Page 7 of Christmas Treasures (Sugarville Grove #6)

CHARLIE

C harlie adjusted the bottle of wine in her hand for the third time as she stood on Laney’s front porch. She could be home right now, feeding her sourdough starter and talking to Fig about how society over-romanticized socializing.

Instead, she was dressed in black slacks and a soft gray sweater, standing in front of the cheeriest front door she’d ever seen.

Laney opened it before she could knock. “You came.”

“I said I would.” Charlie forced herself to sound chipper, as if she didn’t regret every life decision that had brought her to this moment.

Laney pulled her inside. “Come on in. It’s freezing. Why aren’t you wearing a coat?”

“You’re sounding like a mom already,” Charlie said.

Laney laughed, resting her hand on her round belly. “I cannot wait to meet this little person.”

“Do you know the gender?” Charlie breathed in scents of roasted garlic and spiced cider.

“No, we decided to wait and be surprised. But I’m pretty sure it’s a girl.”

“Really? Why?” Charlie asked.

“No idea. And I might be wrong.” Laney gestured toward the front room, where there were about a dozen guests mingling, enjoying drinks before dinner.

“Your home’s beautiful.”

“Oh, thank you. Nolan gutted and remodeled the entire house before I met him. Luckily, our taste matches perfectly.”

Charlie remembered the bottle of wine she’d brought. “I hope this is okay. It’s one of my favorite Italian Chiantis. I wasn’t sure what you were serving.”

Laney took the bottle of wine with a warm smile. “This is perfect. Come on, I’ll give you the quick tour of the house, but first, let’s get you a drink. Do you want a glass of cider to start? I can put a little rum in yours.”

“That sounds great.” She could use a little alcohol to loosen her nerves. Why was it so hard for her to just go to a silly party? At least she’d come. That was progress.

A minute later, a cup of cider in one hand, Charlie followed Laney down a softly lit hallway.

They stepped into the bright and inviting kitchen first. “Oh, this is great,” Charlie said, taking in the creamy white cabinets and framed open shelves filled with mismatched mugs and vintage enamelware.

A wide-planked wooden island stretched through the center, with stools on one side, similar to the ones she had in her own kitchen.

Charlie couldn’t help but run her fingers over the wooden surface. “I love this.”

“Nolan made it from wood from an old barn or something like that.” Laney smiled. “Everything in this house has a story. It’s got Nolan imprinted into every inch.”

Charlie’s stomach did a little dip. This was a woman very much in love with her husband. She had to wonder what it felt like to love someone that much and have it returned. But love was for normal people. Not socially awkward misfits such as herself.

Charlie looked at the terra-cotta planters lined along the sill—rosemary, thyme, and what looked like lemon basil. “Your herbs look healthy.”

“That’s all Nolan. He and his mother planted them for me in the fall. I’m just trying to keep them alive.”

“I grow mine in my greenhouse.”

“You have a greenhouse?” Laney asked.

“Yeah, it’s my happy place.”

“I’d love to see it sometime.”

Charlie wasn’t sure what to say to that. Was she supposed to invite her over right then and there? Or should she follow up later? Or what if it was just something a nice person like Laney would say but actually had no interest in visiting Charlie’s home or greenhouse?

If Laney noticed Charlie’s hesitation, she didn’t say anything. “Okay, this is a little weird because it used to be a maid’s quarters.” She opened a pocket door off the kitchen. “Nolan turned it into a part study, part library.”

The small room was cozy and masculine, with soft neutral walls, shelves crammed with novels, and a worn leather chair pulled up to a wooden writing desk. A cushion-topped bench hugged the window, a perfect place to read.

Charlie lingered in the doorway. “He built all this?”

Laney nodded, grinning. “He and Walter made the bench together. Grace sewed the cushion. The Hayes family is annoyingly handy.”

“Apparently.”

“Max loves to garden too. Did you know that?” Laney asked.

Charlie blinked. Not much of a segue there. “I didn’t. I don’t really know him. ”

“He has a greenhouse on his property too. Only he has a guy who does most of the work. They have some kind of arrangement for produce he can sell in the store. You should go out and look at it sometime. It’s giant and full of delicious things to eat.”

Was she imagining it, or did Laney want her to get to know Max better? Was that why she’d really been invited?

Laney led her up the narrow wooden staircase, the kind that creaked softly with every step.

Framed photos lined the walls—Hayes family moments frozen in time.

One of Max without his front teeth but that same cheeky grin he still possessed.

Another of Logan, Nolan, and Luke grinning beside one of their maple trees.

“I’m so glad you came,” Laney said as they reached the landing. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

“I almost backed out. Social things are not my strong suit. Making small talk and all that.”

“But isn’t that what you do at your shop every day?”

“It’s not the same. I have a purpose, something to do with my hands. This kind of thing makes me nervous.”

“I understand completely. Nolan’s the same way.

I’m more of the social one of the two of us.

I just adore parties and bringing people together.

But I have to psych him up beforehand. But once he gets comfortable, he always has a great time.

I hope you’ll enjoy yourself tonight and meet some new people.

It’s hard to be new in such a tight-knit community. ”

“It doesn’t seem hard for you.” She had an image of Laney at the bookstore, talking and laughing with customers as she found them the perfect book.

Laney shrugged. “It’s not been, but I kind of already lived here.

I spent a summer here with my aunt Edna when I was fourteen.

That’s when I first met Nolan. And then, last year when my engagement ended, I decided to come here to heal, and voilà, look at me now.

Knocked up and throwing dinner parties.”

Charlie couldn’t help but laugh. “Had you stayed in touch with Nolan all those years?”

“No, that’s the astounding part. We had this innocent little love affair when we were kids, and then my life imploded, and I ended up crying in the shelves of Aunt Edna’s bookstore, and in walks Nolan Hayes. It was like no time had passed. Like we were always meant to be.”

“What happened to your engagement?”

“Oh, you won’t believe it. My fiancé and my best friend—knocking boots. In love, apparently. According to the texts I happened to see anyway.”

Charlie’s hand flew to her mouth. “No way.”

“God’s honest truth,” Laney said. “And it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I came back here and found my soulmate. I never would have come here if I hadn’t found out about them, so it all worked out in the end.”

Charlie followed her into the master bedroom as Laney asked her, “What brought you here, anyway? You’re from California, right?”

Charlie studied her companion for a moment, gauging whether it was a fishing type of question.

But Laney seemed to genuinely be asking.

“Yes, I’m from the Bay Area. That’s where I started my company.

When I sold it, I spent a year traveling, mostly in Italy.

One day I was sitting at an outdoor café near Piazza della Signoria, and it just hit me—I needed to figure out what I was doing with the rest of my life.

And that’s when I remembered the cheese. ”

“The cheese?” Laney asked.

“The goat cheese my dad and I tasted in a little town in Vermont called Sugarville Grove. We’d come here during a road trip and stayed a few days.

I never forgot it. As strange as it probably sounds, I decided to come back and have a look around.

I fell in love a second time and decided to buy an old house on a piece of property. ”

“And now you have a greenhouse.”

“And a cat named Figaro. Fig. Sadly, I think he may be the closest thing I have to a soulmate.”

Laney laughed, holding open another door. “Well, we’ll have to see how that plays out for you.”

Charlie took in the primary bedroom, all soft and serene, with layers of ivory and muted gray. A handmade quilt covered the bed, and built-in bookshelves wrapped one corner. A pair of mugs rested on the nightstand—one with a faded literature quote, the other bright pink with flowers.

“Do you want to see the nursery?” Laney asked. “And then I’ll take you downstairs and give you another drink.”

“Sure.”

Laney opened the next door and flipped on the light.

The nursery was a gentle cocoon of sage green and honeyed wood.

A white rocking chair sat near the window, and a mobile of tiny paper stars spun gently from the ceiling fan’s breeze.

A shelf was already lined with children’s books.

“This is what happens when a bookstore owner marries a literature professor,” Laney said, laughing.

“We have a roomful of books for a child not yet born.”

“You’re going to be an amazing mom,” Charlie said.

Laney turned, surprise flickering across her face. “Thank you. I’m excited but nervous too.”

Charlie took one more look around, her throat tightening unexpectedly. The room was full of anticipation and softness. Very much like the little room her mother had made for her in their small house back in the day.

Laney touched her arm. “Ready to face the crowd?”

“It’s now or never.”