by Grace Palmer
George eyes grew wild. “Just some kids? Just some kids? I suppose you think it was also ‘just some kids’ who slashed the tires of my guests’ cars the last couple of weeks, and kept stealing things off of my porch.”
He didn’t have to answer; the expression on his face told her all she needed to know. This was in fact what he believed. He wasn’t taking any of this very seriously at all. A boiling anger rose from the pit of her stomach and spread over her entire body.
“I can’t believe you. This is my livelihood, this inn. I am clearly being targeted. I stand in danger of having everything I’ve worked for all of my life taken away from me, and you are putting it all down to some naughty children. I am disappointed in you, Joel.”
She knew the moment the words came out of her mouth that that she shouldn’t have said them. Disappointing Georgia was one of Joel’s greatest fears and he did not take kindly to her words.
He stepped backwards from her and crosses arms in front of his chest, glaring at her. “I see. I disappoint you. I’m sorry that it disappoints you that I’m only asking you to keep a rational mind. It is you, after all, telling us not to go to the police about it. If you’re truly concerned, then why not involve the police?”
Georgia shook her head. “Because I don’t want the attention on the inn. I already know that word is going to spread far and wide all throughout Willow Beach. I don’t need more than that. As opposed to what people keep saying, not all publicity is good publicity, after all.”
The two fell into an uncomfortable silence that was only interrupted when a nurse came through the double doors at the end of the hall.
“Is Miss Baldwin here? Mr. Strickland has just woken up and is ready to receive a visitor. In fact, he has asked for her explicitly.”
“I will get her,” Joel said.
“No, I will. She is my daughter.” Georgia’s voice was harsh. Harsher than she had intended. She could tell that the tone cut Joel deeply.
She knew that he had tried his very best to be a surrogate father to her children, whose own father had disappeared with half of the family’s life savings about two years prior. He’d done a very good job and Georgia knew it wasn’t fair that she was being so cruel in her choice of words.
But she was upset. She was supposed to marry Joel and as such, she had hoped he would support her in all things.
She was hurt and had let her temper get to her, but right now she knew there was nothing she could say to smooth things over. The clench of Joel’s jaw made that much very clear.
He gave her a curt nod. “Very well then. I will wait for you in the car.”
With that, he turned on his heels and made his way out the door just as Melanie reappeared. At the sight of the nurse she rushed down the hall, relief spreading on her pretty face when the nurse told her Colin was awake and asked after her.
Later on that night—or rather, early the following morning—Georgia and Joel arrived back at the inn. The car ride had been terrible. Georgia almost asked him to drop her at the town square so she could retrieve her own car that was still parked there.
But given the lateness of the hour, she had swallowed her pride and sat in the passenger seat beside him as he drove in silence.
Upon arriving at the inn, she unlocked the door and he followed her inside. They passed by Cheri and Liza, who were taking their turn watching for the vandal. While they each politely greeted them, not a word passed between the two of them. It wasn’t until they got to their bedroom that Joel spoke up. When he did, Georgia almost wished he’d remained silent.
“I’m going to be sleeping in the guestroom tonight,” he announced. Before she could say anything else, he stormed off into the bathroom and retrieved his toothbrush, toothpaste, and pajamas from the back of the door. Grabbing his pillow and a woolen blanket he liked to use when Georgia turned the fan on, he was out of the room, leaving Georgia behind in the bedroom she had once shared with her ex-husband, Richard.
She got ready for bed in silence and realized that this would be the first night she spent alone since Joel had moved in with her.
As she lay in bed at night, she remembered that horrible day two years ago when her husband of so many decades had left her, leaving behind only a note and nothing else. Neither she nor her children had heard anything from him, even though the note promised he would get in touch with them eventually. She was fairly certain that they had all given up on this by now. And some ways, while it was hurtful, she had been gladdened by the fact that Joel had filled Richard’s void in so many ways and then some.
It was just his loving manner and his willingness to step in when needed that had made her so eager to take him up on his proposal of marriage. She wanted him to officially be their stepfather and her husband, not just a partner or her boyfriend. Truthfully, she was too old to be anybody’s girlfriend.
And yet, now she felt a burning disappointment inside of her in his attempt to diminish her pain. Her home been invaded, after all. But did she really overreact?
It was with this question in mind that she fell into a restless sleep.
Georgia was woken the following morning—not by Joel, as she had hoped, but by Gwen. Her sweet voice had roused her awake as she forced her eyes open.
Her friend sat down beside the bed with a steaming cup of coffee and a butter croissant, along with some apricot jam and butter.
“I heard all about it,” Gwen said before Georgia could even speak. She shook her head. “I thought you could do with a good breakfast to cheer you up.”
Georgia pushed herself up in bed glanced at the bedside table clock. It was eight in the morning. “When did you get here, Gwen?”
“About an hour ago. Alma sent me a text message last night and told me all about the vandalism. Of course, I volunteered immediately for a shift.” Her eyes fell on the empty side of the bed beside Georgia. “I heard Joel slept in the guestroom tonight. What happened? If you want to talk about it, that is.”
Georgia nodded. Before Alma arrived on the scene, Gwen had been her very best friend for many years. While they were not quite as close as they had once been, she still considered her one of her most trusted confidants.
A cup of coffee in hand, Georgia recounted the events of last night.
Gwen took in the information with a shake of the head. “That is terrible. How could he act like that? Of course, it was vandalism. And of course, it’s your livelihood. I will give him a stern talking to, if you like.”
Georgia shook her head and patted her friends’ hand. “No, don’t involve yourself. I couldn’t ask that of you. Besides, I don’t think he would be very receptive to it anyway. It’ll smooth itself over. Hopefully.”
She picked up the cup of coffee again and took a sip. She was relishing in how it felt going down her throat when a knock on the door caused both women to turn their heads.
Stella was standing in the door, an issue of the town’s newspaper—the Willow Beach Caller—in hand. A chill raced down Georgia’s face as she saw her friend’s expression.
“What is it, Stella? Tell me, please.” Stella entered the room hesitantly and held the paper out to Georgia.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know how they found out.”
Georgia took the paper and unfolded it. As soon as she saw the headline, she gasped and dropped a cup of coffee onto the tray, causing it to spill. If it weren’t for Gwen’s quick action, she would’ve ended up with coffee all over her duvet.
She stared at the front page of the paper and then looked up at Stella. “Is this the only paper with the story?”
Stella shook her head. “I’m sorry, it’s not. It’s in the Inverness Courier and even in the Ruston Daily.” She pressed her lips together. “It’s online as well. Someone shared it to your social media accounts before Drew managed to take it all down. There have been some calls already.”
“Cancellations?”
“I’m afraid so. Joel talked a couple of people around to staying, but three cancelled an
yway via email.”
Georgia sighed. This was terrible. She’d woken up once in the middle of the night, considering that Joel was right and she was overreacting, but now she was sure that was not the case. Cancellations were the second-worst thing to happen to a small business such as hers. A terrible reputation was the first.
And thanks to the papers, the story of the vandalism was all over the place now.
She picked the paper up again and shook her head. There was a picture of her and Alma carrying trash out of the inn with a caption: “Local businesswomen Alma Anderson and Georgia Baldwin cleaning up after Willow Beach Inn vandalized.”
That wasn’t the worst of it. The headline that made her cringe more than anything was printed across the top in big, bold letters.
LOCAL GRINCH STEALS CHRISTMAS.
Georgia sat the paper aside and shook her head as she climbed out of bed. Damage control. That was all she could do now. Control the damage and—hopefully—save her business.
14
Tasha
The following morning, Tasha walked into the living room, her phone pressed to her ear.
“Mom, I’m so sorry. I wish you had called me. I would’ve come straight from caroling.” She stopped in her tracks. Distracted by the drama she was just learning about, she’d forgotten that Eddie slept on the couch the previous night.
He was still sleeping, covered in a gray wool blanket. At the sound of her voice, he stirred and mumbled her name.
Ignoring him, she went into the little kitchenette and started brewing coffee. She could already feel this was the kind of day that required a large amount of caffeine.
“There was not much you could have done, honey. Colin has a broken leg and a concussion, but he’s being take care of. As for the inn… all of my book club friends were here and we had it all cleaned up in a jiffy.” Her mother sighed. “I really wish the newspaper had refrained from splashing it all over the front page. The phone has been ringing all morning with cancellations.”
Tasha gasped. “Mom, that’s terrible! What can I do? How are reserved out-of-towners even hearing about it anyway?”
“I guess the story went a bit, how do you kids call it, viral? On social media. It was that silly headline. LOCAL GRINCH STEALS CHRISTMAS. Catchy, it seems. It’s all over the Internet. Joel is doing his best to talk people out of canceling, but there’s only so much we can do.”
Tasha took the almond creamer out of the fridge and poured it into the biggest coffee mug she could find. Then she stirred in two packets of Splenda and stared at the coffee maker, willing it to brew faster.
“I’m sure it’s all going to blow over,” she said reassuringly. “You know what the Internet is like. Something is a hot story one minute and then by noon, some alligator is going to show up at someone’s birthday party in Florida. That’s going to replace the story about the little vandalized inn. You’ll see.”
“I sure hope you’re right.”
“What’s more important is catching the person who actually did it. Do you have any clues?”
Her mother let out a deep sigh on the other end of the phone. In her mind, Tasha could see her shaking her head and rubbing her temples as she always did when exasperated. “No, I don’t. Everybody else seems to, though.”
The coffee was finally done. Tasha poured a big cup and took a sip at once. She didn’t care that it was hot and burnt her mouth a little.
Behind her, the wool blanket was being thrown off of the couch and onto the floor as Eddie got up. He was still wearing the same shirt from the night before, along with a pair of shorts. His hair was standing up in all directions and he blinked at her, confused.
“What’s up, Tasha? What time is it? Who are you talking to?”
“It sounds like you are busy,” her mom said. “In fact, so am I. I have a lot of damage control to do, but I didn’t want you to see the news from the Internet. And of course, I had to tell you about Colin as well. I’m sorry I called so early.”
Tasha shook her head even though she knew her mom couldn’t see it. “Don’t worry about that, Mom. I’ll call Mel and check in on her. And what about Drew? Does he know?”
“Drew already knows. He’s emailing a bunch of those websites trying to convince them to take down the story. Not much success so far, though. Anyhoo, I have to go. I love you, Tasha!”
“Love you, too, Mom.” The line went dead then and she tucked the phone into her back pocket before swallowing more coffee.
Eddie stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, his chin nestled in the crook of her neck. The burning anger she felt the previous night at his prank still sat in her stomach like a slice of overproved bread.
“Morning.” It was all she could get out. Right at this moment, she didn’t want to be near him at all.
“Still mad at me, I see. I guess I deserve it. All I can say is I’m sorry. Forgive me?” He ran a hand through his messy hair and grabbed a cup. Tasha placed hers—still half full—on the counter.
“Whatever. I have to go. I’m supposed to have breakfast with Viv this morning before my first student shows up, and you have to get to the theater. Please make sure Stella is able to fix that piece of scenery your brother broke.”
She pushed past him only to have him hold onto her wrist gently. “Hey, don’t leave me like this. What’s going on with your mom? I overheard something. And Colin?”
Tasha shrugged. “Colin was in an accident, but apparently he’ll be okay. And Mom…You can read all about it on the Internet. Just Google ‘LOCAL GRINCH STEALS CHRISTMAS.’”
Leaving Eddie to stand in the little kitchen with a confused expression on his face, Tasha left their studio and made her way to The Roast for another much-needed cup of coffee.
The day passed slowly and Tasha had to force herself to make sure her acting students received the attention they needed.
Eddie seemed to have a lot of time on his hands, because he continued to text her throughout the day. She ignored him. Between Colin, her mom, and her own melancholy mood, she had no patience to deal with him.
It was almost as if the fight with him had forced her to face the feelings she’d suppressed for a while. It was true; she felt aimless when it came to her career.
As she looked at the schedule for next week, she sighed. Was this what she was always going to do? Teaching other people how to act while she herself only acted in a small town theater production every now and then?
She didn’t mind the teaching, but she had to admit, it had been a long time since she’d felt the fire she once did when on stage. And she hadn’t sung in forever. Acting and singing always went hand in hand for her.
Then again, maybe as she grew older and saw her dreams disappearing into the rearview mirror, she was growing disillusioned. Not everyone got to live their dreams. Drew was a perfect example of that. And yet, her brother seemed content in his life—at least from the outside looking in.
Perhaps she ought to call him and get his thoughts on the matter. She was pondering this very question when her cell phone beeped with another message from Eddie. This one did not contain an apology, or a random heart as the other’s had throughout the day.
Tash. I know you are mad, but I made a reservation at Bertolli’s Piano Bar for our date night like a month ago and I still wanna go. Join me? It’s at 8. I can come pick you up at the house. Say 7:30?
She rolled her eyes. She’d forgotten all about their date night. He was right—they planned this evening for weeks. Up until today, she actually looked forward to it.
She loved the piano bar. There was just something magical about sitting in a booth with a man she loved, a glass of wine in hand, and the sounds of piano filling the air. Some days, they even had an upscale karaoke-style sing-off, where the audience could nominate someone to sing a classic. It was always good fun.
Today, she really didn’t feel like it, but knew it would wound him deeply if she cancelled. She had no choice. She would have to go. And sh
e could only hope that her mood improved by the time it was time to meet Eddie.
‘K. See you at 7:30.’ She messaged back and then headed down to her studio apartment. She’d need some sort of outfit. Sneakers and jeans didn’t fly at the piano bar; that was for sure.
“You look lovely, by the way,” he said as they pulled into the parking lot.
“You already said that. But thanks.”
He gave her a short nod and shut the car off. When they made it into the bar, Tasha almost instantly regretted coming. The place was decorated for the season and the atmosphere was aimed at couples.
Happy couples. Not couples mid-fight.
They slipped into their booth and silence fell between them. While they were both dressed in their nicest dating attire, they hardly spoke a word to each other, and as the hostess led them to the table, Tasha wished she had simply declined after all.
Eddie broke the stalemate first. “How’s your mom? I read all about it online like you said.”
“Not great. A lot of cancellations. A lot of calls from newspapers, and a lot of people trying to give their opinion as to who the vandal might be.” She shrugged. “All in all, not a great day for the Baldwin family.”
“You can say that again. I talked to Drew earlier and he told me about Colin. Looks like he’ll be in the hospital for a bit after all, because of that nasty concussion.”
“Yeah. Bad news all around.” She turned her attention to the stage where the MC announced that it was time to nominate a patron to sing. At once, several guests jumped up in order to push their significant other or friends into taking the stage.
“Man, don’t ever do that to me, Tash. No matter how mad you…” He was interrupted when a tall, blonde man rushed toward them, his arms spread out wide.
