The next morning, I dashed through the front door of Prancer’s Pancake House, which sat on the opposite side of the town square from Main Street. I spotted Morgan at a table and hurried toward her. Suddenly, Addie Wilcox stepped in front of me and my feet skidded to a halt. Addie was the town gossip and many people attended her cocktail parties just to find out the backstory on the happenings in town.
Did I want to be part of her talk? Um, that would be a big no. But I didn’t see anyway to get around her and she was clearly on a mission since she’d blocked my path. I forced a smile and in response she held up a sleigh-shaped dog carrier that held her little blonde Pomeranian.
Cute dog aside, I glanced around for help, but everyone in the restaurant was either leaning in our direction to hear what was going to be said or they were avoiding eye contact by practically face-diving into their plates of steaming, fluffy pancakes. Cowards.
“There you are, Faith.”
“Yup. Here I am.” I stuffed my hands into the deep pockets of my down-filled parka. “And I’m late meeting a friend. So, if you’ll please excuse me . . .”
She sidestepped quickly, blocking my escape. “I heard Larry Kline’s son is in town to take over running Silver Bells Luxury Tours. Is that true?”
My teeth gritted together. Addie had heard because she made it her business to hear, and tell, every bit of gossip that floated about Christmas Mountain. “That’s right. Oh, look at that. Morgan’s already ordered my coffee. I’m sorry, but I really have to go.”
In an impressive move, I shot to the right, scooted around her, and was already sliding into a chair before Addie could react. “Red alert,” I mouthed to Morgan.
“Are you talking about Addie or are you speaking of the fact that my fabulous sabotage idea finally got you a date with Mr. Hottie?” Morgan whispered, the corners of her mouth twitching as she surveyed me over the rim of her coffee cup.
“I meant Addie,” I said, glancing her way out of the corner of my eye and discovering she’d cornered someone else. Then I gave Morgan a meaningful look. “I suppose there’s also a red alert since he is still going to sell. And there’s no date.”
“You should’ve gone for the facial.”
My eyes rolled upward. “This is serious.”
The server approached us then and asked to take our order. I decided on a triple stack of blueberry walnut pancakes with extra butter and syrup on the side, bacon, and home fries.
“Whoa,” Morgan said, giving me a side eye.
I held up a finger. “Don’t even think of trying to deny me my indulgences today. They’re the only things I have right now.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, before ordering eggs and toast with a side of fruit. She waited until the server left and then turned to me. “There’s no hope he’ll keep the business?”
“None that I can see. Every excursion I take him on to help him see reason somehow turns into a tour that makes him see dollar signs.” I shook my head and then sipped the cup of coffee Morgan had ordered for me. “I thought if he saw our operation in action that would make him understand why he can’t sell his dad’s dream. Your sabotage idea didn’t work either.”
Something niggled at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. I filled her in on the details of the excursions until the server brought our meals. Then I dug into the pancakes with real gusto and dipped a crispy, tender and smoking hot home fry into rich ketchup.
“I can’t figure Adam out,” I said, lifting another fry. “He’s Mr. Kline’s son, after all. You’d think he would be fond of the business his dad put his heart and soul into.”
Morgan shrugged. “It wasn’t his dream, though. It was his dad’s dream. Remember how hard it was for me to convince my parents to let me follow my dream and open my beauty salon? They just wanted me to work at the family bank like my goody-goody brother.”
“You’re right. Mr. Kline and Adam seem so different that it’s like they’re not even related. It was so easy to talk to Mr. Kline. He and I shared the same interests and we understood each other.” My eyes watered as I thought of my friendship with Mr. Kline. I hoped he was hiking lots of beautiful mountains in heaven. “Talking to Adam? The few times he’s detached his ear from his cell, it was like talking to a human calculator. He couldn’t see how special the tours were to everyone. All he sees are profit margins and a pitch deck.”
Morgan reached for her coffee mug. “Is that a baseball reference?”
“I wish.” My shoulders slumped as I filled her in on Adam’s term for a sales presentation. Suddenly, I realized something and then groaned. “Oh, no. This is all my fault.”
She leaned back in her chair. “No, it isn’t. You tried. Mr. Kline would be proud of your efforts. But if Adam is determined to sell then you’re not going to change his mind.”
I held a finger up. “I did the wrong tour. That’s the problem.”
“Say what?”
Excitement filled my chest. “I took him on a tour, trying to make him understand why this place was important to the people who go on tours. But he isn’t one of those people. Deep down in places he’s blocked or forgotten, he’s Mr. Kline’s kind of people.”
My friend stared at me blankly. “I’m confused.”
“I should’ve taken him to a place that was special to Mr. Kline!” I exclaimed, as the idea formed in my mind. “That’s what I did wrong.”
“Whoa.” She reached over and took my fork. “Slow your carbs-and-bacon high roll for a few seconds. You’ve lost me.”
“Mr. Kline started Silver Bells because of his love for Christmas, right? I need to take Adam to connect with his dad again. I mean, the guy didn’t even come to the memorial service.” I sucked in a deep breath, knowing exactly what I should do. “Adam sits in Mr. Kline’s old office, surrounded by spreadsheets. But that’s not Christmas. Mr. Kline loved to decorate his office. He had a lot of personal things in there, too. Adam needs to see the office decorated, so he can see that his dad loved Silver Bells with his heart and not just as a business. Then Adam will understand.”
It was so simple. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Adam didn’t need to see with his eyes why selling off his dad’s business would be a terrible thing to do, he needed to feel it with his heart.
I clasped my hands together. “This is the perfect way to show him. It’s a plan that just can’t go wrong.”
“Famous last words,” Morgan said, giving me a wink.