One Christmas Song Read online

  “It’s the little things that count,” were Jasper’s next words.

  The man seemed full of wisdom and loved to talk. Rick discovered that on a few occasions when he’d assumed he was alone with his thoughts and Jasper had appeared saying just the right thing to make him feel better. Or at least to clear the jumbled thoughts in his mind, Rick wasn’t certain what would actually make him feel better about a situation he’d been struggling with for far too long.

  “I agree,” Rick told him as they moved out of the vestibule and walked along the runner toward the front desk.

  Rick looked to his left the second he knew he would be able to see into the sitting room. He needed to see her. Wasn’t that the conclusion he’d finally come to a couple weeks ago?

  Rick needed to see Cordelia “Cordy” Lennox in person, in Temptation, one more time. He would know for sure then. Once and for all he would know.

  “Hey Cordy,” he spoke the moment she looked up and saw him.

  “Rick.”

  Just like that. One word. His name. Nothing more.

  Rick walked with his casual gait into the room and immediately extended his hand to the woman standing a few feet away from Cordy. She was young and a little shorter than Cordy. Her dark brown hair was pulled back from her face and wide blue eyes stared back at him.

  “Hello, I’m Rick Stewart, owner of the Holidays Inn. It’s a pleasure to have you staying with us.”

  She offered a cordial smile as she shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Stewart. I’m Elsa. I trust that your establishment will be able to offer the utmost discretion during our stay.”

  Rick nodded. “That was discussed at length during my conversation with Myron two weeks ago. There are no other guests booked for this week, so you, the video crew and…Ms. Lennox, should be able to go about your work without any problems.”

  “It’s Christmas,” Jasper interrupted. “There ought to be music and food. Friends and family. Festivities. That’s what this place needs, some festiveness.”

  Rick turned with the intention of asking Jasper to go to the kitchen and get started on lunch for their guests, but the man was already walking through the French doors on the other side of the sitting room. He closed the doors behind him and was gone before anyone could address his comments.

  “Jasper, our cook.” Rick told them by way of introduction. “I can deliver your bags to your rooms while you get settled.”

  Elsa was shaking her head before he could finish his sentence. “No need. The driver is taking care of that.”

  Rick and Jasper had come from around the side of the house, walking along the wraparound porch talking about lights, wreaths and bells. Jasper also thought there needed to be more silver bells lined along the garland on the railings. So Rick hadn’t noticed any cars in the driveway.

  “Great. I hope you enjoy your stay and are able to capture the true spirit of the song through the video you’re going to record.” Rick spoke those words while staring directly at Cordy.

  When she only stared back but did not speak, he extended his hand to her.

  “It’s nice to see you again, Cordy.” Nice was an understatement. Rick’s heart had been thumping wildly since he’d set eyes on her.

  She was still the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. With her honey brown complexion and amber-colored eyes and that smile…well, she wasn’t smiling now. And she really didn’t look like his Cordy anymore. “His” Cordy. Rick mentally kicked himself for that obviously erroneous statement.

  “We should go CeCe,” Elsa stated. “We don’t want to chance anyone else walking in on us and we have those interviews to prepare for.”

  But Cordy took his hand. “It’s nice to see you again, too, Rick.”

  Her palm was warm, handshake strong, professional and her voice…it was no secret that she had a voice. Cordy had left Temptation when she was eighteen years old and had been sharing her glorious singing voice with the world ever since. But her speaking voice, the way she said his name, or had complained about how many crunches he was instructing her to do, would be forever emblazoned on his mind.

  Fourteen years ago, one day after she graduated, Cordy left Temptation. She was a year ahead of Rick in school and had lived in the apartment next to the dry cleaners that Rick’s father owned. Rick hadn’t seen much of her during their elementary and middle school years because he’d been busy with football and baseball, while she’d stayed in the church with her mother, Ms. Mari. When Cordy turned fifteen Ms. Mari had come into the dry cleaners and asked Rick’s father to give Cordy a job. Pryor Stewart, known to everyone in town as Papa Pryor, had gladly hired Cordy to help out after school. It was three years later, on a cool, rainy October afternoon that Cordy had come into the dry cleaners with a strange request. That, Rick recalled, was the day he’d fallen in love with her.

  “Can you help me lose weight?”

  Those were Cordy’s exact words that day. Earlier that afternoon Rick had overheard Saul Hampton commenting that Cordy had only been elected as the senior class student body president because she was round enough to cover all of the seniors’ bodies. Rick had slammed Saul into the locker so hard after he’d muttered those words that the idiot had lost his breath and looked as if he were going to puke the second Rick let him go.

  “Why? Because some idiot said something stupid about you?” Rick’s question had been immediate. His anger bubbling fresh.

  She’d looked shocked, as if she hadn’t known what was being said about her. Rick had felt like the idiot then.

  “No. I don’t care about anybody around here. I’m trying to get onto FTRT. I hear the television cameras add an extra ten pounds to you and I know I don’t need that. So can you help me or what?”

  That’s how Cordy always talked. Straight forward, succinct and without a care in the world as to how or if anyone had any adverse feelings about what she was saying. FTRT was Finding The Right Talent, a reality contest show where singers performed in different rounds until finally making it to the finale where only one would be crowned “The Right Talent” for that year. That title came with a record deal, so it made perfect sense to Rick that Cordy would want to go on that show. Cordy sang with the church choir and she was part of the glee club at school. There was nothing she loved more than singing.

  “Oh.” Rick had replied.

  From that day until the week before her graduation Rick trained Cordy in the basement beneath the cleaners. She’d lost fifteen pounds and looked more amazing than Rick had originally thought she was. The night of her graduation she’d been bubbling with excitement as she showed him the printed email message stating that she’d been accepted onto FTRT. She’d left the next day.

  And Rick’s life hadn’t been the same since then.

  “So that’s the famous CeCe Lennox.”

  Rick did not immediately respond to Meg’s comment because he’d been too wrapped up in his thoughts while watching Cordy walk slowly up the stairs. When she and her assistant, Elsa, were out of sight, Rick was still staring at the stairs.

  “She didn’t talk much. But I guess they don’t have much time for people like us,” Meg continued.

  “What?” Rick finally pulled his gaze away from the vacant stairs and walked over to the front desk where Meg was sitting. “Cordy’s from Temptation. She’s just like us.”

  Meg shook her head. “You’re dreaming. Maybe she was born here, but she’s definitely no longer like us. Did you see that diamond bracelet on her wrist? And that bag? It’s Givenchy.”

  Rick shrugged. “So.”

  Her eyes grew bigger. “So? That’s easily a thirty-five hundred dollar bag she’s carrying like it was nothing more than a bowling bag.”

  “Well, she is an award winning recording artist. I’d expect that to pay a little more than the average job here in Temptation.”

  “It probably pays more than all the jobs here in Temptation,” Meg quipped.

  Rick chuckled. He reached over the hutch portion of the desk and grab
bed the mail from the tray where Meg always set it after she’d removed the advertisements and other junk mail.

  He was flipping through each envelope, noting who they were from and surmising what was inside. “I’m going to drop these off in my office and then I’m heading out to the store. I’ll be back before lunch. I don’t know what Jasper’s making today but if it’s anything like his other meals, we’ll all be stuffed and ready for a nap by two o’clock.”

  Meg nodded. Her red hair was styled in big fluffy curls that framed her face today. She had an adventurous streak, that’s what Rick had concluded when she’d come in one day last week with her new hair color. It was no secret around town that Ms. Pearl felt her niece’s adventurous spirit would result in her getting into a world of trouble if Meg didn’t get herself together. At twenty-four years old, Meg thought she already had it together. Rick remembered when he’d been that age and decided not to tell Meg that everything she thought she knew right now, was totally wrong.

  “Make sure they’re not disturbed,” he told her with a nod toward the stairs.

  “Why? Is she in hiding?”

  Meg’s tone was different and Rick wasn’t sure he knew exactly where it was coming from, so he decided to simply ignore it.

  “I’ll be back shortly,” he reiterated and walked out of the house without looking back at her.

  Rick couldn’t focus on Meg or why she seemed so irritated by a very good paying customer. His mind was totally full of Cordy, but that was nothing new. He’d always thought about Cordy non-stop. A fact Rick was sure Cordy had never known.

  Chapter 3

  “You’ve been gone too long. The laugher and the music. The feeling that was always proud and strong.”

  Everyone was standing still as Cordy sat at the piano, her fingers only pretending to move over the keys, the words to her song playing in the background. She moved her lips as if she were actually singing the lyrics, her head and body swaying like the emotion she was singing about finding was actually coursing through her body at this very moment.

  It was definitely coursing through Rick’s. Each time he heard the song sang in her perfect voice, goosebumps pricked his skin.

  “CeCe Lennox, superstar R&B singer with the powerful voice that mixes soulful R&B with pop and jazz influences.”

  That’s what the very first article written in a music magazine said about her two weeks after the release of her debut single. And with each year and each subsequent record she released, she’d only gotten better.

  Rick was in awe as he stood watching her behind the cameraman and several other techs working on the video. They’d begun shooting a half hour after lunch was over, so Jasper’s very wholesome meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup wasn’t able to put anyone to sleep. They were taping in the formal living room of the Inn where the piano Rick had purchased from an estate sale in Arlington, sat a few feet away from the stone hearth fireplace with red and white stockings hanging from its mantel. Just behind the piano was one of five Christmas trees in the house—this one was decorated with antique ornaments, colorful lights and popcorn garland. The scene was the perfect blend of home for the holidays with candles lit around the piano and Cordy dressed in a red velvet gown. A gown that plunged deep in the front so that Rick’s gaze dropped easily from the glittering diamond choker at her neck, down to the smooth skin of her chest.

  “Listen to that gal sing. Lordamercy Mari would be clapping so hard right at this moment. She was always so proud of her baby girl.”

  Rick looked over his shoulder to see Otis standing there with his eyes affixed on Cordy as well. Otis did a little of everything around town, but he mostly helped Nana Lou over at the only other B&B in Temptation. As Rick was aiming to draw holiday travelers specifically into his establishment he and Nana Lou had no cause to become competitors. Besides, Nana Lou cooked a damn good baked pineapple ham every year for the Christmas play and she made sure not to serve one slice to anyone in town she didn’t like. Rick wasn’t ready to part ways with that ham so he’d had a nice chat with Nana Lou before opening his place. That’s how business worked in Temptation.

  “What are you doing here, Otis?” Rick had assured Elsa a private space for their video shoot. And while he was looking forward to the publicity the Inn would receive once the video aired, having the townspeople walking in off the street wasn’t what he’d imagined happening.

  “I was down at the bakery and heard Cordy was back in town. Figured she’d come here, with you owning the place and everything. So here I am,” Otis told him.

  He wore a navy blue jacket that had seen more than a little wear and tear. His salt and pepper hair was combed back neatly—a change that had just happened in the last few months. Before then—or rather before Eleanor Cannon—Otis hadn’t cared much about his physical appearance.

  “Who was talking about her being back?” Rick asked seconds before realizing his mistake.

  “Well, Betsy was in there to pick up her annual fruitcake. And Millie came in with her faithful sidekick Connie. Don’t know why Connie wasn’t minding her own business down at the coffee shop, but anyway, they came in talking about how Meg was complaining about there not being any high-end shops here in Temptation. Something about a purse or what have you, anyway, that’s how they found out Cordy was back. And Millie’s fit to be tied over you not telling her too. So you be on the lookout she’s aiming to come ‘atcha soon.”

  Rick hadn’t followed much of what Otis just said, mainly because he hadn’t needed to follow the words. It all lead to the same thing. Nobody could keep a secret in Temptation. Not ever.

  “I’ll go see her tomorrow and explain.” Even though Rick didn’t know why he needed to explain booking a private event at his establishment. Still, his father had told him a long time ago that it was best to keep the peace with the locals around Temptation. And Millie Randall, the Director of the Chamber of Commerce was as local as they could get.

  The director yelled cut and the music stopped playing.

  “Hey Cordy!” Otis called out to her and waved his hand in her direction.

  “Otis, maybe you should—”

  Rick’s words were cut short when Otis moved past him and pushed his way around a few other members of the camera crew to get over to where Cordy was still sitting. Rick followed behind him.

  “It’s good to see you, Cordy. You probably don’t remember me, but I remember when you came right here to me,” Otis said while pointing to a spot just above his knee. “You had flying pigtails and chubby cheeks.”

  Cordy gave him a tight smile and a nod, but she couldn’t move. One lady was brushing something over her face while another one touched her hair. Cordy frowned at that one. “Is Sharece here yet?”

  “No,” Elsa answered. She’d come to stand closer to where Cordy sat, but was shooting a sharp look at Otis and then Rick. “She missed her flight.”

  “Well, I don’t like what this one is doing. We have to find someone else or I’m going to look like Little Orphan Annie,” Cordy complained.

  “I’ll see what we can do, but until Sharece can get another flight out, we might have to make due,” Elsa told her.

  “What? You talking about your hair?” Otis asked.

  Rick put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, Otis, let’s go out to the kitchen to get a snack.”

  Otis looked at Rick like he was speaking a foreign language.

  “I ain’t hungry. But if you’re talking about your hair,” Otis continued, returning his attention to Cordy. “There’s a big shot hairdresser in town for the holidays. Her name’s Gemma Taylor. She’s staying at her brother Gray’s house. Right down the block. She can probably be up here in a few minutes.”

  “Otis, let’s go,” Rick said, this time with more force.

  He tugged on Otis’s arm and was about to pull him along if need be, when Cordy stopped them.

  “How do you know she’s a big time hairdresser?” she asked.

  Otis turne
d to her. “Because she’s got her own shop in D.C. And she did Ms. Ida’s hair up real nice for the Christmas banquet at church on Sunday.”

  Cordy looked to Rick as if she thought he could corroborate. He had been in church on Sunday but he hadn’t noticed Ms. Ida’s hair any more than he did on any other day. Ms. Ida had talked to him and his father for a few minutes about an old coat she’d found in her basement and having it dry cleaned, but Rick had only noticed how spry the woman continued to look no matter how many years passed.

  “The Taylors,” he said when Cordy continued to stare at him expectantly. “They lived in the blue house down the road but then moved away when we were all pretty young.”

  Cordy didn’t look as if she remembered, but continued anyway, “If she’s a professional I’d like to see if she can help. This is not working.” She finally stood at that point, much to Tracy, the make-up lady’s dismay.

  Rick didn’t think her hair looked bad. It was much curlier than it had been when he’d seen her during lunch, but she still looked good to him.

  “Do you have a number for this woman?” Elsa asked Otis who had pulled his arm away from Rick’s grasp.

  “Don’t need a number when we can just walk on down there,” Otis said.

  “We’re not just walking down there,” Rick objected. “I’ve got Gray’s number. I’ll call him and inquire about his sister.”

  Cordy looked marginally relieved. “Thanks, Rick.”

  “Can you make that happen in the next ten minutes? We need to get in a couple more shots before we shut down for the night.” Elsa had her tablet in one hand and was moving her finger over its screen frantically. “We have to stay on schedule.”

  “I’ll take care of it. Otis you come with me,” Rick told him.

  “I’ll come too,” Cordy said.

  Elsa’s head snapped up from her tablet. “CeCe, we need you here for the moment they’re ready to shoot again.”

  “I’m not doing anything else with my hair like this.” Cordy gave Elsa a look that had Elsa’s mouth opening and shutting in record time.