Mistletoe Between Friends / The Snowflake Inn

by Samantha Chase

  Corrine and Ben did.

  Riley did.

  There was so much uncertainty that Grace was afraid to take a leap of faith to stay and wait to see how it all panned out. There was always the possibility that Corrine and Ben were going to get married and keep the inn. All of the time and effort that Riley had been putting in could show him that this was where he belonged as well, and then he could give up the idea of Corrine selling the place.

  Would he still want her if he decided to stay? Would he want to continue their relationship if she decided to stay? And to what end?

  If Grace were a different type of person, if she hadn’t experienced firsthand the crushing realities of how cruel life could be, she might be tempted to believe in fairy tales and happy endings.

  But she wasn’t.

  For the first eighteen years of her life, Grace had led a perfect life. But then that ended. Tragically. The aftermath had been brutal, every day a struggle to survive. It wasn’t a financial struggle; her parents had made sure that she was well provided for. The emotional aspect of losing her family had been harder to deal with. Grace had no one to count on, no one to turn to. Eventually, she’d just stopped looking for anyone to fill that role.

  But here and now at the inn? There was hope. There were possibilities. And yet she was still afraid to reach out and take a chance. What if she put herself out there, stayed here at the inn, and then Corrine decided to sell it? Where would that leave her? What if she trusted in the relationship that she and Riley were building, and he came home one day and told her they were through? How would she survive it?

  In either scenario, she would be in the same place: homeless with no place to go.

  Ah, yes, she reminded herself, that is why you need to go.

  Grace knew that it would be better and less awkward if she made the decision to leave, rather than have somebody tell her that it was time for her to go. That decision had been made for her at the lowest point in her life. Now when she moved on, it would be on her own terms.

  “How’s dinner coming?” Corrine asked as she came into the kitchen to collect the place settings for the dining room.

  Turning, Grace smiled at her. “I was just letting the roast settle for a bit before slicing it, but other than that, everything is done.”

  “It all smells delicious!” Corrine began lifting lids off pots and bowls to sneak a peek at that night’s menu. “What have we got?”

  Walking over, Grace stopped beside her friend and ran through the list. “We’ve got pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, biscuits, gravy, a salad, and an apple pie for dessert.”

  “Oh, comfort food. It’s the perfect night for it. Did you see the snow?”

  Grace nodded. “It’s beautiful. I didn’t realize it was even in the forecast when I did the menu, but you’re right. It’s the perfect meal for a night like this.”

  “We’ve only got a handful of people with us tonight, so if it’s all right with you, I’ll get everyone settled and served, and then”—Corinne blushed and looked away slightly—“I think I’ll head home with Ben tonight. Is that okay? Would you mind terribly handling things here without me?”

  Grace knew how hard it must have been for Corrine to ask—and to admit that she was going to spend the night with Ben. Wrapping her arm around her friend, Grace pulled Corrine in close. “I don’t mind at all. Like you said, we’ve got a smaller crowd tonight, and really, we’re caught up on everything else.”

  “I don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage or—”

  “Nonsense. I don’t feel that way at all. I know that you would never do such a thing. Go and enjoy yourself. You and Ben deserve a little alone time.”

  “You’re sure you don’t mind? I can be back to help out for breakfast.”

  “Don’t you dare!” Grace said with a laugh as she stepped back. “You go and spend the entire night with that man, and then make him breakfast in bed or something. I don’t want to see either of you around here until at least lunchtime.”

  Corrine was blushing profusely now. “I don’t know about that… Riley might wonder where I am and—”

  Grace waved her off. “Don’t worry about Riley. I’ll make him help me out around here if I need anything, and believe me, he won’t want to know what you’re doing.”

  A small smile crept across Corrine’s face. “Oh, I hadn’t even thought of it like that.” She tried to sound remorseful, but once her eyes met Grace’s, they both broke out in a fit of giggles.

  That’s how Riley found them. “What’s so funny?”

  Corrine did her best to calm down and answer him with a straight face, but it just wasn’t possible. Grace had turned away and began collecting food to bring into the dining room, giggling the entire time.

  “Mom?”

  Taking a deep breath, Corrine looked her son straight in the eye. “I’m spending the night at Ben’s house. I’m leaving you and Grace in charge.” The look on Riley’s face was near comical.

  “Oh…um…” Riley stammered, nervously looking around for Grace. “O-kay,” he said slowly. “So…um…when will you be back?”

  Grace walked back in and, having heard Riley’s comment, decided to be the one to answer. “Whenever she and Ben have thoroughly exhausted one another. It could be days.”

  And the giggles started all over again.

  * * *

  Once all of their guests had finished eating and had gone to their rooms, Grace and Riley sat down to a late dinner in the kitchen, just the two of them. Leaning across the table, Grace reached for his hand. “So seriously, are you okay about your mother and Ben, you know, doing it?”

  His fork dropped loudly on his plate, and Riley looked up at Grace, his expression stricken. He choked on the food he had in his mouth, and she felt bad about poking at him over the situation. “I’m sorry. That was mean of me,” she said, patting him on the back to help him stop coughing.

  “That was just cruel, Grace,” Riley said when he was finally able to speak. Looking into her eyes, he smiled when he saw that she wasn’t the least bit repentant. “I’ll admit, that wasn’t my favorite moment, hearing my mom talk about spending the night with her boyfriend. To be honest, she never dated. It was never something that came up after my father died, so this is all new to me.”

  “I can’t even imagine. I would hope that it helps that she’s with Ben. I mean, you’ve known him your entire life, so you know he’s a good man and he really does love Corrine.”

  Riley smiled. “He’s been there for her—for us—for as long as I can remember.”

  “It’s got to be a little awkward for them. I mean, they’ve been friends for so many years, and at this point in their lives, maybe they thought it was too late.” She shrugged. “I’m just glad they finally stopped dancing around one another and went for it.”

  “Um…Grace?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Could we not talk about them…going for it?” Riley put a hand over his stomach. “I know I’m a grown man, but some things don’t need to be talked about.”

  Taking sympathy on him, Grace agreed, and they spent the rest of their meal talking about how plans were progressing with the clearing of the land. “It looked like you were marking a second area today on the east side of the property. What’s going on over there?”

  “There were some damaged trees in that area. We’re removing them before they fall over in a storm and potentially hurt someone.”

  She nodded. “Smart thinking.”

  “How are your plans coming for Christmas dinner? Any inspiration?”

  A wave of sadness threatened to overcome her, but Grace was able to push it aside. “Well, it’s been so long since I’ve had the freedom to create a holiday meal. I was always working on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and management always told us what we were making, so this has been a real
treat.”

  “Are you going to share the details, or do I have to wait?”

  “I’ll tell you some of the details,” she teased. Straightening in her seat, she smiled brightly at Riley. “On Christmas Eve, we are going to do a buffet with the guests. I’ve got an assortment of great stuff from beer bread and assorted dips to stuffed mushrooms, mini quiches, spicy crab bites”—she stopped and thought for a moment—“and some other fun finger foods. Then we’ll take a small break and set up chafing dishes with a pecan-crusted pork roast and a variety of side dishes. And for dessert, we have a multitude of cakes, cookies, and pies.”

  Riley shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it, Grace. I think I’ve gained about twenty pounds since I’ve come home. Every day I walk in here and I see all you’ve created, and you make it look effortless. If I were living alone, I’d be microwaving my meals…or keeping the local diner in business.”

  “I’m sure after eating nothing but military food for so long, you would have enjoyed just about anything. Don’t get me wrong. I love that you enjoy my cooking, but I think you’re just easy to please after having to eat such bland food for so long.”

  Riley stood and silently began clearing the table. Grace gave him an odd look. Had she offended him? Made him angry by criticizing his choice of being in the service? Standing, she helped clear the table, and soon they had the kitchen put back together and all of the items that Grace needed set up for breakfast in the morning.

  Finally, unable to stand the silence any longer, Grace placed a hand on Riley’s arm. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Wordlessly, Riley cupped Grace’s face in his large hands. His blue eyes stared intently into her wide, green ones. “No,” he said gruffly.

  “Then what’s the matter? Why’d you get so quiet?”

  “I never once regretted my time in the military. It was what I always wanted to do. And then sitting here tonight, talking with you, sharing dinner with you, it made me think about all I would have missed if I had opted to stay in.”

  She wasn’t prepared for that level of honesty with him right now. Her emotions were already all over the place regarding their future, and while Riley was brave enough to open up like that, it made Grace want to run and hide.

  “You would have missed having awkward conversations about your mom’s sex life,” she said, trying to lighten the mood, but Riley wouldn’t be swayed.

  “I would have missed you,” he said softly, leaning in toward her. “I would have missed out on getting to know you.”

  There were no words; nothing came to mind. No snarky comeback or sassy retort. His eyes held so much emotion that Grace was getting lost in them. So rather than try to speak, she got up on her toes and gently placed her lips against his. Neither tried to deepen the kiss; it was enough to just lightly sip from one another. Riley’s fingers caressed her face while Grace ran her palms up his chest until they came to rest on his shoulders.

  “Come downstairs with me, Grace.”

  She nodded and was about to step away when Riley swept her into his arms. “Oh my,” she gasped.

  He carried her to the basement door. It was slightly awkward to open the door and then close it again in the close confines, but they managed. Once they were at the bottom of the stairs, Riley carried Grace directly over to the bed and laid her down as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

  Staring up at him as he stood beside the bed, Grace could only sigh his name.

  “You were wrong, you know,” he said and saw the confusion written on her face. “What you said upstairs… You were wrong.”

  “When?”

  “You said that I was easy to please.” He pulled his sweatshirt up over his head. “I’m not.”

  A slow smile worked its way across her lips. She watched as the T-shirt he wore followed the path of the sweatshirt. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  Unbuttoning his jeans, Riley continued to stare at Grace until she began to squirm. “I guess we’ll have to see about that, won’t we?”

  Rising to her knees on the bed, Grace ran her hand over his naked chest, loving the feel of his warm skin against hers. Her fingers traced the many scars he had, and she had to force herself not to think about how they had gotten there. With a wicked smile, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “I guess we will.”

  They landed back on the bed, a tangle of limbs as each clamored for the dominant position. Somehow Grace managed to roll Riley beneath her. Straddling his lap, she rose up and pulled her sweater over her head, then peeled away the white lace bra she wore underneath. “How can we find out if you’re easy to please if you don’t let me…please you?” she asked huskily.

  Riley was never one to give up control. That was his to maintain. But as Grace’s mouth began a journey from his lips to his throat to his chest and lower, he threw back his head and realized that it was good to try new things.

  Chapter 11

  For someone who claimed that running a bed-and-breakfast wasn’t for him, Riley certainly had a knack for it. After a rather eventful night, he and Grace had gotten up early, and together they had prepared breakfast for their guests. While Grace was busy in the kitchen, Riley had greeted everyone in the dining room and chatted with them until all of the food was on the table.

  Then, in a most surprising move, instead of going back into the kitchen to let the guests eat on their own, Riley had prepared plates for both him and Grace, and they sat at the large dining room table and had their breakfast with the guests. Grace knew that from time to time Corrine did that, but since she’d always had the impression that Riley saw guests as an intrusion in his home, his decision to join them was a bit of a shock. Rather than question it, Grace decided to sit back and observe.

  Over platters of pancakes and sausage, Riley answered all kinds of questions about the inn, the town, and the military. Gone was the man of few words that she had met, and in his place was a veritable chatterbox! He shared the history of the Snowflake Inn—how his grandparents had built it and opened it to hunters, and how his own parents had converted it to a bed-and-breakfast when they took over.

  Grace had often talked to Corrine about the background of the inn, and while nothing Riley was saying was news to her, it was interesting to hear him say it and to hear the pride in his voice. When had that happened? At what point in time since he had arrived home had his feelings changed?

  It was then that Grace realized that for all that she and Riley had shared, they didn’t talk a whole lot about him. She glanced in his direction and couldn’t help but smile as he told the story of how his mother had made his father take down all of the animal heads mounted on the walls and promise to never hang them back up. Grace loved that story too. But back to Riley…

  No, in all of the time that they had been together, they’d talked a lot about general stuff, the day-to-day running of the inn, the barn project, his mom and Ben. Hell, Grace had even shared with him about her parents, but somehow they never seemed to focus on him. Whenever she mentioned his time in the military, he just shut down or changed the subject. Well, that was going to change as of now.

  Everyone around the table was laughing, so without knowing why, Grace joined in. Okay, maybe not right now, but later tonight when they were alone, she was going to talk to Riley about his life and his feelings. If Grace knew anything, she knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, and if anything, he was going to pull away and get mad. She smiled when she remembered what she had nicknamed him not so long ago—Cute Angry Guy. The man sitting next to her now did not resemble the man jogging behind her in the park.

  She felt Riley’s hand reach out, and then his fingers twined with hers. It was a nice feeling. Grace had been really intrigued by Cute Angry Guy, but this man next to her? She was developing far deeper feelings for him.

  * * *

  Corrine did not come home that day.
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  Or the next.

  As much as Grace was outwardly saying “You go, girl!” inwardly, she was getting annoyed because Riley was so distracted by the fact that his mother was shacking up with Ben that she didn’t have the heart to have the talk with him that she wanted to. It would be like kicking a puppy at this point.

  It wasn’t that Riley was upset; it was more like he was out of sorts and unable to figure out what he was supposed to be doing or what his role at the inn was supposed to be. Corrine had always been there. She had never dated after her husband died, and whenever Riley was home, Corrine’s presence in the house had been a constant. Clearly that meant a lot to him because her absence was having a weird effect on him.

  He wandered around—some would call it puttering—and she heard him sighing. A lot. Without Ben’s assistance, Riley was unwilling to take control of the barn project. While he was completely comfortable with the guests and taking care of things around the inn, Grace could tell he was doing that in part because he wanted to take care of things for his mother. She could only hope the other part was that he was really getting used to being here and was making a connection with the place.

  When he walked into the kitchen for what seemed like the tenth time in as many minutes, Grace had had enough. “Is everything okay?” she finally asked.

  Riley turned and looked at her with confusion. “Sure. Why?”

  Here we go. “You’re just wandering around and pacing. What’s going on?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Patiently, Grace put down the wooden spoon that she was using to mix batter for brownies, placed her palms on the butcher block, and looked at him. “Really? You have no idea what I’m talking about?”

  “That’s what I just said.” His tone held a hint of defiance.

  “I think it bothers you that Corrine isn’t back yet. I think that you’re walking a fine line between taking charge of things here and not wanting to step on anyone’s toes.” She waited a heartbeat and was relieved to see that the sky didn’t fall because of her speaking her mind.