The Albright Hotel (A Frosty Season #4)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

O n the opposite end of the quaint Upstate New York town of Hollygrove, Robby Goodwin sat at a kitchen table, stuffed to the gills from the Thanksgiving feast he, his two boys, and their wives had spent all day cooking. In the next room, Robby’s grandchildren watched television and nibbled cookies, mostly exhausted after an afternoon of running through the damp woods outside his house. Robby’s heart felt just as full as it always did this time of year. It also ached just a little bit more than usual, but that was just a holiday thing.

That had nothing to do with what had happened to him this year.

He was just nostalgic. Who wasn’t?

Adam, his eldest, raised his glass of wine. “To another great Thanksgiving.”

Robby’s youngest son, Stan, raised his glass, and his daughters-in-law, Bee and Imogen, followed suit. Sometimes, Robby caught the wives looking at Robby strangely, as though they were worried about him. As though they talked about him behind his back, wondering if he was all right out here on his own now that Adam and Stan had moved their families to New Jersey. They never said anything about their worry to Robby, though. They always kept it buried behind those glistening eyes.

“Means the world to have my family here,” Robby said, his voice cracking. “Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year.”

There it was again. Imogen and Bee gave one another pointed looks. Robby filled his mouth with wine and excused himself to grab another slice of pie. But before he could get up, Imogen jumped from her chair to slice it.

“You’ve been on your feet all day,” she insisted. “Let me.”

Robby settled back in and crossed his arms uncomfortably over his chest. Although he adored having his boys and their families at the house for Thanksgiving, it was never far from his mind why they always made it a point to be here. Why they always went out of their way to make sure it worked—despite Imogen and Bee having parents who probably wanted them to come by, too. Thanksgiving was the day Adam and Stan’s mother had left. Adam aged eight, Stanley aged six; the turkey burning in the oven; the television on blast; Robby somewhere for work, an emergency. When he returned, the boys were at the neighbor’s place, and the oven was off with the blackened turkey still in it. Robby never got a chance to ask Addison why she’d left like that. She’d never wanted to see him again. Robby had raised their boys and dropped them off at hers on occasional weekends until she’d moved to Florida. Adam and Stan had their own relationships with Addison these days; they’d been through years of therapy to make peace with what she’d done. Still, the smell of the turkey always brought back memories of that day. The day everything had changed. The day Robby had truly become a father. A single father. A father who carried the world on his shoulders.

After they finished their glasses of wine, Imogen and Bee went into the living room to relax with the kids, and Adam and Stan turned their attention to their father.

“Let’s go out,” Adam said. “Binkley’s is always open on Thanksgiving.”

Robby laughed. But the truth was, he was touched. The only thing he liked more than spending time with his boys was showing them off in the pub downtown. He always thought to himself, Sure, Addison left. And sure, our lives weren’t perfect. But I raised two sensational young men. Two sensational young men who would never treat their wives the way Addison treated me. He was very proud.

Adam, Stan, and Robby bundled up for the under-twenty-degree weather and walked the half mile to downtown Hollygrove. Snow fell softly from a thick, dark sky, and their boots crunched through it. Robby dreamed of future winters when he could take his grandchildren ice skating and sledding. They were still a little too young.

They entered the warmth of Binkley’s, and the Hollygrove locals greeted them with a roar. They clapped Adam and Stan on the back and shook Robby’s hand. Robby knew every person in there. As the town handyman and carpenter, he’d fixed Dale’s door last week and Barney’s porch swing three weeks ago, he’d helped build Sam’s house before Sam’s baby came, and he’d been instrumental in putting together Tony’s kitchen. It gave Robby tremendous pride to remember how much he’d contributed to the livelihoods of many Hollygrove residents.

He knew they all pitied him. He hated that.

But tonight, he pledged to forget it.

Adam fetched them three pints of beer, and they sat on stools. Adam and Stan gave him looks that meant their wives had said make sure your father is okay! Robby filled his mouth with beer and fixated on the television over the bar. Basketball was on. He missed baseball season. Beside the television was a large Christmas tree decorated with ornament-sized German beer steins.

“Thanks again for hosting us, Dad,” Adam said, breaking the ice.

“It’s my pleasure,” he said.

“It sounded like a heck of a year,” Stan said, slapping his hand on the table.

Stan and Adam exchanged a glance that meant they wanted desperately to ask their father what had happened. One minute, there’d been a woman. A beautiful woman. A woman who’d helped Robby dream of a better world and future for himself. And the next? It was clear to Adam and Stan that they weren’t allowed to mention her. They’d been raised by Robby and probably knew him better than Robby knew himself.

But suddenly, Robby was saved from his sons’ curiosity. Calvin Wallace was there, his arm around Robby’s shoulders. “There he is! My man!” Calvin cried.

Robby’s heart opened. “Calvin! You son of a gun! What are you doing out here?”

“Stacy and I wanted to come out and see what was what,” Calvin explained. “We only have a couple more weeks of being single, you know? I wanted to give Stacy a chance to get away from me before we sign the marriage papers.”

Stacy appeared beside Calvin and whacked him on the shoulder. Robby, Adam, and Stan laughed generously.

“You two are rascals,” Robby said. “Who knows what will happen when you tie the knot?”

Calvin and Stacy were in their early seventies and just two weeks from their wedding. Although they beamed with love for each other, up till recently, their faces had been drawn, and they’d kept to themselves. Stacy had lost her husband of forty years to a heart attack, and Calvin’s wife had left him for another man in their late fifties—right before their retirement.

Calvin and Stacy were both from Hollygrove. They’d known each other for decades, and their children had been friendly. But they hadn’t thought of each other romantically until, suddenly, one snowy night in Hollygrove, they’d gotten to talking at a dinner party and realized they never wanted to shut up. It was fate, Calvin had told Robby back then. I think she’s my soulmate. I don’t know if I’m hers. Maybe that was Peter. But I’ll take being the second soulmate any day, as long as Stacy is there with me. To Robby, Calvin and Stacy were proof of some great magic in the universe.

“And the boys are here!” Calvin cried, shaking Adam’s and Stan’s hands.

Stacy hurried around the opposite side of the table to whisper conspiratorially into Robby’s ear. “I’ve been after you,” she said. “You haven’t RSVP’d to our wedding yet! I don’t know what to do with myself. Are you coming or what?”

Robby kept a smile on his lips as his heart sank. It was true that he hadn’t RSVP’d. That was because he wasn’t sure he had the confidence or the bravery to come.

“We need you there, Robby,” Stacy said. “We couldn’t do it without you.”

Calvin gave him a firm smile. “Listen to my fiancée. She knows what she’s talking about.”

“We won’t take any excuses,” Stacy said.

Robby could feel his sons’ eyes upon him. He took a drink of beer and bowed his head.

“We know it will be complicated for you,” Stacy said, “but we’ll all be there. And you know how beautiful the Albright Hotel will be. Heck, you’re the reason we’re getting married there in the first place!”

“Look at your daddy’s hands,” Calvin said, flipping Robby’s hands over to look at the dramatic scars from his years of carpentry and handwork. “He made that Albright Hotel what it is. Have you been over there to see how beautiful he made it?”

Adam and Stan shook their head. Robby prayed they wouldn’t say, He won’t let us.

“It was already sensational to begin with,” Robby reminded them, taking his hands back. “They just asked me to make it better suited for big crowds and hotel guests.”

“Beforehand, it was a mansion meant for a family, and now it can account for hundreds of guests,” Stacy explained to his sons. “Even our wedding planner’s jaw dropped when she saw the place.”

Stacy was always talking about her wedding planner. Apparently, she hadn’t had very much money for her first marriage, so her wedding had been a small affair—just something her parents could throw together with a few pennies. Now, Stacy wanted to go all out. Robby appreciated that.

Soon after, Calvin and Stacy were distracted by others arriving at Binkley’s, and they left Robby with his sons.

“We really want to see the Albright before we go,” Adam said.

Stan nodded furiously. “Imogen saw a photo of the work in some magazine, and she’s been telling all her friends about her famous father-in-law.”

Robby rolled his eyes. Photographs. Famous magazines. He’d had enough of all of that. He just wanted some peace.

“Let’s talk about something else.” Robby tried to sound easy and cool. “Tell me about what you’re getting the kids for Christmas. This is a special time. They still believe in Santa. You have to enjoy every second!”

Robby still remembered how important it had been to uphold his sons’ belief in Santa. He’d pulled out all the stops. He was pretty sure they’d given up on Santa long before they told him. That had broken his heart most of all—that his sons had wanted to pretend to believe in Santa if only to keep their father’s Christmas spirit up. That was around the time Addison had written to say she’d fallen in love with a sailor and wouldn’t be contactable for a few months. Awesome, Robby had wanted to tell her, his voice laced with sarcasm. That is just so great for you.

But Robby had never understood tossing vitriol out like that, not in practice. He didn’t want to beg Addison to come back to him. He didn’t want anything from her.

Robby and his sons enjoyed a couple of pints at Binkley’s. People from their past came and went, wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving. Many of them probably went home and said to each other, Didn’t Addison leave him on Thanksgiving? Isn’t today the day? But Robby couldn’t care. Because after so many years of being mostly single, single, single, he had a new heartbreak. Everyone knew about that, too. Poor Robby.

Robby and his sons walked back to the home he’d raised them in. Everyone was asleep, and the house was dark. Adam sliced the pumpkin pie, and the three stayed up later than they should, eating pie and watching Christmas specials on television. The snow fell thicker and faster outside, and Robby ached with his wish that the snow would go on and on, trapping his grandchildren and sons at the house with him. He didn’t want them to go.