AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alec smirked and continued through the parlor into the dining room.
He saw Maren at the bar, where he was headed.
“Does it feel good to have it behind you, the wedding?” He asked when he reached her side.
Maren’s gaze softened, becoming thoughtful. “It does.”
“You have a knack for handling chaos,” he noted, scanning the room filled with celebratory chatter. “The cupcake tower is a nice touch.”
Maren shrugged, grinning. “Desperate times call for creative dessert solutions. That was not me, though. That was all Aiden.”
“You’ve added another chapter to the town’s history,” Alec remarked, “and Liam and Jasmine now have a wedding to remember.” He lifted his glass in a toast. “Cheers to you, Maren Scott, to a job well done.”
Maren tapped her champagne flute against his rocks glass. “And to you, Alec Sullivan. Your presence and your help made a huge difference.”
Chapter Ten
The kitchen was bathed in the soft, muted glow of the table lamp at Maren’s desk. It was well past midnight, but she couldn’t sleep. The last guests had been gone for more than an hour—the police and road crews had to ferry them back from where they came before the change of shifts.
From the drawer at her kitchen desk, Maren pulled out the journal she’d kept since taking over the Inn. The pages were not yet worn out but one day they would be, maybe in a hundred years when another owner gloried in delving into the rich history of the house. Her pen glided across the paper, recording another chapter in the house’s rich history, the first wedding she’d hosted. It was a ritual Maren had maintained since she first opened the doors, wanting to put to paper—to record for history—the essence of the Inn’s guests and each story that made up the fabric of the old Victorian house. She thought rather fancifully that when the journal was full, maybe this one and several more, she’d remove a brick from that basement chamber and hide the books back there for some eager, future owner to find one day.
The house was as silent as ever at this time of night. It was never eerie but always serene—unless trees were falling. She loved the muted creaks and groans, caused by the wind, or as Hal had once suggested, by the house ‘settling’.
She tapped the end of her pen against her chin and stared blindly at the pages, reflecting upon Jasmine’s utter and absolute joy tonight. How gorgeous she’d been with her happiness. How boyish and charming had been Liam with his very transparent love for Jasmine.
One day I will have that, she thought. Not just a man, not just a husband and a wedding day, but someone with whom to share secrets and dreams, someone to whom she couldn’t wait totell her latest news, whatever that might be. Someone who was happy at the end of the day, even or especially a bad one, just to see her.
Lost in her reflections, Maren was not aware of someone approaching until a presence was felt, not seen or heard. She turned her head, easily recognizing Alec Sullivan’s presence, as he stood at the entrance to the kitchen from the long hall, his broad silhouette blending a bit with the shadows but still unmistakable. Slowly, softly, she closed the journal.
“Can’t sleep?”
He shrugged lightly. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all. I was just finishing up with the house’s journal.”
Alec helped himself to a bottle of water from the fridge. With a casual grace, he hopped up on the island’s counter, sitting directly across from her as Maren had her arm over the back of the chair. “The house has its own journal?”
“It does.”
“Will you tuck that away in the cellar when it’s filled?”
A soft smile creased her lips. “Actually, I thought I would. Or at least, that’s the plan.”
Quiet for a moment while Alec took a sip of his water. “They looked really happy tonight,” he commented.
Knowing he spoke of Liam and Jasmine, Maren nodded, in complete agreement. “So happy, in fact, I don’t even think they minded that there would be no honeymoon suite in Aruba, but rather a wedding night in Jasmine’s apartment.” Thankfully, they’d purchased insurance when they’d booked their honeymoon, and likely would reschedule. “You’ll probably be thrilled,” she said, “to get back to Austin, and away from the snow.”
“I will not miss the snow,” he said, slowly shaking his head. “Not this much anyway.”
Even while he was sitting so casually, so relaxed, with his shoulders leaned forward and his elbows on his thighs, he was still imposing and impressive. And she was not immune, not yet, maybe not ever, that she felt the weight of his probing stare, which didn’t unnerve her so much as it once had, so much as it now enlivened her.
“Back to...Quantum Tech, is it?” She asked.
Alec lifted his eyes to her, measuring her with his gaze.
“Liam mentioned it tonight, I think.”
“Yeah.”
