Christmas with the Cookes Read online

  Everyone stared at them. “You’re having Titus Cooke over?” Mr. Jensen said.

  “Aye, the Cookes are friends of ours,” Dallan said. “We’re having him over for dinner. ‘Tis been a while since we’ve seen him.”

  Cindy looked him up and down again. “You’re Scottish,” she said, stating the obvious.

  The Scotsman ignored her. “We havena a washing machine or dryer yet,” he explained to Lorelei.

  “Well then, why don’t you have Lorelei show you the laundromat?” Heather prodded. “She’s heading there.”

  The woman looked at her husband, her eyes bright. “A brilliant idea.”

  “But I’m walking to work,” Lorelei said in a panic. Mrs. Deets, the owner of the laundromat, hated when she was late – especially since she was the only employee.

  “We’d be happy to drive you,” the woman offered, her voice like silk. “It’s no trouble.”

  “Oh … no, I can meet you there.” Lorelei didn’t want to get into a car with strangers.

  “I insist,” the woman said. “I’d feel guilty if I made you late.”

  She stared at her. The woman’s eyes were so beautiful and looked brighter than before. Before she could stop herself, she was nodding.

  Cindy and her cronies’ eyes were glued to her as well and watched as she touched Lorelei’s arm. An unexplainable warmth seeped into her bones, and Cindy and her taunts melted away.

  “Come,” the woman said. “Let’s go.”

  “We’ll come back and look ‘round yer wee shop later,” the Scot told Mr. Jensen.

  Lorelei turned to the door and followed the woman out, the big Scot behind her. I shouldn’t be doing this, these are strangers. But she couldn’t stop her feet from moving forward.

  Outside they approached a brand new white Ford F-150 extended cab. A girl was sitting behind the steering wheel. Lorelei looked at her as the Scotsman bounded into the back of the truck bed and sat. Wow – was he some sort of professional athlete? How else could he jump in like that? She pushed the thought aside as they approached the passenger side of the vehicle. “Really, I could walk,” she mumbled.

  “Nonsense.” The woman offered her hand. “My name is Shona MacDonald.”

  Lorelei shook it then looked at the man in the truck bed. “Is Dallan your brother?”

  He turned, smiled and waved. “Ye have a good ear for names, lass. And nae, I’m her husband.”

  “Why is he riding back there? Won’t he get cold?”

  “He likes the cold. Besides, we have some things back there I don’t want flying out.” Shona opened the door for her.

  “What was in there? Did they have any wreaths?” the young woman in the truck asked. She had jet-black hair, hazel eyes and a bright smile. She also looked about Lorelei’s age. “Hi!” she chirped, then glanced at Shona. “Who’s this?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Lorelei Carson, this is my best friend in the world, Kitty Morgan. She’s helping us set up our house.”

  “I’m helping her shop,” Kitty said with another bright smile. “One of my favorite things to do.”

  Lorelei couldn’t help but smile as she climbed in. If they were a bunch of ax-murderers, then she’d just passed the point of no return. Yet somehow she was sure she could trust them. In fact, she’d never felt so comfortable around anyone before.

  As soon as they were belted in, Kitty started the engine. “Is there a mall in this town?”

  “No,” Lorelei said. “Just little shops and boutiques.”

  “Pity. It’s still a cute place. Shona, did you see the old drive-in?”

  “Yes, I noticed it when we drove into town.”

  “I think you’re going to like the cabin,” Kitty said. “Especially after we fix it up.”

  “What cabin is it again?” Lorelei asked. She was familiar with some of the old farmhouses outside of town, but not all of them.

  “The Cotter house – it’s a little past the tree line,” Shona said. “You can see Ruby’s Peak from there.”

  “Down Powers Road, you said? I didn’t know there was a cabin back there.”

  Shona smiled. “It’s old, hasn’t been lived in for decades. But the foundation and frame are still good. We’re fixing it up as a vacation house.” She glanced around. “Are we going in the right direction?”

  Lorelei blinked a few times. She felt so relaxed she’d forgotten she was going to work. “Turn right at the light, then the first left is Smith Street.”

  “At least this place is small enough to get around quick,” Kitty said. “In Portland it can take forever.”

  Lorelei nodded. Thank Heaven they were taking her in the right direction and weren’t heading out of town to murder her. “We only have about eight thousand people.”

  “Big enough to have everything you need,” Shona commented.

  “Except a mall,” Kitty added in disappointment.

  Lorelei smiled. She liked these people. And they were friends with the Cookes – that said a lot, since the Cookes were the most prominent family in the area. She supposed she shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, but she couldn’t help it. After all she’d been through in her life, she rarely trusted anyone.

  Chapter Two

  “I can take those for you if you want,” Lorelei offered.

  Shona peeked over the armful of old-fashioned quilts. “Thanks.” She set them on the long table near the washing machines the laundromat used for drop-off and pick-up. “I didn’t think a town this small would have a service like this.”

  Lorelei began to unfold the quilts. They smelled musty and old. Had they purchased them from an antique shop? “We’re the only laundromat in town.” She examined the quilts. “These have beautiful patterns.”

  “Yes, they do.”

  Kitty brought in another armload and set them on the table. “Wow, how many of these are you going to need?”

  “The cabin sleeps eight,” Shona told her. “So at least that many.”

  “Eight?” Kitty said in surprise. “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that loft in the attic.”

  “Plus the bedrooms downstairs,” Shona added, then smiled at Lorelei. “So where can a person buy sheets around here?”

  “There’s a boutique in Old Town that sells fancy ones. It’s right next to Mulligan’s.”

  Shona nodded. “So how long have you lived here?”

  “About six years.”

  Shona glanced at Kitty and back. “I couldn’t help but overhear what your friends said in Dunnigan’s about college?”

  “They’re not my friends,” Lorelei replied, perhaps a little too quickly.

  “Do you attend the community college?” Kitty asked.

  A chill went up Lorelei’s spine. She didn’t like talking about college and why she couldn’t go. But they asked, so … “No. I can’t afford it. Besides, I don’t have time right now.”

  Kitty sat on the table as Lorelei put several quilts into a machine. “I was pre-med at Portland State, but I quit.”

  Lorelei took a breath. She dreamed of just being able to attend community college. “Why?”

  Kitty shrugged. “It was what my parents wanted me to do, not what I wanted.”

  “So … what do you do now?”

  Her face lit up. “I’m a novelist.”

  “You’re a writer?”

  “Yes, I can give you a bookmark!” She hopped off the table and headed for the door and her truck. Or was it the couple’s truck? Not that it mattered.

  “You’ll have to excuse Kitty,” Shona said. “She gets very excited talking about her books.”

  “Books? She’s written more than one?”

  “Dozens.”

  “What has she written?”

  Before Shona could answer, Kitty trotted back in. “Here, I got you two!”

  Lorelei looked at them. They both showed book covers of women and men in old-fashioned Western dress. She read the title on one. “His Prairie Princess?”

  “Yes, that was my first book …�
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  “Kitty, we need to get going.” Shona turned her toward the door.

  “Okay, okay, you don’t have to shove.” Kitty turned and waved one last time, followed by Shona.

  Lorelei waved back, then waited until they left the laundromat before she sighed. “Strange folks. But nice.” She looked at the bags of laundry customers had already dropped off and got to work.

  Mrs. Deets shuffled out of her office. “Who was that?”

  “Customers.”

  “Hm.” Mrs. Deets looked at the piles on the table. “Get as much of this done as you can before the evening rush.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Thursday nights were always busy. People liked to have their laundry done before the weekend. If she thought there were piles now, in a few hours there would be a mountain. Lorelei looked out the big front windows and thought of the handsome couple and the novelist she’d just met. Maybe one day she could write a book. But would anyone buy it? Probably not. Nothing exciting ever happened to her – what on Earth would she write about?

  With a weary sigh, she got back to work.

  * * *

  It was near midnight when Lorelei trudged home through the snow. When the MacDonalds returned for their quilts, Kitty the author wasn’t with them. Did she live nearby? She’d mentioned Portland …

  Lorelei meant to ask, but they started talking about their upcoming dinner with Titus Cooke and the huge Christmas costume party they were planning. It all sounded so wonderful and glamorous. Guests would be flying in from New York, Los Angeles and other places she would never see in her lifetime. She should’ve asked what they did for a living. They must make a lot of money to host parties like that.

  By the time she reached Old Town she was chilled through. The mile walk would only get worse as the weather grew colder. But it was shorter than when she lived with the Browns, two miles outside of town, and Patsy her foster mom rarely gave her a ride. It meant loading everyone into the car and that wasn’t about to happen.

  She stopped in front of a shop with pretty lights in the window, showcasing beautiful clothes and a wedding dress. Lorelei had never been into Bella’s Boutique and Bridal. The owner made all sorts of costumes and custom wedding dresses, but Lorelei would never be able to afford anything inside. She wondered if Shona MacDonald had seen the shop yet. Would she buy a costume for her party there, or did she already have one?

  She was about to continue home when she heard a woman’s laughter followed by a moan. Lorelei’s eyes widened. It sounded like it was coming from the alley – the same alley she’d have to cut through to get to the back of Dunnigan’s Mercantile and her new apartment. She went to the edge of the building and peeked into the alley. “Ew.” Cindy Crankshaw was making out with Erwin Brown, Lorelei’s foster parents’ son. He was two years younger than her and had just gotten his first car - really, his dad’s beat-up old Toyota Tacoma. Still, did Patsy and Bob know he was out this late?

  Erwin stopped sucking face with Cindy when he spotted Lorelei. “Well, well, if it isn’t Lowlife. Getting an eyeful?” He turned to Cindy, who was licking her lower lip. “She just moved out. She’s eighteen, you know – a legal adult.”

  “Which means you need to be getting home,” Lorelei replied. “What are you doing out so late, anyway?”

  “I just got off work.”

  “You have a job?” But that explained a lot. Besides, how would she know – no one told her anything in that house. One more reason to be glad she was out of it.

  “Yeah, it was my first day at Pizza Pub.”

  “We might ask you the same thing,” Cindy slurred. “But we know where you’ve been. The question is, what are you doing here?” She looked her up and down. “Looking for a little action? Have another late-night job you haven’t told us about?” Erwin laughed and pointed at her.

  Lorelei rolled her eyes and ignored the jab. At least Erwin was working, but he hadn’t put any effort into looking for a job until he knew he could drive to town. He didn’t want to walk like she did.

  “Well, loser?” Cindy teased. “Looking for a customer?”

  “Shut it, Cindy,” Lorelei said.

  “She got an apartment, did you know?” Erwin told her. “She’s all moved out of our house – and good riddance.”

  “Right back at you, Vermin.” Lorelei turned to leave. She didn’t want the Browns to know where she lived. Not that they’d come knocking on her door, but she’d rather keep the knowledge to herself for a few days. She’d just moved out that day.

  “Run along, loser,” Cindy called after her.

  Lorelei refused to stoop to Cindy’s level – which from the looks of it, was about to be prone with her legs in the air. She hurried around the block the opposite way. When she reached the back door of Dunnigan’s she heard Cindy moaning again and made a face before unlocking the back door and entering the building.

  She shivered and decided to make herself some tea, then remembered she didn’t have any. She had no food in the place, come to think of it. She’d been so preoccupied with the MacDonalds and their friend, she forgot to at least grab something from the store for breakfast. Good thing her first job tomorrow was at Daisy’s Café. Beatrice, who was the cook tomorrow morning, would fix her something before she started. If Carl was cooking, he’d complain and tell her she should have thought of it earlier, but Beatrice was more laid-back.

  She went into her bedroom and flopped onto the bed. “My life sucks.” Then she reminded herself that it sucked worse before today. She was out on her own. Maybe next year she’d have enough money put away she could work a little less and have more time for college. She could get financial aid; she was poor enough. Time was the problem. Between her three jobs she was already working over fifty hours a week, and now she had rent to pay. If they weren’t minimum-wage jobs, then maybe she could make more time, but as it was, she was stuck.

  She sat up and rubbed her face. She should brush her teeth and go to bed. But after her short time spent with such fascinating people, she wanted to daydream about traveling, having a little extra money … dare she think, dating someone and getting married one day? “Yeah, right. Like that’ll happen.”

  She went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and stared at her reflection. She was attractive enough, but no one had ever asked her out in high school. She was “weird,” everyone said, including the Browns. None of her other foster parents thought so, until the “incident.” The day she started staring off into space and gave no emotional reaction to anything for days. Then it was gone, and life was normal again. But she’d carried the stigma of being different ever since. At least she was smart, and given her experiences, could she be blamed if she’d rather spend her time reading than socializing?

  Or maybe she wasn’t attractive enough. Her eyes were too far apart and almond-shaped, slanting upwards slightly like she had some Asian blood in her. And she was stoic, standoffish. She didn’t use to be, but since she’d moved in with the Browns, she’d lost interest in people. Books were her comfort and she could live vicariously through the characters in them. They had adventures. They went places. The only time Lorelei ever got to venture beyond the town limits was on field trips, and with school over, those were a thing of the past.

  She went back to her bed and pulled the quilt back. No sheets. “Figures,” she said with a sigh. At least there were cases on the pillows. She’d have to budget the sheets in for next month. In the meantime, she’d have to wrap herself in the quilt and hope it was enough.

  She looked at the used cell phone she’d bought just days before and was still learning to use. The device had taken a lot of her savings, as had giving Mr. Plumb first and last month’s rent, so her funds were now sadly depleted. She’d have to figure out how to get blankets too. She couldn’t afford a huge electric bill, but didn’t want to freeze either.

  She curled up in the quilt, the bed squeaking with every movement. Okay, the place had its quirks, but she was going to love living there. She knew she was.<
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  Lorelei smiled at the thought and tried to get some sleep.

  * * *

  “Weel, ‘tis nice to see ye again, lass,” Mr. MacDonald said as Lorelei approached their table.

  She poured them each a cup of coffee. “Nice to see you too.”

  “So this is your second job?” Shona asked. Her long, wavy auburn hair was pulled back today. Lorelei noticed her eyes were shaped a little like her own. It made her feel better knowing someone else had similar eyes. She wondered if Shona ever got teased about them.

  “Third, actually. I also work at Dunnigan’s Mercantile part-time.”

  “Three jobs?” Shona said. “I thought perhaps your … acquaintances were teasing you yesterday. But I’m glad you’re working hard. It will all pay off one day.”

  “I hope so.” She nodded at the menus already on the table. “The specials on are the back.”

  “Are they big portions?” Dallan asked.

  “Pretty big, yes.”

  He beamed. “Pancakes – a big stack, if ye dinna mind. Four eggs, over easy. Six of those wee sausages if ye have them. Rye toast, and, hm … grapefruit juice.”

  “Dallan,” Shona scolded. “You’ll spoil your lunch.”

  “Nae, I won’t.”

  Shona pondered this. “Sadly enough, you’re probably right. A cheddar cheese omelet, fried potatoes and fruit.” She handed the menus to Lorelei.

  Dallan reached for his coffee cup. “Oh, and bring two more of these. We’re expecting company.”

  He’d no sooner said it than in walked Titus and Lincoln Cooke. Lorelei took a quick breath. They rarely came into the café, preferring the more high-end eateries in town. The father and son headed straight for the MacDonalds’ table.

  Lorelei backed up a few steps as Dallan stood and shook their hands. “Morning, gentlemen. Have a seat and we’ll get down to business.” He turned to Lorelei. “Coffee, lass.”

  She nodded, turned and went to fetch two more cups.