is my investment, not yours. You're just the hired help."
Clyde studied Gavin, then added, "For now, anyway."
278Melody Carlson
Gavin looked relieved and smiled at his uncle. "Stan's
bringing his family for three days of skiing and vacation. I'll
personally try to show them a good time and hopefully
they'll fall in love with the small-town charm here. Maybe
one evening we can meet with the two of you for dinner at
the hotel."
"Sounds like a plan, Gavin," said Maggie. "Just let me
know. There's so much going on in the next couple of weeks,
I might need a reminder by then."
Maggie, Audrey, and Spencer spent Saturday preparing
for Christmas and the upcoming wedding, with Leah joining
in that evening after work.
"The shop was so busy today," she said as she bit into a
piece of pizza that Maggie had thrown together for a quick
dinner. "I think Jed's going to be really pleased. A lot of the
sales were just small items, like towel racks and picture
frames, but it's amazing how quickly they start to add up."
"That's great," said Audrey. "Everyone in town should
be pleased with the traffic. I had to wait for five minutes to
get a cup of coffee at the Window Seat this morning."
"Yeah, but all these tourists present another problem
too,,' complained Spencer.
"What's that?" asked Maggie.
"No one wants to take any time to go snowboarding.
Sierra is so busy at the deli that she can't get away, and, of
course, Daniel can't go anyway. Then you wouldn't even
take me up there today."
Maggie laughed. "But I promised if you helped me get
those guest rooms ready that I'd take you tomorrow after-
noon, now didn't I?"
"How's your physical therapy coming?" asked his grand-
mother. "Are you still doing those exercises to get your foot
nice and strong?"
Looking for You All My Life279
"Yeah, only about ten times a day! Pretty soon my
injured foot will be in better shape than the other one!"
"When do Jed and Michael get home, Leah?" asked
Audrey. Maggie hadn't really told her mother all of the
details about spending the night atjed's cabin with Leah, but
she knew her mother had noticed the change in their rela-
tionship.
"I think they're finished with the show today, and prob-
ably will get home tomorrow, unless they decide to stay
longer. I left Jed a note explaining that I'm staying back here
for the time being."
"Only for the time being?" complained Spencer. "Why
don't you just stay here for good? Then we can all do music
together, and Mom can take you to work with her, and we'll