“Well, everyone. Let’s go welcome our guests to the jazz age and show them one hell of a party!” Amory whooped and we swarmed to the entrance.
Amory welcomed guests, checking them off the guest list, while Micah showed them the way and Isla handed them a glass of champagne as they floated past.
Men wore dapper suits and women were dressed flamboyantly. I was impressed people had made such an effort, as it wasn’t always the case – but who didn’t like the glitz and glamour of another era? The romance, the poetry, the shunning of rules and regulations in the twenties. It was impossible not to smile at the women speaking huskily, or throwing their heads back, laughing hard, as if they were truly transported to another time.
When Vinnie arrived we fussed and fawned over him and his guest of honor, Mr Whittaker. As soon as they even thought about another drink their champagne flutes were refilled. When one of them fumbled with a napkin, another was pressed into his hand. When I sailed past them for the third time, checking everything was going well, both of them were smiling as Amory regaled them with a hilarious story.
The jazz band played the Charleston, and people danced and kicked up their heels. They tangoed and foxtrotted, only stopping to guzzle champagne as though it was water. Even the most sedate of guests was inspired to join the others on the dance floor. The tap of high heels made me smile; this was what I wanted for the lodge – fun, frivolity, dancing!
With the party in full swing, the guests’ sunny faces and raucous laughter high in the air, I signaled to the girls that it was time to take a breather – safe in the knowledge everything was on track, the skill-hire staff were working well, and everyone was having fun. Tim was wooing his clients and gave me a thumbs-up whenever I dashed past him. Maybe he’d hire Cedarwood every year for parties. The possibilities were endless!
Amory and Isla huddled by a wall, sneaking their first glass of champagne and gossiping about the guests – who had the prettiest dress, and who danced like no one was watching.
“Look how happy they are,” Amory said. “This is one of the best parties we’ve ever done, Clio, and we’ve done some truly spectacular ones.”
“I think so too,” I said, grinning as I sent up a silent thank you to F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, for making the jazz era so fashionable and so much fun to recreate.
Isla sipped her champagne and, as she craned her neck back to sip, a slim necklace she was wearing caught the light. I hadn’t noticed it when we were getting ready. It was truly beautiful, a delicate constellation of stars, shimmering and twinkling under the lights.
“What’s the symbolism of your necklace, Isla?” I asked. “It’s gorgeous! Is it to do with the stars Micah named after you?”
She flushed deep scarlet, bringing out the freckles on her nose. “Umm, yeah. We, ah…” She frantically waved Micah over, who was restocking the champagne behind the bar. When he got to her, they clutched hands, and he searched her face for clues. It must have dawned on him because he nodded. “We were going to wait until the party was finished before we asked you, but…”
“Ask me?” Isla darted a nervous glance up at Micah, and he grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Oh my God, ask me what?” I had a feeling I knew what it was and goose bumps broke out over my skin in anticipation.
“So, ah… would you and Amory be our wedding planners?”
Amory and I jumped and squealed as quietly as we could. Which under the circumstances was pretty damn loud, but hey, this was the most amazing news! There was nothing quite as romantic as planning a wedding, but to plan the wedding of two of your best friends, well, that was even better.
I grabbed Isla and gave her a hug, “You’re getting married!” I pulled Micah into the hug, and Amory clasped her hands around the outside and we were one big circle of shrieking joyfulness. I was immediately in the realm of neither here nor here, stuck happily mentally planning their big day… A winter wedding, the lodge lit up with fairy lights, their special constellation twinkling above, an ice sculpture, white roses, simple yet elegant…
“You guys… oh, you’ve made this year end on the highest of notes.” I waved Kai over, and Amory dashed to the kitchen to get Cruz, and came back with a bottle of bubbly under one arm and a bewildered Cruz in the other.
“Will you do the honors, Micah?” She handed him the bottle.
The cork popped, and foamy bubbles raced up and over. As flutes were filled, I said, “On behalf of Cedarwood Lodge, and all who inhabit the grand old dame, I’d like to congratulate Micah and Isla on their engagement.”
Kai and Cruz shook Micah’s hand in turn, slapping him on the back the way men do, and hugged Isla, kissing her on the cheek. Tears welled in my eyes; it felt like the most enchanted moment and I was so thrilled they’d shared it with us tonight of all nights, when magic was in the air and anything could happen.
We clinked glasses and toasted the happy couple. Everyone around me was falling in love and yet I couldn’t even get Kai to spend a moment with me without dashing off with some excuse thrown over his shoulder. Maybe I’d always be the wedding planner, never the bride.
One of the waiters bustled over and tapped me. “Ready for the countdown?”
“Is it that time already?” I asked. The night had flown past. It felt like it had only just started and here we were on the cusp of a new year. Time sure did fly when you were having fun.
“Yep, I’ll get the mixologist to count it down?”
“Please.”
The mixologist had turned out to be seriously popular among the guests – not only could he mix a good gimlet but he laughed and joked with the crowd, making them feel special. And it definitely helped that he was easy on the eye… Amory had chosen well, and I hoped to secure him for every future Cedarwood Lodge event. If we could continue to tempt him out to the wilderness of Evergreen, that was.
“Ready for a new year?” I asked my friends, eventually settling my gaze on Kai. He took my hand and squeezed it, giving me a look loaded with meaning. But what that was exactly, I didn’t dare interpret.
The countdown started as everyone paired up and raced outside to the decked area to watch the fireworks. Ten. Nine. Eight. We all chorused, a whole group of people together in one moment in time. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. I felt Kai pull me away from the crowd. Two. His arms closed around my waist and all I could do was stare into his eyes. One. Cheers rang out as the fireworks lit up the sky in a riot of color. But I didn’t see them at all because Kai’s lips were pressed firmly against mine, and I felt as if I was floating. Here I was, surrounded by my friends, a deck full of strangers, and Kai exactly where he should be – with me. Did this mean he felt the same, or was it the magic of New Year’s Eve rubbing off on him?
The world spun dizzyingly around as the opening to ‘Auld Lang Syne’ rang out and the guests joined in… this truly was the most magical of moments. That song always made me cry, dammit, and I tried very hard to rein in my emotions, which were scattered like marbles.
Amory came up behind us. Once again interrupting a moment between me and Kai, and completely oblivious to it. “Before we get back to work, let’s share our New Year’s resolutions,” she said, dragging Cruz behind her. “You first, Cruz.”
Cruz, the only one not in a suit, still looked handsome in his chef’s whites. “I want to find the perfect recipe for beef wellington and I’m willing to put in weeks of practice. Is anyone willing to be my taste tester? I warn you, it’s going to be a lot of fun…”
Amory raised a brow. “Oh sorry, darling, but I’ve signed up to be Aunt Bessie’s new taste tester. And I might be a little busy fulfilling my own resolution – to buy every kitten-heeled Jimmy Choo I can get my hands on. It’s such a hard life.”
“You, Clio?” she said, turning to me.
“I…” I froze as all eyes were on me, worried I’d blurt out something about Kai.
“OK. We’ll come back to you. What about you Kai?”
Kai blushed and averted his ey
es.
“You two are useless,” Amory remarked, turning on her six-inch heels and sauntering off into the crowd as the mixologist gestured for her help. Guests were clinking glasses, and some were locking lips under doorways laced with mistletoe.
Micah and Isla were called away by guests, but Micah paused before he left and whispered to me, “When you know, you know.” He was referring to his marriage proposal, and I gave him a quick squeeze.
We’d been through a lot, Micah and me. Sometimes we’d been there for each other, and sometimes we hadn’t, but now he’d found the perfect girl. One who loved him unconditionally, who didn’t take him for granted, who didn’t stomp all over his dreams. He’d known she was the one from the moment he saw her, and I’d been there and caught the moment Cupid’s arrow had struck his heart. When you know, you know, he’d said. And I couldn’t help thinking his sentiment applied to me too. Hadn’t I known it the first time Kai had jumped from the cab of his truck?
I had recognized him, yet I hadn’t met him before, or something primal had happened, because the world had got brighter, music had sounded sweeter, laughter had come quicker, and all of that paled when he wasn’t here. And I couldn’t let that happen again.
Shuffling on our feet, we tried to talk, but the music had been turned up and I soon found myself pulled back to the party – ensuring everyone’s champagne flutes were filled to the brim and bidding farewell to a few guests as they left, slightly wobblier than when they’d arrived. I grinned when I saw Kai get strong-armed into dancing with a foxy seventy-something-year-old who wouldn’t take no for answer.
Hours later, the party was winding down; women carried their heels and men had shrugged off their coats. The last partygoers were sitting around drinking the rest of the champagne. The party had been a roaring success but it wasn’t quite over yet. By the photo booth Timothy stood with Vanessa, his assistant. They had their heads bent conspiratorially and, before I could avert my eyes, they kissed, and I smiled, glad Tim would find his own happy ever after, because he deserved someone to love. All they’d needed was a very gentle hint and they’d realized… Love was so simple for some.
“Go,” Amory said, tapping me on the butt.
“Go where?”
She pointed to where Kai was standing outside on the deck, fairy lights twinkling above him, his hands deep in his pockets. He cut a fine figure standing under the moonlight with soft snowflakes drifting down.
I gave Amory’s hand a squeeze and went to him.
Sensing my presence he turned and gave me a heart-melting smile. I smiled back; I couldn’t help it – even if Kai was about to break my heart and announce he was off again, being around him just made me feel lighter.
“Clio, I’ve been heartsick at the thought of leaving…”
I couldn’t speak. I just stared at him, my hand tingling in his. Eventually I managed to nod.
“When I wake up,” he whispered, “I’m thinking of you. When I sleep you inhabit my dreams. Your smile, your laugh, the way you cry to Bonnie Tyler when you think no one can hear…” He tailed off and a smile crept onto his face.
Oh God.
“Your ability to burn toast, and blame the toaster, the way people flock to be in your spotlight. I’ve been so torn about everything, not wanting to appear like the lost soul I was. How do I say how I feel without putting any more pressure on you?”
“What do you mean, Kai?” My breath caught. What pressure?
“You know, when I found out I was adopted I ran, took my things, cursed them all and got lost in the biggest country I could find. And now I see that for what it was. Without knowing the truth, without reconciling the past, I wouldn’t have found you. I would still be in Australia catching waves, and building other people’s houses, but missing something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.”
“So…?” Was this goodbye?
“It was you, Clio. That’s what’s been missing from my life. And now I see I had to make sense of the past to be able to live for the future. And I hope that future will be with you. Here.”
“You’re staying at Cedarwood?” My legs were like jelly, but I fought the urge to stumble into his arms. It was all too good to be true. I was sure it was a dream and any minute I’d wake up. But I needed real words this time, real answers, not just the press of his lips against mine.
“If you’ll have me. I told my boss I wasn’t coming back. Leaving you would be like someone turning off the sun, and I just want you to know, you’ve changed me, made me whole again, and even if you don’t feel the same way, I will always love you for that. For what I know can be…”
“I can’t believe you’re really going to stay.” I grinned, while my heart thrummed so hard I was sure he could hear it.
“For the last month I’ve been trying to find a building job closer to Evergreen so I could be near you. Just on the off-chance, in case you had the same feelings for me.”
“But wasn’t it obvious how I felt?” Golly, I was clearly useless at expressing myself to him. “I told you! I kissed you, I made it quite clear, didn’t I?”
“Well, there was Tim calling every three minutes, and with your history and all… I wasn’t sure if you meant it. And I had to get myself together, first, before I admitted it to you. Then there was my parents, my job. I had to be sure I was in the right space and was making the right choice by you, Clio. And if you’d have chosen Tim, then I would have respected that. But the last thing I wanted was to admit how I felt about you and have you tell me you loved someone else. And I had to make peace with who I was, and who I want to be. Which is here, with you, for as long as you’ll have me.”
“Tim is just a friend, but how did you even know it was an issue?” Before the words left my mouth, I knew.
“Amory,” he said, laughing. For once I wouldn’t scold her about sharing my secrets. “She told me you weren’t interested in Tim like that because you were head over heels in love with me.” That minx!
“Head over heels? Well, I guess I am.”
My pulse raced, and I wanted to pinch myself to make sure this was real. That the blue-eyed Australian boy in front of me was really staying at the lodge, because he wanted to be with me. I was the girl Amory had dubbed icy heart – but Kai had proven a heart could be thawed, it just took the right person. It took Kai. A man who’d managed to sweep me off my feet with his sensitive soul, his zest for life, and his passion. “I hope you stay for ever, Kai.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Clio. I promise you that.”
He lifted my chin and pulled me in for a swoon-worthy kiss, and while I still felt dizzy with desire for him, I also felt something else, something like hope and the promise of for ever. Right here, in the place we all felt at home.
Epilogue
Fourteen months later
The sun shone down, training triangles of light on the lush green grass. With respectful faces, we stood huddled by the newly pruned maze.
“Ready?” I asked and gave Mom’s hand a squeeze.
“Ready.”
Hand in hand we wandered through the entrance. Mom knew her way even after all these years. When we came to the middle, the large square, we stopped short. Mom gasped and covered her face. After a minute she removed her hands, and said, “It’s beautiful, Clio.”
In the small square clearing at the center of the maze, we’d planted a bed, and laid a length of grass. In the middle of the grass patch sat a stone memorial bench with Tabitha’s name engraved on a gold plaque.
Mom reached out, ran the pad of her finger along the plaque and said, “I’ll never forget you, Tabitha, but today I’m saying goodbye.” Her small shoulders shook with the effort of her farewells.
Tabitha was gone but never forgotten. And now Mom could let the past go.
Kai wandered over, a pot of roses in his hand. “Any place in particular?” he gently asked Mom, who pointed to a spot. He dug out the earth, and planted the pretty pale-peach rosebush. Mom had asked for a rose garden, and a ro
se garden she would have. The maze was a place of solitude for her now, a place to visit and reflect. Her days sitting in her cottage alone were over. She’d moved into one of the chalets, and spent her days with Isla, manicuring the gardens and the grounds – just like she’d always dreamed of doing. The work had made her stronger, in myriad ways, and her cheeks weren’t as hollow any more.
Reaching forward I gave her a tight hug, glad to have her back in my life now. And grateful that we had made it through everything to be here today. Not quite the TV mother and daughter I’d pictured, but close enough.
Pulling back she laid a hand on my cheek and smiled. “I’m just going to sit here awhile,” she said, shading her eyes from the spring sunshine, which we took as our cue to leave.
As we left the maze behind us, Kai reached out to me. Hand in hand we walked back to the lodge, and took a pitcher of iced tea to the deck. Kai’s mom and dad were sleeping off their jetlag in one of the suites upstairs, and I was eager to show them around once they’d napped. They were a lovely couple; I’d spent two weeks last winter with them when we made a flying visit to Sydney, Australia. They’d promised us then that they’d come and visit Cedarwood, and here they were. I was proud of Kai – he was their boy again, and it didn’t matter that they were bound only by love, not blood. They were eager to see what Kai did, and where he lived, but I was more nervous about the secret we’d kept from them.
It was getting harder to keep it secret, too, as each day went on and the weather grew warmer. Tonight, we’d surprise them all. Mom and Aunt Bessie were staying for dinner. They’d assembled the world’s biggest donut tower to wow Kai’s parents. Aunt Bessie was leaving Puft in Mom’s capable hands a week later because she was being interviewed for a segment on a cooking show with the potential to have her own show if ratings were good. It was mind-bending that my aunt had set Instagram on fire with her donut pictures. People adored her, worshipped the bubbly woman, and we had a constant stream of visitors at the lodge who came all this way to meet her in person. To know Aunt Bessie was to love her, and I was so proud of her. And Mom too. Mom still struggled being the center of attention in town, but she didn’t run and hide any more, just faced it head-on and smiled her way through it, claiming that each day it got a little easier.
Winter at Cedarwood Lodge Page 36
