Chapter Eight
When Caroline woke up the next morning, she had that special feeling of anticipation she only felt on Christmas Eve.
In some ways, Christmas Eve had always been more special than Christmas.
On Christmas morning, all the joy and excitement had been almost over. She and Daphne would run downstairs and open presents. After breakfast, there would be the long, yawning gap during the day until dinner. At night, Anne and Walter would take them caroling or ice-skating in Hudson, but after that, there would be nothing to do except wait for next year.
But on Christmas Eve, everything had been before her. She and Daphne would finish decorating the Christmas tree, and bake cookies for Santa Claus and his reindeer. At night, the whole family would make s’mores and attend midnight services.
Caroline pulled on a turtleneck and slacks and went to check on Daphne and Luke.
Luke was sitting up in bed, and Daphne was pouring two cups of coffee.
“Come in,” Daphne greeted her. “The front desk staff have been so sweet. They sent up breakfast and didn’t charge us. Help yourself.”
Caroline took a pumpkin muffin from the sideboard.
“I told Daphne I could go down to breakfast, but she won’t let me get out of bed,” Luke said cheerfully.
“It hasn’t been twenty-four hours since he hit his head.” Daphne sat cross-legged on the bed. “Anyway, we’ve been busy. Wait until I tell you about our honeymoon.”
Daphne had found a company online called Where Are the Bride and Groom. Daphne and Luke each wrote down what they were looking for in a vacation and submitted it to the website without telling each other. The company studied their choices and picked their destination. A week before their departure, they’d receive an email telling them how to pack. But they wouldn’t find out where they’d be going until the day before they left.
“You can’t be serious,” Caroline said when Daphne finished. “What if you both want something completely different? You’ve never traveled together.”
“I don’t care where we go,” Daphne remarked. “As long as we’re together.”
“What if you choose Thailand and Luke is allergic to some kind of spicy food? Or he picks a place to scuba dive and you don’t want to go?”
“Have you ever been scuba diving?” Luke asked Daphne.
Daphne shook her head. “No, but I’m sure I’d love it if you do.”
Caroline wanted to tell them to slow down planning the wedding and honeymoon and get to know each other first. But she had promised Daphne she’d stop interfering.
“The honeymoon is often a couple’s first experience being together for a long time,” Caroline tried again. “Isn’t it better to go somewhere you both love?”
Luke took Daphne’s hand.
“I agree with Daphne. I’ll be happy anywhere together,” he said. “This way, we’ll learn new things about each other.”
Caroline didn’t argue. They talked about Christmas in Aspen, and details for the wedding.
“I was about to go Christmas shopping.” Caroline turned to Daphne. “Would you like to come?”
Daphne had always loved shopping in quaint boutiques. Besides travel and cooking, it was her favorite thing to do.
“You should go,” Luke insisted. “I’ll text if my headache gets worse.”
The first store they entered was called Aspen Hatter, which made custom Western hats. Caroline and Daphne tried them on, and Daphne ordered one for Luke to wear at the wedding. Daphne bought a pair of jeans at a women’s consignment store called the Little Bird, and Caroline was tempted to splurge on a pashmina at Bandana Aspen. At the last minute, she reminded herself she might be out of a job soon, and put it back.
“I adore Aspen,” Daphne sighed, swinging her shopping bag. “Maybe it’s not such a bad idea for you to date Max. Aspen and New York aren’t that far from each other, there’s no reason why you couldn’t keep seeing each other once you go home. And I can tell that he likes you.”
“He hasn’t even called.” Caroline took out her phone. She had turned it off when she and Daphne started shopping.
“Your phone isn’t even on. Anyway, he’s perfect for you. Why wouldn’t you go out with him?”
Caroline pictured Max’s wide shoulders under his ski sweater, his hazel eyes.
“I’m not thinking about Max, I’ve got other things to worry about.”
She still wanted to search for clues to Anne’s lover before New Year’s Eve, and she had to bring in more potential acquisitions at work.
“If I were you, I’d make time for him.” Daphne’s blue eyes sparkled. “Handsome, available men don’t come along often.”
They browsed in art galleries, and spent an hour in a boutique called the Aspen Emporium, which sold everything from silver jewelry to hula hoops and all-natural dog biscuits.
Caroline suggested they get something hot to drink. They sat in a booth at the Spring Café. Caroline ordered two cinnamon teas and Daphne wanted to share an apple pie.
The apple pie was served with whipped cream. Caroline was reminded of the apple pies her mother used to bake on Christmas Eve. Anne always let Caroline and Daphne eat the first slices, golden and fresh from the oven.
For a moment, she found it hard to swallow. They should be at the cabin with their mother. They’d laugh and bring up memories of Christmases when they were children. The Christmas when Daphne got a new puppy and he pulled the plate of brownies onto the kitchen floor.
Instead, they were in Aspen and Anne was gone. Daphne and Luke were getting married at the end of the week, and Caroline might find herself out of a job.
“I’m glad that Luke’s restaurant is in Hudson,” Daphne said, interrupting Caroline’s thoughts. “Living in Boston still feels so foreign, being in Hudson is like coming home.”
“How did Luke end up there from Wisconsin?” Caroline wondered.
Daphne shrugged. “I guess he went to college in New York.”
Caroline’s eyes widened. “You don’t know where he went to college?”
“Neither of us ask that many questions,” Daphne said absently.
“Even dating sites ask for basic information.” Caroline frowned.
“You’re doing it again. You still think we don’t know each other well enough to get married.” Daphne bristled. “I know all I need to. Luke is kind and caring and makes me happy.”
Caroline had never seen Daphne so content. Like a kitten, warming herself in the sun.
“You do look happy,” Caroline conceded.
Daphne played with her spoon. “There is one thing, I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Daphne had called Luke’s parents from his phone to tell them about his concussion. His mother answered and said they were in Paris. She’d call back when it was morning in France.
“What’s wrong with his parents being in Paris?” Caroline asked.
“Nothing really, and she congratulated me on the upcoming wedding.” Daphne sipped her cinnamon tea. “Luke grew up in Wisconsin, it didn’t sound like he has the kind of parents who go to Paris. And he said they weren’t coming to the wedding because his father was going to have back surgery.”
“The surgery could be scheduled for when they return. And you don’t have to be wealthy to go to Paris. Maybe they’re retired and they’ve been saving for the trip for years.”
Daphne’s expression brightened. “You’re right, I’m worrying about nothing. I guess I don’t want anything to interfere with the wedding.”
Since Anne died, Daphne had started worrying about things for no reason. When she was transferred to Boston with a promotion and a raise, she worried that she wouldn’t do a good job and she’d be let go.
“Good things are allowed to happen to you,” Caroline said gently.
“Sometimes, that’s hard to remember since Mom died.” Daphne’s voice became quiet.
Caroline finished her cinnamon tea.
“Mom loved us and it’s our first Christmas without her,” she said. “We owe it to her to make it the best Christmas possible.”
Daphne went back to the inn. Caroline decided to go to the bookstore that she and Max had visited the day before.
The shop was filled with people buying last-minute gifts. Christmas music played and there were trays of snowflake cookies.
A salesgirl approached Caroline. “Can I help you find something?”
Caroline asked the girl what she would recommend. She loved getting the advice of booksellers.
“Try this one.” The girl handed her a book. “The author is a local writer.”
Caroline flipped to the back of the book. The book had been published by a small press. Small presses didn’t pay advances like the bigger publishers; it was almost impossible for authors to make money.
“I’ll try it.” Caroline handed it back to the salesgirl so she could pay for it.
Her phone buzzed as she walked onto Main Street.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier,” Max said when she answered. “We always deliver a Christmas tree to the Boys and Girls Club on Christmas Eve.”
Max asked about Luke, and they talked about Christmas shopping in Aspen.
“I wondered if you’d have dinner with me tonight,” Max said.
Caroline was surprised. She’d expected that Max would spend Christmas Eve with his family.
“My dad is traveling, and my mother was invited to a dinner party.” Max paused. “Unless you have other plans.”
Daphne and Luke would probably stay at the inn, and Caroline didn’t want to be alone.
“I’d love to have dinner with you.”
“Why don’t you meet me there. I’ll text you the address.”
Caroline took a bath and dressed in a long skirt and a scoop-neck sweater. The sweater was from a designer sample sale and made her feel sexy and sophisticated. Her hair fell smoothly to her shoulders, and she finished the outfit with ankle-high suede boots.
It was already dark when the Uber picked her up. It drove out of Aspen and stopped in front of a long, timber building. Plate-glass windows twinkled with Christmas lights, and a giant wreath hung on the front door.
Max was waiting inside. He wore navy corduroys and a wool jacket.
“Welcome to Mad Finn Distillery,” he greeted her.
“We’re having Christmas Eve dinner at your distillery?” Caroline asked.
She had expected Max to take her to a romantic restaurant. Afterward, they’d wander into an intimate bar on Main Street. They’d get a little tipsy on hot toddies, and Max would lean over and kiss her. She’d kiss him back and feel the thrill of a new relationship. Then she’d try to decide whether she wanted to go to bed with him, or whether she should let the anticipation build.
“Come inside,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “I’ll show you around.”
The space had paneled walls and a wood floor. A few tables were scattered around the room, and there was a bar with a copper counter. Framed posters of Aspen hung behind the bar, and a spiral staircase led to the second floor.
“This is going to be the distillery’s tasting area,” Max said. “We’ll serve the typical foods you find at distilleries, hot wings and jalape?o poppers.”
Most distilleries served spicy food because the foods made people want to drink more. Max was also going to serve dishes made with potatoes they grew themselves. As a completely sustainable distillery, he didn’t want anything to go to waste.
He led her to the staircase. “A manager will run the tasting area, and my favorite part is up here.”
Caroline had never visited a distillery before. Four giant copper vats stood next to each other. On the other side, barrels were stacked against the wall. There was a table with a selection of glass bottles.
“The different types of rye whiskey are blended in the vats,” Max said. “Then each whiskey is aged for two years in the barrels. When the whiskey is ready, we add different finishes and blend it again before it’s bottled.”
This was the first batch of whiskey to turn a profit. If Max failed, he couldn’t afford to keep going.
“Everyone thought I was crazy to move from Santa Barbara to the mountains to open a distillery. I called it Mad Finn Whiskey after my ancestor Finn Steele,” Max said. “People called him Mad Finn because he stayed in Aspen during the Great Panic when the other miners fled.”
They went back downstairs to have dinner. Max had set a table with a white tablecloth, candles, and his mother’s good china. He confessed that he had ordered the food—parsley and pear soup for starters, followed by rack of lamb and parmesan popovers—from the kitchen at Hotel Jerome.
After they finished eating, they went back upstairs and he explained the different varieties of rye whiskey.
“Rye whiskey is about four things. Aroma, taste, finish, and aging process.” He handed her a glass. “This one is a hundred and twenty proof. The aroma is of baking bread with a hint of honey and bananas. It starts with a sweet taste, but mid-palate it changes to tobacco and dark-chocolate notes. The finish is clean with a peppery bite.”
They sampled another rye whiskey, which Max loved for its cherry flavor and leathery finish, and a third that changed mid-palate from an orange-rind taste to one of maple syrup.
Caroline loved Max’s enthusiasm. It reminded her of how much she adored every stage of book publishing. The rounds of book covers from the illustrator, followed by advance copies of the book sent to reviewers, and finally boxes of the finished book. She kept copies of every book that she had edited on a shelf in her office. Now she wondered when there would be a new book to add to the shelf, and if she’d have an office at all.
It was getting late. She wanted to go back to the hotel and check on Daphne and Luke.
“It’s been a wonderful Christmas Eve, but I think I should get back.”
Max drove her back into Aspen in his Jeep. Instead of pulling up in front of the Aspen Inn, he stopped at a Victorian mansion at the other end of Main Street.
“What are you doing?” Caroline asked.
“A buddy of mine rents an apartment on the first floor. He’s traveling, so we can use his place.”
“Use his place for what?”
Max turned off the engine.
“I figured you wouldn’t want me to come to your hotel room, and I’m staying at my parents’…” His voice broke off.
Caroline’s cheeks turned red. It was her fault, Max was only following her rules. Usually, she wouldn’t mind. With Jack, they dated for a week and a half before she decided to sleep with him, but with Brad the attraction had been immediate. They both realized she’d only be in London for a short while and didn’t want to waste time.
So why did this feel different?
Max noticed her expression.
“We can go somewhere else,” he said awkwardly. “Drink hot toddies at the Limelight Hotel, or watch the torch parade.”
She didn’t feel like drinking more whiskey, and it was too cold to watch the parade.
“I want to check on Daphne and Luke. I think I’ll go back to the hotel.”
Max started the car. “I’ll go with you.”
Max was handsome and fun. She had wondered all night when he was going to kiss her. But the strange feeling wouldn’t go away.
Max might be offended, but she didn’t know what else to do. She opened the car door.
“Thank you again for a wonderful evening, but I’m going to walk from here.”