Tis The Season for Secrets (Village of Yule #2)

1. Juliet

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“ A moment of peace! Is that too much to ask for?” Juliet groaned, placing a rather lacking manuscript on her mint couch. Ms Baum, her boss, was expecting a full report by Monday on whether it was worthy of the slush pile or publishing. Not that what Juliet wrote in her reports mattered, because Ms Baum always insisted on double-checking herself.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Coming!” Juliet figured that Margot, her roommate, must have forgotten her keys. Just in case, she pulled her favourite Supernatural hoodie over her grey sweatpants. Not that she’d worked out today, or intended to; reading in jeans in the comfort of her small apartment just felt like a sin.

Across the small lilac living room, she caught her reflection in the long mirror by the door. She winced at the sight of her frizzed-out hair and the dark circles beneath her brown eyes. At least her hair looked somewhat deliberately styled, twisted up in a claw clip. The messy look drew attention to the honey and copper highlights in her dark brown hair that she was impatiently waiting to grow out.

Looking through the peephole, Juliet released the door chain when she saw the courier waiting in the hallway. Baum must have messengered over more manuscripts.

It wouldn’t be the first time she’d sent someone after eight pm, or on a Saturday. Ms Baum wanted to get through as many books as possible before Harley on the clasp, their family name, Frost, was engraved. An old heirloom? Her heart ached, remembering how much Nana Rose had loved the holidays, but she couldn’t recall her nana ever wearing such a necklace.

She shook the bell. There was no chime, but the tiny golden swirls etched into the metal caught the light, shining like new. Gently, she set the necklace down on the table, noticing an inscription on the inside of the chest’s lid.

To Find Your Way Home

Juliet thought all the family heirlooms had been left to her father or the Frost estate in her grandparents’ will. She pulled out a chair, needing to sit. Maybe this is a secret inheritance Nana put together without the rest of the family’s knowledge? It wouldn’t be the first time her nana had gone out of her way to make her feel like she was a part of the family –unlike her grandfather, who’d simply wished for Juliet, the stain on the Frost name and evidence of their son’s youthful mistake, to disappear. Her father had been attentive, but only to mould her into the perfect eldest daughter of the Frost family. A darling of society – a society which she’d fled as soon as she turned eighteen.

Juliet chewed her lower lip, nervous, as she picked up the bundle of letters. She couldn’t undo the knot in her stomach, so she decided to unknot the ribbon instead and do what she did best: read.

Dear Juliet,

My darling granddaughter, I’m sorry I couldn’t give this to you in person and explain its contents. This chest was entrusted to me by your mother, to be passed on to you only after the passing of your grandfather. I’m afraid that in keeping my promise to your mother, I’ve had to keep you in the dark. There are many elements of our family’s past and your own story that have been kept from you, for both your own safety and that of others. However, the time has come for you to learn the truth.

Having watched you grow into such a thoughtful, kind and honest woman that I’m proud to call my granddaughter, I feel you should be allowed to make your own decision and find where you truly belong. I hope you can forgive me– us – for what we’ve kept from you over the years. Please keep your mind and your heart open, and I promise you’ll find the home you’ve always deserved. One I’m afraid that we failed to give you—

At the sound of a key turning in the lock, Juliet scrambled to put the pages back inside the chest and bundle it to her bedroom. She’d only just managed to shove the chest under her bed, amongst the many books, when she heard the clang of Margot dropping her keys in the bowl in the hallway that separated their rooms.

“Have you moved since I left?” Margot stood by her bedroom door, so wrapped up in a chunky pink scarf and hat that Juliet could hardly see her face as she kicked off her mini woolly boots.

“Yes. I went from the couch to my bed. Baum wants me to go through what remains of the slush pile before the holidays.” Juliet hated lying, but she wasn’t ready to tell her friend about the chest until she discovered what Nana Rose wanted to confess.

“This was in our post box.” Margot reached into her coat pocket. “You should switch everything to email.”

“Some of us like post. Not everyone is as obsessed with computers as you are.” Juliet was always intimidated by the complicated-looking code Margot was always tapping out on her desktop that took up most of their sitting room. Plus, she’d seen Margot hack her way into one too many computers to ever feel safe online.

“Nice deflection.” Margot handed her a red envelope and shrugged off her coat.

On reflex, Juliet tossed the red envelope into the bright orange bin by her bed.

“You aren’t going to read it?” Margot frowned, running her hands through her bleached white-blond hair, which the hat had stuck to her head.

“Don’t need to. It’s another invitation from socialite hell to attend some festive event or another. Dad loves giving out my address, hoping I’ll give in and attend. If I don’t read the invitation, then I’ve got plausible deniability.” Juliet wanted to spend this festive season in the city with their tiny Christmas tree, safely tucked away from her father’s schemes.

Margot’s sad smile told her she understood the logic. As Juliet’s roommate throughout college, she’d witnessed many late-night screaming matches as her father tried to control her life. When Juliet had stopped answering the calls, her stepmother, Gillian, had turned up on their doorstep with crocodile tears about how she was ‘hurting the family’.

“I’m in awe of your avoidance skills, but you could always use the connections to your own advantage.” Margot headed into her bedroom, where Juliet could hear her rifling through her wardrobe. “Speaking of which, the client meeting went well, and I got an invite of my own for the evening!” Margot had mastered working a crowd in college, while Juliet preferred the library.

“What I need is a killer manuscript to give Baum to secure my promotion! Would this be a date? Because I thought you didn’t date your clients.”

Margot reappeared in her doorway in a purple sequinned midi dress and matching heels, which made her long legs look never-ending. Her tall stature fit her personality to a T: she never let anyone look down on her.

“Not a date! I don’t mix money and pleasure,” she insisted, touching up her make-up at Juliet’s dresser.

“If it’s not a date, then where is this Saturday night taking you?” Juliet asked, wanting to move the conversation away from her life.

“Taking us .” Margot beamed. “My new client – a sleazy high-profile banker who, by the way, thinks deleting his browser history will protect him from his wife’s prying eyes– invited me, us, to an exclusive Christmas party at the Bryce Hotel. Champagne, city lights, and plenty of clients for me to sign. Grab your jacket, I need a wingwoman.” Margot danced around the room, hips swaying as she grabbed a short red dress from Juliet’s wardrobe and threw it at her.

“Did you not see the stack of manuscripts on the couch in the sitting room? I can’t go out tonight!” Juliet looked outside her frosted window, refusing to give up her cozy blankets for frostbite.

“Please, please, please! I need some new and less morally repugnant clients to take on staff in the new year.” Margot gave Juliet her biggest puppy-dog eyes.

“And I’ve got to finish this pile by Monday, or Baum will refuse to promote me,” Juliet argued half-heartedly. An evening out was long overdue.

“You work harder than anyone. That promotion is yours.” Margot grabbed her arms and hauled her off the bed.

“That’s not true. I’m taking an extra week off this Christmas!”

Before she could protest further, the strappy red mini dress was thrust into her arms.

“That’s only because you had mandatory vacation days left over. You even took Baum’s dog to the groomers last weekend. Is the promotion worth all this?”

“Yes. I’ve put in five years as her assistant. You don’t understand, because you own your own company – you can promote yourself.” Juliet loved her job; spending all day every day with books was her dream. Nearly all her happiest memories involved books. The only part that made it feel like a job was Ms Baum breathing down her neck. Margot, on the other hand, had set up her own tech-based private investigator firm. Juliet liked to tease her that she made her money working off the books for some secret government agency. Margot always rolled her eyes and told her not to read so many spy novels.

“How about I promote you to bestest best friend if you come with me? You can consider it an early Christmas present to me.”

Juliet caved, knowing Margot wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Okay, I’ll come with you! But I can’t stay out too late.”

Margot squeezed her tightly, before leaving to let her get ready. The red dress was either a little shorter or her butt was a little bigger since she’d worn it to last year’s Christmas work party, but it hugged her figure to perfection. Juliet waved her poker-straight hair and prayed the hairspray would stop it from turning into a frizzy mess once they stepped outside into the sleet and snow.

Margot reappeared, changing her studs for some gold hoops from Juliet’s dresser. They shared everything. Juliet dreaded the day one of them moved out; at this point there was no way of telling what belonged to whom. “Also, please remember that you’ve already found two bestselling authors for Ms Baum. If that doesn’t convince her to promote you, nothing will. I’m sure other publishing houses would love to hire you.”

“I’ve put in too much work to go somewhere else. I must believe that good things come to those who wait. One more week, and that position is mine.” Juliet finished her makeup with winged liner and a red lip to match her dress. Heading to the kitchen, she put her debit card in her clutch. “Once I find my heels, we can go.” She darted down the hall to their overflowing shoe cupboard and fished out some chunky black satin heels. “Found them!”

“The taxi is downstairs,” Margot muttered, taking a careful bite out of some toast so she wouldn’t smudge her lipstick. “I’ve put your keys in your clutch.” Margot confirmed, pulling on her thigh high boots.

Meeting Margot by the door, Juliet felt a moment of regret as she saw the manuscripts on the couch . I’ve got all of tomorrow to finish them. A few hours of fun can’t hurt, she reasoned . Locking the door behind them, she tried to get into the party spirit, deciding to forget about work and the mystery chest under her bed.