the internet last night, I went to her room at midnight declaring that I was going to kill four birds with one stone.
Mom looked rightfully confused as she sat up in bed and blinked. I felt bad for waking her up, but if I was going to give Beatrice the quintessential Christmas experience, I might as well start off with a bang. And that meant crossing sleigh ride, Christmas breakfast, picnic, and handwritten letter off the list.
Thankfully, Mom agreed to handle the food for me. If she hadn’t, we would have been stuck with eating Raisin Bran and fruit. That was just about the only thing I could make.
Porter was on board. But I think it had more to do with the fact that he was still a part of this instead of his actual enthusiasm for what we were doing. When I got back to the inn this morning after having picked up the horses, I found him stretching his facial muscles in front of the foyer mirror.
It bothered me that he was so okay with faking all of this for Emilia and Beatrice. Even though I was doing the same, at least I was doing it to help Beatrice. Porter was doing it to help Porter.
So when Beatrice asked me if Porter planned this, I was disappointed that she didn’t think me capable of creating this experience for her. But she didn’t know my plan, so I couldn’t really get upset with her. That wouldn’t be fair.
I peeked over at her as I drove the horses deeper into the woods that surrounded the inn. Did she really think that I couldn’t plan this for her? Was it really that hard to think that I knew what made a good Christmas outing?
I shook my head as I turned my focus back to the path that stretched out in front of us. I needed to stop thinking so much and just be here in the moment. I needed to stop worrying about what was going to happen when Beatrice left. If I could give her the Christmas that she never had, then I would have done my job.
It didn’t take long before the trees parted, exposing a clearing. A firepit sat in the center, and picnic tables surrounded it. I clicked my tongue and shook the reins, directing the horses to the left. Once they couldn’t go any further, they stopped and we all jumped down from the sleigh.
I contemplated hurrying over to Beatrice’s side and helping her down, but she beat me to it. When her feet landed on the ground, she turned to grin at me. I wasn’t sure what to make of the look in her eye. She looked happy, which was nice, but I couldn’t stop the desire to see something deeper. Something more.
Was she feeling what I was feeling?
I was a dork.
I cleared my throat and nodded toward the back of the sleigh. “I’ll get the food.”
“I’ll help,” Beatrice said as she moved to follow me.
Emilia and Porter declared that they were going to get a fire started. I nodded, but my focus wasn’t on them. It was on Beatrice. Her arm brushed mine as she leaned across the sleigh and pulled one of the insulated bags closer to her.
When she straightened, she flicked her hair over her shoulder and smiled up at me. “Got it.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the smell of her shampoo or her proximity as she stood next to me, but my whole brain felt foggy. My heart had picked up speed, and I was left blinking rapidly in an effort to get control of my body.
Beatrice’s face entered my line of sight. She was frowning as her gaze raked over me. “You okay?” she asked.
I swallowed, forcing myself to wake up. If my mind didn’t clear soon, I was going to head to Dr. Willow’s office to have him check me out. I could be having a brain aneurysm with the way my body was acting.
“Yeah, I’m great,” I said as I reached forward and pulled the last two bags toward me and then slipped them onto my shoulder. “Just lightheaded.” I hurried to add, “Because I’m hungry.”
Beatrice chuckled. “Low blood sugar?” Her smile was genuine and caused me to pause.
Not wanting to give away just what she was doing to me, I forced my body to keep moving. “Something like that.”
When we got to the picnic table, I handed the bags over to Beatrice so she could hold