Page 5 of Stuck in Christmas

“Who are you?” The man glared at me over a tray piled high with pie, plates, forks, and mugs.

“Eli,” Bonnie chided. “Where are your manners? Stop staring. This is our new friend—” She waved a hand in my direction, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

“Renee,” I choked out. “Renee Douglas.”

“Miss Renee fell into the snow out front—you know, the snow I asked you to shovel this afternoon?” Bonnie added.

Eli put the tray on the table and dropped his gaze to his feet. “Yeah, I meant to get to it, but?—”

“If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it’d be Christmas every day,” Bonnie declared, shooing him away. “Miss Renee needs to warm up, so serve the pie and hot chocolate, and then get a couple of towels from the Inn.”

I hated to watch Eli go, but I loved to watch him leave. His form was heavenly. I reached for my pie plate, shoveled a forkful into my mouth, and moaned with delight.

Bonnie turned her attention back to me. “You weren’t kidding. You do love peach pie.”

“Sorry, it’s been hours since I ate, and then I got lost,” I mumbled around a mouthful of pie.

“So, you’re not here for the Christmas Carnival?” A flicker of surprise registered on Joe’s face.

I swallowed the last bite of peachy heaven. “No, I was on my way to the Magnolia Meadows Spa, but my phone freaked out and sent me here instead.”

Bonnie nodded knowingly. “That happens.”

Joe harumphed. “‘Smart’ phones. They’re just making us dumber. If I need directions, I’ll get a map.”

“Oh, don’t listen to him,” Bonnie said. “He still has a flip phone. Me? I love my Superhero Adventure Puzzles. I start every day defeating bad guys.”

I couldn’t help but smile, feeling a warmth that had nothing to do with the pie. “You don’t say.” I showed them my phone, which was devoid of bars. “Well, maybe you have better service than I do.”

Bonnie fished her phone from her apron pocket, shaking her head in dismay. “Will you look at that? Me neither.”

“Do you have a landline?” I knew it was a long shot, but hope springs eternal. “I need to call the spa and tell them I'm running late.”

Joe shook his head. “I’m afraid all the phone lines are down. Terrible ice storm outside of town.”

My heart sank. “Internet?”

“Same as the phone lines,” he replied, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“About that ice storm,” I started.

“It’s quite something.” Bonnie shook her head in disbelief.

Eli returned with the towels and held them out to me. “Thank you,” I said, and our hands briefly touched as he handed the stackto me. A warm current of electricity traveled up my arm from the point of contact. I didn’t think it was dry enough in Mississippi for static electricity. He must have been as puzzled as me because he stared at his hand with a frown.

“We always seem to have ice and snow this time of year. And this is Mississippi; we’re not equipped to handle this,” Joe said.

“Totally get that. I’m from New Orleans.” I began drying my clothes the best I could with the warm towels. Eli must have gotten them right out of the dryer.

“Eli’s from New Orleans, too,” Bonnie announced.

“Is that right?” I asked, glancing at Eli with newfound curiosity.

“Yep,” Eli clipped.

“So, Mr. Joe.” I turned toward my snowbank savior. “Since you’re so good with analog maps, maybe you can give me directions to the spa?”

Joe shook his head. “You can’t leave in this ice storm.”

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