The Trouble with Christmas (14 page)

As they settled in, Carol said, “I heard your girlfriend is something, too. Beautiful and a chef?”

Cole knew his eyes lit up with the mention of Lily. “I’m not sure how I got so lucky. But I feel like my life is beginning all over again, and I love it. She’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. We’re eventually going to want to buy a piece of land to build the Boys and Girls Club. Enjoy your meal and Merry Christmas,” he said, hurrying back to seat the next guests.

The place did look amazing, thanks to Avery and the Putnams’ Christmas storage room. He wondered if their supply of decorations could ever be depleted. Lily and Avery spent Monday decorating. Each of the dining tables were draped with a bright red tablecloth. Inside, the windows were rimmed with white twinkle lights and bright red bows. Outside, the eaves of the cottage twinkled with lights, and each piling of the dock was wrapped with lights and adorned with a big red bow. If they could afford the electricity, Cole might keep the white lights year round. They added the perfect sparkle to the place at night. He laughed.
Did I really just think that?

Fortunately, Sally Ann’s daughter, Kacey, had agreed to help wait tables and assist at the front, seating customers. Sally Ann added Otis to her kitchen staff, freeing Cole up to start meeting with the other restaurant owners on the island about the Second Servings program. Jack, at the inn, jumped on the idea immediately, donating one of the inn’s vans to transport the food to the backside of the island every evening once the restaurant at the inn closed. For now, Marshside Mama’s was the distribution point and several of Sally Ann’s kids worked the distribution shift, their wages paid happily by Cole.

Lily spent most lunches and evenings in the kitchen, learning to cook the Lowcountry staples side by side with Sally Ann, and she also taught Sally Ann some of her favorite pastry recipes. To say that Lily had helped save this place was an understatement. He couldn’t believe just three short weeks ago he didn’t know her. And now, he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

The final happy diners left the restaurant at 10:30, and Cole was relieved to close the door in their wake. It had been a busy night. All the tables were cleared and wiped down, except for the last one, which Cole took care of quickly, putting the glassware and plates into a plastic tub and then turning out the dining room lights.

As he carried the tub into the kitchen, he spotted Sally Ann loading the dishwasher. She looked beat. Even the cheery red apron Lily bought for her couldn’t mask the exhaustion.

“Are you okay?” Cole asked, reaching out and touching her arm.

“I’ll be fine, you just worry about yourself and making sure we have everything ready to box and package tomorrow. I’m not missing my Christmas at home, no sir,” she said, as Otis looked over with a smile.

“I hope Otis does the cooking on the twenty-fifth,” Cole said, winking at the older man who was bagging the last of the kitchen waste.

“No sir, I made enough of all this”—she waved her hands towards the beans cooling on the stove—“we’re havin’ what the fancy folk are having. It’s our food anyway,” Sally Ann said, pulling the apron off.

“Great idea,” Cole said, knowing he’d have Christmas dinner at the Putnams, anything but a laid back, Lowcountry feast, he presumed. “If it’s alright with you guys, I’m going to go check on Lily and the pie and cookie crew. I hope they got everything finished.”

“They’d better, we’re out of time and space,” Sally Ann said.

He knew. They had stacks of storage containers and festive to-go boxes ready to sort the meals by family tomorrow. The freezer space had been reconfigured, and a plan was in place. The missing ingredients were all in Lily’s hands.

On the drive home, he found himself humming a tune, a Christmas song, and it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Even though there wasn’t any snow like they had in Boston, lights and cheer were everywhere. Driving past the inn, the bridge over the pond was lit with twinkle lights, as were the palm trees. Huge pots of red poinsettias marched up the stairs to the lobby and a group of happy vacationers burst out of the door.

Cole was envious of their carefree fun. As soon as they got the meals packed up, the delivery schedule firm, he would take Lily to the inn for dinner and dancing. They’d focus on just the two of them, a real date without Marshside Mama’s hanging over their heads. He smiled at the thought when he pulled up to his cottage. As he ran up the stairs, he heard quite a few women laughing. Loud Christmas music greeted him when he opened the door. The kitchen was a complete disaster.

The hardwood floors were white, dusted with a layer of flour. The counters and the island were coated with the same white powder, bursts of colorful sprinkles, globs of dough and assorted cookie cutters lay discarded all around. It was as if a Christmas cookie bomb exploded in his kitchen.

“Hi ya, Cole!” Avery yelled from where she stood across the island from him. All the women stopped talking and turned toward him. He saw Evalyn and Millie, Lily with Samantha and another gorgeous blonde he’d never met and Dorsey from the inn. Lily rushed over to him and planted a huge kiss directly on his lips. Her face was smudged with flour, her apron dirty, and her eyes were glassy. He reached for her and smelled brandy.

“Lily, are you drunk?” he asked, laughing as she tried unsuccessfully to straighten his Christmas bow tie—a gift from Avery, or the Putnams’ Christmas storage, he wasn’t certain. He wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

“Nope, just happy, happy. Hey, meet Shelby, she goes with Denton.”

Shelby waved from where stood with Samantha.

Lily looked adorable, cheeks flushed and a big smile on her face. He saw Avery hold up a small tumbler of amber liquid and fruit to toast him.

“Glad you all had so much fun and thank you for all the help,” he said, and then more softly, “Lily, did you get all of the pie crusts finished and pre-baked? What about the cookies?”

She leaned forward, trying to whisper in his ear, but she missed and touched his chin with her mouth.

“Honey, we got it all done! All of it! And now we’re celebrating a little. Want one of these special cocktails? Evalyn made them, and they’re great!”

“I think I’ll pass,” he smiled. “Busy day tomorrow. But, all of you, thank you so much. You’ve saved Marshside Mama’s Christmas!” Cole said, wrapping both arms around Lily, picking her up and kissing her.

“Hey, you two, get a room,” Avery said, and then to the others, “Come on, gang. Let’s head back to our house and get cleaned up. It’s almost midnight! We’ll drop you at the inn, Dorsey.”

Cole settled Lily against the island, and gave Avery a huge hug. “Can I drive you all home? I don’t know how to thank you for all you’ve done, truly,” he said.

Avery turned serious. “Millie is driving, she didn’t drink. The only thanks I need is Lily’s happiness, and so far, you’re doing a great job,” she said. “Come on girls!”

The women filed past him, all hugging Lily goodnight. Cole walked behind them and held the door while they climbed into the Putnam golf cart, Millie at the wheel. As they drove off, he closed the door and laughed at the trail of flour they’d left in their wake.

“Sweetheart?” Cole said and walked back into the kitchen.

Lily had pulled out a barstool, and rested her head on her arms amid all the cookie debris. He heard a faint snore, and realized she’d passed out, either from Evalyn’s secret drink, or from exhaustion. They’d been going full steam all week. He could feel it, too.

Carefully, he pulled her into his arms. She settled in happily, eyes still closed, breathing deeply. Her dark hair had smudges of flour and a streak of what had to be red icing coated the side of her cheek. He hugged her tightly as he turned out all the lights and carried her upstairs to bed. He placed her on what’d become “her side”, the left side, facing the framed photo of Lily, happy at Christmas, that Avery had placed there. Cole hoped he could replace the image with one from this Christmas, one with both of them in it.

After tucking Lily in and kissing her lightly on her cheek, he headed to the bathroom to take a long, hot shower. Tomorrow, everything would come together. All the meals would be prepped and ready for delivery on Christmas Eve day. And Marshside Mama’s would be the talk of the Lowcountry.

LILY

‡

W
aking up with
icing caked on her cheek, fully clothed, had to rank up there with one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. She wasn’t precisely sure how she’d made it up to Cole’s bedroom, but she had a faint memory of Cole’s arms around her. She smiled, looking at the photo of her under the Christmas tree. It was taken at the Putnams years ago, when she was in her early twenties. Before Bob. She allowed herself to think about him for a moment. He was marrying somebody else in two days, and now Lily felt that he had done her the biggest favor. She realized her worth now and what it took to make her happy.

She rolled over to reach for Cole, but his side of the bed was empty. She wondered if she did something, said something, to make him sleep in another room. Panicked, she hopped out of bed, landing on her aching bare feet, and hurried down the hall to check the other three bedrooms. But he wasn’t there.

She slowly walked back into the master bedroom and looked out at the sound. It was still and very bright. What time was it, she wondered, realizing in a rush that today was the day they’d assemble all of the meals, and that Sally Ann would be waiting for her piecrusts. She turned on her phone. It was ten a.m. She’d overslept.

Lily hurried into the bathroom, stripped her clothes off and stepped into the shower. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and had to laugh. Her face summed up last night—chaos and laughter. She took a quick shower, skipped make up and dressed casually. She dreaded the mess waiting for her in the kitchen, but when she went downstairs, she was stunned.

The room was spotless. It was as if the cookie caper of last evening never happened. Puzzled, she opened the refrigerator to start pulling out the pies. They were gone. She hurried to the pantry where they’d stored the individually wrapped Christmas cookie orders, labeled by family for delivery. The cookies also were gone.

What is going on?

She grabbed the kitchen phone and dialed Marshside Mama’s. Cole answered, his voice made her heart beat faster. “Cole, where’s all the food?”

“How’d you sleep?” he asked.

“Sorry about last night,” Lily blushed. “I guess I just passed out.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve all been working so hard. And Evalyn makes a mean Planter’s Punch, I hear,” Cole said, and she heard the laughter in his voice.

“Um, I don’t know how you cleaned the kitchen and hauled all of the food over to the restaurant, without me even waking up, but I’m ready to help,” she said. “I feel terrible I’m not there already.”

“I have my Christmas elves, too, you know. I left you the golf cart, so come over whenever you want. Don’t feel bad, Lils, you’ve already done so much. You saved Christmas, we all know it,” he said. “Sally Ann is nodding in agreement, and she told me to tell you the crusts are perfection.”

“I’m so glad she likes them! I’ll be right there,” she said, hanging up the phone.

Lily pushed the pedal of the golf cart all the way down to the floor, hurrying to get across the island and to be a part of the final packaging of all the catering meals. As she pulled up, she noticed three white vans in the parking lot. She pulled the golf cart around back to the kitchen entrance, parked, and ran inside.

The kitchen was bustling with activity and a bunch of people she’d never seen before all in kitchen whites.

Sally Ann hurried over and gave her a huge hug. “Honey, everything is better than good,” she said, releasing Lily and then taking her by the hand. “Cole finally had a good idea and hired us day help. All these folks are from the inn, and they’re all in foodservice so they know what they’re doing.” She led Lily out of the kitchen and into the restaurant. Each of the tables had two or three names written on index cards, and food was being assembled per order.

“Your man has come up with a system,” Sally Ann said. “Those ones over there, those three girls, they’re each in charge of a family’s order, pulling the correct amount of each side, the right flavors of pot pie and the like. Then Cole double checks the order before it’s boxed into the cardboard boxes, over there. We should have everything all packed up before the lunch rush.”

Lily smiled. It was orderly chaos and it was working. Sally Ann gave her arm a squeeze and headed back into the kitchen. Lily spotted Cole as he came through the front door, his blonde hair a mess, his blue eyes sparkling as he laughed with Denton. She watched them talking together for a moment and then Cole sensed her presence. His head turned her way, their eyes locked. Her stomach clenched as she hurried over and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek, before giving Denton a huge hug.

“Hey, Lily,” Denton said, “So great to see you. And I like this guy here, way better than boring Bob.”