Christmas Inn Love

by Collins, Kelly

  “Okay.” Jackson turned to walk away but pivoted around to face him. “When you’re done with your work, can we play video games again?”

  “Why don’t you ask your mom if we can play online?” he said. “You can help me pick out a controller and maybe set me up. Probably not today, but if she says yes, we’ll get started soon. How does that sound?”

  “Sweet.” The kid fist-pumped the air.

  In giant strides, Jackson sailed back into the house with Lucky eagerly following. Celia came to the door and from across the yard they gazed at one another. What was that he saw in her eyes? Interest, or something less appealing like indifference?

  Chapter Nine

  Celia

  Being snowbound meant Celia got ahead in her preparation for her East Coast guests. She and Jackson made up the room Rob had used because it was the largest and had an attached bathroom. It was also the farthest from Jackson’s, which sat above hers in the staff quarters. He liked his own space, and she didn’t want to silence him when guests arrived.

  “Where should I put Lucky? Rob still has his crate,” he said as he was getting ready for work. “I can drive over and get it from him tomorrow, but that doesn’t solve the problem for today.”

  “Lucky can stay with me. I’ll put him in your room if I need to,” she said. “Drive safely. The roads are clear, but that doesn’t mean you can race around.”

  And with that, her son went out the door and Celia was alone.

  She worked at her desk, searching the internet for Christmas float ideas. The parade was right around the corner. After the Harvest Festival, time would fly. It always did.

  The festival was two weeks away and there was no doubt the crew was working at the Millers’ indoor arena to build the stage for the performers. She appreciated the kindness of the Millers, who volunteered their horse arena every year.

  After she finished her coffee, she set about doing her marketing. Celia put on her boots, coat, and earmuffs, and grabbed her camera to video the snow for her vlog. She walked around the grounds and took shots from the street and when she entered the house, the dog greeted her like he’d missed her with all his heart.

  “I could get used to that, puppy.” She dropped to her haunches to nuzzle his fur.

  When she returned to her desk to upload her video, she had two emails that knocked the wind out of her. One notified her that the roof of the horse arena had collapsed under the weight of the snow. The other was her East Coast guests canceling their stay. There was nothing for her to do but weep. They’d withdrawn their reservation within the forty-eight-hour cancelation period, so she couldn’t charge them anything. She had no defense against the gush of tears that erupted.

  Celia cried so hard her eyes swelled.

  She was glad Jackson was at work because she tried to insulate him from the hardships they faced. It wasn’t just the cancelation. Or that she’d struggle to make her bills this month. It was everything, including how stirred up by Rob McKenna she’d become. He reminded her of high school, and high school brought back memories of Jackson’s dad.

  Selfishly, she was happy her ex-husband wasn’t around. Her son needed a dad, but Celia knew her ex would have never been the man Jackson needed. If he’d stayed, her poor boy would have been like her, chasing big Jackson for attention and affection and never receiving it.

  At the moment, when finances were tight and business was dwindling, Celia wished she wasn’t alone to handle everything by herself. That wasn’t the case and would never be. It was all up to her.

  She no longer had the luxury to fantasize about life being different. This was her reality.

  After burying her head in her hands, she sobbed hard enough to make her stomach hurt. If she stretched out in her bed and covered herself with the goose down comforter, she could sleep forever, but that was an indulgence she couldn’t afford.

  She walked the dog into Jackson’s room, made sure he had enough water and closed the door. As she shut it, a knock sounded at the door. She knew it was Scott. He’d come to tell her in person about the Miller arena. She wiped her face of the tears but didn’t bother to hide that it upset her and walked toward the entrance.

  “I already know, Scott,” she said with resignation.

  When she looked up, she saw Rob holding the crate. It folded up flat, but she knew what it was by the grated metal. Now she wished she’d washed her face.

  “Jackson said he’d pick that up tomorrow.” She turned her back to him and wiped under her eyes, hoping no old mascara stained her skin.

  “My meeting finished early, and I thought I’d run it over. The snow is melting already, and the roads are clear.”

  He followed her inside and set the crate out of the way.

  “The place looks amazing.”

  She looked at it through his eyes. There were special touches that hadn’t been there earlier like flowers and bowls of wrapped chocolates.

  He moved closer. “What’s the matter?”

  He shouldn’t have asked her that. She wasn’t sure she could control another round of tears if he pushed for an answer.

  “Celia?”

  She pointed behind her to the door, signaling him to leave. Her shoulders shook as the tears fell again. She controlled the sounds, but her body shook without reservation.

  “Hey.” He turned her toward him.

  She pressed her forehead into his chest and let him put his arms around her. He smelled so damn good. He felt good too. The comfort of the contact with his body was exactly what she needed. She’d never experienced that with Jackson’s dad.

  Rob stroked her hair and told her everything would be okay while he held her.

  “You want to talk?”

  She shook her head but talked, anyway. “The arena where we hold our harvest festival collapsed.”

  Rob’s chest rumbled with a chuckle. “Is that all? My goodness,” he said. “They can find another place to hold the gathering.”

  “No, there isn’t a place big enough.” Her stomach twisted because she realized she had written a check on the money she thought she would make that weekend. It went against her better judgment, but Scott needed a down payment for the supplies before he would order them. Her body tensed and Rob pulled back. He lowered his face to hers, looking her straight in the eye.

  “That isn’t all of it, is it?”

  “No,” she rasped. “But I won’t tell you the rest. Please go.”

  “Celia,” he pleaded.

  She pushed away. His touch, even if was just to comfort her, made her want things she couldn’t have.

  Having a guy like him around would be easy to get used to, but he was there to make his fortune and move on. He didn’t understand what his small acts of kindness did to her. What they no doubt were doing to her son. He was giving them hope where hope shouldn’t live.

  “Bobby, I appreciate you bringing the crate over, but I'd appreciate it if you stopped going out of your way. Jackson would have been there tomorrow.”

  “Please don’t call me Bobby.”

  She took in a big breath. “Please just go. I have things to do.” Her words came out sounding hollow for the lies they were.

  She needed him to leave so she could go to the hardware store. Maybe Scott hadn’t put her check through to the bank for the Christmas Parade materials. The plan was for her to cover the expenses from her business account and have the members pay back their share. Now that she was in a jam, she wondered why that had ever been a rational idea.

  “See yourself out,” she said in a rush. “Thanks for the crate.”

  She hurried back to her apartment and made sure she left nothing on. The dog was secured, and she bundled up for the cold weather and grabbed her keys. Celia raised the garage door and counted her blessings if for no other reason than to calm herself down.

  She rolled her car back and got all the way out to the end of the drive to realize there were piles of snow blocking her view. She inched back and crossed her fingers she
wouldn’t get T-boned. The whole situation made her snap. She lost it, yelling her head off like a crazy woman. “Why does the universe hate me?” She looked up and screamed. She pounded on the steering wheel.

  When she made it onto the road, she paused and took a breath. Rob was still there. He had parked his truck in a space between the piles of snow. He had his cellphone in his hand like he’d been checking emails or sending a text or something, but he watched her. No doubt, he’d seen her flip out.

  Celia rolled down the window. “Why are you here? I asked you to go.”

  “Working on it.” He tucked his phone inside his pocket and took a step toward her. “You okay there?”

  She hated to be horrid to him, but she needed to protect her son and her heart. Better to not have Rob at all than have him abandon her down the road. “We’re not your responsibility,” she said. “Jackson and I were fine before you came, and we’ll be fine after you leave.”

  “We’ll talk later, Celia.”

  “There's no need,” she said, grasping for control of something—anything.

  She felt like a child throwing a tantrum, but she’d lost control of her emotions, of her finances, and of her feelings for him. Since she couldn’t get a handle on the first two, she had to make sure she put him out of her life. Problems filled her plate. She didn’t need to add man trouble to the list.

  She rolled her window up and navigated the short, slushy distance to the hardware store. It wouldn’t serve her well if she unleashed her foul mood on Scott. She had to play nice with the man who scraped at her nerves.

  As soon as she stepped inside Pinetop Hardware, Scott was on her like an ant to sticky candy. She hoped this time it was because he had a thing for her and not because he had to speak to her about a bounced check.

  “Celia,” he greeted her curtly.

  The last thing she needed was to deal with an attitude. Her guess was it didn’t make him happy to see Rob around.

  She smiled and greeted him warmly.

  “Thanks again for clearing the driveway. Unfortunately, my reservations canceled this morning, but it’s nice to have it done.” She hoped that would garner her sympathy.

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “I only mention it because I wrote a check for the materials. If you still have that, I’d appreciate it if we could hold off depositing it.”

  He eyed her with suspicion. “You’re welcome to cover it on credit if that works better for you.”

  She let out the breath she’d been holding. “That would be a lifesaver.” She hoped the relief showed in the smile she forced to her lips.

  A genuine smile would have been nice if she could muster it, but it wasn’t possible despite his answer being the best thing to happen all morning.

  “Your hands must be full with the Miller Arena. I don’t know what will happen with the festival given the circumstances. It’s not like we can hold it here or anything,” she said, looking at the store and thinking it would be the perfect building if it were empty.

  “The problem is solved,” he said with a tone of disappointment. “I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

  “What do you mean?” She was at a loss.

  “Your guest from this morning saved the day.” He forced the same fake smile she’d given him.

  Celia staggered back. She’d just yelled at Rob.

  “How did he do that?”

  “He’s erecting a prefabricated structure on his land. He bought a barn he’ll put up in a day. It was no big deal since he said it would convert to something else when he developed the property. For now, we have a place for the festival.” He clapped his hands together like he was wiping something away. “Problem solved. There won’t even be a need to move the date.”

  Celia blinked. Tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t want Scott to see her get emotional.

  “That works out great then. Now, if I can get someone to come stay at my inn, it would be a fantastic day.” She gave him a backward wave goodbye. “Thanks, Scott. I guess that’s it then.”

  “Celia?”

  She spun around when he called her.

  “Yes?”

  “Is that all you came here for?” He shoved his hands inside his pockets. “To talk about the account?”

  “Yes.” She didn’t know where he was going with the question.

  “You could have called. Did you think it would work better if you asked me in person?”

  She knew he was accusing her of playing him.

  “I thought it was better to face you since it wasn’t a casual request. It was a big deal.”

  “Sure.” He cocked his head sideways. “Did you ask Rob McKenna to buy that barn for you?”

  “No. I didn’t.” It occurred to her that Scott might have thought she’d slept her way to a venue. Why would she do that? The festival wasn’t even her thing. “Not that it’s any of your business, but he gave us his mother’s dog last night and got caught in the storm. He and Jackson played computer games until the wee hours. We aren’t a thing.” It hurt her to admit that. What would being a thing with Rob McKenna be like?

  Scott smiled with what she thought was relief.

  “Hey, I appreciate you coming out in the snow and all and meeting with me. I didn’t mean—” he started to say.

  She’d had enough of him, so she didn’t let him finish.

  “Yes, you did, but that’s okay. I think we’re clear now. Talk to you later.”

  All she could think about as she hurried back to her car was Rob bought a barn, and she had mistreated him. She had to find a way to make that up to him.

  Chapter Ten

  Rob

  During a video conference with his resort designer, Rob decided on a community of small but modern bungalows, all of them prefabricated. The construction of the resort would be a matter of grading the land, installing utilities, and putting in roads.

  Once Pinetop was on board, and the permits department okayed his plans, his property could be developed quickly.

  He threw so much business toward Sand Creek Construction that it was easy to talk them into prioritizing the building of the new barn. He wasn’t sure what he’d do with it once the festival was over, but he considered selling it to the Millers or working it into the design of the resort. Either way, it wasn’t a loss.

  He was quick to solve the problem because he had a thing for Celia, but he hadn’t thought it through. He should have waited. Maybe asked her. He just did what he did. Her rejection stung worse because he wasn’t one to fall easily and hated that he didn’t know how to move forward with his growing feelings for her.

  It didn’t help that he opened his door to find Jackson. He was another piece of the puzzle that was confusing. He wasn’t expecting to like him as much as he did. They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but that’s bull. Put a beautiful woman who needs love and her son who needs a role model in his path and his heart was all in.

  “Hey, Jackson,” Rob said.

  The sight of him made Rob’s chest expand with pride. Not because he had anything to do with Jackson’s upbringing, but because Celia had raised such a good kid with a big heart and a wonderful personality.

  “Hi,” he replied.

  “What can I do for you?”

  Jackson looked at him like he was speaking in tongues. “I’m here to pick up the crate.”

  Rob cocked his head like Lucky did when anyone spoke to the dog. “I delivered that yesterday.” He made sure not to sound impatient or rude. Jackson had enough of that behavior from his father.

  The boy stepped forward like he wanted to come inside the house, but Rob didn’t invite him in because Celia had asked him to stay away from her son.

  “Where did you put it?” Poor Jackson looked confused.

  “I gave it to your mom,” he said. “I walked it into the house. It’s folded up so maybe you didn’t know what it was.”

  “Huh, weird.” He scratched his head. “I mentioned I was coming over here to
get it, but Mom said nothing. Maybe it’s because she’s not feeling great.”

  “She’s sick?” he asked with concern. “What’s wrong?”

  He shouldn’t get involved. She told him to stay away from her and Jackson, but he couldn’t help himself.

  “I don’t know. She wants to ask you over to dinner soon, so maybe you can talk to her then.” He looked at his phone. “I’m supposed to drive her to the grocery store in a little while, so she must feel better. She spent all day yesterday and most of this morning in bed.” Jackson frowned. “It’s not like her, so it had to have been a bug.”

  “Okay, well, I hope she’s better. Let me know when she wants to have dinner.” His head spun. One moment she told him to leave her alone and the next she was planning dinner.

  “Most likely this weekend since her booking canceled.”

  Rob’s head whipped to attention. “But you guys worked so hard on the house.”

  “I know, right? That was a huge reservation. They were staying for a week. Now she has a lot of time on her hands.”

  “Why don’t we do this,” Rob began. “If she’s not feeling well, we can handle dinner. Maybe we could take her out?”

  “Yeah, I guess we could.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled back and forth. “To be honest, she’d be happier eating at home. She’s not too keen on the local restaurants.”

  “You could come here,” Rob offered. “I have a great kitchen, with a flame broil grill, and the dining room has a cool view. I’ll take you grocery shopping and we could surprise her.”

  “She would go for that.”

  “It’s a secret though. I don’t want to shake her up too much, but let’s do something nice for your mom. What do you like to eat?”

  “Hamburgers.” The word popped out like he’d been holding it in for a lifetime.

  Rob laughed. “Surprise. A Colorado lad likes beef. I should have asked what your mother likes to eat?”

  “She likes beef, chicken. Salad. Any kind of salad and she’s there. She’s easy to please.”