Home for Christmas by Cynthia Cooke

Author:Cynthia Cooke [Cooke, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Eric grinned as she pointed to the half-built gazebo. “I was hoping to have it finished before you saw it.”

She looked at him in astonishment. “You’re putting it back together?”

“Yes. I remember how important the gazebo was to you and your mom, and to everyone in Pineville. The Caroling Kickoff was always as much fun as the tree lighting ceremony.”

“You think we should host it again?”

“The Caroling Kickoff?” He liked the way her eyes were sparkling.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure want to? You already have a lot on your plate.” He could see her indecision.

She smiled. “I think I do. It would be a great tribute to my mom the night before the gala and the grand opening. Can you have it rebuilt in time? It’s in two days.”

“Absolutely.”

She clapped her hands. “Then let’s do it!”

“All right. You had a few more shipments arrive today.”

“Great. I’ll get started on those right after I speak with the roofer. Are you going to make it to the tree lighting ceremony?”

“I have to work the lot,” he reminded her.

“That’s right. You don’t ever get a break, do you?”

“Not at Christmastime. But if you want me to stand with you when you announce the opening of the inn, I will.”

“That would be terrific. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes.” She smiled and walked into the house. His eyes followed her for a long moment before he realized what he was doing and shook himself out of it. She was the boss, and as soon as this job was over, she was leaving. No reason to let his thoughts run that way, no matter how much her sparkling eyes got to him. He needed to stay on task.

The gazebo was three quarters of the way rebuilt by the time Melanie reappeared wearing a bright-red sweater, jeans, and a Christmas hat.

“Whoa, what is this?” He had to admit he liked it.

She grinned. “I found all my old Christmas clothes.”

“And they still fit?” He joked. He liked it when he made her laugh.

She scowled at him. “Well, obviously not all of them but the accessories do. And this,” she pointed to the sweater, “was my mother’s.”

“It’s beautiful.” She was beautiful.

“Thank you. I’m spending a lot of time going through my family’s things and reminiscing. It’s amazing how much I’d forgotten.”

“That’s understandable. You didn’t have a frame of reference to keep the memories fresh.”

“I suppose not. But I’m enjoying the process. In fact, I was wondering if you wanted to help me decorate the Christmas tree tonight after the tree lighting ceremony. I brought up more boxes of our old ornaments from the basement.”

“Sure, but I thought you wanted to keep the tree simple.”

“I did. But I don’t anymore.”

He didn’t know why, but he liked the sound of that. “Sure, I’d love to.”

“I’m going to head over and meet Roni early. I’ll see you at the tree lighting?”

“I’ll be there. I just want to finish this up. A storm is supposed to roll in tonight. I want to get the roof reattached before then.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.