Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,13

perfectly. She adored children, and as she grew older and hadn’t found someone to settle down with, the thought of adopting a child would flutter through her mind. But she wanted to be sure to have a job that would allow her a ton of time with a little one—she didn’t feel like she was in the right place in her life. She’d done a few humanitarian trips, helping underprivileged youth, and she’d tutored kids who were struggling in school, but it hadn’t been enough to fill the void for her.

“But Chester and I made enough memories of our own with just the two of us,” Eleanor continued. “Did you know that one time I was helping a man reserve a room and we found out it was for Meryl Streep? She stayed in this very cabin while she shot a movie. She was here for an entire week.”

“That’s amazing,” Piper said, her eyes wide.

“We’ve had all kinds of interesting people stay. Authors on retreats, historians researching the battles of the area, a couple of musicians… But enough about me. I don’t want to take up your whole night. You need to enjoy this gorgeous Christmas spirit y’all have created. Y’all should be celebrating.” She opened up the tin of chocolates she’d brought. “These are from France,” she said proudly. “A friend of mine sent them from her travels abroad. I’ve always wanted to go to France—over the years I’d saved the information about hotels and flights and everything—but never have.”

Lila selected a ganache-filled cluster. “Why not?” she asked before popping it into her mouth, the creamy raspberry center and crunchy dark chocolate exploding with flavor.

Eleanor looked down at the assortment of chocolates, as if she were considering whether or not to tell them her answer. She shook her head, clearing her throat, evidently uncomfortable. “Chester and I had the money at one time to travel like that, but we always said, ‘one day’ for those kinds of things. We never realized that the day we were waiting for would never come. Never wait to do the good stuff,” she said, her chest filling with air as she pushed a smile across her face in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. Then she changed course. “What have we got on the agenda tonight, ladies?”

“We usually put on a Christmas movie the first night,” Charlotte replied. “Want to join us?”

Eleanor finished her wine and stood up. “Thank you, but I should be heading back. It’s nearly my bedtime, and you girls have more fun things to do than babysit an old woman like me.”

“It’s really fine,” Piper said. “We’d love you to join us.”

Eleanor yawned. “It’s all right. Y’all enjoy yourselves. I’m going to head back and get some beauty rest.”

“Would you like me to walk with you?” Lila offered.

“I’ll be just fine,” she said. Eleanor scooted the tin of chocolates to the center of the table. “Y’all can keep these. I’ll never eat them all.” She went over to the door and put on her coat and boots, the four women following her to say goodbye.

“We were going to grab a coffee tomorrow and plan what we want to do this week,” Lila said. “Is that café at the edge of town the only place to get a coffee out here?”

“I’m afraid so,” Eleanor said.

“Okay, I guess we’ll go there then. Will you come with us?” Lila asked.

Eleanor’s eyes grew round. “Oh, no. Thank you, but I’ll pass.” Then she leaned in as if she were telling them insider information. “The new owner’s a nightmare.”

Edie laughed. “Yeah, we’ve met him.”

“Good luck,” Eleanor said as she opened the door. “And thank you for tonight.” She headed out into the snowy darkness, the door swinging shut behind her.

“I feel terrible for her,” Charlotte said, twisting a gold curl, frowning with worry.

“I know,” Edie replied. “How long has she lived in that condition all by herself? I feel like we should spend more time with her, but she wouldn’t stay tonight or get coffee tomorrow, and I really doubt she’d be able to keep up on our adventures this week. What should we do?”

Lila went over to the window just in time to see Eleanor making her way to the main house. She stayed there until the elderly woman had gotten inside. “We’ll come up with something. Let’s think on it and talk about it tomorrow.” She closed the blinds. “There’s nothing else we can do tonight, so why don’t we just