Mistletoe Magic (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Chapter 8

eight

CHRIS

Noelle squealed.

Holly tried to calm her.

“What do we do?” Holly asked quietly.

“We’ll just give it a few minutes and see if it comes back on. Might just be a short thing,” I lied.

I’d been watching this storm gathering momentum on the radar for days. The whole town knew it was coming. We just didn’t know when or how hard it would hit.

“You guys finish your dinner and I’ll find some candles,” I offered, taking a bite of my pizza and turning on the flashlight on my phone.

The first thing I did was check the battery. If we were going to have to get downstairs and settled in before it died, I needed to make sure we had enough light to get us there. The last thing I needed was someone slipping down the icy stairs in the dark and cracking their head open.

“Mom, I’m scared,” Noelle whispered through the darkness.

I turned and shone the light on them. Holly abandoned her pizza without a word and sat on the floor by her daughter, wrapping her arm around Noelle’s shoulders. Holly was a good mom. I might not know much about her, but I knew that.

I grabbed the candles and set them on the counter. When I walked over to the window and looked across Evergreen Lake, everything was covered in a blanket of darkness. The streetlights were out. No festive Christmas lights were flashing. Even the bright yellow star on the top of the town Christmas tree had gone dark.

“How bad is it?” Holly asked, her voice shaky.

“Honestly?” I asked, swinging my phone around so I could see them. Holly nodded as Noelle burrowed into her side. “I think we’re better off packing up what we need and heading downstairs.”

“That bad?”

“Look, the power may come back on, but I have no idea how long it’s going to be until it does. We might as well start moving while we’re warm as opposed to waiting until we’ve turned into popsicles.”

Noelle turned to Holly, looking serious. “Mom, I don’t want to be a popsicle.”

Holly smiled, the most beautiful smile I’d seen in a long time. “You won’t, sweetie,” Holly assured her.

“But Chris said …”

Shit! Now I felt bad. I hadn’t meant to scare her.

“You’re fine, Noelle. Now, if you’ve had enough dinner, take your plate to the kitchen and then we’ll get your things together and move downstairs.”

You could tell Holly knew how to deal with kids. She had this calmness about her.

Noelle jumped up and scurried into the kitchen, setting her plate on the sink before coming back and picking up the rest of her things. I was surprised she didn’t argue or complain. I thought all kids complained about doing chores or picking up things .

“If you two are right up here, I’ll go down and get the fire started. It will take a bit to get the place warmed.”

“Okay,” Holly agreed, reaching for Noelle’s hand.

“Okay,” I confirmed, feeling awkward. Shaking off the feeling, I started getting dressed. Standing there in my boots, jacket, scarf, gloves, and beanie, I looked over at Holly and Noelle, who were standing by the Christmas tree. I couldn’t help myself. It was too precious a moment not to capture. I snapped a picture and banked the memory before I spoke.

“Right. I’m heading down. Pack up what you need. Warm clothes, pillows, blankets, and I’ll come back and help carry them down.”

“We can do that. Can’t we, Noelle?” Holly asked, trying to get Noelle involved.

“I can help,” Noelle replied. Damn, that kid was cute.

I reached for the door handle. “Holly?”

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t mind, could you pack some food and drinks, too? We don’t have to take everything, but it would be good to have some supplies so we’re not up and down those stairs every other minute.”

“Can do,” Holly agreed with a smile.

I needed to get out of there before I said or did something stupid like asking them to stay. Beg them to never leave. There was something normal about them being here. It felt like it was too good to be true. Yanking open the door, I was hit with an icy blast of reality that I desperately needed.

“Holy fuck!” I swore as I stepped out into the snow, tugging my beanie down over my ears.

I slipped twice on my way down the stairs, but thankfully, made it in one piece. After getting the fire started, I set about getting ready for guests. Even though I’d tidied up earlier it didn’t seem clean enough .

I made notes on my phone about what I needed to bring down. It would’ve been easier if it’d just been me. I would’ve grabbed my blanket and crashed on the couch. The couch wasn’t big enough for three. In fact, it wasn’t really big enough for me, but I’d make do.

An hour later, I shed my jacket and had worked up a sweat, but it was as good as it was going to be. Blowing up the air mattress really took it out of me, but at least everyone had somewhere to sleep.

Knowing I’d done all I could, I slid my jacket back on and headed upstairs carefully to help Noelle and Holly. Taking note of the ice on the bottom step, I made a mental note to warn them.

I opened the door and stepped into my apartment, and was hit by a frosty surprise. The temperature had dropped here quicker than I was expecting.

“It’s cold in here,” I commented, waving my phone around.

“It’s so cold,” Noelle replied, her teeth chattering.

“Let’s get you warmed up then,” I offered, feeling guilty I’d taken so long.

Noelle climbed out of Holly’s lap on the couch and tugged down her pink jacket. When she reached for the handle of her suitcase, I stepped over and took it. “How about I carry that down for you, and you just take care of getting there in one piece?”

Noelle looked to Holly who just nodded her agreement.

“Mmkay,” Noelle replied, hugging her teddy bear to her chest.

“Is this all of it?” I asked, looking around the room.

There was a lot less than I expected, or maybe Holly was just really good at packing.

“Other than your things. I wasn’t sure … I didn’t know …” Holly stumbled over her words, and it was adorable .

“I’ll grab what I need. How about we get you ladies settled and warmed up first?”

Noelle almost gave herself whiplash, she nodded so hard.

Ten minutes later, Noelle was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket in front of the fire. Holly was fussing about, trying to make it comfortable and homey while I headed back up for the last load.

Alone in my place for the first time since they’d crashed into my life, I looked around and realized how lonely and empty my life was without them. I knew they were only passing through and I had nothing to offer them, but they’d already given me everything I didn’t know I wanted. Everything I didn’t know I needed. They’d brought me back to life, and I was going to find a way to repay them for that. Even if I froze my ass off trying.

I eyed the tree in the corner. Even in the dark it was beautiful. With the moonlight, what little moonlight there was, I could see the ornament I’d made when I was a kid front and center. No way Holly could’ve known what the ornament meant to me or the memories it held, but it was right there in front of me, bringing them all crashing back. Holly was right. I didn’t hate Christmas. I’d just been so weighed down by the hurt for so long that it was easier to resent the holidays than accept the pain Shayna had caused. Maybe it was time to let it go. My misery wasn’t ruining her holidays. All it did was keep me isolated and alone.

I shook off the heavy emotions and stepped into my bedroom. Straight away the scent of vanilla and cherry assaulted me. Holly was everywhere, and I knew she wasn’t trying to be. Other than the lingering scent, there wasn’t a trace of them anywhere. The bathroom sparkled. The bed was made. Everything was in its place. If it wasn’t for her perfume making me giddy, it would be easy to believe she wasn’t real.

I didn't want to leave them alone too long. Forcing myself to focus, I changed into a comfy, loose pair of gray sweatpants and a navy hoodie before scooping up an arm full of bedding. Another few blankets wouldn’t go astray.

With one last check that everything was turned off, I headed back downstairs to bunker down for the night. I shoved open the heavy door with my shoulder as a gust of wind blasted through the door. As quickly as I could, I closed it, blocking the air with my body.

I crossed the garage into the office and was shocked by what I found.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I dropped the pile of blankets on the blow-up mattress.

“Getting ready for bed,” Holly replied, confused.

“You two are not going to fit on that couch,” I pointed out as Holly tried to wriggle in behind Noelle.

“Either are you,” Holly countered as Noelle rubbed her eyes.

“Holly. Please. You and Noelle take the bed. I’ll be fine on the couch. It won’t be my first night on the couch.” I huffed, too exhausted to fight.

“Chris, it's fine. We don’t want to be any trouble.”

“Holly,” I said, my voice dropping and sounding serious.

“Mom, I'm sleepy. And you said if I don’t go to sleep, Santa won’t come,” Noelle whined with a yawn.

“Shit!” Holly cussed under her breath. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

I watched as Holly warred with her own thoughts. When she climbed off the couch, almost falling face first, she stood and straightened her pajamas. Damn this woman. She was dressed from neck to ankle in black and red plaid Christmas pajamas with dachshunds wearing Santa hats and I’d never been more attracted to a woman in my life. There was obviously something seriously wrong with me.

Without any further argument, she got Noelle settled and tucked in. I wasn’t eavesdropping, well, not on purpose, but I did when I heard Holly promise Noelle that Santa would find them no matter where they were because he was magic. I knew my days of being a Grinch were behind me.