Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,20
as a surprise.”
“I’ll decorate,” Piper said.
“Me too,” Lila agreed. “Edie and Charlotte, would you two entertain her while we’re in the house?”
“Oooh! I could offer her some PR as a Christmas present and tell her I’d like to take some new photos of her, to update the Fireside Cabins website,” Edie cut in. “You said she knew she needed some more recent photos.”
“I could do her hair and makeup as my gift,” Charlotte said. “I’ll get her ready for the photo shoot and take my time.”
“Perfect,” Lila said. “Think she’ll fall for it?”
“We’ll just say we wanted to do something nice for her for Christmas,” Piper said. “And then we hope she’ll go for it.”
“Oh, I’m so excited,” Piper said with a giggle. “Let’s go grab a few ornaments and some lights and get the car. Time to spread some Christmas cheer.”
Six
“We bought way more greenery than we needed,” Lila said with a chuckle as she stood in the living room, still out of breath after hiding the tree from Eleanor and then dragging it with Piper all the way to the house through the snow.
Eleanor had fallen for their plan hook, line, and sinker. The girls had told her that Piper and Lila wanted to keep shopping at the Christmas tree farm but Edie and Charlotte had gotten cold, so they’d come home. They’d said that they’d love her to keep them company and then Edie suggested the photo shoot. Eleanor wasn’t quite sure about that and it had taken a little convincing, but Edie promised it would be worth it to take a new photo while they were there visiting because then she’d have it at the ready if and when she updated the website for Fireside Cabins.
“We’ll find a place for it,” Piper called to Lila, filling up a glass at the kitchen sink with the water for the reservoir in the tree stand. She came back in, and poured it into the stand under the tree in the corner of the room.
Lila stretched a piece of cedar garland along the broken window, trying to figure out how to hide it. “I wish we could do something for the rest of the house too,” she said. “I worry about all her cabins being empty. Did you see how many people were at the Christmas tree farm? Those are potential customers for Eleanor.”
“With all this land,” Piper said, “she could retire if she sold this place, and it’s a goldmine for the right investor. Do you think she should sell it?”
“I think on paper, yes,” Lila replied. “But she’s all alone and she has so many memories here. Even updating it might be a delicate subject, let alone selling it.”
“You’re right,” Piper agreed. “Can you come over and help me string these lights?”
“Absolutely.” Filling up Eleanor’s home with happiness was important to Lila because she knew all too well what it was like to need to hold on to the memories. And if a few Christmas lights could bring back the joy of this house for Eleanor, then Lila would do whatever it took.
They’d worked at light speed, and Piper and Lila had finished decorating the living room before Eleanor came back.
They’d created quite a bit of merriment: the mantle was dripping in wide swags of spruce greenery held up by bright red glittered Christmas bows, their ribbons cascading down in waves, the flames in the fireplace shimmering off their sparkling surface. The enormous tree in the corner was decorated in reds and whites with crystal snowflakes that sent a buttery glow through the room, the white lights dancing off the hardwood floors like fireflies. They’d found a few candles and lit them around the room, wrapping the bottoms in fresh pine they’d cut and wired together to make candle rings. They’d decided to hang wreaths in all the windows, tying big gold bows that filled the center to hide the cracked window. They’d even put out a bowl of milk for the tabby cat Presley, who would come out of hiding and brave strangers in his house just to have some, they discovered.
Piper had texted the other two women to see if they could get Eleanor outside, pretending they wanted to take more pictures for the photo shoot. Then she sneaked into the cabin to grab some of the cookies and Christmas snacks they’d brought with them, along with wrapping paper, bows, and a handful of her soaps and lotions to wrap up under the tree.