AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But that wasn’t her primary concern at the moment.
If Adam couldn’t make it, after all these years and all their careful planning…well, she didn’t want to think about the idea that her sons had been right and it was a foolish idea coming so far for a man she hadn’t seen in almost forty years.
Mostof her sons.Declan had not only been supportive but had taken it upon himself to locate Adam as a special Christmas surprise a year earlier.She’d dedicated her life to her boys and after her husband’s betrayal, when her eldest was only eighteen, Maureen had shut her heart off to the idea of ever loving again.
But time had a way of softening things.And after she’d witnessed the way each of her sons had found their partners and a happiness she’d never seen in them before, she couldn’t help but start to believe that maybe love might exist after all.And then, when herdaughters,who really weren’t her daughters at all, but her sons half-sisters—a complicated relationship if ever there was one—also found their happiness, Maureen was convinced that it wasn’t necessarily too late.
She looked around the festive inn.Maybe Adam had made it?Maybe it wasn’t too late after all.
“What about tonight?”Maureen reached a hand out and stopped the busy innkeeper before she could run off.“Will anyone be able to get through the roads tonight?”
The look on the other woman’s face told her everything she needed to know, but it wasn’t until Lucy shook her head that Maureen’s heart fell.
“With a heavy snowfall like this, it can be pretty dangerous on those mountain roads.If anyone was out there, they probably would have been turned around before they closed the gates.But—”
“Ms.Gibbons?”A rather frazzled-looking young man tapped on the innkeeper’s shoulder and shot Maureen an apologetic look.“I really am sorry to interrupt,” he said.“But there’s a bit of an…” He leaned in and tried to whisper.“Situation.”
“A situation?”
“Is everything okay?”Maureen straightened her shoulders and immediately went into problem-solving mode.As a mother of four boys, it was a mode she was proficient in.“If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.I can—”
“Oh no.”Lucy offered her a warm smile.“Everything is just fine.And like I said, the backup power should be on any moment now.There’s fresh coffee, tea, or hot chocolate over by the fire.The restaurant is open and the bar next door is also available for meals and, of course, libations to get you through the cold night.The band will be—”
“The Lost Ridge Ramblers are great,” the young man interjected.
“They really are.”Lucy nodded.“It should all be quite festive and fun.”
“It does sound fun.”The innkeeper was busy, and Maureen didn’t want to add to her stress by inquiring about Adam’s arrival status.She glanced out a nearby window into the snowy night and the quickly accumulating drifts, and sighed.
She didn’t need anyone to tell her what she already knew.
Adam wasn’t coming.
“Don’t let me keep you.”Maureen forced a smile.“I think I’ll help myself to a tea and sit by the fire for a while.It’s really quite beautiful in here.”
Lucy beamed.“Thank you.We take pride in our holiday decorations.”
“It shows.”Maureen made her way to the beverage cart where, instead of the tea, she opted for a hot chocolate with marshmallows in it.She probably wouldn’t be able to sleep due to the sugar, but given the storm, sleep was likely off the table anyway.
Two inviting chairs were set in front of the fireplace.One was occupied by an elderly lady working on a crochet project.The other was free.
“Is this seat taken?”
The woman looked up from her project and tipped her head.“It is now.”She nodded toward the chair and set the crochet project down in her lap.“Is that hot chocolate you’re drinking?”
“It is.”Maureen looked from her hot drink to the woman.“Would you like a cup?”
“With extra marshmallows, if you don’t mind.”
Maureen grinned.“I’ll be right back.”
She returned a moment later with a mug for her new friend, complete with the requested extra marshmallows.
“Don’t tell my niece.”The woman winked as she accepted the cup.“She means well, but she’s very bossy.”
A small chuckle slipped from her as Maureen took her seat.“I have the same problem with my sons.They’re not too bad, yet,” she added quickly with a shake of her head.“But if they knew about this storm…well, I can’t even imagine what they’d say.They didn’t like me coming so close to Christmas as it was.”
“Well, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, will it?”The older woman lifted her mug in a toast.“My name is Elise, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with keeping a few harmless secrets from our children.”
