Page 40 of A Bright Winter Season

“Terrence,” she gasped, placing a hand on her heart. “What—what are you doing here? Did Hazel call you?” She glanced at her daughter in surprise. She didn’t know why her daughter might do such a thing—after all, they wanted the health inspector to be assured that all was working well and safely at the pub. Lettinghim know about all of the potential hazards that arose along the way wasn’t going to make getting his approval any easier.

“No, no, she didn’t call me.” Terrence smiled, and Vivian wondered if it was her imagination, or if his eyes were twinkling at her.

“Then—I don’t understand why you’re here so late at night.” She felt confused, and then a terrible thought struck her. “You’re not doing your inspection now, are you?”

Terrence laughed—it was a nice sound, a little like a rusty gate creaking. “No, don’t you worry about that. I didn’t send you an email, did I?”

Vivian smiled, feeling relieved. “No, you didn’t send me an email.”

“I just happened to be passing by, and I saw the lights on here. I know it’s after closing hours, so I decided to knock and see if everything was all right. Hazel told me what was going on here.”

“Whatisgoing on here? I’m a little muddy about that myself.”

“I think Jacob’s the best man for that question.” Terrence gestured to a corner of the dining room, where Jacob was standing on a ladder, peering into one of the vents with a flashlight. Hazel was standing beside him, looking up at him attentively. Vivian was struck by how nice they looked together, both of them remaining calm and optimistic in the face of the unexpected setback.

“I don’t want to disturb him now. What did he tell you about what’s wrong with it?”

Terrence gave her a summary of everything he’d learned from Jacob. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Sounds like he’s being overly cautious, which I like.” He chuckled. “And look on the bright side, you’ll know for sure that the pub is perfectly safe once Jacob and I have both finished looking at these vents.”

Vivian smiled. “That is true.” She laughed.

“And as for right now, the kids seem to have it under control. Why don’t we sit down for a while?”

“Sounds good to me. I expected to be asleep by now.”

They sat down together in one of the booths, where they had a good view of Jacob and Hazel and the vent that was being repaired.

“Speaking of it being so late,” Vivian said. “Why were you out walking so late at night?”

Terrence cleared his throat, growing sheepish in a way that Vivian couldn’t help finding adorable. It was so unexpected to see the gruff, no-nonsense man suddenly have a flush of embarrassment on his cheeks. “I was walking to the late-night minute mart,” he said.

“Oh?” she prompted, feeling curious and a little amused. “What did you need? Medicine or something like that?”

Terrence cleared his throat again. “No, I had a hankering for a snowball pastry. On my way back, I noticed the lights on in the pub.”

Vivian chuckled. “I never would have pegged snowballs at being your weakness.”

He shrugged, smiling. “What can I say? My mother used to make them, and they’ve always been my favorite. Especially at Christmastime.”

She smiled back at him, thinking to herself that he was full of surprises. She was starting to believe that he had a soft side beneath his rough exterior.

“As a matter of fact,” he said, pulling a white paper bag out of his large coat pocket, “I have them right here. I bought six of them. Would you like one?”

“Oh my, yes. I haven’t had a snowball in the longest time.”

He handed her one of the round, coconut-covered pastries, and she bit into it eagerly. It was flakey and moist at the sametime, and the crisp flavor of the coconut balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the pastry.

“Mm.” Vivian swallowed, delighted by the taste. “My mother-in-law used to make snowballs just like this. She passed away a few years ago, and I haven’t had one since.” She stared into space for a few moments, remembering times past.

“Were you close with your mother-in-law?”

“Very much so. We always got along very well. She used to come and help out at the pub with me and Frank. Frank was my late husband, her son. We always had a good time together.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. I remember reading about his passing in the newspaper. The whole community felt that loss, I think. He was such a central figure in Rosewood Beach.”

Tears sprang into Vivian’s eyes. “Yes, he was.”

And so central in our lives as well,she thought.

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