by Debbie Mason
“Forest for the trees, Soph. Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you. Cut yourself some slack. You’ve had a lot to deal with.”
“What about you? All we ever do is talk about me.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “How are you doing, Liam?”
“I’m good. Why?”
“Um…shot in the line of duty ring a bell? I heard what happened.”
“Of course you did. It’s Harmony Harbor.” He glanced at her, smiled. “I’m getting there. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“You don’t have to worry about me either, yet you do. So humor me. Tell me what it is you’re dealing with. It might help to talk about it, you know.”
“What are my chances of you letting it go?”
She laughed. “About as good as you think…” She frowned. “Mia, what’s wrong?”
Mia stood frozen on the path then slowly turned around, her eyes wide and overly bright. Liam scanned the path up ahead, the woods on either side. “I think we’re in trouble,” he murmured, but at least he’d gotten a reprieve. “Look.” He pointed to the red-tail deer to the right of them.
“If she thinks it’s one of Santa’s reindeer, we are. But as long as its brother and sister aren’t hanging out at the cottage, we should be good,” she whispered.
Handing the bag to Sophie, he walked quietly to Mia and picked her up. “Let’s see if we can get a little closer.” Her eyes glued to the deer, she nodded. They got within ten feet of the deer when something spooked her.
“Wasn’t she beautiful, baby?”
Mia mouthed, Santa?
“I’m pretty sure the big guy and his reindeer are too busy at the North Pole to be paying us a visit, sweetheart,” Liam said as they walked out of the woods and onto the private dirt road. Across the road behind a low stone fence his grandfather had built, sat the two-story cottage nestled in a stand of trees. Wreaths hung in the two windows and on the white door between them.
Mia stared at the cottage, hands over her heart.
“Looks like Jasper got a fire going for us,” Liam said, nodding at the smoke spiraling from the chimney on the left. There was another chimney on the right.
“Should we go inside, baby? Or do you need a minute to take it all in?” Sophie asked, a smile in her voice.
“I think she needs a minute, Mom.”
Mia wriggled in his arms, and he put her down. She ran to the white picket gate, pushing it open. “I’ll go in and heat up our lunch,” Liam said when Mia headed around the side of the cottage.
“Okay, we won’t be long.” Sophie handed him the bag, hugging herself as she started after her daughter.
“You cold?” She wore a denim jacket over her sweater.
“I’m good.”
“Sure you are. Wear this.” He shrugged out of his leather jacket and handed it to her.
“You can’t help yourself, can you?” she said with a smile. Once she put on the jacket, she reached up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten our conversation before the deer interrupted us. I’ll be expecting a story when I come in.”
“I can do that. How about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?”
“Ha-ha. I’ll see you in a bit.” She tromped off after her daughter.
But Liam got another reprieve. Enchanted with the cottage, mother and daughter explored every inch of every room. He understood the attraction. Over the years, the cottage had been featured in several magazines. The living room and kitchen both had fireplaces and whitewashed stone walls, and honey-colored wood framed the windows and doors, and decorated the ceilings. The furniture wasn’t fancy; it was oversized and comfortable. Just like the feather beds in each of the three bedrooms upstairs.
Not surprisingly, Mia had been awed by the Christmas decorations. Especially the decorated tree in the corner of the living room. Once Liam turned on the multicolored Christmas lights, she’d parked herself in front of it and hadn’t moved. She’d eaten her lunch there while he and Sophie ate on the floor in front of the fireplace.
“That was so good. Jolly Rodgers makes the best clam chowder.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell if you liked it or not,” he said then mimicked the humming sound she’d made through the entire lunch.
She laughed and pushed her plate toward him. “Eat the rest of my fries. I can’t eat another bite.” She glanced to where Mia played with a stuffed reindeer and an elf then smiled at him. “Thanks for bringing us here and for lunch. It was perfect. I hope Kitty didn’t mind us coming.”
“Of course she didn’t. And you don’t have to thank me. I enjoyed the day as much as you. Feel free to come here anytime you want. I’ll give you the key.”
“Don’t let Mia hear you say that. She’s been obsessed with this place since she saw it in the flyer for the raffle. Dana did a beautiful job decorating. It looks like it belongs on a Hallmark card.”
“Grams tells me it’s cottage chic, whatever that’s supposed to mean. Place has great bones, though. They don’t build homes like this anymore.”
“Whoever wins the raffle will have a very merry Christmas. Can you imagine waking up in that feather bed in the master bedroom on Christmas morning? It’s huge.”
He’d done quite a bit of fantasizing when they’d been checking out the bedrooms and it had nothing to do with Christmas morning. “Soph, Mia knows family and staff can’t enter the raffle, doesn’t she?”
She nodded. “She’s been saying a novena over Rosa’s ticket ever since…” She briefly closed her eyes. “My grandmother can’t win either, can she?”
“’Fraid not.”
“It’s nice to have a dream. I think I’ll let Mia hang on to hers a little longer.”
“What about you? What about your dreams?”
“I used to have them. Believed they had a chance of coming true, and then they all went up in smoke.”
He opened his mouth to tell her she needed a new dream, but his ringing cell stopped him from sharing the thought. Maybe it was a good thing he’d been interrupted. There was something about Mistletoe Cottage that had him thinking about happily-ever-after. “Hey, Mike, thanks for calling me back. Hang on a sec.” He motioned for Sophie to follow him to the kitchen. Once they were out of Mia’s earshot, he said, “I’ve got Sophie with me. Looks like she might be needing your help with CPS after all. Okay. I’ll put her on. Thanks, bro.”
Sophie turned her back on him while she talked to his cousin on the phone. Liam probably should have given her some privacy, but it wasn’t like she’d kept anything from him. He wet a cloth in the white farmer’s sink and mopped the crumbs off the counter. Outside the window, gray clouds hung low in the sky and the trees swayed. Snow was on its way. It would be the first snowfall of the season, which usually meant a busy night at the station. He ignored the telling clench in his stomach.
Sophie disconnected and handed him his phone. There was something about the way she was looking at him that made him uneasy. “Everything okay?”
“He’s going to see what he can do, but he recognized my caseworker’s name. He didn’t sound as hopeful as he did the other day. At least about Friday’s visit.”
“If anyone can help you out with this, it’s Mike. He has connections. A lot of them.”
“That’s what he said. He was very nice. Not so—”
“Arrogant? Full of himself?” His cousin had been an entitled ass in his twenties. “He’s not the same guy you remember, Soph. He’s a good man. I’d trust him with my life. You can depend on him.”
“I…” She gave her head a slight shake then wrapped one arm around her waist while pressing a hand to her mouth, angling her body away from him.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what’s going on?”
She slowly turned her head and lifted her eyes to his. “He’s Mia’s father.”
At first he wasn’t sure he heard her right. Or maybe he was hoping he hadn’t. “Come again?”
“Michael, he’s Mia’s
father,” she whispered. “Don’t look at me like that. I did what I thought was best. You don’t know what—”
“All this time…So everything was a lie. The fiancé who died… I thought I knew you. Guess I don’t, because the Sophie DiRossi I knew wouldn’t keep a secret like this. Not in a million years.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. Try being eighteen and pregnant and alone.”
“You didn’t have to be. That was your choice. You didn’t give your daughter or Mike one. Mia deserved better. So did my cousin. If you don’t tell him, I will.”
Chapter Fourteen
By the time Sophie and Mia arrived at the manor the next morning, Sophie was fifteen minutes late for her meeting with the Widow’s Club and local business owners. Given the amount of sleep she’d gotten, she shouldn’t have bothered to put her head on the pillow. Liam’s accusations, his anger, and his warning played over in her head the entire night. She didn’t think anyone could make her feel worse than she already did, but Liam managed to.
He’d accused her of being selfish. Selfish because she’d forced her daughter to live in near poverty instead of in the lap of luxury her father could provide. Maybe the accusations wouldn’t have hurt so much if they hadn’t come from Liam. A man who’d ignited a spark, a hope, the nugget of a dream in a woman who’d thought she’d given up on them.
She only hoped their afternoon together hadn’t sparked one in her daughter. But there’d already been signs that it had. She’d caught Mia listening at the adjoining door in the bathroom last night and this morning. Liam had hidden his anger from Mia when he’d walked them back to the apartment, but he hadn’t stuck around to help as he’d promised. Sophie was glad he hadn’t. If she never saw him again, it would be too soon.
“Good morning, miss,” Jasper said when he met them in the vestibule. Sophie blinked. Other than looking down his nose at her, the stern-faced older man had barely acknowledged her arrival in the past. She glanced over her shoulder, positive someone had come in behind her. There was no one but them. The older man smiled at Mia. “How are you this morning, Miss Mia?”
Sophie pinched herself to make sure she was actually awake. She knew she must be because Mia’s hand was in hers and her daughter was mouthing, Good. She knew for certain she was awake when Mia mouthed, Liam.
Sophie prayed he wasn’t there, terrified of the nightmare that would unfold if he was. She had no idea if he’d follow through on his threat and tell Michael. She prayed Liam’s friendship with her brother would make him think twice.
“As I understand it, Master Liam is staying at the firehouse.” As though sensing Mia’s disappointment, Jasper added, “I’m sure you’ll see him before he returns to Boston.” He glanced at Sophie and cleared his throat. “I hope I haven’t overstepped, miss, but I thought perhaps you wouldn’t have had the time to buy Miss Mia suitable outerwear.” He reached behind him for a large box. Sophie recognized the logo. Guppies was a high-end children’s clothing store in town. One Sophie could only dream of shopping in for Mia’s clothing.
Ashamed she didn’t have the money to provide a new snowsuit for her daughter, Sophie opened her mouth to protest. She’d hoped the cold weather would hold off until she received her first paycheck. It hadn’t. She’d dressed Mia in the red velvet coat and her blue rubber boots to make the trek through the snow this morning. When Sophie looked into the older man’s eyes and saw only compassion and not judgment, she swallowed her pride and smiled. “That was thoughtful. Thank you. Thank you very much. What do you say to Jasper, Mia?”
Her daughter was too busy opening the box—revealing a gorgeous, puffy pink jacket, a pair of pink snow pants, and furry winter boots that matched the trim on the jacket’s hood—to say anything. She held up each item to show Sophie, her eyes shining with excitement.
“They’re so beautiful, baby.” Sophie was surprised she could get the words past the lump in her throat. “Thank Jasper for your—” She broke off when Mia launched herself at the older man and hugged his legs. Her face tipped up, she mouthed her thanks. Over and over again.
Sophie pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh at the uncomfortable expression on Jasper’s face. He awkwardly patted Mia’s head. “You’re most welcome, Miss Mia. There’s a hat, mittens, and scarf under the tissue paper.” He turned to Sophie when her daughter let him go to lift the pink paper from the box. “Mrs. Fitzgerald’s granddaughter Brie is managing the shop. If you’re not happy with anything or something doesn’t fit, she said to let her know, and she’ll take care of it.”
“I have a feeling Mia wouldn’t let me take anything back even if I wanted to.” She nodded at her daughter, who’d already taken off her coat and rubber boots and was pulling on the snow pants. Sophie wanted Jasper to understand just how much his thoughtful gesture meant to her daughter. She lowered her voice and shared, “Mia’s never had anything brand-new before. I hope you know how much we both appreciate what you’ve done.”
He gave her a brisk nod. “Quite. If you’d like, I can take Miss Mia with me when I shovel the walkways.”
Mia, who’d overheard his offer, pulled the pink knit hat on her head at the same time nodding enthusiastically.
“She’ll be in good hands, miss. I’ll watch her like a hawk.”
Sophie ignored the anxious flutter in her stomach. There wasn’t much the older man missed at Greystone, so she knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her daughter. “Thank you. I’m sure she’d love that. Mia, listen to Jasper.”
Jasper reached behind him and then handed Sophie a clipboard. “I’ve taken the liberty of making you a list of the most reliable vendors, highlighting the ones I’d advise you to stay clear of.”
She reached in her purse for her glasses and put them on to scan the precise and detailed list. “This is perfect, Jasper. Thank you.”
He nodded. “You’ll be pleased to know that Miss Adams’s grandmother booked twelve rooms from the twenty-first to the twenty-fourth. She also blocked the remaining rooms from the twenty-second to the twenty-fourth. She’s couriered the deposit.”
“I can’t tell you how much I needed some good news today. We might just pull this off after all, Jasper.”
“I see no reason why we won’t. But if I may make a suggestion…”
“Please do.” From the very beginning, she’d hoped to win the older man’s grudging support, but his acceptance of her as a member of the team was more than she’d dreamed possible. So much more that she felt like she’d stepped into an alternate universe.
“I would suggest the possibility of a morning or afternoon wedding to Miss Adams. That way the guests won’t miss out on their own holiday celebrations. If you mention that it is an accepted tradition among the British royals, Miss Adams may be more amicable to the idea.”
“I didn’t like having to ask the staff to work late on Christmas Eve, and a morning or afternoon wedding would solve that problem. And I think you’ve given me the perfect way to sell Bethany on the idea. I take it you’ve spent some time with her.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Quite.” He looked down at Mia, who tugged on his hand. “Unless there’s anything else, we’ll take our leave. The Widow’s Club and business owners are waiting for you in the dining room.”
Sophie gave her daughter a quick kiss, thanked Jasper again, and headed for the meeting.
Kitty emerged from the room, smiling when she caught sight of Sophie. “There you are, my dear. I was getting worried about you.” The older woman’s forehead creased. “Is everything all right? You don’t look well.”
“Sorry, I’m late. I didn’t get much sleep last night. But Jasper just gave me some wonderful news. Did you hear?”
Kitty looped her arm through Sophie’s. “Yes, and you don’t have to pretend with me. I know this is difficult for you. But we’re going to do everything we can to make it as easy as possible.”
Sophie froze. “I don’t understand—”
“I overhea
rd Rosa talking about it with some of the Widow’s Club. I’d forgotten you dated Michael. Don’t mind me saying so, but I always thought you and Liam…” She waved her hand. “It’s neither here nor there. We’ll find you a nice young man to get your mind off Michael.”
“I’m not sure what my grandmother said, but my mind isn’t on—”
Kitty continued as though Sophie hadn’t spoken. “Now that we’ve solved that problem, I think we may have a bigger one. Your grandmother went quiet when she caught me listening in, but she can’t fool me. She’s up to something. I’m afraid she might try to sabotage the wedding.”
“I’ll speak to her, Kitty. But she knows what’s at stake and how important the wedding is to Greystone’s future. She wants the manor to stay in the family as much as we do.”
“Oh, yes, I know that, my dear. Everyone in that room does.” She wrinkled her nose. “Except Hazel and Paige. It’s just that your grandmother’s plan to save the manor and ours are at cross-purposes. She wants a wedding all right. Only with a different bride. You.”
All Sophie wanted was twenty minutes, even fifteen would have been great, to savor Jasper’s good news. After yesterday, she didn’t think it was too much to ask. But thanks to her grandmother, she was lucky if she got two.
“Don’t worry, Kitty. I’ll take care of my grandmother. And just so you know, I have no romantic interest in Michael. None whatsoever. I want his and Bethany’s wedding to be as perfect as you do.”
“It’s for the best, my dear. It truly is. I’m something of a matchmaker, you know. You and Michael, you’re not a good fit. Now you and Liam—”
“Trust me. Liam and I aren’t a good fit either. And I’m honestly not looking for a relationship right now. I have to focus all my energy on Greystone. And Mia, of course.”
“You’re right. We can’t have anything distracting you from the job at hand. Leave your grandmother to me. Since Colleen’s passed, the Widow’s Club’s loyalties have been divided. Half want me to take over, the other half your grandmother, but I’m gaining momentum.”