Mistletoe Between Friends / The Snowflake Inn

by Samantha Chase

  “I can’t believe you’re really here. How long are you home for?”

  Riley didn’t answer. He didn’t want to be locked into any kind of commitment at this point. Instead of answering, he stepped inside and wrapped his mother in his embrace and then stilled when he felt her sobbing. “Mom…” he began.

  Corrine lifted her head. “When I saw you through the glass panel, I thought you were your father. I can’t believe how much you look like him. It seemed more plausible to me that he’d be here than that you were actually home. Why didn’t you call and tell me you were coming home?”

  He smiled at her. “I wanted to surprise you.” It wasn’t a total lie. With the surprise tactic, Riley was able to put off the list of never-ending questions he was sure he was about to get. He released her long enough to reach for his duffel bag. “Can I come in?”

  “Oh my goodness,” she gasped and then laughed. “Of course! I can’t believe I let you stand out there in the cold for so long!” She bustled out of the way as Riley stepped into the entryway and then closed the door behind him. “Welcome home!” She hugged him again because she simply couldn’t help herself. “Come in, come in. Are you hungry? Thirsty? What can I get you?”

  Riley chuckled. “I’m fine, Mom. Relax. Let’s just sit down.”

  And that’s when he saw her. The redhead, the woman from the park. The woman who Riley knew was going to be here at the inn, and yet seeing her still sent a jolt of surprise through him. He nodded his head in her direction and saw her blush.

  The closer he got, the harder Grace’s heart beat. She was on the verge of hyperventilating when he stopped in front of her. “How’s your knee?” he asked softly, and she almost melted into a puddle at this feet.

  “Better,” she said shyly. He nodded and walked into the living room where he placed his duffel bag in a corner before sitting in the nearest chair. Not knowing what else to do, Grace joined him in waiting for Corrine, who had gone to get refreshments even though no one wanted any.

  Sitting on the sofa, Grace took a moment to compose herself. “So,” she began nervously, “you’re Riley.”

  He nodded. “And you are?”

  “Grace. Grace Brodie.”

  Riley couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The name fit her, and it seemed odd that after only watching her for a few days, he felt more at ease with her than he had ever felt with anyone else. “So, do you…work here?”

  Grace smiled. “I do. I started working for your mom about six weeks ago. She’s the reason I moved here.”

  Riley was about to respond when his mother came back into the room carrying a tray of cookies and, if he wasn’t mistaken, her famous hot chocolate. Damn, he had forgotten how much he used to love that.

  “I met Grace during my rehab for my hip. She’s been a real lifesaver for me,” Corrine said as she handed each of them a steaming mug of cocoa. Placing a tray of cookies on the table between them all, she sat on the sofa beside Grace and beamed at her son. “I can’t believe you’re here. I know I keep saying it, but it still hasn’t hit me yet.”

  “I know I should have called,” he began, realizing that his surprise arrival probably had his mother feeling more anxious than if she’d had the time to prepare for him.

  “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is you’re home.” Grace watched her friend drink in the sight of her son. “How long are you home for? When do you have to report back?”

  It’s now or never… “Actually,” he began hesitantly, “I don’t have to report back.”

  Corrine stared at him blankly. “I don’t understand… Are you… Does this mean…?”

  Riley gave a small smile. “It means that I’m no longer employed by Uncle Sam. I’m back to being a civilian again.”

  His mother jumped to her feet as she clamped a hand over her heart. “Oh, Riley,” she cried, “I never thought this day would come!” She looked at her son and then at Grace, who had tears welling in her own eyes. Corrine turned back to Riley. “I didn’t realize you were due. I thought you had a few more years, and even then I thought you’d reenlist.”

  He shifted in his seat. “Well, about two months ago I was over in Afghanistan and…”

  Corrine dropped back onto the sofa. “You were hurt,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “Roadside bomb. I was far enough back that I wasn’t in the immediate blast zone, but”—he swallowed hard—“we lost a lot of men that day.”

  “What happened to you?” Corrine asked cautiously.

  “I was thrown pretty far, had debris land on me. Broke my shoulder, several ribs, and…well, was shot several times.”

  “Shot?” she asked in horror. “But…you said there was a bomb…”

  Riley shrugged. “I guess they wanted to make sure that no one was missed,” he said. “I could have stayed in the marines, but I would never be deployed again. It was just time for me to go.”

  “Oh, Riley… Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t anyone let me know?”

  “You were dealing with your own surgery, and although my injuries were bad, they weren’t life-threatening,” he lied. “I didn’t want to upset you. I knew that you were nervous about what you were going through and worried about the inn and how you were going to handle it all while you were recovering. I didn’t want to add to that.”

  “I still should have known,” Corrine said adamantly.

  “I can see that now,” he admitted. “And I’m sorry.”

  Corrine inhaled deeply and let her breath out slowly. “None of that matters,” she said, putting a smile back on her face. “You’re home now, and everything is going to be okay.”

  Riley was afraid to comment on that. He knew that in terms of his recovery, yes, everything was going to be okay. But beyond that? He wasn’t sure he was ready to look that far ahead. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

  “Oh, I’m fine. Moving a little slower than I’m used to. Grace and I were just discussing that before you knocked. Between the two of us, we’ve gotten so much done around here to prepare for the holidays, but even then, we’ve had to have Ben and some local college kids here to help out.”

  “Well, I’m more than willing to help out while I’m here.”

  Corrine didn’t miss the implications of the statement. “You’re not planning on staying, are you?” she asked sadly.

  “We’ll talk about that later,” Riley said. “When we’re alone.” He looked directly at Grace.

  Corrine didn’t miss that, either. “Grace is well aware of everything concerning the inn, Riley. She wants to become a partner, but I haven’t agreed yet. I was hoping you and I could still… Well, that you’d be open to discussing it.”

  “Mom, we’ve had this discussion a hundred times. And now, with your surgery and recovery, isn’t this all too much for you? Don’t you think it’s time to think about yourself? Aren’t you tired of working all the time? Wouldn’t you like to have a life of your own?”

  She stiffened at his words. “I have a life of my own, Riley. I have friends, and I’m involved in just about everything that goes on in this community. There’s nothing wrong with my life!” Her tone rose with every word.

  Doing her best to blend into the background, Grace started to get up from the sofa. Corrine turned and looked at her. “I think I’ll head into the kitchen—” Grace began, but Corrine cut her off.

  “Don’t feel like you have to leave,” she said quietly. Then she turned back to her son. “You’ve been gone a long time, Riley. You have no idea what my life is like here now. This isn’t something we’re going to decide right now. Why don’t we just let it lie for now and spend some time reconnecting with one another? Okay?”

  Riley nodded, but he knew the end result would be the same. He was going to leave, and his mother was going to be disappointed.

  * * *

  Grace had gone through the kitchen wit
h a fine-tooth comb and had her wish list ready. The kitchen was fine on its own, but doing the things she wanted to do and creating the meals she dreamed of creating would require a little something.

  Leaving Corrine and Riley in the living room had been a bit awkward, but she knew it was for the best. Mother and son had a lot of time to make up for, and she certainly didn’t want to be the third wheel hindering their reunion.

  With the kitchen project under control, Grace left her list on the counter and went to the basement, where her apartment was. At first Corrine had wanted Grace to take one of the cottages, but they were still in need of renovating, so she had opted for the basement. Truth be known, the basement could use quite the rehab itself, but it gave Grace the opportunity to have some privacy and yet be accessible to guests at a moment’s notice.

  Her knee wasn’t feeling nearly as bad as it had that morning, but that was mainly because after she had gone to the kitchen, she’d put a heating pad on it, downed some ibuprofen, and worked from a stool most of the time. What she really wanted was to soak in the hot tub, but that would have to wait until later. Right now, all she wanted was to grab a hot shower and then make lunch for everyone.

  The shower didn’t take long, but it had the desired effect. Although she wasn’t willing to admit it to herself, she spent a little extra time fixing herself up. Using all the tools at her disposal, Grace straightened her hair until it looked like something out of a hair-care commercial. Then she did her best to use just enough makeup to make her look attractive while still going for the natural look.

  It was exhausting.

  Climbing the stairs, she began to hear raised voices.

  Not a good sign.

  “I don’t see where you get to have a say in this, Riley,” Corrine said sharply.

  “You’re just delaying the inevitable, Mom. It doesn’t matter what this woman is doing here; you cannot keep this place forever.”

  “If you have no interest in taking over the business, then it really shouldn’t concern you how I run it.” Corrine stopped, and her voice calmed. “I really did not want to spend your first day home arguing, Riley. Why can’t we just let this go for now? Why must you keep harping on it?”

  “Because I don’t like to think of you working so damn hard! I hate that you feel the need to keep fighting an uphill battle when it’s not necessary. You can sell this place and live comfortably for the rest of your life.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t see this as an uphill battle. I love this place. I’ve always loved this place, and no matter what you think, you’ll never convince me to think otherwise. Grace is my friend, and she’s been invaluable to me. The guests love her, the people in town love her, and as far as I’m concerned, as long as there is breath in my body and she is willing to help me, I’m staying right here.”

  Uh-oh, Grace thought. There’s a surefire strategy to get the man to hate me.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Riley finally said, and Grace could hear the frustration in his voice.

  Tiptoeing along the hall, she made her way into the kitchen and immediately began to prepare lunch for everyone. It was almost time for Ben to come in, and it would be nice to have another buffer. If it were up to her, she’d give Mr. Riley Walsh a piece of her mind. How dare he tell Corrine to sell the place! Didn’t he realize how much his mother loved the inn? How could he be so heartless?

  Looks aren’t everything, she thought as she realized that no matter how attractive Riley was physically, it didn’t seem to make him a nice person. That was too bad because he had been really nice to her earlier. She sighed. What a waste.

  Before long, she heard Ben’s footsteps on the outside deck right before he came in through the kitchen door. “There’s my angel!” he said cheerfully as he walked across the room like he did every day and hugged her. For as much as Corrine had become a mother figure to her, Ben had easily slid into the father-figure slot. “How’s my girl today?”

  She told him about the mishap with her knee but left out who’d come to her rescue and the fact that they had an extra guest in the house. She wanted to leave that for Corrine to tell him. “How is cottage number one coming along?”

  Ben shrugged out of his flannel jacket and ran a hand through his silver hair. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement. “As much as I fuss about not ever enjoying the construction business, I have to admit I still get a kick out of doing some carpentry work.”

  “Anything exciting that needs to be done?”

  He shrugged and reached for an apple Grace had placed in the large basket she kept on the corner of her butcher-block island. “Some rotting on the roof, some stones loose on the chimney, but I’m thinking of adding some bookshelves to the cottages on either side of the fireplace. What do you think? Think Corrine will like that?”

  It was a question he asked her often. With every idea he came up with, Ben would always ask Grace if she thought Corrine would like it. That made her laugh, because he’d clearly known Corrine much longer than she had, and yet he wanted nothing more than to please her.

  “I think it’s a lovely idea, and I’m sure she will too,” Grace said with a smile.

  “So what’s on the menu today?”

  “Today we are trying a loaded potato soup, ham-and-Swiss paninis, and a field greens salad with a honey-mustard vinaigrette. How does that sound?”

  “Like I just gained twelve pounds,” he said with a laugh. The sound of a door slamming had Ben turning first toward the sound and then back to Grace. “Do we have a guest?”

  Grace was just about to answer when Corrine walked in. “Everything okay?” Grace asked hesitantly.

  Rather than answering, Corrine sat on the nearest stool, placed her face in her hands, and seemed to try to catch her breath. Ben was immediately at her side. “Corrine? What’s going on?” When she didn’t answer, he looked to Grace again. “Grace?”

  She hated being in the middle of this. “Riley came home,” she finally said and watched the look of shock on Ben’s face.

  “I can’t believe it,” he said softly. “Corrine, why didn’t you mention he was coming home?”

  Corrine raised her face and looked at him. “He wanted to surprise me,” she said sadly.

  Ben looked back and forth between the two women, confusion written all over his face. “Where is he?”

  “He left,” Corrine said flatly.

  Grace dropped the spoon she had been using to stir the soup. “Already? Why?”

  “He just wouldn’t drop the topic of me selling the inn. No matter how much I tried to say we could talk about it later and that I wanted to just talk about him and hear about his life, he was hell-bent on settling things once and for all where this place is concerned.”

  “Why does he want you to sell?” Ben asked. “I mean, I know he doesn’t want it, but why should that mean you have to sell it?”

  “Probably to clear his own conscience,” Grace muttered and then instantly regretted her words when both Ben and Corrine looked up at her in horror. “Sorry.”

  Corrine sighed. “Nothing for you to apologize for. You’re one hundred percent right. If the inn was gone, he wouldn’t have to think about it. He’d be able to go about his life and not worry about avoiding this place.”

  “I still don’t see why he’s carrying on,” Ben said. “If you told him it’s okay for him to not want the place, then why keep fighting about it?”

  “Like Grace said, to clear his conscience. I told him that I’m okay with him not taking over, but that’s not enough. He hates this place, and he doesn’t want to have to feel guilty about not running it if he comes here.”

  “Well, that’s just crazy,” Ben said and went to set the table for lunch.

  “Maybe Riley is right,” Corrine said sadly. “Maybe if I really want to have a relationship with him, I need to let go of this pla
ce. I probably should have done that after Jack died. I didn’t realize how much Riley hated it, and it’s doing nothing but putting a bigger and bigger rift between us. We’ve already lost so much time. Do I really want to lose more?”

  “Corrine, you’re talking crazy. Riley is a grown man. He is going to have to deal with the fact that this is your home, and you’ll sell it or leave it when you’re ready. You didn’t like the fact that he joined the marines, but that didn’t make him quit, did it?” Grace pointed out.

  “No, it didn’t.”

  “So why should you have to give up your life to make him feel better?”

  Corrine looked up at Grace and smiled sadly. “Because that’s what you do when you’re a mother. You make sacrifices.”

  Ben silently kept working on getting their lunch plated while the two women continued to talk.

  “Look,” Grace said. “I know I’m not a mother, so I don’t have the same perspective as you, but I don’t believe you should have to make sacrifices for a grown man. If Riley were a child and he was this miserable, and owning this inn was detrimental to his well-being, then yes, maybe you should sell it. But that’s not the case. He’s here for a visit, and then he’s going to leave to do whatever he wants with his life. Where does that leave you? Why does he get to have his way when he’s not going to stick around?”

  “Lunch is ready,” Ben said as he helped Corrine from the stool and led her to the table. “Grace has a point, Corri. If Riley is planning on leaving in a week or two, why do you have to uproot your life? Is he asking you to move with him wherever he goes?”

  “No.”

  “Then he seems to be making some pretty unreasonable demands.”

  “What he is, is a spoiled brat,” Grace said, and this time she wasn’t the least bit sorry. No one corrected her, which made her feel a little better.

  “So where did he go?” Ben finally asked.

  “Just for a walk, I think,” Corrine said as she sat down. “He didn’t take his bag, and his truck is still out front, so I guess he’s just taking a breather.”