“I just want you to know,” Sylvia said as she handed Lily one of the maple cookies to sample, “Harold and I totally approve of you and our son dating.”
Lily almost dropped the cookie. She was still reeling from Garret’s kiss and how quickly he’d distanced himself from her when Duncan caught them at it.
“You do?”
“I won’t say that’s why I hired you.” Sylvia winked. “But when I saw how lovely you were on Skype, I admit the thought crossed my mind.”
Lily was beginning to feel like a mail-order bride. “We aren’t dating.”
“It’s still early days.” Sylvia patted her hand. “I understand. I just wanted you to know where Garret’s parents stood on the matter. In case you were worried about the fact that Garret is officially your boss.”
“That is an obstacle,” Lily agreed. One of many.
“Of course. But we Frosts are used to working together. It’s what has helped keep us such a strong family unit.” Sylvia frowned. “Except for Jimmy.”
“Is he the youngest in the family?” She was a little curious about him, because Garret so rarely spoke of his brother, even though he talked about his sister all the time.
“No. He’s a year older than Josephine. We had some trouble with him when he was young. He even tried to elope when he was just in high school. That was quite the escapade. Ever since then Jimmy has come home only when absolutely necessarily. I’m not even sure if he’ll be home for Christmas this year.” Sylvia put her hands on her hips. “You haven’t tried the cookie, yet.”
“Right.” Lily broke off a small piece, expecting to find the confection too sweet. Instead, she was amazed by the buttery richness. “Wow. This is amazing.”
Sylvia looked pleased. “It’s my own recipe. And of course I use our best Grade A maple syrup.”
Lily munched down the rest—it had a shortbread texture, the flavor a rich combination of maple and butter.
Sylvia pulled another batch of cookies from the oven and placed them on the stovetop. Every inch of countertop, as well as the large oak table, and even the chairs, were covered with cookies. About twenty dozen had already been baked, Lily calculated. Which meant Sylvia had another fourteen dozen to go.
“Would you like my help with this?”
“No, I’m fine. I do this every year. But I did want to talk to you about the gift cards.” She glanced around the kitchen. “Maybe we should go to the study where we can actually find a place to sit.”
Lily obligingly followed. As they entered the study, they found Verna Belmont bent over the portable crib. In one hand was a dusting rag. The other was reaching into the crib, doing what, Lily couldn’t tell. She looked up guiltily, then gave a rueful smile.
“Just checking on the wee one. She’s still sleeping like an angel.” Verna’s eyes shone, as if with unshed tears. Then she blinked and averted her head.
So I’m not the only one who finds the situation heart-breaking. Lily felt less alone, somehow, knowing that.
“Holly had her morning bottle an hour ago,” Sylvia said. “Lily and I can talk in another room if you’re still cleaning in here, Verna.”
“Oh, no. I’ve just finished the dusting. I’ll be going upstairs now.”
Lily wanted to ask how Ivy was doing, whether she’d gone to school today, but Verna didn’t give her a chance, slipping out the door before Lily could organize her thoughts into a question. Probably Ivy was at home looking after the children so Verna could work. It was all so sad.
Sylvia meanwhile, had sat behind the desk situated by the window and was reviewing the basket list that Lily had brought with her. “I was talking to the mayor’s wife last night and she thought that a gift card for Getalot or some other big discount store might be a really useful addition to the baskets this year.”
Lily chose a chair so her back was to the baby. “That’s an idea. Those stores have lots of products at very good prices. But doesn’t your family prefer to support local businesses?”
“Oh, we do.” Sylvia sighed. “It’s a tradeoff though, isn’t it? While I’m thankful we don’t have one of those awful big box stores in Carol Falls, when people can’t afford to feed their families, you can’t blame them for shopping wherever they can get the best bargain.”
“So maybe what we can do is include the gifts from the usual local stores but also find a discount store somewhere in Burlington?” Lily checked the numbers. “Our budget should allow for $200 cards for each family.”
“An excellent suggestion,” Sylvia agreed. “Only make the cards $400 each—and I’ll make up the shortfall personally.”
“That’s very generous.” Lily was thrilled. She knew the cards would make a big difference to so many families...and most especially the Belmonts. “I can drive to Burlington this afternoon and scout out the right store. We’ll need something that offers a large selection of items at discount prices.”
“That’s an excellent idea. You might have some of your own shopping to do while you’re there. Burlington isn’t exactly New York, but they do offer more selection than Carol Falls.”
“Thanks, but I don’t really need anything. I’ve done my Christmas shopping on-line. It’s more convenient as the packages are delivered right to my family’s door.”
“How clever.” Sylvia lined up the papers on the desk. “Are there other things about New York you miss, dear?”
Sylvia was fishing here, Lily thought. But for what? “I suppose. The shows, the restaurants, that sort of thing." Most importantly the ability to disappear in a crowd and not stand out because I’m alone.
“I guess what I want to know is...are you happy here? Before things go too far with you and Garret—is Carol Falls a place you can imagine living for the rest of your life? Because I can tell you this. Garret will never leave.”
Lily didn’t know what to say. Obviously Sylvia was out to protect her son from getting hurt. But she was way over the line here. Sylvia, herself, seemed to realize this.
“I’m sorry. It’s not my business and I should have kept quiet.” Sylvia turned her wedding bands, aligning the diamond solitaire with the plain ring she wore with it. “Lily, you and I have more in common than you realize. Before I married Harold, I lived in New York City, too. In fact, I was born there and my parents remained in the city until the day they died.”
Lily pressed her lips together, unsure if she should admit that Garret had already told her this.
“When I married Harold and moved to Carol Falls, I found the transition to farm life very difficult. It didn’t help that Harold seemed to put his responsibilities to the maple trees before his responsibilities to me.”
Lily wondered if Sylvia was going to tell her about the year she’d left her husband and son and run back to her family. But she didn’t.
“I won’t say anything more about this,” Sylvia promised. “I just want you to know that in the end, I don’t regret a thing about marrying Harold and raising my children in Carol Falls.”
Again, Lily was left wondering how to respond. But then the baby made a small mewling sound and started rustling in her covers.
“Oh, look who’s waking up,” Sylvia’s face brightened. “Ahead of schedule, too.”
Lily, who’d been careful to avoid looking at the portable crib, picked up her papers. “Thanks for sharing that story, Mrs. Frost. But I’d better get back to work.”
Sylvia was at the crib now, reaching out to the baby before her little sounds of protest could turn into a full blown cry.
“And thanks for the cookie. It was delicious.”
Sylvia picked up the baby and cradled her in her arms. “Don’t you want to—”
Lily didn’t hear the rest. She was already gone.
* * *
Garret was on-line, ordering new equipment to be delivered this March, when someone tapped on his office door. A moment later Lily said, “Are you busy?”
He immediately logged out of the account. “No. Come on in.”
The door had been ajar, not closed, and she pushed it wider. Rather than stepping all the way into the room, she hung back, looking flushed and a little upset.
He left his chair to move closer. “What happened? Did Mom put you to work in the kitchen?”
“Not at all. She did let me sample a cookie though, and it was delicious.” Lily tucked her silky gold hair behind her lovely small ears.
He schooled his thoughts back to the matter at hand. “Did she have any suggestions for the baskets?”
“Apparently the mayor’s wife suggested we include gift cards for a discount store in Burlington. Your mother even offered to contribute two hundred dollars for each basket so we could afford to put four hundred on each card.”
He whistled. “That’s a lot of money. But I’m surprised Mom would want to support one of those big discount stores. She never misses an opportunity to say how much she dislikes them.”
“She recognizes that a dollar goes a lot further at places like that. So she was willing to compromise, as long as we continue to include merchandise from our local stores. I’m going to drive to Burlington this afternoon to scout out the right store.” She hesitated, as if unsure about saying something else.
Garret had a full slate of items he’d planned to do that afternoon. But suddenly it seemed to him that going to Burlington was an excellent idea. “How about I come with you? We can pick up the discount cards, do some Christmas shopping of our own, then go out for dinner.”
She crossed her arms. “Would this be a business dinner?”
She was probably thinking about the kiss. He still couldn’t believe he’d done it, given in to the urge that he knew was wrong. Fortunately the shocked look on Duncan’s face had snapped him back to his senses.
“Absolutely.”