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

16. Will

“ I didn’t think you’d be so upset to see me,” Will said, following Juliet through the house.

“I didn’t think you would stalk me all the way to Frost House.” She picked up the suitcase in the hallway, not wanting him to know she had brought the chest with her. He grabbed her handbag; pink wasn’t really his colour.

“I’m not stalking you, I was invited! After you ran out of the gala, your dad mentioned we should spend some time together over the holidays. And I figured you would come back here for answers. I thought you could use some moral support.”

“The last time you tried to comfort me, I ended up in some magical village. I can figure this out by myself,” Juliet said, trying not to sound rude. She’d still be in the dark about Yule without him, but right now she didn’t want to be distracted by him or his cologne. “You’ve done enough; you don’t need to watch me 24/7. I promised to call if I needed you.”

She opened a sliding door in the dining room, and the chill hit her as she stepped into the frosted gardens. They walked through the perfectly trimmed short hedges that separated each species of flower and the various statues and fountains that made up the gardens.

“Being a guardian of Yule, I’m here to protect our secret and for your protection, even if you need to be protected from yourself.” Will followed close behind as she navigated the covered pool.

“I don’t need to be protected,” she huffed, weaving her suitcase through the garden path, careful not to crush any plants.

“Says the woman who’d have frozen to death in an alley if Lyla hadn’t found you,” Will mused.

Juliet clenched her jaw, not wanting to think about that, or what had followed. She turned on him and grabbed her handbag, leaving him with the heavier suitcase that contained the chest. Since he wanted to help, he could be the one to struggle.

“You’re cute when you’re petty,” he said, taking it.

“Don’t flirt with me when I’m mad at you.” Careful on the icy path, she passed the rose bushes that surrounded her small cottage.

“Where are we going?” Will asked, side-stepping a plant pot mostly camouflaged by thick snow.

“Home,” she told him, fishing in her bag for her keys. “The cottage predates the estate.” It was a quaint patchwork of old stones and cement.

“Don’t you live in the main house?” he asked, looking back towards the main house.

She chuckled to herself. “So, you don’t know everything about me.”

“There was only so much in your file,” he muttered, his leather shoes struggling to find grip on the icy path.

“You have a file on me?” Juliet stared at him, and his eyes widened as he realised his mistake.

The lanterns on either side of the door had been turned on, highlighting the front door that she’d painted baby pink years back. The shade had faded to cream after years of weathering.

She shook her head. He’d probably broken another rule by telling her about the file, and they were in enough trouble as it was. “Well, looks like that file left out some important details. I lived here for most of my teen years.” She was putting the keys in the door when she heard a loud curse and a thud. Turning around, she found Will in a hedge.

“Are you alright? I thought you’d be used to some icy steps.” She chewed her lips to stop herself from laughing as he pulled a twig from his woollen jumper.

“Fine. The weight of the suitcase threw me off. Did you smuggle Margot in here?”

“A woman can never have enough shoes.” If he knew she had the chest, he’d probably want it as far away from the Frosts as possible, but she needed it in case she found anything in the house and could compare details.

“Didn’t you want to stay with your family?” he asked, apparently trying to move past his rather inelegant stumble.

“It was my grandfather’s idea, and my stepmother preferred me being out from under her feet,” she sighed. She had to admit that she loved her little home away from the house, even if she’d never forgive her grandfather for denying her the family she’d always wanted growing up.

“Didn’t Beth ever ask why you don’t live in the main house?” Will asked, unwittingly picking at a mostly healed wound.

“When she was born, I’d already been living here for a few years. And I like having my own space. Grandfather Reginald even gave me a nice allowance every few years to do it up the way I wanted.”

“How kind of him,” he muttered, placing her suitcase by the couch in the centre of the pastel pink sitting room, just off from the small lavender kitchen.

Diana had been right about the heating– Juliet quickly added a log to the fire. Thankfully, there was no visible damp. Diana or Victor must’ve been maintaining it in her absence.

“It was kind of him. It was probably one of the only times he did something for me because he wanted to. He could’ve let my stepmother decorate it the way she wanted, which would’ve included a lot of beige and cream.” She didn’t know why she was being so defensive of the old man. Maybe she didn’t want to taint one of the few good memories she had of him that wasn’t tainted with neglect and hurt. “He even left it to me in his will. My stepmother wanted to knock it down when I went to college and put in a tennis court.” She couldn’t help but wonder if Reginald had done it so she’d have her own place on the estate, not just to keep her out of the main house when she came back for visits.

Will surveyed the fluffy white cushions on the light grey couch and her stacks of DVDs by the small TV. “Miracle on 34th Street, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, The Holiday,” he murmured, looking over the collection. “I thought you weren’t all that into Christmas?”

“Christmas as a holiday I love. The expectations that come with it, not so much,” she explained, taking The Holiday out of his hand and putting it back on the rack. “And movies can be enjoyed at any time of the year.” She loved Christmas movies, with their messages of hope and love. “Do you have these in Yule?” she asked, wondering if a town dedicated to Christmas would indulge in such things, or if they distanced themselves from what outsiders believed.

“We do, but I haven’t watched any in a few years,” he said. Juliet guessed he enjoyed them, given the smile he tried to conceal.

Desperate for a cup of coffee with swirls of the chocolate sauce that Diana always remembered to stock her cupboards with, she boiled her ridiculously bright orange kettle by the small sink in the corner of the kitchen. Having Will in her home, the one place in the Frost estate she felt was her own, made her feel far too exposed, considering how much he already knew about her.

“Here. You got a bit wet when you fell into the hedge,” she said, tossing him a pink towel from the bathroom cupboard, trying to distract him from looking over her Christmas snow globe collection. It didn’t seem to faze him as he dabbed the droplets from his navy sweater.

“The snowman is smoking.” He frowned, picking up the figurine.

“Nana Rose loved to find ridiculous Christmas trinkets. We used to collect them from thrift stores during the holidays,” Juliet said, taking a reindeer driving a Santa sleigh from his hand.

For a moment, only the sound of the boiling kettle filled the space. Will turned to her, and she considered taking a step back, but his gaze held her still.

“I couldn’t imagine being forced to live on the grounds when there are plenty of rooms in the house.”

It wasn’t what she had expected him to say, and the concern in those dark eyes melted her insides. Still, she changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on the past. “If you’re here because you’re worried, I’m not going to tell anyone about Yule, you don’t have to be. Anyway, even if I told someone about a village in the North Pole, they wouldn’t believe me,” she said, leaving his side to go to her bedroom. She wanted to hide the chest in the secret compartment in her floorboards she’d made in her teens. She’d considered leaving it in the apartment, but then Margot might find it.

Lifting out the jumpers and putting them on the bed, she removed the chest from the suitcase and was about to lift the floorboards when she heard footsteps. She froze when she saw Will in the doorway.

“That can’t be here! Are you insane? Do you have any idea what your father would do if he got access to that or the bell?!”

“If you’re so worried about the contents, why would you help my mom get it to me?” Was he going to take it back? She wasn’t going to let that happen until she had answers. “I’m not going to let you take it.” She stepped back towards it, protectively.

The shock on his face told her she was wrong. “Why are you so determined to think I’m the enemy? After all the trouble I went to get it to you, I’m not going to take it from you. As a guardian, it’s my job to make the learning process easier for you. Learning about Yule can be overwhelming. Given your family’s history, I don’t want you to be alone in this, regardless of my personal feelings for you.”

His admission made her heart pound. Why did her body respond to his words, when her mind told her it could only end in heartbreak? He was from Yule, the very place her family had been banished from. She couldn’t help but wonder what her life would’ve been like if her mom hadn’t given her up, if she’d grown up in Yule. Sadness washed over her. She could have been raised by two parents who loved each other enough to break laws. Part of her resented Yule for ruining the family she might have had.

“What do you mean by trouble? How did you get it?” she asked.

“Your mum got the Frost chest from Yule’s ancestral vault, a crime punishable by banishment. I got it out of Yule and passed it on to your grandmother, another crime punishable by banishment,” he explained. “If your father found the chest, he could use it to get to Yule, and the council would know someone got the chest out.”

Well, that explained why he was so determined to protect it. He’d risk losing his home to help her?

“Put that away and let’s sit down. You don’t look so good.” Will reached for her as she swayed. She’d never been a fainter in the past, but now was as good a time as any to start. He helped her lift the floorboard and secure the chest inside before covering it again, then led her to the couch in the sitting room and sat down.

“There was a letter from my grandfather to my mom. He mentioned that she was a guardian who broke her vows,” she said quietly. “That her relationship with my father was forbidden – it’s why she had to give me up. I came home to find answers. There were other letters where she tried to end things, and Dad wouldn’t let her. I want to see if I can find out more.”

“That’s why I got here first. In case you got the overwhelming desire to confront your dad,” he said, sitting down beside her on the couch.

“I don’t want to confront him. I need to find the letter my mom sent Reginald about petitioning the council.”

“The council of Yule will do anything to keep our secret and return that chest to its rightful place if they discover it’s missing. Your father can’t find out you have the chest; he can’t get his hands on the bell.”

“Because he could use it to prove Yule exists?”

He nodded. “And that can’t happen.”

“One more question. If guardians aren’t allowed to get involved with their charges, like it said in Reginald’s letter, why did you approach me in the hotel but let me believe you were just a stranger?”

“Selfishly, I wanted you. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my distance.” He tipped her chin up to him, and she blushed. “The moment I saw your photo in the file, I couldn’t imagine anyone else by your side through this, even if it’s mostly my job to protect the chest, and Yule. I couldn’t stop myself from approaching you, but I’m also not sorry for the time we’ve spent together,” he admitted. Conflict raged inside her. How can I repeat the same mistake as my parents? She wanted to be angry at him for putting them in this complicated and potentially heartbreaking situation, but it didn’t matter how much she rationalised, because her heart skipped a beat as he rested his hand on her thigh. His head dipped towards her, and all she could think was how safe she felt beside him.

A door slammed open, making them both jump, and Beth rushed into the room and leaned on the back of the couch. “Sorry to interrupt the flirting, but the cookies are ready, and I set up the movie.”

“Did you clean the kitchen?” Juliet asked, thankful to her sister for breaking the tension before they got carried away. Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment.

Beth nodded furiously. “Did you have time to hide my presents?”

“Stop thinking about presents – do you want to watch the movie or not?” She got up to playfully shove her sister towards the door.

Beth looked so like their father with her dark hair and eyebrows, the narrow cheekbones. Juliet couldn’t help but wonder if when her father looked at her , he saw only her mom, the woman he’d shared a forbidden love with. Perhaps that explained their tumultuous relationship, one she was glad her sister didn’t have to experience.

“Are you going to join us?” Beth asked Will. “There are plenty of cookies, and I don’t want you to feel left out. Dad wouldn’t like for us to leave out a guest.”

“I’m sure Will has far more important things to do. We shouldn’t keep him to ourselves.” Juliet smiled at him, hoping he’d reject the offer so she wouldn’t have to sit in a dark room in such a proximity with him for hours. “Right, Will? Places to go, people to visit.”

“But he just got here.” Beth’s frown melted her resolve.

“And I’ve nowhere else I’d rather be. It’d be rude of me to reject such a kind offer,” Will said with a grin, rising from the couch.

Beth beamed. “Good, because I’ve made all of us some hot chocolate. I don’t want it to get cold, so hurry up!”

Beth fell asleep within the first twenty minutes of the movie, and Will, despite being from a place far more magical than any Christmas movie, couldn’t have been more engrossed in the antics of muppets messing with Michael Caine. Juliet was surprised when he took her hand, threading his fingers through hers as though it was the most natural act in the world, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. His touch put her more at ease than she’d felt in weeks.