Chapter 24
THERE WERE STILL TWO MORE weeks until Christmas, but Everly Falls was in the throes of the holiday. Each night, community events abounded, and tonight, there was a hot chocolate cook-off—or boil-off?—at Lori’s shop. Restaurant chefs and bakery shop owners and regular home cooks had all entered the contest. Fifteen of them, Lori had said.
And Malcom was one of the judges. He enjoyed chocolate and sweets and hot chocolate, like most people. But to be a judge ? He wasn’t sure why he agreed to such a plan. Oh yeah. Because anything that Lori asked of him, his immediate response was yes .
Austin had given him a hard time about it the other day. But then again, he had rescheduled one of their appointments because of Everly.
Malcom supposed they were equally whipped over their women.
Which was why he hoped that this weekend would be smooth sailing with his parents in town. He pulled to a stop in front of the airport pickup lane. Up ahead, he could see a fifty-something blonde woman, wearing a bright yellow utility vest, waving people away from the curb. “No waiting. Drive around again,” he heard her say.
He could drive around again, but he was pretty sure his parents would be appearing at any moment.
And he didn’t want to make his dad stand too long or wait in the cold. It had just started to rain—lightly, but it was an icy rain with the temperature to nearly freezing.
The yellow vest drew closer. Three cars away. Now two cars.
His phone rang. “Hi, Mom.”
“We’re out of the airport,” she said breathlessly. “Where are you parked? Oh, there you are.”
Just as she said it, he saw his parents. Together. It was a strange sight to see.
A knock on his window made him jump.
“I’ll pull closer,” he told his mom, then hung up. He opened his window. “My parents are right there.”
The woman peered to where he pointed. “All right, have a good evening, sir.”
He planned on it. Opening his door, he climbed out to greet his parents, then loaded their luggage into one side of the rear seat. His dad looked so much healthier than he had in the hospital, but it was also clear that he’d lost weight. His mom was her usually bustling self, with a fresh short haircut, heeled boots, and silver hoop earrings. She insisted that his dad sit up front, and she fussed over him until his seat belt was secure and he’d located his cell phone.
“Dad’s calling Bronson on our way into your little town,” Mom said. “He said he wanted to know our schedule.”
Malcom tried not to let his irritation show. Tonight and the next couple of days would be about his parents getting to know Lori. He didn’t want Bronson in the mix, or even to be a concern for his parents. At the end of the weekend, he’d be taking them to his brother’s house, where they planned to stay for a few more days. Bronson would have plenty of time with them.
But Malcom didn’t protest. He turned on his blinker and pulled out of the pickup lane, then merged into traffic.
“It’s colder than I thought it would be here,” Mom said.
Colder than Montana?
“It rains a lot in December,” Malcom said. “Better than snow, maybe?”
“It’s not Christmas without snow,” she said, her voice taking on a whiny edge. “You should reconsider your holiday plans. We should all be together as a family. Bronson is coming with Kari up to Montana, you know.”
He knew. And it could very well be Christmas without snow. The original Christmas didn’t have snow, so why was that so important? Plus, there was no way Lori could get more than Christmas Day off from her shop. Holidays were busy for retail owners, and he wasn’t about to ditch her.
His dad began to speak into his phone to Bronson. “It’s a chili cook-off,” Dad said. “Nothing I can eat, so I don’t know what I’m having for dinner.”
“It’s a hot chocolate contest,” Malcom said, loud enough that surely Bronson could hear. “And Lori already has dinner for us at the place I’m staying. It won’t be chili, Dad.”
“He says it’s not chili. But I can’t have hot chocolate either.”
“You don’t have to have the hot chocolate, dear,” Mom said from the back seat, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“Ice skating,” Dad said. “I can’t do that either. I guess I’ll sit and watch while I freeze.”
“We’ll have coats, and we’re watching a performance indoors , Dad. We’re not ice skating ourselves,” Malcom corrected.
“Here, let me talk to him,” his mom said, holding out her hand for the phone.
He handed it over. While his mom began to speak to Bronson, who apparently was getting filled in on every minute of their schedule in detail, Dad said, “Mom told me we were ice skating.”
“No,” Malcom said. He turned on the headlights as the sun sank behind the horizon, turning the sky violet. “We’re only doing things that you can do with us. We’re not leaving you behind. Maybe next year we can ice skate if you want.”
His dad seemed thoughtful, despite the one-sided conversation in the back seat. “Okay, maybe I’ll do it. I haven’t ice skated for years.”
Malcom didn’t remember any time that his father had ice skated.
“Oh my goodness,” his mother said, her voice elevated with excitement. “That’s wonderful news! How far along is she?” A pause. “Oh, that’s too bad she’s feeling sick. Do you need us to cut our trip short in Everly Falls and come help you out?”
What in the world was she talking about?
He found out soon enough.
“Kari’s pregnant,” his mom announced as soon as she hung up with Bronson. “Two months along. She’s been really sick this week.”
She squeezed Dad’s shoulder. “We’re going to be grandparents.”
Dad reached up and clasped their hand.
Malcom was happy for Bronson and Kari—maybe starting a family would keep them making better choices for their future. But he was a bit puzzled about his mom’s reaction. Bronson wasn’t her son, but apparently, she was one hundred percent into Dad’s life. Which was how it should have been, in the beginning, without all the detours.
As they turned off the highway and took the exit to Everly Falls, his mom screeched, “Oh my goodness!”
Malcom almost slammed on the brakes. “What? What is it?”
“I need to call Penny right now,” she said.
Malcom couldn’t think of a worse sentence coming from her mouth. “What’s going on, Mom? What’s happening with Penny?”
“Shh.”
Did his mom really shush him?
“Penny!” she said into her phone. “I just saw the Facebook post! Congratulations!”
Malcom frowned. His mother was on Facebook? Since when?
Penny was talking, but all he could hear was his mom’s responses. She didn’t hang up until they were almost to Lori’s parents’ old house.
“Well, that’s that,” she said. “You missed your chance with Penny. Her ex-husband wants to reunite, and they got engaged today. It’s a done deal.”
Why would Malcom care about Penny becoming engaged to another man? “Good for her.”
“What do you mean good for her ?” Mom snapped. “You broke her heart. You threw away a perfectly good thing. Just think, you and Bronson married to sisters. It would have been amazing.”
“No, Mom.” Malcom slowed his truck and stopped in front of a closed shoe store.
“Is this it?” his dad said. “It’s awfully dark.”
“No, the house is one street over,” he said. “We need to talk before I take you to meet my girlfriend.”
“You shouldn’t use the word girlfriend so lightly,” Mom said. “This Lori woman might get ideas.”
Malcom exhaled, frustration rolling through him. “Look, I need both of you to listen to me. Lori is my girlfriend, and I’m not saying that lightly. I love her. I’m in love with her. She’s it for me. She might not know it yet, but it’s true.”
In the dimness of the truck’s cab, both of his parents’ gazes were locked on him.
“That means, I don’t want you to bring up Penny at all when you’re around Lori,” he said. “We’ve already been through enough distress with Penny—who by the way, was never the right woman for me. I never wanted to date her, even before the company fiasco. I was never interested in her as more than a coworker, not even a little bit.”
Neither of his parents said anything for a moment.
Then his father spoke. “You truly love this Lori woman?”
“I do.” He released a slow breath. “I haven’t exactly told her yet, so please don’t spill the beans. We’re taking things slowly.”
His mother’s lips had pursed, and he could only guess her opinion. Which was ridiculous that she’d have an opinion—she hadn’t even met Lori.
Malcom pulled out onto the neighborhood street, then drove the couple of blocks to where the house was. The lights were on, and it seemed that Lori had added more Christmas lights to the bushes out front. Malcom had to smile at that. “By the way,” he said, “Lori loves holidays—it’s kind of her thing.”
“Is that why she opened a holiday shop?” Dad asked.
“Yep.”
Mom still hadn’t said anything, and Malcom decided that her attitude was on her.
He parked and turned off the engine, then he unloaded their luggage. They’d stay at the house on the bed he’d bought. He’d use an air mattress in the second bedroom. Before he reached the front door, he could already smell the dinner Lori had made. He’d told her to not go to too much trouble, to order something from the deli. But when he opened the door, he could see the kitchen table spread with a feast.
Lori came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a Christmas-themed hand towel. Her face was flushed, which told him she had gone to a lot of trouble. Her green long-sleeved shirt said Naughty or Nice , and her earrings were dangling red ornaments. Her hair was down, but held back by a headband decorated with mistletoe. Classic Lori.
“Hello,” she said with a smile that Malcom could tell was nervous.
He quickly introduced everyone, and he was happy his mom said, “It’s great to finally meet you,” in a voice that sounded perfectly pleasant.
Who cared if she was more quiet than usual—that might be a good thing, right?
Dad asked Lori a bunch of questions as they gathered around the table, and she cheerfully answered.
“I didn’t know what you like to eat,” she said as they all sat down. “I looked up heart-healthy dishes, so you can eat everything here without worry, Mr. Graves. But I made plenty extra, so you can have leftovers throughout your stay if you want to relax after some of our activities.”
Malcom saw his mom’s appraising gaze as she set a napkin in her lap. She didn’t crack a smile though, keeping her expression impassive.
It was quite amusing, really, to see how much of a chatterbox his dad became when his mom went sullen.
Dad asked all kinds of questions about the shop, and Lori happily answered them. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She rose from the table and fetched a small, wrapped box from the counter. “This is for you,” she told Malcom’s mom.
Mom looked like she was about to swallow her tongue as she took the box. “Oh? What’s this about?”
“Just a small welcoming gift,” Lori said. “It reminded me of you.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed, but she continued removing the wrapping. She revealed a jewelry box, then opened it. Inside was a set of turquoise jewelry.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, lifting her gaze. “I wasn’t expecting a gift.”
Lori shrugged. “Malcom told me you love turquoise jewelry, and I saw this in one of my vendors’ catalogs. It’s all custom, so I kind of took a shot in the dark of what to have designed for you.”
Mom lifted out the necklace, then the earrings. “This is a custom design?” Lori nodded. “It’s lovely.” She examined it for a few moments. “I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful.”
Lori only smiled, and Malcom reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“We should head over to the shop soon,” she said. “If you’d like to be a judge, Mr. Graves, I’m sure they could use another one. Malcom has already been roped in.”
Dad chuckled. “I would if I didn’t have to watch my sugar intake.”
“Fair enough,” Lori said. “Why don’t the two of you get settled into the bedroom, and Malcom and I will clean up the meal.”