Page 8 of Savoring Christmas (Sugarville Grove #8)
Mia tore open her muffin, steam rising from the plate. “I know. Last year we were able to gather a lot of food to distribute, but, like you said, there are eleven other months in a year.” She took a bite of the muffin and murmured her delight. “These are perfection, Grace.”
Her face lit up. “Really? Thank you so much. It’s my mother’s recipe.”
“Patty needs a better job,” Logan said, not wanting to veer too far off track. “One she doesn’t have to do at night. Those kids should be home, all tucked into bed, not spending their evening in a cold cafeteria.”
“Kris said she was a stay at home mom before her husband died,” Walter said. “So I don’t know if she has any particular training.”
“Why doesn’t she have a police pension?” Logan asked. “Don’t widows usually get at least half of their salaries when a spouse is killed in the line of duty?”
Walter hesitated, glancing briefly at his wife before answering. “Usually, yes. But not in her case. Kris told me there were circumstances around her husband’s death that took away the pension. Nothing anyone here has all the details on. Just enough to know she isn’t getting pension money.”
“That’s terrible,” Grace said. “This poor woman.”
“I wonder what he did?” Logan asked. “It must have been bad for Patty to lose all his benefits.”
Mia’s expression softened, worry shading her features. “Probably something she feels shame over.”
Logan studied her for a moment. The way she’d said “shame” made him think she knew a little about that herself. What had happened to her before she came here? Why had she suddenly closed her restaurant in New York?
Walter nodded. “Whatever it is, she’s proud. She’ll never ask for help outright.”
Logan’s chest tightened. She must feel so helpless. Alone and left behind. “We need to help her find a good job. That’s all there is to it.”
“But first we need to figure out how to give her and the kids a good, worry free Christmas,” Grace said.
“I’m covering the expenses for it,” Logan said quickly. “Whatever the kids want. And we’ll get them stocked up on groceries for holiday meals.”
“And we can send them home with whatever we have left over from cooking class,” Mia said.
Grace brightened. “How wonderful of you both. That’s what Christmas is all about. But like we’ve said, it’s only a short-term solution.”
“I wish I had an opening at my restaurant,” Mia said. “But, then again, since we’re open only in the evenings, it wouldn’t work with the kids.”
“We hire temporary help this time of year for the retail part of our business,” Walter said. “But we’ve already filled the positions for this season.”
“Yeah, and no offense, Dad, but what Luke pays hourly isn’t enough to take care of a family of four.”
“You’re right.” Walter rubbed his chin. “We’re not going to solve this today. However, one of us needs to get to know her better. See if there’s any type of training she’s interested in.”
Grace set her mug down with a decisive thump. “I’ll invite them to our cooking decorating party. Leave it to me. I’ll find out what I need to know so we can help her design a better future for herself.”
“If anyone can, it’s you, Mom.” Logan squeezed his mother’s hand. “And I’m sure I can trust Kris to find out what Molly wants for Christmas. You know, since he plays Santa out at the store. Daisy and Benji told us last night what they want.”
Mia nodded. “Benji wants to play baseball and Daisy wants a dog.”
“But they both said they knew it was impossible,” Logan said. “Not outright, but it was obvious. Benji mentioned that he knew Jack, and he wished he could play baseball like him.”
Grace tugged at the cross she wore around her neck. “That’s enough to break my heart.”
“I was that kid,” Mia said softly. “So I know exactly how it feels.”
“Did your family struggle?” Grace asked Mia, passing the plate of muffins toward her.
“My dad died when I was only five. From then on, it was just my mother, sister and me. My mom did her best, but raising two kids alone in New York City was nearly impossible on a secretary’s salary. I asked for a dog every year but of course we couldn’t afford one.”
“I’m sorry,” Mom said. “That must have been hard on all of you. How is your mother now?”
“She’s passed. Not long before I …closed my restaurant. She’d been living with me for five years when she got cancer. She went just months after being diagnosed. It gives me a little peace knowing her last years were easy ones. I loved spoiling her.”
Was that why she’d closed her restaurant?
“How did you end up here?” Walter asked.
“My grandmother—my mother’s mother—owned property here. I didn’t even know it existed until Mom died. When I needed a fresh start, it was the only choice I had. It’s been good for me though. Better than I expected.”
“Does it get lonely up there on the mountain?” Walter asked. “A woman all alone?”
“Sometimes,” Mia said. “But I have Cannoli. She’s my dog.”
“Dogs are the best kind of friends,” Walter said.
They wrapped up then, as Logan needed to go into the office and his parents always had a dozen tasks lined up for them.
He walked Mia out to her car but they didn’t linger as they had last night.
Instead, she simply smiled at him as she got into her car and gave him a quick wave through the window before driving away.
Why did watching her go make him feel almost homesick? He took solace in knowing that he would see her at class tomorrow night. With that thought, he got in his car and drove toward town, where a day’s work awaited him.