Page 10 of The Birchwood House

The lid of her cappuccino flew off as it bumped into the man’s clipboard and foamy, creamy coffee splashed all over the man’s clean blue shirt, the floor, and the stack of papers he was holding.

Audrey seemed to watch it all happen in slow motion, her jaw dropping in alarm and shock. She felt a wave of terrible embarrassment even as she looked up at the man’s face and saw that he was terribly handsome. At least, she thought so. His warm brown eyes were wide with surprise, but his neatly trimmed brown beard caused him to appear polished even in spite of the coffee stain that was spreading across his chest.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so incredibly sorry,” she gasped, reaching for his shirt for a moment as if she could rub the stain away and then jerking her hand back. “I had no idea you were there and I was in such a hurry—oh gosh, I’m sorry.”

The man’s brow furrowed, and she thought to herself for a split second that it was a shame his nice brown eyes were being clouded by such a look of irritation.

“There are napkins over there on the counter,” the man said dryly, looking down at her half-empty cup as if he was wondering if the rest of the cappuccino might jump out and attack him. “I can assure you, there was no need for you to use important township documents to mop up your coffee.”

Audrey’s mouth popped open in indignation for a second, but then she closed it again. She could hardly expect the man to be polite when she’d probably just upended his entire morning. “I genuinely am sorry,” she told him. “I should have been looking where I was going. It was completely my fault. Really, I’m sosorry.” She kept talking, hoping he would interject some kind of response, ideally along the lines of, “It’s okay” or “I was standing unreasonably close behind you, it’s partly my fault too.” He didn’t say anything, however, and when she finally paused long enough for him to realize she’d finished speaking, he just let out a grunt.

“Well, I sincerely hope I haven’t destroyed the future of the township by spilling coffee on those documents,” she said, hoping a joke could lighten the mood and also feeling unable to resist being a little sarcastic.

The man with the coffee-soaked shirt didn’t hold back any sarcasm in his response. “Too bad I’m not the mayor of Coral Sands and I have no ability to fix this,” he said crossly, and she realized with a pang of extra embarrassment that he actually was the mayor.

What a thing to do the second I get back in town,she thought, and despite her embarrassment, she almost wanted to laugh.

“I can always reprint these documents,” he said gruffly, “but I spent all morning gathering signatures. Those can’t simply be written back in. Looks like I’m going to have to start over and explain to everyone that a red-headed tourist with no spatial awareness was determined to destroy important Coral Sands documentation.”

Her mouth popped open again, and she wanted to protest. First of all, her hair was auburn, not really red, and she wasn’t a tourist, and there was nothing wrong with her spatial awareness, she’d just been in a hurry—but then she noticed that the corners of his mouth were curving up ever-so-slightly in the ghost of a smile. Perhaps the man had something of a sense of humor after all.

“I really am sorry I made more work for you,” she said, feeling mortified that she’d slowed down Coral Sand’s mayor.She felt flustered and desperate to remedy the situation in any way possible. She set down her half-empty cappuccino cup and reached into the white paper bag for her ham croissant. “Here,” she said. “Have my sandwich. It’s the least I can do.”

Behind her, she heard Michelle stifle a snorting laugh, and she realized how ridiculous she was being. She didn’t rescind her offer, however, and continued to hold out the sandwich toward the mayor.

He blinked at her, seeming to be unsure of what to do, and then he hesitantly took the sandwich. “Well, thank you,” he said brusquely, and turned around and left the coffee shop.

Audrey watched him go, feeling her whole body buzz with a mixture of emotions, most of which she couldn’t even identify.

“Good gracious,” she said finally. “What a disaster.”

“Do you know him?” Michelle was laughing outright, seeming to be without pity for both the coffee-soaked mayor and her humiliated mother.

Audrey shook her head, unable to keep from smiling a little herself. The whole thing was pretty funny, she couldn’t deny it. “I don’t know him. He must have moved to town after I left. Unless I met him once or twice and I just don’t remember, but I don’t think so. I feel like I’d remember everyone who lived in town back when I lived here.”

“Well, neither of you will ever forget meeting each other today, that’s for sure,” Michelle said with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s buy you another croissant and another cappuccino.”

Audrey smiled gratefully at her daughter and they got back in line. She sighed as they waited, feeling more ready than ever to get to her mother’s house. A few minutes later, she had a new cappuccino and a new sandwich, and she and Michelle were stepping out of the café and back into the sunshine. She took another deep breath of the sweet, clean air and felt a springin her step as they started toward her mother’s mansion. She absolutely could not wait to get there.

CHAPTER FIVE

Elaine tucked one of her soft gray curls behind her ear and looked around her kitchen with a smile of satisfaction.

There,she thought, noticing the way the countertops gleamed in the sunlight.Everything’s as clean as a whistle, now.

She hurried over to the kitchen window that offered a good view of the driveway. Her heart flopped with disappointment when she saw that Audrey and Michelle still hadn’t arrived, but she smiled again a moment later. After all, they were sure to arrive soon. The moving van carrying their belongings had shown up a couple of hours earlier and a stack of boxes and several suitcases were now arranged neatly in the center of Elaine’s garage. She liked having her daughter and granddaughter’s things there. It made them feel closer to her, and she couldn’t wait to hug the both of them. Her whole body was tingling with excitement, and she wondered with delight what she should cook the three of them for dinner that night. She knew what all of Audrey’s favorite foods were, but she wanted to make sure she made something that Michelle would love also.

She had awoken very early in the morning, too excited to go back to sleep. Feeling wide-awake and full of energy, she’d decided to get up and get right to business. She’d been determined to deep clean every common area of the mansion, and she’d spent a productive, peaceful morning scrubbing and dusting and sweeping. She loved cleaning, and it wasn’t very difficult for her to clean the rooms that she already used, as well as the guest bedrooms that she’d prepared for Audrey and Michelle. There were plenty of rooms in the old mansion that were completely unused, and those were gathering dust. It would have taken her more than one morning to clean out those rooms!

She hummed to herself as she began to gather up all her cleaning supplies, returning them to a small closet in the main hallway. She thought to herself with a smile that her home looked very tidy indeed—not a stray cobweb anywhere. She’d only found a couple, but she felt good about the house being so well-cleaned. It was one of the ways she showed love, she thought, tucking the basket of cleaning supplies back into the closet. She showed her care and her attention to her daughter and granddaughter through making sure the house was lovingly scrubbed clean before their arrival.

She made her way into the parlor, fluffing the pillows on the couch and arranging the knit throw that she had draped across the comfy armchair.

I can’t wait to sit in here with other people,she thought, feeling a thrill go through her.It’ll be just like old times.

She’d been lonely, living in the large old mansion by herself ever since her husband had died several years prior. She had friends over often enough, but she missed the cozy nights at home with her family. She adored her mansion, which had been in her family for generations, and she would never have sold itand gone to live somewhere else. Still, it was much too big for just one old lady, she thought with a chuckle.

She bustled back inside the kitchen to check on the blueberry scones that she had baking in the oven. She decided that they needed just another couple of minutes, and she took a deep breath of their buttery, sweet aroma before shutting the oven door.