Heartwarming Holidays Sweet Romance Books 4-7

Chapter 2-1

Chapter Two

Valerie sat curled up in front of the fireplace on the sofa, her k****e Fire in her hand, though she wasn’t paying as close attention to the book she was reading as she probably should be if she wanted to have any clue what was happening in the novel she’d just started. Her mind kept returning to Mr. Nelson.

January was almost over, and the gentleman had been in every night, like usual. But as the snow outside began to melt, he also began to fade even more, and her worrying increased. Even though she’d attempted to get him to come to church a few more times, he really didn’t seem interested at all, and she didn’t want to bother him. Maybe she should talk to Mrs. Gregory or one of the other older women she knew from church to see if they had any ideas. Mrs. Gregory hadn’t been in since she’d suggested to Mr. Nelson that she introduce the two of them, but if Valerie knew Mr. Gregory’s sweet tooth, he’d be hankering for one of Frank’s pies soon enough. Mrs. Gregory made the most wonderful cookies, but no one made apple pie like Frank.

A noise in the kitchen caught her attention and brought her back to the living room. “Ummm, what smells so good?” The voice belonged to her roommate, Sophie, who was a dental hygienist and worked regular hours, a luxury Valerie could only imagine must be nice, though in fairness, Frank did try to keep her schedule as close to routine as possible when he could.

“I popped a roast in the crockpot this morning,” Valerie replied as Sophie entered the living room. She had long, wavy, dark hair, almost black, and the sort of crystal blue eyes men instantly fell in love with—at least in romance novels. Still, Valerie had no idea how Sophie was still single. A year older than her, she had been a cheerleader and dated the quarterback throughout high school. Everyone had assumed they’d marry. But something went amiss when he went off to college and she went to get her hygienist’s license. Sophie didn’t like to talk about Dustin, so Valerie avoided the subject, just happy to have a nice person to share the rent with.

“It smells awesome,” Sophie said as she dropped into the recliner on the other side of the room. “How’s your day off been?”

“Okay,” Valerie shrugged, setting her eReader aside. “I ran a lot of errands, finished up some laundry. About the same as usual.”

“Sounds almost as exciting as watching Mrs. Carpenter try to talk while she’s getting her teeth cleaned.”

Valerie had to laugh. She knew Mrs. Elvira Carpenter well. The orange-haired woman spent most days in the diner for lunch, and she always had a story to share, no matter how busy they were. “I bet Dr. Mitchells loved that.”

“Dr. Mitchells doesn’t love anything,” Sophie replied with a sigh as she leaned back into the recliner. She was dressed in light blue scrubs with little snowmen on them, and Valerie absently remembered she also had a pair of pink scrubs with red hearts she liked to wear in February for Valentine’s Day. Sophie said it made the kids happy to see her wear holiday themed scrubs, even though that particular outfit wasn’t a hit to the wearer or to Valerie, but Sophie loved kids, and she would do just about anything to make them feel more comfortable in the dentist’s office, which could be a scary place. Sophie was in charge of the children’s choir at the church she attended.

“Was he in a foul mood today?” Valerie asked, returning her thoughts to the older doctor who probably didn’t care if the children were scared or not. “I mean—fouler than usual?”

Sophie grimaced. “Probably just about the same as he normally is, but it really doesn’t matter. Once his regular level of grouchiness is reached, everyone’s day will be miserable.”

“I’m sorry,” Valerie said, shaking her head. It was too bad Sophie couldn’t have a nice boss like she did.

“I’m just hoping he retires soon.”

Valerie smiled. “Maybe some attractive, single dentist will replace him.”

“That would never be my luck.” Sophie wound a strand of long hair around her finger. “I’ll end up with someone ten times worse.”

“Satan?” Valerie asked, chuckling.

“Might have to be, I guess, to be much worse.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I did bake brownies. They’re in the…” before she could finish, Sophie was in the kitchen. “Pan on the stove,” she shouted. Sophie dug into the brownies, and Valerie absently wished she could eat as many sweets as Sophie and still be so thin. While it seemed natural for Sophie, Valerie had to work to stay fit, and even then, she was carrying around a few extra pounds, thanks to Frank’s pie. She’d considered making a resolution like so many other people, but February was the month when desserts started to sell again, and she knew she probably wouldn’t be able to keep her resolve. Still, the thought of making an effort did cross her mind.

“So good!” Sophie called, her voice indicating her mouth was full. “You want one?”

“No thanks,” Valerie called back. She’d already had one… or two. She really didn’t need any more. As Sophie re-entered the room, a large brownie on a plate in her hand, Valerie couldn’t help but ask, “By the way, do you have a patient named Horace Nelson?”

Sophie had to swallow before she could answer. “Horace Nelson?” she repeated. “That name doesn’t sound familiar. But you know I’m no good with names.”

That was true. “He’s an older gentleman, in his sixties I think. His wife, Lilly, passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh, I remember Lilly,” Sophie said sitting back down. “Such a sweet woman. We were so surprised when she passed away so suddenly.”

Valerie had known Lilly as well, from the diner, though they didn’t come in nearly as often then. She had also always thought she was sweet. “I’m worried about Mr. Nelson,” she said.

“Why is that?” Sophie asked, dusting brownie crumbs from her hands onto her plate.

“He comes in every night and eats dinner all by himself,” Valerie replied. “He hardly says anything, never speaks to anyone except me or Wanda. I don’t know. He seems so… lonely.”

Sophie seemed to reflect on Valerie’s statement before she said anything. Eventually, she said, “Maybe you should invite him to church.”

“I did that. He won’t go.”

“Are there any people from church you can introduce him to?”

“I’ve thought about that, too. But I haven’t done it yet.”

“Well… you know they always do that Valentine’s Dance at the Senior Center. Maybe he could go to that.”

Valerie had somehow managed to forget about the dance. Maybe it was because she’d blocked all things Valentine’s out of her mind. “I don’t think he’d like going to something like that, especially when he doesn’t know anyone.”

“True. But what if he has a special skill or something that only he can do? You know, to get ready for it. I bet Mrs. Gregory and Mrs. Carpenter would love some help.”

The Senior Center dance was a function multiple churches in the area helped with, just like the Christmas Festival and many other events throughout the year. Mrs. Gregory was basically in charge of the event, as she was with many of the others. “Maybe he could help with the lights,” Valerie shrugged, “or the sound system. He worked for the electric company. But just about anyone could do that.”

“If you could get Mrs. Gregory to ask him for help, I’m sure he wouldn’t be able to say no,” Sophie replied. “You know how she has a way of getting people to do things they never imagined themselves doing.”

Valerie thought back to the Christmas Festival and how Mrs. Gregory had somehow gotten her friend Melody to sing a solo, even though Melody had vowed never to sing again after her father passed away. Mrs. Gregory suddenly seemed like the best ally she could have in getting Mr. Nelson to open up and make some friends. “That’s a really good idea. I hope she comes in the diner sometime soon so I can talk to her about it.”

Sophie’s mouth was full of brownie, but rather than wait until she swallowed this time, she covered her mouth with her hand and said, “You could call her.”

Valerie giggled at her friend trying to talk with her mouth stuffed and considered the suggestion. “That seems a little pushy—maybe odd even for me.”

“You’re one of the most outgoing people I know, Val,” Sophie reminded her, the brownie all gone. “I doubt she’d think it strange at all.”

“I think I’ll give it a few days and see if she comes in on her own. If February rolls around and I haven’t seen her, I’ll give her a call.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sophie nodded. “Now, is that roast done or what? I’m starving.”

It was futile to remind her that she’d just shoved a brownie down her face. “It should be about done,” Valerie replied, and once again, Sophie took off for the kitchen to check, and Valerie had to laugh. She was grateful they bought their own groceries and took turns making dinner or else she might not be able to afford to feed her roommate. Who would’ve thought such a tiny woman could put away so much food?

The first day of February was a little warmer than Valerie—and the rest of Charles Town—had expected, and half of the patrons seemed to be wearing winter garb while the others looked as if they were ready for spring. This was one of the days Valerie dreaded coming to work more than any of the others because she knew the Bishops would’ve brought in extra help to hang up the lights and hearts. As soon as she walked in the back door of the diner, she could see them twinkling through the window to the front, and her stomach tightened. She would be happy when this holiday was over.

“Hey, Val!” Frank shouted from his place in front of the grill. “How’s my favorite curly-haired waitress tonight?”

Valerie couldn’t help but giggle. He had little nicknames for all of them so they could each be his favorite whenever he greeted them. “I’m good, Frank. How are you?” She took off her coat and hung it inside the employee’s closet, along with her purse.

“Good,” he called out. “Not too busy, but busy enough.” That was his standard answer, unless they actually happened to be busy, and it always made Valerie smile

As Valerie came back into the kitchen, she nearly collided with Sam. “Oh, excuse me,” she said, smiling, and stepping out of the way.

“No problem,” he replied, crossing over to the sink. “Are you doing okay, Valerie?” he asked, turning the water on.

“Pretty good,” she nodded. “How are you?” She’d made a point of getting to know him better over the last few weeks and had discovered his name was Sam Stout, he was twenty-three, despite the fact that his baby face indicated he was more like eighteen, and he’d recently moved here from Winchester to be closer to a girl he was no longer seeing. This fact had endeared him to Valerie a little bit, and they had also shared their reluctance to see February and all things red and pink and full of hearts arrive, though Sam had seemed a bit more open-minded about the possibilities of Valentine’s Day being less brutal this year. Valerie thought maybe that was because he hadn’t actually been dating this girl over Valentine’s Day and didn’t know how much it stunk to have sour Valentine’s Day memories.

Valerie grabbed her clean apron off of the hook and hung up the one she’d worn the day before. She liked to take the dirty one home and wash it and bring it back each day so she always had a clean one, even if she had miraculously avoided any spills on her last shift. This was her favorite shift—4:00 to close—because most people stopped coming in by 10:00, and that gave her a few hours to clean up or talk to the stray customers who wandered in late. Things didn’t usually get too busy until closer to 5:00 when the regulars started to come in for dinner, folks like Mr. Nelson and Joe, so she went out to see if Wanda needed any help with her few tables and waited to seat whomever might come in next.