Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,33

he snapped, a frantic scramble for a response swimming across his features. Her questioning had clearly hit a nerve.

“You’re terrified to feel something, and you’re hiding behind your anger and that coffee shop instead of facing whatever it is,” she ventured.

“You don’t know anything,” he spat.

“Don’t I? By the look on your face, it sure seems like I do.” She strode over to him, forcing him to stay by blocking his path to the door.

“Hey,” Edie said, suddenly coming into the room.

The two of them flew apart, Lila’s heart slamming around in her chest.

Piper and Eleanor followed Edie back into the room.

“You know the client I’m trying to win for my firm?” Edie said, biting her lip, clearly so worried about the phone call she’d just had that she hadn’t even noticed Lila and Theo’s reaction when she’d come in. “They want an emergency meeting tomorrow before their CEO flies to Vail for the holidays. I have to present. He wants to make a decision before Christmas.”

“What does that mean?” Lila asked.

“I know it’s getting late, but if I want any time to prepare, I have to leave tonight.” Edie paced back and forth. “I offered to help Eleanor with photos and that free PR…” she worried aloud.

“It’s fine,” Lila soothed, trying to absorb the blow that another friend was leaving. “Theo can do the job and he agreed to it without any PR.”

“I feel terrible,” Edie said, her face crumpling with dejection. “First Charlotte, now me.” She held up her phone. “I have to find a rental car company somewhere nearby, but I doubt I’ll have much luck.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Lila told her. “Worst case, you could take my car…”

“I could always come back to pick you up. But let me look for a rental first.”

“I have an extra car,” Theo said. “If you take Lila’s, I’ll either loan her one that can be returned later, or I’ll find another way to get her home.”

Edie turned her goggling eyes toward Lila.

Then, as if something occurred to him, he asked Lila, “Where do you live?”

Was Theo putting himself in a position to have to see her again? “California,” she said.

But the shock that registered in his expression made her unable to keep her poker face. “Just kidding,” she said. “I live in Nashville.”

He let out a nervous exhale. “Glad it’s at least in the state. Probably should’ve thought that through before I offered.”

“No need for all that,” Eleanor cut in. “I hardly ever drive anymore. You’re welcome to use my car as your own, any time you need it, until your friends can come back for you. It’s the least I can do to repay you for all your help.”

“Thank you, Eleanor.” Lila was grateful for the offer, but she couldn’t help the regret that bubbled up at having lost an opportunity to see Theo again.

“This is awful to say, but I think we might need to just call off the Christmas trip this year,” Piper said. “With Edie having to leave and Charlotte already gone, it just doesn’t feel the same. And now the cabin will be torn to shreds with repairs… It makes the most sense if we all get in the car together and go home.”

“I agree,” Edie said, shaking her head with resignation. “I don’t want to, but I think we’ve been given no other choice.”

“Except that Theo would be forced to work all day at the coffee shop and then all night on the plumbing, since there wouldn’t be anyone to take over the shop for him,” Lila said.

Piper chewed on her lip.

That familiar feeling of being alone slithered through Lila. “What if I stay behind?” she suggested. She didn’t want to go home. She’d managed to have people she loved around her every holiday, and that had kept her from falling apart. If she went back now, she’d be alone, and she’d have to think about how much she missed her father and how she wished she had a family of her own. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she felt she was needed here, like she had a purpose. And if she couldn’t be with her best friends, this was where she wanted to be.

“I don’t want to abandon Eleanor. The last thing I want is for her to spend her holiday alone,” Lila said. “I can work in the shop for Theo during the day and keep Eleanor company in the evenings. I’d love to learn