Winter Falls (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Chapter 20

twenty

I had no idea what to expect inside his home when we all crowded into the main hallway. From the outside, I'd been concerned it wouldn't be big enough to hold us all. Once inside, I saw just how large and sprawling it was. The high ceiling gave such a sense of space and airiness, and the slate floor complemented it perfectly.

Rugs were scattered across the floor, which held to absorb all the melting snow coming off everyone’s boots.

From the central location, it was like spokes on wagon wheel, wide hallways led off to other large rooms. A set of massive stairs rose to the second floor--they had to be hand-hewn tree trunks sliced in half. The railings also were made of solid, carved wood. Skylights in the roof would do a wonderful job at casting light inside, but now, they were dark.

I was standing next to a raw log wall. The door was also wood and seem to have had better days. Even though it was old, it was well-made and I peeked through to see similar walls inside. How interesting. It appeared the room was built at a different time and much older than the rest of the house.

Amos’s voice called attention to the crowd, and I shifted my interest to him. He was standing on the stairs.

"Welcome to my home, please make yourself comfortable on the main floor. And if you could, that's my office over there behind you and I would appreciate it if you would stay out of that room." The people turned to have a look and then focused back on him.

"The kitchen is down that way and I'll make sure there's always a pot of coffee on, and it's well stocked, so help yourself to anything you see in the cupboards or fridge." There were murmurs of thank you. "The great room is down that hall, and it's large enough that most of you will be able to find a seat. I'll have a fire lit to keep the room warm since we're out of power here as well. The restroom is past the kitchen and off the mudroom. And I would like you all to write your names on the piece of paper we'll have in the kitchen just so that I know who's here. Other than that, I guess we'll just have to play it by ear to see how long you'll be my guests."

"Excuse me, Mr. Winter?" A woman's voice was above the rest of the people.

"Yes?"

"If there's no power, will the facilities work, and the items in the kitchen?"

"Yes, we have a generator for the kitchen, and the facilities will work so there's no concern about using them, or running out of water. We’ll keep the fire lit in the great room as the main area, and will assess things in a couple of hours to see how the evening progresses."

"Do you think we might have to spend the night?" another voice asked.

Amos looked across the heads of the crowd to me. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

"I think we'll have to assume that it's likely. And if that's the case, we’ll need to double up, families and friends, even strangers, then we will assign bedrooms. Don't worry, there's plenty of room in the house to keep everybody comfortable. Just think of it as an adventure."

The group wandered down the hall into the great room, and some splintered off to go into the kitchen. I walked over to Amos.

"That went well. You had an answer for everything." I commented.

He came down the steps and stood by me. "Is that right? It's definitely not something I do every day. This is more along your lines."

"I think this is the most I've seen you talk, ever. You've always been a man of minimal words, even when I was a kid. Plus, you were always grumpy."

His eyebrows shot up. "Grumpy?"

"Ah, yeah. You were always mad at me and Alana. By the way, where is she? I thought she'd be here seeing that Asher is."

His face clouded and I felt like I’d touched a nerve. "We're hoping she gets here soon. But with this weather, it may be later rather than sooner."

"It would be nice to see her again. She went silent, I would text her, but she never replied." I remembered back to those days when we were younger and how close we were, even into our teen years. But as we grew, she changed and we fell out of touch.

"Yeah, well, that's Alana. I'm going to put that coffee on, I don't know what your plans are seeing that you're the boss and all about this festival gathering. If there's anything you think of that would be helpful, let me know."

I watched him walk to the kitchen. He was such a complex man. Even though we’d talked a number of times over the last few days he remained a mystery, and one I wanted to solve. I sighed and followed him into the kitchen. Maybe there was something I could do in there.

"Holly!"

I spun around to see who was calling me and smiled when I saw Tess and Ellie.

"I didn't know you were on the train until I saw you at the fire."

"We were in the second car. it wasn't as busy for Ellie. Can you believe this? Stranded here in this fabulous house. Wow."

"I know. This wasn't quite on the itinerary for the Christmas festival. And in hindsight, the way the snow was coming down this morning, I should have cancelled the train."

"You couldn't have predicted this. But thank goodness the train made it to the station, and Mr. Winter has opened his doors to us all. Otherwise, I bet we'd be all stuck in the wilderness somewhere." She laughed and I joined in.

"There's always a positive in there somewhere, isn't there?"

"I know you don't know me that well, but if you need a hand with anything, wrangling up the folks, keeping an eye on things, kitchen, chores, I'm your girl. And, I hope he doesn't mind Ellie being in the house."

"Thank you so much, you're a godsend. I don't even know what to think, on how this is all gonna play out. But I need to sit and think and plan. I'm sure he won't mind--I saw him at the Rescue shelter the other day and he was right into playing with the puppies. Plus, I think he has a rescue named Jack, who may be around here somewhere."

“Have you recovered from your lizard fiasco?" She was biting back a smile.

My shoulders dropped. "Not my most shining hour. But what are you gonna do, I'll be living that down for many years to come."

She moved closer to me, and whispered, "All I can say is I wouldn't mind a lizard running around inside my coat if someone like Mr. Winter was going to fish it out." I felt the blush rush up my cheeks. "I get it. There's something between you guys. That photo caught it, you know."

I shook my head. "Nope, nothing there. He's been a pain in my ass since I was a kid." I was thoughtful when I said that. Had he really been a pain since a kid? Or were my memories remembering incorrectly? Recently he’d been so different from what I remembered and expected. "Right, I'm going down to the kitchen to try and get some things organized and see if I can make a plan. People are going to get hungry. Feel free to join me on the condition that there is no further talk about that topic."

She just laughed and said, "Right."

Amos was in the pantry. He wanted to dig out the big coffee percolator. It hadn't been used in years and he hoped it still worked. He was thankful for Mrs. Carter. She’d stayed on as housekeeper all these years, and her daughter, Wendy, was taking over her business. Hiring them full time was one of the best things he’d done. He had enough to do, and no way could he manage the inside as well. Plus, he'd rather be outside any day.

She was an angel--there was always servings of dinner in the freezer, pans of lasagna, casseroles, cakes, bread, pies, jams, cookies. She knew he had a sweet tooth and made sure he never wanted for anything. He'd told her so many times she didn't need to cook all the food, but she'd never gotten out of the habit of it after his mom and dad died.

She was an amazing cook too, so he was grateful now seeing the house was full again.

He heard women laughing and recognized Holly's voice as she came into the kitchen with someone else. He enjoyed hearing her voice; it resonated deep inside him and touched a place he'd long since thought frozen over. They were talking quietly and he didn't want to interrupt them, so he lingered a moment in the pantry, then made a noise so they knew he was there. He carried out the percolator.

"Hi! I didn't mean to surprise you," Holly said.

"You didn't. I was just digging out this old commercial coffee maker, figuring we can keep it full." He put it on the island counter.

"Your kitchen is beautiful," Tess gushed, and gazed around. "Also, I hope you don't mind I have my dog with me. She's a puppy and full of beans, but she's a good girl. I'm Tess, by the way."

"Hi, Tess, and of course not. What's her name? Unhook her from the leash--she can roam free."

Holly was watching him quietly and he wanted to know what she was thinking. What was her ever active brain contemplating and planning now? She had a ghost of a smile and must be going crazy about this new development, thanks to the weather.

"Ellie."

"Come here, Ellie, that's a good girl." Amos got down on a knee, and she body wagged her way over to him, tail and body moving in unison. She pushed against him and gazed up at him like the lovesick puppy she was.

From the corner of his eye he saw Tess elbow Holly and whisper something. Holly looked at her and whispered something back.

Oh, to know the workings of a woman's mind. Always a mystery.

He gave Ellie an ear rub then stood. Opening a drawer, he took out big metal bowl and filled it with water.

"Come on, girl, have a drink." He carried it into the mudroom, Ellie following. He put it down and went back into the pantry to look for coffee.

He paused in his search and let out a breath. Having all the people in his house was quite a big deal for him and he hoped Asher would show up soon. He'd also ask Caleb if he'd like to stay, because with the two of them helping out, it would be easier to pull this off.

Plus, Asher was more suited to crowds than him, so he'd put him in charge of entertainment. He hadn’t checked with Holly about it, and assumed she wouldn’t mind the help from Asher. The more hands the better is how he looked at it.

But it was Holly. Both of them in the same house, sleeping under the same roof, waking in the morning and meeting in the kitchen for coffee. He had a surprising sense of contentment. Sure, the house was full with people, but only one person seemed like she truly belonged.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Amos startled at the sound of her voice. "I'm sorry, that's the second time I've made you jump. I didn't mean to creep up."

"Fine. Just thinking."

He turned. She leaned against the doorway with the backdrop of the mudroom behind her. He looked at her, really looked at her. Amos saw her anew, and he saw a difference in her than what he was accustomed to. The troublesome teen she'd once been had begun to fade. He wasn't sure exactly when it started, nor could he deny she intrigued him, made him think of things he never thought would enter his mind. He wanted to know her, to know the woman she'd become. He also liked how perfect she looked in his doorway.