Christmas in Bethel

Chapter Fourteen

Jungle peanut butter, pine pollen smoothies, caviar and candied walnuts. I’m not in Lancaster anymore.

Beth Stilton’s Diary

I was awake when the sun, hidden behind blinds, started to illuminate the room. I didn’t want morning to come. I wanted to stay right where I was, warm and safe and loved. It was the first time in years that I’d gone to bed without Ambien or some other sleeping pill. And one of the few nights I hadn’t woken screaming.

Lee rolled over and put an arm around me. He was still wearing his dress shirt from the night before.

“Sorry about last night,” he said softly, his face just a few inches from mine and his eyes still closed. I loved the warmth of his breath on my face. “I think I fell asleep. Or you roofied me.”

“I might have.”

“At least you had fun.” He opened his eyes. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Today is no clock day.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “No clocks?”

“No clocks. I’ve decided that today will last forever.”

He smiled. “This is the perfect beginning of forever. Can I sleep some more?”

“If I can hold you,” I said. I pulled his head onto my chest. “You work so hard. Everyone wants something from you.”

“What do you want from me?”

“This.”

He fell asleep again. I held him.

He slept for nearly an hour more before his eyes opened and looked up at me.

“Morning,” I whispered. “Again.”

“I think my tour is finally catching up with me.”

“You’ve been on a marathon.”

“If this is the finish line, it was worth the run.”

I kissed his forehead. “Not the finish line. Just a rest stop.”

“How long have you been up?”

“Hours,” I said.

“I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”

“Yes. Can we get some breakfast?”

“Of course. Do you want to go out or get room service?”

“Room service, please.”

“Will you call them?”

I smiled. “I would if I could get up. You’re on me.”

“Oh, that.” He lifted himself up onto his arms and kissed me, then he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I feel like I’ve slept for days.”

“Just half of one.”

He raked a hand back through his hair, then looked at himself in the wall mirror. He looked like a wrinkled version of what had walked in my room last night. “I slept in this?”

“I hate it when men sleep with their socks on.”

He laughed. “But you’re okay with slacks? At least you look cute.”

“It’s not Victoria’s Secret, but it’s not Kmart.”

“Are there still Kmarts?”

“I’m sure there are somewhere. They keep them next to the Blockbusters.” I climbed out of bed and walked over to the credenza. “Here’s the room service menu. Wait, it’s called ‘in-room dining.’?”

“?‘In-room dining’ sounds fancier.”

“It gets better. It’s in-room dining straight from Chef Jean-George’s kitchen.” I continued to read about their restaurant.

“I’ll have a bowl of oatmeal, please.”

“Oatmeal? This is Chef Jean-Georges. The man has a hyphen in his name. You don’t just order oatmeal from someone with a hyphen. It has to be fancy. Like oatmeal br?lée. Or artisanal oatmeal infused with saffron capers.”

“Are you always this funny in the morning?”

“No. I usually start my day with a primal scream.”

He smiled. “Tell Chef George he can put caviar on my oatmeal if he wants. I’ll pick it off.”

“It’s Chef Jean-Georges, and there is no oatmeal and caviar, but he does have smoothies. Here is a pollen smoothie. It has pine pollen, jungle peanut butter, dates, banana, and almond milk.”

“What’s jungle peanut butter?”

“I don’t know, but it sounds wild. Wait, that’s from their vegan restaurant menu. Here’s the real breakfast. Omelets, eggs Benedict with roasted potatoes, buttermilk pancakes, French toast with sauteed stone apple, avocado toast…”

“Do they have oatmeal?”

“Yes, they have Irish steel-cut oatmeal. It comes with dried sour cherries, steamed milk, and brown sugar, and you can add banana and berries.”

“I’ll have that. With candied walnuts.”

“They don’t have candied walnuts.”

“It’s the Mark. They’ll find them.”

“Okay, and to drink they have freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice and they have La Colombe coffee, including espresso, latte, or cappuccino.”

“I’ll have an espresso shot, please. And a small grapefruit juice.”

“Should I have them add an energy shot to your espresso?”

“No, it already is an energy shot. What are you having?”

“I’m going to have the eggs Benedict with one buttermilk pancake on the side. Do you think they’ll let me do that?”

“They’ll let you do whatever you want.” He stood. “I’m going to go shower quick and I’ll be back.”

We kissed again, then he walked out. He was back, shaved and dressed, as the in-room waitress was leaving the room.

“Men can get ready so fast,” I said.

“It’s true.”

His oatmeal looked good. And there was a small dish next to it with sour cherries and candied walnuts.

After we’d started eating, Lee said, “I’m sorry about Laurie asking you about Thanksgiving. She didn’t know.”

“Sorry I lied. I just didn’t want to seem so pathetic in front of your friends.”

“I was thinking—why don’t you spend Thanksgiving at the Cape with me? We can fly there tomorrow, have some downtime, and get to know each other better. It will be fun.”

The invitation caught me completely off guard.

“I…”

He cocked his head. “Was that ‘yes’?”

“I didn’t bring enough clothes for a long stay.”

He glanced over at my suitcase. “Judging by the size of your bag, I thought you had packed for the rest of the year.”

“Very funny. Women have to carry more things. And I don’t have enough clothing.”

“There are clothing stores in Cape Cod,” he said. “Nice ones. And what better place to spend Thanksgiving than where it started? Plymouth is just thirty miles from my place.”

“What about your brother? Will he be okay with me crashing your dinner?”

“He’ll be thrilled to have a guest, since I’m as boring as stuffing.”

“I like stuffing.”

“There will be stuffing. Then you’ll come?”

“I’d love to.”

He looked genuinely excited.

“How’s the oatmeal?” I asked.

“It’s good. How’s your Benedict?”

“It’s better than IHOP.”

“I would hope so.” He drank his espresso shot, then set down the glass. “I might need a little more fuel. We have a busy day today.”

“I thought you had the day off. We can’t just stay here?”

“I have it off, I just thought you might like to see the city. Was there anything in particular you wanted to do?”

“Just be with you.”

“That’s a given.”

I thought about it. “I’d like to see Radio City Music Hall and Central Park. Maybe go up the Empire State Building.”

“Noted.” He looked at his watch. “We should get ready. It’s ten fifteen. Can you be ready to leave by eleven?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be back to claim you then.”

We kissed and he went back to his room. I stole one of his leftover candied walnuts, then got in the shower.