Carrolls and Firrs: A Christmas Novella

by Janice M. Whiteaker

  “No. I mean it’s a bakery so you could make whatever. Anything would be better than what they have now.” Ellie remembered her friend’s visit looking for cookies. “What kind of cookies do you make?”

  The circles stopped and Betsy looked at her. “All of the cookies. I make all of the cookies.”

  Ellie sat up on the edge of the couch. “Do you have plans for the day?”

  Betsy rolled her eyes. “I never have plans.” She looked down at her stomach. “Besides sitting here getting fatter.”

  Ellie huffed out a breath. “You’re growing a human.” She stood up. “Wanna go shopping? You can get anything you want and make anything you want.”

  Betsy didn’t budge. “Can I eat some of it?”

  “Only some. I want to take some to Doug. Show him what I’m thinking.”

  “You know he might get the wrong idea if you bring him treats.” Betsy held out her hand.

  Ellie grabbed it and hoisted her friend off the couch. “I don’t think so.”

  Betsy groaned as she straightened. “Yeah. You’re right. Men always go out of their way to help women whose parents have been total jerks to them.”

  “He’s just a nice guy.” It was a fact Ellie reminded herself of frequently during their last meeting. Any time Doug pulled out a chair. Opened a door. Leaned in close to look over papers. Ellie shooed away the butterflies in her stomach, telling them he was only interested in her in a business sort of way.

  Not that it mattered where his interests were. Ellie was here temporarily. The more temporary, the better. She had a whole life waiting for her in the city. A life where she could be herself without having to feel guilty or explain it to anyone. Especially her parents.

  Ellie threw on her coat, ready to be one step closer to getting the bakery up to snuff and one step closer to getting back to her life.

  “Come on. Let’s go buy a skid of butter.”

  ***

  Doug pressed the channel up arrow on the remote and paused.

  “Keep going.” His dad struggled to wipe at his running nose with the wrinkled tissue clutched in his gnarled fingers.

  Doug slowly moved through the channels until Bruce decided on a show that followed around the State Troopers of Alaska as they pulled over drunk drivers on ATV’s and tried to coerce trapped moose out of backyards during 24 hours of sunlight.

  “I woulda liked to go there.” His dad watched as a cruiser sailed over snow covered back roads, his eyes never leaving the screen. “Supposed to be beautiful.”

  Doug watched his dad as one of Bruce’s many stolen dreams played out in front of him. Maybe this was one he could take back. Not in the way he wished for his dad, but a way that could be enough. “What about a cruise?”

  Bruce looked his way, his eyes hazy from the cold medicine keeping him from coughing and sneezing uncontrollably. “A cruise?”

  Doug nodded at the screen. “To Alaska. I’ve heard that’s actually the best way to see it. Only way you can even make a dent in all that space.”

  “Huh.” His dad turned back to the screen and sat silently for a long time. Long enough Doug thought he’d fallen asleep.

  After being up almost all night keeping his dad company as Bruce struggled to breathe through the congestion and make his hands cooperate enough to blow his own nose Doug took advantage and closed his eyes.

  “Would your mom come?” His dad’s voice startled him out of an easy sleep he hadn’t realized came.

  Doug blinked away the grogginess making him struggle to remember what his dad was talking about. An Alaskan cruise. That was it. “Yeah. Of course mom would go.”

  “Huh.” Bruce turned back to the television.

  Doug rolled his head from side to side, trying to stretch out the kink in his neck from too many hours on the couch. He was just beginning to do the same to his back when there was a light rap on the front door.

  Bruce rolled his head toward the hall that led to the front of the house. “You expecting company?”

  “No.” He gave his dad’s shoulder a light bump as he passed by and flashed a quick grin his way. “Are you?”

  “Probably my girlfriend.”

  Doug laughed as he walked down the hall. Halfway to the door his stomach dropped.

  What time was it? He looked at his watch and rushed the last few steps to pull open the door.

  Ellie’s hand was softly closed, knuckles set to knock again, hovering mid-air. She smiled, her bottom lip nipped between her teeth. “Your mom sent me here.”

  “Ellie I’m so sorry.” Doug stepped back, giving her room to come into the small entry. “I lost track of time.”

  Ellie was shaking her head before the full apology cleared his mouth. “Don’t be. Your mom told me you were up most of the night.” She held up a foil covered dish. “I actually just came to drop this off to you. We can reschedule.” She pushed the plate in his direction.

  Doug grabbed it out of reflex, the tips of his fingers resting on top of hers.

  “Who is it?”

  They both looked down the hall toward Bruce’s voice.

  Doug sighed. “He’ll probably give me hell if I don’t bring you back there to say hi.” Doug gave her an apologetic smile. “He’s feeling a little isolated not being able to go over to the café the past few days.”

  Ellie looked down at the plate held between their hands and her eyes barely widened. She cleared her throat and carefully slid her hands from under his. “Sorry.” She gave him a quick smile. “Guess those are tough to let go of.”

  Doug balanced the plate on one hand, dropping the other to his side, rubbing his thumb over the spots where her skin warmed his. “If you don’t mind waiting a minute I can put on my shoes and we can go back over.”

  Ellie glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t want you to leave your dad alone if he’s not feeling well.” She took a step back toward the door. “It is not a big deal. We can meet in a couple days when he’s feeling better.” She gave him a wide smile. “And when you’ve rested up.”

  “Doug?”

  Doug looked back over his shoulder, then back at Ellie, a little unnerved over how much he didn’t want her to walk back out the door just yet.

  She pointed to the back of the farmhouse. “Do you want me to say hi real quick before I go?”

  He hesitated, deciding on the lesser of two evils. Say no and Ellie would be gone. Telling her yes guaranteed she would be charmed into staying and spending the evening listening to his dad tell stories and embarrass the heck out of him.

  The choice was his.

  “He would love that.”

  Ellie took the plate back from him. “Your dad should get first dibs since he’s sick.” She tugged the foil off, revealing an assortment of baked goods.

  Doug eyed the various scones, cookies and quick breads. “Are these from your parents’ bakery?”

  She laughed, the light sound bouncing through the small space, and his rapidly shrinking mind. “No.” Ellie’s long golden brown hair swung against her shoulders as she shook her head. “I like you too much to make you eat any of that.”

  He heard her barely suck in her breath, the smile frozen on her face. She blinked quickly then took a side step, putting a little more space between them. “Is he back this way?”

  His dad was craned in his seat, neck twisted as far as he could manage. As soon as Ellie came into his line of sight, Bruce beamed. “I told you it was my girlfriend.”

  Ellie winked at his dad. “I thought we were keeping that a secret.”

  Bruce laughed as loud as his cold roughened throat would allow. “Pretty and funny.”

  “I’m a double threat I guess.” Ellie crossed the room and held her free hand out. “I’m Ellie.”

  Doug swallowed hard. It was too late to stop the inevitable; all he could do was brace for it.

  But it didn’t come. Ellie didn’t so much as bat an eye when his dad slowly raised his hand, twisted and distorted from the rheumatoid arthritis that st
ole his ability to work, walk, and take care of himself.

  The same disease that robbed Doug of the last of his childhood and his chance at an education.

  Ellie took his father’s hand in hers and held it gently. “I thought some snacks my friend Betsy made might make you feel better.” She lowered the tray so his dad could see.

  Bruce’s eyebrows went up. “I’m not sure how much I can taste right now but I’m gonna give it one heck of a shot.”

  Ellie slowly pulled her hand from around his dad’s. “I’ll leave these here with you boys then.”

  Bruce used his arms to push himself around to face Ellie. “Oh no. You can’t just come in here and tease me with company. You’ve got to stay a while.” He tipped his head toward Doug. “This one is getting boring. I need some fresh conversation.”

  Ellie looked at Doug, her eyes uncertain.

  She might not have seen this coming, but he did. And he brought her back here anyway. What did that say about him?

  That he was the kind of guy who liked to bang his head against a wall after all.

  “Sit down and get comfortable.” Bruce eased back into his normal spot in the recliner as Ellie began to unbutton her coat.

  “I have a story for you.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “I FEEL LIKE this is going to go over like a lead balloon.” Ellie let her head fall to her hands and stared down at the list in front of her. “I hope I haven’t wasted my time.”

  Wasting her own time wasn’t as big of a deal as wasting Doug’s. She rolled her head to one side. “I really hope I haven’t wasted yours.”

  Doug was leaned back in the chair beside her, mouth full of one of Betsy’s blueberry scones. “I found the best baker in town because of this.” He set the scone down and took a sip of his coffee. “Either way I’ve got a new line of items to add to my menu.”

  It looked like Betsy would be the one to come out on top in this deal. So far she’d been offered two jobs, both where she could bake her brains out, baby in tow.

  Ellie looked around. Just a few minutes ago the dining room was empty and quiet. In the ten minutes since The Grove opened its doors for the day nearly every table was snapped up with lunch goers. “You think you’ll sell a lot of scones at lunch and dinner?”

  Doug shrugged. “Here, maybe not scones but I can sure as heck move some cookies.” He chewed his mouthful slowly. “I bet they’d sell like crazy in a coffee shop though.”

  “That’s a place downtown could use.” Ellie grabbed her pen and filled the next line on her pad of paper. “I need to fix the coffee issue at the bakery too.” She tapped the pen against her bottom lip and stared at the small coffee bar at the back of the room. “Hopefully just a good roast brewed well will be enough because I don’t think my parents can handle anything more involved than that.”

  Doug shrugged. “It’s not too bad. I could have David teach you if you wanted to get something set up.”

  Ellie chewed on her lip. Teaching her wouldn’t help since she wasn’t going to be sticking around, only Doug didn’t know that. She hadn’t told him yet her time here was limited because…

  “I’ve been thinking about opening up a coffee shop downtown.”

  Ellie turned to look at him. “I wish you already did.” She smiled. “It would have saved you the trouble of making me a gas station coffee concoction.” She tipped her cup from The Grove’s coffee bar Doug’s way. “Of course then you would have had to deal with me every morning and every afternoon.”

  Doug opened his mouth then closed it. Clearing his throat he adjusted in his chair, tucking his long legs in the open area under the seat.

  The move made Ellie feel oddly self-conscious. She looked down, trying to concentrate on the task at hand instead of the uncomfortable feelings growing in her gut because of the man beside her. This time it was her turn to clear her throat.

  “Um. I think we covered all the changes we need to make to the store.” She turned her head Doug’s way but struggled to make eye contact. “Last night I was thinking about ways to bring people in for events and I wonder if you think it would be worthwhile to offer themed evening classes.”

  Doug leaned in closer. She could feel the heat where his arm was almost touching hers. “What kind of classes are you thinking?”

  Ellie scratched at a nonexistent itch at the back of her head, trying to distract her brain because right now it wanted to focus on one thing.

  Doug.

  The way he smelled. The way he smiled. The way his thigh was resting softly against hers.

  So three things. But those three things were making her normally multitasking brain act like it never juggled a to-do list let alone a multi-million dollar company. “Um.” She tucked a stray hair behind one ear and scratched the imaginary itch again. He was going to think she had lice.

  Never once in a business meeting was the man sitting beside her at the table anything other than simply a colleague. No more than some guy she worked with.

  No matter how expensive his cologne. No matter how well cut his suit. She never batted an eye.

  So why was she struggling now?

  Ellie peeked Doug’s way and her stomach twisted.

  Crap.

  Maybe she had a thing for flannel shirts rolled up at the cuff, worn blue jeans, and work boots.

  Or maybe she just had a thing for him.

  Double crap.

  “How’s it going?” Janie stopped at the end of their table, her bright smile and warm presence a welcome distraction that Ellie grabbed like a lifeline.

  “Good.” She leaned toward Doug’s mom, resting her folded forearms on the table. “Can I ask you a question?”

  Janie leaned her hip against the table. “Sure honey.”

  “Would you be interested in a place where you could spend evenings with your friends taking a class and having cocktails and appetizers?” Ellie pulled a flyer out of the binder she used to organize all the plans for her parents’ business and slid it across the table to Doug’s mom. “Something like this but always with a holiday or seasonal theme.”

  Janie put on her red rimmed glasses as she picked up the class list for a painting parlor an hour away. “You can just go and paint a picture like this?” She turned the paper to face Ellie.

  “I was thinking of doing more than just painting. I was thinking more options like wreaths at Christmas. Baskets at Easter. Maybe even some baking classes.” Ellie pulled out a few print outs on her ideas. “Like this.”

  Doug leaned over her shoulder, his eyes focused on the papers.

  And darned if it didn’t pull all her focus back to him.

  “I’d love to make something like this.” Janie picked up the silver and gold wreath made of ribbon and Christmas bulbs twisted into a grapevine base.

  Ellie smiled at her. “You can keep that if you want.”

  Janie gave her a sly smile as she folded it and tucked it into the front pocket of the pristine white apron she wore every time Ellie saw her. “I’m gonna take you up on that.” She glanced toward the front of the room. “I better get back to it.” She patted Ellie’s shoulder as she left. “Don’t let him work you too hard.”

  Ellie smiled at Janie’s back as the older woman walked to where Bruce was sitting with a group of men his age, laughing. Before she met Doug and his family she felt horrible for the way her parents spoke about them.

  Now she was sick about it.

  “Ellie this is a great idea.” Doug’s voice was so close, so low, so sincere. It made her feel better and worse at the same time.

  “Do you think?” Ellie once again pushed at the thoughts making it difficult to focus on the job she was here to do. “It’s hard for me to guess what will be popular here. People are different than they are in the city.”

  “I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with that class idea.” Doug stared at the list of plans sitting on the table in front of her. “Do you really think a coffee shop would be profitable downtown?”

&
nbsp; Was he kidding? “Absolutely it would.” Ellie wished her parents had the capacity to add one to the bakery but chances were the list of changes she wanted was already going to make their brains explode.

  “Even if I bought the building to put it in?”

  Ellie thought on that for a minute. “It would depend on the building. The location. There’s a lot of variable there.”

  “Maybe I could take you there sometime. Show you what I’m thinking.” Doug’s eyes slowly moved from the stack of paper to her face. “I would really like to get a second opinion I trust on the whole thing.” He smiled, dimples cutting deep into his shadow of a beard. “I might also be hoping you can return the favor and help me with some ideas.”

  Ellie’s heart skipped a beat. That would mean spending more time together. More quiet mornings side by side sipping coffee. Waiting for accidental touches. Going home with the smell of him clinging to her clothes. Those dimples.

  “I’d be happy to.”

  It’s not like she was leaving immediately. It would take a little time to implement the changes she was hoping her parents would be willing to take on. Then she would want to be sure they could maintain everything by themselves. Might as well spend the time she had to stay putting her skills to good use.

  “Good.” Doug’s eyes stayed on hers a second longer. Long enough that she worried the heat creeping along her hairline would make its way to her cheeks. Doug tapped the list with his pointer finger. “How do you think they’ll take this?”

  “Ugh.” A pit formed in her stomach. One that sat heavily every time she imagined how this meeting with her parents would unfold. “My mom and dad are…” She took a deep breath and tried to think of a delicate way to put it. Difficult? Stubborn? Irritating? “Set in their ways.”

  That described every aspect of Dale and Kris Carroll. From the clothes they wore to the shop they kept to the way they treated their daughter. “They just like for things to be the same way they’ve always been.”

  Doug sat quietly, his shoulders relaxed, his attention on her even with the hustle and bustle of the busy restaurant all around them. He looked at her as if there was nothing else there but her. As if there was nothing else he wanted to do but listen.