the drive and it smacked right into the window,” Eleanor replied.
Judd rubbed the scruff on his chin. “You make him pay for it?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It was an accident.”
“You’re too nice, Mrs. Finely,” he told her as he grabbed the doorknob. Before he twisted it, he said, “I can fix it for you. I’ll come round tomorrow.”
“That’s so sweet of you,” she said, her eyes sparkling from his gesture.
Eleanor invited Lila to stay after the others left, and Lila had been delighted to have more time with her new friend. Eleanor felt like the grandmother she’d never had. She and Eleanor worked side by side, rinsing dishes at the sink.
“What do you make of that song little Rex played?” Eleanor asked as she grabbed a towel to dry her hands, the last mug placed in the dishwasher. Presley pawed at the dish towel as it dangled from Eleanor’s fingers, and she batted the cat away playfully.
“Theo seems to be very talented,” Lila replied, not wanting to admit to herself that the lyrics had been burned into her brain, the tune bouncing around her head ever since he’d played it.
“He wrote it about someone at the coffee shop,” Eleanor pointed out.
Lila nodded. “Could be anybody,” she said.
“Or somebody.” Eleanor placed a little laundry basket of clean kitchen towels between them on the counter and handed Lila one to fold as she took one herself.
“I don’t think it was me.” Lila folded the towel in thirds and then in half, setting the rectangular bundle on the counter and grabbing another.
“I think you don’t want to get hurt.”
“What?” She held the limp towel between her fingers.
“If Theo was writing about you, then that means he left you when he disappeared. And that would be heartbreaking, I’m sure.” She took the towel from Lila, set it on the counter, and grabbed her hands. “But Lila, his troubles don’t have anything to do with you. You were just caught in the middle, that’s all.”
“Did you know that there are people claiming he’s a thief?”
“What?” The skin between Eleanor’s eyes folded with a deep wrinkle as her face contorted in bewilderment.
“The press paints a not-so-great picture of him. They called him a fraud.”
“Oh my goodness. Do you think it’s true?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore. I hear things like those song lyrics and it makes everything so confusing.”
“The sad thing is that I thought you were getting through to him, and if that song really is about you, he’s missing the best thing he’s probably ever been given in leaving you behind.”
Lila gave Eleanor’s hands a squeeze, considering what she’d said. She thought she was getting through to Theo too, and the frustration she felt that he wouldn’t stick around to see things through was eating away at her.
“Do you mind if I head back to my cabin for a while?” she asked. “It’s been a big day and both of us could probably do with a rest.”
“Of course, dear. Come over any time, though.”
“I will.” She gave Eleanor a hug. “Thank you.”
Lila went back to her cabin, crossing the icy expanse between hers and Eleanor’s, and closed herself in to the musty quiet of her living space. The Christmas decorations felt as if they were mocking her with their cheer. If Eleanor had been right, and Theo had felt something for Lila—which she could swear he did—then he had to be pretty selfish to do this to her.
Frustrated, Lila pulled out her phone and texted Theo:
There’s a light in my soul
When you walk through that door
Your smile so innocent
of all that came before…
If that has anything to do with anything, come back, Theo. At least talk to me. And, by the way, Rex was in tears because you didn’t tell him goodbye.
Her text sat, solitary, on the screen as the minutes ticked by. Nothing. Once again, Theo wasn’t answering. She dropped her phone onto the sofa and headed into her bedroom, closing the door and falling onto her bed, biting back the tears.
Having promised herself when she awoke this morning that she’d enjoy the holiday, Lila settled at the kitchen table in her cabin with a warm cup of cinnamon tea and the book she’d brought to read during those long vacation bubble baths that had never materialized, when her phone rang on the sofa. She scrambled over to get it. It was Piper.
“How’s it going?” Piper asked when Lila answered.
“We’ve started working on Eleanor’s cabin, and I’m so excited for