Okay, now she was seriously crying. Reaching out, she pulled Mallory into her embrace. “Thank you.”
“I meant every word of it,” Mallory said, hugging her tight. “You’re the best role model a girl could ever want.” Then she pulled back. “And this – what we did just now – I like knowing that we’re not just mother and daughter, but that we’re friends. So…thank you.”
Susannah always had a close relationship with both of her children, but this moment with Mallory was special. She thought of her conversation with Georgia the other day and how she mentioned not having a close relationship with her daughters and right now, her heart truly hurt for her. It bothered her to know that Georgia had no idea how wonderful it was to sit and have a cup of coffee with someone you not only gave life to but who had become one of your best friends. It was something Susannah hoped every mother got to experience.
Hopefully someday Mallory will experience that for herself.
After a few minutes, they separated and finished their coffee and muffins. “So what’s up next for the inn?” Mallory asked. “Soft opening this weekend. Are you ready for it?”
“Oh my goodness, I think so!” she said with a smile. “This is a chance to give it a test run before we officially open. We’ll open the doors to the public to come in and tour the house and the grounds Friday afternoon and welcome our first official guests. I can’t believe it’s finally here!”
“You’ve wanted this for so long. I know Pops would be proud.”
“I’d like to think so. You know he hated making changes to this place.”
“And yet he left you the money to do just that,” Mallory replied. “I don’t think he was against having the work done. I think he hated knowing he couldn’t help with it. You know he was never good about taking a backseat when there was work to be done.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” she said with a laugh. “Still…there’s a part of me that really wished he could see it – to see that I didn’t tear it all apart.”
“You know Aunt Georgia would have done that if she got the house.”
They both laughed. “No, Georgia wouldn’t have torn anything down, but she would have made this place like a museum – someplace you didn’t feel welcome or weren’t able to sit down and relax.”
“Maybe.” She paused. “What you created here is just…it’s perfect.”
“Coming from you, that’s a high compliment. I know you love this house as much as I do – if not more.”
“Well, I did have a hand in the renovations…” Mallory said with a satisfied grin. “And I happen to think I did a damn fine job with finding the perfect furniture and accessories for you to use.”
“That you did.” Standing, Susannah looked around the living room and smiled. “It’s everything I hoped it would be and it will be the perfect location for your wedding.” Mallory stood and began collecting their mugs and napkins. “Which reminds me…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…a date. I know. Now that I waited so darn long, I hate the thought of taking a weekend away from paying guests.”
They walked into the kitchen. “After this weekend, I’m going to start taking reservations so just tell me which one you want blocked out so I can have the website updated.”
Placing the mugs in the sink, Mallory turned and studied her.
“What? What’s that look for?”
“What look?”
Her daughter had that look on her face like she had a secret of some sort. “Come on, Mal. Out with it. What are you thinking right now?”
“Just that you’re amazing.”
Susannah rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious! We’ve dragged our feet on setting a date and here you are on the verge of opening this incredible business and you’re not giving me any grief about horning in and taking a weekend away from paying guests.” She shrugged. “You are completely within your rights to tell me to wait and take my chances.”
“If you don’t know by now that you and your brother come first with me no matter what, then I don’t know what to tell you.” She smiled as she said the words and she meant every one of them. “But all kidding aside, have the two of you even talked about a general timeframe?”
“I’ve wanted to marry Jake for more years than you can imagine…”
Susannah nodded because it was never a secret that Mallory had a crush on Jake Summerford from the time she was a young teen.
“And when he proposed all I could think was how all of my dreams were coming true and I couldn’t wait to be his wife.”
“But…?” She wasn’t sure where this was going.
“I always wanted a wedding here in this house and for it to be big and wonderful! For us to be surrounded by everyone we knew and have it be this massive party.”
“And now?”
Mallory shrugged again. “Now I just want to be Jake’s wife. I don’t care about it being a big party or how many people are there. I’m just ready to start the next phase of our lives.”
Unable to help herself, Susannah walked over and hugged her daughter. “Say the word and we’ll make that happen. Heck, it’s the holidays. Everyone will be in town already and the place will be decorated for Christmas…”
“A Christmas wedding would be amazing!”
“Just think of all the evergreens and twinkly lights…the giant Christmas tree in the front window would make the perfect backdrop for vows…”
Pulling back, Mallory looked around. “Oh, my goodness! That’s tomorrow, right? We’re meeting the crew here to decorate tomorrow afternoon at three?”
“Yup. And it’s going to be beautiful!”
“We’re cutting it a little close, aren’t we?”
“I wanted everything to be fresh for the public tours. I didn’t want to take a chance that anything would wilt or brown. And I certainly don’t want artificial trees.” Together they walked back to the grand foyer. “Georgia’s going to come and help too.”
“Mom…” Mallory whined.
“She has impeccable taste and a real flair for decorating for the holidays. She knows she’s not in charge, but I figured we could always use an extra pair of hands.”
“Maybe.”
The sound of a car door slamming had them both looking toward the front door. “That’s Colton with the inspector,” she said nervously, swallowing hard. “I really hope everything passes and we can move on. There’s so much to do! And now you’re thinking of getting married at Christmas and…”
Mallory took both of Susannah’s hands in hers. “Breathe, Mom. Just breathe. The last thing I want to do is stress you out. I still have to talk to Jake about all of this so…let’s just put this on the backburner for right now and focus on the opening this weekend, okay?”
She nodded and walked over to the front door, pulling it open. Colton was standing in the driveway and as he turned to smile at her, her heart fluttered.
Just like it always did when he smiled at her.
And as he began to walk toward her, she felt confident that everything was going to be all right.