The next day, he woke at noon and got himself presentable to go up to the Mansion. He’d called Mabel last night and asked if he could meet with her that afternoon. She wanted to know what it was about, and she wouldn't let him off the phone until he’d blurted, “Lauren, okay? It’s about Lauren.”
His chest heaved now as it had last night, and he hadn’t even left his house yet.
Mabel had said, “Wonderful. How about one o’clock? I’ll have walnut cake ready.”
And how could he say no to walnut cake?
His heart rate increased with every minute that ticked closer to one o’clock, and he felt sure his chest would explode before he actually made it to Mabel’s cottage. But somehow, he did, and his legs took him right to the front door, too.
He knocked, and Mabel called, “It’s open,” from inside. He opened the door and went in just as Mabel came bustling out of the kitchen wearing an apron over her navy blue dress.
“Hello, Trent.” She grinned at him like they got together for cake and tea every Tuesday at one o’clock, and she pulled him down into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
He surveyed the dining room table, which was a far cry from the long table that had seated everyone for Thanksgiving. “That looks amazing,” he said, remembering his manners. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a walnut cake.”
This cake had snow-white frosting swirled all over it, with candied walnuts along the outer edge. His mouth watered at the sight of it, and the scent of sugar and vanilla in the air.
She set a teapot on the table and then slid into a chair, leaving the other for him. He felt like a giant at a fairy tea table, but he forgot about all of that once she sliced into that cake and presented him with a piece.
“Miss Mabel,” he said. “This looks almost sinful.”
She grinned and cut herself a piece. Once she had her fork ready, they both dug in at the same time. He put his in his mouth, but she said, “So you’re going to get back together with Lauren, right?”
He almost choked on the delectable cake, but he managed to keep it in his mouth and swallow it. It was nutty, and moist, and sweet, and the best cake he’d ever tasted. He nodded while he tried to get his voice to work.
“I messed up,” he said, a bit sheepishly.
“You certainly did.”
“Did she tell you what happened?”
She pointed her forkful of cake at him, her eyes sharp and missing nothing. “She said you didn’t think she’d be a good mother, and then she said she’d been stupid. Then there were too many tears after that.” She put the cake in her mouth, and she did not look happy to be eating it, though Trent knew it was him she was not happy with.
Join the club, he thought.
“So what do I do?” he asked. “People make mistakes, you know.”
“Well, do you think she’ll be a good mother to Porter?”
“Yes,” Trent said quietly. “He loves her, and she said she loves him.”
“Mm.” Mabel ate more cake, but Trent had lost his sweet tooth. He waited for her to say something else, but she just sat there.
“So I’m guessing you’re going to make me figure this out on my own?” he asked.
She looked at him with the same puppy dog eyes his son always did. Trent laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Sure you do. You know her whole family is coming to town this weekend. You know where a florist is. You know where to buy a ring. You know where she’ll be, and what time she’ll be there. Get it done.”
Trent blinked at her. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”
“I didn’t suggest anything.” Mabel lifted her chin and took another bite of cake. “Now are you going to eat that, or go get a few errands done today?”
He looked from the cake to her. Then he picked up his plate, and said, “Both,” and took another bite of the heavenly walnut cake on his way out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lauren lit the pine tree scented candle on Saturday morning, about the same time her parents should’ve been leaving Seattle. She still hadn’t told them about Trent, not being able to bring herself to say the words out loud to her mother.
She hadn’t even really said anything to Aunt Mabel. The crying said plenty, but she was determined not to cry today. Her parents hadn’t visited Hawthorne Harbor in a couple of years, and she was going to take them to lunch and they were going to spend the day shopping and talking and enjoying one another’s company.
Her brothers would be here tomorrow, and Aunt Mabel was hosting Christmas Eve at her cottage, where her parents and Kimmy were staying. Lauren’s brothers would bunk with her for a couple of nights, and Lauren was thrilled everyone would be in town for a few days.
She didn’t need Trent. In fact, he’d probably be a distraction, and she’d have to check with him all the time to make sure he stayed happy.
Without him, all she had to worry about was herself. It was a depressing and freeing thought, and she couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.
She focused on cleaning up the house. She wasn’t exactly a slob, but her top priority wasn’t dusting or making sure the windowsills got wiped. But that morning, as the candle filled the house with the scent of Christmas trees, she got her house into tip-top shape.
The guest bedrooms were ready, the dishwasher hummed with her week’s dishes, and she’d even put fresh towels in both bathrooms.
She took a deep breath and took off her cleaning apron. With all the supplies back in the linen closet, she pulled her hair out of its ponytail and started a pot of coffee. Her father drank the stuff all day and all night, and he still slept like the dead.
“Hello?”
Lauren teared up at the sound of her mother’s voice, and she practically skipped down the hall and into the foyer where her parents stood. “Mom. Dad.” She launched herself at them, and they both hugged her at the same time.
At least these tears weren’t because of Trent, and she wasn’t embarrassed by them. “How was the drive? Is it raining again?”
Lauren was wholeheartedly tired of the rain, but the ruckus outside indicated Mother Nature didn’t care how she felt.
“Started about an hour ago,” her dad said.
“Your tree is wonderful.” Her mom stepped over to the short six-footer and touched one of the gingerbread man ornaments.
“Thanks, I bought it at the Festival of Trees.”
“Are they still doing that?” Her mom glanced around the house as if she’d never been there.
“Yep,” Lauren said. “Every year.” She’d told her mom that she made all the tree stands, but she didn’t say it again.
“I love this house,” her mom said, facing her with a smile. Her own dark hair had started to get streaked with gray, and she had a few more wrinkles than Lauren remembered. She glanced at her dad, who wore a jacket with a salmon over his heart, and he definitely looked older than the picture in her mind.
“Did you know this was going to be my place?” Her mom ran her fingers along the shelf Lauren had installed above the fireplace.
“I didn’t know that,” Lauren said. “I mean, I knew it was Magleby family property. I didn’t know they’d been assigned to people.” She’d lived in the house in the six years since she’d been back in town, after her disastrous relationship with Rick.
“Oh, yes,” her mother said. “Everyone has certain land and property.” Her smile slipped a little, and she tugged on the ends of her sweater sleeves.
“I love your sweater, Mom,” Lauren said. The hunter green looked good with her mom’s complexion, and the silver Christmas trees were the perfect amount of festive.
“Hmm? Thanks.” She was very distracted today, and Lauren thought she might be able to get away with making an excuse for Trent and moving on. On Christmas Day, there would be so many people at the Mansion, surely she could get away with sitting beside her single brothers without having to answer a million questions.
But she couldn’t lie. If either of her parents asked about Trent, she’d have to say they’d broken up. If that indeed was what had happened. Neither of them had ever said those words, but neither of them were saying anything at the moment.
“So, when do we get to meet Trent?” her mother asked, and Lauren’s stomach wrapped around itself.
“Well, not today,” Lauren said as brightly as she could. “It didn’t work out.”
Concern entered her mother’s eyes instantly. “You two broke up? When?” She cut a quick glance at Lauren’s dad.
“Oh, a couple of weeks ago,” Lauren said like it was no big deal, like she hadn’t been staring out the window at the rain every evening until she was too tired to think, like she hadn’t been crying daily. “He’s probably gone out to Bell Hill for the weekend.”
“What happened?” Her mom stepped over to her and took both of her hands in hers. “You liked him, didn’t you?’
“I did.” Lauren pressed her lips together to keep her emotions in check. “I just think I’m a little too different from his first wife.” She hadn’t even known she thought that, but it felt right.
“Was it the little boy?” Her mom looked right into Lauren’s eyes.
“Megan,” Lauren’s dad said, a heavy dose of warning in his voice.
“It wasn’t Porter,” Lauren said. “I really liked him too. We got along great.” A nostalgic feeling wafted over her and she gave her mom a quick smile. “Now, what I’m ready for now is lunch. My friend Gillian is going to meet us.”
* * *
Lauren made her family-famous chocolate mousse pie early in the morning on Christmas Eve. It needed time to set in the fridge, and this way she wouldn’t have to be busy in the kitchen while her brothers were here.
They arrived in a flurry of voices and hugs, and Lauren’s happiness shot off the charts.
“Nice beard,” she said to Eldon with a giggle. “Is that what they’re wearing in Seattle these days?”
“At the video game company,” Darrel said, rubbing his smooth jaw.
“You wish you could grow a beard like this,” Eldon said, supremely confident.
“Nah,” Darrel said with a smile. “Then Kimmy wouldn’t kiss me.” His eyes twinkled, and Kimmy turned from the old family photo Lauren kept on the same shelf her mom had admired the day before.
“Did you say my name?” she asked, moving back over to the group.
“Nope.” Darrel put his arm around her and brought her close to him. Lauren couldn’t help watching their interactions, the way Kimmy looked at him with stars in her eyes. Did she look at Trent like that?
Byron returned from putting his bags in the bedroom where he’d be staying. “Lauren, can you cut my hair?”
He was wearing quite the mop on top of his head, and Lauren went into the hall he’d just come down. “I think I can. I haven’t cut anyone’s hair in a while.” She got out her clippers and drape, somewhat surprised she still had them. But her mother had taught her how to cut hair when she was only twelve years old, and she’d been making her brothers look more presentable for decades now.
“Sit here.” She moved a barstool away from the counter and snapped the drape around his neck.
“So Mom says you broke up with Trent,” Darrel said, apparently moving into the serious part of the conversation.
“I didn’t,” Lauren said. “It was a mutual agreement.”
Byron scoffed. “Do those exist?”
“Sure they do,” Lauren said, plugging in the clippers. “And I have scissors in my hand, so you better be careful what you say.”
“Short on the sides,” he said. “Don’t make me look bald on top.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. “Uh, Byron, you’re already going bald on top.”
“I know,” he said, swatting her hand away. “So not too short up there, okay?”
She grinned at her other brothers, who didn’t seem to have any problems with their hair and started buzzing Byron’s head. “So tell me all about Seattle,” she said. “Sometimes I really miss it.”
“It’s just different from here,” Byron said.
“Bigger,” Darrel said. “Sometimes I think you’re the one who’s got things figured out, Lauren. Small town. People who care about you.”
She kept cutting Byron’s hair, but her mind tried to find someone who cared about her in Hawthorne Harbor. Gillian, for sure. Aunt Mabel. Maybe Uncle Mitch, and Gene, and Kam. But everyone else? Would they even know if she closed up Michaels Construction and took it somewhere it?
“Maybe you should meet my friend Gillian,” she said. “She’s pretty, and she’s a real estate agent, so she can relocate.”
Byron laughed. “I’m not letting my older sister set me up.”
“Why not?”
“I’m just not.”
“He doesn’t date,” Eldon said from the couch. “He keeps waiting for Michelle to decide he’s the one.”
“I am not,” Byron said, but he wasn’t very convincing. Lauren loved the relationship her brothers had, and while she hadn’t been around them for a while, she still fit right in.
“Michelle?” she asked. “Didn’t you guys break up like, two years ago?”
“Twenty-six months,” Eldon said over the noise of the clippers.
“It’s fine,” Byron said, and Lauren felt him watching her. So she didn’t say anything else. She certainly wouldn’t want her brothers bugging her about Trent.
They spent the day laughing at lunch, and walking through the Christmas shops, and watching the sun shine weakly over the ocean. When they arrived at Aunt Mabel’s, the house smelled like ham and coffee, two of Lauren’s favorite things.
Her parents both helped in the kitchen, and Aunt Mabel greeted Lauren’s brothers with open arms and smiles. It was loud and festive, and Lauren stood back and admired her great aunt’s tree, and the spread of delicious foods on the counter, and her family. Her whole family.
“What are you smiling about?” Aunt Mabel asked, her jolly demeanor fading. “Come help me set the table.” She nodded to a stack of plates, and Lauren laughed as she picked them up. She moved around the table—smaller than the one at Thanksgiving, but bigger than the one she’d seen in Mabel’s house before.
“Aunt Mabel,” she said. “There are only eight of us.” And yes, she still held two plates.
“We need those,” she said, completely nonplussed.
“We do?” Lauren tried to meet her eye. “For who?”
“I invited a couple of people who didn’t have anywhere else to go.” She kept her back to Lauren as she gathered the napkins.
Lauren’s heart leapt, but she reasoned that it couldn’t be Trent. He had his whole family in town, and surely he’d made plans with them for the holidays. She laid out utensils, the napkins, and started filling glasses with ice.
With whisking and steam rising from the stovetop, dinner came together, and Aunt Mabel clapped her hands a few times. Lauren had seen her do the same with her staff when she wanted to make an announcement, and she grinned as her family settled down the same way Aunt Mabel’s employees did.
“I’m so glad Lauren invited you all for the holidays,” Aunt Mabel said, glowing the same way she had at the unveiling. “I know we’re having a giant family dinner tomorrow for Christmas, but I’m so grateful we’re doing this smaller affair. Now, Paul will you say grace?”
Her father nodded, and bowed his head. Lauren let her dad’s words roll over her, feeling peaceful and grateful for her family too. With the prayer over, everyone started taking plates from the table and moving back over to the bar to dish up what they wanted to eat.
Aunt Mabel’s guests still hadn’t arrived, so Lauren left the two plates beside each other and took the only one left, standing back and basking in the energy of her family. She’d never appreciated them growing up, especially being the oldest and having to babysit her rambunctious younger brothers all the time.
But she sure did love them no
w.
Darrel returned to the line after going to his seat, so he stood between her and the front door when someone knocked.
“Oh, they’re here,” Aunt Mabel said, really moving quickly for a woman her age. She opened the door and stood there. Lauren spooned more creamed corn onto her plate and listened for a voice. Maybe then she’d be able to recognize these special guests of Aunt Mabel’s.
But she couldn’t hear them over Eldon’s laughter. So it wasn’t until Aunt Mabel clapped again and said, “Everyone. These are my friends, Trent and Porter,” that Lauren looked toward the front door.
Her heart seized, as did all of her muscles.
No.
Aunt Mabel would not invite them without telling Lauren.
But she obviously had, as Trent, in all his police officer glory, and Porter entered the cottage.
A hush had fallen over the house, so that when Lauren dropped her plate, it landed with an ear-splitting crash!
Chapter Twenty-Three
Trent fought the urge to reach up and adjust the tie he wore. Aunt Mabel hadn’t ever come out and said anything that would help him know what to do. But he’d learned that if he asked the right questions, she’d say, “I would.”
So he wore black slacks and a pale yellow shirt, complete with a necktie as if he were going to church. He’d taken care to make sure Porter looked festive and handsome as well, thanks to Eliza. She’d come through in a pinch and taken Porter shopping for pants that weren’t made of denim and didn’t have rips in them.
She’d talked to him about what was happening with Trent and Lauren, and he’d shown her the ring he’d purchased for the woman currently staring at him with horror running through her eyes.
He swallowed, thinking this surprise visit to be a very bad idea. But Mabel had insisted it would be romantic, and big, and exactly what Trent needed to do to make things right between him and Lauren.
His eyes traveled from her to the people sitting at the table, all of whom stared as if they’d never seen a man with brown hair before. The ring in his pocket felt like a piece of lead, and he released the fingers he’d curled into a fist and lifted his hand into a wave.
Hawthorne Harbor Box Set Page 78
