Page 27 of What We Keep
Elsa pressed her lips together. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to go out of your way for me like this.”
“Honey, we celebrate things here. Get used to it,” my mom said firmly.
My heart twisted a little because Elsa looked as if she felt adrift. Celebrating anything didn’t seem like something she was accustomed to. Maybe I didn’t know all the details about her family life, but I knew her dad had kept things simple to the extreme.
When she looked over at my mom, I thought there was a sheen of tears in her eyes for a second, but she blinked and glanced down at her plate. “Thank you.” Her smile was tremulous when she met my mom’s eyes again.
“All right, who’s going to say grace?” my mom asked.
Tommy raced through grace. “For this food, in a world where many walk in hunger. For our faith, in a world where many walk in fear. For this fellowship, in a world where many walk alone. We give thanks.”
After he finished, Elsa glanced over at Tommy. “I like that blessing a lot.”
“It’s the only one I know.” Tommy shrugged.
My mom smiled over at Tommy. “My mom always said that one. It’s been passed down in her family. I don’t know officially where it came from, but it’s perfect. We don’t make it to church often, but to me, that little blessing captures what matters in the world.”
Elsa was completely quiet for a moment before she nodded. “It does.”
“Now eat up, hon.” My mom beamed at her.
When Elsa giggled at that, hot damn, it felt like she swung a lasso across the table and cinched it tight around my heart.
Dinner with my family involved a lot of conversation, ranging from mundane to casual jokes to business. These days, we had lots of logistics to cover. We were racing toward the deadline we’d set for ourselves to reopen the resort.
“We’ve got that computer system up and running,” my mom said. “I feel clunky with it, but it seems simple. We even have a little point-of-sale thing with a calendar. People can make their own reservations, but we have to confirm them. We need to hire someone for that.”
“For what?” Elsa prompted.
“Handling this online stuff. I can do the kitchen and handle the guests, but I’m on the information cow-path, so all this computer stuff feels overwhelming.” My mom eyed Elsa with hope in her eyes.
“I’ll try to help. I’m pretty nifty with computer stuff. I’m starting my job next week, and I’ll be painting, but I’ll take a look and make sure it’s all lined up. If you’d like help hiring for that, I’m happy to do that too,” Elsa offered.
“I think we should hire someone, and I’d love any help you can give.” The tension lining my mother’s face eased, her relief clear.
“Mom, it’s going to be fine,” Cole said, the most easygoing of all of us.
When Elsa looked over at my mom, genuine concern in her gaze, my heart twisted. She wanted to help. She wanted to make my mom feel okay, and that meant the world to me.
Throughout dinner, I was quieter than usual because I almost didn’t trust myself around Elsa. Just having her there was stretching my nerves.
Fuck me.
I was glad she came back to Willow Brook. But holy hell, I was going to have to get a grip. Surely, this was just some kind of fluke. I’d figured that old high school crush was long gone. Instead, all she had to do was appear, like she was a veritable ray of sun in my world. Cheerful, kind, pushy about wanting to help, and delectably sexy. The only thing between us at night was a thin wall.
I mentally shook myself. Get a fucking grip. You have other priorities.
Chapter Fourteen
Elsa
My thoughts were obnoxious. I kept replaying that kiss with Haven, telling myself it was just a heat-of-the-moment thing. Inconveniently, most of me wanted it to mean more. I wanted Haven to feel the way I did. Although, I didn’t even know how I felt. Desire wasn’t something I had much experience with or, frankly, time to consider.
“Honey, you don’t have to help with the dishes,” Maggie said, interrupting my train of thought about Haven.
“I want to,” I replied. “Thank you so much for this.”
“For what?”
