Winter at Birchwood House

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Elaine Sutton pulled back the lace curtains on the parlor windows and smiled out at the snowy landscape.

The lawn surrounding The Birchwood House was blanketed in sparkling white, and the December sunlight was bright and added a dream-like quality to the scene.

Inside the mansion, it was warm and cozy, and behind her in the parlor, a fire was crackling merrily in the fireplace.

“They’re not going to get here faster, just because you’re checking for them,” Michelle, Elaine’s granddaughter, teased.

Elaine turned around and smiled at Michelle, who was sitting behind the reception desk for the hotel.

The desk was placed just inside the parlor, set at a perpendicular angle to the open doorway so that it faced the front door of the hotel.

The three Sutton women—Elaine, her daughter Audrey, and Michelle—had wondered at first how they were going to set up a reception desk in a big old mansion that had never been designed to be a hotel, but Audrey had come up with the idea of placing it just inside the parlor, and it worked splendidly.

Michelle typically manned the front desk, since she loved greeting guests and organizing schedules.

Audrey led most of the cleaning efforts, and she’d done most of the brainstorming when they were first designing and planning the hotel.

Elaine was in charge of making breakfast for the hotel guests every day.

Together, they were a perfect team. They helped each other out with everything, and made sure they were each able to take a day off now and again.

“I know,” Elaine said with a smile. “I’m just worried they’re having trouble driving in the snow.”

Michelle laughed. “These guests are from the Midwest,” she said. “From Wisconsin. I’m sure they know how to handle a little snow.”

“Oh.” Elaine chuckled. “Thanks for putting my fears to rest.”

She wandered into the hallway, checking to make sure the refreshments table was still well-stocked with fresh coffee and pastries.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the beautiful wooden boxes that Shep Townsend, the man she was dating, had ordered for the hotel as a present for her.

They had the words “Baked with Love” carved across the front of them, and she had always felt that meant more coming from Shep, who owned a local bakery and baked pastries for the hotel every day, than it would have meant coming from anyone else.

Satisfied that the table was still well-stocked with goodies, Elaine made her way into the kitchen.

It smelled fragrant with the lingering aromas of bacon and blueberry waffles, which were what they had served their guests for breakfast that morning.

She felt a flutter of happiness when she looked at the little Christmas tree that she and Audrey and Michelle had set up on the end of the kitchen island.

It was a fake tree, unlike the big real one they had in the parlor, and it was white.

On it they’d strung twinkling white lights and antique pink and blue shining ornaments.

Michelle had declared that it looked like a tree straight out of the 1950s, and Elaine agreed that it had a whimsical, nostalgic feel to it.

Its festive appearance made her excited about Christmas, but it was also so beautiful it was something she would have loved to look at any time of the year.

She went over to the kitchen radio, which was playing softly, and turned up the volume. The sweet refrain of a Christmas carol filled the room, and Elaine hummed along as she went over to the cupboard and got out a mug for coffee.

There was another snack table in the kitchen, and it had a coffee maker too—as well as more flavoring options, such as various syrups and creamers that they kept stocked in a mini fridge along with snacks such as yogurts and cheese sticks.

Elaine poured herself a cup of coffee and added a generous splash of peppermint creamer as well as a squeeze of chocolate sauce.

She stirred the mixture together, inhaling the Christmassy aroma of the beverage with a happy sigh.

She sat down at the kitchen table and had just taken a few sips when she heard the front door of the hotel open.

“Hi!” came the sound of Michelle’s cheerful voice. “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Fowler. Welcome to The Birchwood House.”

Elaine grinned, setting down her coffee mug, and stood up. She hurried out into the hallway and smiled at their new guests, who were setting down their suitcases and looking around at the beautiful old house with interest.

“Hi, folks, I’m Elaine Sutton,” she said, walking up to them and shaking their hands in turn. “Welcome.”

“Beautiful place you’ve got here,” said Mr. Fowler.

“Just wonderful,” agreed his wife. “We really enjoyed our drive as well. This whole area is so beautiful and charming.”

“Especially at Christmastime,” said Michelle, nodding. “The snow makes everything look so picturesque, and I love how excited Coral Sands gets about decorating the whole town.”

“Yes, red ribbons on every lamppost on Main Street,” said Mrs. Fowler with a laugh.

Elaine felt a glow in her chest, knowing their guests already loved Coral Sands. “I’m sure you’re going to have a wonderful time here,” she said. “Unless you’d like to get some refreshments first, I can show you to your room.”

“I think we’ll go to our room first,” Mr. Fowler said, making eye contact with his wife to make sure that she agreed. “We can always come back downstairs and get some refreshments later. What do you have?”

“Coffee and hot cocoa, and doughnuts, sugar cookies, peppermint meringues, and chocolate croissants from the best bakery on the East Coast—Townsend’s Bakery, here in town.”

Over the shoulder of the Fowlers, Elaine could see Michelle grinning.

She felt herself blush a little. Before she and Shep had started going out, she told guests that Townsend’s was the best bakery in town.

It was possible that her growing affection for Shep was causing her to use a little hyperbole, but she felt confident that if she actually tasted baked goods from every shop along the East Coast, she wouldn’t find anything better than what Shep made.

“And there are snacks in the kitchen as well,” Michelle said.

“And they’re complimentary?” Mrs. Fowler asked with surprise.

“They are,” Elaine said. “We do our best to make sure our guests have a wonderful stay here. And it’s not as though we’re hosting five hundred people every weekend.” She laughed. “Our limited number of rooms make being this hospitable a little easier.”

“How many rooms do you have booked up this weekend?” Mr. Fowler asked as they started up the grand staircase.

“All of them,” Elaine said, unable to keep the glee out of her voice. “We had a bit of a lull in November, but now we’re just as full up as we were in the early fall. A lot of tourists like to come to Coral Sands at Christmastime to enjoy how festive it is here.”

“Understandable,” said Mrs. Fowler.

They reached the rose room a few moments later. Elaine felt a surge of pride as she pushed open the door, revealing a darling room decorated in elegant shades of pink and white. A welcome basket complete with goodies such as hand lotion, face cloths, and toothbrushes rested on the bed.

“This remote controls the lights on the Christmas tree,” Elaine said, still feeling surprised by the technical wizardry that Michelle had arranged for all of the trees in the guest rooms. She pressed the button and smiled when the tree, which was fake like the one in the kitchen but colored a natural green with a dusting of imitation snow, suddenly glowed with twinkling lights.

“You can press this button here if you want them to flash, or this button here if you want them to fade in and out. And then of course there’s the regular setting where they just stay lit.

” She laughed and set the remote back down on the writing desk, which was placed next to the fireplace.

“And there are a couple of heaters on the balcony, which you can turn on so that you can stay outside longer and enjoy the view. We just ask that you turn them off as soon as you’re ready to come back inside. ”

“Sounds wonderful,” said Mrs. Fowler. “I love this tree. It matches the room—all those white, red, pink, and silver ornaments.”

“Thank you.” Elaine’s blue eyes danced. “We had a wonderful time decorating the trees in every room. Michelle is dead set on a color theme for every guest room. You’ll notice all your towels are rose-colored as well once you step into the bathroom.

” She laughed. “So we had a lot of fun dusting off the antique ornaments in the attic and buying new ones and sorting them all into various boxes for every room to stick with the color themes.”

“Decorating them must have taken a lot of time.” Mr. Fowler looked at the beautiful tree approvingly.

Elaine smiled. “It did, but we had a great time. We listened to an audiobook of A Christmas Carol or talked while we set them all up. I think it helps that we all really love Christmas.”

The Fowlers smiled back at her, and Elaine couldn’t help feeling a boost of energy at seeing the pleasure on their faces.

The joy of the season is in the air, she thought with a rush of enthusiasm in her core. I’m so happy we get to spread Christmas cheer through The Birchwood House. I’m absolutely loving running the hotel right now, more than ever before.

She parted ways with the Fowlers, satisfied that they had everything they needed to be comfortable. As she walked along the upstairs hallway, she looked around her at the beautiful mansion and smiled.

I’m so blessed, she thought. I remember when all these rooms were empty and dusty. I was happy enough, living with memories of my years with Thomas, but I was so lonely. Having the girls move in was wonderful enough, but turning the mansion into a hotel was the best idea we ever had.