Page 46 of A Winter Thaw

She was just pulling out her phone for the hundredth time, wondering if Audrey or Elaine had texted her, when Puddle let out a yap.

“Michelle!”

Michelle looked up and her face lit into a grin.

“Mom! Grandma!”

She hurried forward and threw her arms around Elaine and Audrey at the same time. Puddle frolicked around at their feet, barking joyously.

“You’re back,” Michelle said, practically crying. “I missed you both so much.”

“We missed you too.” Audrey kissed her on the side of the head, hugging her back tightly. “It’s so good to be back.”

“It is so good to be back.” Elaine squeezed her hand. “Boston was fun, but there’s no place like home.”

Puddle barked, clearly in agreement. Audrey and Elaine crouched down and got an abundance of puppy kisses.

“Come on,” Michelle said, laughing. “Let’s get you both home. I made a beautiful charcuterie spread for you and we can break open one of the bottles of wine and catch up.”

“Sounds glorious.” Audrey scooped Puddle up into her arms and stood up. “I absolutely cannot wait to be home.”

On the drive back to The Birchwood House, they blasted Christmas carols and sang along badly on purpose, making each other laugh. Puddle barked and howled along, determined to sing too.

They reached the hotel and hurried inside to the warmth. Audrey and Elaine took their suitcases upstairs, saying they wanted to get changed into fresh clothes. Michelle wasted no time while they were gone and set to work starting a fire in the parlor.

“Look at this,” Elaine said, stepping into the parlor wearing a light blue sweater and black corduroy pants. “This is so sweet of you, Michelle.”

“I wanted to do something special for your homecoming.” Michelle curled up in one of the armchairs that were placed in front of the fire. “That charcuterie board is one of my finest, if I do say so myself. I’ve got those fancy cheese spreads you guys like, and the best crackers, and grapes, and orange marmalade, and chocolate-covered almonds.”

“Aww, all of Audrey’s and my favorite things.” Elaine’s eyes shone. “I can hardly believe you had the time to do all this while you’ve been running the hotel all by yourself. You’re a marvel.”

Michelle blushed. “I don’t know about that. I had some help running the hotel, anyway.”

“Oh yes, Evan stopped by to help that one day, didn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Michelle cleared her throat. “And I had some other help too. Here and there.”

“You did? Who⁠—”

“Look at this!” Audrey sashayed into the parlor, wearing fleece sweatpants and an oversized burgundy sweater. “Michelle, you’re an angel. Lunch feels like it happened a million years ago and I’m starving.”

The three of them snuggled down in the armchairs near the fire and began to munch on the charcuterie board. Elaine poured them all glasses of Moscato and Audrey lit a couple of evergreen-scented candles on the mantlepiece.

“This is the life,” Audrey said, sipping her glass of wine and leaning back in her armchair. “It’s so unbelievably good to be home again. That hotel was amazing, and it made me prouder than ever of The Birchwood House.” She laughed. “Like, the whole time, I was thinking about how pretty and comfortable it was, and so is our hotel.”

“I agree.” Elaine smiled. “And I’d venture to say that The Birchwood House is even better than our hotel in Boston, because it’s homier and we have even more free pastry, made by the best baker in the country.”

“But you’re not biased at all.” Michelle arched a brow.

“Mom’s right.” Audrey straightened up proudly. “And The Birchwood House is the best hotel in the world for us because it’s home.”

“It must have been fun, though, getting to explore Boston so much.” Michelle dipped one of the rice crackers into the garlic and herb goat cheese. “There are worse places to be stranded in a snowstorm.”

“That’s for sure.” Elaine swirled her wine around in her glass. “We did have a lot of fun. We can show you all the pictures we took. There’s so much history in Boston.”

“I think we should all spend a few days up there in the summer sometime. Or maybe the early spring.” Audrey laughed. “I’d suggest the weekend, but we should pick a time when the hotel is going to be slow anyway. Monday through Thursday, anyone?”

Michelle nodded. “Sounds perfect. You two can give me a tour. You’re Boston experts by now, I’m sure.”