11. Ember
EMBER
The smell of crisp leaves and coffee meet me as I sit in a rocking chair on the grand front porch of Harvest Falls B&B. My new friend, Rose Hathaway, walks past me and sits in an adjacent chair, setting her own cup of mild roast on a small table next to her.
This is exactly what I thought small town life would be like. I met someone new at the grocery store, and suddenly, my whole plan for the day shifted and I find myself having a great conversation with a scenic view.
“You certainly have the best view in Harvest Falls,” I tell her.
Her B&B sits on a hill on the opposite side of town from Sleepy Hollow Manor.
The valley is filled with trees with every shade of fall color you could imagine, and peering around, I’m so jealous of how well kept her place is. “How do you do it?”
“Hmm?”
“The house? The business?”
Rose laughs. “Well, that’s a loaded question if I ever heard one. How much time do you have?”
“All day,” I tell her with a grin. “All day and all night.” Because if I don’t find a way for Sleepy Hollow Manor to make money, I won’t ever be able to keep it up like this. “I’m feeling so overwhelmed.”
“Well, I had more of a head start than you did. My parents owned this place,” she tells me. “And their parents before them. ‘Old houses have character,’ is what they always said, and I didn’t realize until I owned the place that what they meant was old houses cost you money.”
I chuckle even though a sliver of fear squeezes my gut.
She must see it because she reaches over and taps my leg. “Being steward of a grand house is the best job ever. I can assure you of that.”
It makes me smile a little, but everything has been coming at me all at once lately.
Calls and texts from my family back home.
The repairs on the house. Me having so many ideas that I don’t know what to run with, and I don’t just want to run with the ideas of what I think will make me money.
I want to be genuine. Despite the jab I got from Devon, I really am honored to be in Harvest Falls, and I don’t want to mess it up.
“But really, how do you do it?” I implore. “Like financially. Everything.”
Rose sits back, her foot pushing her back and forth in the rocker.
“I’m a little lucky in that the B&B has been an established business for years.
I have many of the same clientele as my grandparents did.
They remember staying here with their parents, and now they’re bringing their kids and grandkids.
In that way, it’s uncomplicated, and I am absolutely pleased when it happens, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t have to work to get new clientele.
If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to diversify.
“Sometimes, it’ s not enough for me to be only a B&B now.
I have to hold festivals, I have to show up at local business meetings and make sure people don’t forget about us, I have to offer new things like the tiny van we purchased last year to give our residents free shuttles into town.
It’s those kinds of things that stick with people now. It’s always learning. Always growing.”
I rub my temples.
Rose sets her coffee cup down, and it clatters a little on the plate. “I can see how stressed you are. Do you want to talk about it?”
“How much time do you have?” I echo back her earlier sentiment.
“As much time as you need,” she answers.
I search my feelings, discarding the more personal stuff with my family and decide if Rose is willing to listen to me talk about Sleepy Hollow Manor, I’m going to let her.
“At the moment, I think my main hang up is that I’m so indecisive that it’s killing me.
I want to be on the Haunted History Tour.
I want to throw the Ball. I want to have a Children’s Haunted House. I want, I want, I want.”
“But ideas are good! Sometimes I’m racking my brain for ideas. The fact that you have ideas is amazing, so let’s celebrate that.” She picks up her coffee cup, holds it out to me, and I clink my mug with hers.
“Okay, I like that. Thank you. I guess a lot of ideas is better than none.”
“Exactly! And what’s holding you back from doing all of them?
Yes, they’re ambitious, especially as the new owner, but if you can handle it, do it.
The town will help you. Every time I come into a meeting and talk about having a festival, other business owners are willing to jump in to support because if I do something, it helps everyone.
Then when they get an idea, they loop me in.
“You talked about the Haunted History Tour, do it. Let people see all the new work you’ve done to the place.
Show off the front of the house, make people interested.
If people see that you’ve been putting work into it, trust me, word will spread around here.
We’re all a bunch of gossips and we don’t even realize it. That’s your task number one.”
Wow, I like her. Apparently, I need someone to tell me what to focus on first. Haunted History Tour, got it.
“While at the tour, whether you plan on doing the Children’s Haunted House or the Ball or both, have some signage there.
Tell people about it. Get them excited. You can’t pass up an opportunity to shove what you’re doing in people’s faces.
I’m sure Bea will let you put something up at the café too. ”
“Speaking of Bea,” I interject. I pick up my mug and point to it.
She smiles. “It’s her coffee, yes ma’am.
We have an agreement that I stock her coffee in all the rooms, and in return for promoting for her, she gives me a wholesale discount.
I also have someone run to the bakery every morning, and I serve my guests whatever good thing she has and make sure I tell people all about it.
We’re all about helping each other here.
I even sell Bea’s coffee in the tiny gift shop. ”
Hope fills my chest again. Just these twenty minutes with Rose has done wonders for me and my morale.
“You mentioned the haunted house?” Rose taps her chin, her gaze drifting off toward the beautiful scenery. “I have an idea,” she finally says.
I lean forward. I’m so interested I could burst.
“What if… Okay, hear me out. What if we do a haunted house trail? Let me explain this better. Parents bring their kids to Sleepy Hollow Manor for your haunted house. They get a little postcard with all the other businesses in town who are participating. They get it stamped or something once they go through it. Then, they come to my little haunted house. I’ll have to think about what to do.
They get their card stamped. And so on, and so on.
Once they go to all the haunted houses, they get a little gift at the end and maybe a special children’s party that we can get the mayor to throw.
She loves this kind of stuff. All the kids can attend the party, but if they attend all the haunted houses, they get a bigger prize. ”
“I. Love. It.” I can’t even keep the smile from my face. This is exactly the kind of thing I hoped for. The kind of reception and camaraderie I wanted to receive. “You are an angel, Rose.”
“It was your idea!”
“Hardly.”
She waves me away. “You just have to learn to think a certain way when it comes to Harvest Falls. It will come to you. I think you’re going to do a lot for this town, Ember. You just don’t realize it yet.”
Rose and I put our heads together and start thinking up ideas and who else would possibly want to participate when the solid thud of a footstep sounds on the bottom step of the porch.
Rose lifts her head. Eventually, a full smile claims her face. “Hey, Dev.”
My stomach falls. Dev? Really? I peer up and my fears come true when Devon Lachey is standing on the bottom step.
It’s been a week since the Bonfire, and I haven’t talked to him since.
I even stopped making him lunch every day.
It kills me to do it since I’m genuinely a nice person, but I won’t waste my energy anymore.
If he wants to be a bully, he can do it to someone else.
“Miss Hathaway.”
She stands up to greet him, giving him a hug. “It’s room five.”
“Why is it always room five?” he asks.
“Fantastic question.”
Devon nods at me before going into the house. Rose sighs and once again sits in the rocking chair. “He’s such a good guy. I only called him twenty minutes ago, and he’s already here.”
I almost gag, but that’s not the first time someone has sung Devon’s praises. Even Bea keeps telling me to give him another chance.
“Though he probably left the manor to come help me. Sorry!”
I laugh. “It’s absolutely fine. What’s wrong with room five?”
“The sink. It’s cursed. It always has a leak, and it doesn’t matter how many times Devon comes out and fixes me up, it just springs again.”
“Maybe it’s haunted?” I suggest with a smirk.
She laughs. “I’ll put it in the haunted tour. I think we should definitely ask Mark Chisholm, the farmer who always does the corn maze. This would be right up his alley, and he would only have to turn it haunted for a day, or even a week depending on how we do this.”
“October is the busiest month, right?”
Rose nods.
“What if we do it weekly in October to get every tourist who comes into town? So, if we have five participating businesses, we can do it Monday through Friday, and then every Saturday could be the party and Sunday as a rest day.”
“I like it! Here’s what you need to do. You need to write up a proposal for the mayor.
You can tell her I’m on board, and maybe ask Mark as well.
Propose it to her with our names attached, and then she’ll either suggest the other people, or we can fill them in after the fact.
But the sooner we get the idea in, the better.
I’m just going to warn you, she’s probably going to give you a hard time about the late notice, but she thrives on this kind of stuff, so don’t let it get to you.
She’ll actually be secretly thrilled that you’re doing this.
If you want, I’ll read it over before you hand it in, or I’ll even go to the meeting if you want. ”
“That would be great.” I’m almost beaming that I can barely keep my excitement inside.
“Oh,” she says, her gaze lighting up again. “You talked about doing the end-of-year ball? What if every kid who at least participated in one week of the haunted houses gets to come for free?”
“Perfect! I am so glad I ran into you today. I feel so much better.”
“Aww.”
Rose stands, and we share a hug. Not just that, but she squeezes me hard. She squeezes me so hard I have to catch my breath., effectively giving me the most genuine hug I’ve received in a long time. I almost tear up.
“She’s fixed, Rose. Oh, sorry.”
Rose and I finally break apart, and I stand there, a little frazzled. Rose doesn’t hesitate. “Did you know how smart Ember is? She’s going to do great this season, I can already tell. She’s exactly the kind of fresh air we need here.”
“That’s too kind,” I say, but Devon’s gaze meets mine anyway. Before I can look away, there’s something there that makes me stop. It’s not full-on hatred or disapproval, which is surprising.
“She’s going to need some help getting the front of Sleepy Hollow Manor in shape in time for the Haunted History Tour. You’re going to do great!”
“Oh, you’ve definitely decided on that then?”
“Yeah,” I croak out, still weary of him and wondering when the next rude remark is going to pop out of his mouth.
“Sounds good.”
“And a Children’s Haunted House,” Rose supplies like she’s listing out my accomplishments on a resume.
“Sounds like you’ll be busy. Speaking of, I better get back to the manor.” He waves and is down the steps in a few seconds and walking out to his work truck.
Rose stands at the railing and waves goodbye. She turns when she starts backing up and sighs. “Poor Devon.”
Okay, well, that has me curious. “Poor… Devon?” I ask.
“No one told you?”
I shake my head. Just like when we were talking about the idea for Sleepy Hollow Manor, I lean forward, eager to hear what she has to say. I realize what I’m doing, though, and try to make myself relax by drinking another sip of my coffee.
“Devon was our hockey prodigy. He was a few years ahead of me in school but everyone knew his name. I know what you’re thinking, it’s a small town, of course everybody knew his name, but even he was different.
He was destined for great things. He spent half a year in the National Hockey League.
He was our town’s pride and joy. They erected a sign and everything, but then he got hurt. ”
I gasp, my stomach falling. That’s what Mayor Lachey had meant about getting injured.
“Yeah, it was bad. He came back home to recuperate, did everything the doctors told him to, but he never fully healed enough to play at the level he was playing at. It ruined his professional career.”
Holy shit. I can’t help the overwhelming feeling of sadness I feel for him. It hits me like a ton of bricks. I glance up, and he’s just now pulling down the road, a plume of smoke trailing out of his exhaust.
Who knew Devon Lachey was a pro hockey player?
“Truth be told, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him the same since.”
“Really?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “He’s still that nice, genuine guy he always was, but something shifted in him. I guess I would feel the same way if my biggest dream got taken away from me.”
I close my eyes at that. Pretty sure he accused me of stealing his dream of the house, I just hadn’t known he had a bigger one before that. I guess things really don’t work out in his favor.
The last thing I want to do is feel bad for the guy who’s been such a jerk to me, but I can’t help it. Poor Devon.
Maybe he does have a reason to be grumpy.