Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
M axwell leaned back in his chair and surveyed the group around the dinner table. Paisley had directed the creation of one long table for Thanksgiving dinner then, with Kaci’s help, decorated it and the entire main floor of the lodge with cozy fall themes. Nadine and Eryn had created an amazing feast, and Keith Ralston had carved the turkey.
Dad certainly didn’t know how, since the caterers had always done that back when Maxwell was a kid and their family still gathered.
Maxwell’s gaze lingered on Grandfather, who leaned toward Eleanor as though listening intently to whatever she was saying. They’d reconnected a year and a half ago. Was anything going to come out of that reunion besides friendship? Only time would tell, but Grandfather was already 82! This was the man who’d quipped he was too old to buy his bananas green. He shouldn’t let grass grow beneath his feet if he planned to reignite an old flame. Or was it Eleanor who was dragging her heels? Maybe it was her son Reggie, whom she lived with. He seemed to have strong opinions.
What about Maxwell’s parents? Mom had frostily informed Dad she’d fly commercial so he wouldn’t have to bother going out of his way to pick her up for Thanksgiving and the board meetings they’d all be having at Sweet River tomorrow. Dad had told her not to be ridiculous; he knew his place and was flying to Montana via Gilead. Now, Mom seemed excessively bright and cheery and just as focused on ignoring her ex as she’d ever been.
Maybe it was Maxwell’s imagination. Maybe he was so in love with Eryn that he was seeing heart-filled, starry eyes everywhere. Or maybe his parents didn’t hate each other as much as he’d always thought.
Add them to your prayer list.
Yes, God.
Uncle Theodore and Aunt Bridget were in attendance. They’d finally forgiven Graham for marrying Cadence back in September.
Jude was home on break from his pilot studies in Chicago, laughing easily and looking far more self-assured than he ever had before. Being away had been good for him.
And it wasn’t likely Maxwell’s imagination that Jude’s gaze kept straying to Kaci’s. It seemed some kind of magic that she could stare at him for half the time while he stared at her the other half, and they rarely caught each other in the act. When were they going to admit their attraction? There had to be something going on. Maxwell wasn’t wet behind the ears or oblivious. Not anymore.
Grandfather cleared his throat. “As is our custom, I’d like us to go around the table and tell everyone what we are most thankful for.” He looked at each of them, the pause lengthy for the number of people. “Let’s keep it to things not romance.”
Groans and laughter surrounded the table.
Maxwell’s family. Three years ago, it had all been about business, but now they were friends, too.
“I’ll start,” Grandfather went on. “I’m thankful to have found my daughter and her mother.”
“No romance, you said!” Tate called out.
Everyone laughed.
Grandfather smiled at Eleanor, who looked down. Was that a flush on her cheeks?
“Not talking about romance, boy,” the old man said. “Reconnecting with the past, that’s all.”
Eleanor looked around the table. “I’m thankful my daughter is happy and at peace.”
More chuckles.
“I’m thankful for my newest kitchen helper,” Nadine said.
“You mean Eryn… or her father?” Weston drawled.
His mother’s eyes twinkled. “You may take that however you like, but rules are rules.”
Keith’s gaze met Maxwell’s across the table. “I’m thankful Maxwell offered me a job here at Sweet River. That relocation changed my life and my daughter’s life in the best of possible ways.”
Everyone was hedging around the romance angle, causing laughter.
“I feel like I’ve missed a lot around here.” Jude glanced around. “While I’m thankful to be fulfilling my dream of getting my pilot’s license, I’ll be glad to move back to the ranch come springtime.”
The circuit continued until it was Eryn’s turn. Maxwell squeezed her hand.
“I’m thankful that God always keeps His promises,” she said quietly. “Even when we aren’t worthy of that, He is always faithful.”
Maxwell’s heart nearly burst with pride. “I’m thankful for the same thing, but also for the power of prayer. I’ve been learning to turn things over to God, and it’s rewarding.”
Bryce huffed under his breath, and Maxwell turned to him. “Your turn, bro.”
“What’s there to be thankful for?” Bryce muttered.
Silence.
“Okay, fine. I’m thankful for a good life in the Sullivan family.” He motioned to Mom on his other side.
Not exactly what Grandfather had been going for. Had Maxwell come across as too pious? But if he couldn’t place thankfulness for Eryn at the top of his verbal list, his deeper walk with God was truly the best thing. It took supremacy, either way.
If only Bryce would get over whatever his hang-up was. He’d never taken life seriously, but his moods had grown darker in the past couple of years. Maxwell purposed to pray for his brother even more… and to watch for any opportunities to listen.
When the circuit was complete, Keith cleared his throat and rose to his feet. “I’ve got an announcement.”
Eryn’s fingers tightened around Maxwell’s, and a quick glance showed her smiling at her father.
Keith nodded at Grandfather at the head of the table. “I wasn’t allowed to be thankful for romance a few minutes ago, but everyone has had their say, right? Now, I’d like you all to know that I asked Nadine to marry me, and she said yes!”
“Congratulations!” Maxwell called out, echoed by several others.
“We’re planning a small New Year’s Eve wedding?—”
“I’m on it!” Paisley yelled then quieted. “I mean, if you want me to be.”
Laughter burst around the table.
Keith grinned at the woman who was engaged to his soon-to-be stepson. “We were hoping so. We’ll talk later.” He surveyed the table as though to say more but shook his head and sat back down. He kissed Nadine, who beamed at him.
“Did you know?” Maxwell whispered to Eryn.
“Dad told me last night,” she whispered back. “I knew things were progressing this way already, so it wasn’t a huge shock. The only surprise is how quickly they’re moving.”
Compared to Maxwell’s promise to take things slow until he was absolutely sure? He already was, but there was still something there. Eryn wasn’t ready, even if she thought she was. Or was he hedging for a different reason?
His prayer list kept getting longer.
Maxwell opened the door from the conference room and beckoned her in. “They’re ready for you.”
Eryn took a deep breath and smoothed her hands down her skirt. “I’m nervous.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. You’re going to rock this. I’ve got your presentation queued up. Ready?”
Was she? She’d worked so hard on ideas to turn that little gift shop into something the resort could be proud of, and here was her opportunity to have the Sullivan Enterprises board give her a chance to implement it. But she didn’t want Nadine to think she was ungrateful for the job in the kitchen. It had been such a different dynamic than restaurant cooking, plus it had given her a chance to get to know Dad’s girlfriend — now fiancée — on her own.
She looked up at Maxwell and nodded, quelling her churning gut.
He smiled, ushered her in, and indicated her place at the foot of the conference table. He sat around the corner and picked up the remote. “Ready?”
Eryn pulled back her shoulders and nodded as she met Walter Sullivan’s gaze down the length of the table. “I’m sure Maxwell has already told you about my interest in the gift shop in the lobby. He encouraged me to create a proposal for what I feel the space could become.”
He flicked a switch, and a 3D rotating rendering of the space appeared on the screen. It was certainly helpful having a boyfriend adept at CAD programs.
“I’ve contacted several local artisans who are interested in selling their wares through our gift shop.”
Maxwell grinned at her, and she realized she’d called it our gift shop. Well, yes. After the course of the past six weeks, she’d come to think of it with ownership.
“We’ve already had pottery from Bayside Kiln on display. Upon our go-ahead, Trinity will create a line of coffee mugs specifically for sale here. That’s a pretty big deal because, as you know, she’s mostly blind. But she has done some experimenting, and we feel we have a winning design.”
Maxwell popped the rendering onto the screen to the murmur of approval from around the table.
Eryn gathered confidence from that and went on to describe and display the wares of the other vendors she’d contacted. She showed a mockup of jigsaw puzzles created from some of Cadence’s photos as well as updates to the book rack as Maxwell’s AI-generated walk-through followed along.
Then she lifted the table runner she’d pieced together night before last. She’d finally given in and pulled the bin with her favorite fabrics out, even though she and Dad were moving in a few days.
Maxwell’s head tipped to the side, and he studied the runner. Did he not like it after he’d encouraged her to follow through? She had no time to worry about that now.
“Bravo!” Maribel clapped. “I love everything. I love the idea of our guests being able to purchase unique, locally made gifts and mementoes from our shop.”
Maxwell’s smirk wasn’t missed by Eryn. He’d told her how adamantly against the purchase of the ranch his mother had been at first.
“Hear, hear!” Bridget nodded.
“Well done,” James — Maxwell’s dad — said.
“Any questions?” Eryn couldn’t believe it had been that easy to win them all over. Though Maxwell had been right. Anything would be better than the way the little space had been so neglected.
No. She straightened her shoulders. This was a thousand times better. This was her vision, and she was proud of the work she’d done to curate and fine-tune it.
Walter asked a few questions about sourcing. Graham was concerned about markups. Weston offered to create a prototype for braided-leather key fobs. Cool. She hadn’t thought of something like that!
“One final question, Eryn,” Walter said at last.
She steeled herself. “Yes, sir?”
“Is management of this gift shop something you would personally like to take on?”
Her gaze flicked to Nadine. The older woman smiled. “I’ve never managed a store before, so I’m not sure I have the skills.”
“But would you like to?” Walter persisted.
Eryn took a deep breath. “Yes, sir, I’d like to try.”
He waved a hand. “It’s different here than retail elsewhere. You won’t have to worry about payroll, since the ranch accounting department will handle that.”
Graham nodded and keyed into his tablet.
“You also won’t need to be concerned about utility bills or details like that.” Walter held up a hand. “That’s not to say the gift shop shouldn’t be profitable, because it should. Every part of this operation needs to pay its own way plus at least a little extra.”
Maxwell covered his smirk with his hand as he turned away from his grandfather.
The old man glanced around the table. “Does anyone have any objections to offering Eryn the opportunity to run with her plan? Not that I care what you all think. I still hold the reins around here.” He gave a pointed look between his two sons.
Murmuring assent flowed from around the table.
He tapped a gavel lightly onto the table. Where had that thing come from, anyway? “Make a note of that in the records, Theodore.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Now, is there any other business we need to wrap up before our next meeting in April?”
By the shaking heads, that would be a no.
“Thank you.” He looked at Eryn. “I look forward to seeing this become reality. Feel free to contact me directly if you need anything specific. Otherwise, I expect to see the room stocked and ready for business by the first of May. Is that doable?”
“Yes, sir.” She’d heard that Memorial Day was the real kickoff for the resort, but she could have everything in place earlier. She was sure of it.
He gave a firm nod and closed his laptop. Others gathered up their notes as they chatted with each other.
Maxwell, who’d already turned off the presentation, stood and reached for her hand. “Come on. I’ve got something I want to show you.”
“You do?” What could it be? He wasn’t going to propose with a lead-in like that, was he?
They grabbed their jackets from near the front door, and he led her out to one of the little golf carts. They’d get parked when there was too much snow on the roads, but for now, they remained viable.
“Where are we going?”
“My place.”
In the nearly two months she’d lived at Sweet River, she hadn’t been inside Maxwell’s home. With the attraction zinging between them, it hadn’t seemed wise. Why now?
He pulled to a stop beside his duplex and ushered her inside. No surprise the place was perfectly tidy with a large desk holding three monitors taking up the place where the Ralstons’ unit had a kitchen table.
“I want to show you the quilt I found in that attic three years ago.”
“Okay?”
“Because I realized something interesting about it. Now, it might be a coincidence. It probably is, but maybe not.”
“Something interesting?” She trailed him to the bedroom door.
He strode in and unfolded the quilt lying across the foot of the bed. The quilt…
Eryn gasped.
Maxwell shook it out and held it up. “Some of the fabric is the same as in the prototype for the table runners.”
“I… I don’t know what to say.”
He laughed. “Did you make my quilt?”
“Wow.” She shook her head. “I sewed that for a woman who ordered a custom quilt from the fabric store in Gilead. She wanted it for her mother-in-law in Chicago. That was five or six years ago.”
“I’ve been snuggling with your quilt for four years. I can’t believe it.”
“I can’t, either. What a crazy coincidence.” Eryn traced her fingertip down the tiny stitches. “I only sewed the patchwork top, then Zoey hired someone with a quilting machine to finish it up. And it was stashed in the attic of a house you flipped?”
“Along with several other quilts and a whole raft of other things. The house owner had died suddenly, and her family just wanted rid of everything in one go, after they’d taken the heirlooms they wanted, I guess.”
“It looks as good as new.”
His eyes crinkled. “I’ve taken good care of it.”
She laughed but couldn’t take her eyes off the quilt. “I always loved this one. I doubt I can get the exact fabrics for the table runners — I just whipped that up with scraps I had left over. I’ll need to go shopping.”
“Whipped that up?” Maxwell laughed.
“Hey, you just ‘whipped up’ a mosaic design for the broken tile in that bathroom.” He’d finally shown her around the cottages on Ladybug Lane the other day.
“That’s true. And it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.”
“I’ll say it for you, if needed.”
“You know what looks good? You do. You rocked that presentation.”
“I couldn’t have without your help. The graphics helped a ton.”
“It was all you, sweetie. That was just the cherry on top.” Maxwell gathered her in his arms and kissed her tenderly.
No, his love was the cherry on top.