Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
SYANNE
T he moment the door opens, Reid grabs the short white-haired woman in a fierce hug that lifts her feet off the ground. The obvious love between them makes me warm inside.
“Hey, Nanna! I missed you!”
She giggles as he spins her around. Then her eyes land on me and almost bug out of her head. “Who is this?”
“Nanna, this is Syanne MacIlheron. We ran into each other at the airport. And her family just happens to be staying here at St. Nick’s.”
“You’re Syanne MacIlheron?” Her strong arm grips my wrist and drags me through the doorway. “Of course you are. Look at that red hair. Just what I expected you to look like.”
“What you expected? Oh, you mean because of my last name. Yes, I’m as Irish as they get. Two of my sisters have red hair, as well.”
“But your grandmother’s hair isn’t red anymore,” she says with a chuckle, as if she knew my grandmother. A tinge of suspicion enters my mind, but I brush it away .
“This is so wonderful. I can’t believe you met at the airport. Like it was meant to be.”
Reid frowns and lays a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Just to be clear, Nanna, we’re not dating.”
“Of course you aren’t, dear.” She reaches up to pat his cheek. “Not yet.”
Wow. Reid was right about her wanting him to have a girlfriend.
“Nanna!” Reid sends me an apologetic look and mouths sorry . “The rest of Syanne’s family won’t be here for a few days, so I thought she could hang out with us, if that’s okay.”
“Syanne can hang out with us all she likes.” She rubs her hands together like she’s plotting something. “In fact, she can stay here at our cabin until Christmas Eve when her sisters come.”
“How do you know they’re coming Christmas Eve?” This smells fishy to me.
“Because…” She blinks at me, her wide-eyed gaze darting between us. “Wait… You two don’t know anything, do you?”
“Know anything about what, Nanna?” he asks.
“Oh… I think I got confused.” She closes her eyes and puts a hand to her forehead. “I’m feeling a little dizzy.”
“Is your blood sugar getting low, Nanna?” His face creased with concern, Reid takes her arm and gently leads her to a sofa in front of a fireplace, whose realistic gas logs emit a comforting heat.
Something lodges in my chest, watching how sweet he is with her.
“Yes, yes. My blood sugar.” Nanna squeezes his hand. “Would you be a dear and get me a little orange juice?”
Reid hurries around a corner, presumably toward the kitchen .
“Come sit and tell me all about yourself.” Nanna pats the couch beside her, her former dizziness apparently gone.
“You seem to know about me already.” I try to keep the suspicion out of my tone. The whole thing feels like a setup, as impossible as that seems.
“Not at all.” Nanna’s smile is innocent enough. “But I watch a lot of TV, and you remind me of someone in my soap opera.”
Hmmmm…
“Earlier, you mentioned something about my grandmother,” I say. “Have you met her?”
“No, dear. I promise I’ve never met your grandmother.” She shakes her head slowly. “Sometimes my mind wanders a bit. If I say something that doesn’t make sense, you have to ignore me.”
Could I be overreacting because I’ve seen GeeBee and Gramma’s sneaky schemes in action?
“Here’s your orange juice, Nanna.” Reid appears and hands her a small glass.
“Thank you, dear.” She gulps it down and flashes him a bright smile. “I feel better already.”
“I should go to my cabin and give you two some time alone.” I stand, for the first time taking in the expansive room we’re sitting in, with massive overhead beams and high-end furnishings. Though the exterior had the traditional stacked logs, the inside is anything but rustic. “This place is huge! Can you really call this a cabin?”
I shudder to think what my sisters must’ve paid for the four we rented. But they can afford it. Sure hope Reid gets an employee discount.
“These were St. Nick’s first rental properties,” Nanna says. “Although, back in the day, they weren’t fancy like this. ”
“Interesting that you know the story behind them,” I say. “Did you see the original cabins?” I’m careful with my wording, not wanting to bring back painful memories in case they had stayed here while the rest of the family was still alive.
“Of course.” Nanna frowns at me. “St. Nick’s—”
“We can talk about history tomorrow, Nanna.” Reid cuts her off mid-sentence as he herds me toward the door. “I’ll be back after I get Syanne settled in her cabin.”
“Don’t hurry on my account.” Eyes sparkling, Nanna flicks her hands like she’s shooing us away. “Spend as much time together as you want.”
“I don’t want to keep your grandson away from you during the holidays,” I say.
“No worries.” She waggles her eyebrows. “I’ve got my knitting.”