Julie raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Neither did Gram.”
Despite the slow movements that came with age, Maura reached their table with surprising quickness. As she refilled both Ivy’s and Julie’s cups in turn, she hummed under her breath.
When she looked at Julie’s face, the humming stopped abruptly.
“Ida?”
Julie winced. “Not quite. Ida is my gram.”
“Of course!” Her face had brightened, and it made her look younger. “You’re back at the inn!”
“For a little while,” Julie hedged.
“Oh, it will be so nice to see the place up and running again. The town hasn’t been the same without it.”
“I’m not running the inn.” Julie held up her hands to stave off that idea. Who was spreadingthatrumor? “I’m just helping to throw the Christmas party, and then I’m going back to Boston. Gram won’t be staying either.”
Maura leaned closer, her face almost conspiratorial. “Are you getting one of those newfangled websites? Can’t understand those things myself, but it seems if you’re going to attract business from out of town, you have to have one these days.”
“I don’t…”
Maura pinched Julie’s cheek affectionately. She felt about twelve. “It’s good you’re here again. I’m sure you’ll be able to do your gram proud.”
Whatever Julie planned to say to that was lost in the watery warmth sloshing around inside her chest. Somehow, she managed to choke out a thank-you. Maura went on her way, her humming cheerful and off-key.
Julie pinched the bridge of her nose. Whohadtold Maura that Julie was staying in town to run the inn? Then again, the old woman had clearly seemed confused. At first, she’d seemed to think JuliewasGram, though she hadn’t by the end.
“What’s this about you staying in town?”
The voice froze Julie’s warm thoughts. Nolan Miller was looming over the table. She hadn’t noticed him come into the café, but his presence wasn’t something that anyone could overlook now. The silence and craned necks from the other tables attested that much.
Sitting, Julie felt at a disadvantage, but she wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. She crossed her arms. “I told you, I’m not.”
“I know what you told me, but apparently, that’s not what Maura seemed to think. What kind of game are you playing? Is this some kind of trick to force Gramps to pay more for the property? Because itisn’tgoing to work.”
Julie gritted her teeth. The nerve! And just when she was starting to think that he wasn’t so bad. “It isn’t a trick. Or a game. I told you, I’m here for the party. Nothing else.”
He crossed his arms, mimicking her pose, though with a good deal more attitude thrown in. “I don’t believe you.”
“Believe whatever you want,” she snapped. “It won’t change the facts.”
And with that dour cloud over her lovely afternoon, she turned to Ivy.
“Thank you for lunch. I think I’d better get back to the inn.”
Ivy didn’t stand to hug her this time, which was just as well, because Julie wasn’t in the mood. She stormed out of the café and started toward her rented truck. She paused as she noticed the shoe store two shops down.
Out of spite, she went in and bought a pair of winter boots more appropriate to the snowdrifts of Vermont. The reminiscences of the shop owner about the parties thrown at the Cozy Holly Inn were, this time, a balm to Julie’s wounded pride.
She was here for one reason only: to throw one last Christmas Eve party. And she was going to make it the best party the Cozy Holly Inn had ever seen, but she couldn’t do that with frozen feet.
Chapter 15
Julie hummed Christmas songs under the disapproving eye of her feline shadow as she put the finishing touches on the decorations on the first floor. She felt accomplished in a way she usually only felt when delivering a particularly challenging article. The second floor and bathrooms were now as spotless as the first floor, and all of the indoor decorations had been laid out, save for the ones reserved for the tree. She had boughs of artificial holly, brightly colored garlands, indoor lights strung around the windowsills, and snowflake decals in the windows. But that hadn’t been enough, to her eye.
With an unrestrained smile, she straightened the fresh pine boughs she had cut from a tree outside. Arranged artfully on the mantel with a red candle in the center as decoration, they looked cheery and welcoming. The scent of fresh pine mixed with the subtle smell of cinnamon from the candle in a way that said, to Julie,Christmas.
The cat started to hack up a hairball.
