The Mills & Boon Christmas Wishes Collection. Maisey Yates
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Cedarwood Lodge is no different.”
I hugged myself tight. “Well, the press have certainly changed their tune! That’s a long way away from accusing me of being a celebrity wedding wrecker! How did they find out about the expo?” I asked.
“We must have had a rogue bride here,” Amory screeched. “We’d usually have picked up on being spied on! Who do you think it was?”
“I don’t know,” I said, picturing their faces, their smiles. “I bet you it was Felicity! That whole monster-in-law thing was a farce!”
“Yes! And don’t forget the try-the-dress-on-routine!”
“Or was it our troublemaker, Isadora?”
Shrugging, Amory scanned the rest of the article. “She mentions the food! She says: The canapés were fresh and seasonal, exceptional in every way, and the Christmas feast luncheon was better than Mom’s – but don’t tell her I said that.”
“We have to thank Cruz a million times over. I’m not sure how he handled it with such aplomb.”
“The rest of the article gives our details, and says: Book early, I have a feeling Cedarwood Lodge won’t be a secret for much longer.”
“Let’s celebrate! We have to plan the most extravagant Christmas Eve dinner. We can deck out the little salon that adjoins the side deck, set up a table by the picture window so we can watch the snowfall up close.”
Her eyes shone, because there was nothing better for a party planner than decorating and hosting her very own party. “Yes! Let’s go to town on that room! We’ll need another Christmas tree, something small…”
“Shall we head into town and buy Christmas bonbons, and something for the center of the table?”
“Yes! We still have a few more gifts to buy too!” She rubbed her hands together. “We’re going to need to make a list. OK, well, get your granny shoes on and we’ll head into Evergreen.”
I scoffed. “My granny shoes?”
“Those big clodhoppers of yours. Those boots, the ones that look like you’re about to head into war after an apocalypse.”
I hit her on the arm. “They’re snow boots, I’ll have you know. You’re not the one who has to walk around the grounds every day, checking on things.” I’d been escaping for long walks, telling whoever asked that I was clearing my head, when in actual fact I was searching for the maze. I knew it was somewhere on the east side of the property but that was thick forest, totally overgrown, and impossible to navigate in the slushy snow. Isla would have a better idea of where it was but I was loath to share my mom’s secret because I’d promised her I wouldn’t. There probably was no maze after all these years. By now it would be just one big overgrown hedge, but still I wanted to see it myself. So far, no luck.
“Well, get them on, darling, and let’s go shopping!”
I grabbed her arm as she was about to leave. “Amory, you know Evergreen isn’t actually a bustling little shopping capital, don’t you?”
She threw her head back and laughed at my worried expression. “I think I’ll survive. Now come on, we’ve got gifts to buy!”
In town, the street had come alive with shoppers wearing determined expressions. Storefronts were lit up with Christmas lights, and tinsel was draped behind windows. In the window of Puft were lush green-iced donuts, stacked atop each other in the shape of a Christmas tree. We waved to Aunt Bessie. I stuck my head in and told her we’d stop by after shopping. Wreaths blew sideways, their little bells jingling in the wind. The town Christmas tree was decorated with so many baubles they had their own music, clinking together in the wind, glittery dust blanketing the snow beneath.
We went to the little candle shop, and stocked up on candles for our friends and some for the lodge. Ruth, the owner, made the candles herself, and had a range especially for Christmas. From gingerbread scented to candy-cane striped, we had a hard time choosing.
“Let’s get them all,” Amory said. “They might sell out and then we’ll be upset.”
I held my laughter in check, doubting very much that anything would sell out in Evergreen except Aunt Bessie’s donuts, but agreed to buy them all, knowing how lovingly made they were, and that if the same product was sold in New York, we’d be paying five times the price without blinking an eye.
“Why, thank you, girls!” Ruth said, wrapping our purchases as we kept finding other scents and adding them to the pile.
After that we went around the corner to a gift shop, tucked into the back of an alley. I often wondered how Henrietta ever made any money as tourists wouldn’t know to look here, and the town wasn’t big enough for her to survive on locals’ purchases, but somehow she did.
“You know, we should make up a folder for each suite, with a map of the town and all these little hidden gems – like Henrietta’s gift shop and Ruth’s candle shop – so they don’t pass through Evergreen completely. There’s lots here, if you know where to look.”
Amory nodded, and pushed open the door. Inside was toasty warm and decorated prettily for Christmas, in a pink and silver theme. “Hey there, Clio!” Henrietta said, grabbing me in a bear hug. “Bessie told me you’re doing well at Cedarwood. I’m so happy to hear it.”
“Thanks, Henrietta.”
She stood back, surveying me, and smiled. “I’m glad the place isn’t empty any more. Such a waste to have it lying there abandoned like that. ’Spose there was good reason for it, though. The townsfolk are still very superstitious about the place, but they’ll come around. I guess they think it’s not fair to her memory… and I can understand that.”
My chest tightened. “Whose memory?” I managed to sputter.
Henrietta’s face paled. “Didn’t your mom tell you before you bought the lodge? I thought…”
“I bought the lodge as a surprise and then told Mom. Who, Henrietta? Who did you mean?”
She waved me away. “I didn’t mean a thing. I’ve had too much eggnog, is all. You know that old place, kinda spooky when it was vacant, that’s all.”
Just like the others, her mouth was closed on the matter. But it was closer than I’d come before. Had someone died there? And, if so, what did Mom have to do with it?
It was hard to continue shopping, as if nothing else mattered, but I did it for Amory’s sake, pasting on a smile and chatting lightheartedly.
With only a few more days until Christmas, Micah had left early for the airport, to pick up Kai, who had finally wrapped up his jobs and was able to get away. Forget the kiss, forget the jelly-legged sensation, and focus on getting the chapel approved. Yes, yes, yes. Really, I had started to think I had imagined the whole take-my-breath-away moment of madness with Kai. Maybe I’d dreamed it up, maybe I was that desperate? Next I’d be journaling about our faux children, and their sporting prowess, their educational achievements… Where Kai and I would renew our vows (beachside, Mauritius) what I’d wear (backless, lemon-colored dress, flip-flops, hair loose), and what… I shook my head. Dang it, usually my away-with-the-fairy moments were about other brides, real brides, ones who were actually engaged or at least in a relationship. I put it all down to lack of sleep…
Isla, Amory and I had just finished inspecting the chalets, making copious notes just like always about how we wanted to furnish them, and what we needed to order, so that when renovations started in the New Year, we would be ready to go. The sooner they were done the better, and another income stream would open up. The chalets were completely self-contained, and also more private, being set away from the lodge itself.
Trudging back through the slushy