Hidden Gifts (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance) (3 page)

Astrid narrowed her eyes in question but Morgan only offered her sweetest smile as way of explanation.

“Makes perfect sense to me,” Astrid said. She turned and grabbed something that might have been a vase out of a box.
 

It was actually kind of refreshing to be honest with someone about her career choice. At least, partly honest, anyway. But the way Morgan justified it, it wasn’t her fault Astrid didn’t ask her why she didn’t want to work with kids. So as long as she didn’t ask, Morgan didn’t need to tell and that’s the way she preferred it.
 

“So where do you work?” Morgan asked, happy to shift the focus off her. She was enjoying sitting back and letting Astrid decorate their space. The decor was shaping up to be a really unique mixture of hippy and outdoorsy with a bit of modern convenience thrown in.
 

“I’m in housekeeping,” Astrid said. “I know it’s not glamorous and front line and all that, but I really like it. You can learn a lot about people from their rooms.”

“And you want to learn about the guests?”

“Sure I do,” Astrid said. “It’s only by learning about others that we learn about ourselves.”
 

 
Morgan put down her tea and picked up a picture frame Astrid had placed on the table. Dozens of tiny pebbles were glued to the edge, making it quite heavy, but there was no picture inside.
 

Morgan pointed to where a picture should be and Astrid said, “It’s bad karma to surround yourself with old memories.”

Morgan raised her eyebrow, looked at the frame once more and put it back on the table. “I like that theory.”

“You have some old memories you’d rather not be surrounded by,” Astrid said. It wasn’t a question.

The image of Justin, her last boyfriend, flashed in Morgan’s mind, but she immediately pushed the thought of him away. It’d been six months since they’d broken up, but still Morgan couldn’t help but think that things might be different if only she’d been different.

She shook her head and focused on her roommate as Astrid asked, “How do you feel about candles?”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had an opinion one way or the other about candles.”

Astrid stood in the middle of the room with two large waxy pillars in her hands. “Really? You strike me as the romantic type. You don’t have a boyfriend?”

“I need a boyfriend to enjoy candles?”

“That’s not what I said.” Astrid positioned the candles on a large cabinet that held a small television. “You just seem like the type of girl that has a boyfriend. You don’t have one?” She moved back to a large shopping bag, pulling out a selection of pinecones in a variety of shapes and sizes.
 

“I don’t,” Morgan said. “Have a boyfriend, I mean.” She watched while Astrid arranged the pinecones around the candles. The display was simple, but surprisingly beautiful. “That’s nice.”
 

Astrid turned around, a smile on her face. “That you don’t have a boyfriend?”
 

“No. Well, yes.” Morgan felt her face heat up. She jumped off the couch and moved to the shopping bag. “I meant the pinecones and you know it. What else do you have in here?” She dug through the bag and produced a clay sculpture of a moose—or maybe it was an owl—a few more candles, a large silk cloth that Astrid grabbed from her hand and draped over the couch, and a glass bowl. “You have a very interesting style,” she said to Astrid.

“You like it?” She asked the question, but it was obvious Astrid wouldn’t care either way.
 

“I do,” Morgan said. “It’s perfect. Where did you get it all?”

“Here and there,” she said. ”Some I picked up on my own, but most of these things were gifts.”

“Gifts?” Morgan picked up the clay figure again. “Really?”

“You’d be surprised,” Astrid said with a small smile. “If you’re open and accepting of them, there are hidden gifts all over the place. When you least expect it, the universe will be very giving.” Astrid took the figure out of Morgan’s hands and stroked it lovingly. “Stay open, my friend, and ready to receive.”

Morgan barely had time to let her words sink in before Astrid turned with a flourish. “Anyway, there’re more candles, for when you have a boyfriend.” She winked and Morgan tried not to groan. She’d been hoping that getting away from the city and her friends would get her away from the constant pressure to have a boyfriend, get married, and have kids. She didn’t want that. Not anymore.
 

“Not to worry.” Morgan tried to sound firm. “There will be no boys.”

Astrid let out a sharp laugh and threw her head back. “Oh, sweetie. Why do you think I come back here every summer? There’s nothing but men in the mountains. And what’s more,” she said, “you’re going to meet some tonight.”

“I didn’t take you for the boy-crazy type,” Morgan said. “And anyway, what’s tonight?”

“Boy-crazy?” Astrid snorted. “Hardly. But I do like to be entertained. And what better way?” She winked and started tidying up what was left of her decorations. “Tonight is the start of that entertainment. The night before summer season, there’s a welcome barbecue and bonfire in the common.”

Morgan looked to where her roommate was pointing, out the window to the large grassy field that their balcony faced. “Sounds good,” she said. And to her surprise, found that she meant it. Besides the fact that Morgan had no interest in men or the type of entertainment that Astrid was looking for, she had to admit it would be fun to get out and meet some new people. “What time?”

Chapter Three

Bo watched Ella wander around the hotel room that would be her bedroom. There should be toys. A little girl should have dolls and stuffed animals, not the elegant furnishings of a hotel suite. Even with his limited experience with children, he knew that.
 

“I know it’s not very fun,” he said. “Maybe we can get you some toys?” Ella turned and looked at him impassively. She blinked twice, her dark eyes giving nothing away. She turned and picked up the clay deer that adorned the dresser. “Maybe you shouldn’t—“

He was going to tell her to put it down, that she shouldn’t play with the decorations, but as he watched, Ella stroked the back of the little sculpture and looked up at him with her wide, innocent eyes. She popped her thumb in her mouth and looked at him expectantly.
 

“Never mind,” he said. It wouldn’t hurt if she played with it. After all, the poor kid didn’t have anything else. “I’m going to be in the kitchen if you need anything, okay?”
 

He waited for Ella to respond, which she didn’t. After a moment, Bo let out a deep sigh and made his way down the hall.
 

In the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of water and leaned against the breakfast bar. He ran his hands through his hair and for at least the hundredth time that day, tried to figure out what he was going to do about the little girl in the other room.
 

He barely even remembered her mother Tessa. What they’d had together could hardly be classified as a relationship, which is probably why she hadn’t bothered to contact him when she found out she was pregnant. Which is why it didn’t make any sense that she would leave her daughter in his care, even for a little while. And it would only be a little while. There was no way he could be a father.

Bo’s thoughts flew to the conversation he’d had with Clara Kersey, the woman from Social Services, only a few days earlier. They’d been standing in the lobby of the Best Western hotel. A small grey suitcase stood next to her, a little blond girl on her other side.

“It took us quite a while to find you, Mr. Clancy,” Clara had said. “But I’m glad we did. Tessa wanted Ella to know her father. It’s all in the letter.”

Bo looked down to the little girl who had yet to look at him and back to Clara. “You’ve read the letter?”

“I have.”
 

“And she wanted me to take Ella?” Bo asked. His brain swirled. He couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening. “I don’t know anything about children. I can’t be a father.”

“Turns out you already are.” The woman’s voice was brusque. “Look,” she said, this time a little softer, “I know this must be a shock. But when there is a clear order of whom the child is to live with and that person checks out as you have, we’re very inclined to follow that directive.”

“But, I—“

“You are the biological father,” Clara said.
 

“Surely she must have family?” Bo raked his hand through his thick dark hair. “Grandparents— an aunt or uncle? Someone.”

“She does have an uncle on the East Coast. We’ve been in contact with him. He hadn’t seen Tessa in years and he didn’t even know about the child.” Clara shifted so she was facing slightly away from Ella, who stood unmoved. She lowered her voice and said, “Look, Mr. Clancy, I’m sure you weren’t really expecting to wake up this morning and be a dad, but it is the situation. We are extremely overworked with children who are in much more precarious situations. And you are the biological father.”

Bo shook his head slowly but stopped when he saw the little girl staring at him with dark eyes so much like his own. “Where are her things?” he asked Clara, without taking his gaze off the child.

“This is it.” The woman gestured to the suitcase and efficiently flipped open her clipboard. “I’ll need you to sign here, Mr. Clancy.”
 

Blindly, Bo signed the paper. In no time, Clara was gone and it was just Bo, alone with his daughter.
 

Looking back, it seemed as if it’d happened weeks ago, or even months. But it’d only been forty-eight hours. And Bo couldn’t even begin to think about how he was going to survive another forty-eight. But there didn’t seem to be a choice. The Social Services lady had more or less told him there was no where else for Ella to go. He stared down the empty hallway towards her room. Would it be better for her to go into the system, he wondered. He didn’t know whether he could answer that honestly. Not yet.

“Ella,” he called gently.
 

After a moment, the girl appeared in the doorway of her room, but made no move to walk towards him. He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t say anything. So far, Ella had only uttered a few words to him. So obviously the child could talk— she just refused to. Bo had no idea whether it was normal or not, but either way, he was getting used to her silence.
 

“Are you hungry?”
 

She nodded.
 

“Well, I think I know about a barbecue going on,” he said and held out his hand to her. “Do you like hot dogs?”
 

Ella nodded and walked down the hall to meet him. To his surprise, she took his hand. It felt tiny and fragile in his large one, but he cupped it carefully.
 

“Okay, then,” he said, “let’s go get you some dinner.” Bo looked down into her big, empty dark eyes. Her silence he could get used to, but the haunted, sad way she looked at him—that was much harder to take.

~ ~

Bo tried to suppress a laugh as he watched Ella devour her second hot dog. For such a small girl, she had an impressive appetite. They were sitting in a relatively quiet patch of the lawn in the common area. Ella held the remains of a bun in one hand, the clay deer from the hotel suite in the other. He didn’t think Carmen would be very happy about them absconding with it, but no matter how Carmen felt about him, Bo was pretty sure she wouldn’t deny a little girl some semblance of a toy. Besides, if it were really a big deal, she could deduct it from his check. Bo tried not to think about his ever decreasing paycheck. The suite wasn’t going to be cheap, even with the deal Carmen gave him, but he didn’t have a lot of other choices. He was dead set against exposing Ella to the debauchery that could go down in staff housing. For that matter, it went against his better judgment to even bring her to the barbecue, but he’d hoped that if they arrived early enough he wouldn’t have to subject Ella to much of the craziness that usually occurred at staff parties. He wouldn’t have brought her at all if she hadn’t needed to eat. As messed up as it was, he was trying to be a good dad, or guardian, or whatever he was.
 

“Are you full?” he asked her. “Because I could probably wrestle that guy for his hot dog.” He pointed across the grass to a large muscled man who looked as if he was wearing a t-shirt two sizes too small. Ella stared at the man, her mouth hanging open. She shook her head from side to side so vehemently that her hair whipped around her face.
 

“Don’t worry,” Bo said with a chuckle. “That’s Jeff. I work with him. He may look like a gorilla, but he’s a total pushover.” An idea popped into Bo’s head. “Jeff works with the horses. Do you like horses?”

Ella’s face split into a huge smile and she nodded. Bo couldn’t help but notice that the smile didn’t reach her eyes. They were still dark, and deep.
 

“Well,” he said. “I bet if we asked really nice, and promised not to wrestle him for his hot dog, we could arrange a ride. Should we go say hi?”
 

In response, Ella jumped up to her feet and tugged on Bo’s hand. He didn’t even try to hide the smile on his face as they made their way across the lawn to Jeff. If she was excited about horses, that was one thing he could deliver. And if it was going to make her smile, well, he’d like that. Little girls shouldn’t be so sad.
 

“Hey, Jeff.” Bo tapped on his buddy’s shoulder and the big man looked around away from the girls he was talking to.
 

“Bo!” He pulled Bo in for a manly hug-shoulder slap and released him with a fist pound. “How are you? Ready for another great summer? I hear there’s a few really hot—“

“I want you to meet Ella,” Bo interrupted. He gestured to the little girl who was standing, mouth open, staring at the huge man. “My daughter.”
 

“Your
…
” Jeff looked down, and then up, and then back down. “Your daughter, man? I had no idea.”

“Neither did I,” Bo muttered. He cleared his throat when Jeff gave him a strange look. “It’s a long story. Anyway, I was just telling Ella here that you’re in charge of the horses and it turns out that she really likes horses, so I thought maybe we could come see you at the stables some time.” With his eyes, Bo tried to impart the importance of what he was asking to his friend.