Page 99 of Cupcake of the Month
A few hours later, she pulled onto the three-quarter mile drive that led to Fountenoy Hall and parked. She left the heavy coat she had needed when she boarded the plane on the front seat, and walked up one side of the bifurcated staircase, the metal bannister cool under her hand. Bright holiday lights decorated the live oaks and magnolias that lined the drive to the house, set off by the dwindling light. Without snow, it just looked wrong.
But she better get used to it.
She entered the door code Wendy had sent to her and stepped into the lobby. Mistletoe hung outside the threshold. Garland wrapped around the railing of the grand staircase and over the frames of the topographical maps and pictures of the Clayton ancestors in the lobby. It managed to feel Christmassy, even if it wasn’t negative five degrees.
Aunt Eulalee and Mac were chatting in the library, their hands intertwined. It was nice to see their relationship still thriving after their trip to Paris. Eulalee gave Jordan a warm smile as she approached.
Jordan kissed them both. “Thank you for having me stay. Again. I know you guys must be busy after the holiday rush.”
“Oh, honey, of course.” Eulalee patted her cheek. “You’re family.”
And she was. Leaving Georgia after her extended summer vacation had been difficult, and not solely because of Josh. Hearing Eulalee confirm her place cemented Jordan’s decision.
“Besides, we’ll need your height to help take down the decorations,” Eulalee said. “We’ve been so busy preparin’ for Rob’s party that we haven’t had the time to put them all away. Isn’t this exciting! Someone I know, someone I live with, wrote a book and got it published.”
“That’s why I’m here. Any excuse to celebrate.”
“Wendy and them are in the parlor.” Eulalee shooed Jordan away with her hand. “You go on, now.”
Jordan smiled and exited the library. Wendy already stood in the wide parlor threshold and bounded up to her, engulfing her in a hug.
“I should have known you’d know I’d arrived,” Jordan said.
“I heard the door close and you chatting with Eulalee. Come on.” Wendy linked her arm through Jordan’s and led her into the room. “Ho ho ho, everybody! Our Chanukkah Elf has arrived!”
Jordan’s friends sat in the comfortable room around acrackling fire. In forty degree weather.
Southerners.
“Jordan!” Brandi sprang up to hug her. The moment she stepped aside, Sebastien enveloped her in his arms.
Jordan squealed. She hadn’t seen him since the end of summer. “I didn’t know you were going to be here!”
“I wasn’t sure myself until two days ago.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and smiled, his eyes crinkling. The fire made his red hair seem even brighter. “But with one more person lengthening the line of succession between me and the crown coming early – and I have a new niece – the royal pomp and circumstance were finished in time for me to fly out for this soirée.”
She gave Sebastien another hug. “How wonderful.”
“Jordan, it’s good to see you again.” Rob smiled at her.
“And congratulations to you on your book being published!”
His grin grew wider. “Thank you.”
“You remember our special events genius Paul, and this is his boyfriend Alec,” Wendy said. “We wouldn’t have been able to plan Rob’s book release party without them.”
The two men stood up to shake her hand, and she gave herself a mental pat on the back for being right about filling that position at Fountenoy Hall. Wendy hated dealing with people who couldn’t make decisions, and Brandi was focusing on the distillery.
Brandi handed Jordan a drink of Belle’s Medicinal whiskey, and she took a healthy swallow as she collapsed into an empty chair by the fire. “You guys realize it’s like eighty degrees outside.”
“We wanted you to feel at home,” Brandi said.
It was home. It wasn’t the walls or land, but the people in her heart. Including the person who wasn’t in the room. The one whose absence made her restless.
“So,” Jordan raised her glass to Rob to cover her distraction. “Mazel tov. I didn’t know books could get published that fast.”
“Apparently it helps when another author misses a deadline,” Rob said. “My editor was impressed with how clean the copy was when he read it, so the publishing house got right to work with the cover and marketing plan. Not that I wouldn’t have liked another twelve months with it, but that’s how it goes. The bookstore called about an hour ago saying it received copies of the book for the party. Now the fun really begins.”
“It will be great.” Wendy planted herself in the chair next to him and nestled against him. “You managed to put the story of our ancestors together in such a beautiful way.”
