Sue snickered, unoffended. “Next time I’ll keep it out for you, except it will be plain old beef soup, then.”
He went to the sink and washed his hands then pulled a bowl out and served himself from the big stockpot on the stove, then cut off a large slice of Sue’s fabulous honey wheat bread.
He deliberately took a seat next to Maddie and across from Eliza.
“What have you been up to today?” he asked the girl.
“Helping my mama,” she answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “We’re making this big house into a real home instead of a fancy shell.”
Now that sounded like she was parroting words she had heard from someone else. He glanced at Eliza and saw that delicate blush creeping over her cheekbones.
He managed to hide a smile at the last minute. He shouldn’t enjoy seeing her a little embarrassed at her daughter’s openness but after the way she had avoided him for nearly twenty-four hours, he would take amusement where he could find it.
“Do you know what? That’s exactly what this place needs. You’re both doing a fantastic job, too. I could tell the difference the moment I walked in yesterday. I especially love the pine boughs on all the fireplace mantels and the glittery pinecones in some of the rooms. Did you have anything to do with that?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, looking delighted that he had noticed. “I helped spray paint them. It wasn’t hard at all, just a little messy.”
“You did an excellent job. I’m very impressed at your spray-painting skills.”
“Look. The paint is almost gone from my fingers where I pushed the spray thingy.”
She held up her pointer fingers and he did indeed see a little residue of metallic paint.
Sue chortled at that. “Hey, look at that. Guess you’re not the only one at Snow Angel Cove with the golden touch, boss.”
“Are you good at spray painting, too?” Maddie asked.
“Not as good as you,” he assured her. She beamed at him and he was happy to see her mother seemed to have relaxed a little during the conversation. She even unbent enough to smile a little.
“How are the new additions to the barn?” Sue asked.
“All settled in. You’ll have to go down and visit them. They are a couple of fine-looking gentlemen.”
Maddie giggled. “That’s silly. Gentlemen live in the house, not the barn!”
“These gentlemen are two new horses who are visiting for a few weeks. They’re going to help me with a surprise.”
“What surprise?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you yet. You’ll have to wait until later this week. But you can come down to the barn and meet them.”
“Now?” she asked eagerly. “Bob would like to meet them, too.”
“We have some things to do this afternoon, honey. Maybe later,” Eliza said.
“When Jim and I stopped for gas this morning, everybody was sure talking about the big boat parade tonight.”
“Boat parade?” Maddie frowned. “How do they do that?”
Eliza answered. “Everyone in town decorates their boats with Christmas lights and then they float from the marina in town around the edge of the lake to Shelter Springs and then back to Haven Point.”
“Christmas lights and boats? Oh, can we go see, Mama?” Maddie sounded breathless with excitement at the idea.
“It’s so cold out. Who wants to watch a parade in the wintertime?”
“I think it sounds wonderful. I think we should all go together.”
“That is an excellent idea, Sue,” Aidan said. “Now I’m sure I don’t pay you enough.”
“Can we, Mama?” Maddie pressed.
Eliza looked torn. She obviously didn’t want to spend more time with him but he guessed she also didn’t want to disappoint her daughter.
“Sure,” she finally said with a smile. “That sounds like fun.”
“According to the sign I saw in town,” he said, “the boats leave the marina just after sunset, at about six o’clock, which means they would probably hit the downtown area about ten or fifteen minutes later. Let’s leave at five-thirty, to be safe. That should give us time to park and find a good vantage point to watch the parade go past. We can all grab dinner in town somewhere and try to squeeze in a little shopping, too, if you want.”
“I love shopping,” Maddie informed him. “And I love parades, too. And boats, except I’ve never been on one.”
He was rapidly coming to adore this sweet little girl. She made him smile, which he was discovering he didn’t do nearly enough of. She made him want to do crazy things, like rent a boat, decorate it with Christmas lights and take her for a spin around the lake, just to make her happy.
Maybe next year.
Except she wouldn’t be here next Christmas and neither would her lovely mother. He swallowed the bite of bread he had just taken, wondering why it suddenly tasted like horse feed.
He forced a smile. “Well, I love to eat so it sounds like the Lights on the Lake parade is something we definitely can’t miss. It’s a date, then. We’ll all meet back here and go together.”
“I cannot wait!” Maddie exclaimed.
Her mother didn’t look nearly as enthusiastic, but Aidan figured he would have all night to make Eliza glad she had agreed to go.
“YOU HAVE YOUR mittens, right?”
“Yep.” Maddie thrust out her hands to prove it. “And my hat and my scarf and I have on two pairs of socks under my socks. I’m going to be warm enough to bake beans.”
Eliza gaped at her. “Where on earth did you hear that?”
“That’s what Jim said yesterday when I helped him feed the horses. I asked if they were cold in the wintertime and he said their hide keeps them warm enough to bake beans.”
Her daughter was going to come out of this sojourn at Snow Angel Cove with quite an education. Eliza had to smile. Both Jim and Sue treated her with such kindness. She was going to miss them both so much when the holidays were over and she and Maddie moved on.
Aidan’s family would be arriving in just a few days. A little burst of panic fluttered through her. Twenty-something strangers, and she was charged with making sure they all enjoyed themselves—and she had to help Aidan keep a fairly significant secret from them, information she didn’t believe should be withheld.
She had to put it from her mind. No need to panic. She had played host to plenty of strangers while working at the Diamond Street Inn. This wasn’t any different, only perhaps on a more intimate level.
She had more immediate concerns, anyway—like how she was going to get through the evening in her employer’s company without turning into even more of an idiot around him.
How could she have been stupid enough to argue with him about his own family? She still didn’t think it was right for him to keep his brain surgery a secret from them, but he was absolutely right. That decision was his alone to make and her job was simply to honor his wishes, as she would do for any other employer.
At least the disagreement had served as a much-needed reminder of her place here at Snow Angel Cove. She was his employee, not his advisor or his confidante—or anything