Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,63
day.
“I have an idea,” she said the instant the old lady opened the door.
“What is it?” Eleanor poked the fire in the old stone hearth with the iron, the flames licking their way up the chimney in protest, sending a wave of heat through the room. She sat down on the sofa, patting the spot next to her.
“What would you say if I told you I found a donor for this place who is willing to invest about five thousand dollars into renovations with no questions asked?”
“I’d say you’ve had a little too much eggnog somewhere,” Eleanor said, with a disbelieving but excited laugh.
“Call me what you want, but you’ve got it if you want it.”
Eleanor gasped, covering her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide. “Who’s the investor?” she asked through her fingers.
“Me.”
“What? You can’t invest that much of your money.”
“I can invest in whatever I want to invest in.” Lila gave her a big, loving grin. “We’ll have to be smart about what we use the money for to be sure we get the biggest bang for our buck. We don’t have a ton to work with.”
“You really want to do this?” Presley jumped into her lap, purring.
“Yes,” she said with feeling. “I love this place—I see so much potential here. And I adore the town. I’ve toyed with the idea of sticking around for a while…”
“Oh, my dear! That would be wonderful.”
“Now, let’s get started. Who are we going to get to help us with the exterior?”
“I found a painter who will touch up the cabins for three thousand dollars,” Eleanor said, setting the cat down onto the wood floor. Its tail swished back and forth as it made its way over to the fire and curled up on its little cushion there.
“For all the cabins? Wow, that’s incredible.”
“And a carpenter who will fix my steps and the porch. He wants four hundred.”
“Okay, good. We’re getting somewhere. We could try to rent a steam cleaner and steam the carpets instead of replacing them. I don’t mind painting the walls inside the cabins. How many are there?”
“Five, plus mine. We could just paint the family rooms, since that’s what you see when you come in the door.”
“Great idea. We could also ask Pinewood Farm if they have any clearance garlands to use. And we could rake up the leaves around the green spaces.”
“This is amazing,” Eleanor said, wrapping her arms around Lila. “But I’m worried you’re spending too much on this. Where are you getting all the money?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Lila said with a grin. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” Eleanor put her hand on her heart, obviously still overwhelmed by the gesture. “Stay for supper,” she said. “I’ll make us a celebratory feast.”
Eleanor had been true to her word, cooking soft-drop biscuit chicken and dumplings, cornbread, and buttery stewed carrots. Lila was bursting full, but Eleanor insisted that she carry a family-sized box of leftovers back to her cabin. She’d spent the whole dinner telling Eleanor about Theo and how she’d run the coffee shop today.
“I can’t believe it,” she’d said. “Well, actually, from what I’ve seen of him, I can, sad to say.”
Lila could understand her point of view, but she refused to believe Theo would just abandon them. She’d seen another side of him––hadn’t she?
As she slipped the key into the lock and let herself in, she took stock of her surroundings, the silence of the cabin making her feel lonely. Just then her phone pinged, and she couldn’t deny the fizzle of hope that it was Theo. She had been checking her phone all day, but had had no reply from him. Pulling her phone from her pocket, a mixture of happiness and disappointment simultaneously swam through her. It was Edie.
The text read, We’re doing a group video call. (It was Piper’s idea.) Are you free?
Yes, she answered, amused.
Her phone lit up, and she ran into the living room and grabbed her iPad, opening the app on the bigger device and settling in on the sofa, under the soft glow of the lamp and the Christmas lights.
“Hi!” Piper said from the corner of the screen.
“Hey, everyone!” Lila said, waving to her friends. “Charlotte, are you still in LA?”
“Yes!” Charlotte was all smiles.
“What’s that framed behind you? Is that someone famous?” Lila asked.
Charlotte reached around and held up a glossy photo of actress Nikki Mars, signed in swooping script in the corner. “Yeah!” she said from what looked like her trailer on set. Lila could see a