Christmas at the Restaurant (The Nantucket Restaurant #2)(25)

Kate wandered off to mingle with other guests, and after they finished eating, Mandy and Jill took their barely touched mimosas into the living room, where a giant, beautifully decorated tree stood in the corner and Rhett was sitting at the piano playing Christmas carols. Abby waved to them to come join her on the sofa where she was sitting with her daughter, Natalie, who was about two and half, if Jill remembered right. And she did look much bigger than the last time she’d seen her. She was very cute in her red velvet holiday dress with smocking details at the top and black patent leather Mary Jane shoes and white socks. Her soft baby curls were tied back with a black velvet ribbon. She had a hardcover children’s book with a picture of Elmo on the cover in her lap.

Jill and Mandy joined them on the sofa with Jill sitting next to Natalie. Mandy smiled as she looked at Natalie’s book. “My kids loved Elmo too.”

“Natalie is obsessed with Elmo. She has a stuffed Elmo that goes with her everywhere.”

Natalie’s eyes filled up. “Where’s my Elmo?!” She looked all around them in a panic. But Abby calmly reached to her other side and pulled out the stuffed toy and handed it to her. “We moved him out of the way so you could read the book.”

Natalie grabbed the Elmo toy and hugged it to her fiercely, then turned to Jill and handed her the book. “Read.”

Mandy laughed. “She wants you to read to her.”

“You don’t have to,” Abby said. “Natalie, we can read later, honey.”

The little girl’s eyes filled up with tears again and she kissed the top of Elmo’s head. Jill felt something shift inside her, a need to make those tears go away.

“I don’t mind. I’m happy to read about Elmo.”

“Natalie, you remember Jill? Say thank you.”

“Thank you.” Her eyes grew wide and dreamy as Jill opened the book and started reading. A few minutes later, Natalie snuggled against her and Jill got a whiff of baby shampoo. She kept reading and was almost done when Abby said, “You can stop. I think she’s asleep.”

Jill paused for a moment, and Natalie stirred and mumbled sleepily, “More.”

Abby chuckled. “I guess I was wrong.”

Jill kept reading and five minutes later, the adventures of Elmo were over and Natalie was fast asleep.

“I should put her in my mother’s bedroom and let her have a good nap.” Abby stood and Jill did the same, carefully lifting Natalie to pass her to her mother, but the little girl snuggled into the crook of her neck and clung on tight.

“Aw, she really likes you,” Abby said.

And Jill was feeling something, too, a maternal instinct that she’d secretly worried might be lacking. “I’ll carry her there, if you show me where to go. Maybe she’ll stay asleep.”

“Sure, follow me.”

Jill held on tight to the little girl so she wouldn’t slip out of her grasp and followed Abby to Lisa and Rhett’s bedroom, where there was a pink crib in the corner for when Natalie came to visit. Jill carefully set her down and Abby covered her with a soft baby throw. Natalie murmured for a moment, then rolled to her side and let out a sigh.

“Okay, I think she’s good for a while. Thanks for your help.”

“It was nothing.”

“I used to hate this question, so feel free to tell me to mind my own business, but you were really good with her. Are you and Billy planning to have kids soon?” Abby asked.

“If it was up to Billy, I’d already be expecting. But we haven’t been married all that long. I didn’t want to rush into having kids.”

Abby nodded. “That makes sense. It was different for us because it took so long. Neither one of us expected that.”

“I never thought about that.” Jill hadn’t given much thought at all to getting pregnant, other than she was in no hurry to do it. She wondered how it would be for her and Billy, and if it would take them a while too. And for the first time, she wondered what a mini-Billy might look like or a little girl like Natalie.





Chapter 12





Sunday afternoon was busier than usual at Mimi’s Place. They always had a good crowd that came after church and with Christmas right around the corner, there were probably people out shopping too. Emma glanced around the crowded dining room and noticed that Connie Boyle and her three friends were sitting with empty plates. She went over to help clear them out of the way.

“How was everything, ladies?” Emma asked as she gathered up their plates.

“As good as always, dear. Thank you,” Connie said, and the other ladies nodded in agreement. Emma brought the plates into the kitchen and unloaded them at the dishwasher station. She noticed that Stacy, the waitress serving Connie’s table, was picking up a big order for another party.

“Stacy, I just cleared Connie’s table. I’ll check and see if they want anything else.”

Stacy nodded. “Thank you. It will be a few minutes before I can get back to them.”

“No worries.” Emma walked back to the table and the ladies were in the middle of a conversation so she waited for them to finish before interrupting.

“I heard the freezer broke at the food pantry. They are getting their shipment of turkeys on Tuesday for the Christmas baskets and don’t know what they are going to do,” one of the ladies said.