Page 15 of Evergreen Christmas
And with a little luck, his gentlemanly gesture would help Jordyn, and maybe even the Nanas, see the good in him.
“Of all the . . . !”
The next afternoon, Jordyn, coughing and sputtering, ran over to one of the living room windows in her log cabin, jerked it open, stuck her head outside and heaved in a lungful of ice-cold winter air.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” she gasped. There went her plan for extending a warm welcome to her guests!
“Jordyn?”
There they were—Noel’s Nanas. Arriving for their afternoon visit just in time to witness her predicament. All four of the women, dressed in elegant holiday-themed sweaters paired with either a skirt or dress pants, hustled across the front yard and up the front steps of the log cabin as fast as their shiny high heels would allow. Kandy, straggling behind, carried an oversized white basket decorated with a shiny red bow.
“What in heaven’s name is going on?” Carol Belle asked.
Leading the pack, she halted in her tracks at the front door, her mouth hanging open as a thick cloud of black smoke rolled out of the window, engulfing Jordyn’s face and prompting a new round of hacking coughs.
“Oh, my Lord!” Kandy squeaked, clutching the basket to her chest. “She used the fireplace! I told you we should’ve—”
“That’s quite enough, Kandy,” Carol Belle said hastily. “Are you okay, Jordyn?”
“I’m”—cough—“okay.” Jordyn coughed again, peering through the fine particles of black soot.
The front door banged open, several sets of high heels clacked across the hardwood floor in the living room and a second window whooshed open. A chorus of dismayed murmurs peppered the air as the four women waved their arms, dispelling as much of the black smoke as possible.
“What in the world?” Carol Belle’s gentle but firm hands hooked around Jordyn’s waist, tugging her away from the window and back across the living room to a small pocket of clean air near the kitchen. “Did Hal Sutton not tell you the fireplace is a dud?”
Jordyn cupped her hands over her mouth and released a horribly croupy cough. “He told me the place needed some repairs and that the chimney needed to be inspected but I bought the place as-is and I decided to give the fireplace a try anyway.” Finally able to drag in some much-needed oxygen, she lowered her hands, lifted her face and inhaled. “It’s not Hal’s fault. I was in such a hurry to buy this place and settle in, I didn’t ask or worry about any problems the place had and I declined to have the home inspected to close the deal sooner. I should’ve had the chimney inspected before I tried using it like Hal suggested.”
Her cheeks heated as all four pairs of eyes leveled on her with a hint of disbelieving judgment. Oh, how could she have been so impulsive and irresponsible!
“But, well . . .” Jordyn added sheepishly, “I’ve never had a home before—let alone one with a fireplace—so I don’t know all the ins and outs of owning a house and I was so excited to have my own home and my own fireplace—especially at Christmas!” She looked down, her cheeks heating. “I just opened the flue, threw the wood in and lit it.”
The Nanas were silent for so long, she couldn’t help but lift her head and glance at them. Instead of the criticizing looks she expected, their eyes had warmed with a mixture of surprise and a hint of sadness.
“You’ve never had a home before?” Holly fiddled with the tassels on her cashmere scarf and bit her lip. “A home . . . or a house?”
Jordyn shrugged. “Neither, really.”
“But what about when you were a child?”
“I grew up in foster homes,” Jordyn said, waving away the women’s concerned glances. “It wasn’t bad, you know? I met some really great people, lived in a lot of different places . . .” She forced a smile. “I guess that’s why I enjoyed traveling the circuit so much. Bouncing around felt more familiar to me than staying in one place.”
A soft sound of dismay escaped Eve’s lips as she surveyed Jordyn with a wounded expression.
Kandy stepped over the big basket she’d placed on the living room floor and hurried over, taking Jordyn’s hands in hers. “And you chose Noel as your safe landing?” She kissed Jordyn’s cheek, her pink hair tickling Jordyn’s skin briefly before she stepped back and smiled. “We’re so glad you decided to join us—especially during Christmas!”
“Yes, indeed!” Eve clacked across the hardwood floor on her high heels and hugged Jordyn. “You came at the perfect time!”
“Absolutely perfect,” Holly chimed in, hugging Jordyn, too.
“Quite right,” Carol Belle said, nodding. “Noel is gorgeous all year round, but at Christmas, it really shines.”
Jordyn smiled. Kandy’s gentle kiss still lingered on her cheek and warmed her heart. She looked at each of the Nanas, her chest filling with a pleasant tenderness at the thought of potentially having four caring women in her life. How wonderful it would be to have friends to visit and laugh with during Christmas, and maybe even learn from and lean on from time to time throughout the rest of the year.
“That’s kind of why I caused such a scene,” she said. “I was given a huge stack of firewood last night and I knew y’all were coming this afternoon to visit with your proposition, so I thought I’d try to make a cozy seating area for us and well . . .” She glanced around at the five lawn chairs she’d arranged into a circle in the middle of the living room, the cheap red fabric covering them barely visible amid the dark cloud of smoke. “Well, I was . . .” Her shoulders sagged. “I was trying to make a good impression.”
But she’d failed miserably.
Carol Belle exchanged an odd glance with the other Nanas, a hint of accomplishment in her eyes. “You say you were given firewood? As in for free?”
