36. Miles
36
MILES
“ W hat do you think you’re going to name him?” Evie asked.
Lydia held the baby, bundled up tight. She couldn’t stop staring at him.
I couldn’t stop staring at him. I had a son. I was a father.
She looked up at me and lifted her brows. “I really hadn’t thought about a boy’s name. But it’s Christmas. Maybe we should name him something like Chris or Noel?”
“We could always name him Yul,” I suggested.
Lydia squinted her eyes at me. “Yule, like Yuletide?”
“Not Y-U-L-E, but Y-U-L. Like Yul Brenner,” I said. “Leading man material.”
She laughed before returning her gaze to the tiny bundle with his little face exposed. She ran a finger gently down his cheek.
“Are you a Chris, or a Yul, or a Noel?” she asked him tenderly. “I guess we’ll have to think about it. We don’t have to name him immediately, do we?” She looked questioningly from me to Evie and back to me.
I sat next to her on the couch and wrapped my arm around her, using my finger to pull the blanket back ever so slightly so I could take a look at the boy. “We don’t have to name him immediately,” I agreed. “We can give it a couple of days and try out each name and see which one fits him the best.”
“You’re gonna let me name him?” she asked.
“You did all the work. He’s your son.”
She blinked, and I could see tears in her eyes.
“Why don’t you help Lydia get into her bed? She’ll be more comfortable there,” Evie said. “I have your Christmas present, which I should probably go get, because you need it now.”
Lydia looked up at her friend.
“What did you get?” she asked.
“I got a bassinet. I haven’t even finished wrapping it.” Evie chuckled. “Let me go get it. I’ll be right back. If you think you could stand putting him down for a minute to let him sleep on his own.”
Lydia gently twisted back and forth as she sat, rocking the baby. “I don’t know if I can put him down at all,” she admitted.
“You don’t have to go anywhere just yet. Once you’re feeling more stable, we can get you back into your room,” I said.
“Are you sure you need to leave?” she asked.
Evie was already putting on her coat. She paused and looked at Lydia. I didn’t miss the furtive glance she sent my way. “Do you need me to stay?” Evie asked Lydia very pointedly.
Lydia also glanced over at me. “I’ll be fine if you go. But it’s cold and dark, and I don’t want you out in the storm.”
“It’s really not that bad,” Evie said.
I didn’t know if she was lying to herself or lying to keep Lydia from being too concerned. We had both been out in the weather earlier, and it was bad.
“Do you need me to go with you?” I asked.
Lydia sucked in a small gasp of air and looked at me with a panicked expression all over her face. I thought she was about to burst into tears.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t leave Lydia and the baby alone,” Evie told me.
I walked her to the door. “Are you sure? You don’t have to leave.” I shared Lydia’s concern.
“Don’t be silly. I’m going to the library to grab the bassinet. I’ll be right back.”
“You could stay. Tell me where in the library to go, and I will fetch it.”
Evie put her hand on my shoulder. “Stay with Lydia and your new son. I’ll be back shortly.”
She closed the door after herself.
“I’m under the impression that no one can tell that woman what to do,” I said.
“You aren’t wrong,” Lydia replied. “She’s very strong-willed.”
“You two are very much alike, aren’t you?” I sat back down on the couch next to her.
“What do you mean?” Lydia asked.
“Once you have your mind set on something, no one can get in your way. I get the feeling that Evie is a bit of a juggernaut. Once she has her eye set on a target, there is no stopping her.”
Lydia nodded. “That sounds about right. We’re both very stubborn.”
“Lydia…” I started.
“You’re going to say we need to talk,” she said softly, but her eyes were on the baby in her arms.
“We should talk,” I agreed. “We can talk about anything you want or nothing at all. Or we can talk about why I’m here.”
She looked up at me, then back down at the baby. “I know why you’re here. What I really need to know is, why haven’t you been here? You’ve missed so much.”
“I have,” I agreed. “But I didn’t miss this.”
“No, you didn’t.”
I reached up and gently brushed the tear that ran down her cheek away with my thumb.
“I didn’t grow up in a town like Brookdale,” I said. “I spent my entire youth trying to escape from the place where I grew up. I didn’t have a place like this one, one that fulfilled your dreams. I came from a town of nightmares, so I couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to stay in a small town. To me, small towns were places you left. Brookdale is the kind of town where you have dreams and make plans.”
“Is that why you wanted to build your resort here?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Not originally. Brookdale is strategically placed. There are mountains, lakes, and trails all within a short drive. But after I came and visited, after you showed me what Brookdale could be, I wanted my project to be here so that I could be here.”
“That’s nice and all. But Miles, you lied to me. You didn’t tell me who you were.”
“That first snowstorm I was here, I didn’t give you my full name on purpose. I didn’t want it to cause any problems. I didn’t give you my full name because if you knew who I was, I was genuinely concerned whether or not you would let me stay.”
I felt her eyes on me, but I kept my attention on the baby in her arms.
“I had no way of knowing that I would encounter you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I lifted my gaze and met her eyes. I gently stroked her hair back from her face and ran the backs of my knuckles down her cheek. “You are why Brookdale is so magical. You are why we have a son. You made me feel things for a place I didn’t know I could be invested in. You made me feel things for you.”
I stared into her eyes for a long moment.
“Miles, what are you saying?” she asked softly.
“I’m saying I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life. I’ve made a lot of mistakes about Brookdale, especially wanting to tear it down so I could build something new. But you were never a mistake. The mistake was letting other people’s bad situations get inside my head until I thought that had to be what was going to happen between us.”
“But I didn’t want anything from you, Miles. I just wanted you.” She sniffled as more tears ran down her cheeks.
Each one of her tears was a stab in my heart.
“I know that now, and I need you to know that I’ll be here for you if you let me. I want to take care of you and the baby.”
“I’d like that, but…” Her face split with a wide yawn. “I’m so tired. Maybe going to bed would be a good idea. Can we continue this conversation later? I like the direction it’s going in. I really do. I don’t understand why I’m so exhausted.”
“Give me the boy,” I said as I gently took my son into my arms. “This is why you were so exhausted. Lydia, darling, you have just birthed a baby.”
“That’s right.” She sounded like she was already half asleep.
“Come on, and let’s get you both into bed.”
I helped her to her feet as best I could. I held our son carefully tucked up into one arm. He was so tiny. I could probably hold him in one hand, not that I would. He was precious, and I had to protect him.
“You’ll let me know when Evie gets back, right?”
“Of course I will.”
“Maybe you should go out and look for her.” Lydia’s words were starting to slur. She was so tired.
“I’m not going to leave you alone. I’ve left you far too many times when it was important. This time, it is important that I stay here. I’ll make sure your friend is okay. Let’s get you into bed.”
She walked very slowly. Her room was comfortably warm, and I was going to have to let Evie know that she was a genius. Keeping the bedroom clean made getting Lydia tucked into bed easy.
I made sure Lydia was comfortable in the middle of the bed and created a barricade out of pillows before I nestled our son next to her.
There was a strange buzzing sound.
“What’s that?” I asked, looking around.
“The inn phone is ringing,” Lydia said, waving her arm around. Her voice had that sing-song, half asleep quality to it.
I brushed her hair back and kissed her brow and then placed a very gentle kiss on the forehead of our sleeping boy.
“Hello,” I said, as I picked up the receiver.
“Miles,” Evie said.
“The phones are working,” I announced as if that wasn’t blatantly obvious.
“Of course, they are. That’s why I’m calling you.”
“Yeah, but they weren’t working earlier when I came to get you,” I pointed out.
“Oh, that makes perfect sense, then,” she said. “I wanted to let you know I’m not going back out in that storm tonight. That’s why I’m calling. I should have stayed. It’s miserable out there. Will you be all right without a bassinet for the night?”
“I already have Lydia and the baby in bed with all the pillows surrounding them so they’re blocked in.”
“Keep an eye on them for me,” she said. “And Miles, if you break my friend’s heart again, I’m gonna have to come after you with blunt instruments.”
I chuckled at her threat. I had seen this woman in action. I knew that she was capable of doing anything she claimed to be able to do. I took her at her word.
“I have no plans on doing that,” I confessed.
“What are your plans?” she asked.
“To grovel and beg her forgiveness every day for the next fifty or sixty years,” I admitted.
“That’s a good plan. I approve,” she said.