Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Are you excited, Puddle? Are you?” Michelle looked down at the puppy, who was sitting expectantly and wagging her tail wildly as if she knew what was happening.
Michelle and Puddle were waiting at the gate at the airport, ready to welcome Elaine and Audrey home.
Michelle had arrived at the airport a whole hour early, since she was impatient with excitement.
She’d bought herself a boba tea and wandered around with Puddle, browsing the gift shops and expectantly checking the arrivals board.
Finally, she’d seen that Elaine and Audrey’s plane had finally landed, and she and Puddle had parked themselves at the gate entrance. It had already been twenty minutes, and Michelle was starting to feel just as wiggly as Puddle looked.
Gosh this is taking a long time, she thought. Are they even off the plane yet? I know sometimes it takes a while for people to be able to disembark.
She was just pulling out her phone for the hundredth time, wondering if Audrey or Elaine had texted her, when Puddle let out a yap.
“Michelle!”
Michelle looked up and her face lit into a grin.
“Mom! Grandma!”
She hurried forward and threw her arms around Elaine and Audrey at the same time. Puddle frolicked around at their feet, barking joyously.
“You’re back,” Michelle said, practically crying. “I missed you both so much.”
“We missed you too.” Audrey kissed her on the side of the head, hugging her back tightly. “It’s so good to be back.”
“It is so good to be back.” Elaine squeezed her hand. “Boston was fun, but there’s no place like home.”
Puddle barked, clearly in agreement. Audrey and Elaine crouched down and got an abundance of puppy kisses.
“Come on,” Michelle said, laughing. “Let’s get you both home. I made a beautiful charcuterie spread for you and we can break open one of the bottles of wine and catch up.”
“Sounds glorious.” Audrey scooped Puddle up into her arms and stood up. “I absolutely cannot wait to be home.”
On the drive back to The Birchwood House, they blasted Christmas carols and sang along badly on purpose, making each other laugh. Puddle barked and howled along, determined to sing too.
They reached the hotel and hurried inside to the warmth. Audrey and Elaine took their suitcases upstairs, saying they wanted to get changed into fresh clothes. Michelle wasted no time while they were gone and set to work starting a fire in the parlor.
“Look at this,” Elaine said, stepping into the parlor wearing a light blue sweater and black corduroy pants. “This is so sweet of you, Michelle.”
“I wanted to do something special for your homecoming.” Michelle curled up in one of the armchairs that were placed in front of the fire.
“That charcuterie board is one of my finest, if I do say so myself. I’ve got those fancy cheese spreads you guys like, and the best crackers, and grapes, and orange marmalade, and chocolate-covered almonds. ”
“Aww, all of Audrey’s and my favorite things.” Elaine’s eyes shone. “I can hardly believe you had the time to do all this while you’ve been running the hotel all by yourself. You’re a marvel.”
Michelle blushed. “I don’t know about that. I had some help running the hotel, anyway.”
“Oh yes, Evan stopped by to help that one day, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Michelle cleared her throat. “And I had some other help too. Here and there.”
“You did? Who—”
“Look at this!” Audrey sashayed into the parlor, wearing fleece sweatpants and an oversized burgundy sweater. “Michelle, you’re an angel. Lunch feels like it happened a million years ago and I’m starving.”
The three of them snuggled down in the armchairs near the fire and began to munch on the charcuterie board. Elaine poured them all glasses of Moscato and Audrey lit a couple of evergreen-scented candles on the mantlepiece.
“This is the life,” Audrey said, sipping her glass of wine and leaning back in her armchair.
“It’s so unbelievably good to be home again.
That hotel was amazing, and it made me prouder than ever of The Birchwood House.
” She laughed. “Like, the whole time, I was thinking about how pretty and comfortable it was, and so is our hotel.”
“I agree.” Elaine smiled. “And I’d venture to say that The Birchwood House is even better than our hotel in Boston, because it’s homier and we have even more free pastry, made by the best baker in the country.”
“But you’re not biased at all.” Michelle arched a brow.
“Mom’s right.” Audrey straightened up proudly. “And The Birchwood House is the best hotel in the world for us because it’s home.”
“It must have been fun, though, getting to explore Boston so much.” Michelle dipped one of the rice crackers into the garlic and herb goat cheese. “There are worse places to be stranded in a snowstorm.”
“That’s for sure.” Elaine swirled her wine around in her glass. “We did have a lot of fun. We can show you all the pictures we took. There’s so much history in Boston.”
“I think we should all spend a few days up there in the summer sometime. Or maybe the early spring.” Audrey laughed. “I’d suggest the weekend, but we should pick a time when the hotel is going to be slow anyway. Monday through Thursday, anyone?”
Michelle nodded. “Sounds perfect. You two can give me a tour. You’re Boston experts by now, I’m sure.”
“Just about.” Elaine shook her head, chuckling. “And how was everything with you here, Michelle?”
“Oh, I survived.” Michelle laughed. “I can’t even begin to tell you how glad I am that you’re here. I definitely felt like an octopus at times, trying to do eight things at once. Actually, maybe it would have been better if I was an octopus. I’m sure more limbs would have been useful.”
“I’m so sorry we left you here by yourself.” Audrey bit her lip. “If I’d had any idea we’d get stranded for so long, I never would have left.”
“Not your fault,” Michelle assured her. “And I was okay. Things… well, things always turned out okay in the end.”
“You were saying that someone other than Evan helped you,” Elaine said, picking up one of the chocolate-covered almonds.
Oh no, Michelle thought, groaning internally. I shouldn’t have mentioned that. Now they’re going to talk to me about Theo being here.
“Who was it?” Audrey prompted.
“Um, Theo stopped by a couple of times,” Michelle said, keeping her eyes fixed intently on a square of cheese on the charcuterie board. “He helped shovel the driveway and he came by when the power went out.”
“The power went out?” Elaine squeaked.
“Only for a while.” Michelle laughed. It was easy to laugh now that the ordeal was over. “Theo lit a fire in here and helped me get flashlights out to everyone. He was great.”
There was a long pause, and Elaine and Audrey looked at each other, their expressions clearly suspicious.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you describe Theo as great before,” Elaine said, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
“He really was.” Michelle cleared her throat. “I couldn’t have managed without him.”
“Really?” Audrey leaned forward, narrowing her eyes slightly. “So he shoveled the driveway for you, huh?”
Michelle could feel that her cheeks were flushed a bright pink.
Still keeping her eyes glued to the piece of cheese, she spoke slowly.
“He was really nice. He helped me bring in the groceries one day, and then he helped me with the driveway, and then he appeared out of nowhere when the power went out and helped me with everything. And um.” Michelle inhaled.
Part of her never wanted to tell anyone about the kiss, in case she and Theo decided to just stay friends for the rest of their lives.
But the rest of her was itching to tell them, even though she felt skittish and embarrassed.
“Then we were on the porch together while I let Puddle out, because he said he wanted to make sure that I didn’t slip. ”
“That was thoughtful.” Elaine’s tone was serene, but her expression was a little impish.
“It was.” Michelle cleared her throat. “And then, he um, he kissed me.”
“What?” Elaine and Audrey both gasped at the same time. Audrey reeled backward and then leaned forward, nearly spilling her wine.
“Yeah.” Michelle found herself smiling sheepishly, and she couldn’t stop. “He kissed me, and then right in the middle of it, the lights came on.”
“Oh, how romantic,” Elaine said.
“Oh.” Michelle had never thought of it that way.
“Um, yeah I guess so. But then I felt really awkward and I excused myself, and then he didn’t come back inside.
Which is my fault because I told him goodnight.
” She shook her head. “And I still had his coat on because he gave me his coat—anyway, I went upstairs and blew out all the candles, and by the time I came back to the kitchen, Theo and his coat were gone.”
Audrey and Elaine exchanged a look. Michelle almost demanded to know what it meant, and then she decided that she’d rather not know. It was probably something along the lines of, “When is Michelle going to admit how much she likes him?”
Did she like him like that? Every time she tried to ask herself the question, her mind seemed to buzz with nervousness so intensely that she hardly knew what her own thoughts or emotions were.
“And then what happened?” Elaine prompted. “Have you seen him since?”
“Yeah, I have. I was sitting in Townsend’s yesterday getting some work done, and he came in and sat down with me.” Michelle paused, taking a deep breath. “He told me that he’s had a crush on me for a long time.”
She looked up at her mother and grandmother, wondering how they were going to react. Audrey blinked at her. The corner of Elaine’s mouth was curving upward.
“Well? Isn’t that crazy?” Michelle prompted.
“Noooo,” Audrey said slowly. She laughed. “I think everyone in town knows that Theo has a crush on you.”
“What?” Michelle spluttered. “I mean, he’s acted weird around me a few times…”
“He’s been acting weird around you ever since you were kids,” Elaine said. “I think everyone in Coral Sands probably saw this coming.”
Michelle shook her head. “That’s… well, that’s just wild.”
Audrey reached out and grabbed Michelle’s hand. “I think the real question is, how do you feel about Theo?”
Michelle’s mouth popped open, but no words came out.
Her mother’s question was the very one she’d been unable to answer until that moment.
Being there with her mother and grandmother, however, made her feel supported and safe enough that her mind quieted down.
At last, she could see her own emotions clearly.
“I think I do,” she said. “I keep trying to tell myself that I don’t know how I feel.
Like, I know I’ve had moments of feeling attracted to him, but then I told myself that didn’t really mean anything.
But I think the truth is that I’ve been trying to push away romantic feelings for him for a while now.
But they just keep growing. And that kiss was amazing.
I wouldn’t feel that way if I didn’t like him, I don’t think.
I think the truth is that I like him an awful lot. ”
“Ahh, that’s so exciting.” Elaine squeezed Michelle’s shoulder.
“I’m really happy for you, Michelle.” Audrey smiled. “Theo is a great guy.”
Michelle shook her head. “But—I mean, we’re not dating. It was a kiss, and a confession. That doesn’t mean we’re going to be together.”
“Well, it sure doesn’t mean the opposite.” Elaine laughed.
Michelle offered her mother and grandmother a weak smile. She felt as though a weight had been lifted from her, and she was glad that she’d confessed her feelings for Theo. She still felt unsure about what to do, however. Should she give it time, or tell him how she felt right away?
Michelle inhaled and then let out a long sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Audrey patted her knee.
“I just wish romance and nervousness didn’t always go hand in hand.” Michelle picked at a fuzzy on the sleeve of her sweater. “I feel at a loss about what to do. Like, should I give it some time? I don’t want to rush into anything.”
“I don’t think you would be rushing,” Elaine said gently. “You and Theo have been friends for a long time. You know he’s a good guy, and so do your mother and I. If you have feelings for him, then I think there’s not much that you need to wait for.”
“What about the fact that I feel really nervous?” Michelle grimaced.
“That’s never going to go away, I’m afraid.” Audrey smiled at her. “Taking a step out in faith toward love is always a scary business. But it’s a rewarding one.”
Michelle stared down into her wine glass, a plan forming in her mind. “Okay,” she said slowly. She looked up and smiled at her mother and grandmother. “Then I think I know what I’m going to do.”