Chapter 4 Josie
JOSIE
Over the next two months, Amber and I worked in tandem most days. On her days off, I was busy trying to create a menu that both honored my mother but also brought Magnolia Inn into the present.
Vivian had promised me full reign of the kitchen and the menu with one caveat. My mother’s signature lemon meringue pie had to stay on the menu.
Meaning I had to conquer one of the only things I’d always struggled with. Meringue. The Adirondack Mountains weren’t helping the situation either. The city was flat in comparison.
Even into November, I was still practicing perfecting her pie.
I had to take it home with me. I tried not to miss too much of autumn and the leaves changing.
Vivian, Amber, Ivory, Vivian’s assistant, and I took a day when no one was staying at the inn and went up to Flume Falls.
I hadn’t been there since I was a kid, and neither Amber nor Ivory had ever been.
It gave me an escape for a day that I needed.
I was even more determined to get the menu perfected, all the way down to the signature dessert.
Killian was out most days or kept to himself when he was home, which was perfectly fine by me.
The dynamic was still awkward, even without seeing each other very often.
But I was making do. I was feeling more settled in. It was at least one thing I’d grown decently comfortable with.
And with the box of my Christmas decorations sitting in the living room, ready to be carefully strewn across the home, I was feeling a bit more myself.
Christmas in Lake Placid was no joke. It was magical. And I was all about it. My mom and Vivian would go all out on the Inn and then still find the time and energy to decorate the house.
This year, Vivian accepted help from a few people. Everything was too different, and we were still processing the first Christmas without my mom.
Which meant the house was the only place I’d be decorating again.
Breaking open the box from Jenny, my last roommate in the city, I felt a rush of Christmas joy course through my body.
Before I could get too far into the decorating, I had to get the new tree from my car. I’d looked around and even asked Killian once if he had a tree or anything, and all he’d said was a curt “no”.
So, I went out and picked up a small tree—something I knew I could carry on my own but still gave me joy.
As I struggled to open the door without dropping the box, I came face-to-face with Killian.
"Oh hell no." His arms were crossed, and he looked downright pissed.
I followed Killian's eyes from the Christmas tree box in my arms to the box of Christmas decorations sitting in the living room.
"What?"
"You're not planning on putting any of that up in here, are you?"
"Christmas decorations?"
"Yeah."
"I mean..." I trailed off.
"No. Not happening."
"No Christmas tree?"
"No, nothing. I don't do Christmas decor."
"Come on, Killian. Not even a little?"
"Nope."
I stepped towards him. "Not even a little mistletoe?" I teased, still struggling with the box.
"Definitely not." He stood firm with his arms still crossed.
That's when I realized he really wasn't joking and wasn't going to budge on the matter.
"Killian, maybe a little this year?" I finally half-placed, half-dropped the tree box by the other box.
"Nope."
I thought about playing the "but my mother died" card, but I wasn't about to open up that much to him.
"You have all of Magnolia to have your precious decorations. You don't need my home, too."
The way he said "my home" cut deep, admittedly. Sure, I wasn't planning on staying long-term. No longer than I had to. But still, it was like I had no place here.
I turned away from him, ready for the conversation to be over. When I risked a glance over my shoulder a few moments later, Killian was gone without a trace.
“He’s insufferable,” I muttered.
I moved the two boxes to my own room. He might think he could control the house, but not my room. I was paying rent. I would decorate the shit out of it if I had to.
It wasn’t like he’d ever have a reason to see my room anyway.
So, out of frustration and spite, I scrolled through until I found my Christmas playlist, connected to my Bluetooth speaker, and cranked it up.
I spent the next hour singing obnoxiously loud as I strung up lights through my room, set up the Christmas tree in the corner, and lined the fronts of my shelves with nutcrackers I’d collected.
I knew he’d left when I called out for him for a step stool and tools, and never got an answer. I figured he’d probably left again just after our argument.
And that spite I’d started with was still full steam when I saw the elf at the bottom of the box and got an idea that would surely either break through his grumpy Grinch attitude…or cause more discourse between us.
Either way, it was on.
I stealthily snuck into his room and looked for the perfect spot. It was already late in the evening, and I knew that whenever he got back, he’d probably head straight for bed. So I tucked the stuffed elf in between his pillows and made my way to the living room.
I started up my first Christmas movie of the season, The Holiday, one of my favorites, and impatiently waited for him to get home.
Except, I fell asleep, waking up to the menu screen on the television and an elf tossed on my chest.
As I made my way to my bed, I thought about the next place I’d hide it.