All The Befores

by Samantha Chase

  “How long do you think it’s going to take to make a call?”

  With a sweet smile, Mallory replied, “The call should only take two minutes, but you’re in yoga pants and a t-shirt. You need to get changed and freshen up. Deal?”

  Looking down at herself, she realized her daughter had a point. Standing up, she sighed dramatically. “Okay, fine. I’ll go change.”

  “Wear your khaki capris and the coral V-neck t-shirt. That looks really good on you.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little cool outside for that?”

  “Oh, right. Okay, keep the capris but pair them with those cute boots you bought at the end of last season and the cream-colored cable knit sweater. That looks good on you too and you’ll be warm enough that you won’t need to carry a coat with you.”

  Seriously, her daughter had a great eye for fashion and thought way more about it than Susannah ever did. “Fine. Ten minutes.”

  Nodding, Mallory walked out of the room and Susannah saw her go into the library to make her call. With a little pep in her step, she went to her rooms and quickly changed and freshened up her makeup before calling Colton. It went directly to voicemail and she hated to back out on dinner plans with him, but…it was just going to be burgers on the grill for them and she hoped he wouldn’t mind her making them tomorrow.

  “Hey, you reached Colton Hale of Coleman Construction. Leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you. Thanks and have a good day.”

  Smiling because she loved the sound of his voice, she waited for the beep and said, “Hey, wonderful man. Don’t hate me but…Mallory came over and asked me to go dress shopping with her. She thinks she found her wedding dress and really wants me to see it. Then she wants us to go to dinner, so…I’ll have to take a raincheck on our barbecue tonight. I hope you’re having a good day and I’ll text you when I’m heading home. If you’re up for it, maybe you can come over and we can watch The Tonight Show together. Love you. Bye.”

  She hoped he would be up for coming over later. Although, depending on how late she and Mallory were out, she wouldn’t blame him if he opted to stay at his place tonight. Maybe Mallory could drop her off at his house or maybe…

  “Mom! C’mon! Let’s go!”

  Sheesh, was it ten minutes already? Glancing at her bedside clock, she saw it was and knew how impatient her daughter could be when she had something she wanted to do. Grabbing her purse, she turned on one of the small bedroom lamps before walking out of the room. “Ready!” she called out as she walked out to the foyer.

  “I knew that outfit would look good on you!” Hooking her arm through Susannah’s, Mallory hugged her close. “Thank you for doing this with me. I’m so nervous!”

  Laughing softly, Susannah led her out the door, locking it behind her. “What on earth are you nervous about?”

  “What if the dress doesn’t fit? What if it looks horrible on me? What if…”

  “Mal, if it doesn’t fit or it looks bad, then we’ll look for something else. It’s not like this is the only dress in town.”

  “And what if we don’t find anything for you? I mean, we don’t have a lot of time and with the holidays coming up, the mall will be a nightmare!”

  “Plus, the nearest mall is an hour away. That’s something that would require a day trip, don’t you think?”

  They climbed into Susannah’s car and Mallory chattered on about how they could potentially be done at Vintage Violet’s quickly and still get to the mall if they needed to.

  Susannah silently prayed they wouldn’t have to and spent the remainder of the drive listening to Mallory run through every shopping scenario under the sun while wondering what she had gotten herself into.

  9

  “Are you ready for me to start carving?”

  Susannah looked over her shoulder at Colton and smiled thankfully. “Yes, and thank you. I thought I was organized but I feel like I’m all thumbs today.”

  It was Christmas Eve and it seemed like it popped up out of nowhere. All the gifts had been purchased, wrapped, and placed under the tree. Plus, she finished all the grocery shopping and had even managed to prep most of the food in advance. All she had to do was cook and yet it felt a little more overwhelming than usual.

  Kissing her cheek, Colton stepped around her and washed his hands. “I would think things would have been a little easier this year. With Georgia and Beau backing out at the last minute, that means a lot less people here for dinner.”

  Yes, her cousin and her family had asked if she would mind them skipping dinner with everyone tonight. They felt like they needed a quiet Christmas Eve with just Georgia, Beau, Parker, Peyton, Mason, and Scarlett. Susannah didn’t mind. After the long talk she and Georgia had a few weeks ago about the state of her marriage, it was probably a good thing that they were trying to reconnect as a family. They were all going to get together tomorrow for dinner at their house so…

  “Suz?”

  “I shopped and prepped for dinner for fifteen and now we’re half that,” she said, sprinkling the top of the green bean casserole with french fried onions. “And Sam and Shelby are leaving early to go have dessert with Shelby’s parents and then they’re going to midnight mass with them at the church.”

  Beside her, Colton chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  He shook his head and tried to stop laughing, but it took him a minute. “Don’t you think it’s funny how rebellious your son used to be and now he’s marrying the preacher’s daughter and going to church on Christmas Eve?”

  Okay, that had her laughing a bit too. “Fine, it’s a little funny, but it’s also incredibly sweet. It’s nice seeing him so happy.”

  “I agree.” He paused and studied her.

  “What?” she asked nervously. “Is there something on my face?”

  Another soft laugh was out before he stepped in close and turned her to face him, wrapping his arms around her waist. “You realize what an incredible job you’ve done, right?”

  She looked at him with confusion.

  “You raised two amazing people, Susannah. Your son turned into an incredible, respectful man who is turning heads in this community for all the right reasons.”

  “I knew he’d get there eventually,” she said with a small smile.

  “And your daughter is going to be getting married here in this house in a week. You taught her to follow her dreams and she’s here doing that and marrying one of the best guys I’ve ever known.”

  “They really are perfect for each other…”

  “I just thought you needed the reminder of how amazing you are,” he said, leaning in and kissing the tip of her nose. “Now let’s get this dinner on the table because it all smells amazing.”

  While Susannah placed the casserole in the oven to brown, Colton carved the turkey. Mallory came in and began taking side dishes out to the dining room along with Shelby. Out in the living room, Jake and Sam poured drinks while talking with Jake’s parents about life in Arizona.

  Minutes later, when they were all seated around the table, Susannah couldn’t help but smile. Her son sat at the head of one end of the table and Colton sat at the other. It felt good – right. And as they all joined hands so Colton could say the blessing, she said an extra prayer of thanks because she was so grateful for all the people here with her.

  “Amen,” they all said in unison and immediately began serving the food.

  Conversation flowed from how work was going for everyone to all the hype for the holidays and funny Christmas shopping stories. There was a lot of laughter and it was loud and boisterous and wonderful. She looked around the table and wondered how soon it would be before there were grandbabies joining them and already knew she couldn’t wait for that to happen.

  But she’d keep that to herself for now. They had Jake and Mallory’s wedding to get through, then hers and Colton’s and, hopefully, not long after, Sam and Shelby’s.

  “Did you hear how many people are going to be at din
ner tomorrow?” Sam asked with a smirk.

  “I thought just the usual – us plus all the Bishops and then Aunt Grace and the boys. We haven’t seen them in a while and I know Georgia tends to conveniently leave them out of family events, but…” She shrugged. “Why? Is there more?”

  “According to Mason it’s all that and more,” Sam explained. “They invited Scarlett’s whole family too – her father, her grandfather, her brothers, and her best friend Courtney.”

  “Courtney’s going?” Mallory asked before taking a sip of her wine. “That’s new.”

  Sam took a drink of his own wine. “According to Mason her folks opted to go on vacation for the holidays and Courtney decided to stay home.”

  “It’s going to be very crowded around the dinner table,” Susannah mused. “Maybe I should call and offer to host everyone here.”

  “Mom!” Mallory cried. “You can’t possibly put another holiday meal together on such short notice! All the stores are closed!”

  Laughing, Susannah shook her head. “Oh, no, sweetheart. I didn’t say I’d be cooking. Georgia has that all worked out. I just meant we can have everyone here because there’s more room.” Pausing, she thought about it. “Do you think I should call her and ask?”

  “She may take offense to that,” Sam said. “You know how pissy she gets about you and this house.”

  It was true but…she felt like they had finally turned a corner in their relationship. “I’m going to call her after dinner and just put it out there. If she says no, that’s fine. But if she’s being hospitable enough to invite so many extra people, then I’m sure she might appreciate a little more space. Depending on the menu, we could even do it as a buffet and spread out a bit. It wouldn’t be the first time we celebrated a holiday like that.”

  “It will be just like our wedding!” Mallory said excitedly. “I love the idea of not sitting down to a formal dinner – no offense, Mom.”

  “None taken,” Susannah replied with a wink. “And the number of people she’s having isn’t that much less than how many we’re having here on New Year’s Eve. It could almost be like a test run.”

  Mallory’s smile grew. “I’m kind of loving this. Do you think she’ll go for it?”

  “I try not to expect anything where Georgia is concerned, but she may surprise us all. I feel like she’s mellowing a bit.”

  “I think we can all thank Scarlett for that,” Sam commented. “After all the crap Mason had to deal with, Scarlett confronting Aunt Georgia about it was kind of epic. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that.”

  “We all do,” Susannah said with a wink.

  Conversation turned to – of course – wedding plans and Susannah loved hearing the excitement in her daughter’s voice and then watching the pure joy on Jake’s face. They were meant to be together and she couldn’t be happier knowing their marriage was going to be a success.

  “I still can’t believe you found a dress so fast,” Shelby said. “That was certainly a stroke of luck that you saw it in the store window like that.”

  “I know! And it was my size and…” She stopped and sighed happily. “It was just perfect. When I stepped out of the dressing room and saw the look on my mom’s face, I knew it was definitely the one.”

  Everyone looked to Susannah and she nodded. “I was skeptical that anyone could find their perfect wedding dress in the first shop they visited, or that you should buy the first and only dress you try on, but trust me, there was never going to be a more perfect dress for Mallory.”

  “And the best part was that Mom not only found her mother-of-the-bride dress, but her wedding dress too!”

  “Mallory!” Susannah cried, her fork slipping from her hand.

  “What? What’s the big deal? I think it’s amazing you found both dresses!” She looked at Colton and her smile grew. “You are definitely going to be impressed. She looked amazing.”

  Reaching over, Colton took one of Susannah’s hands in his and smiled. “Your mother looks beautiful no matter what she’s wearing. She could wear jeans and a sweater to marry me and she’d still be the most beautiful bride in the world.”

  “Aww…” Everyone said in unison and Susannah felt her cheeks flame with both embarrassment and love for the man sitting beside her.

  “And we had so much fun shopping,” Mallory went on. “I think we were both a little stunned at how easy it was and so we did our last-minute Christmas shopping too before going and grabbing some dinner. It was the best night.”

  “You’re both so lucky,” Shelby said, her smile a little sad. “I don’t think I could do something like that with just me and my mom. We’d make each other crazy.”

  “Well, you don’t have to do it alone,” Susannah said. “You have me and Mallory to go with you to act as buffers. And we’ll make an entire day of it whenever you’re ready.”

  Shelby’s face brightened and she looked over at Sam excitedly. “I think I’m going to like having more women on my side.”

  Sam grinned and raised his glass. “I’d like to propose a toast – to all the amazing women at this table. I’m thankful for each of you. Cheers!”

  “Cheers!”

  It was late by the time everyone left and Colton couldn’t believe that they were all going to do it again tomorrow. He grew up with a very small family and most holidays were spent with just his parents and grandparents. The few distant relatives they had never came around for Christmas. So this was all kind of new to him, but he found he really enjoyed it. The conversations and the traditions that Susannah had created…well, he could see how much they meant to her and Sam and Mallory.

  Staring into the fire in Susannah’s suite, he could hear her moving around in the main part of the house, turning off lights and talking to herself. Sometimes he wondered if she even realized she was speaking but figured there was no need to ask. He thought it was adorable and wouldn’t want to embarrass her or make her think she had to change.

  Letting out a long breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and contemplated a conversation he wanted to have with her about their wedding. After that day in Jake’s office when he overheard Sam mentioning that he had a solution, he’d been a little hesitant to admit how he’d overheard the comment. It took him several days to get up the courage to reach out to Jake and ask him about it.

  And he had to say, he was pretty damn impressed with what Sam came up with.

  But he was afraid to bring it up to Susannah.

  Tonight he had pulled Sam aside to talk with him and he was all for Colton deciding when and where he wanted to let Susannah in on the idea, but Colton still hadn’t decided. Mallory had joined the conversation and suggested waiting until New Year’s Eve to let her mother in on the plan, but he wasn’t sure that was the right way to do it either.

  “You know what I was thinking?” Susannah asked as she breezed into the room.

  “Um…no.”

  “That when the kids start having kids, they should all stay here on Christmas Eve so we can watch them open gifts! I’ll make sure to blackout the dates so we don’t have guests and this way we’ll always be able to have a family Christmas! What do you think?”

  “I think it sounds great in theory…”

  “But…?” she prompted.

  “But…they might want to have their own traditions now. And when they have kids, they may want to be home on Christmas morning.”

  “Hmm…I hadn’t thought of it like that. Although, I guess we all live close enough together that we could still have breakfast or brunch together. I can’t imagine that Shelby’s folks would mind. I know there’s always a service on Christmas morning so her father would be busy with that. And Jake’s folks are always welcome here…”

  Walking over, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re getting ahead of yourself here. Let’s get through this Christmas and New Year before we start trying to figure out where everyone will be eating breakfast next year.”

  “I
suppose.”

  “But I do like the idea of blacking out the holidays so there aren’t guests here. At least for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I know I’d enjoy having it just be us.”

  Pulling back, she looked up at him and gasped.

  “What? What’s the matter?”

  “In all the time we’ve talked and planned for the opening of the inn and then with our getting married and you moving in, I never once asked you if you were okay with the house never really being ours! I mean, like we may never be alone in it! There’s the potential of people always staying here. Are you…can you handle that?”

  The worry on her face and the way there was a slight tremble in her voice told him she was genuinely upset and he did he best to put her mind at ease. “Susannah, I was well aware of what life would be like living here. That’s why I’m glad you have this suite of rooms to give us privacy. Even if people are moving around the main part of the house, I know we have our own cozy space right here that no one else can access.” He hugged her close again. “So relax. I’m good with it all. As long as I have you, I can deal with anything else life throws our way. Even people sleeping in all the beds upstairs and eating in our dining room.”

  She visibly relaxed. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

  A slightly snarky comeback was on the tip of his tongue, but then it was Susannah’s tongue gently teasing his lips and all thoughts of anything funny – or words in general – went out the window.

  He loved the way she kissed and as they went from the slow and lazy kind to ones that went deeper, Colton carefully maneuvered them across the room, down the hall and to her bedroom.

  Soon to be their bedroom.

  As they stood beside the bed, Susannah’s hands snaked under his sweater and began moving it up his body. He broke the kiss long enough to pull it off before diving back in to kiss her again. Her hands roamed over his chest and they felt so smooth, so wonderful, he knew he’d never get tired of having her touch him.