No Ordinary Christmas

by Belle Calhoune

  “We’re here,” Dante announced, dragging her away from thoughts of Christmases past. Once he found a spot in the lot, they both exited the vehicle and surveyed the wonder of the famous landmark. Lucy watched as Dante closed his eyes and spread his arms wide. “Aaah,” he said, sounding as if he’d arrived at the top of a Himalayan mountain after a demanding trek. “Someone needs to bottle the smell of a Maine Christmas tree farm. They’d make millions.” He winked. “And it would be good for the soul too.”

  She wasn’t about to disagree with him. There was something so calming about this scent. It could probably lull babies to sleep and make the worst curmudgeon weep with happiness. It was an elixir.

  As they walked toward the rows of trees, several people stopped and gawked at Dante. He was good-natured about it, grinning and saying hello but not stopping to confirm his identity. A few folks rudely snapped pictures on their phones. Dante didn’t appear to be overly bothered by it, which was very generous of him. Lucy couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be to live any kind of normal life with his type of fame.

  “Is it always like this?” she asked in a low voice. Lucy wasn’t used to people gawking at her with such fascination. It was kind of creepy as far as she was concerned.

  “This is nothing,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve had paparazzi go through my trash and get so close to me I could tell you what they ate for breakfast.”

  Lucy made a face. “Well, that’s just gross.”

  “My sentiments exactly,” he said, chuckling.

  She liked the sound of his laugh. It was deep and hearty, bringing to mind the younger version of him that she’d fallen madly in love with when she was a teenager. This, she thought, was the Dante she’d spent countless hours with all over Mistletoe.

  “Dante. You’ve got to be kidding me!” A voice rang out behind them.

  When they turned around, Lou Sawyer, the owner of the tree farm, was standing there with a stupefied expression.

  “Lou!” Dante called out, his face lit up with delight. The two men exchanged a heartfelt bear hug. Lou was a beloved member of the Mistletoe community. With his salt-and-pepper hair, twinkling blue eyes, and perpetual grin, Lou radiated good vibes. Both she and Dante had known Lou ever since they were toddlers. In many ways, he represented the joy of the holidays. His Christmas tree farm had played a role in the lives of most of the folks who lived in Mistletoe. It was a holiday staple in these parts.

  “Hey, Lucy. I can’t believe this guy surprised me like this,” Lou said, jerking his chin in Dante’s direction. “The single best teenaged employee I ever had. I didn’t expect you to come all the way out here. I imagined you’d send one of your crew members to check the place out.”

  Dante looked around him and spread out his arms. “And miss all of this? No way, Lou. My memories of this place are ingrained in me. It’s the most serene and beautiful place in all of New England.”

  Lucy didn’t know if she’d ever seen Lou smile so wide. She wasn’t sure if he would ever recover if Dante didn’t select his tree farm as a site for his movie. She couldn’t say she blamed him. Being chosen by Dante would give Lou’s business a lucrative payday and a great deal of free publicity. It might even make Sawyer’s Christmas tree farm famous outside of this region of Maine.

  “That’s what I like to hear,” Lou said. “I’ll get out of your hair so the two of you can look around in peace. Let me know if you have any questions. And don’t forget to grab some hot cocoa and marshmallows.” With a wave of his hand, Lou headed over to some customers who were eyeballing a gorgeous Fraser fir.

  “I think he might cry if you don’t pick this place,” Lucy said in a low voice. “He seems really stoked about it.” The thought of Lou being disappointed made Lucy’s heart ache.

  Dante quirked his mouth. “It has to feel right for the movie,” Dante said. “This particular scene is a pivotal one in the film. It’s when both of the main characters come to a huge realization.”

  He began walking back and forth between rows of trees with Lucy trailing behind him. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. “It’s just like I remembered it. My favorite part of being here was always the sleigh rides and hot chocolate.”

  “Mine too,” she said as she took a walk down memory lane alongside him. “Remember the bonfires where we toasted marshmallows after we picked our special tree? And how we would all huddle under blankets on the sleigh rides? Those are some of my fondest Christmas memories.”

  “Those were the days,” he murmured. “Wait. I’m going to correct myself. We had our first kiss here. That had to be the best moment I’ve ever spent here.”

  First kiss? She knew the exact location of her first official kiss with Dante, and it certainly hadn’t been at Sawyer’s Christmas tree farm.

  She eyed him skeptically. “Clearly you’re thinking of someone else. Maybe Gillian Robinson. Or Fran Simmons. We didn’t have our first kiss here.”

  Dante’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Oh yes, we did. I can’t believe you don’t remember!”

  “Refresh my memory. Please. I can’t wait to rub it in your face just how wrong you are.”

  “All right. We were five, maybe six years old. Our families came out here together for some sort of holiday event.”

  “Twinkle Under the Stars,” Lucy said. She remembered the event vividly, even though she’d been in first grade. All the decorations for the holiday extravaganza had been stars. Silver, gold, red, and green. It had been a little girl’s dream. And there had been trees shimmering with glittery stars. Lucy had been in six-year-old heaven.

  “See. You remember,” Dante said, nodding. “While the adults were listening to Christmas music under the stars, we were having our kiddie party watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. When Rudolph fell for Clarice, I was inspired, so I made my move. I kissed you.”

  Lucy squealed with outrage. “That wasn’t a kiss. That was you trying to get some Oreo crumbs off my lips because you were the greediest little kid on the planet.”

  “What? You know that’s not true. That was a genuine, bona fide kiss between two youngsters who had a crush on each other. Denying my version of events is really crushing!”

  Lucy let out a hoot of laughter that drew a lot of curious stares from customers. She clapped a hand over her mouth to silence herself. The last thing she wanted was to be at the center of any rumors about Dante. She could just hear the whispers now. Dante reached out and removed her hand from her mouth. Instead of releasing it, he held on to her mittened hand.

  Her eyes locked with Dante’s and she thought she heard a little sigh slip past his lips. The air was so cold there was fog coming from his breath. In no time flat the atmosphere became charged with electricity. One moment they’d been laughing, and in the very next, something hovered in the air between them that made her want to run in the other direction.

  “What can I say? You’ve always had very kissable lips, Lucy.” Dante’s words caused tremors to reverberate through her body—from head to toe. He moved closer to her so that only a few inches separated them. His nearness was making her legs feel wobbly. She looked up to meet his gaze as something hummed and pulsed all around them. He radiated pure heat.

  Crazy as it seemed, she had the distinct impression that Dante was thinking about kissing her. He was getting closer and closer to her while his eyes were focused intently on her mouth. And suddenly she was imagining what it would be like to lock lips with him after all this time. What it might feel like to have Dante move his lips over hers. Instinctively, she took a step backward. He was way too close for comfort. For a moment there she’d been mesmerized by his seductive brown eyes and laidback charm. She knew all too well how easy it would be to fall right over the edge and into his arms.

  “I-I really have to get going,” she said in a trembling voice. “I wasn’t expecting to even come out here today. I’ve got a lot of errands to run in town.” She clenched her hands at her sides. She sounded like a nervous schoolgirl
instead of a polished and professional head librarian. Without uttering another word, Lucy quickly turned on her heel and headed in the opposite direction.

  “Lucy!” Dante called after her. “You’re going the wrong way!”

  After realizing she was heading away from the lot, Lucy reversed course and walked back toward Dante, who had the good manners not to smirk at her as she walked past him. His brows were knitted together in a look of utter confusion. She really didn’t know what she would have done if he’d laughed at her. Her emotions were on the verge of overflowing. She was frustrated and confused and mad at herself. If he’d planted one on her, Lucy wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have kissed him back. And that made her upset with herself and Dante. His ability to draw her toward him like a magnet was maddening. Honestly, she’d had about enough of him for one day. She’d been foolish to accompany him on this outing and now she regretted it. Sure, there had been lighthearted moments between them where she’d truly believed that they could move beyond their tangled past, but there had been other times when the awareness between them had threatened to rage out of control.

  She didn’t want to forget how awful he’d been to her because it would mean she’d forgiven him. And she didn’t! She hadn’t! Lucy didn’t want to get sucked in by him because she didn’t have a good defense against his massive appeal. It annoyed her to no end that she’d gotten a slight thrill out of the prospect of locking lips with her famous ex.

  What was wrong with her? A kiss wouldn’t erase the past.

  As they walked past the gift shop, Lou popped out.

  “Hey! Where are you going?” Lou called out to them. “You two didn’t even have your hot cocoa. What’s the big rush?”

  Dante sent Lou a thumbs-up and shouted back, “Next time, Lou. I want to use your tree farm in the film. I’ll give you a call later with all the details.”

  Lou let out a celebratory shout. “You won’t regret this, Dante!”

  Dante called out, “I know I won’t.”

  Lucy turned away and increased her stride. It felt imperative that she create some distance between her and Dante, if only for a few minutes. She could hear the sound of shoes crunching in the snow behind her. By the time she reached the car, he’d caught up with her.

  “Wait up, Luce. Where’s the fire at?” he asked, a bit out of breath. Humph! For an action star, Dante sure needed to work on his cardio fitness. He should be walking circles around her.

  “I just need to get out of here,” she explained, avoiding all eye contact as she jumped in the passenger side of the vehicle once he’d unlocked it.

  She could feel Dante’s eyes on her as he got situated in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t saying anything, but she knew he was wondering what was up with her. At the moment she didn’t really care whether he viewed her as moody or fickle or a downright lunatic. Although she usually loved visiting Sawyer’s tree farm, Lucy was full of regret about joining Dante on this little excursion. She’d let her guard down with him, and as a result, Lucy had placed herself too close to the fire.

  Dante had almost kissed her. And the truth was, a part of her had wanted him to do it more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

  Chapter Seven

  Who said you can’t go home again?” Dante asked as he pulled into the driveway of 22 Silver Bell Lane.

  Things had been running way too smoothly for him ever since he’d arrived in town. He should have known better than to expect his run of good luck to continue for long. One of his principal actors had come down with a bad case of the flu, making it impossible for him to be in the film. Dante had been forced to hire a last-minute replacement based solely on a recommendation from a fellow actor. The replacement actor was flying into Maine tomorrow morning so he could meet up with the rest of the cast for rehearsal. Things had to go flawlessly or they ran the risk of coming up against delays, which ultimately meant costs would run over budget.

  To make matters worse, last night a boiler problem at the Knightsbridge Inn had left Dante and his crew without accommodations. The entire place had been in disarray with no heat or hot water. He’d spent the morning making arrangements for his cast and crew to stay at various Airbnbs throughout town for a few days until the issues were fixed. Because Mistletoe was so small, the inn was the only establishment of its kind in the area. Because he had been able to secure lodging only for the cast and crew, Dante was relocating to his mother’s place. She’d been ecstatic when he’d called her earlier to ask if he could stay at her house.

  Come on over, she’d said. I never understood why you weren’t staying here in the first place. There’s plenty of room.

  He wasn’t sure if his mother was playing an innocent act. She knew that her two sons were at odds with each other. With Troy still living at the house, Dante hadn’t wanted to rock the boat by staying under the same roof as him. But now, fate hadn’t given him much choice. Bunking at his childhood home was the only thing that made sense given the scarcity of housing in Mistletoe. He would be so busy filming and trying to keep the cast focused that he wouldn’t even be here much. It would simply be a place to crash at night.

  Dante smiled as he stood on the wraparound porch of his mother’s house and looked up at his childhood home. The two-story white colonial held so many childhood memories. It had been a place filled with joy. The West family had been a large and boisterous clan, known throughout town for being athletic and energetic.

  His mother swung open the door before he’d even knocked. Her arms were wide open.

  “Dante! Welcome home,” Mimi said, wrapping her arms around his waist and letting out a squeal of excitement. For the life of him, he didn’t understand how a petite woman like his mother could practically squeeze the breath out of him.

  “Okay, Mama. You’re going to have to let me go so I can come inside. It’s tough to breathe when you’re hugging the life out of me.”

  His mother released him, and Dante stepped over the threshold into the house. Once he was inside, Mimi wagged a finger in his direction. “That’ll teach you to stay away from home for so long. I’ve missed you like nobody’s business.”

  He bent down and placed a loving kiss on her temple. “Well, you’ve got me till after Christmas, Mama. That should make you happy.”

  “You have no idea. I can’t think of the last time we spent the holidays together.” She clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait to bring you to my bridge group and my book club. They’ve been dying to meet my famous son.”

  Dante wanted to groan. Mimi West was a very humble woman, but when it came to her oldest son she enjoyed showing him off to her buddies. More times than not, her cronies wanted to play matchmaker between him and their daughters. It was always painfully awkward for Dante since he never wanted to insult his mother’s friends or make it seem as if he was a Hollywood snob.

  “I’m going to be busy filming, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  She beamed at him. “Come to the kitchen so you can taste some of my blueberry-lemon bars. I just made them and they’re delicious.” She grabbed his hand and led him into her homey kitchen that served as the center of the house. An excellent cook and baker, Mimi had won the yearly Mistletoe bakeoff on several occasions with her vast array of desserts. The blueberry-lemon bars were Dante’s personal favorite.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Dante said as he sat down at the kitchen table and helped himself to the treat.

  His mother sat down across from him and shook her head. “I’m so proud of you for choosing Mistletoe as a shooting location. A town like this could really benefit from extra income.”

  Her belief in him made his chest tighten with emotion. They’d always had a close relationship and she’d had his back in good times and bad. His mother had never shamed him for leaving his hometown to make a career for himself in Los Angeles. If there was a president of the Dante West fan club, it would be Mimi West.

  “I made a lot of mistakes on my way out of Mistletoe. This is
a great opportunity to try and do some good here.”

  She tweaked his cheek. “I believe in you. We all make mistakes. It’s what we do next that matters most.”

  Her poignant words hit him squarely in his heart. “You know you’re my best girl, right? You’ve set the bar really high, and I’m not sure I’ll ever find a woman who has your wide-open heart.”

  His mother winked at him. “She’s out there, son. You just have to make sure to keep your eyes and your heart open.”

  The sound of the front door opening drew their attention to the fact that it was no longer just the two of them. Loud footsteps rang out in the hallway. Within seconds Troy was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He walked straight past Dante without a word of acknowledgment and placed a kiss on their mother’s cheek before heading to the fridge. Dante wondered if this might be the time to settle things outside the way they’d done back in the day. It was high time his little brother manned up and dealt with his bitterness. Dante might just have to shove his fist in his brother’s face to make him see things clearly.

  “Troy. Don’t you dare walk past your brother without speaking! You know I didn’t raise you like that.” Mimi’s tone was filled with a bristling anger her sons both recognized. A softie at heart, Mimi wasn’t the type of mother who tolerated rudeness or disrespect. She wasn’t afraid to call her kids out even though they were all grown adults.