Page 25 of Christmas Home

I stifled a grin, having known instinctively Corey was going to nix all that.

“Yes, of course,” Lance said. “Let me make a couple of inquiries, and if the contractors are available, I’ll set up an appointment.”

“That’s acceptable,” Corey said, and just like that, we were off. I honestly didn’t think this project would get off the ground. There were a lot of variables. Not the least of which was me not officially living here or, more to the point, dealing with the monster on the hill that still haunted me.

However, Corey now had his claws into the project, and he’d be able to ensure it was done to his satisfaction, no matter where I factored into the equation.

With my sprained ankle on the mend, I cited needing to walk more as my reason for regularly showing up at the café around the time Clyde got off work. I knew he was tired, which made escorting him across town to his motel all the more important to me.

Corey and I had agreed we’d been eating way too much fried food, so he’d started cooking or prepping salads at the condo. But I still wanted to see my new friend whenever possible.Friend. I was trying to force myself to think of Clyde that way.

So far, I’d only been mildly successful in that effort. More often than not, I wanted to draw him into my arms and kiss him, but small steps were necessary here, for both of us. As predicted,spending time with Clyde and focusing on the new project were making me feel less anxious about the town.

Was I even close to being able to face my childhood house of horrors? Far from it. But at least I wasn’t constantly surfing a potential panic attack. I’d take any positive I could get, and that was a significant one.

twenty-two

Clyde

Ishould’ve rebuffed allthe attention. I knew it and beat myself up a little about not doing so, but Ruther and Corey had only come to hang out with me during my breaks. The occasional strolls home alongside Ruther were so sweet, I couldn’t resist. I was a major romantic, after all, and even if we were sworn only to be friends, I had to appreciate his consistent kindness.

I already knew long after these evenings were no longer part of my life, I’d think fondly of them. Was I a sucker? Yeah, but who cared? I needed these kinds of memories to counterbalance all the nasty ones.

Ruther hadn’t mentioned going to have wine and cheese at the fancy hotel with me and Corey since we’d made those plans, so I wondered if maybe he’d forgotten or wanted to back out. If we were still on, he’d either have to say something on the stroll home from work tonight, or he’d have to come to the motel and get me tomorrow.

Perhaps him forgetting or canceling would be a good thing. I’d become more and more paranoid about the motel and people recognizing me there. I knew my cousin Lewellen, as hateful as she was, wouldn’t tattle on me to that slob Jimmy, but I didn’t know who else might.

It was best if that world didn’t collide anytime soon with this one. Ruther coming to the motel was more than I could handle. I hoped he wouldn’t, even if that meant no fancy wine and cheese night.

I ended up having to put in a longer day than usual since all the tourists had begun swarming town. Lately, we spent all our time fixing more food and less time cleaning. Mrs. Cole told me it was rare, but sometimes the summer months were like this.

Regardless, since working at the café, I’d begun to take some ownership, and leaving it a mess was more than I could stomach, so I was happy to give the extra time.

By the time I finished, I didn’t expect to see Ruther. To my surprise, though, I came out of the back to see Mrs. Cole sitting across from him, poking him to eat one of the chocolate meringues she’d just pulled out of the oven for tomorrow.

“I see some folks are getting special treatment,” I said, smiling even bigger when Mrs. Cole blushed at my accusation.

“Now, you behave. I needed to wile my ways to get Mr. Ruther here to eat something while he waited for you to finish.”

“Mrs. Cole, this is divine,” he said. “I can’t remember ever eating anything like it.”

She laughed and the blush returned. “Well, you enjoy that with your beau, and make sure you bring that cutie pie assistant of yours in tomorrow to have some.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ruther said, and I swear I heard a little Southern twang mixed in with his highbrow New York accent.

The chuckle kept me from correcting her about me being Ruther’s beau, and I sat across from him as he finished his pie.“You know she guards those desserts like an old mother hen watching her chicks. She never lets anyone have a bite before she puts it out on the buffet.”

Ruther smiled. “I have a feeling my privileges stem from her appreciation of you. She couldn’t stop telling me all your attributes.”

It was my turn to blush now. “Really? She said all that?” I asked, looking back toward where my boss had just disappeared.

When I turned back toward Ruther, he was nodding. “It doesn’t take a very observant person to see you’re a hard worker, Clyde. You’re smart and considerate, but Mrs. Cole is clever and knows how lucky she was when you showed up to work here.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to laugh or point out that he was joking. People never said nice things about me without a punch line at the end.

When he just kept eating the pie, I shrugged. Yeah, I worked hard. People like me had to. It was either that or find yourself homeless and in a gutter somewhere. As I’d been told most of my life, I wasn’t anything special.

“Somebody’s got a sweet tooth,” I said to change the subject.

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