Christmas Retreat Read online

  Christmas Retreat

  Rachel Maldonado

  Copyright © Rachel Maldonado November 2015.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of Rachel Maldonado, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal. Please be aware that downloading an e-book from an illegal site is a crime.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my wonderful parents for their love and support. Mom and Dad, I love you.

  Thank you to my wife, Vanessa, for believing in me and allowing me to follow my dream of writing full time. You are my everything.

  Thank you to R. M. Sullivan and her spouse Debbie for their help in proofreading, editing, and formatting. You're both great friends.

  Dedication

  For my sweet wife, Vanessa, because meeting you changed my life forever. I love you to the moon and back.

  “Did you pack your lingerie?” asked Baxter as she watched Sidney walk back and forth from the dresser to her duffel bags on the bed. She sat down on the bed and took a bite of a red delicious apple.

  “No, why would I need to pack lingerie? I'm taking pajamas. I'm going into the hill country with about a dozen other women for a retreat.”

  “Exactly! A dozen other women. Hello. You want to look sexy when you're all snuggled up in front of the fireplace or having some type of slumber party. You don't want to rock out in your PJ's and granny panties.”

  Sidney laughed. Jenny Baxter could somehow always make her laugh. They had been roommates nearly a year and they had seen each other go through many dates. Sidney never once wondered why Baxter never took interest in her. She figured she must not be her type.

  “Well, what have you got packed?” asked Sidney curiously, as she shoved some socks and underwear in her bag.

  “I'm only taking one bag. I packed underclothes, blouses, an extra pair of shoes, and some jeans. My bag is by the door. I packed last night.”

  “I appreciate you going to this retreat with me. It really was a good idea, you know, since we couldn't make it home for Christmas this year.”

  “Yeah, well. I have good ideas sometimes. It was cheaper than flights home that's for sure,” said Baxter as she took another bite of her apple.

  Sidney shoved some jeans in her duffel bag and zipped up the bag. “Do you have the directions written down?”

  “Nope, but I already checked MapQuest and entered the address into the GPS. We're good to go. The cabin is only about two and a half hours away. We'll be there in no time.”

  Sidney grabbed her bag and placed it by the door with Baxter's. “Yeah? Do you know anyone else that's going?”

  Baxter took the last bite of her apple and tossed the core into a nearby trashcan. “No, not really. I was sent a list of women the other day in my email, but I haven't really looked through it. I'll print it out so you can see it.” She rose from the bed and went into her bedroom. She walked back into the room a few minutes later with a print out of the list of women. “Here, you can look it over on the drive up.”

  Sidney grabbed her toiletries and tossed them in her side bag pocket, then zipped up the bag. “I guess I'm ready. Let's do it,” she said grinning. She grabbed the list from Baxter and walked out the front door.

  “Yes! That's the spirit! Let's do this. I'm so glad you're excited and that you didn't pack your laptop.” Baxter shut off the light switch and followed Sidney out. She took one last look around the apartment making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, then shut off the living room light and locked the door.

  Sidney walked out towards Baxter's GMC truck. “I thought about it, but if I took it with me, then I'd be tempted to work and I'm sure you wouldn't like that.”

  Baxter laughed. “No, I wouldn't. I'd have to toss it out into the woods.” Baxter opened the passenger door for Sidney in the same manner she always did and tossed all the bags in the bed of the truck. They both settled in for the drive and Sidney looked at the email she still had in her hands.

  “It looks like half of these women are in their twenties and the other half is in their thirties,” she remarked as she read the names and ages.

  “Sounds like a good mix of women. I'm sure we'll fit right in.”

  “One of these women is an author. I wonder if she'll have her laptop with her. Now I'm wondering if I should have brought mine.”

  “Oh, she's allowed to have hers. We're not going back for yours,” said Baxter laughing. “The next two days is all about me, you, a dozen single women, and the woods.”

  “What makes you so sure we'll meet someone? We could have zero chemistry with these women and wind up stuck with each other for the entire duration.”

  “No one said we had to fall in love, Sid. You can at least try to be friendly, right? Let's just go out there, have a good time, and try to make some friends.”

  ****

  As Baxter pulled up to the cabin, the other women were driving up and parking as well and unloading their luggage. Sidney and Baxter hopped out and began taking out their bags from the truck. A young blonde woman in a black Chevrolet Cruze looked over at Baxter and smiled. She was standing at the trunk of her car digging through a backpack. She took it out of the trunk and swung it over her shoulder but failed to zip it closed completely. Half of the contents spilled out onto the pavement. “Oh my goodness!” she shouted as she scrambled to try to pick everything up.

  Baxter dropped her bags and went over to help her. “Hello. I'm Jennifer Baxter. Everyone calls me Baxter.” She began to pick up lotions, lipsticks, mascara, and various other items and handed them to the blonde.

  “It's nice to meet you. I'm Cherry,” said the blonde.

  “I'm sorry. Did you say Sherry?” asked Baxter blushing. “I could have sworn you said your name was Cherry.”

  “It is,” said Cherry laughing.

  “Oh, I'm sorry,” said Baxter embarrassed.

  “Hi, Cherry. I'm Sidney. You here for the retreat?” asked Sidney interrupting.

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I am. That's what you girls are here for?” She tossed the remaining items in her bag and zipped it closed.

  “We sure are,” said Sidney grinning. Baxter was relieved that Sidney had saved her from further embarrassment. She walked back to her bags and picked them up from the ground.

  “We're anxious to check-in, Cherry, but we'll catch up with you later, okay?” said Baxter as she stood by the front of the car with her bags.

  Sidney giggled knowing that Baxter was trying to squirm away out of an embarrassing situation. “Yes, as you can see I'm being rushed by my roommate, but we can chat later!”

  “Oh, I'll be looking forward to it,” said Cherry with a devilish grin.

  As soon as Sidney and Baxter checked in to their cabin, they were enjoying their view from the window when Cherry and another taller blonde knocked on the door.

  “Well what a coincidence! It's Seymour and Bailey! Looks like we're going to be roomies!” shouted Cherry, clearly getting their names all wrong. “This is Dora. We just met downstairs at check-in.”

  “Hi. I'm Dorothy,” said the tall blonde correcting her name as she rolled her eyes.

  Sidney corrected Cherry on the introductions also. “I'm Sidney and this is Baxter.” They both reached out for a handshake.

  The two women walked in and stared at the two double-sized beds. “Who's sleeping with who?” asked Cherry with a sly grin. Baxter shot Sidney a worried expression right before grabbing her bag from the bed n
earest the bathroom and moving it over to Sidney's bed.

  “You girls can share a bed,” said Baxter. “Sid and I already know each other, so we don't mind sharing.”

  “We don't?” asked Sidney playfully.

  The two other women laughed at Sidney's comment and Baxter blushed.

  “Did you ladies pick up an itinerary from the lobby?” inquired Baxter, holding up her copy.

  “No, we didn't. We were in a hurry to see the room. What's it say?” asked Dorothy.

  “It looks like introductions and breakfast in half an hour,” said Baxter looking over the listing.

  “That sounds fun. I can't wait to meet everyone, Dexter!” shouted Cherry.

  “It's Baxter,” said Baxter, correcting her. Cherry didn't even bother to acknowledge her correction. She pretended not to hear her.

  Cherry grabbed her backpack full of toiletries and make-up. “I'm going to go in the bathroom to freshen up before breakfast.”

  As soon as the door closed, Dorothy whispered, “I had no idea we were going to have to share rooms! Can you imagine spending two whole days with her? She's already driving me nuts. I only met her about twenty minutes ago and she's already called me three different names!”

  Baxter smiled. “I'm sure it will be fine. You have the two of us to hang out with. I'm only sorry that you have to share a bed with her.”

  “Oh, I know. Either of you want to change places?” pleaded Dorothy.

  Sidney frowned and shook her head. Baxter laughed. “Sorry. We're roommates back home, so we're already used to one another.”

  Sidney headed towards the door. “Why don't we all head down to find a seat. It will be nice to meet some of the other women.”

  The three women exited the room and headed downstairs. The lobby was cozy with a cobblestone fireplace, large lounge chairs covered in crocheted throws and fur skins and some decorative taxidermy deer busts hung on the walls. An antler chandelier hung in the center of the room and gave the room a soft glow.

  As they made themselves comfortable, a group of four other women came down and sat beside them on a sofa.

  “Hello,” said Baxter warmly. “You ladies here for the retreat?”

  “Yes,” said an older woman. She had short hair and seemed rather serious and shy.

  “I'm Baxter and these are my roommates Dorothy and Sidney.”

  “I'm Karen and these three ladies are my roommates.” She pointed to the other women on the couch.

  “Hi. I'm Justine,” said a young brunette with tears in her eyes. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” said Baxter.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” said Sidney and Dorothy almost in unison.

  “I'm Elaine,” said a portly woman with large dark curls. She was eating a bag of cookies and had several other small bags of chips and crackers beside her. “I couldn't wait for breakfast, so I had to hit the vending machines. Don't mind me.”

  “I don't blame you at all,” said Dorothy. “I'm starving myself.”

  “Here, have yourself a bag of chips,” said Elaine, handing her a bag of Lays.

  “Oh, no, thanks. I can wait for breakfast,” said Dorothy, shaking her hand.

  “Nice to meet you all,” said a thin woman with long dark hair. “I'm Felicia.” She seemed to cower into herself shyly. If she had been a chameleon she would have blended into the couch pattern to hide.

  A few minutes passed before the two facilitators came down. “Hello, everyone. Good morning. I'm Olivia and this is Patty. We're in charge of activities. Is everyone here?”

  “It looks like we're missing some people,” said Patty, looking around.

  “We've already started introductions,” said Dorothy.

  “That's great,” said Olivia. “We're just waiting on the last few women then.”

  Cherry came downstairs and sat beside Sidney. Baxter and Dorothy scooted away, and Sidney shot Baxter a mean look. Baxter looked back towards Sidney and grinned.

  “Hello, everyone. I'm Cherry. I'm not good at introductions, but if you have any questions, just ask me.”

  “Welcome, Cherry,” said Olivia.

  “Thank you, Ophelia,” said Cherry with a big smile. Olivia looked confused as to why Cherry called her Ophelia, but said nothing.

  “We'll wait a few more minutes,” said Olivia. Just as she spoke, the four other women came walking down the stairs. “Oh, look. Here they come now.”

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” said an older woman with glasses. “We got busy chatting and lost track of time.”

  “You're fine,” said Patty. “Right on time.”

  “Yes, it looks like everyone's already introduced themselves. Who out of you four wants to go first?” asked Olivia, looking at them curiously as they sat down and made themselves comfortable.

  “I'll go first,” said the woman with glasses. “My name's Lara. I'm a lesbian author. I wanted to come on this retreat to meet other like-minded women, but also to have some quiet time to write.”

  “Okay, sounds great. Welcome,” said Olivia. “Who's next?”

  A short, spunky brunette jumped up from her seat and stood. She rambled her introduction as if she was in a hurry to get it all out or she'd explode. “I'll go next. I'm Nora! I work as a flight attendant and I just absolutely positively love to fly. I love to meet new people, I love talking to my passengers, and most of all I love the woods. Don't you all love the woods? I'm seeing this therapist and he thinks that I'm all together too hyper and that it might conflict with my job, so the airline paid for my retreat. I guess they thought I needed a getaway, or some quiet, or maybe I just needed to make new friends...”

  “Wow, honey. Did you take a breath somewhere in there?” asked Patty. All the other women giggled.

  Baxter looked over at Sidney and smiled. Sidney wondered if she had made a mistake in deciding to come. She could have stayed home with Baxter and her cat Mittens. He was a gorgeous black cat with white front paws. She had contemplated calling him Socks, but Baxter had insisted that he was wearing mittens since his front paws were white and not his back paws.

  “Okay, that just leaves you two,” said Olivia, pointing to the last two women that hadn't yet introduced themselves. The one that couldn't stop smiling spoke up first.

  “Hello, everyone,” she said as she waved. “I'm Millicent. I heard about this retreat from a friend and this year I'm single and I didn't want to spend the holiday alone, so here I am. It's nice to meet everybody.”

  “Nice to meet you,” said everyone in unison.

  “Looks likes it's all you,” said Patty, pointing to the last woman.

  “Hello. I'm Angel. I'm here because my ex Carla told me about this place. She said that she came here once and she had a blast. I did talk to one of my other exes, Diedra, and she said she had fun here one year, too. I looked it up online and saw that there was one spot left, so I signed up and here I am.”

  “Nice to meet you, Angel, and welcome to the Seventh Annual Christmas Holiday Singles Retreat. We're glad to have you. I'm Olivia and I own this cabin and this is my roommate Patty. She lives and works here and helps out with the retreat activities.”

  “After breakfast, we're all going on a little hike, so everyone is welcome to run up to their rooms to change clothes or get into some comfortable walking shoes. Breakfast is biscuits and gravy and some warm oatmeal. You also have your choice of orange juice, apple juice, or coffee. Join me in the cafe.” Patty motioned with her hands for everyone to follow and all twelve women got up from where they were seated and proceeded to follow Olivia and Patty to where the warm aroma of coffee, oatmeal, and biscuits and gravy was coming from.

  Elaine was the first in line and she piled her plate high with biscuits and then drowned them in gravy. She had a large bowl of oatmeal and helped herself to a giant bowl of fruit that was on the counter. “You girls want fruit? You having fruit?” she asked before shoving the contents of the bowl in her large purse. Baxter turned to look at Sidney in disbelie
f. She hadn't even had a chance to respond. Sidney and Baxter sat quietly eating biscuits without gravy and Dorothy joined them eating a steaming bowl of oatmeal.

  Cherry sat down at a table with Justine, who was quietly sobbing into her bowl of oatmeal. “You okay, honey?” asked Cherry. She patted her on the back as Justine nodded. “It will be okay, whatever it is.”

  Lara grabbed her breakfast and vanished from sight. No doubt she had hurried off to her room to write an award-winning lesbian novel. Nora made the mistake of sitting with Cherry and Justine, the overly emotional sobbing woman. Sidney, Baxter, and Dorothy had the joy of overhearing their conversation.

  “I don't know why Geraldine is so upset,” said Cherry to Nora about Justine. “I asked her if she was okay, but she won't talk to me.”

  “Are you okay?” asked Nora. “Why are you crying? Is it an ex? Is it a dog? Is that it? Did you lose your dog? Or was it a cat? I had a goldfish once that I won at a carnival and it died right away, too. I had it one night and would you believe that it was dead by morning?”

  Cherry decided to chime in her two cents. “Yes, I had a pet rock once when I was a child that I found in the driveway, but my mom came over and saw it on the table and tossed it outside in the gravel. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I never did find that rock. But at least it was with all the other rocks. It was reunited with its family. It will be okay, Clementine.”

  Baxter couldn't help but burst into laughter. The women looked over at her, and Baxter hid her face behind Sidney and ate her breakfast biscuit silently trying to wipe the smile from her face. Sidney downed her coffee hurriedly. “Why don't we go outside and wait for the hike to begin?” said Sidney as she stood up.

  “Good idea,” said Baxter trying not to laugh. She and Dorothy returned their trays and tossed their disposable dishes in the trash. They stepped out into the cool, hill country air. It was a crisp morning of about fifty-five degrees. They sat at an outdoor table and waited patiently for the rest of the women to join them.