Chapter Five Cold Comforts
Braxton
The kitchen looked even more chaotic by the time I slipped back inside.
Jane stood at the prep counter with a posture I had already learned meant she was holding herself together by sheer will.
Her shoulders were lifted slightly, her neck stiff, as if she was bracing for another interruption.
A thin layer of flour clung to her hair, settling over her like pale dust. She brushed at it absently, and more drifted down from some unseen source above her head.
It made her look softer somehow, even as she tightened the grip on her knife.
The crew hovered around James like bees around a sunflower, adjusting lights and microphones and shouting for better angles.
Every time I thought someone had stepped out of Jane’s way, another person backed directly into her space again.
She didn't snap. She didn't flinch. She simply stepped half an inch sideways and kept slicing.
I admired her resolve. I hated that she needed it.
She caught my eye briefly. She tried to smile. It faded before it reached her eyes. I wanted to walk straight to her and offer my help, but the maze of cables and cameras made the path impossible. She looked away, and I knew she was doing everything in her power to stay composed.
Dex found me in the doorway before I could navigate the equipment.
“There you are,” he said quietly. “Come with me. Kitty has broken my spirit.”
“What happened?” I asked.
"She asked me to reorganize the reservation board and then she said she needed a solution for the ‘room discrepancy’ which I think is code for ‘we have accidentally created a small housing crisis.’.” Dex folded his arms.
I glanced back at Jane. She was reaching for a bowl someone had moved to get it out of the shot. “What do you need?”
Dex lowered his voice. “We should talk about the girls.”
I nodded once and followed him into the hall. The air felt calmer away from the cameras. A few guests walked past, chatting about the wedding festivities and the Christmas tree in the lobby. I found myself wishing everything inside the walls felt as peaceful as it appeared from the outside.
Dex pushed his hands into his pockets. “That pool house is freezing.”
“I noticed.” I said dryly. I had little faith that the heating system would manage enough output to make it reasonably warm by the time Lucy and Jane retired for the night.
“And apparently there is no water,” he said.
“I noticed that too.” Again, I refrained from pointing out that with little to no heat, water wasn’t an option.
He sighed. “We should help. Make it less miserable.”
I had been thinking the same thing since the moment Lucy shivered through a joke about losing feeling in her toes. “Or we should switch places with them and give them our rooms.”
Dex paused. “We might as well go live at your sister’s ski lodge then. However, it’s a long drive back and forth.”
I had no intention of going to Hale Lodge. Not with James Elman here on the premises. “We can get more blankets.”
“And a real heater,” Dex added.
“And an extra rug,” I said. “Lucy complained about the cold floor.”
“Let’s see if we can get the water running,” Dex remarked.
We found William kneeling beside a door hinge near the back office. He was holding a screwdriver and humming to himself. He looked up when we approached.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, which was generous of him because he definitely already knew we were about to request something.
“We need to know how to get water running to the pool house,” Dex said.
William gave us a long stare. “No.”
“Is that a no to the question or a no in general?” I wondered.
“No to everything,” he said firmly. “There is no water there in winter. If you turn the pipes on, they will freeze and burst. You will flood the place. It will be a disaster.”
“So there is no way at all,” I said.
“Not unless you want to build new insulated plumbing by digging through frozen ground,” William said. “Which you don't.”
Dex exhaled. “How are the girls supposed to shower?”
“Lucy and Jane have moved out to the pool house for the duration of the stay of the wedding party,” I explained.
“They can use a bathroom in the inn,” William said. “Kitty, Meri, and Lydia share an apartment. They can borrow theirs. It will be fine.”
I doubted “fine” was the right word. But it was a workable solution.
“It might be better if we give them one of our rooms and we double up.” I suggested. “At least then we would all be warm and have access to plumbing.”
Dex nodded reluctantly. “Yes. That makes sense.”
William returned to his hinge without another word, which I took as the end of the conversation.
Dex nudged me. “We should move our stuff into one room then gather Lucy and Jane’s things.”
I eyed Dex. “Do you kick?”
“No, do you snore?” he questioned in return.
“Occasionally,” I admitted.
I followed him toward the lobby. The front desk was buried under reservation slips and handwritten notes. Kitty had her hair clipped back with two different pens sticking out of her bun. She looked like a woman one question away from a full collapse.
“Oh good,” she said, spotting us. “I need you both.”
Dex put a hand over his heart. “I’m worried about that.”
Kitty pulled a room chart toward her. “I need you to share a room.”
Dex blinked. “We already decided to do so. That way we can give a heated room to Jane and Lucy.”
Kitty pressed her lips together. “The bride’s aunt arrived early. She refuses to climb stairs. I need a first-floor room. You have a first-floor room.”
Dex stared at her. “No. Lucy and Jane need to come back inside the inn.”
“Just for the week,” Kitty said hopefully. “They already moved to the pool house. They will be fine and I really need your room.”
“No,” I told her.
Kitty folded her hands like she was praying. “Please. If you don't help me, I will have to sleep in the coat closet with Lydia and Meri.”
Dex sighed in defeat. “Fine.”
I was a little surprised it was Dex caving in first and not me. Lucy really had gotten to him.
Dex gave Kitty a resigned nod. “You owe us.”
“I owe you everything,” Kitty said with utter sincerity.
Lucy appeared then, carrying a laundry basket piled with folded towels. “Did you actually convince them?”
“They love me,” Kitty said with a triumphant smile.
Dex said, “We tolerate you.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “The pool house heater wheezed at me. I think that means it doesn't like us.”
“We are working on it,” I said.
Lucy stopped in front of me. “Thank you. I know this is not ideal. Jane is pretending everything is fine, but she is exhausted. Just… keep an eye on her.”
“I am,” I said. “I will.”
Lucy nodded once and carried the basket toward the laundry room.
Dex and I gathered the blankets, an older heater William approved, and a rug someone had stored in the linen closet. We carried everything out to the pool house.
I knocked lightly before we stepped inside.
Lucy called, “Come in.”
The girls had already made surprising progress. Jane had folded sweaters and stacked them neatly on a chair. Lucy had arranged her books in a small pile next to the nightstand. They had lit one single candle, which tried its best to make the space look warmer.
“We brought reinforcements,” Dex said, holding up the heater.
“And warmth,” I added, lifting the blankets.
Lucy gasped. “Is that fleece?”
“High-quality fleece,” Dex said proudly.
“And a heater. How did I get so lucky?” Lucy grinned.
Dex plugged in the heater. It rattled and made a noise like a groan, but then a faint warmth drifted out. Lucy clapped once, delighted.
“It works,” she said.
“We did have a suggestion,” Dex ventured. “We are willing to switch our room for yours. It doesn’t have a kitchenette, but it does have heat and working plumbing.”
Lucy looked at him in surprise. “You can’t. You and Braxton are paying guests.”
“We don’t like you and Jane being so uncomfortable,” I added.
“No. We aren’t switching rooms. I’m sure Jane and I will be fine for seven days. Besides, I need a kitchenette to brew coffee. I’m a fiend without it in the morning,” Lucy informed us.
“At least use our bathroom whenever you need it. Just tell us the schedule,” I offered.
Lucy grinned. “I promise not to use all your hot water.”
We stayed long enough to help Lucy arrange the rug, stack extra blankets at the foot of the bed, and adjust the heater so it wouldn't scorch the wall.
Back inside the inn, Dex and I entered our new shared room. It was clean, neat, and perfectly fine for one person. Possibly two if they were quiet sleepers. Dex looked at his half of the bed like he was preparing for war.
“You take the wall side,” he said. “I need an escape route.”
“That’s fine.”
“If you snore, I am waking you up,” Dex added.
“I don't snore most of the time,” I stated. Although, I really wasn’t sure if I did.
“We will see.”
He dropped onto the mattress with a dramatic sigh, then reached for his laptop. “Lucy seems better with the blankets. Good thinking.”
“It’s too bad Lucy wouldn’t switch,” I said. “I don’t like the thought of Jane up there in the cold.”
Dex began checking his emails. “You like her.”
I didn't deny it. “Yes.”
“She likes you too.”
I stared at the floor. “She has a lot going on. I don't want to overwhelm her.”
“Then don't,” Dex said simply. “Just be there for her.”
I sat in the chair near the window. From there, I could see the pool house.
Jane would soon be somewhere inside that glow, likely worrying about tomorrow or organizing something that didn't need organizing. I wanted her to rest. I wanted her to feel supported. And for the first time in a long time, I wanted to stay exactly where I was until she felt steady again.
“I am going to get some work done before Kitty gives us a list of chores. The way she keeps recruiting us to do things, you would think we were employees.” Dex’s fingers typed away on the keyboard.
“I will get back to the project in a minute,” I said.
Dex grunted something like acknowledgment.
I watched the pool house a little longer and thought that maybe this week wasn't only about renovation plans or wedding schedules. Maybe it was about showing Jane she wasn't alone. Not anymore.