Chapter 11
After climbing out of the sleigh and thanking Bessie and Jeremiah, Penny and Daniel headed with Eva to the farmhouse, their boots crunching on the gravel, with Eva supplying running commentary about how great the sleigh ride looked on video and how much fun she was having.
As they climbed the porch steps, a glance through the farmhouse’s brightly lit windows showed that plenty of folks had already arrived.
They pushed open the front door and were greeted by the enthusiastic hubbub of a crowded room having a good time. Across the living room, the big Christmas tree was holding court, its branches bursting with decorations and tinsel and lights, the star at its top nearly brushing the ceiling.
Penny led Eva and Daniel into the study to shed their winter gear.
“I’m going to circulate,” Eva announced as she tossed her coat over a chair. “I need establishing shots. I’ll find you.” Phone in hand, she marched off.
Daniel chuckled. “That young lady knows her mind.”
“That she does,” Penny said with a smile.
Daniel picked up the box of apple butter he’d temporarily set down when he took off his coat. “I should bring these to the kitchen.”
“After you.” She followed him through the crowded living room, smiling at folks she knew, before pausing at the dining table to admire the plates of sweet and savory treats.
The table was loaded with tempting choices — cranberry brie bites, stuffed mushrooms, pigs in a blanket, spinach artichoke dip, and more — along with plates of beautifully decorated Christmas cookies that looked particularly appealing.
She smiled as her gaze landed on a freshly baked apple pie.
She leaned closer and breathed in, enjoying the aroma.
“Penny,” came a familiar voice. She turned and found Holly carrying a stack of dinner plates in her arms, nodding toward the table. “Can I ask for your help with…?”
“Of course. Hand me the plates while you….”
“Perfect.” Holly passed her the stack of plates, then quickly moved various treat plates on the crowded table to make more room.
With a spot cleared, Penny set the plates on the table. “This okay?”
“Perfect.” Holly pulled Penny in for a quick hug. “Welcome!”
“Thanks for having me. Glad to be here.”
“I hear you and Danny just met Bessie.”
“We did,” Penny said. “I’m so glad Bessie’s here. The kids are going to love her.” She glanced around. “Speaking of kids, where’s little Joshua?”
“With Grandma and Grandpa upstairs, getting changed. They’re taking him to the barn for a sleigh ride and then — I’ll be super-impressed if they pull this off — they’re going to try to get him to go to sleep at his normal bedtime despite the noise downstairs.”
Penny laughed. “An ambitious project. I wish them luck.”
“They’ll need it. Speaking of projects….” Holly gestured toward the kitchen, where Daniel was unpacking the box of apple butters. “How’s your new gig?”
“Fine,” Penny said, keeping her tone matter-of-fact. “Smooth sailing so far. He’s making an effort to be clear about what’s going through his head, which I appreciate.”
Holly paused, as if wrestling with a decision. “He asked about you yesterday.”
Penny felt her skin grow warm. “He did?”
“You made a good impression.”
A million questions rushed into Penny’s head. “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t want me to,” Holly said right away. “We talked about the bookstore, mostly.”
“What else?”
“His questions were all … professionally focused, I guess you could say?”
“That sounds … fine?”
“He didn’t ask about your personal life, and I didn’t share.”
“Got it. Good.”
“You won’t get any meddling nonsense from me — promise. You know that’s not my style.”
Penny nodded. “I know that. Thank you.”
“Though I should warn you,” Holly said, glancing around the room, “there are folks here who won’t hesitate to —”
“Oh, believe me, I know.”
Her friend sighed. “Probably inevitable given the territory.”
“I’m fine — it’s not me I’m worried about — but Daniel’s a newcomer and….”
“Well, I guess you’ll soon find out if he’s made of stern-enough stuff.”
With a start, Penny realized that she really needed to stop talking about Daniel. Casting about for a new topic, she pointed to the table. “You’ve gone all out this year. I’ll definitely be having some of your amazing apple pie. Anything I can help with?”
“Possibly.” Holly was still scanning the room. “Can you check on the cider? Ed and Ike are trying out a new recipe.”
“Sure.”
“They’re in the kitchen.” Her friend’s gaze landed on someone across the room. “Oh, the mayor’s arrived. I should say hi.”
“Go. If you need anything —”
“I’ll find you — thanks!”
Penny eased her way through the crowd to the kitchen, which, unlike her own tiny kitchenette, was spacious and modern. As always when she visited, she couldn’t help but admire the generous grey-white marble countertops, tall white cabinets, and stainless-steel appliances.
Next to the stove, Daniel was huddled in conversation with Gabe’s orchard team: Mabel, Ike, and Ed.
Mabel saw her approaching and waved her over. A tall woman in her late fifties with lively green eyes and short brown-grey hair, she was wearing a white apron over a red-and-white Christmas sweater.
“Penny, good to see you,” Mabel said, giving her a quick hug.
“Good to see you, too,” Penny replied. “What’s the apron for?”
“Snickerdoodle duty,” Mabel said. “Just put a new batch in the oven.” She gestured to the tall, thin man next to her— Ike, her husband — and the short, grizzled man — Ed — next to him.“You know these two, right?”
“Of course. Good to see you both.”
Daniel spoke up. “Seems like everyone knows everyone around here.”
Ike nodded. “Seems that way.”
“Might think that,” Ed added.
Mabel jumped in. “We were just telling Daniel what it was like five years ago when Gabriel bought the orchard.”
“I imagine,” Penny said, “you were a bit … uncertain where things would go?”
“Oh, yes. We had no idea what to expect. A young man from New York, with no farming experience….”
Ike chimed in. “We weren’t optimistic.”
“No reason to be,” Ed added.
“And now?” Penny asked.
Mabel beamed. “The orchard just had its best year ever.”
“That’s awesome,” Penny said. “Congratulations.”
“Good weather was part of it — weather’s always part of it. But a lot of the credit is due to Gabriel, who’s always pushing us to try new ideas.”
“Like the Wassail event?”
“Like the Wassail,” Mabel said with a laugh. “Winter’s supposed to be quiet time at the orchard, but look at how many people are here tonight.”
“I’m told you’re preparing a new cider recipe?”
“The boys are,” Mabel said, gesturing to a large pot of cider bubbling gently on the stove. “Ike, where we at?”
Ike picked up a clear glass mug and, using a ladle, poured cider into it. After adding a cinnamon stick, he handed the mug to Penny.
The mug was toasty-warm to the touch and smelled of apples and spices. Penny brought it to her nose and breathed in, enjoying the lovely aroma. “What’s in this?”
“Heated cider, with eggs mixed in,” Mabel said. “Along with nutmeg, ginger, roasted apples, sugar, and — what am I forgetting?”
“Cloves,” Ed said.
Penny swirled the cinnamon stick in the mug and took a sip. The warmth and the spices were fantastic. “Mmm, this is wonderful.”
“You hear that, boys?”
Ed and Ike ladled cider into their mugs as well and took a sip.
“Reckon so,” Ed said.
“It’ll do,” Ike added.
“Excellent,” Mabel said, then turned back to Penny. “Now, about you, young lady. It’s been a while since we’ve chatted. What’s your story these days?”
Penny blinked. “My story?”
“Married? Kids? Dating? Single?”
Oh, gosh — Mabel was being so direct.
“Single.”
“Dating?”
Make that extremely direct. It wasn’t the first time Penny had fielded the question — Heartsprings Valley was Heartsprings Valley, after all — and she knew from experience to keep her answer simple and truthful. “No, I’m not dating anyone right now.”
“Ever been married?”
Penny considered pushing back, but when she saw Daniel listening intently, something in her compelled her to change course. “I was engaged once. But it didn’t work out.”
“What happened?”
Again, the question came like a shot — no hesitation, no pretense.
Penny took a deep breath. “I caught him kissing someone else.”
Mabel’s eyes widened. “You caught him doing what?”
“A week before the wedding.”
Mabel looked livid. “What a louse.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
Mabel turned to Daniel. “Similar thing happened to you, I hear.”
Daniel blinked with surprise. “That’s….”
“Your wife met someone, right?”
“That’s not … something I like to talk about.”
“Nothing for you to be ashamed of. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Maybe so, but….”
“You know,” Mabel said, fixing him with an impatient gaze, “I’m starting to understand your problem.”
Daniel’s brow furrowed. Though obviously surprised by the out-of-nowhere interrogation, he seemed capable of dealing with it. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Yes, I can see that.” Mabel shook her head, disappointed. “And here I was, thinking novelists were supposed to be perceptive. Silly me.”
He opened his mouth, then shut it. It took him a couple of seconds to try again. “Tell me what I’m missing.”
“You said it yourself: You don’t like to talk.”
“That’s not really what I meant when I —”
“But it’s what you said, and words matter, right?” She turned to Ike and Ed. “Have I stepped in it again? Am I going at the boy too hard?”
Ike looked at her and then Daniel, weighing his response. “Might be,” he finally said.
“Seems so,” Ed added.
Mabel snorted with irritation and pivoted back to Daniel. “Maybe I owe you an apology, maybe I don’t. What I’m saying is, it’s good to talk about things that matter to you. If something’s important, it deserves the attention.”
“Well, it’s just that —”
“And by important, I mean things like why you split up with your ex. Don’t expect to just tuck that one away and forget it. How are you going to move forward if you can’t unpack your pain?”
Daniel stared at her. “I….”
“Unloading’s a life skill. Takes practice. I’m not expecting an answer right away. But I have another question for you, and maybe this one will be easier.”
Mabel went quiet and stared at him for several long seconds. Daniel stared back, clearly unsure who was expected to speak next. Finally he said, “What’s your question?”
“Why haven’t you talked to the press?”
“Oh, you mean about my Christmas essay?”
“You know how reporters are, right?”
“I do know something about them, yes.”
“You know they hate not getting answers. Drives them nuts.”
“I get that.”
“By keeping quiet, you’re whipping them into a frenzy, turning them into a pack of wild animals.”
“Yes, but —”
“They’ll tear you apart if you don’t throw ’em a bone.”
“I hear you, but —”
“They don’t like being teased.”
“That’s not —”
“They know you know why you wrote that essay, and they know you could tell them why if you wanted to, but you won’t.”
Daniel shook his head. “Everything they need to know is in the essay.”
Mabel snorted. “Codswallop.”
His eyes widened. “I’m not sure I —”
“That essay of yours isn’t the answer to anything.”
At her words, something in him seemed to shift. His dark eyes flickered with interest. “Then what is it?”
“It’s….” She eyed him suspiciously, like she’d picked up on his mood change and was thrown by it.
She turned to Ike and Ed. “Help me out here. What is his essay?”
Ike looked at Daniel, considering. “An opening salvo.”
Ed nodded. “Reckon so.”
“Though his aim is….”
“Off.”
“Because he’s….”
Ed nodded sagely. “Yup.”
Penny watched, fascinated, as the two men used as few words as humanly possible to reach a conclusion that was crystal-clear to them but bafflingly opaque to everyone else.
Mabel, for her part, seemed to have no trouble following them.
“Exactly,” she declared, then turned back to Daniel.
“You seem like a smart, decent fellow, but you need to get your head on straight. What you think you’re here for isn’t what you’re actually here for. Use your time here to figure that out.”