Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

MOLLY

After breakfast with Kyle, I head toward the great room to chat up some of the lodge's guests. The first people I approach are a mom and dad with their young son. The boy is bald, so I assume they're one of the families Heath Fox and Trina are hosting.

"Hi there," I say. "I don't want to interrupt, but I was wondering if you might answer a question for me." I hurry to add, "My name is Molly, and I work for the lodge."

The father looks up and visibly forces a smile. "I'm Ward." He gestures toward his wife. "This is Francie and our son, Ben."

I point to a chair next to them. "Do you mind if I join you?" I sit down before they can tell me no. "We're working on adding things to the gift shop that guests might like, and I wonder if you have any suggestions."

Francie looks totally hassled by my presence, so I am determined to leave quickly. "I haven't been into the gift shop yet," she says.

Ward explains, "We've been pretty busy since we got here."

Ben, who looks like he'd like nothing more than to take a nap, briefly perks up and asks, "Do they have any stuffed animals? "

"I don't think so," I tell him. "Is that something you'd like them to carry?"

"I left my stuffed beaver at home," he says sadly. "I don't sleep good without him."

I immediately write down his request before asking, "What else do you like about home that you wish they had here?"

"Earbuds," he says before explaining, "I fall asleep with music but my parents like quiet."

I write down earbuds before asking Ward and Francie, "Would you mind if I borrowed Ben for a few minutes?" I point across the hall. "I'd love to take him into the gift shop and see if he has any more ideas."

Ben's parents look at each other in surprise. "I work here," I remind them. "I'm not a creeper."

Francie laughs. "You don't look like one." Then she asks Ben, "Would you like to go to the gift shop with Molly?"

His interest is immediate. "Yes!"

"We'll be here when you're done," Ward tells him.

I reach my hand out to Ben, and he takes it easily. As we walk away, I ask him, "How old are you, Ben?"

"Almost seven," he says.

"That's a big number," I tell him. "Have you started losing any teeth?"

He shakes his head. "But I have a loose one."

"That'll be exciting when the tooth fairy comes," I tell him. "My tooth fairy used to give me a whole dollar when I lost a tooth." Ben starts to giggle, so I ask, "Why is that funny?"

Between snickers, he tells me, "You must be from the olden days like my parents. The tooth fairy gives my friends five dollars."

"Five dollars?" I feign shock like this is an ungodly amount. "What in the world would you do with that kind of money?"

Ben grows serious before saying, "I'm saving to buy my parents a present. "

Squeezing his hand, I tell him, "You're a sweet kid, Ben. What do you want to buy for them?"

"I want to hire someone to take a great family picture of us. I want to put it in a nice frame."

"I bet you'll be able to do just that after you lose a bunch of teeth."

His eyes fill with unshed tears. "I don't have time to lose a bunch of teeth."

I feel a sharp pain in my heart when I realize what he's saying. "How about if I take some pictures of you and your parents and then I can order a frame for you to put one in?"

He looks up, surprised. "You'd do that for me?"

"I sure would," I tell him. That's when it occurs to me that picture frames might be a nice touch in the gift shop. I make a mental note to add that to my list.

As soon as we walk into the shop, Ben starts to look around. After a few minutes, he says, "My parents like to do puzzles at night. Maybe you could sell some of those." That's actually a brilliant idea.

"Anything else?" I ask him.

"How about some bear tattoos?"

"Bear tattoos?" I have a hard time suppressing my laughter.

"Yeah! I went to my friend Tommy Wilkes' birthday party, and he had all kinds of cool animal tattoos that his mom helped us put on. The bear was super scary!" I write down fake tattoos on my list.

Ben turns around and inspects the candy shelf. "You need gummy worms. Not gummy bears, worms."

"What's the difference?" I ask him.

"Worms are longer and grosser than bears. Also, you get more candy with a worm than with a bear. That matters," he assures me.

This kid is a veritable gold mine and I briefly consider cutting him in on the profits. "What else?" I ask.

"How ‘bout those hand warmer thingies? "

"Gloves?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No, the thingies my dad has for camping. They're little packs that you sort of smoosh around. They get real hot. I would have liked to have had those when we went snowmobiling."

I write down hand warmers before asking Ben, "Have you gone zip-lining yet?"

He shakes his head. "I'm kind of scared."

"I was, too," I tell him. "But my friend went at the same time with me, and it made me feel safe."

He looks up thoughtfully. "You mean my dad could go with me?"

"Absolutely," I tell him.

Ben asks, "Can we go back now?"

"You bet. You've given me a lot of great ideas, Ben. Thank you."

When we get back to his parents, my new little friend announces, "I want to go zip-lining with you, Dad. Molly says we can ride together."

Ward looks surprised. "I didn't know if they allowed that here and I haven't had a chance to ask." He adds, "Ben is afraid of heights though."

"I don't love them either," I tell him. "But you really aren't that far off the ground. I'm sure if you didn't like it after one run, you could stop."

"Can we go, Dad?" Ben asks excitedly. "Please?"

Francie interjects, "What about me? Can I come too?"

"Yes, yes, yes!!!" Ben exclaims excitedly. "You can come, too, Molly!"

I hadn't planned to go zip-lining again, but I suddenly have another idea. "How about if I come and take pictures of you all while you're doing it?"

Ben's face brightens like a light bulb has been turned on under his skin. "Yes!" he shouts.

"We don't want to take you away from your job," Ward says .

"It's my job to make sure guests have everything they need," I tell him. That's when it occurs to me that Trina and Heath could hire a photographer to take pictures of the families who come here. My mom always complained that she was never in the photos because she was the one taking them. And in the case of Ben and his family, I'm guessing the memories these pictures will invoke will be cherished forever.

Francie pushes her chair back and says, "Can you give us twenty minutes to go upstairs and get into warm clothes?"

"Absolutely," I tell her. "In the meantime, I'll make sure you're added to the schedule." I hope they can get them in on such short notice, but I'm willing to bet the lodge will do everything they can once I tell them about Ben.

Before they leave, I suggest, "Why don't I get a picture of you all in front of the fireplace?"

Ben claps his hands excitedly. "Can we get one with the singing animals, too?" Ah, the chipmunks.

"We can take pictures wherever you want to," I tell him.

I wind up spending the entire afternoon with Ben and his family. After we went zip-lining—where I also took a bunch of videos—I snapped pictures of them building a snowman, having a snowball fight, and making snow angels. When we finally went back inside, we ordered hot chocolate and warmed up by the fire.

Not only did I have a wonderful day, but I was grateful to get out of my head for a while. After two cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream, I air drop the pictures of the day to Ward and Francie's phones.

Ben walks over to me and whispers, "What about the picture frame?"

"How long will you be here?" I ask him.

He turns to his parents. "How many more days are we going to be here?"

Ward holds up three fingers. Leaning down so that my mouth is right by Ben's ear, I tell him, "I'll have it for you in two days. "

His smile is electric. Opening his arms, he leans in and gives me a hug. "Thanks, Molly. You're the best!"

After saying goodbye to Ben and his parents, I go back up to my room to get ready for tonight's mixer. I wasn't excited about it this morning, but I feel like my day has been spent getting perspective on what's important in life. And more than anything, I'd love to be part of a happy family someday.

The only way to accomplish that is to meet somebody to share that family with.