CHAPTER 5
Making a list, checking it twice
––––––––
“You’re sure you haveenough food ordered?” Natalie asked from her desk, heels kicked off and feet resting on top of the filing cabinet.
Ginny lounged in the chair opposite; her own shoes long forgotten. She swirled a coffee mug filled with merlot; her eyes slightly unfocused. She hiccupped and recovered before answering her friend’s question. “Have you met my husband? I don’t know if you know this, but he’s a chef who has run several restaurants for nearly twenty years. He knows how to order turkey and bread crumbs.”
Natalie snorted. “You’re right, I’ll shut up about that.” She reached out, toying with a sparkly pencil holder Otis made the previous year as a Mother’s Day gift. The lumpy clay vessel was more reminiscent of a pile of dirt, but he’d thrown some glitter on to perfect the “girl touches,” as he’d proudly shared his artistic abilities with her.
“You seem distracted,” Ginny observed, flexing her toes and sighing after a long day. The holidays were wearing them all down in different ways.
“Sorry, just getting sentimental. I think it’s Christmas—I usually get all goofy when we put up the tree.”
Ginny cocked her head and laughed. “And what’s your excuse for the rest of the year?”
Natalie rolled her eyes, twirling the pencil holder this way and that as she gathered her thoughts. “I think it’s a lot of things. Anthony’s new job, CeCe’s about to become a mother, and Max is renovating the diner. It’s all combined to put me in a pre-holiday funk.” She made eye contact with her friend, and Ginny flushed, giving away her own distractions.
“Hey, lady, that’s my line.”
“You’re worried about the diner renovations?” Natalie raised an eyebrow.
Ginny waved away Natalie’s concerned expression. “No, I know Max has that all well in hand. Plus, the new place is going to be fantastic. He’s put so much thought and care into it, it can’t fail.” She held up her hands, all fingers crossed. “But the diner is all of our place, you know?”
Natalie nodded sagely. “Oh, I know. I’ve had more good times in that old place than I can count.” Natalie and Anthony had renewed their vows there, had shared countless family meals, and she and the girls had turned the diner into their own playground after hours. Natalie had lost track of how many nights were spent in the kitchen, with Ginny playing bartender while CeCe cooked up something delicious, Alice and Mallory rounding out their group with hilarious stories that had them clutching their sides. The diner was one of her favorite places, full stop.
Ginny hummed her agreement, lost in the musings of the past decade. When she’d moved back to town, before she’d reconciled with Max, the diner had been a thorn in her side. All the time Max spent within the walls of the restaurant used to make her resentful, but now it made her proud. He’d created a hive of activity that Buckeye Falls loved, whether you were new to town or a local with deep ties to the area.
“I think Christmas is the perfect send-off.” Ginny nodded, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth to stop herself from crying. It could be the mid-day merlot break, or the fact that she had been distracted with the kids, but suddenly she couldn’t believe all the change happening around her. She pulled her sleeves down, fingers fidgeting with the hems.
Natalie topped off their glasses and let out a breath. “We both have a lot going on, don’t we?”
Ginny blinked and sipped from her wine. “Girl, that’s an understatement.” Squaring her shoulders, she got to the question she was dying to ask. “How areyouholding up with the shift from First Lady of Buckeye Falls to First Lady of Ohio?”
Natalie scoffed, waving away the moniker. “First of all, I’m pretty sure that’s the governor’s wife. Secondly, I don’t know.”
For nearly fifteen years, Anthony had been at the helm of Buckeye Falls. Yet he wasn’t the only Snyder with ties to town hall, as his father had been mayor for twenty years before Anthony. Buckeye Falls was about to enter a new era without a Snyder at city hall.
“It’s a fair amount of change for the Snyder clan,” Ginny surmised. “I don’t think it’s wrong that you’re feeling a lot of things.”
“I’m simultaneously thrilled at the change and petrified. Anthony will do amazing things, I know that in my bones, but we’ve gotten so settled in our routines, as hectic as they are, and it’s wild to think of what’s to come.”
Ginny placed her cup on the desk and reached out, snaking Natalie’s trembling hand in her own. “It’s going to be amazing, you’ll see. Anthony has done great things here, and it’s only fair he spreads his wings and helps the rest of the Buckeyes out there.” She winked and Natalie squeezed back with everything she had.
“Thanks, you’re right. You’ll never hear me argue that he’s got the chops. It’s just a little bittersweet that we’re all moving on with things. I like our little nest.”
Ginny nodded, reclining back in her seat. “Our nest isn’t so little,” she said, jutting her chin toward the door. Even through the closed door, it was impossible to ignore the din of activity. What had started as two friends with a dream had turned into a small events empire. Staff had been hired and their book of business had tripled over the last five years alone. N&G had come a long way.
Just as Natalie opened her mouth to reply, their new assistant, Zoe, knocked on the door. Both women made a show of hiding the wine bottle, but it was no use. Their weekly wine meetings were common knowledge to not only the team at N&G, but most of Buckeye Falls. “Hiya,” she said as she stepped into the office.
“What can we help with?” Ginny asked, turning around.
“Um, well. I know you’re—she hesitated and looked at the nearly empty wine bottle—“in a meeting. But there’s someone to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment, and I asked her to—”
