38. Miles
38
MILES
L ydia was fiercely protective of our son, as she should be. She didn’t want to put him down and only allowed me to hold him when she needed her hands for other things. I was almost jealous of the connection she had with him.
But I knew my job now, as a father, was to protect her so that she could protect him.
I made her food when she told me she was hungry and got her something to drink when she told me she was thirsty. I convinced her to let me hold the baby so that she could eat.
I could tell she was still tired, and I was convincing her to go back to bed to rest when Evie came through the front door.
“Merry Christmas, everybody,” she said.
And by everybody, she meant Lydia and the new baby. I was completely ignored. She carried a large, wrapped present. This is for you,” she said as she held out the giant box to Lydia. “Well, actually, it’s for him, but you get to open it.”
She turned and pushed the large box into my arms. I had no choice but to hold the box or let it fall to the floor.
“Let me hold the baby.”
“Sit down first,” Lydia commanded.
Evie sat, and Lydia gently handed over the baby.
“Okay, give her the box,” Evie directed me as she cooed and gazed lovingly down at the infant in her arms.
“I should get your present,” Lydia said as I handed her the large box.
“Nonsense,” Evie said. “You can give me my presents later. Right now, this is the only gift I want. Hi, Baby,” she cooed at my son. “I see that Santa delivered a tree. Did you stay up all night making paper chains and cutting out snowflakes?”
“Miles did that,” Lydia said.
“Really? I didn’t think you’d be that coordinated,” Evie equipped.
“There are some skills that one maintains from their elementary school days,” I said, not skipping a beat.
I was pretty sure that after Lydia’s intense delivery, Evie and I had come to an unspoken agreement. We didn’t have to like each other, but we were going to tolerate and get along with each other because we both loved Lydia so much. Maybe at some point, I would come to appreciate her scathing sense of humor, and maybe at some point, she would put up with me.
“Have you been outside at all?” Evie asked.
Lydia tore into the wrapping paper around her gift.
“No, we’ve been occupied,” I said.
“The entire town is absolutely snowed in,” she said. “So many people had their Christmas ruined by the storm, and the mayor called and asked me if I could help him with some kind of relief effort. I hope it’s okay. I let him know that you had your baby. He might come by to check in on you.”
“Oh, this is so lovely,” Lydia announced as she got the bassinet unwrapped and began opening the box. “Thank you, Evie, it’s perfect.”
There was a knock on the door, and then it opened. Mayor Dan stepped in. He stomped his feet a couple of times.
“I’m never sure if I should knock or just come in. It’s an inn, but it’s your house, but it’s… Oh, Carlisle, what are you doing here?” He stopped in his tracks and looked up at me.
“Miles is the father of my son,” Lydia said.
The mayor narrowed his gaze at her, and then at me.
I held up my hands, palms out. “She didn’t know who I was. I failed to disclose that piece of information.”
“That sounds like a long story,” Dan said.
“A long story for another day,” I admitted.
“Once I heard from Evie that you had your baby, I thought I’d come and check on you.”
“We’re doing just fine. How’s everybody else holding up this morning?” Lydia asked.
“We’re trying to get the roads cleared,” Dan said. "I could use some more volunteers.” He looked at me.
I opened my mouth, about to explain I was needed for the baby, but then Evie cut me off before I managed to say anything.
“Why don’t you go help, Miles? I’m here, and I can help Lydia with the baby. It’ll be good for you to get to know some of the people of Brookdale.”
I didn’t miss the sharpness in her tone or her point.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Lydia?” I asked.
There was a tightness around her eyes that looked like worry. Or maybe that was her being very tired. “What do you think?” she asked.
“I think I should go help,” I said.
She nodded.
As soon as I was properly dressed for the weather, I followed Mayor Dan out and into a large pickup truck with a snow plow attachment to the front.
“Is this the city snowplow?” I asked.
“We have an official plow. This is one of our backup vehicles,” he said.
“It looks like a handy thing to have on a day like today,” I said as I climbed into the truck.
“I’m surprised you’re willing to come with me,” Dan said.
“Because of the whole buyout situation?” I asked.
He gave me a curt nod.
“I like Brookdale,” I admitted. “I’ve come to really appreciate the town, its historical value, and the integrity of its people. I’d still like to put a resort in here, but the way I was going forward with that project isn’t going to work out. If there were a way I could help to bolster this town’s economy, I would, but I’m not sure what that looks like right now.”
“What are your feelings on restoring old properties?” the mayor asked.
“Are you talking about the inn?” I asked. “Lydia has plans, and crazy as it might sound, I’m here to support those plans. I think she’s right. In five to ten years, she could really turn Sweet Mountain Inn into a showpiece of a place. If she lets me invest in her property, maybe I can help her do that a little sooner than the timeline she’s worked out.”
“I was thinking of something not quite so old and potentially much more rundown.”
I lifted my brows and glanced at him out of the side of my eye.
“Oh, yeah? What do you have in mind?”
“You’ve heard of those old resorts, all-inclusive family resorts from the fifties and the sixties? They’re scattered throughout these mountains,” Dan said. “Well, there is an abandoned one of those facilities not too far from here that you might consider taking a look at.”
No one on my team had ever mentioned purchasing an abandoned or a rundown property for restoration. But then again, that hadn’t been their task. They had been told to find a location where we could build something new.
“How far out of town is this place?” I asked.
“Seems like it would be the prime location for teens to go get themselves into trouble, but it’s far enough out of town that it’s inconvenient for a local hangout. Kids do go up there, usually in the summers, mostly.”
“And you say it’s a mountainside family resort?” I asked. “Lake houses, outbuildings, that sort of thing?”
“Lake houses, it probably has a swimming pool, and one of those fancy ballrooms or even a dining room with a stage for dinner shows. I haven’t been up there in a while.”
“How do you know what’s still available?” I asked.
He gave me a sheepish grin. “I might have run it past county records after one of our historical society town meetings.”
“So you thought you could lure me away from downtown Brookdale if you could find another attractive piece of real estate for me to develop?”
Dan’s head bobbed up and down as he nodded. “That sounds about right. Here we are.”
He pulled the truck slowly to the side of the road and climbed out.
“Come on, shovels are in the back.”
I followed him out of the pickup, and he handed me a shovel.
“We’re clearing walkways all down this block. I’ll take this side of the street. You get that side.”
It was one of the blocks of houses that I had intended on taking over and leveling for my construction project.
I don’t know if Dan had plotted this, but having me shovel and clear off the walkways from the homes I had targeted seemed very shrewd and manipulative.
I spent a good portion of the day shoveling walkway after walkway.
“You look a little too big to be one of Santa’s elves,” the elderly resident of the home I was currently working on said as she pushed open her front door.
“Merry Christmas,” I said. “Not an elf. Conscripted into service.”
“Would you like a nice cup of hot cocoa for your troubles?” she asked.
“That sounds delightful.”
A few minutes later, she opened the door again. “I have some hot cocoa and some of the cookies that I left out for Santa Claus that didn’t get eaten last night.”
“Thank you.” I took the offered mug of hot chocolate and a cookie.
“What has you out doing such neighborly good deeds today?” she asked.
I gestured across the street to where Dan was shoveling her neighbor’s walkway.
“Oh, Danny Breaker. He’s always been such a good young man. It doesn’t surprise me that he would get one of his friends to come out on Christmas day to help dig us out.”
“He probably has teams all across town doing the same kind of work,” I said.
“Of course he does.”
“He really likes to take care of everyone here, doesn’t he?” I asked.
“We all like to take care of everyone here in town. It’s what makes this town home and like a family,” she said.
I thanked her for the drink and the cookie before continuing to dig her out.
Maybe that was what made Brookdale special. People took care of each other. I knew it was Lydia’s kindness that drew me to her. Maybe it was something she got from her environment, something she got from this town. Brookdale was special.