Rob would have loved to argue that point, but he didn’t. “Can we pull this off?”
“I have to take her to the store,” he said. “I’m not sure if I can go with you.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Because I promised her, and if we’re going to make it a surprise, then everything has to seem normal.”
“You can’t make up an excuse? What kind of sixteen-year-old are you if you can’t snow your mother?”
“I never lie to her,” he said with dead seriousness. “My dad did all the time, and it’s not cool.”
It blew Rob away. “I never meant to suggest—”
Jackson amended his answer. “I tell her everything, but I’m working on something for her for Christmas, so I guess there are some things I keep to myself.”
“Really? What are you getting her?”
“Not telling.” He grinned.
“Well, whatever I do for dinner will be like that,” said Rob. “Like a Christmas present. A nice surprise. I’ll handle it. Text me whatever else you want for dinner, and I’ll pick it up.”
They parted ways. He would go to the store by himself, but first, he called his designer.
“Alex, I need you.”
“Hey buddy, you’re a good-looking guy but not my type.”
“Don’t be an ass. I need a favor.” Rob paced his entryway.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I want you to rent a room at the Hummingbird Inn. Book it for a week and then cancel at the last minute. I’ll pay for everything.”
“Why?”
“It’s for a friend, and she can’t know.”
“She?” he asked. “Why not just buy her flowers or chocolate? It’s cheaper.”
“Or you can come out. That might be better. You can see the land firsthand. I’ll still pay for everything. Bring your girlfriend.”
“Do you hear how nuts you sound?” Alex chuckled into the phone. “I’ll see if Nicole wants to come. Let me call you back.” There was a moment of silence. “Hey, what if she’s booked by the time I have my answer?”
“Then book her next available opening.” Rob smiled to himself. He knew she didn’t want his interference, but he also knew she couldn’t afford a vacancy.
“And we aren’t using your credit card because you don’t want her to know you’re giving her business because you want to give her the business, right?”
“Very mature, Alex.” Rob shook his head. “I’ll reimburse you. Grow up, man.”
“Never, but I’ll text you when it’s all set. If we come out, can I let her know who we are to you? I mean won’t she know, eventually?”
“I’ll just pretend it’s a coincidence. Do your part, and I’ll handle the rest.”
As he headed out the door and climbed into his truck, he realized he missed having Lucky around. It was the darnedest thing, but he would have liked to have the dog at the grocery store with him.
The dinner menu ran through his head as he drove into town. Gourmet burgers, seasoned fries, and a salad sounded good.
The town wasn’t far away from his house and it reminded him of how Celia said everything he needed was here. She could very well be right. Even if there was no industry or money flowing through it, Pinetop had its own kind of perfection.
Each time he entered the grocery store, the small-town charm moved him. Its shiny, waxed linoleum floors and pristine, crisp aisles with neatly stacked displays evoked a safe and bountiful experience.
He understood why people put down roots in a place like this. It was more than a town. It was a community. That was something he hadn’t been part of for a while.
He started at one end of the store and worked his way around. When his cart filled, he rounded the aisle heading to the checkout and came face to face with Celia and Jackson. They’d caught him.
“Hello,” he said awkwardly.
He and Celia had parted on brittle terms, which made running into her feel awkward. She was the mother of a teenager who with any hope and luck would be in college in two years. And yet, the figure she cut in a sweet, rose-colored sweater and dark blue straight-legged jeans which she’d tucked into riding-style boots established that she was young and vibrant. The girl he’d had a crush on in high school had become a beautiful woman.
“Hello.” She lowered her head.
He wondered, if she looked at him, would he see happiness or frustration?
“I have to go to work,” Jackson said. “Later, Rob.” He kissed his mom’s cheek and disappeared down the next aisle.
“I’m glad I ran into you.” Celia lifted her head and smiled, and his world became a better place because of it.
He arched a brow. “Are you?” His gentle scold made her blush.
“I want to apologize for losing it the other day.”
He wouldn’t gloss it over and say it was fine, not quickly anyway.
“Okay.” He needed to say more so she would know he was there for her. “I know it seems as if we’ve just met, but we haven’t, have we? You can always let me know what’s going on.”
“Yeah, I mean, no.” She buried her face in her hands. “It was a terrible moment.”
“I hope it passed.” He wanted to touch her, to pull her close to him for a hug, but he gave her the space he thought she needed.
“It has, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” She took a step closer. “Thank you for offering your place for the festival. That was generous.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
They stared at each other for a long moment.
He took great pleasure in the way her sweet lips formed an O.
“Jackson and I would like to invite you to dinner.” It was like a string got pulled from above to hoist her up. She grew two inches in the last couple of minutes. “Our way of saying thanks for the venue and to make up for the way I snapped at you.”
Her eyes pleaded with him to say yes, but that wasn’t the plan.
“I’ll tell you what. It’s my turn to host a dinner, and what I’d enjoy is having you at my place. I’m already shopping, and we can pick out anything else you’d like to make together.”
Celia looked at his selections with confusion.
“Do you always shop for yourself like that?” She pointed to the items in his full cart. “Looks fancy.”
It looked like a dinner party in the making.
“I broke the rule about shopping while hungry.” He picked up a package of beef. “I have to have this ground by the butcher. Come with me.”
He liked the feel of walking with her. Suddenly, a loud ring broke the silence and drowned out the soft tunes playing on the store’s sound system. He turned to Celia, who scrambled to get her phone out of her bag.
“I got an email.” She checked her phone and gasped.
“Oh my gosh.” She held her cell in the air and waved it around. “I have someone interested in the inn for this weekend.”
“But you’re booked,” he said, pretending he didn’t know about the cancellation.
The joy and light in her face made the lie worth it if the email was from Alex.
“My booking canceled because of the snow.” She stopped and stared at him. “Wait, this guy says he works for you.”
Alex telling her right away was off-script—it should have come later—but Rob went with it.
“Wait.” He acted shocked, though most of it was genuine. He took the phone from her. “Did he book with you? I told him he could stay with me.”
“Oh,” she said. “It’s okay if you’d rather they stay with you. It’s fine. It looks like he’s bringing a companion.”
Rob realized the brilliance of Alex’s disclosure. It sort of got him off the hook for fibbing to her. This way it was legitimate. The next problem was answering why he’d fly his designer out to look at land covered with snow. He’d figure that out later.
“No.” Rob handed her back her phone. “If he wants to stay at your place, that’s fine with m
e. Perfect actually.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not in the least.”
“That means we have to have dinner tonight.” She glanced toward the registers. “But Jackson’s working.”
A tingling sensation washed through him at the possibility of having dinner alone with her. As much as he liked Jackson, alone time with Celia sounded wonderful.
“Do you think we can handle that?” he asked, winking at her.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “But we took one car here, so I’ll come back and pick him up.”
“Why don’t you leave the keys with him and ride home with me? We can stop and put your things away, or you can keep them in my fridge. I’m a big boy, I know how to share.”
“Great plan.” Her expression brightened. “I can’t believe I got a replacement booking.” She hopped up and down like a kid.
“It is awesome.” Rob put his arm around her. It seemed like the most natural thing to do. He gazed down on her sweet face while they walked through the store.
“Shall we have wine?”
“Definitely.” Her eyes focused on him. “And something naughty for dessert.”
Chapter Eleven
Celia
A ton of weight lifted from her shoulders as she walked around the store with Rob. She wished she was better dressed because it felt like a date.
He handed the butcher the steaks to grind up while they waited.
“Jackson said he liked burgers. I figured I’d get these ground up.”
“Wait a minute.” Her eyes snapped to his. “Why would you be doing burgers for Jackson?”
Rob’s face turned red. “He mentioned it and I—”
“But you asked us to dinner just now.” She glanced down at his cart. “You already had everything in your cart, and he’s not coming.”
“Jackson gave me the idea when he came for the crate.”
“You sure go fancy on your burgers.” She never ground up a good steak. She bought the 80/20 ground beef when it was on sale.
“I like high-quality ingredients. If I put in the effort, I want it to be worthwhile. Where is this going? Do you have a problem with me making you dinner or is everything still good?”
“Umm … it’s good.”
Maybe it was the anxiety she’d endured for the past forty-eight hours that caused her radar to go up for a moment. After the stress she put herself through, she refused to ruin the night by flying off the handle again.
They walked their carts up to check out. Jackson was at the register, so they went to his line. She pulled his car keys out of her purse and handed them over.
“Rob will give me a ride home.” She loved the sound of that. She realized then she had not allowed herself to miss the company of a man, even if it was just a casual acquaintance. However, this dinner with Rob didn’t feel casual, and she didn’t feel like an acquaintance. There had been something stirring between them since the day he knocked on her door.
“Sweet,” said Jackson.
She always looked at her balance when she checked out, but this time it mortified her. Scott said he would put the supplies on credit and not send her check through, but he hadn’t kept his word, and now she didn’t have enough in her account to cover the groceries.
Rob reached around her to her son, handing him a bank card. He was offering to buy their groceries too. She didn’t understand why, but she had to swallow her pride and let him.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Aren’t those for your guests this weekend?”
“Mostly,” she said.
“Let me do this for you.”
He stared into her eyes and she soaked it up. His eyes were one of the many things that drew her to him. Blue eyes that sparkled with bits of sunshine-colored flecks thrown in.
“Did you see my bank account balance just now?” She was embarrassed, but he didn’t make a big deal out of it.
He was quiet for a moment. “Yes,” he said.
Their bodies were so near she felt a pulse wavering between them. The arc of energy that passed from him to her and back again made her insides stir with heat as if the crackling had breached her skin.
“Thought so,” she grumbled. “How humiliating.”
“It happens,” he whispered.
It felt like they were the only two people in Pinetop at that moment. The blood rushed to her ears and blocked all sounds and senses except for the sight and feel of him.
“Do you make it a habit to rescue a damsel in distress?” she flirted.
“Yep, if her name is Celia Roberts, I do,” he said. “Let’s go have dinner.”
“Declined,” said Jackson of Rob’s credit card.
Celia and Rob jerked their heads in his direction while Jackson laughed his head off.
“Just kidding,” he said. “Woke you up though.”
Rob laughed hard.
Celia felt like she had just survived the drop of a roller coaster.
“You wait,” she warned her son. “I’ll get you back for that.”
The snow from the last few days had melted, and the temperature had risen into the high thirties.
Rob lifted his groceries into the back of his truck. Celia tried to do the same, but at just over five feet, she wasn’t tall enough. He stood behind her and lifted them for her, putting his arms around her. She hadn’t felt anything so amazing in a lifetime.
He opened the passenger door for her like the gentleman he was proving to be. She raised her leg, but her jeans didn’t have enough give, so the height of the truck was a challenge. After a failed attempt, he lifted her at the waist and set her on the passenger seat.
“That was easy,” she said. It was an understatement. Everything about Rob was easy except for him developing the land behind her home. She’d gotten used to the idea that it was going to happen. The harder pill to swallow was that it would put her out of business. She and Jackson were just making ends meet. How could she raise a teenage boy without an income? She’d had to separate the man from the land, or it would ruin the evening.
Rob climbed into the driver’s seat and was about to turn onto the road but stopped.
“Was that what upset you the other day? Did you forget your account was overdrawn?”
She shook her head. “It shouldn’t have been. Scott promised to hold a check and transfer the money I owed to credit, and he didn’t.”
He flashed an artificial smile. “You don’t have to rely on Scott anymore. You can rely on me.”
“But why?” she asked.
“Why not?” he countered.
“I’ve made it a rule to not allow myself to rely on anyone. I don’t want to be foolish.”
“You’re not foolish, and you have to trust someone sometime. Why not me?”
He leaned over and kissed her.
To her surprise, she kissed him back. She leaned into him, running her fingers through his thick, dark hair. After a long, languorous kiss, she stilled.
“You kissed me,” she said.
He chuckled. “And you kissed me back.”
“I did,” she whispered against his lips. “We’ll be the talk of the town.”
He curled his lips into a smile. One that revealed a hidden dimple. If she wasn’t already smitten with the man, that dimple would do it.
“Let them talk. Maybe good ole Scott will put your check through a second time out of spite.”
“Wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I hope they talk about this,” he said. “I’ve been fantasizing about having my name linked to you ever since your boyfriend pants’d me in high school.”
“Oh man,” she said, and she pressed her forehead to his chest. “I’m so sorry.”
He leaned back and winked. “Jackson never did it again because he didn’t want you looking at my junk.”
“He didn’t want me looking at anything.” She nuzzled against him and breathed him in. “He was so mean.”
“And yet, you liked
him.” He leaned away and arched a brow.
“I did, but only God knows why.” She sat back and adjusted the seatbelt. “Once you got past his good looks, there wasn’t much there. I’m so glad Jackson is nothing like him.”
“He looks like you, and he’s sweet like you.” Rob started the truck and turned onto the highway toward his house. “I’m glad, too, because it would be hard to deal with a mini Jackson every day of your life.”
“You’re right.” She turned to look at him. “Do you look like your father?” It just dawned on her that his father was never around.
“Spitting image and my mother hated me for it.”
She reached over and took his hand. “I’m so sorry, Rob. It’s not your fault.”
“Not everyone has a heart of gold like you do.”
“Is that why you left town right after graduation?”
“Yep, tired of my mom hovering over me so I’d never turn out like him. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Jackson Sr. and my father were cut from the same cloth.”
She remembered the day Jackson came home with a bipolar diagnosis. He threw the meds across the room and stomped out the door. He left for months that time.
“Was your father mentally ill too?”
“No, mine was selfish and self-centered.”
They pulled into his driveway and brought the bags inside.
“Did I miss this behemoth refrigerator the last time I was here?” She opened and closed the door several times. “I could book this as a room at the inn.”
“You should have one of these.”
“I’m going for authentic. I don’t think they had these in Victorian homes.”
“They didn’t have air conditioning or central heating or remote-control lighting either. They had boxes with ice. Is that what you’re using?”
She could lie to herself all she wanted. Her inn might look Victorian, but it had most of the amenities expected in the 21st century. “No, I’m more modern than that.”
He flipped a remote, and the air filled with soft jazz.
“You know how to live,” she said.
“Glad you like it.” He poured a glass of red wine from a bottle he had tucked against the backsplash and handed it to her.
He washed his hands and formed the patties from the ground sirloin and set them on the grill. While those sizzled, he washed up again and took one of her hands in his. He placed his other hand on the small of her back and moved around the room to the beat of the music.
Christmas Inn Love Page 8