Christmas In Icicle Falls

“You’ll take it off after the baby comes,” Olivia assured her. Not that she had managed to do that but oh, well. She’d been carrying those extra pounds for years and they had made themselves happily at home. Lucky for her, James thought her figure was just fine the way it was.

“You’re not going to have many left for tomorrow,” Brooke said. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay. They’re best when they’re fresh.” Which was why she’d helped herself to three.

“That’s what I told Meadow,” Brooke said with a smile. “She’s eating one now.”

Yes, a very short-lived sickness.

“She says it’s helping settle her stomach.”

Whatever. Olivia didn’t say anything, just smiled and took another sip of her coffee.

Soon Meadow joined them, sitting down next to Olivia and facing her. “Okay, the kitchen’s all clean.”

“That was fast,” Olivia said.

“James had most of it done already,” Meadow admitted. “What else can I do?”

“Well...”

“I don’t want to just sit around and eat muffins and get fat.”

Two muffins still sat on Olivia’s plate. She frowned.

“So, tell me what to do.”

“We need to put out silverware and napkins for breakfast tomorrow,” Olivia said.

“Okay.” Meadow jumped up.

“And replace any stained tablecloths.”

“I can do that.”

“I’ll help you,” Brooke said and got up.

“No.” Meadow waved her back down. “You’ve been working all morning. I can do it.”

Meadow was certainly on her best behavior now. Olivia let her go at it, knowing James was still around and could answer any questions she had.

“I guess I’ll run back to the apartment and throw in a load of laundry,” Brooke said to Olivia.

Olivia, too, got up and returned her cup and her uneaten muffins to the kitchen. “See you later,” Meadow called as she walked by, bearing a bundle of dirty tablecloths.

Brandon was manning the front desk when Olivia got there. “How’d Meadow do?” he greeted her.

“Fine.” Of course, he wanted to hear more than that. He wanted to hear approval. “She’s working hard.”

He beamed and that made Olivia feel good.

“I can take over here now,” she said.

“Thanks. I need to get out and help Eric shovel the walkways.”

Yes, it was nice to have her boy back home. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left, and she settled in behind the front desk, feeling happy with her life and the world in general. She had just finished checking out a young family when Meadow joined her.

“Dining room’s all ready for tomorrow,” she reported.

“Good. Thank you.”

“Stuff sure starts early around here,” Meadow said and leaned on the desk.

“That’s how it is in the hospitality business,” Olivia said.

Meadow wrinkled her nose. “Who the hell wants to eat at seven in the morning when they’re on vacation?”

“A lot of people like to eat early.”

“I don’t see why. Nothing much opens up around this town until ten. We should wait until eight to serve breakfast.”

In some ways that sounded perfectly logical, but Olivia had been running her lodge for many years and she knew that people expected to be able to eat early if they had plans to get on the road. Or if they were just plain hungry.

“I guess,” Meadow said dubiously after Olivia had explained. “Running a motel is kind of a pain in the butt, isn’t it?”

“This is a lodge,” Olivia corrected her.

Meadow was not impressed. “Lodge, motel, what’s the difference?”

“Ambiance. This is more of a resort, a specialty kind of place with a garden and grounds around it.”

“Oh.” Meadow thought on that a moment, then shrugged. “It’s still kind of a pain in the butt. I mean, look how hard you guys all work.”

“Well, yes, we do. But we’re working at something worthwhile. We’re providing people with a nice place to stay, helping them make memories. We’re offering more than rooms here, Meadow. We’re offing hospitality.”

“Hmm. Never thought of it that way. Kind of cool.”

Yes, it was.

“Pretty cool that Brandon will own all this someday,” she added.

Spoken like a true gold digger. The feeling of warmth that had started in Olivia’s chest cooled.

“So, what do you want me to do now?”

Go away? “Oh, I can’t think of anything.”

“There must be something. It’s a big place. Brandon says you guys all take turns working the front desk. I can do that.”