He had a trimmed beard now, given his stint as Saint Nicholas was complete.But his cocky smirk was the same.
“Oh Nick,” the dark haired beauty said, looking up at him from her menu.“They have lobster.”
Apparently his name really was Nick.
He held my gaze a moment longer, then smiled down at the woman.“It’s Maine, silly.They have lobster everywhere.”
I grit my teeth at the patronizing way he spoke to the clearly besotted young woman.
But the woman didn’t seem to hear his words the same way.She grinned at him.“Well, I’m still getting used to such a treat.”
Cameron said the acting troupe was from Boston.Boston had plenty of lobster too.I wondered where she was from originally.
More voices echoed in the hallway and another group walked into the dining room.I recognized the first man who entered.He was the actor who had also argued with St.Nick.Or just Nick now, I guess.
He paused when he spotted Nick, his eyes narrowing with dislike.But then he promptly hid his reaction, turning to the man beside him, responding to something the younger man had been saying when they entered the room.A valiant attempt to act as if he hadn’t even noticed Nick’s presence.
But Nick wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Vance,” he called.“Did you hear from your agent?Because I heard from mine.”
Vance, who might be roughly the same age as Nick, wasn’t aging quite as well as the larger, more muscular man.Deep wrinkles framed his mouth and his cheeks sagged slightly with the beginnings of jowls.And they grew ruddy—whether with anger or embarrassment, I wasn’t sure.
Having worked as an actor I could deduce what Nick’s deceptively chirpy comment really meant.I bet they had both been auditioning for the same part.And Nick was rubbing in that he’d landed it.
I glanced at Oliver.He made a face that said he’d come to the same conclusion.
I didn’t miss the acting world.
Cameron might not understand the dynamics of actors, but he did seem aware of the tension building in the room, because he pushed out his chair and stood.
“Good evening.We are thrilled to have some of our wonderful entertainment staying at the inn tonight.Please have a seat and enjoy our fantastic menu.”
Vance nodded, moving to the other side of the room, settling at a table by the windows.
The room became awkwardly quiet.
“Did we want to order dessert?”Cameron asked in an attempt to ignore the awkwardness.“Chef Joubert makes an amazing blueberry cobbler.”
To my surprise, my mother, who had just hidden another yawn behind her napkin, nodded.“I was looking at that.It sounds delicious.”
I suspected my mom was just trying to help smooth over some of the tension.
“Did you want anything, Will?”she asked my dad with an encouraging smile.
“No—”
Mom gave him a warning look.
“Actually the cobbler does sound pretty darned good,” he immediately revised.He’d long ago learned to go along with whatever my mother wanted.
I placed my napkin on my plate.“Excuse me, I need to run to the ladies room.”
“Should I order you some dessert?”Cameron asked.
I liked blueberry cobbler, but I was sort of set on a bowl of the cookies and cream ice cream in my freezer—and honestly I wanted to head home soon.I hadn’t even had a chance to check on Jack.As I stood, my elf shoes jingled.Heck, I hadn’t even had the chance to change into my own clothes.
But we were trying to act as if our nice dinner wasn’t about to be potentially ruined by the egos of the actors around us.And Mom and Dad wouldn’t be here long.
