Page 12 of Call It Unexpected

I pushed through the front door, finding myself in an outer chamber with a rug that would soak up the slush on my shoes. A bell jingled when I opened the vestibule door and stepped into a large foyer with plenty of space that was only slightly taken up by a polished wood desk that blended perfectly into the grand, curved staircase with a gleaming, hand-carved wood banister. I wondered how many kids over the centuries had slid down its surface. A living room with a roaring fire was to my right and a dining area to my left, and several arrangements of colorful flowers in crystal or pottery vases were scattered throughout the rooms as though challenging Mother Nature’s fury outside.

“I’ll be right with you,” a female called from around the corner.

Something about the voice caused me to pause. I shook my head. I was tired and hearing things. All I wanted to do was find something to eat and crash for the night.

Her voice drew closer. “Looks like the storm really picked up out there. I was starting to worry you wouldn’t make it.”

I definitely knew that soft, sweet, southern cadence. It was a voice that used to conjure up feelings of warmth. Now, it onlysent a chill running down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold weather outside.

EMALEE

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” Shannon asked.

I nodded my head at our one staff member while I emptied another bag of groceries. Shannon was around the same age as me and had started working at The Dogtrot when I left to go to cooking school. It had been the job she desperately needed, the work schedule being consistent with school hours since she was needed at home to take care of her two younger siblings ever since her mom had passed away from cancer while she was in high school. Her dad was a man barely holding it together and was what a lot of folks around here called a functional alcoholic. He somehow managed to keep his day job working for the town’s maintenance crew, but he spent the evenings pilfering away his earnings at a bar or with a bottle in his bedroom. We never talked much about it, but being a small community, it wasn’t hard to know she’d been called to come drag his butt home late at night several times. But there wasn’t a lazy bone in Shannon’s body, and her sassy spirit was emphasized by her sparkling sapphire eyes and blonde curls with streaks of purple running through them.

Mama still took reservations and greeted guests, but she wasn’t able to climb the steps easily anymore, so Shannon mostly helped me with cleaning the rooms and doing the laundry. But on Tuesday mornings, she came in two hours early to manage the kitchen after I cooked so I could have a few hours for myself while Iain was at school. Today, however, she’d asked if she could leave early to rush to the grocery store beforeher brother and sister came home since whatever sun we’d had earlier disappeared behind a thick layer of gray clouds. Already a few flakes had started to fall.

“Go,” I said, waving my hand at her. “I’ll be fine. Most of the work is already done. If Hans’s snow prediction is accurate, you better stock up. That reminds me, I should fix something simple for dinner so our guests won’t have to venture out into the storm later if they don’t want to.”

She beamed at me as she shrugged on her coat. “You’re always so thoughtful.” She finished wrapping her scarf around her neck. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. There was a call this morning while you were out. A woman from North Carolina booked a room through the weekend.”

“Really? That’s good news. A full house.” It was rare that someone made such a long reservation during winter except around the holidays, but there would be no complaints from me.

After Shannon left, I pulled out a stockpot and found the ingredients I needed to make chicken noodle soup. That and some grilled cheese sandwiches and maybe some BLTs with my special savory sandwich spread should please the guests, especially since it was a free bonus meal. While the broth simmered, I threw a couple more logs on the fire in the sitting room, taking a few minutes to chat with one of the single guests who was enjoying its warmth and a book. I decided to bake some cookies to brighten the otherwise cold and increasingly darkening day. It would make Iain happy, too, especially after his disappointment this morning.

A little while later when I brought out a plate of warm snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, and a self-serving pot of cocoa, another couple was downstairs playing a game at a small table in the living room corner near the fire.

Mrs. Crawley looked up while she waited for her husband to make his move. “Oh, how wonderful, dear. This is just what this day needs!”

I smiled at the older woman. “Thank you.”

I put a couple of cookies on a napkin and brought it over to them, causing Mr. Crawley to beam and give me a wink. “Good thing I’m already married, or I’d be knocking on your door every day.”

I laughed at his harmless flirting.

“What did you say this game is called?” he asked as he moved a blue marble on the cross-shaped board.

I was happy to see them playing one of the traditional Appalachian games I kept out on the coffee table. “It’s called Fox and Geese. It dates at least as far back as the eighteenth century. Folks here in the mountains used to play it with white and yellow corn on a cloth,” I explained. “It’s a game they brought over with them when they immigrated, most of them from Scotland. There’s even a record of one of the English kings ordering the game in the 1400s. You’ll find a lot of Scottish influences in the mountains.”

“My goodness,” his wife exclaimed, helping herself to another cookie. “You’re so full of knowledge of the area,” she exclaimed. “I love it here. We’re definitely telling our friends about this place.” She dropped her chin and raised her eyebrows above the rim of her glasses. “Did I tell you about our Charlie?”

She had. Several times, as a matter of fact. They were on their way to visit him on the other side of the state, and I could tell she was excited to see him.

“Word of mouth is always appreciated,” I answered. Not wanting to offend her, I listened once again as she told me about their son. I loved to chat with my guests, but I’d learned from experience—since this couple arrived two days ago—that Mrs.Crawley could talk almost nonstop. She’d easily give Beverly a run for her money.

Finally, I made my escape when she took a bite of another cookie. Since all but one of the incoming guests were checked in, I spent the rest of the afternoon planning my breakfasts for the following week, making more lists, and sweeping and mopping the entranceway that never ceased to have dirt tracked in despite the rugs at the front doors.

“Mama! Guess what? It’s snowin’.” A blur of dark blue burst through the door along with a whirlwind of the flakes he was excited about.

“Iain James Dawson, what have we told you about being so loud?” My mother rolled her eyes and shook her head as she followed him into the front foyer.

“Sorry, Gramma.” His green eyes snapped to mine. “But this isbig. Tommy Lee said we’re supposed to get so much snow tonight we might get buried. He called it a lizard.”

It seemed Tommy Lee had been redeemed in Iain’s eyes since this morning with this new bit of information. I chuckled as I kneeled in front of him and helped unwrap his winter coat and scarf. “I think Tommy meant ‘blizzard,’ but I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about being buried.”

“But maybe enough to get out of school?” he asked; hopeful eyes peeped up at me from where he was sitting on the floor trying to unlace his boots.

“Maybe,” I said. “But never enough to get out of doing your homework and getting your chores done.” I looked up at my mom, who was picking up the pile of gloves, coat, and scarf my little whirlwind had dropped. “I’m sorry, Mama. I’ve got to keep an eye on some food I’m cooking for tonight and am still waiting for a guest to arrive. Would you mind keeping an eye on him?”

---