Free We Need a Little Christmas by Sierra Donovan Page B

apple pie.
    â€œI can’t handle the cookie or pie scents for too long,” Jake said.
    â€œThey make him hungry,” Mandy said.
    They didn’t quite finish each other’s sentences, but the connection between them was obvious. Coming back down the stairs, Mandy led them to a set of double doors leading off the lobby. “This room is Jake’s baby. We call it the Man Cave.”
    â€œI got to thinking some people—husbands, especially—might like a place they could go that’s a little less Christmas-centric. So we did this.”
    The doors opened onto a large room where red and green gave way to earthier tones: a brown leather sofa, two easy chairs to match, and a bookcase on one wall loaded with volumes that didn’t look like the usual Reader’s Digest condensed books some people used as decorating props. A cabinet in the center of the bookcase wall held a flat-screen television. Another cabinet door opened to reveal a movie collection that filled several shelves.
    In one corner stood a single concession to Christmas: a tall, skinny artificial pine tree decorated only with pine cones.
    â€œAnother handy feature,” Jake said, “is it’s really easy to get a conference table in here to use it for a meeting room.”
    â€œAnd do you hang out here a lot?”
    â€œI thought I might, back when we were planning it. But in point of fact, no. For one thing, I’m usually too busy. For another”—he shrugged, casting a look Mandy’s way—“the hotel’s a home away from home. We wanted to give it that Christmas warmth, and I think we succeeded. I like it here and—no, I really don’t burn out.”
    Jake led the way out to the unexplored section of the lobby, with all the tables and cushiony chairs. “Now, in here, we have Mandy’s pride and joy. We just started this up last week.”
    A counter ran along the back of the room with several tall stools and a window for taking orders. “A hot drink bar,” Mandy explained. “For coffee and hot chocolate. Jake didn’t start off to go into the restaurant business, but I thought it would be a cozy touch.”
    â€œAnd Mandy makes the world’s best hot chocolate,” Jake added, standing next to his wife. “We just got this part going last week. We learned a lot about food service regulations.” They exchanged a visible shudder.
    â€œCare for a cup?” Mandy offered. “On the house?”
    And Liv remembered, reluctantly, to check the time on her cell phone. No reception bars in here either. But the time made her cringe with guilt. She’d left Mom and Rachel for too long, and surely Scotty had work to do, too.
    â€œWe’d better get going,” she said reluctantly.
    She directed a look up at Scott, who nodded. He’d been so gregarious in high school, always joking. It surprised her how quiet he could be. Had he changed, or had she known him that little?
    On their way out, Liv took one more look back at the blue-and-white box on the counter, next to the other tree’s much-newer box. It looked like a cast-off.
    If there was a right place to leave the silver tree, it was here. It was just hard to leave it at all. Liv reminded herself of what she told her clients: You can’t keep everything.
    But for the first time in an hour, she felt melancholy grip her again. The little side trip to the Christmas inn had been a refreshing break, but she didn’t know if it would make getting back to work any easier. A lot of tough decisions lay ahead at Nammy’s house. Tough not just on her, but on Mom and Rachel, too.
    She turned away resolutely and walked out through the door Scott held open for her.
    She tried to concentrate on the present. “Thanks for bringing me,” she said. “It sounds like you’re responsible for half the innards of the hotel.”
    â€œThanks.” He tipped up a crooked grin at her.