Sweet Christmas Kisses (14 page)

Daniel seated them at a table set for three in the corner while the pretty blonde dined solo nearby. Carol was certain now she must be a guest. She wouldn’t be seated in here otherwise. Will’s cell buzzed, and he took it from his pocket.

Carol narrowed her eyes at her son. “Not
here.
”

He grumpily tucked the cell away, causing Carol to flinch inside. He was perpetually on that phone, but she thought she’d taught him better than to use it at the table.

“Your server, Amy, will be with you in a moment,” Daniel said, handing them each a menu.

 Carol accepted hers just as Paul entered the room. Suddenly, her world went all woozy, as if she’d had too much wine. He approached them as she sat there dumbstruck, wishing to goodness he wouldn’t smile. For when he did, it sent all sorts of wild butterflies fluttering inside her, just like some crushed-out high school kid.

“Miss?” Daniel asked, apparently having offered her some drink choices.

“Might I suggest the Crestwood chardonnay?” Paul offered helpfully. “Or, if you prefer red, the Millhouse merlot?”

Carol focused on her menu but couldn’t make out a bit of it. “I… um…”

Paul’s face warmed in a smile as he gently took the menu from her hands, then righted it. Carol was mortified. She’d been reading it upside down. Her kids exchanged startled glances as she stared red-faced at Paul. In his effort to correct her menu, he’d revealed something else. He didn’t wear a wedding band. Carol swallowed hard, thinking maybe she shouldn’t have any wine at all. She was apparently drunk enough on the mountain air. “The merlot sounds great, thanks.”

Daniel disappeared to get the wine as Paul’s dark eyes twinkled. “Excellent choice.”

Carol smiled tightly, hoping she wouldn’t need to make too many other choices tonight. She wasn’t sure she could handle it. Especially with Paul standing this near. She needed him to back away—just slightly—so she could decide on the chicken or the veal.

“Mom? All you all right?” Will asked her.

She realized she’d been furiously fanning her face with her menu and stopped.

“If you’re too warm, I can move you to table farther from the fire?”

“Oh no,” she said, setting her menu aside, “this is perfect! Just great.”

Paul studied them all pleasantly. “Do you have plans for tomorrow? Can I help you arrange something?”

“I thought we’d go skiing,” Carol said.

“Great thought. We packed in twenty more inches of powder today.”

“Twenty?” Will asked.

“For real?” Ashley chimed in.

Paul nodded. “Big Moose Mountain is right up the way. I know an instructor who can give you a lift in the morning…?”

Carol beamed. “That would be terrific. Wouldn’t it, kids?”

“Yeah, cool,” Will said.

“Really super,” Ashley added with a smile.

“Perfect, then. Skiing for the Bakers is on the agenda.”

A pretty teenage girl arrived with a notepad, and Paul graciously stepped aside. “I’ll leave Amy to take your orders,” he said. “Enjoy.”

Paul straightened his tie, hoping to goodness he’d sounded as professional as he’d intended. While he wasn’t supposed to take a personal interest in his guests, he’d found it impossible not to notice Carol’s sweet demeanor, or the delightful way with which she’d studied her menu upside-down. He’d had the impression she’d been nervous, but hadn’t a clue why. Perhaps the atmosphere seemed a bit stuffier than she was used to, although that hadn’t been Paul’s intention. He liked to keep things upscale yet casual for his clientele, because that was how they apparently liked it. Dinner was always the most formal occasion of the day, but drinks afterward were decidedly down-home. He’d have to be sure to include her and her kids in his customary invitation to gather by the living room fire for hot cocoa or other libations. Maybe he could enlist Daniel’s help in making the kids feel more comfortable too.

He crossed to the small two-top where Beth was seated, caught off guard once again by her beauty. Then again, she’d once turned that beauty against him and run off with his best friend… Paul collected himself, understanding that was years ago and that times and people change. Heck, Beth and he were little more than Amy’s and Daniel’s ages when they’d split up and gone their separate ways. He couldn’t be so harsh as to hold her accountable now for something that happened so long ago. They’d both crossed a lot of bridges since then, some of them terribly sad ones, it seemed.

“I’m happy to arrange for you to sit with some of the other guests,” he said. “I’m sure my mom and Zach will be down soon.”

She shot him a brave smile. “I’ve never been afraid to go it alone.”

“There’s something to be said for independence,” Paul agreed.

“Something, indeed.” She took a sip of her wine. “Although there’s something to be said for partnerships too.”

“Two heads can be better than one.”

“Sometimes, so are two hearts.”

Paul’s pulse picked up a notch.
Surely I didn’t hear her right.

“Paul,” she said softly. She extended a hand, laying it on his forearm. “I’m really sorry about Nancy. I only recently heard.”

“Thanks, Beth. I appreciate that.”

“How are you holding up? Doing okay?”

He stared into stunning blue eyes lined with compassion.

“It’s been several years. Time moves on.”

She withdrew her hand but kept him in her gaze.

“Yes. Yes, it does. I’m just sorry that we lost touch. If I had… I mean, if Jack and I had known—”

“Naturally, you couldn’t have,” he said, backing away. Paul couldn’t bear extended sympathy. It was one thing to offer
I’m sorry
. Quite another to dwell on things until one pressed old hurts back up to the surface.

Beth looked pained but forced a smile.

“It’s good seeing you again, Paul.”

“Yeah, you too,” he said, studying her eyes. It was hard to forget the way they’d been together all those years ago. Inseparable, and so in love, like crazy teenage kids can be in high school.

“I’d really love a chance to talk sometime,” she said. “You know, hear about what you’ve been up to.”

“I’d like that.”

A little later, Carol polished off her delicious chocolate dessert, thinking what a nice evening it had been. Even her kids had been behaving, at least reasonably well. She’d noticed Paul lingering by the pretty blonde’s table for quite a while during dinner. While he, of course, might have just been checking on a guest, their exchange had seemed more personal. Especially the way the woman had appeared to admire him with affection each time he’d turned his handsome face her way.

“I trust everything was to your liking?” Paul asked, startling Carol out of her reverie.

She nearly choked on her wine, and she quickly set it down. “Oh yes, just fine. The dinner was delicious, thank you. My compliments to the chef.”

He tilted his chin with a pleased smile. “I thank you very much.”

“Wait a minute,” Carol said, surprised. “You mean, you’re the cook too?”

“That’s weird,” Will said under his breath.

“Not weird, you throwback,” Ashley quipped. “That’s modern.”

Carol sent them both a silencing look as her cheeks flamed. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to Paul.

He chuckled good-naturedly. “Quite all right. The Baker family would not be among the first I’ve surprised with my culinary skill.” He glanced across the way at the blonde who typed on her smart phone, then clapped his hands together, addressing Carol. “We here at the inn have a special tradition. Each evening after dinner, the guests are invited to convene by the fire with the drink of their choice. We have wine, more merlot if you’d like,” he said to Carol. “Cocoa…” he continued, looking at the kids.

“With marshmallows?” Ashley asked.

“As many as you’d like!”

Will slunk down in his chair, obviously bored. There were likely a million things a young teenage boy would rather do than hang out with a bunch of old folks around a fire. And Paul, being the wise man he was, knew one of them. “Plus,” he said, addressing Will, “Daniel’s thrown down the challenge to take anyone on in a game.”

Will scooted up in his chair at attention.

Right on cue, Daniel appeared at Paul’s side. “Guitar Hero, anyone?” he asked with a grin.

“You’re on!” Will said, seeming delighted.

Across the room, the blonde stood and slipped from the room.

“I’ll be seeing you later?” Paul asked Carol.

She felt the warmth in her cheeks in spite of herself. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

Paul stopped Beth when she was nearly to the stairs. “Leaving so soon? I was hoping you’d join the others by the fire.”

She sighed, her face falling. “I’m sorry, Paul. I wish I could stay. The truth is, I’m not feeling so hot.”

He studied her with concern. “Is there something I can…?”

“Oh no. No, thanks. It’s just a migraine. I get them from time to time.”

“I know how debilitating those can be. Nancy used to get them too.”

“I just need to take a pill and chill for a while.”

He nodded with sympathy. “Feel better.”

She brought her hand to his cheek. “You really are a very good man. That part hasn’t changed.”

“Thanks, Beth,” he said hoarsely.

“See you tomorrow?” She looked into his eyes.

His Adam’s apple rose in his throat. “I look forward to it.”

Paul watched her walk slowly up the stairs, wondering what was becoming of him. Could it be that the old feelings he had for Beth were starting to resurface? Or, was it more that he’d been alone so long that the attentions of any beautiful woman would tug on his heartstrings?

One way or another, it didn’t really matter, did it? He was halfway through his life and certainly not in the market for romance. All he needed to focus on now was seeing this inn through its final holiday season as successfully as he could. Daniel was leaving for college soon, and Paul would be starting his new life in Montreal. Tons of great fishing and lots of peaceful sunsets were coming his way. Those would be plenty to keep him company.

Carol set down her merlot, thinking maybe she shouldn’t have accepted the second glass. She felt light-headed enough from their exhausting journey and trying drive through the North Woods.

“What keeps you busy in Virginia?” Velma asked. She wore a flower-patterned blouse with a complementary indigo headband. Carol had just recently gathered that she was Paul’s mom, so she had to be in her sixties, though her dress and demeanor indicated otherwise. She certainly had a much younger boyfriend on her arm, but it was clear they were companionable and comfortable in each other’s company.

“I’m a schoolteacher,” Carol answered. “Ninth grade English.”

“That’s a tough subject,” Zach said.

“And we’re grateful to have folks like you out there doing it,” Paul added, offering to refill her wine.

She declined with a shake of her head. “I don’t think I’d better. Two’s my limit.”

“It’s good to know your limits,” Paul said, his dark eyes dancing. Carol’s breath caught in her throat. She knew he was just being congenial, but when he sat this close—just on the other end of the sofa—she found it hard to concentrate. She tried to remember the last time she’d even been on a sofa with a man, but somehow couldn’t recall. She really had built a more sequestered life for herself than she’d realized.

She leaned toward Ashley, who was contentedly working a jigsaw puzzle on the large coffee table, an empty cocoa mug at her elbow. “Honey, I think it’s time you got ready for bed.”

The little girl rose reluctantly as strains of Guitar Hero wailed from the next room. “What about Will?”

“He’ll be up in a bit,” Carol said with a kind smile. “He is a little older, you know.”

Ashley politely told everyone good night, then sadly traipsed up the stairs.

“Cute kid,” Zach said. “I never had those kinds of manners at her age.”

“Yeah, and you’re still working on them now,” Velma teased.

“Oh, now, Mama Bear.” He leaned forward to nuzzle her neck, and Paul blinked hard.

“I’m awfully glad we could fit your family in,” he told Carol.

“Me too,” she agreed. “It’s good we got here when we did. The weather only seems to be getting worse.” As if to accentuate her point, winds howled outdoors, shaking the storm shutters.

“Or better!” Paul said. “Depending on how you look at it.” There was a twinkle in his eye that caught the firelight. “You are having your first skiing lesson tomorrow.”

Ashley surprised them all by dashing down the stairs. “Mom!” she cried, her cheeks bright pink. “I saw it! I actually saw it!”

Carol stood with alarm, taking her daughter in her arms. “Saw what, honey?”

“My moose! My real live Christmas moose!”

Carol ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. “Now, Ashley…”

“I mean it, Mom,” the child protested. “It was there!”

“Where?” Paul asked.

“What’s going on?” Daniel asked, resurfacing from the back room with Will.

“Ashley saw a Christmas moose,” Carol explained calmly.

“O… M…” Will began.

Carol shot him a look.

“But Mom, she’s making things up again!”

Ashley’s chin trembled. “Why won’t anyone believe me?” With that, she turned and dashed up the stairs.

“I’m sorry,” Carol told the others. “I’d better go to her.”

When Carol entered the Bear Room, Ashley stood weeping by the window.

“What are you doing, baby?” Carol asked, walking to her.

“Watching my moose run away.” Ashley sniffed. “You all made fun of him, so he ran away!”

“Oh now, honey. I’m sure you thought you saw something, and maybe it even
was
a real moose—”

“It was a
Christmas moose.
A big one with lanterns!”

Carol studied her doubtfully. “Antlers?”

“I swear, Mom.” Ashley’s dark eyes were insistent. “It was, like, glowing and everything! Why won’t you believe me?”

“I believe that you believe,” Carol said kindly.

“That’s not the same thing.”

Carol pulled her daughter into a hug and held her close.

“Let’s try to get some rest now. Tomorrow is another day.” She pulled back to look her daughter in the eye. “A very exciting one at that. The Baker family’s going skiing!”