Chapter Nine
Once Dutch finally left them alone with their dinner, Caleb relaxed. The kid felt like a jack-in-the-box, just waiting to spring into the room to scare the shit out of him.
Not that it seemed to bother Emma.
He unfurled his napkin. “You know, I have to say you seem rather calm for someone who’s had an uncommonly awful couple of days.”
To that, she chuckled. “I don’t know that I’d call it awful. Honestly, I’m not sure what I was thinking about bringing Davis here. I don’t think I would’ve had the idea if I hadn’t been laid off from my job.”
“What gave you the idea to come here?” Caleb asked.
“An ad on my social media. This place looked perfect, and I wanted to be anywhere but DC. When Davis agreed to come, it felt like fate. Especially as things hadn’t been great between us for a while.
” She unrolled her napkin and placed the cutlery on the table.
“His departure wasn’t exactly unexpected on my end.
I just expected it would take a few days before a mysterious ‘work thing’ came up and he returned to DC. ”
“Yeah, but he’s not coming back, is he?” God, he felt foolish for asking, but he had to. It was all so new, he didn’t have a rulebook to follow.
She laughed. “Oh, no. He’s not coming back. We’re done. I wish he would’ve told me that before he abandoned me on the other side of the state, but it’s fine.”
“He won’t return to get you when your reservation ends?”
She paused to take a bite of her steak. While she chewed, he wiped his sweaty palms on his napkin.
“No. He may send a car for me or something if he’s feeling generous. He essentially informed me that I must vacate his DC condo by the end of next month. There is no coming back from that.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe open a stationery store in Falling Leaves? Move back to DC and get another government affairs job? It’s terrifying but also kind of not. I can do whatever I want.”
Caleb mulled over her words while he cut into his salmon. “Do you have any family in DC?”
Her gaze lowered. “Oh, I’m going to lower the mood with the answer to that question.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up a bad memory or anything.”
“You didn’t. My grandmother raised me until she died when I was thirteen. Mom died long before that—an overdose, if you were curious. Dad, I never knew. When Grandma died, I was put into foster care.”
As a reflex, his hand shot out to grab hers. “Oh wow, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not a totally terrible story. I did have a couple of iffy placements, but I stayed with Olga and Ben Henderson from the time I was fifteen until I aged out of the system. They were wonderful people. I met my foster sister Aniyah there. We’ve been best friends since.”
Feeling weird for holding her hand for so long, Caleb attempted to release her.
Her fingers slipped out and snagged his wrist, holding him in place.
“Thank you for your concern. This time of year is hard for me since Ma and Pa Henderson passed. I always wanted one of those big, crazy families, you know?”
He chuckled. “I have one of those. As you can tell, they’re kind of overrated.”
She moved her hands away. Caleb missed her closeness immediately.
“Do you have other siblings?” Emma asked.
They fell into an easy conversation where Caleb told her about Sebastian, his kids, and how Brandon and Sabrina reconnected. Although this wasn’t a date, he felt it was probably time to tell her of his own past.
“I already told you about my ex and daughters.”
Dating since the divorce had been tricky. Women were usually split on whether they were interested in dating a man with kids. Some were thrilled at the idea. Others were skeptical, wondering if he was looking for a nanny instead of a girlfriend.
“You did. And now it seems that we’re both kind of lonely this Christmas, right?”
It wasn’t hard to determine that her thoughts were like his own. This didn’t feel like a random dinner to him. But he would let her lead. After all, his divorce had been final for over a year now. Emma’s breakup was less than twelve hours old.
“Yeah. We’re just two people who’ve found ourselves solo at Christmas.”
They shared a smile. “So, tell me more about your kids.”
The awkwardness vanished as Caleb launched into his favorite subject, Emerson and Poppy.
An hour and a half later, Caleb pushed his half-eaten dessert away from him.
“I’m so full I don’t think I can move. If we knew each other better, I’d be popping the top button off my jeans open.” He grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it weird. I’m a little tipsy.”
Despite the rather filthy image that flashed across her mind, Emma laughed. “I should’ve packed some sweatpants for this trip. I’ll probably gain ten pounds before I go back to DC.”
“Well, we can arrange for you to go into Roanoke to get some if you need it. That’s the sort of thing that falls under the umbrella of my job. I think. Anything to keep the guests having a magical mountain experience!” He put on his best fake smile.
“So, I take it you won’t be keeping this job after the holidays?”
“No. Winter is always slow for construction, but we have some jobs lined up in town. There’s a new bar opening around Valentine’s day that we need to do some finishing work on. Then I’m debating applying for a part-time teaching position if one becomes available in the spring.”
“Teaching?”
“Yeah, I have a master’s degree in environmental engineering. Until I moved home, I taught and tinkered in additional to my day job. I still love it, but, to be honest, I prefer construction. Especially because there are so many opportunities to be environmentally friendly.”
“Sounds like you’re a busy man.”
“Yeah, but I like it that way. I don’t do well with idle hands.”
Dutch stuck his head inside. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but karaoke is starting in the lounge. Mr. Parker—you know the guy who looks like Santa?—is delivering a rounding rendition of Nelly’s Hot in Herre. I wouldn’t want you to miss out.”
Caleb and Emma burst into laughter. “I don’t think we can miss that. I mean, if you’re up for it?” Emma added.
“I don’t think I could live with myself if I missed it.”
They both groaned as they rose from the table. As they stepped into the hall, a thudding bass led them toward the lounge. The Nelly song ended, to a rousing round of applause.
“Is that…” Caleb craned his neck. “Run DMC?” The familiar strains of Christmas in Hollis carried down the hallway. Not exactly the type of song he’d thought would be featured at karaoke.
Without thinking, Caleb drew his arm around Emma’s shoulders. “You might find this surprising, but I do know all the words to this song.”
“It’s not,” Emma teased. “You are older than me, right?”
He cocked a brow. “How would you know that, Emma?”
She gave an impish shrug of her shoulders in reply. “I know things. I also might’ve made use of the Wi-Fi in the lodge earlier.”
His arm dropped lower to loop around her waist. “Were you snooping on my social media, Ms. Dale?”
She didn’t delve too deeply—that felt creepy and weird—but she’d searched enough to find out that Caleb was only two years older than her. Nearly the identical age difference in her and Davis’ relationship.
“Aniyah did most of the digging and reported back. She gave you a tentative thumbs-up.”
“Her opinion means a lot, doesn’t it?”
She smiled. “More than anyone’s.”
He dropped his arm to his side as they walked into the lounge. Two of the older women she’d seen snooping around were belting out an off-key rendition of Jingle Bell Rock.
“God, Babs and Inez are such a trainwreck. What are they even doing here? Sabrina never told me how much time the biddies spend here.” Caleb winced as their off-key rendition began. “Oh god, I think I need another drink. Or two.”
“Caleb!” A shrill voice carried over even Babs’ and Inez’s terrible singing.
He turned to Emma. “I don’t want to alarm you, but that woman waving her arms wildly is my mother. If you want to go back to your cabin, I won’t think less of you.” He had to shout to be heard over the calamity.
Emma leaned in on her tiptoes toward Caleb. “With the rate that woman is hightailing it across the room, I don’t think escape is possible. Unless one of the features of this room is a Mission Impossible-style escape hatch.”
“Unfortunately not, and I would know.”
She laughed and leaned in closer to him. God, he smelled amazing.
“All right then, brace for impact.”
“Caleb!” The woman barreling toward them stopped suddenly in front of them. “What are you doing here?”
Caleb half-rolled his eyes. “You know why I’m here. What are you doing here? And why are Dad and Uncle Gordon wearing matching Santa suits and cutting a rug? Dad’s gonna injure himself again.”
Emma’s gaze carried over to the far side of the room, where two identical Santas danced in unison to the god-awful karaoke performance. She tuned back into Caleb’s conversation with his mother when she felt a tug on her arm.
Emma turned to look at the older woman. Caleb was obviously her son—they shared the same eyes and mouth. Her chestnut-brown hair was pulled up on top of her head, wrapped with a red velvet ribbon.
“Emma Dale. I’m a guest here. Caleb has been keeping me company.”
“Oh?” She raised her hand to her face, her diamond wedding ring catching the light.
Emma couldn’t help but look down at her empty ring finger. Funny how she hadn’t missed the weight of the ring until now, even though she’d rarely taken it off in the year since the engagement. She should miss the weight of it, if nothing else. But she felt lighter, now that it was gone.
“Mom, I think Dad is waving you down. Or it could be Uncle Gordon. They’re too far away to tell.” He turned to Emma. “My dad and uncle are identical twins.”
She waved Caleb off. “They just want me to judge who has the best Santa bellow. If I hear one more Ho! Ho! Ho! tonight, I’m going to ho-ho-help myself to an entire bottle of red wine.”
Emma laughed. Caleb’s family seemed warm and inviting. His mother reached forward to touch her arm. “I’m Lainey Ellis, by the way. Sabrina and Caleb’s mom. I’m also Sebastian’s mom, but he’s not here tonight. He and his wife run Loaved Up, the bakery in town. Have you been to Falling Leaves yet?”
Emma shook her head. “I’ve only been here a couple of days.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure our activities director can give you a tour tomorrow.”
“Mom, I have to work.”
“Hmm, well, your father and I are staying the night. You get the morning run of activities started, then I’ll take over. Emma here really needs to see the town before the storm rolls in tomorrow.”
Before he could protest, Lainey wandered off toward Santa and his identical twin.
“I’m sorry. My mom can be a lot.”
The off-key duo left the stage, making Caleb’s words suddenly loud in the lounge. Several people turned in their direction, including the women stepping off the stage.
“I heard that!” Lainey called from the other side of the room.
Before he could reply, the music kicked up again, with two guests singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
As much as she didn’t want this night to end, the throbbing behind her eyes told her she needed to get away from the off-key karaoke.
“I think I’m going to call it a night. Especially if we’re going into town tomorrow.”
Caleb gently took her by the elbow and led her out of the lounge. “Of course. It’s been a while since I’ve been to karaoke. I forgot how terrible most people are at it.” He paused. “I’ll walk you back to your cabin.”
“You should be glad I wasn’t up there. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”
“Me either. The rest of my family has the voices of angels—even my kids. I’m the one on recording duty on holidays.”
She laughed. “Your family seems nice.”
“Oh, they are. It’s just that sometimes I remember when I lived in North Carolina. That distance was nice. But, with my ex and her fiancée living in Blacksburg, it makes sense for me to stay locally.”
Despite the raucous party happening in the lounge, the rest of the resort was damn near magical with the Christmas ambience turned up to eleven.
“Sure, of course. It’s important to be near your children, I get that.”
She’d felt oddly light when Caleb told her he was a father.
She loved children, but, given her chaotic upbringing, she’d never wanted children of her own.
She’d been content being an auntie to Aniyah’s two kids.
Davis had never wanted kids either, so it was one thing they’d bonded over early in their relationship.
“You all right? Am I boring you to death? I am drunk and a bit rambly.” He pushed open the door leading to the cabins. Cold air smacked them in the face.
“I’m fine. Just a little sleepy.” She reached for his arm. “My cabin’s just on the other side of the bridge. I can take it from here.” She gave his arm a squeeze. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, Caleb. You helped turn around a terrible week.”
The fine lines around his eyes crinkled as he smiled, she noticed. “Oh, you’re welcome. I had fun, too.” He placed his hand on top of hers. Still warm, despite the cold.
“See you in the morning.”
Their eyes locked before she took off toward the bridge. She carefully picked her way across, wary of ice. It took her so long that she’d figured Caleb had returned inside by the time she reached her cabin.
As she fished her key card out of her purse, she turned back to find him still waiting.
Arms folded, one leg propped up against the post, he looked like something out of a dream.
She waved before ducking inside the door. Once it was closed, she leaned against it. Oh, she was in trouble.
It should be wrong to feel like this so soon after calling off things with Davis, but the heart wanted what it wanted.
And she wanted Caleb. Even if it was only for fun, until she had to return from this holiday vacation to the drudgery of real life, come January.