Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Elaine sat down at the reception desk of The Birchwood House and began to sort through the mail.
Most of the letters that had arrived that morning were bills or advertisements, but there were a few thank-you notes from guests, and those Elaine tucked aside so that she could read them with Audrey and Michelle later on.
She sighed as she tossed the pile of credit card offers into the trash bin at the side of the desk.
She was still feeling a bit gloomy and discouraged about being rejected by Shep.
She hadn’t seen him since the incident, and she couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking.
Was he upset with her for barging into his kitchen yet again?
Was he regretting turning down her offer of a romantic walk down Main Street?
Or had he not even thought about her once since she’d disappeared from his store?
She was just tucking the thank-you cards into a drawer inside the reception desk when the front door of the hotel opened. Elaine glanced up with a practiced smile, ready to greet whatever guest had just stepped inside.
It wasn’t a guest, however. It was Shep.
“Oh!” she squeaked, unable to help herself. She wished she looked a little more tidy—there were smears of flour on the sleeves of her blue sweater from making pancakes that morning and she had a feeling that some of the strawberry syrup she’d made had ended up in her hair.
“Good morning, Elaine,” Shep said slowly, his deep voice as gruff as usual. He looked a little shy, Elaine thought—or was he acting distant because he was annoyed with her? He held a large basket in his arms, and she knew that it contained the hotel’s pastry order for the day.
“Good morning,” Elaine said, standing up and hurrying over to him. She tried to keep her voice bright. “Thank you for this—and for bringing it over. I really appreciate it.”
“Certainly,” Shep said, and coughed. He set the basket down on the entryway’s table. “How are you doing?”
“I’m just fine,” Elaine said, even though at that moment her heart was thumping in her chest and a hot sweat was breaking out on the palms of her hands.
“I’m still going on that walk,” she found herself blurting.
She realized a second later that she was trying to make it look as though it hadn’t really been a date, just a friendly outing that she’d invited him to, and she knew she shouldn’t keep talking.
She did anyway, however, chatting as rapidly as a schoolgirl.
“I’ve decided to go with some other friends of mine.
We’re going to walk along the lines of trees on Main Street and enjoy the fall colors.
Probably at dusk so that we can enjoy the colors of the leaves as well as all those twinkling lights that they have strung up along Main Street.
I’m sure it’s going to be an absolutely wonderful time. I’m very excited.”
Oh my goodness, Elaine, shush, she thought, feeling worried that she’d been impolite. It sounded like she was rubbing it in that she and her friends were going to have a fun time without him.
“That does sound like a wonderful time,” Shep said, nodding slowly. “The trees are particularly beautiful this year, and Main Street always looks lovely with the lights. I wish I’d been able to accept your offer when you came to the bakery the other day.”
Elaine blinked at him, feeling surprised. “You… you do?”
“I do.”
“You—you were busy?”
The corners of Shep’s mouth curved upward slightly. “Yes, as I told you, I had a conflict. An actual, legitimate conflict. I wasn’t making that up.”
“Oh.” Elaine felt herself flushing. Underneath her embarrassment, her core glowed with the realization that Shep hadn’t rejected her offer after all.
“Yes.” Shep coughed again.
For a moment, they stood there looking at each other. Shep shuffled his feet and Elaine clasped and then unclasped her hands.
“Would—would you still like to go with me?” Elaine asked.
She paused for a brief moment, and then blurted out, “If you don’t want to, you need to just tell me.
Please. Last time when you said no, I thought you were saying no, like really saying no, I mean to me, and the idea of us spending time—I mean in a special way—and I—well, it made me very sad, and while of course you can say whatever you want, because of course you’re going to feel however you’re going to feel—I just don’t want to feel bad if it’s not actually a reason to feel bad, and—” She paused, biting her lip and wishing she had been more coherent. “I hope that makes sense.”
Shep chuckled quietly. “I understand what you’re saying, I think,” he said slowly, taking a step toward her.
He smiled at her so affectionately her heart did a somersault.
“I wasn’t rejecting your offer in any kind of a negative way.
I very much wanted to say yes. As I said before, my conflict was a legitimate one. ”
“Oh.” Elaine swallowed. “Really? I just—well, I didn’t understand how—I mean, tasks can be rearranged, and—what could you possibly have had going on that would prevent you from taking the time for a little stroll?”
Goodness, she thought. This poor man. It’s a wonder he’s understanding anything you’re saying, what with these jumbled sentences you’re getting out.
Shep hesitated for a moment, and she felt worried that she’d offended him. A second later, however, he smiled.
“Why don’t you come outside with me for a moment?” he asked her. “There’s something inside my bakery truck that I think you should see.”
“Oh. Well, all right.” Elaine felt intrigued, as well as a little confused. What could Shep possibly have to show her that related to why he was busy the other night?
She followed Shep outside into the crisp morning air. The Townsend’s Bakery truck was parked in front of the mansion, and Shep led Elaine to the back of it. He opened it up and pulled forward a big cardboard box filled with packing peanuts.
“These are for you,” Shep said, and reached inside the cardboard box.
From it, he pulled out two gorgeous wooden boxes.
They were stained a cheerful reddish color and had lids that swung back on darling little gold hinges.
The best part of all was what had been carved across the lids of the boxes.
In a beautiful, swirling font were the words, “The Birchwood House: Baked with Love.”
Elaine gasped. “These are gorgeous, Shep,” she stammered. “You—these are for the hotel? You’re giving us these?”
Shep nodded slowly. “I had them made specially for you. I ordered them from a woodworking shop a couple of towns away and the night you asked me to go on the walk was when I had to go pick them up. The owner of the shop was headed out of town for a couple of weeks and that was the only time he was available to give them to me.”
“Oh,” Elaine murmured, tears rushing into her eyes.
How wonderful that instead of rejecting her, Shep had been driving out of town to get her a present!
Instead of avoiding her, he’d been doing something incredibly thoughtful.
Something that seemed to imply he cared just as much about her as she did about him. “Thank you, Shep.”
“I wanted to give them to you as a gift,” Shep said.
“Since the hotel is doing so well. Sort of a ‘congratulations’ present. I thought about flowers at first, but then I decided I wanted to give you something more lasting. I’d seen something like this once before, and I thought it would be a welcoming way to display the pastries for the guests. ”
Elaine’s eyes filled with tears. “They’re perfect,” she said, and she threw her arms around Shep, giving him an enormous hug.
He squeezed her back tightly, and for a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Finally, Elaine pulled away from the hug, sniffling slightly.
“If I rescheduled the walk for Saturday,” she said, wiping away a tear that had started to drip down her cheek, “would you come on it with me?”
“I will,” he said, taking her hands in his.
“I would love to.” He paused for a moment, looking down into her eyes.
“And Elaine, if I ever make you feel badly about something in the future, please tell me. I’m not used to spending a lot of time with people, and the whole communication thing isn’t my strong suit. ”
Elaine squeezed his hands and chuckled. “No?”
Shep shook his head. “I’m stuck in my ways. I’m used to just doing everything by myself nearly all the time. I’ll need patience from you, that’s for sure.”
“I’m more than willing to do that,” Elaine said, smiling at him. “If you ever do anything that makes me feel bad again, I’ll make sure to check in with you so I know what you’re really thinking. And of course I’m happy to be patient with you. I’m sure you’ll have to be plenty patient with me.”
Shep shook his head, his expression grave. “I’m sure I won’t.”
“What, not even when I barge into your kitchen uninvited?”
He cracked a small smile. “Well, then only a little bit. I’m always so happy to see you.”
“You are?” She suddenly felt a bit weak at the knees.
He nodded, and for a moment, she thought his face moved slightly closer to hers. Then he looked away, clearing his throat. “Would you like me to help you carry these boxes inside?”
“Oh, no, that’s all right.” She waved a hand airily, her heart beating a little harder.
“They look light enough. I’ll just bring them into the kitchen and line them with clean cloths and then put today’s pastries into them.
I absolutely cannot wait to show these to the girls. They’re going to be ecstatic.”
She picked up the boxes from the back of the truck and was about to turn toward the mansion, when she stopped. Impulsively, she stood up on her tiptoes and gave Shep a kiss on the cheek.
He colored an attractive shade of salmon pink and coughed again. She grinned at him and scampered away, feeling giddy with excitement.
The girls and all of our guests are going to just adore these boxes, Elaine thought. And oh, I absolutely cannot wait to go on that walk with Shep!