by Debbie Mason
“Did I miss something?” Pastor James, who was dressed in jeans and a heavy gray sweater with a plaid scarf around his neck, walked up the aisle behind Abby.
“Just me being me.” Abby smiled at the pastor, then something to her left caught her attention, and she gasped, “Oh my goodness, is that you, Mr. Carlisle?”
Mallory’s dad looked about as uncomfortable with the attention as his daughter. “Yes, ma’am.” He cast a nervous glance in Mallory’s direction.
Abby hurried over and offered her hand. “I’m Hunter Mackenzie’s fiancée, Abby, and your daughter’s best friend.” She flashed Mallory an apologetic smile over her shoulder as if just realizing this might be a little awkward for her best friend. But of course that didn’t stop her from saying, “I’d love to interview you, Mr. Carlisle. I heard about the boys you rescued last winter, which I’m sure would make a great story. But what I’d really like to feature is your mouth-blown, hand-painted glass ornaments.”
Mallory frowned. Apparently she didn’t know her father was an artist.
“Mayor, perhaps Ms. Everhart could do this later. Some of us have to get to work.” Kayla made the point by holding up her phone. She shrugged when Abby gave her a look. Then she turned to Gabe and whispered, “I was under the impression that Mallory had nothing to do with her father. If that’s not the case, it changes everything.”
“How so?”
“Come on, Gabriel. The man runs an illegal still in the mountains and sells moonshine. The last thing the Maitland boys need is someone like that in their lives.”
“Used to run an illegal still and sell moonshine. As far as I know, that’s no longer the case. And it sounds to me like he was a hero. I guess you missed that part. Not that it matters because your boss reviewed Mallory’s case and found no legal basis for mandatory supervision.”
“That may be true, but as far as I’m concerned, the case hasn’t been permanently closed. It’s my sworn duty to protect the children in our community, and I take that very seriously. So while Mallory is no longer subject to random at-home visits or weekly meetings, I have my eye on her.”
And from where he was sitting, so did Pastor James. The pastor and Mallory shared a smile when the mayor called the meeting to order. Gabe crossed his arms. That’d teach him to try smoothing over a situation for Mallory. He’d made it worse for himself. Because the last thing he wanted to sit through was Pastor James flirting with Mallory and doing a much better job of it than Gabe could ever hope to.
The mayor came to her feet. “Welcome to our first meeting of the Highland Falls Senior Initiative. We’re very excited to implement some of Mallory’s ideas. Although today is her first official day on the job, she has reached out to many of you over the past ten days with a survey to establish what programs you feel are needed. Thanks to all of you who responded, I believe you’ll be as happy as I am with what Mallory has come up with.”
She gave Mallory a warm smile before continuing. “Now, for those of you who don’t know her, Mallory comes to us with years of experience dealing with issues that affect seniors.”
“Like being married to a man more than twice her age qualifies her to be director of senior programming,” Kayla said under her breath.
Elsa Mackenzie gave her a quelling glance, and Kayla had the good sense to look chastened. While Granny MacLeod believed herself to be the matriarch of Highland Falls, Elsa Mackenzie held sway over the town. In fact, Gabe wouldn’t have been surprised if Elsa also gave Kayla’s boss a call on Mallory’s behalf. Abby hadn’t been Elsa’s favorite person when she’d first moved to town, but now the two would work together to ensure Mallory kept her job.
“For five years, Mallory served on the board of Emory University Hospital as well as the board of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, and until recently she volunteered several days a week with Meals on Wheels.”
Elsa raised an eyebrow at Kayla as if to say You see? The caseworker shrugged in response.
“And if that’s not impressive enough, Mallory also has a medical degree, and just the other day used her expertise to save one of Highland Falls’ favorite people, Ruby Lee. So please join me in giving a warm welcome to one of Highland Falls’ own, our esteemed director of senior programming, Mallory Carlisle Maitland.” Winter clapped, smiling her encouragement for others to do the same.
Abby made up for Mallory’s lukewarm reception from the audience. She was loud enough and enthusiastic enough for fifty people, and Owen picked up where she left off. Which meant some of the less enthusiastic seniors became much more enthusiastic.
Mallory rose from her chair, acknowledging the applause with a smile. “Thank you very much for the kind words, Mayor Johnson. And to all of you for the warm welcome. I’m looking forward to working with you to make Highland Falls Senior Initiative a model for other communities. I’d also like to thank the members of the committee for offering their expertise and volunteering their time,” she said, introducing each of them in turn.
Dot, who was sitting in the front row, put up her hand. Gabe could’ve sworn Mallory bit back a groan as she pretended not to see the older woman’s hand waving in the air.
“Yes, Dot,” Winter said grudgingly. She knew better than to think Dot would give up.
“Nothing against Chief Buchanan, but don’t you think Chief Campbell would be a better choice for a committee member? After all, the current chief of police barely knows us, him being an outsider and all. But Owen kept us safe for a good forty years. Don’t recall him ever getting shot either,” she said under her breath.
If she’d glanced to her right and then to her left, she would’ve noticed both Owen and Boyd sinking down on their chairs. Winter noticed and looked from the men to Gabe, an eyebrow raised. He’d left out the part that he’d been shot when he spoke to her last night.
“Mayor Johnson, if you don’t mind, I’ll answer Dot’s question,” Mallory said sweetly, but there was nothing sweet about the look she gave the owner of the diner.
Gabe appreciated Mallory being angry on his behalf, but he didn’t want her making enemies because of him. He tried to catch her eye to silently share that with her, but she’d already begun to speak.
“I was going to save this announcement for later, but you provided the perfect segue, Dot. So thank you for that, and thank you to everyone who took the time to answer the survey. A lot of you were looking for ways to earn extra money and feel like productive members of society again, and there are a couple of programs we’ll be putting in place for you to do that. But thanks to the former chief of police volunteering his time to our senior initiative, and for volunteering his friend”—she cleared her throat—“my father, Boyd Carlisle, we have an opportunity that I’m super excited about, and I think any of you who love the holidays and want to earn a little extra money will be too.”
Boyd and Owen were looking at her with their mouths hanging open, and it was all Gabe could do to hold back a laugh. It looked like Mallory had come up with a way around his mandated community service for her father and Owen, while maybe taking care of his Owen problem as well.
“As some of you might know, there’s been a Christmas tree shortage for a couple years. Both climate change and retiring farmers have played roles. However, Chief Campbell’s Blue Ridge Tree Farm is still up and running. But I think even he’d admit, there are many money-making opportunities that he’s not taking advantage of.”
Owen gave Gabe a What the hell is going on? look.
Gabe shrugged but he had a feeling they were about to find out when Mallory walked to the easel and uncapped a marker. “All right, let’s call this—”
Abby waved her hand. “Highland Falls Does Christmas.” She wrinkled her nose. “A Blue Ridge Tree Farm Christmas. That works better, doesn’t it?” She clapped, and Bella yipped from where she sat in Abby’s lap wearing red booties and a white sweater that matched her owner’s. “I’m excited. Are you excited, Owen? This is exactly what Aunt Liz wanted you to do: diversify. You
have that gorgeous red barn going to waste. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I have the perfect idea. All of our seniors who were selling their crafts at the church bazaar could sell them at your place. We could do a Christmas Market.”
“We could sell our wreaths,” someone yelled.
“What about sleigh rides?” a woman at the back called out.
“We could sell baked goods and hot chocolate.”
“Hey, Boyd, you could sell cider. The one without a kick.” An older man laughed.
“We could sell holly and mistletoe.”
As fast as Mallory wrote, the ideas kept coming. When she had five pages of suggestions, she said, “Okay, if we want to be up and running by this weekend, I think it’s time we get organized.”
Owen stared at her. “This weekend?”
“Yes. This weekend.” She smiled, and Gabe could’ve sworn she was fighting back a laugh. But he had a feeling she was as excited about the response to her idea as she was about getting rid of Boyd and Owen. Aside from the two men, the majority of seniors in the room had fully embraced the idea. So did the other committee members. Well, all the committee members except for Kayla.
“Excuse me, but am I the only one wondering how this little project of yours is supposed to benefit our seniors?” Kayla asked. “You’ve lived the majority of your life in Atlanta, enjoying what some might call a Cinderella lifestyle, so I suppose you could be forgiven for not understanding the seriousness of the issues we are dealing with here. But we have seniors who can no longer afford to keep their homes or apartments. They’re having trouble paying their bills. And the number of our seniors at risk for developing Alzheimer’s and dementia has quadrupled.”
“Seriously, Kayla, what is your problem? Mallory—” Gabe began, only to have Mallory cut him off.
“Thank you, Chief Buchanan.” She gave him a tight smile. He wasn’t sure why until he glanced around the room. His quick defense of her had drawn several raised eyebrows as well as a grateful smile from her father.
“I’m well aware of the issues facing our senior citizens, Ms. McPherson,” Mallory said to the woman, who was shaking her head at Gabe. It looked like he could cancel his coffee date with Kayla.
“And I’m aware not because of the committees I’ve served on,” Mallory continued, “but because I’ve asked the very people we’re supposed to be helping what it is they want. What is it they feel they need.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers. “I’d planned on handing these out once we’d organized a committee for the Christmas Market at Blue Ridge Tree Farm, but we can go over the programs I hope to put into place over the next six months. As you’ll see, your concerns, but more importantly, the concerns of our seniors, have been addressed. And thanks to Abby and the Liz Findlay Foundation, we will be able to address one of the most pressing needs right away. Abby.” She smiled and nodded at her best friend to take her place at the easel.
“Mallory is giving me too much credit. The idea was all hers. It all came about when I was trying to play matchmaker—”
“We’re a little tight on time, Abs, so maybe you can tell them about the program,” Mallory said, her face flushed.
“Oh right,” Abby said with a laugh, then glanced at Gabe. “Probably not a good idea to go there today.”
So now he knew his suspicions had been right after all. Abby had been trying to set him up with Mallory. And like him, Mallory had done her best to dissuade her best friend. But as Abby outlined what they were calling the Golden Girls Project, explaining that the Liz Findlay Foundation had purchased two four-bedroom homes in Highland Falls and would be renting each home at reasonable rates to in-need senior women from the community, Gabe had a feeling that the foundation had also purchased Mallory’s home on Reindeer Road. Just like he had a feeling Mallory had no idea who her landlord was.
Mallory stood as Abby wrapped up her presentation. “Thank you, Abby. This is a beautiful way to honor your aunt’s memory and the town that she loved.”
“Hear, hear,” Elsa Mackenzie said. “You’ve done Liz proud, Abby. She’s smiling down on you from heaven. On both you and Mallory. On you, too, Owen. It’s about time you fulfilled your promise to Liz and made something of the farm. It’ll be good for the town.”
“Don’t forget Hunter,” Abby said. “He sold his property on Mirror Lake and donated the proceeds to the foundation so we could buy the houses for the Golden Girls Project.”
Elsa pressed her hands to her heart. “That boy.”
Mallory smiled. “I’m glad you approve of the plans, Elsa. From the feedback on the surveys and from talking to Abby, I’ve identified a couple of women who I think should be given first chance at participating in the Golden Girls Project, but I’m hoping you, Pastor James, Chief Buchanan, and Ms. McPherson will give us some input too.”
Just as Gabe expected, Dot’s hand shot up. This time she didn’t wait to be called on. “Probably best if you ask Owen. Chief Buchanan hasn’t been on the job long—”
This time he cut off his nemesis. “I’d be happy to give you some input, Mallory. We’ve been providing emergency shelter to a couple of seniors off and on. But you should probably talk to Ruby. She coordinated most of our efforts, and I’m sure she’d be more than happy to advise you.”
Elsa nodded. “I agree with the chief. Ruby’s who you want to talk to. Plus, it’ll give her something to do while she’s off.”
“That’s a great suggestion, thank you. Now, I’ll pass these around”—Mallory held up the papers—“and if you have any suggestions or questions, I’ll take them after we’ve had a short break for refreshments. You can also sign up to volunteer at the tree farm and let us know if you have a craft or product that you’d like to sell. We also need someone to manage the advertising and social media.”
Abby raised her hand. “I can head up the marketing committee.”
“Perfect. So it looks like we’re all set. Please help yourself to the refreshments.” Mallory smiled and began handing out her proposal. A group of seniors congregated around her. The majority wanted to congratulate her on the position and to let her know how pleased they were with what they’d heard so far. Like Kayla, Dot and her friends found several things to complain about but were taking a wait-and-see approach for the most part.
Gabe grabbed a cup of coffee for himself and one for Mallory. He knew from their joint family dinner that she liked double cream and double sugar. He was waylaid by the mayor on his way back to the table.
“You better get over there and run interference for Mallory. Boyd and Owen are in line to speak to her.” She glanced over her shoulder, then gave Gabe a knowing smile. “I’m sure you’re more than pleased with her suggestion for the tree farm.” She sighed when Dot waved her over to the refreshment table. “Hopefully with him busy and away from the station, his old friends will stop trying to get you fired because, Chief, the other members of the town council are making noises.”
Okay, this wasn’t a joke anymore. His job might actually be on the line.
As he approached the committee’s table, Gabe noticed Owen and Boyd standing off to the side. From their downtrodden expressions, they’d already spoken with Mallory, and it hadn’t gone well.
“I know you’re not happy about working with me,” Gabe overheard Owen say to Boyd. “I’m not exactly thrilled to be working with you either, but it’s what Mallory wants us to do, so that’s what we do. We’ve both got a lot to make up to her, Boyd. You even more than me.”
Gabe moved closer in case he needed to intervene. He was afraid Boyd was going to knock Owen on his ass for the remark. But instead the other man shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and cast a wistful glance over his shoulder at his daughter. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me, Owen. Nothing I say or do will make it up to her anyway.”
“Don’t go all doom and gloom on me. I told you exactly what we’re going to do. You and me are playing the Maitlands’ and Buchanans’ secret Santas. Little Teddy wants
a mom, and Gabriel might not admit it, but he needs a wife. And Mallory and her boys need a family. What better way to give them all a Christmas to remember than to bring the two families together?”
Boyd nodded. “The two of them seem to like each other. I saw them holding hands when they came in. They’re quick to defend each other too.”
“Chief can’t take his eyes off her.”
Gabe stared at the two men. They couldn’t be serious.
He took a step in their direction to set them straight but stopped midstride. It wasn’t like their secret Santa project would work. Besides, with Mallory’s and Abby’s plans for A Blue Ridge Tree Farm Christmas, they wouldn’t have any time to spare.
Chapter Eighteen
Please don’t be the school, Mallory thought at the ringing of her cell phone in her purse. They’d almost made it through the first week with no incidents. She’d made reservations for a celebratory dinner with the boys tonight. Her first week on the job had also gone better than she’d expected.
“Sorry, Mrs. Beckett. I have to take this,” she said to the older woman who was making tea and toast in the recreation center’s kitchen.
Mallory had completed the four assessments for memory impairment and functional abilities she’d scheduled for the day, but Mrs. Beckett’s daughter had called the center this morning, concerned about some memory issues her mother was having, and begged Mallory to fit her in. Mrs. Beckett’s children lived out of state and didn’t get to see their mother as often as they wanted.
“No problem, dear. I’ll fix you a cuppa while you’re on the phone.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at Mrs. Beckett and went to retrieve her phone. It was Gabe. Mallory hadn’t seen him since Monday. He’d texted her a couple times during the week to check on them, and she’d done the same, but seeing his name on her screen now, she realized she’d missed their daily interactions. Although the number of times she’d tried to catch a glimpse of him through the kitchen window probably should’ve clued her in that she missed seeing him.
