by Bree Cariad
“Hunter mentality?” At her blank look, he shrugged. “Take out the weakest member of the herd. Any one of us would have probably mouthed back at some point. Sally wouldn’t.”
Nodding, Dora decided to get things back on track. “Is everything ready for lunch?” With that one phrase, several employees scuttled away to check on the dining room and the kitchen and Tatum went to walk the grounds. By the time Chris and Sally walked out of his small office, no employees were there to see her red eyes and swollen nose. It was obvious she had cried a lot.
“Sally’s going to help with the private dining room,” Chris said quietly as she walked away to the employee bathroom. “You heard?”
“Just enough to know some guest went after her.”
“I’ll tell you later the particulars. But for now I had better go make sure everything is ready in the kitchen.”
For thirty minutes, Dora checked guests out and answered the phone, time going by quickly as it always did at the inn. She had bent over to pick up an envelope when she felt someone was at the desk. Standing up, she spotted the reason she had wanted to come today. “Welcome back,” she said with a smile.
“Thank you, Dora. You look very nice today.” So did he. Wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, he was much more laidback than he was the day before. And much more scrumptious.
“Thanks.” Internally she did a little dance that he had noticed. “The private dining room is ready for you and your guests.”
“Wonderful.” Winking at her, he turned and sauntered into the dining room. She watched him go and then purposefully went back to work. The last thing she wanted was for anyone besides Chris to know she had a crush on someone.
She was so busy with early check-ins and quite a few questions from guests that she never noticed the time until Chris walked up and handed her his keys. “What are those for?” she asked in confusion.
“Steph called. Said you two needed my car. Go ahead and head out. Dining room’s almost empty and Sally said she feels good enough to take over the front desk again.”
“Oh.” Startled, Dora looked up at the clock. It was ten after one. “Wow. Okay, we’ll drop by and pick you up on our way back.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll have Tatum drop me off. You two have fun.”
Sad she had missed seeing Gaelic one more time, Dora grabbed her purse and headed out. While not the best driver in the world as she rarely had time to practice, she was able to get his car started and home without incident. Once there, she let Stephanie take the wheel.
Autumn whooshed by but Dora didn’t really mind. She loved her job and found that lately she had a new sense of self. She felt stronger for some reason, as though she could face just about anything. Everyone, from her friends to long-time acquaintances, kept remarking at how good she looked and quite honestly, she felt wonderful. The only slightly sad time for her was when the holidays rolled around. Hyacinth as a whole shut down during the holidays. Not because people left town but more because they spent so much time with family and family events that stuff they did the rest of the year practically disappeared. Given that they had few reservations for the Christmas holiday, Chris had elected to take some much deserved time off and he and Stephanie left for a few days alone together.
The day before Christmas, Dora was standing at the front desk doodling on a piece of paper when the phone rang. “Hyacinth Inn,” she answered.
“Hello. I know it’s late, but I was wondering if there are any rooms still available for this evening?” The warm voice told her immediately who was calling and she felt stupid that she still recognized his voice. It had been months since she heard it last.
“Actually, yes we do. For how many people?”
“Two rooms. Three people. Three nights.”
“We can accommodate that. Do you have any special requests? Bottom or top floor?”
“My parents would probably do best on the bottom floor, but you can put me anywhere,” he said pleasantly.
“All right, Mr. Covington. I’ve got you down for two rooms for the next three nights. May I have a credit card to reserve the rooms?”
There was a small pause and she realized he hadn’t told her who he was. Heat filled her cheeks at her faux pas, but he didn’t mention it as he read off his credit card. “The name on the card is Gaelic A. Covington.”
“Wonderful. You can check in at any time.”
“Thank you.”
After putting the phone down, she shook her head. Part of her hoped he would arrive during her shift, but mostly she hoped she would be gone by the time he arrived. Gaelic Covington was bad for her equilibrium.
Chapter 2
Christmas morning dawned bright and very, very white. It had started to snow on her way home and had continued to snow all night. Over a foot of snow was outside her door when she stepped outside. Smiling every time her boots crunched over the newly fallen snow, Dora made her way to the inn. Chris would probably be worried when he heard about her walking to work in such weather, but she found peace in it. Nobody was out this early except for her and the cool air was invigorating.
After stomping and then removing her boots so she didn’t trail snow all over, Dora walked into the inn. The scent of cinnamon rolls hit her nose and she inhaled as she went to the front desk to say good morning to Minnie who had worked the night shift.
“Happy Christmas,” she said and Minnie looked up and smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Dora. Did you have a good Christmas Eve?”
“I did, thank you.” Her Christmas Eve had consisted of some wassail that Chris had made earlier in the week. She had heated it up, warmed herself up some soup, and curled up in the living room listening to a one-man version of the Christmas Carol on the radio. “Any problems?”
“Not a one. Everyone’s in a wonderful mood.”
“Let me go grab one of those wonderful rolls and then you can be off for the day.” The rolls were still warm and she grabbed two, heading back to the front desk. “How many guests do we have?” she asked as she put her plate on the counter.
“Two in room five, two in twelve, three in fifteen, and one in the suite.” The suite was the nickname they gave the room at the very top of the inn. It was the former attic but had made a nice set of rooms when it was redone. One whole wall was a window that would probably have given a spectacular view of the snow falling the night before.
After Minnie left, Dora gathered the few items needed for their current guests and put them in a basket for the one maid who would come in to work today. The wonderful scents travelling through the inn drew their guests out of bed earlier than they would have come. And she couldn’t blame them. The cinnamon rolls were divine.
“Merry Christmas.”
Looking up, Dora smiled. “Happy Christmas, Mr. Covington. Did you enjoy your room?” She was pretty sure he had the suite though she had forced herself not to check.
“Yes, I did. The view was astounding. But to be woken up this morning by that wonderful scent is cruelty,” he teased, making her laugh. “I wasn’t planning on getting up for another hour.”
“We like to torture our guests.”
Grinning, he nodded. “So, I see. I’m off to hunt down whatever that amazing scent is.”
“Watch out,” she called after him. “They’re dangerous. You can’t stop at just one.”
Happy voices floated out of the dining room and she couldn’t help but smile. Chris had considered closing the inn during the holidays but she had insisted they stay open and was glad he had listened. They might not be full, but there was a wonderful feel to having guests here over the holiday.
Everyone they had at the inn was here to spend Christmas with family so by eleven, the only people in residence were the few members of staff. They had let their guests know that the only meal on Christmas Day would be breakfast as there was no reason to cook when most likely nobody would be around to eat it. Rooms were cleaned, the kitchen and dining room made spotless, and by two, eve
ryone was gone except for Dora and Tatum.
He sat in one of the arm chairs reading a book and she leaned on the counter doodling on a pad. When some of their guests returned a little before six, it was a relief to have something to do.
“Aunt Charlotte thought you might like a decent meal.”
At the words, Dora turned to see Gaelic smiling at her, holding a tinfoil-covered plate. “Ooh, what did she send?”
“Enough for a small army,” he added dryly, handing the plate over. As she unwrapped the tinfoil and practically drooled at the turkey, dressing, and other holiday foods on the plate, he pulled from his pocket a tiny wrapped package and placed it on the desk.
“At least I’ll have food for the next day,” she remarked, agreeing with him about the amount. It was an overloaded plate. “What’s the package?”
“Open it and see.”
Figuring Cami had sent something, she ripped off the paper to find a small box. Opening the lid, she found a pair of tickets to a nearby ski lift. Confused, she stared at them. Cami knew she didn’t ski.
“Would you like to go skiing with me tomorrow?”
Looking up into his eyes, she realized he was asking her out. “Why me?”
Chuckling, he looked discomfited for a moment. “I like you. You’re funny and cute. I-I thought it would be nice to spend the day together somewhere getting to know one another.”
He was actually asking her out. Her heart leapt even as she knew it wouldn’t work. “This town’s a little strange about the whole dating concept,” she admitted, knowing she would have to turn him down and hating that.
“Alexander, Kathy, and Drake are also coming. Camille wanted to go but with the babies coming soon that was out of the question. You don’t have to look at it as a date. Just a group get-together.”
Oh, how she wanted to say yes, but with Chris gone and the staff cut down, she just couldn’t. “We’re kind of low on staff at the moment. I wish I could, but—”
“I bet Sally would be willing to come in and work your shift,” Tatum said, surprising her both with the offer and the fact she thought he was still across the room. “Let’s give her a call.” Before she could come up with another excuse, he had picked up the phone. Ten minutes later, he put the receiver back down and patted her shoulder. “She was thrilled to have something to do. Said she’d work your whole shift so you don’t have to worry about it.” Without another word, he walked back to the chair he had been sitting in and went back to his book.
“Umm, I guess?” she finally said, feeling slightly off. “I’ve never skied before though.”
Gaelic looked relieved. “That’s okay. Dress warmly and we can spend the morning on the bunny hill. I think Kathy is a relative beginner as well.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded, actually kind of excited. “Sounds fun. When do we start?”
“We’ll be by to pick you up at seven.”
After he went upstairs and she split her large dinner between two plates, giving one of them to Tatum, she raised an eyebrow. “The town settlers would be wagging their fingers at you.”
The elderly man grinned back at her. “What they don’t know won’t hurt anybody. And it’s about time you had some fun. Go get him, Dora.”
Flushing, she tried to ignore his laughter as she ate.
The night before she had set out her clothes so that she didn’t have to think about it. When Kathy knocked on her door just before seven, she was ready and pleased when she climbed into the dual cab of Alex Covington’s truck to find a large hot latte waiting for her. The group was very jovial for it being so early in the morning. Xan drove with Kathy beside him. In the back Gaelic and Drake sat with Dora. She was relieved that Drake sat between them. It was still unnerving knowing she was kind of on a non-date.
“So who else is on the bunny hill?” she asked as they started the climb up toward the resort.
“Me,” Kathy said with a laugh. “I haven’t been skiing in several years. We can rent our gear and stumble around together.”
“How’s school going?” Dora asked.
“Good. I’ve just declared my major.”
“What is it?”
“Molecular and Cellular Biology.”
Startled, Dora stared at the back of her head. “Really?”
“Yep,” Xan said, beaming, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “My wife wants to be a doctor.”
“Maybe,” Kathy qualified. “If I decide I want to suffer through four years of medical school and however many more years of interning and other stuff. It’s difficult. I’m attracted to it, but knowing I’ll be away from home so much is hard.”
“I bet your dad is proud.”
She giggled. “He couldn’t stop beaming at the idea I wanted to follow in his footsteps. But Brandon’s just a year old now and I still hate leaving him just for the times I have to be in class. Thankfully I have over a year before I truly need to make a decision.”
“He’ll be in the terrible twos by then,” Drake teased. “You’ll decide on medical school just to get away from ‘no, no, no’.”
Xander planted a quick kiss on top of her head. “As long as you do what you want to do. Don’t do it because you think one of us wants you to or just because you should.”
“Do you enjoy working at the inn?” It was Gaelic’s first words to her since greeting her when she climbed into the truck.
“I really do. Not only is Chris a kick to work with, it’s fun working with the public and I enjoy the challenge.” After a pause where she drank the last of her latte, she asked, “What do you do?”
“I’m an independent marketing consultant. I work with multiple corporations across the globe.”
Across the globe? “How many countries have you been to?”
“At least a hundred,” he admitted. “Though only about twenty on a constant basis.”
“They pay him to travel,” Drake said with a snicker, laughing when Gaelic shoved him with his shoulder.
Shrinking a little as Dora didn’t know how they could have anything in common, she stared out the window. She was just a small town girl from a tiny town. The furthest she had ever been was Seattle and that was a special occasion. He had travelled all over the world.
“I’d love to go to Paris,” Kathy said with a dreamy sigh.
“One day, honey,” Xan said, smiling at her. “I’ll take you there.”
“I want to go to Thailand and Singapore,” Drake said. “What about you, Dora? Where would you like to travel?”
“Oh, I’m happy where I am,” she said quietly. “The furthest I’d like to go is maybe Disney World.” It wasn’t true. She had tons of places she would like to visit, but ever the realist she saw no reason to dream about places she would never see.
“Ah, come on,” Xan encouraged, looking at her in the rearview mirror. “That isn’t the girl I remember. You three had that huge map of the world on Cami’s wall with different colored pins on it. The majority of the pins were yours, if I remember correctly.”
Startled that Xan not only knew about that but remembered, Dora shrugged. She had no idea how to respond. Yes, there was a time when she had been excited with the idea of going to foreign countries and travelling the world. But she grew up and found out how much money it would take to go to those places, money she would never have.
“Yes!” Drake’s exclamation got her out of having to respond as they had reached their destination. The five of them piled out of the truck, the three Covington men lugging out their equipment while Kathy and Dora waited as they would have to rent theirs. It didn’t surprise Dora to see Drake had a snowboard rather than skis.
“Let’s get Dora and Kathy outfitted,” Gaelic said after Drake headed for the lift.
As it turned out, ski boots were heavy. Dora felt like she was lifting a thirty-pound weight every time she lifted a foot. “Why don’t you start with Kathy and I’ll help Dora?” Xan suggested as they left the shop. Dora was surprised he would want to help her rat
her than his wife, but she didn’t say anything as he knelt down and helped her fit into her ski bindings.
The bunny hill was a bit of a misnomer. It looked pretty steep to her. Thankfully Xan was a very patient teacher. Every once in a while she would hear Kathy burst out laughing and turn to find her friend half buried in snow with Gaelic helping her out of it. The man beside her smiled each time it happened.
“Don’t you want to be with her?” she asked after a couple hours as she was finally able to go down the hill without stopping constantly.
“In a bit.” He paused and pulled the mask he was wearing down. “Dora, are you okay?” His serious expression surprised her and she nodded.
“Sure, why?”
He took a moment to brush snow off his legs before answering. “You’ve always been relatively shy. I know that. But I hope you know you can always come to me if you need to talk.”
“I’m good, really.” And it wasn’t like she could go to him anyway. True, she was relieved today to realize she saw him as more friend material than she ever had in the past, but given the choice, she would choose Chris to talk to.
“Are you? You’ve lost yourself.”
“Lost myself?”
“You were always the girl with big dreams. Cami used to talk in awe about how she looked forward to getting letters from Katmandu from you and how she knew you would be the one of them to go places.”
“I grew up, Xan. Those were just girlish dreams, anyway.”
“You’re still young, Dora.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “I’m twenty. Twenty, Xan. In Hyacinth, that’s spinster age.” She heard her voice crack at the end and tried to turn away. It was impossible to do so in skis.
“Stop it.” His sharp voice startled her and she stared at him in surprise. “You’re still young, Dora. And you’re definitely not a spinster. I appreciate the courting system Hyacinth has, but right here, right now, this is part of the problem. A girl doesn’t get courted at eighteen and by the time she’s twenty she thinks she’s too old. For the rest of the world, you’re still young. I think you’re still young.” He paused for a moment and his voice gentled. “And if you haven’t noticed, Gale is rather taken with you.”