She followed her hostess back through the dining room, where everyone seemed to be talking about the highway except for Grayson and Phoebe, who were still deeply involved in a conversation about birds.
It warmed Evangeline’s heart to see how sweet the big man was with the little girl.
That’s how he’ll be with Leo one day,she thought to herself.Maybe he’s just better with kids than with adults.
He nodded to her, as if to let her know it was fine for Trudy to have the baby, and she instantly felt good about everything.
They passed the door to the kitchen and headed out through the other side into a great big room that was lined with bookshelves. Not a single shelf had an inch of space on it, and some shelves seemed to have books two deep with others laying on top.
An enormous Christmas tree had been set up in one corner, and its colorful lights reflected in the wall of windows that overlooked the lake.
“Oh, Trudy,” Evangeline breathed. “This is amazing.”
“It’s my favorite spot in the house,” Trudy said, carrying Leo right over to the tree. “What do you think of that, young man?”
Leo had alotof thoughts about the tree, and he voiced them with squeaks and panting and a lot of kicking and gesticulating with his chubby little hands.
“Why don’t you go sit with the others?” Trudy offered. “If he fusses, I’ll bring him right back to you.”
Evangeline agreed. When she got back out to the dining room, everyone was talking about the big news that a former Trinity Falls girl who’d gone away and become a big soap opera star was back in town. Evangeline was lost, since she’d never been much for soap operas, but it sounded like they were all very excited about it. She loved the way everyone in this town took so much pride in all the accomplishments of its residents, no matter how big or small. As the conversation went on, Evangeline couldn’t help noticing all the dirty dishes still on the table.
Eager for something to do, she gathered them up as surreptitiously as she could and carried them into thekitchen. When she had everything on the counter, she filled the sink with warm, soapy water and got to work.
Though Trudy had said she didn’t want help, Evangeline was pretty sure that after cooking such a big dinner and spending time with the baby, Trudy would be happy not to have a kitchen full of dirty dishes to contend with.
And after all, washing up wasn’t creative work like cooking. Hopefully, it wouldn’t hurt Trudy’s pride not to have done it all herself.
As she washed, the window over the sink showed her a view of snow falling onto the lawn and trees, and she lost herself in the beautiful vista and the gentle sloshing of the warm water.
“There you are,” a deep voice said suddenly from the doorway, taking her by surprise.
“Sorry,” she said, almost dropping the plate that was in her hand. “Trudy was really enjoying her time with Leo, so I thought I would just take care of a little bit of clean up.”
“Looks like you took care of a lot,” Grayson said with a half-smile, eyeing the counter, which was now covered in clean, wet dishes. “Why don’t I dry?”
“Only if you want to,” she said carefully.
He moved beside her in silence, grabbed a Christmas towel that was hanging from the oven door, and began drying the dishes and putting them away as she washed and rinsed them.
“You know where everything goes,” she said, surprised.
“Well, we spent a lot of time here when I was little,” he told her.
“I guess your mom was allowed to help out in the kitchen,” Evangeline guessed.
“All Trudy’s girlfriends hung out in the kitchen,” he said with a fond smile. “They would be in here baking or sitting around the little table with their coffee and muffins, gossiping up a storm.”
Evangeline glanced over at the round table. Unlike the beautifully kept antique furnishings in the rest of the inn, this was a simple pine table, its top was stained with rings. She could easily imagine a thousand cozy cups of coffee shared around it.
“When I was really little, I would sit under the table and play with my toys,” he said.
“That must have been really nice,” Evangeline said, picturing little Grayson curled up with his cars or dinosaurs.
“It was,” he said with a faraway look in his eye.
She figured he was probably missing his parents. She certainly missed hers.
They continued washing and drying in silence for a while more, the clink of dishes and the low hum of conversation from the next room the only sound.
