Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Michelle stepped out of the grocery store, trying to shift the two heavy shopping bags in her arms. She glanced at the bouquet of pink and yellow and orange roses that was half spilling out of one of the bags, feeling worried that the strong spring wind might blow it out of the bag entirely.
That would be a shame, she thought. I perched it on the top like that because I didn’t want it to get crushed in the bag—but if it takes a nose-dive onto the sidewalk, it’s going to get crushed anyway.
She and her mother and grandmother were in the midst of putting the final touches on the Birchwood House. All of the antiques were sparklingly clean and on display in the beautiful old house, but the three of them had decided that they wanted more modern items to spruce up the house as well.
Michelle had set off that morning on a pleasant walk, deciding halfway through it that she would stop at the store and pick up the chalk board that they’d wanted to buy to place in the kitchen near the coffee maker.
They wanted something that could outline information that guests would need to prepare their own coffee, such as what flavors of syrup they had available.
In addition to the chalkboard, she’d wanted to buy a fresh bouquet of flowers to celebrate their opening and bring some natural fragrance into the house.
Once she’d gotten inside the store, she’d found a candle that was scented with cedarwood, lavender, and vanilla, which were her, Elaine, and Audrey’s favorite scents, respectively.
She’d known immediately she needed to buy it.
Then she’d had the idea to buy snacks for their guests to put in welcome baskets for all of the hotel rooms—elegant snacks like roasted almonds and dried cranberries and chocolate covered blueberries.
Once she’d loaded up her cart with snacks, she’d realized they didn’t have enough baskets for every room, and she bought a couple of darling round wicker ones.
By the time she’d gotten to the check-out, she’d picked out a great many items. She’d looked over her cart with trepidation, wondering if she was going to have to put some things back, but then she’d decided that if she was clever about the way she packed them in, she should be able to fit everything into two bags.
Now she was standing on the sidewalk outside the store, peering up at the sign posted at the bus stop.
She knew she would have to wait for a bus, but she was hoping that she wouldn’t have to wait for very long.
Her heart sank when she saw that the next bus wasn’t coming for another twenty minutes, and it would still have to drop her off a block and a half away from the mansion.
Her arms were already starting to ache with the weight of the bags she was holding.
I can do this, she thought determinedly, steeling herself. I’ll just sit here on the bench, and after my arms get a rest here and on the bus, it won’t be so bad carrying these to the house. I’ve dealt with tougher stuff than this.
She was making her way toward the bench, which was pleasantly located under the shade of a beautiful maple tree, when she heard a car honk. Curiously, she turned around.
“Hey there.” Theo leaned his head out of the window of his truck, grinning at her. “What are you doing there?”
“Flying a plane, obviously,” she said tartly.
“Waiting for the bus? Is there something wrong with your car?”
She shook her head. “No, but I walked here. I didn’t intend to buy all this today.
We’re in the middle of sprucing up the mansion and I got a little carried away.
It’s all good stuff we can use, but I guess I should have waited until I could come back with a vehicle.
But it doesn’t matter—like I said, I’m waiting for the bus.
” She flushed slightly, wishing she didn’t feel the need to defend herself in front of Theo.
“The bus?” he echoed. “But hardly anyone uses the bus in Coral Sands, unless they’re taking one of the buses that go from town to town. Our local bus route doesn’t have a lot of pickup options, if I remember correctly.”
Michelle shrugged nonchalantly, but the subtle movement caused the bouquet of flowers to tip precariously. She froze, glancing at it in concern, worried that it might tumble out of the bag onto the sidewalk.
Theo chuckled. “Waiting to take the bus is silly if you’ve got your arms full like that. Come on, I’ll give you a ride back to the Birchwood House.” He said the name of the mansion with goofy precision that made him sound hoity-toity, as if he was making fun of it.
Although she knew he meant the tease in good fun, she scowled at him. “We’re very proud of the hotel,” she said. “And I think the Birchwood House is a wonderful name.”
“Oh, it’s a great name.” He grinned impishly. “But does it count as a hotel if you haven’t had any guests yet?”
Her mouth popped open in protest, but she couldn’t think of a clever retort. As her brain floundered for a response, the wind picked up again, blowing fiercely against the grocery bags she was carrying. The plastic sleeve surrounding the roses flapped and snapped in the wind.
“Come on, you don’t want to lose your goodies,” Theo insisted. “Come on and get in the truck.”
“I’m fine here, thank you,” Michelle said, sitting down primly on the bench. She hugged the bags to her side, trying to hide her sigh of relief. It felt great to no longer be holding up the weight of the bags, and her heart sank when she thought of the walk from the next bus stop to the mansion.
Theo made a tutting sound and turned off the engine of his truck. He hopped out of the driver’s seat, leaving his vehicle in the middle of the road. Michelle gaped at him as he strolled toward her casually, not acting at all as though he’d just left a truck in the middle of a public thoroughfare.
“What are you doing?” she squeaked at him, glancing up and down the road. “What if someone comes?”
He shrugged cheerfully. “They can drive around me.” He strode up to her and grabbed one of the bags out of her arms. “Oof, this is heavy.”
“Hey!” she protested, jumping up and trying to tug it away from him. “What are you doing?”
“Come on,” he said, unphased by the way she was jumping around him like a puppy trying to get at a toy. “Grab the other one and get in my truck.”
“I—what—you’re—this is stealing!”
“It’s not stealing,” he called over his shoulder. “I’m bringing it to your house. You can walk or take the bus with your other bag if you want, but this one is coming with me.”
Michelle watched him for a moment, dumbfounded, and then she let out a noise that was a mix between a growl and a squeal of frustration.
“I can’t let you just walk off with my stuff!
” She grabbed the other bag and started to scamper after him, looking both ways before crossing the road even though the street was silent and she knew no cars were coming.
“Why?” He opened the driver’s door of his truck and leaned inside, placing the bag in the back seat of the cab. “Don’t you trust me?”
“No,” she said, huffing a little as she reached the truck. Even one bag was uncomfortably heavy.
“Then you’d better babysit me while I drive,” he said. “Hop in.”
Michelle made another noise of frustration and shoved her bag onto the seat before scrambling up into the truck after it.
“Careful,” he said. “I think you’re the one you shouldn’t trust with your belongings, not me. Look at now nicely I stowed that bag back there.”
“You—you’re—ugh!” Michelle spluttered. “I—”
Theo grinned. “You’re welcome.” He turned on the engine of his truck and started to drive it down the road.
“It’s so bumpy,” Michelle grunted, surprised by how much she was being jostled by the vehicle.
“It’s an old truck.” Theo shrugged. “But the old ones are the best ones.” He patted the dashboard of his truck lovingly. “She’s a beautiful old girl.”
Michelle, charmed by the way he was being so affectionate toward his truck but not wanting it to show on her face, wrinkled her nose. “You’re weird.”
Gosh, I’m acting like I’m in elementary school again, she thought with an internal groan. Why on earth does he make me so jittery? I feel like there’s a swarm of bees in my body right now.
“Thanks,” Theo said serenely, as if it had been simply a compliment. “Did you enjoy the party the other night?”
She was surprised by how quickly he switched into a real conversation. His tone had shifted from a teasing one to a sincere one in a matter of seconds.
“Uh, fine,” she said warily. “I mean, it was fun.” She watched him with narrowed eyes, wondering when the punchline was coming. He was still going to keep poking her verbally, right? Why was he acting nice all of a sudden?
“I had a great time,” he said. “I noticed you didn’t come over to talk to me.”
“Yeah, that’s because I wanted to enjoy my evening,” she teased with a laugh.
To her surprise, they looked at each other and exchanged a grin. She thought about scowling at him for a second, but the impulse was gone a moment later.
After all, we’re not kids anymore, she thought. I don’t have to constantly act like I don’t like him. I can like him. Well, I can tolerate him politely anyway.
“It must feel exciting, opening up a hotel like that,” he said, turning his truck carefully around a corner.
“I know Elaine loves the idea of more people coming into the house. I think she’s really been lonely, living there by herself.
I was really happy when I heard that you and your mom had moved in. I think that means a lot to Elaine.”
Michelle was touched by how thoughtfully he was speaking of her grandmother. It was clear that he cared about Elaine, and Michelle found herself drawn to the sweet way he spoke about her.
“I think it does too,” she said softly. “I’m really glad that we’re able to be there for her. And moving back here has been amazing for Mom and me too—it’s not just Grandma. The situation is a win-win-win for everyone.”
“And it’s a win for Coral Sands,” Theo said. Michelle waited for him to crack a snarky joke, but it never came. “I think having a hotel and historical house combined will be great for our tourist industry.”
“That’s what we’re hoping,” Michelle said, feeling a surge of excitement as she started to talk about their endeavor.
“We wanted to turn the mansion into a historical site first, since it’s one of the oldest buildings in town, but then we got the idea to turn it into a hotel too.
” She began to speak rapidly, getting carried away by her eagerness.
“Honestly, my mom and Grandma have just been amazing. They have all these great ideas, and we’re so good at working together to put it all into play.
We collected all kinds of antiques around the house and cleaned them off—I mean dusted them, things like that.
It’s not like any of them were actually dirty.
Anyway, then we decided where we wanted to put all of them.
It’s so much fun making the mansion into a kind of museum as well as the hotel.
It kind of matters where we display things, since we want to put the best antiques in the main rooms where everyone can go, but each of the rooms where people can stay have some cool antiques in them as well. ”
She took a deep breath, her eyes shining as she thought about their plans and her hopes for the future of Birchwood House. “I guess I’m just so proud of my family. I’m proud of our history, and I’m even more proud of what we’re working together to do now.”
She looked at Theo, and saw that he was sitting quietly, watching her with a smile on his face. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that he’d been giving her his undivided attention. The look of interest in his eyes made her feel special, and she cleared her throat.
“Oh gosh, we’re here.” She laughed breathlessly, looking outside the windows of the truck. “I got so excited about the Birchwood House that I didn’t even notice that we’re parked right in front of it.”
“You got very excited,” he said, his eyes glinting with amusement.
Michelle wrinkled her nose at him, her old defenses back in a moment. “Are you going to tease me about getting excited now?” she asked, her tone a touch haughty. “I suppose you think it’s unreasonable for me to be getting this excited about a silly hotel.”
Theo shook his head, smiling at her. “I’m not going to tease you about this,” he said earnestly. “I admire the venture that you and Elaine and your mom are undertaking. I think you’re all very smart and capable, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for all of you.”
Michelle blinked at him, wondering if she was imagining the somewhat tender look that had come over his face.
She watched with surprise as he plucked one of the roses from the bouquet—a pink one.
She was about to scold him for doing it, but her words died on her lips as he tucked the flower gently behind her ear.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
“For what?” she stammered.
“For the car ride.” He grinned.
“Oh. Yeah. Thanks.” She lifted her hand to her ear and felt the rose. It was smooth and soft to the touch, almost like velvet. Her skin buzzed as if she’d been touched by something so delicate it was almost other-worldly.
“And congratulations again,” he told her. “I mean about the hotel. You should be very proud of yourselves.”
“Thanks,” she said. She shifted the bag on her lap and reached for the door handle, opening the passenger side door. “I guess I’d better be going.” She felt flustered and nearly dropped her bag as she was hopping out of the truck.
“Do you want me to carry this to the door for you?” Theo asked, lifting up the bag that he’d placed in the back seat.
“No, I’ve got it, thanks.” She took the bag from him, balancing it carefully in the crook of her free arm. “Thanks again for the ride.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled at her, and her stomach gave a jolt when she saw that his usual impish grin had transformed into something sweet and genuine.
She nodded her head at him, since she couldn’t wave with her hands full, and turned around and headed toward the house. She still felt a little flustered, and she wondered if Theo was watching her, since she wasn’t hearing his truck drive away.
She paused at the steps of the mansion and turned around to see if he was still there.
He was, leaning toward her to get a better look.
When he saw her turn, he waved cheerfully and then eased the truck out onto the street.
She watched him drive away for a few seconds, a strange feeling like rising soap bubbles dancing in her core.
She turned back toward the Birchwood House, smiling from ear to ear, and went inside.