“I like him,” Maddy said. “What I mean is, we had a common interest in the samovar.”
“It’s all right to like him,” Rose said. “He’s a very likable man.”
Maddy waited for the punch line, but there didn’t seem to be one. “He said the bridge is down. He’s stuck at the bar overnight.” She paused a moment. “I said that his daughter is welcome to one of our rooms if he doesn’t want her to be alone tonight.”
“Of course,” Rose said. “But how would she get here?”
“I guess I’d walk over to their house to get her.”
“In a blizzard?”
“I don’t think it will come to that,” Maddy said, “but it might.”
“That was an impulsive gesture,” Rose observed.
“I know.” As usual, she had blurted out her first thoughts without considering whether or not she could even open the front door against the drifts piling up out there.
“You have a kind heart,” Rose said. “I’ve always admired that about you. You reach out to people spontaneously, without weighing the pros and cons of a gesture.”
“Right,” Maddy said, turning quickly so Rose wouldn’t see her wipe away the tears balanced on the tips of her lashes. “Before I even know if we can open the front door against the snowdrifts.”
“I know you well enough, Madelyn, to know you’d find a way if you had to.”
Is that how you see me, Mother? You almost sound proud!
“I wasn’t sure you liked Aidan O’Malley,” Maddy said, steering the conversation away from herself.
“He’s not one of my biggest admirers,” Rose said with a small, self-deprecating laugh, “but I think he felt a tad more relaxed with me today.”
“You can be a little intimidating,” Maddy said. “Especially to someone who’s in competition with you.”
“Competition? He runs a bar, Maddy, not a B&B. Our clientele is different.” She paused for a moment, lost in thought. “Of course, it needn’t be quite so different as it is.”
“Meaning what?”
“An idea,” Rose said, drifting toward the door. “One I’ve been toying with for a while. I’m going to go make a few notes while it’s still fresh. Sleep well, both of you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Maddy was astonished to realize she hated to see her mother leave. “Do you think the roads will be open tomorrow?” She didn’t really care, but she wanted to delay Rose a second more.
“Oh, God, please!” Rose said with a theatrical gesture of her hands. “One more night with our four friends, and I’ll clear the roads with my bare hands.”
Maddy was still chuckling after Rose closed the door behind her. Things were changing between them. There was no doubt in her mind about that. She wasn’t sure if Rose had become softer or she had become less defensive, but they were communicating with each other in a way they hadn’t since Maddy came out of the womb thirty-two years earlier.
No doubt about it. From start to finish, this had been an amazing day. And it wasn’t over yet.
She settled back against her mountain of pillows, kissed the top of Priscilla’s fluffy head, then opened the e-mail from Aidan.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Great minds
Good thing Kelly doesn’t know about your offer. She’d be at your door right now. She’s staying at Claire’s tonight and the noise level is getting to her.
Besides, you’ll be seeing a lot of her once she starts working over there at the Candlelight.
But thanks for thinking of her.
A
Was that a polite kiss-off or an opening for more conversation? She wasn’t exactly sure, but her fingers were flying too quickly across the keyboard for it to be much of a problem.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Re: Great minds
You mean that smart and pretty blond my mother hired is YOUR DAUGHTER? No wonder you’re so proud of her! What a great kid she is. If I’d been half as together as your Kelly when I was her age, I wouldn’t be back in Paradise Point working for my mother!
What’s your secret? Can you bottle it? When I look at Hannah and think of the future, it scares me so much sometimes that I want to hide under the bed and not come out until she’s married with kids of her own.
Advice gratefully accepted.
Maddy
He found himself liking her more with each e-mail. She was warm, funny, and straightforward, three attributes you didn’t often find in the same person. And she liked his kid. That didn’t hurt, either. She didn’t take herself too seriously, but she understood what was—or should be—important in life.
If the power ever came back on, he’d answer her e-mail.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Luck (was Great minds)
Wish I had some advice for you, but I just got lucky. Unlike her old man
“Oh, no!”
The battery alarm buzzed a “2% remaining” warning and Maddy leaped from bed to grab for the A/C cord. She scrabbled around on the floor, snaked her hand under the bed, and grabbed for the power brick, then managed to plug the whole shebang in a split second before the room went black, taking Aidan’s message with it.
“Come on, you can’t do this to me!”
She peered out her bedroom window. The entire street was dark. When was she going to learn to keep her laptop’s battery properly charged? She couldn’t begin to count the times she’d managed to get herself in trouble with a drained battery and a misplaced A/C cord or, like tonight, a power outage.
Hannah’s voice seeped through the wall that separated their rooms and Maddy hurried out into the hall. She inched Hannah’s door open a tiny bit and peeked inside. Bless Rose and the battery-operated night-lights that bathed the room in a soft pink glow. Hannah’s curls were barely over her beloved Aladdin blanket. How Rose must have mourned when she saw Aladdin featured prominently at the center of her Victorian decorating scheme, but she never said a word.
Maddy tiptoed closer to the bed. Hannah’s soft, gentle breathing filled her heart with joy. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to her daughter’s cheek and was about to return to her room when Hannah spoke.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie,” Maddy whispered. “Everything’s all right.”
Hannah mumbled something, but Maddy couldn’t decipher the words. She leaned closer. The rhythm was familiar—rise and fall and rise and fall—and it reminded her of the Russian family who had lived next door to them in Seattle. The condo walls were very thin, and the Grinkovs’ conversations came through loud and clear. Apparently Hannah had absorbed the sounds and made them part of her rich fantasy life.
For nine months Hannah had been a part of her, flesh of her flesh. Now the tiny baby who had depended upon Maddy for her every need had a secret inner life she could never penetrate. It thrilled and dismayed her at the same time. She wanted to nurture Hannah’s individuality, but oh, how she longed for the days when she knew all the curves and shadows of her daughter’s heart.
She returned to her room as the lights flickered on, dipped, then came back to life. She didn’t waste a second and within minutes she was back on-line, picking up where she had left off.
Kelly has been making the right decisions since she was Hannah’s age. All I’ve ever done is watch and listen and be there for her.
You’re right to be scared. It’s a hell of a job, especially when you’re in it alone.
A.
Another power hit like the last one and the desktop would be toast. Aidan fumbled around for the flashlight and set it upright in a beer mug. It cast a wide arc of light across the ceiling beams of the stockroom-turned-office and spilled down the walls like pale malt. Too bad he couldn’t come up with an easy fix f
or the computer.
He dug a worn pack of cards from his desk drawer and dealt out a hand of solitaire. He was about to top the five of spades with a four of hearts when the lights came on and he was back in business.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Re: Luck (was Great minds)
Hope you’re still there. We lost power and then I heard a noise from Hannah’s room, so I went in to investigate. (Yes, I was afraid she’d gone on a samovar search!)
Turns out she was talking in her sleep! And not only talking, but I swear she was speaking with some kind of accent. Don’t laugh but do you remember Boris & Natasha? Hannah sounded like a baby Natasha!
Maybe Rose is right and cartoons really are a brain drain.
Did you let Kelly watch a lot of TV?
Maddy
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Cartoons
Guilty. Scooby-Doo. Josie and the Pussycats. And those Saturday mornings didn’t seem to hurt her any. (And I got some extra ZZZZs.)
A.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Re: Cartoons
You mean I don’t have to feel guilty for letting Hannah believe Aladdin and Jasmine are part of the family?? Maddy
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: power outage
Hey, sorry I disappeared. The lights blew (third time) and then the phone went out for a couple minutes right after. This storm is worse than I figured. Are you still there?
A.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Blizzard??
Same thing happened here. Hannah’s curled up next to me now. (So is Priscilla. She sends her regards to your right shoe.) I think we’re on borrowed time.
Hannah asked me if tomorrow will be a Snow Day. Remember them? Gina and I used to sneak down to the beach and build anatomically correct snow mermaids.
Whoops! The lights just flickered. Better send this off before the power goes out again. If I can’t connect again, this has been fun.
Maddy
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: snowmaids?
Snow Days were like Christmas, Halloween, and your birthday all rolled into one.
(Anatomically correct snow mermaids?? Where was I when this was going on?)
A.
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Re: snowmaids?
I don’t know where you were, O’Malley. We didn’t exactly run with the same crowd, did we? But if you can make your way down here tomorrow, I just might show you how it’s done.
Maddy
TO: [email protected]
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: 6 December
SUBJECT: Re: Re: snowmaids?
It’s a deal.
Sleep well, Maddy Bainbridge.
Aidan
PS: Breakfast sounds great. How about Friday?
Chapter Twenty-two
“HANNAH WANTS TEA,” Rose said when Maddy walked into the kitchen the next morning. “I didn’t know she drank tea.”
“She doesn’t,” Maddy said, casting a curious glance in the direction of her daughter. “Do you really want tea?”
Hannah nodded. “In a glass, please.”
Rose, Maddy, and Lucy exchanged looks.
“A glass?” Lucy said, then started to laugh. “Of course! You want iced tea, right, Hannah?”
“No,” said Hannah primly. “Hot tea in a glass with a lump of sugar.”
“Don’t look at me,” Maddy said to her mother and aunt. “I have no idea where this is coming from.”
“Where did you learn about hot tea in a glass?” Rose asked as she slathered sweet butter on a freshly baked cranberry-pecan muffin.
Hannah looked puzzled for a second, then brightened. “I just know, that’s all.”
“We could use one of those nice heavy glass beer mugs,” Lucy said. “That should be able to withstand the heat.”
“And a lot of milk, I would think.” Rose added the buttered muffin to the basket of other buttered muffins.
“Oh, why not?” Maddy pulled a pair of clean glass mugs from the top shelf of the cabinet over the fridge. “It’s a glorious day out there. I think we should celebrate!”
Lemony winter sun bounced off the snowy yard and splashed through the wide windows, bathing the kitchen in crystal-clear light that took your breath away. The storm had washed the world clean and returned it all sparkling and new.
“Isn’t she in a wonderful mood,” Lucy said as Maddy added a tea bag to each of the mugs.
“Indeed she is,” Rose said with a smile for Maddy.
She poured hot water carefully into each of the mugs. Hannah watched, enchanted, as the water began to turn darker shades of amber.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Maddy said. “Who wouldn’t be in a wonderful mood on a day like this?”
Rose started to laugh. “We’re snowbound. The phones are out. The plows haven’t been through yet. We might end up welcoming in the New Year with the Loewensteins and the Armaghs, and you look like you won the lottery.”
“It’s been a long time since I saw a bona fide blizzard. Look!” she said, gesturing toward the window and the shimmering vista beyond. “Have you ever seen anything more glorious in your entire life?”
“Yes,” said Lucy. “A snowplow with my name on it.”
Teasing words flew about the kitchen, but they were gentle words meant to remind you that you were part of something bigger than yourself. A family. Had the words themselves suddenly lost their cutting edge, or was Maddy hearing them through new ears? She hadn’t a clue. All she knew was that the words felt like hugs.
She added milk and sugar to Hannah’s tea, stirred it, then tasted it to make sure it wasn’t too hot for her. Assured that it was a safe temperature, she placed the mug down in front of her little girl.
“Well, there you go, Hannah,” she said, milking and sugaring her own mug of tea. “Hot tea in a glass, just like you ordered.”
Hannah wrapped her tiny hands around the glass and smiled up at Maddy. “Spasibo,” she said.
“She speaks Russian?” Lucy said. “I thought you said she was crazy about Aladdin.”
Maddy made a fierce face at Lucy. That was all she needed, for her aunt to ruin Hannah’s Christmas surprise.
Rose waved away the comment. “Maddy had Russian neighbors back in Seattle. Children are sponges. Remember when Denise’s youngest spent the night with Julia Gonzalez and her family? She came home sounding like Antonio Banderas.” She untied her apron and hung it on the hook behind the kitchen door, then picked up the basket of muffins. “Time to say good morning to our guests. Pray for the snowplows, ladies.”
Hannah was happily enjoying her glass of tea and a bowl of maple-drizzled oatmeal. Maddy popped two slices of homemade white into the toaster and gazed longingly at the jar of homemade raspberry jam on the table.
Lucy piled mountains of fluffy yellow scrambled eggs into the chafing dish. “So things are going well for you two,” she said with one of her patented Lucy smiles. “It does my heart good to see the change.”
The DiFalco women were nothing if not direct. No point pretending she didn’t know what Lucy was talking about.
“We have a lot of history between us,” Maddy said carefully. “The last few days have been amazing but—”
“I know,” Lucy said. “But humor me. I think this could be a fresh start for both of you.”
Maddy walke
d over to where her aunt stood near the sink and pressed a kiss to her soft, smooth cheek. “You always did believe in miracles, Aunt Lucy. That’s one of the reasons I love you so much.”
“I know what I know,” Lucy said with a toss of her head. “And I know that you and Rosie are more alike than either of you realizes.”
Maddy made a face. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“There! That’s exactly what I mean. You both hide your feelings with a few funny words and a laugh, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
“Rose always told me I was too free with my emotions.”
“Anger definitely,” Lucy said, “but until Hannah came along, I don’t think I ever really saw you open your heart.”
“Lucy!” Maddy stared at her aunt. “I thought I was the one who wore her heart on her sleeve.”
“Oh, that’s what you wanted us all to think,” Lucy said. “But one look in your eyes told the real story. Your heart was hiding in plain sight.”
“Motherhood changes you.”
Lucy looked as if she had been about to say something, but thought better of it.
“What?” Maddy asked. “Go ahead. We’ve never held back with each other, Lucy.”
Lucy shook her head, her dangly earrings dancing in the sunlight.
“Rose is different these days,” Maddy said, “and I don’t think it’s a delayed response to motherhood.”
“You’re right,” Lucy said. “She is different.”
Was it her imagination, or were Lucy’s eyes wet with tears?
“I’ve never really understood why she left her old career the way she did and poured everything into the Candlelight. It seemed to come from nowhere.” It had all happened around the time when she was so deeply involved in pregnancy and childbirth and the upheaval in her relationship with Tom Lawlor that her mother’s decision never really registered on Maddy the way it might have at another time. “Do you know why she did it?”
Shore Lights Page 27
