Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. Ginger jumped, startled by the intrusion into her one-sided conversation with Kringle. She composed herself quickly, calling out, “Come in!”
The door creaked open, and Ida peered in, a concerned expression on her face. “I noticed you’ve been working away in here for quite a while, dear,” she said kindly. “I thought you might be hungry.”
Ginger was about to protest that she wasn’t hungry at all when her stomach gave a loud rumble, betraying her. “Oh, well, now that you mention it…” she mumbled, rubbing her stomach sheepishly.
“Never fear, I whipped up something special for you,” Ida declared, revealing a plate containing a generous sandwich of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.
“Wow, that looks amazing,” Ginger marveled, accepting the offering with grateful eyes as her mouth watered at the sight of the delicious sandwich.
“Nothing like a homemade meal to keep you going.” Ida winked, her smile warm and motherly as she handed Ginger a glass of milk.
“Thank you so much, Ida. You’re too kind.” Ginger was overwhelmed by the innkeeper’s thoughtfulness. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had cared enough to bring her a meal while she was working. At the company, they just kept piling work on. The faster she was, the more work they gave her and never once a free lunch. She was starting to feel like she wasn’t appreciated at work, but had only just barely started looking around for other jobs. Another reason for this extended vacation was to clear her head about work and figure out what she really wanted to do.
“Think nothing of it, dear.” Ida waved her hand dismissively, then her gaze skirted over Ginger’s shoulder. “What in the world are you doing in here, anyway?”
“Um, well, it’s… a work project,” Ginger replied hesitantly. She hated being evasive with Ida, but she wanted to respect the Woodward family’s privacy. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to blow up the inn or anything.”
Ida chuckled, clearly amused by Ginger’s response. “I’m not worried, dear. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’re doing great work. Enjoy your sandwich!”
“Thanks for bringing it.” Ginger took a bite of the sandwich. The savory flavors of turkey and stuffing mingled with the sweet cranberry sauce danced on her tongue. She closed her eyes in delight. “Mmm! This is heavenly!”
“I do my best,” Ida said.
“Thank you again, Ida. You’re a lifesaver,” Ginger mumbled around a mouthful of food as the door closed behind the innkeeper.
“Okay, Kringle, back to business.” Taking another hearty bite of her sandwich, Ginger suddenly noticed a drop of cranberry sauce escape from the bread and land squarely on her pristine white cashmere sweater. “Oh, not again!” she groaned, staring down at the blob of red amid the white. This wasn’t the first sweater she’d ruined, but this one was a favorite.Time to buy a new one.
She blotted up the blob, stripped the soiled sweater off, and threw it on her bed, then she rummaged in the closet for a stain-free one. This one was red.
Ginger managed to finish her sandwich without dripping on the red sweater. Then she returned to analyzing her samples. After another hour, she looked up at the cat, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she scribbled down the last of her calculations. “I think we’ve got it!”
The cat, clearly uninterested in her scientific breakthrough, had moved to the bed. He yawned and stretched languidly.
Ginger called Mason to fill him in.
“Hey, Ginger,” Mason answered, his voice warm and friendly. “How’s my favorite tree whisperer doing?”
Ginger laughed. “I think I may have actually found a potential formula that could help the trees on the Woodward farm.”
“Really?” he exclaimed, genuine excitement in his voice. “That’s amazing!”
“Yeah, I need to look at one more thing, but I was wondering if I do come up with a formula, would we actually be able to apply it to the trees? Ethan didn’t exactly seem like he was totally on board.”
“Ah,” Mason replied, understanding her dilemma. “Ethan can be a tough nut to crack, can’t he? But the Woodwards need something. You just come up with the formula and leave Ethan to me, Kristen, and Dorothy.”
“Will do,” Ginger replied then hung up the phone with a renewed sense of purpose.
As she looked down at Kringle, who was now using her stained sweater as a makeshift bed, she couldn’t help but smile. At least the sweater wouldn’t go to waste.
Chapter6
The scent of freshly baked cookies filled the cozy kitchen at the Woodward farmhouse. Dorothy, Mason, Kristen, and Kent were gathered around the well-worn wooden table.
Everyone was looking at Mason, who had just hung up from a call with Ginger. Dorothy reached over to the plate of cookies and took an iced snowman. The sugar cookies were her favorite part about the holidays, and she always had a supply on hand. She and Kristen had stayed up late into the night baking this batch. She loved that her daughter was home to stay now and that they could do things together like that.
“So what did she say?” Kristen asked.
Mason smiled. Dorothy liked Mason. He was a nice guy and handsome too, with gray eyes and lightly stubbled jaw. She hoped his romance with Kristen would last. He’d make a great son-in-law, and she liked Kent enough to be family too.
