Chapter Three #2
“I can’t imagine they’d say no. They must have to bake for days to make enough food for the event. I feel like Chet and I get off easy, only supplying the setting and the Bramble family china and silver.” All of which had come with the house when Amy purchased it three years ago.
“You and Chet set up for the party, work the event, and take care of cleanup as well. I say you do plenty.”
“You’re right—it is a lot. But it’s fun and a great cause.” Proceeds from the fundraiser helped underprivileged kids attend Chet’s Big Sky Rodeo Academy.
“Ella and I would be more than happy to help serve and clean as well.”
“I appreciate the offer, but you both work so hard this time of year. Sunday’s your only completely free day of the week.
Anyway, we’ll have Shelley this year. She practically begged me for the extra hours.
” Amy put down her coffee mug. It was time she made herself useful.
“What else is on the menu this morning besides your cinnamon buns?”
“I’ve got a big bowl of muesli in the fridge, and I’m planning to bake a cheddar broccoli frittata and fry up some of those chicken cranberry sausages that Robbie loves.”
“Sounds delish. I’ll put out bowls as well as plates.”
Jo had finished rolling the dough into a large rectangle.
Amy watched as she slathered it with melted butter, then sprinkled generous quantities of brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped pecans.
A baking dish had already been prepared with a layer of melted butter and sugar and more chopped pecans.
Amy’s mouth watered at the thought of how delectable the buns were going to be.
By seven o’clock the table had been set, cinnamon buns were in the oven, and Amy was chopping broccoli for Jo’s frittata when Chet brought Robin in for his breakfast.
“I left him in his jammies, but his diaper’s clean,” Chet said as he handed the baby over to Amy.
“Good morning, my little sweetheart.” Amy kissed his chubby cheek.
“Are you ready for some muesli and chicken sausages?” She loved these early mornings before the guests came down, when it was just her family and Jo in the kitchen.
She usually fed the baby while Chet warmed up the espresso maker and prepared a fresh pot of coffee.
They were equipped to supply everything from English breakfast tea to fancy cappuccinos and lattes.
As they chatted and laughed at Robin’s cute antics, a part of her remained unsettled.
Those cookies—such a small thing, and yet it irritated her.
Perhaps she was too much of a perfectionist, but guests gave negative reviews for the smallest of problems. And she knew prospective guests checked those reviews before booking.
Guests began trickling down to the dining room at quarter to eight. First was her brother. Like their father, Carson was a big man, but in his jeans and T-shirt, it was clear his size was down to a large frame and lots of muscle. She couldn’t see an ounce of fat on him.
“Can I help with anything?”
“We’re good,” Amy said. “How was dinner at the Graff?”
“Great. Thanks again for letting me borrow your car. Ethel was really thrilled.”
And what about her granddaughter? Amy wondered. “Yesterday Ethel told me that you and Larkin used to be good friends.”
“That’s true.” Carson was turned away from her as he helped himself to coffee, but Amy heard something in those two words. Carson was trying too hard to sound casual.
Coffee in hand, Carson went to Robin’s high chair and tousled his nephew’s hair. “How are you this morning, bud? Think you’d like to go sledding with your uncle Carson?”
“It’s the perfect morning for it,” Amy said. “Sunny and mild. There’s a nice gentle hill in Bramble Park.”
“Awesome. We’ll go right after breakfast. After that I’m going to start some minor renovations at Ethel Carrillo’s house. Her contractor didn’t show up as promised, and she needs some work done before she can move back home after Christmas.”
“That’s good of you,” Chet said. “Feel free to borrow any tools you need. In fact, I’ve got time later today if you want help.”
“Thanks, Chet. I travel with a basic toolkit, but that’s it.”
“Check out the garage. You should find everything you need there. If not, you can borrow from my partner, Craig. He owns Denton Garage. Have you seen it?”
Carson nodded. “Good to know. This Craig must be a busy man if he has his own garage plus works with you at the rodeo school.”
“He enjoys interacting with the kids, same as me. The ones who already love rodeo are great to work with. But we get the most satisfaction when we see a moody, unhappy teenager really connecting with the animals.”
“A good horse can touch the hardest heart,” Carson agreed.
Through the open doorway Amy noticed Larkin and Ethel enter the dining room. Right away Carson hurried out to talk to them. Amy could hear the rumble of their voices as she cleaned Robin’s face and hands.
“Dough, dough!”
As soon as she set her son on the floor, he went straight for the box of toys they kept in the adjoining laundry room.
Meanwhile more guests were arriving. First Kris, then the Kettles, who ordered nonfat lattes.
At eight on the nose Gibson Adlington showed up, neatly dressed in a plaid shirt and dark-brown trousers.
Amy smiled as she filled his water glass, hoping to get a smile in return, but he merely nodded and requested an Americano.
Jo came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. “Good morning, everyone. Today we’re serving early-riser gooey cinnamon buns and apple cinnamon muesli to start, followed by a cheddar broccoli frittata and cranberry chicken sausages.”
“Num,” Larkin said. “Everything sounds wonderful.”
“Doesn’t it?” Marjorie Kettles agreed. “If those cinnamon buns taste as good as they smell my waistline is in trouble.”
“Holiday calories don’t count,” her husband reminded her.
Instantly Amy decided she loved the man.
“Sounds far too rich for me,” Gibson said.
He would have to complain, thought Amy. “If you’re avoiding sugar, I’d skip the cinnamon buns. But everything else is quite healthy. We source the sausages locally and besides being delicious, they’re an excellent source of low-fat protein.”
“Is there no fresh fruit on the menu?” Gibson asked.
Amy held back a sigh. “We have freshly grated apple in the muesli and there are slices of oranges and grapefruits on the sideboard.”
Did Gibson thank her? No. Again he just nodded, leaving her—and probably the rest of the guests—with the impression that this was barely adequate.
About fifteen minutes after the main course had been served, Amy came out of the kitchen again. In her experience this was when guests liked to ask questions as they made their plans for the day. “So what is everyone up to today?”
“Peter and I are going skating at Miracle Lake,” Marjorie said. “Then we’ll have hot chocolate at that wonderful place on Main Street.”
“Copper Mountain Chocolate Shop has the best hot chocolate in town,” Amy agreed.
“And remember they also have a chocolate-making event at their store this evening. Your Christmas Countdown package includes admission to this, but you still need to reserve your spot, so I recommend you phone or drop in as soon as possible this morning.”
“What do you think?” Marjorie asked her husband.
“I’m game. But didn’t you say you wanted to video-call Rachel?”
“Oh yes. We should do that before dinnertime. Rachel’s our youngest,” she explained to Amy.
“She’s spending Christmas with her boyfriend’s family and her older brother, Samuel, is in Australia on a work exchange program.
This is the first time the four of us aren’t going to be together as a family for the holiday. ”
For a split second it seemed her smile was crumbling, but then it expanded, and in a too-bright voice, she added, “So Peter decided to surprise me with this wonderful Bramble House Christmas—just the two of us.”
“How romantic,” Amy said, while privately she shuddered about the prospect of a time when she and Chet would have to share Robin with another family.
“I figured for once Marjorie could relax and enjoy the holiday instead of going crazy with all the Christmas baking and decorating and cooking.”
Marjorie patted his cheek. “Be careful or you’ll spoil me, Peter.”
“You deserve it.”
The two of them were clearly still devoted to each other. Amy hoped the same would hold true for her and Chet in twenty years.
“How about you, Gibson?” she asked. “Do you have plans for this morning?”
He adjusted his glasses and gave a slight sniff. “I’ll probably check out your local library. The selection you have here is quite limited.”
Well gosh, this man sure was a headache in the making. What did he expect from a small B & B library? Fortunately, Amy’s brother saved her from having to reply.
“There’s a great Americana section,” Carson said. “I’m rereading Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.”
“We studied that in high school, didn’t we?” said Larkin. “The local authors section is good too. I’m really enjoying the Bramble family history. It kept me up far too late last night.”
“And I found a Stephen King I haven’t read yet,” added Ethel. “He’s my favorite author.”
To think elderly Ethel Carrillo was a Stephen King fan. You never knew, Amy thought. But she was grateful so many of her guests had nice words to say about their library. Maybe they found Gibson as obnoxious as she did.
“One last thing before you go,” Amy said. “I want to remind you that we’ll be hosting a Christmas tea from two to four tomorrow afternoon in our sitting room and library. It’s a ticketed event, included in your package, if you’d like to attend.”
“We’d love to go,” Marjorie said. “If you’re comping our tickets, we’ll make a nice donation. Didn’t you say the proceeds are used to help disadvantaged kids attend Chet’s rodeo school? Anything that gets kids off their devices and enjoying fresh air and exercise is worth supporting in my books.”
“Plus it helps keep the rodeo tradition alive in Montana,” Carson added.
Amy waited for Gibson to make a disparaging comment about crowds and being inconvenienced, but all he did was frown. As guests began to disperse, he remained behind, and when they were the only two left in the room, he held his coffee cup up to her.
“I didn’t want to complain in front of all your guests, but an Americano is supposed to be made with espresso beans.”
This was too much. Amy’s smile stiffened. “That’s how we prepare our espresso. We use a rich, chocolatey espresso bean roasted right here in Marietta.”
He raised his eyebrows, clearly not believing her. “If you say so. But I’ll be making a stop at the Java Café before going to the library.”
Amy set her teeth as he left, holding back on a very unusual impulse to say something childish like: Our espresso is just as good as theirs!
But as she was clearing off the table, she noticed neither of the Kettles had finished their lattes either.
*
“What would you like to do this morning?” Larkin asked her grandmother as they paused in the hallway, with Carson lingering around them.
He clearly wanted to talk to her, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Their conversation last night had been unsettling to say the least. It had been her ruminations about the past, not reading about the Bramble family’s history, that kept her awake far too long last night.
It had been distressing to hear his side of their breakup. Why had they both been so stubborn, so proud? A good conversation between the two of them would have prevented so much heartache. And yet the heartache had been real and had left deep wounds, at least in her case.
“I did my morning stretches before breakfast,” Gran said. “Now I’d like to sit and relax with my book. I’m sorry to be so boring.”
It was hard to see her go-getter grandmother slowing down this way. But the surgeon had warned them it could take up to six months for her to regain her full mobility. “That’s not boring at all. I need to prepare for my interview with Amy and Chet anyway. Let’s get settled in the library.”
Yesterday she’d managed to chat with both Ella and Jo. They’d shared some interesting stories she intended to follow up on with Amy this morning. The article was supposed to be a “feel-good” piece. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t do a little gentle prodding.
She let her grandmother take the lead as they walked to the library. Carson fell back beside her.
“I’m taking Robbie sledding this morning,” he said. “And then I want to go to your grandmother’s and check out the situation.”
“I’ll get you the key. We’ve got all the supplies for the shower and the grab bars. And my dad already removed the old bathtub and shower doors.”
“That’s a good start. Do you know if you’ve got a curbless shower pan?”
“I think so.”
“Great. I’ll want to install that today.”
She was relieved all he’d wanted to talk about was the renovations. That was a nice, safe subject. But then he touched her shoulder.
“I want to tell you again how awful I feel about what happened. I’m really sorry, Larkin. I was such an idiot.”
“I guess I shouldn’t have assumed you knew what was going on.
” She’d been so angry with him, for so long.
But after hearing his side of the story last night, that anger had fizzled out, and now what she mostly felt was sad.
She’d been terribly wounded by Andrew, physically and mentally.
In some essential way she’d changed as a person, and she knew it had affected her ability to have loving relationships with the men she’d dated since then.
She’d been accused of holding back, of being cold. She’d convinced herself that she was happier being alone anyway.
Now she didn’t know if that was really true, or if she’d just been trying to protect herself.
Once they were all in the library, Carson helped settle her grandmother into her chair, while Larkin retrieved the thick Stephen King paperback and reading glasses from Gran’s bag.
“I have to get my laptop and notebook from my room,” Larkin said. “I’ll be right back, Gran. Can you save me this chair next to you?”
“You bet.”
On her way back, Carson stopped her in the foyer, next to the magnificent Montana-themed tree with its bear, moose, and huckleberry ornaments. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking your nephew sledding?”
“I am. But first, I really need to tell you something.”