onto the counter and turned off the oven, then brushed his hands on his pants and ran for the door. “Hey there.”
Liz was already trying to get out of the car. She was a headstrong girl, but then that was one of the things he liked about her too.
“Hang on. I’ll help.” He swung the door all the way open, and had her lean on his upper arm to get leverage to stand. “There you go.”
She wobbled, then finally got the crutches underneath her and started moving forward.
“I like the red glittery cast,” Matt said.
“The guy said it was Christmassy.” She took a step forward. “Three twelve-year-olds and I are all sporting them this season.”
“It is Christmassy. And youthful.”
“A bright side to everything.” Liz stood in front of the stairs, dreading the climb.
Krissy and Matt each got on a side of her and hopped her up the stairs to the porch. “This is a lot of work,” Liz said, out of breath.
“Hang on. You wait right there. I have a surprise for you.” Matt jogged inside and came back out pushing a deep red scooter. He had one knee on the pad and pushed off with the other foot. “Thought you could use this.”
“Where did you get that thing?”
“Ruptured my Achilles in a skiing accident a couple of years ago. That’s a yearlong recovery. This thing and I were inseparable for a while.”
Liz pressed her lips together. “With the little basket and everything?”
“Yes. This thing will make your life so much easier. Laugh if you must, but you are going to find that little basket quite handy.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re right. Thank you.”
“Let me show you how it works.” He took her crutches and then lined the scooter up under her bad leg. “Just put your weight on the cushion and push forward with your other foot. Use the hand brakes to stop.”
She moved forward a little. “Oh yeah. This is way better.”
“See?”
“Now if you can just figure out how I can still make a snow angel I’ll be set.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He gently held her arm as she navigated through the kitchen to her chair to make sure she didn’t get tripped up. “Be careful when you cross to the rug or change floor types, this scooter will toss you off if you’re not careful.”
“Oh yeah, that was close,” Liz said. “I guess I almost have to wheelie the front tire a little to get up on the carpet.”
“Yeah, be careful.”
Krissy took over getting her comfortable, so Matt went and got the pot of chili and hung it over the fire. “The corn bread is on the counter. The chili has cooked and simmered, really you’re just heating it back up. Do you think you can maneuver the pot?”
Krissy nodded. “Yeah. I can handle it.”
“I’ve got to run. I’ve got some people to meet up with tonight.”
Liz felt her mood dip. She wasn’t ready for him to leave yet. She’d hoped he would stick around and at least eat dinner with them.
“See you later.” Matt left, and Liz sat quietly as Krissy messed around on her computer.
* * *
AT NINE O’CLOCK, the text chime sounded on Liz’s phone. “Who could that be at this hour?”
Krissy looked up. “Can you reach it?”
Liz leaned forward and grabbed her phone with her fingertips. “Got it.” She put in her password, a
nd the message displayed. “It’s Matt texting me. He asked if everything is okay.”
“Well, answer him,” Krissy said.
She texted back that things were going fine.
Then Matt asked her if she was still up, or had she gone to bed.
I’m still up, she texted back.
When Matt responded, she gulped.
“What’s the matter?” Krissy asked.
“He wants to take me for a ride.” She held the phone close to her. “What do I do?”
“Go with him. What’s the harm in that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s complicated. He’s working for me. I have a strict policy about dating anyone I’m working with.”
Krissy sat there for a second, her mouth pulling to one side as if she was about to say something but wasn’t sure if she should. “Look, this isn’t my place to butt in, but—”
“You’re going to?”
“Yes.” Krissy licked her lips, and then pulled her hands into her lap. “Look, there’s a spark between you two. You have to admit it. I get it. You’ve got this rule, but are you really just deeming the relationship not real so he can’t hurt you?”
The words kind of stung. She hadn’t thought of it like that at all, although it was true she was not ready to relive her divorce again. Am I doing that?
“But I’m focusing on Angel’s Rest right now,” Liz said. “It would complicate things for Matt and me to work together and—”
“You have too many rules. If you don’t let yourself be vulnerable, you’re going to miss out on the best parts of falling in love. You need to feel the wild abandon of those stuffy rules, and the rush of emotions that real love will shower down on you.” Krissy paused. “Matt’s a good guy. He would never hurt you. He will forever be your friend. It’s just the kind of guy he is. Me too. I’ve grown really fond of you in this short time. So, just go have a good time.” Her tone shifted from gentle to playfully demanding. “He didn’t ask you to run away to Vegas and get married.”