Making Room at the Inn

by Misty Simon

  Then she left before he could see how uncertain she felt in her new self-proclaimed role. Holy heck, she hoped she didn’t fall apart before it was all done.

  Chapter Eight

  The drive to the pharmacy gave Jack time to settle. Of course Adele had been sick before, and so had he. They weren’t immune to colds, but they’d never had a shindig this big. So of course it had to happen now.

  He was trying to keep his cool, but the details kept piling up in his head. He prayed Chelsea would be able to help him. At first he had given her the clipboard to pacify her, but once he’d gone over things in his head, he knew he’d need help. He was tempted to pull out his cell phone and call someone—anyone. But he didn’t want to bother his parents during their vacation and he couldn’t think of anyone else he trusted as much. At least Chelsea had a stake in the outcome. That should buoy her along to do an excellent job. He’d have to give serious thought to waiving her bill if this all came together.

  He parked his car in front of the small, privately owned pharmacy that had been doing business since the 1800s. They’d kept the original décor and many of the original prescriptions ranged in vintage apothecary jars on high shelves above the work area. The bell rang over his head as he opened the front door, announcing his arrival to the three people in the store.

  He waved casually to the pharmacist in his white coat, nodded politely to the blue-haired lady who came to a book club at the inn the first Tuesday of every month, and tried to duck into the shadows to avoid the third person.

  He was successful with the last for all of about two minutes, just long enough to hope he’d gotten the right cough suppressant for a four-year-old. Minnie Daley trooped down the cold remedy aisle with purpose in her stride and fire in her eyes.

  “I hear Adele’s sick.” Her legs were a mile long and her figure was something to lust over. But her personality made those attributes about as tempting as a moldy cookie.

  Pretending he hadn’t heard wasn’t an option. He turned from perusing the cold medicines to face her, not startled to see her in a skirt that ended about eight inches above her knees.

  News traveled fast in this small town. “Nice to see you, too.”

  “Of course, it’s nice to see you, Jack,” she purred in what she probably thought was a sultry voice. Instead it made him feel like he was strapped into a chair with some sadistic bastard dragging nails down a chalkboard. He stepped out of the way unobtrusively as she lifted one paw—um, hand—toward him.

  “I’m getting married,” he blurted before his brain caught up with his tongue.

  “Really?” she purred again. “I don’t see a ring on my finger, and I know it’s not to anyone else.” She lifted her own bare left hand and wagged it at him.

  Her perfectly manicured claws landed on the shelf next to his arm, almost trapping him. But he had done this dance a million times. He would have thought his announcement would have put her off, but apparently nothing was off limits to Minnie. She’d chased before and she chased now. Ever since his parents had left him with the inn Minnie desperately wanted to run, she’d been relentless.

  “I was just thinking you might need some help over there at that big ol’ house with all those out-of-towners. We could do it right, Jack.” She gave him a slow wink showing the overabundance of teal on her eyelid. He got her double entendre but pretended he hadn’t.

  At that moment he thought of Chelsea and how natural she was, how much more he appreciated her subtle beauty and her unadorned face. He had bigger problems right now. He had to put Minnie off or the woman would show up at the inn with her luggage and her own ideas.

  “Actually I have my fiancée Chelsea up at the inn, Minnie. I’m sure you remember Chelsea from high school. I appreciate your offer, but it’s unnecessary. She’s getting her feet wet regarding what it takes to keep an event rolling, and she’s doing a fine job.” He almost choked on the last word. He manned up before he got himself into trouble. “Besides I’m sure Adele will be back to her normal self in no time and running things with her usual efficiency shortly after that.”

  Minnie got a look on her face that very clearly told Jack she was about to make a scene and steamroll over him. But Carl Wendell saved him and earned himself a free weekend at the inn when all this craziness was over. Jack made a mental note to find out when the man’s anniversary was and let him and his wife celebrate at the inn.

  “I have that medicine ready for ya, Minnie,” Carl said, risking his life and limbs to put a hand under her elbow, moving her back to the counter. Behind his back, he waved Jack out the door.

  Jack knew a save when he saw one. He booked it out of the store. Carl would simply put his things on his tab. He wasn’t a coward, but there were some things you did not mess with in this life. Minnie could be relentless.

  And he’d just told her he was getting married to Chelsea even though Chelsea had wanted to keep the people who knew to a minimum. This was not going to be pretty.

  Jumping back into his car, he cranked the engine, then headed back the way he had come. He would not admit even to himself that the prospect of seeing Chelsea was one of the reasons his foot was a little heavier on the gas pedal than normal.

  ****

  Taking a moment to use a pencil from the front desk to wind her hair up into a small bun, Chelsea got to work on the list Jack had left her. Looking at the jobs, she prioritized them, and was interrupted when her cell phone went off in her pocket.

  She hadn’t had the guts to let her mom know what she was doing just yet, because she knew what Leigh would say. She would crow with delight that Chelsea was stepping in early to make herself at home. She just didn’t know how much farther she could carry this lie that had blossomed into a garden of snarly weeds.

  Also, it was going to be tricky to handle both Mazzy and her own duties for the wedding along with this new set of requirements. Not to mention that she was still hiding the fake engagement from Paige, and Belinda was going to blow a gasket if she thought Chelsea was doing anything more than making the perfect wedding.

  Sighing over her reluctance to talk to her mom was not going to help her. So she took a seat on the stairs to wait for voicemail to kick in and allowed herself a moment to work up the nerve to hit her mom with a request for even more of her time.

  Jack came in the front door at that moment, giving her a reason to put off the call for another moment or two.

  “Hey,” he said. His hands were full of plastic bags. Nudging the front door closed with his hip, he turned to her. “Here’s the shampoo. I also picked up a few things for Mazzy to keep her busy. I figured it was the least I could do when you’re helping me. I want you to know she can run around here all she wants. I really appreciate everything.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.” She opened one of the two bags he’d handed her and found crayons, coloring books, a stuffed rabbit, and a jump rope. Wow.

  “I almost bought her a bike with training wheels at a garage sale on my way back, but I didn’t know how far along she was on that.”

  Chelsea literally felt her heart melt and did everything she could to firm it back up. Paul had never bought Mazzy anything after she’d been born. Mazzy didn’t even have a bike because Chelsea hadn’t had time or the room to teach her how to ride. Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she willed them away.

  “This is plenty, Jack, more than enough, actually. You didn’t even have to do this much. A bike might have been overkill.” Especially because it would have definitely made her cry. “I’ll run these things over to my mom’s now, if you don’t need me at the moment. I’m going to ask her to keep Mazzy for the duration. She’ll be thrilled.” And Chelsea would try not to be lonely.

  She touched Jack’s sleeve on her way out the door, not trusting herself to hug him the way she wanted to.

  “One last thing.” His lengthy pause had her turning toward him. “I told a few people in town we are getting married.”

  Her heart stopped. That snarly
little bed of weeds had just turned into a choking jungle. “You what?”

  Clamping his hand over his eyes, he sighed. “Minnie tried to corner me in the pharmacy. She wanted to come help me run the inn since Adele was sick. She’s had her eyes on this place from the time my parents turned it over to me, and she wants her hooks in me. I told her you were stepping in to help since you were going to be here full time after we get married.”

  For some reason, the thought of Minnie being here to help Jack made Chelsea’s back teeth ache. She ignored that to focus on the mess he had created. “So now I’m going to have to dump you in front of more than just my parents? I could have sworn we talked about keeping this low key.” Anxiety crept into her voice, making it go higher than normal.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say anything, but then it just popped out when she kept pressing.”

  “Well, your popping out is going to make this so much more than it was.” She had to think, yet her brain was giving her nothing. It was simply stuck on Minnie wanting to take Jack.

  “Look, I said I was sorry, but don’t you think I should be able to get something out of this arrangement, too? And it’s not as if she’s going to run around town telling people she wasn’t able to get her claws into me. If anything, she’ll keep it to herself and hope it falls apart so she can mend my broken heart.”

  “You’re right. I know you’re right, but this whole thing is getting completely out of hand. Maybe we should just call it off now.”

  Throughout the conversation he hadn’t touched her. They stood on opposite sides of the foyer, both with arms crossed. She released her stance first. “You aren’t getting anything out of this, Jack, I realize that. And if I can keep Minnie off your back for a little while, then I guess that’s the least I can do. But you might want to start working up your defense now for when she wants to comfort you afterwards.”

  His hand clamped to the back of his neck. “Yeah, I thought about that, and I guess it’s a risk I was willing to take so I could get rid of her for the moment.”

  “We’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it.” She crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping she was right. “I’m going to run that stuff over to my mother’s and see if any grapevine news about this has gotten around town yet. My mom’s the hub. She would know.”

  Taking the bag out of his hand, she ducked out the front door around him, trying to ignore the emotions churning up her stomach.

  She spent the drive over to her mother’s coming up with a way to ask for her mom’s time without being overly needy, fighting her guilt for leaving Mazzy, and avoiding thoughts of being in Jack’s arms. Not to mention dreading the news of their engagement storming through town. It didn’t work. Winging the conversation with her mom was the only way to go. No matter how she fought the guilt, it was still there. And Jack looked and felt way too good to be shunted aside that easily.

  When she entered the house, she was no closer to settling everything inside herself. She found her mother comforting a cranky Mazzy. Her little girl did not always wake up as happy and chipper as she was in front of company.

  “Who’s my lovely?” her mother was saying and stroking Mazzy’s hair, the fine brown strands sticking out with static electricity from where she’d had the blanket wrapped around her head in sleep.

  “I am.” And the thumb went right into her mouth.

  Leigh gently removed it, reminding her big girls did not suck their thumbs. Chelsea was afraid her child would burst into tears, but then Mazzy spotted her and the pout immediately went away.

  Chelsea rushed over to her little girl’s open arms, holding her close and knowing there was nothing more important in her world than this precious child who was everything to her.

  “Did you just wake up?”

  “Yep.” She tried to sneak her thumb into her mouth again, but Chelsea took it out without a word.

  “I think the knot fairy found you again,” Chelsea said as she smoothed down the flyaway hair.

  “She did. She did! She likes me. I hope the sock fairy will find me one day, too, so I can wear two different socks without worrying about making you mad.”

  Chelsea laughed, loving that Mazzy remembered both of the books she had bought for her at a signing last year. They were creative and fun and made Mazzy giggle. Chelsea would do anything for that sound.

  “Why don’t you go in to the potty and we’ll see you in a minute, sweetie.”

  Mazzy dutifully got off the big-girl bed in the guest room and made a beeline to the restroom, singing to herself about the fairy that got her into trouble.

  “What’s up?” her mom said before Chelsea got a chance to open her mouth.

  Nothing like being read before she’d had a chance to formulate how to make this sound like her mother’s idea. Not that it would have worked, anyway, but it would have been nice if it were possible.

  “You have that line between your eyebrows,” Leigh said, standing up to smooth her forefinger along the crease on Chelsea’s forehead. “You’re on vacation and newly engaged. You shouldn’t have a line like that.”

  “I don’t have a line.” She brushed her mom’s hand away and put her own fingers on her flesh. There was no line. She refused for there to be a line. She could do this. All she had to do was inform her mother of the change of plans and hope to survive her sister. With any luck Belinda would see this was really just an extension of the job Chelsea had already agreed to do for her and let it go at that.

  “You don’t now. What’s going on?”

  “I, uh, am going to be helping Jack out with things.”

  “Of course you are, that’s what your sister wanted you to do. You’re filling in for Paige.” She left to help Mazzy in the bathroom, dismissing the conversation.

  Chelsea knew she could leave it at that and just make a point to address everything with Jack behind closed doors. Then it would not be necessary to lie further. But her mom would hear from someone how she was running the inn with Jack. If Leigh heard it from Chelsea, then at least she could control how it came out.

  She decided to get it out like ripping off a bandage, quick and with as little pain as possible.

  “I’m going to step in for Adele for the next two days because she’s sick,” she said, raising her voice to be heard in the bathroom, “but most of my jobs will still have to do with the wedding. It’s all the last-minute stuff Jack had lined Adele up to do to make sure the inn is perfect for Belinda’s big day. I just need you to watch Mazzy a bit more than we had originally intended. I’m probably going to stay a little longer on Sunday, so it will be the next three nights.” There. She’d said it and the sky hadn’t fallen.

  But a quick look at her mom’s face showed her that while the end of the world might not be on the way, the hope there bloomed so high it would only make the crash harder when it was all done.

  “That’s wonderful! Your dad and I were just talking the other night about how once you come up here you could work right at the inn and spend more time with Mazzy and be a mom. I’m so excited for you! It’s a shame you can’t just stay and not go back to your apartment. Just transition right into your new life. And you know how I wanted my girl to spend the night while you were here anyway. This is perfect!” Leigh’s face glowed as she clasped her hands to her chest.

  “Yes, well, actually, I have to go home to pack stuff up and say my goodbyes. But for the moment, we’re trying it out to see how it works. I wanted to do it without Mazzy for right now, so I can get a feel for things.” The words burned on her tongue, and it was all she could do not to hang her head in shame at the pleasure radiating from Leigh.

  “This is going to be so fantastic! But don’t forget the main purpose right now is to get your sister hitched without a hitch while you have a real vacation. I know how you can overwork yourself.” The look on Leigh’s face was one Chelsea had seen before, one she understood. It said she was trying too hard.

  “I’ll be fine, Mom, as long
as you don’t mind spending a little more time with Mazzy. I don’t expect it will be much more than I’m already doing.” She’d already added a line to her own list, one that read “keep Belinda sane.” With the hike tomorrow, she might have to leave that unchecked.

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine, honey, and it’s probably not much more than what Belinda already has you doing anyway, right?” Her mother stared at her and cocked her head to the side. “I guess when I said you shouldn’t have to do everything for everyone I probably should have realized the hypocrisy of that remark.”

  Chelsea blushed and ducked her chin, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s not a big deal, and I volunteered.”

  “Only after you were pestered.”

  “I enjoy doing this kind of thing. I think it will be fun to help out at the inn and will probably be a more exciting job than the one I have back home.” And that was true, though she did not let the thought take hold. She brought the plastic bags out from behind her back. “Here, Jack picked up some things for Mazzy to ease the transition.”

  Leigh laughed as Mazzy ran out of the bathroom. “That tricky devil.” She handed Mazzy the loot and stood back as she tore through the bags and arranged the items out on the floor in front of her. Mazzy was busy before she drew her next breath, humming to herself and playing with the coloring books.

  “Looks like they’re a hit.”

  “Yeah.” It seemed like he always knew what to do and how to do it.

  “Okay, then. Enjoy yourself. And if Belinda says word one about this in a negative way, you send her to me. I’ll take care of her,” Leigh said. She turned to the coloring book where Mazzy was furiously scribbling with her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. Her mother stroked a hand down Mazzy’s hair in a way Chelsea remembered from her own childhood. “And maybe you can actually have some alone time while you’re at it.”

  Leigh winked and chuckled when she said it, making Chelsea aware that while she didn’t exactly say his name, her mom was implying that the alone time would be with the very hunky Jack. She tried hard not to groan.