One Snowy Night (Sweet Home, Alaska #1) - Patience Griffin Page 0,55

me, buttercup. I got a telephone order to send groceries to your house.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know,” Piney said.

“How can you not know? You know everyone in town.” But Hope had a sneaking suspicion of who it might be. “Male or female?”

“Um, female.” Piney seemed a little rattled.

“How did this woman pay? With a credit card?”

Piney looked downright agitated. “Stop asking so many questions and help me get these bags into Betsy.” Betsy was Piney’s Volkswagen Beetle. “The milk is heavy.”

Hope took the bags from her. They really were stuffed. “What’s in here?”

“Milk, bread, meat. Just everyday items,” Piney said.

Hope waited while Piney opened the car door. “Oh, fine, but tell Donovan not to do it again.” He’d certainly worked fast. He must’ve called Piney before her car was out of the lodge’s driveway.

“No one said it was him,” Piney said stubbornly. “I don’t know who it was.”

Hope put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the key to the Hungry Bear. “Here. I also came to return this. I don’t need it anymore.”

Piney gaped as if Hope were handing her a beating heart. “K-keep it,” the older woman said, fairly choked up. “In case of emergency.”

Hope continued to hold it out to her.

Piney clasped Hope’s hand, closing her fingers around the key. “You’re still my backup, buttercup. What if I have to rush Sparkle to the hospital again?” Piney gave her a sad smile. “What if you have a hankering for mint chocolate chip ice cream in the middle of the night?”

“I won’t—” Hope began.

“Keep the key,” Piney said firmly.

Piney was family when Hope didn’t have any. She couldn’t let this one thing with the Hungry Bear ruin their relationship. “Fine.” Hope felt like she was doing a lot of giving in tonight.

“That’s my girl,” Piney cooed. “Now get in Betsy and let me give you and your groceries a lift home.”

When they got to Hope’s house, Bill came out onto his porch and waved.

Hope said good night and trudged to the house with her groceries in tow. When she got inside her empty cottage, she wanted nothing more than to collapse on the couch and close her eyes. But she had food to put away.

“I guess I’ll have to thank Donovan—right before I tell him to mind his own business,” Hope said, as she methodically shoved the food into the fridge.

When she was done, she pulled out her sewing machine to work on the curtains for Wandering Moose Cabin. It was a small act of rebellion, since Donovan wanted her to make the curtains during work hours at the lodge. “This should make up for the groceries he bought me.”

As she pressed the fabric, she visualized the cabin on a bright summer’s day, the breeze blowing the curtains, making the cabin feel fresh and light. Guests would certainly enjoy the Alaskan flavor of the fabric . . . Her smile faded. The curtains would soon be replaced by his interior decorator. The thought stalled her pressing and she switched off the iron, frowning. She shouldn’t be waxing poetic about the lodge. She didn’t have a stake in it. Or in Donovan, for that matter. She shouldn’t be putting the smallest piece of her heart into the lodge when it was only going to be sold off soon.

She went to the pantry and pulled out the peanut butter and bread. But after fixing a sandwich and sitting in front of the TV to eat, she wasn’t in the mood for a sitcom or a drama. Her life seemed full of both right now—her daughter’s drinking problem, getting laid off from the grocery store, and having her emotions unreasonably wrapped up in Donovan Stone . . . again. Not even Hollywood would pick up a story as outlandish as hers. She ate her sandwich with the wind howling outside the window, and when she was done, she stretched out on the couch to wait up for Ella.

She must’ve fallen asleep because Izzie cleared her throat. Hope opened her eyes and saw her sitting on the armrest at the end of the couch.

“So, you got fired from the Hungry Bear?” Izzie said gleefully.

“I didn’t get fired. I was laid off. There’s a difference.”

“Either way, you no longer work there,” her sister said. “I’m glad. You needed a change of pace.”

“Should I say I have a new job or do you already know that?”

Izzie stroked her chin thoughtfully, as if she were an old man smoothing down his beard. “Hmm .