Chapter 16
Joe woke Laura up with a sweet kiss. “Good morning, Mrs. Russel.”
“Good morning, Joe. I love my new name, but you know I’m keeping Myer-Russel for professional reasons.”
He laughed. “Nothing you can say will bother me today. I’m not sure why you want the Myer last name but if that is your wish, so be it.”
She leaned up on her elbow and ran a hand over his chest. “In honor of my mother-in-law, husband. I forgot to give you your special gift.”
He chuckled. “You already did.”
She blushed. “Joe, get dressed and let’s have some breakfast and then we must be on our way. I’m sure you want to say goodbye to your family before we go.”
“I do. They’ll all be down in Olivia’s dining room eating like a bunch of starving maniacs.”
Laura laughed and slipped out of bed, heading towards the shower. “I can imagine everyone had a lovely time. I’m sorry about Kurt. He is a disaster.”
Joe slipped from the satiny sheets as well, and began to follow her. “He’s in good hands. I hope he realizes he can’t ever walk into this place again. I’ve identified him as a potential risk.”
Laura looked back. “He’s pretty harmless, Joe. I doubt he’d be a risk to anyone.”
Joe shrugged. “It’s for his own good. If I ever see him here again near my wife, I won’t be responsible for my own actions.”
Laura gave him a sweet smile. Her husband was turning out to be pretty protective. She closed the bathroom door and sighed. This was going to be a great surprise.
*****
Twenty minutes later the two walked into the dining room. “You were right, Joe. Everyone is here.”
The others clapped when Joe and Laura joined them at the table. Joshua was sitting with his daughter and Jonathan was on the other side of Savannah.
Laura gave Savannah a huge smile. “Thank you for a beautiful wedding, Savannah. You pulled it off in record time.”
“It took all of us to do it, Laura.”
Julia, who sat at a table by herself, held up a cloth to her forehead. She slowly lifted her head up. “It was a great celebration.”
Laura was quite shocked that her new sister-in-law had a hangover. She called Olivia, who came into the dining room from the kitchen with two plates piled high with breakfast. “You’ll need to eat a good hearty meal before you take off,” she told Joe, serving his plate first.
“Laura, I think Julia needs something for her headache.”
“It’s a hangover, Laura. No use calling it something else.”
Olivia nodded and went back in the kitchen to make her special concoction. Jonathan and Joshua bantered with Julia while they ate breakfast. It was quite a festive gathering.
“I told you to slow down,” Jonathan told her. “We know how you water down your drinks. There was nothing watered down about your drinks last night. Or, the fact you and Savannah got up on the tables and danced like that!”
Julia picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip of it. She set it down and moaned. “Please don’t remind me. I’m just glad no one else was in the ballroom except family members.”
Jonathan and Joshua both shook their heads.
Joy laughed out loud. “That’s what you think, sis. There was still a table in the back of the ballroom cheering you on. Don’t you remember? That one guy came up, picked you up off the table, danced you around the ballroom, bowed to you and then promptly left. Like leaving Cinderella in the middle of the ballroom.”
“Oh, no! I barely remember. Where is he? I want to take a look at his face so I know who to avoid in the future.”
“Oh, he told you he’d be back after you called after him. It was hilarious. You were waving him back after he left you on the dance floor. He turned back and said something like, we’ll meet again, I have no doubt. I’ll be back, he said, like the guy in that movie. It was glorious. We all were amazed you showed so much emotion to a stranger.”
“Don’t ever let me touch a drink again!”
“You probably shouldn’t drink at all, Julia.” Savannah didn’t look as if she had a hangover at all.
“What do you know, Savannah. You were dancing right alongside of me!”
“Yeah, but I was having fun. You were so drunk! I listened to you and had my drinks watered down.”
“Spare me details. I can’t drive home today, Joe. Mind if I stay another night?”
Joe gave her a nod. “Stay the weekend, sis. The room is yours.”
“Thanks. Enjoy your honeymoon. Laura, can you give your gift now so I can go back to bed?”
Olivia set a glass in front of Julia. “Drink up, fast. Go on, you’ll feel better in no time.”
Julia gagged, but she finished the drink and coughed. “That was horrible.”
Laura stood. She was so excited to see how Joe would react. “We have to go out back, Joe.”
Olivia waved them on. “Come through the kitchen, everyone. You can use the back door.”
The whole crew at the two tables got up and followed Laura and Joe through the kitchen. Savannah held Laura’s bouquet in her hands. She was glad Savannah had it because she planned to throw if while everyone was still here.
They stopped at the back door. She turned to her husband. “Joe, I know you’ve been all over the world, jet setting for your business. I remembered how you said that you barely had time to enjoy the places you’ve gone. So, I did a thing.”
“I hear a motor running and a diesel fuel smell. Laura, what are you hiding beyond those doors?”
She grinned, then opened the back door. “Go look,” she told him. Someone placed her winter white wool coat around her shoulders. She slid her arms through the sleeves when the air blasted her in the face.
He stood, arms at his sides, staring at the huge RV in front of them. He looked back at Laura, a surprised look on his face.
“This will be our home for the next month, Joe. I have an itinerary all mapped out. I hope you know how to drive it.”
His brothers laughed. “He does. Joe can do just about anything,” Jonathan told the group.
Joe didn’t respond at first. “You did this so I can see the country?”
She nodded, getting all teary eyed again. He was really moved, she could tell.
“I am honored to spend the next month in this motor home with you.” He pulled her into his arms and gave her a long, sweet kiss. That’s when she knew she did the right thing.
She turned back to everyone. “We’re off now. First stop is a parking lot that sits overlooking a hill with twinkling stars and bright lights.”
Joe gave her another kiss. “My mother would love you,” he told her, taking her hand and pulling her towards the coach. “Let’s check this out.”
He opened the door and helped her up into the coach. Savannah ran to Laura. “Wait!”
Laura turned on the steps. Savannah handed her the wedding bouquet. “You forgot this.”
“I didn’t forget. Ladies, get ready to catch it.” She swung around, lifting the flowers over her head. Joe grabbed her around the waist and laughed. She raised her arms and threw it as hard as she could, then swung back around to see if anyone caught it.
At first, she didn’t see it in anyone’s arms. Laura scanned the ground then raised her eyes when Joy gasped. She was about to congratulate Joy when she looked at Julia who had the most horrible expression on her face.
“Here, Savannah, you take them.”
Savannah jumped back. “No way, Aunt Julia. It’s your turn.”
“Never!”
Laura and Joe waved as they left. As they looked into the rear-view mirror, everyone was still waving. Julia was holding the flowers away from her with her two fingers, as if it would bite her. Laura clapped and laughed. “Wouldn’t it be funny if she fell in love? It’s exactly what she needs.”
“Maybe,” Joe told her. “All I care about right now is the two of us. Julia can take care of herself.” He stopped at the bottom of the hill, and placed the gear shift in park. Laura wasn’t sure what he was doing when he unbuckled his seat belt and pulled her to him. “Thank you, darling. I can’t wait to go on this adventure with you.”
She reached up and touched his cheek. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t wait and can hardly believe I almost didn’t marry you.”
“What! How is it possible? I’m a great catch.”
He got back in and buckled up. “You are a great catch, Joe. Thank you for helping me to make life changes. I took a chance and look at what I’ve got now.”
“Same. Let’s go on our honeymoon.” He pulled out when they heard sirens getting louder. Waiting to see where the noise was coming from, Harry Sweigart flew past in his police cruiser, lights on and the siren blasting. The driver and passenger were waving at them.
“There goes Harry!” Joe called out, waving.
Laura shook her head and sat back in the cushioned seat, ready for a new adventure. They moved slowly down the road. Laura gazed out to see the Inn sitting there, some Christmas lights adorning the porch. It took her back to the days when she first met Rebecca May, and how she’d catch her shoveling the sidewalks at her advanced age.
The woman had given her a gift that changed the course of her life. “Thank you, Rebecca May,” she whispered. “I’ll never forget you.”
*****
Thank you for reading Christmas at Hideaway Lake. While Laura and Joe are off enjoying their honeymoon in an RV, there’s a lot more going on during the winter season.
Hideaway Lake is slowly being brought back to life. There is definitely a romance going on, but Julia Russel is not having any of it. Just because she caught the bouquet at her brother’s wedding doesn’t mean she wants anything to do with love.
Her life is perfectly fine as CFO of Russel Enterprise, especially when Julia takes over while her brother is away. He trusts her explicitly to run the company in his absence. Then Julia has an awakening of sorts and does something so unlike her, she shocks even herself. She can’t let Joe or any of her family members know she is a complete failure.
They say she has a cold heart, but there may be someone who is slowly chipping away at it. Her struggles are real. Now, it may take the whole village of Hideaway Lake to help her!
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Book 4