Free Christmas at Evergreen Inn by Donna Alward Page A

Treasures, where crafters and tourists alike found unique local items and supplies for homey touches. She shopped there often, looking for things to use at the inn. It called to her the most, so she turned to Todd and said, “Let’s pop into Treasures.”
    They turned their backs on the wind coming off the water, passed the tree in Memorial Square, and laughed at how someone had looped a huge wreath around the neck of the statue of Edward Jewell. Gulls circled overhead, their cries thin in the bitter air, but Lainey was oddly warm. A snowbank blocked access to the sidewalk, so Todd held out his hand to help her over. She could have done it easily on her own; the bank was only a couple of feet high. But she put her hand in his anyway, and felt his fingers squeeze hers through their heavy gloves. Once they were on the concrete sidewalk, he let go. The gloves were so thick that holding hands was awkward, but Lainey couldn’t erase the feeling of her hand in his.
    Treasures was warm, welcoming, and smelled of cinnamon and pine. Instrumental Christmas carols played in the background and Lainey saw Jess Sullivan wrapping a parcel behind the counter, her smile wide and eyes twinkling. Her husband, Rick, was there, too, holding their little boy in his arms. The baby was too young to get into much trouble, but he was wearing adorable tiny jeans and a fleecy sweater with little red and blue snowmen all over it. As she watched, Rick absently pressed a kiss to his son’s head.
    She swallowed against a lump in her throat. There was something about men with babies. And babies were something she hadn’t let herself think about much over the last year.
    â€œWow. Look at all the stuff in here.”
    She was diverted by Todd’s voice, and she forced herself to turn and look up at him. “Sorry?”
    â€œAre you okay? You got a strange look on your face all of a sudden.”
    â€œI’m fine. Let’s browse.”
    They split up, and Lainey was glad. Her heart was hurting a little right now. All it had taken was one look at a baby and her ruined dreams came rushing back. She and Jason had had plans, dammit. They’d be married a couple of years and then start a family, when they could afford for Lainey to hire an on-site manager for the inn. Everything had been discussed, planned, dreamed about.
    He’d ruined more than Christmas for her, and she was tired of it.
    A display shelf held handmade Christmas ornaments, glass balls delicately painted with holiday scenes and symbols. Poinsettias, like the one Todd had brought her this morning, holly and berries, ribbons and bells and packages all painstakingly crafted on the smooth surface. The shelf had a small string of LED lights along the back, so that the paint colors popped. Her favorites, though, were the town scenes. She knew Rick painted all these by hand and she marveled at his talent at re-creating the wildness of the ocean next to the lighthouse at Refuge Point, snow falling over the Jewell Cove marina and, to her surprise, the Evergreen Inn. It was stunning, the depiction of the inn absolutely perfect, down to the brick-red color of the siding and the wreath on the door.
    She put her hand on it, prepared to buy it, when she realized she didn’t have a tree to put it on. Oh, there was the one in the inn, but no one would see that now that she was closed until after Christmas morning.
    â€œRick has a lot of talent,” Todd said from behind her shoulder. “Did you know he did ornaments featuring the inn?”
    â€œNo,” she replied, shivering at the nearness of him. She could feel the warmth of his breath fluttering on the fine hairs along the back of her neck, just below the ribbing of her hat. “It’s beautiful.”
    â€œYou should buy it.”
    â€œI was just thinking the same thing.” She smiled as she looked up into his eyes, and felt herself tumbling, just a little. There was understanding behind