“Bing!” No, no way. She couldn’t ask him to do that, not when he was still smarting from the accident that had taken Snow White’s life. “You have a life in Massey Falls. You can’t exactly abandon that and be a tour guide at a hotel.”
“Right now, what are your other options?”
None. She had zero options. “It’s way too much to ask.”
“I know that. But you didn’t ask. I’m offering.”
Did that mean he meant to stay? With her?
Bing
What kind of sickness had infected his brain and made him offer to help Ellery with her latest horse predicament?
Oh, right. The ailment he’d contracted when he first kissed her the night before. Or had he been infected by it before that?
The moment I laid eyes on her.
“I’m the one who steered you toward buying such a quality team of horses.” He handed Ellery her coat and scarf from behind the reception desk and led her out into the cold. They walked back down toward the barn where the team was stabled. “I have a really good feeling about Donner and Blitzen, and I can’t stand by and let any old out-of-work person be in charge of their welfare.”
Even though putting himself in charge of their welfare was crazy, considering his penchant for traumatized reactions around equines. It won’t happen with Donner and Blitzen. They know you already, that little inner voice whispered.
Bing would have slapped the voice if he could have.
“But if you stay, what about your job? I mean, I can’t afford to pay you very much. Certainly not the salary you were making at home.”
Oh, she didn’t need to worry about that. “I couldn’t charge you for my work.”
“Bing! That’s unthinkable! I have to pay you something, I mean—you’re an expert. Lifelong experience makes you so valuable.”
“Which also means you couldn’t afford me.” The truth cut through the winter air. “Ellery.” He stopped just outside the barn doors. “I wouldn’t offer if some part of me didn’t know I needed this.”
She looked up at him, her dark eyes tender. A few snow crystals accumulated on her lashes and the apple of her cheek. “Thank you,” she said at last. “I shouldn’t say this, probably, but—I really want you to stay.”
Her lower lip trembled, begging to be kissed. With a step toward her on the crunch of snow, he placed a tender kiss on that full mouth, drinking in the cherry sweetness.
But on a dime, that sweetness turned—to spice. Passion flared, with a hiss and pop, like a lit firecracker he still held in his hand. She emitted a soft moan, igniting a conflagration in him. All this latent, hidden, explosive desire within her, and it had been lying in wait, just for him. She was blowing his mind, tearing him apart, and putting him back together, over and over with her kiss.
He might never be able to go back to Massey Falls. At least not ever back to life before he’d kissed Ellery Hart.
Ellery
Grand opening day! Ellery clasped her hands together and shook her head back and forth to make her tiny bell earrings jingle in her ears. Kit had booked the hotel more than half-full of customers based on all Ellery’s advertising, and they’d rustled up a full slate of bookings for the carriage rides on beyond January. Mattie Jane Daines had even called friends up in Vancouver and talked up the Sleigh Bells Chalet to them.
This might actually be happening. It was like Christmas morning—a few days early.
Kit and Lenny and Mom all wore festive sweaters, and Mom sported a headband with felt reindeer antlers. Not professional—but cute. And it was the Christmas season. What kind of Grinch would tell a woman of a certain age to act appropriately during the holidays?
“All we need is a star on top of the tree,” Ellery said. The lobby had been transformed, from dark purple, and bad pastels, and cactuses to bright whites, rich wood tones, and holiday cheer. “Where did you get all the lights and tree decorations, Kit?”
“The decorations I just found on hand.” Kit rolled her eyes. “Hoarder mom, remember?”
Oh, right. The fabric had originated as part of Kit’s mom’s stash, too. “That was so nice of her to share.”
“Yeah, but I’m afraid it will throw gasoline on the flames of her obsession. Now she has the excuse to save even more junk because her suspicion that someday someone is going to need this has been fully confirmed.”
“Still, she’s very generous.” Ellery hugged Kit. “Please, help me thank her somehow.”
“If you’ll let her ride in the carriage once the initial rush of bookings dies down, she’ll die a happy woman. Not that I want her to die—I didn’t mean that.”
Lenny chuckled. “I was the one who got the lights, Miss Ellery. They were all out in my caretaker’s quarters. Don’t know why, but they was there, so I thought you could use them. Did you see I put them on the front of the hotel, too?”
“They’re perfect, Lenny.”
Lenny blushed. “I like my job here. I’m glad you saved the Bells Chalet by turning it into the Sleigh Bells Chalet, Miss Ellery. I hope I get to work here forever.”
“Me, too, Lenny.”
A pang of worry lanced through Ellery. She’d been so busy with remodeling, horse stuff, and falling into deep love with Bing Whitmore, that she hadn’t let concerns about the balloon payment due at Allard Allman’s bank even flit through her mind for days and days.
Would these carriage and hotel room bookings be enough to stave off the twin wolves of Allard Allman and his loan-payment deadline?
Footfalls on the newly stained hardwoods of the stairs wrested her attention. Bing wore not only a large grin—the broadest she’d ever seen on his so-handsome face—but also a Dickensian greatcoat and top hat.
“Credit goes to the costume shop on Main Street.”
“All you lack is holly and ivy on your hat brim.” Ellery snagged some off the newly refinished front desk. “And this.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. He smelled like aftershave and mint.
“I lack a lot of that, I tell you.”
“See?” Mom said. “I told you she was dating a great guy. Only a truly great guy would sacrifice his dignity like that for a woman.”
“Mom!” Ellery whirled around. “I think he looks amazing.” And smelled even better than that. He could take her on a sleigh ride anytime.
“Oh, I’m just teasing. He looks mighty handsome. Who is the first one to ride in the carriage?” Mom clapped her hands. “Can it be me?”
“Mom!”
Bing took Ellery’s hand, lacing his fingers through hers. “The first scheduled carriage ride is at two, but could I possibly take Freya on a test run?”
Oh. Not Ellery? Somehow she’d expected to be out there with him for the maiden voyage.
“Sure.”
“I mean, I’d love to have you along. Can you sit up top with me? It’s just that Freya met someone here in Wilder River, and she is trying to impress him, it seems. She promised him without asking me first.”
Freya had met someone! No way. What a relief, actually, since Ellery had been monopolizing all of Freya’s vacation-buddy’s time.
“Then again, I’d like to at least give it a real practice run before I even put weight in the carriage. Would you like to come, Ellery?”
“I’d love to.”
Bing
Working with Donner and Blitzen, something had cracked open inside Bing, like the loud clap of a glacier at the earliest thaw of spring.
At first touch of the curry comb, at first clink of the metal on the harnesses, at first graze of the velvet mouth as he put in the bits that would guide the team, he’d bristled.
But at second touch, clink, and graze, Bing’s bristling had abated. Eventually, he’d been able to breathe, and then relax completely.
In and out, he inhaled and exhaled the rich, equine scent.
Donner and Blitzen. Thank you. He patted their noses and fed them each a handful of oats. Thank you, Ellery, for the chance to love again.
Outside i
n the snappy-cold air of the Sleigh Bells Chalet’s grand reopening day, Bing hooked together the harness that would yoke the lovely pair as one. Gently, he led them out of the shed where he’d yoked them and attached them to the carriage, the metal clinking and the sleigh bells on their flanks all a-jingle. What a handsome team, gleaming and ebony in the winter sunlight.
The pip-crack inside him split wide open. He loved these creatures—for their grace and strength and indomitable spirits. In Donner and Blitzen, Bing sensed what he’d felt time and again with the horses he’d worked with at Whitmore Stables: the drive to please, the willingness to work to the edge of capacity, the urge to work.
I love this shining example of God’s creations.
He patted Donner’s neck, and Donner nuzzled his shoulder.
Bing might have been ready to leave racing behind, but he couldn’t imagine a life without horses in it.
As he came to that decision, both a light and a peace suffused his soul. Bing knew it was right.
And yet, a far weightier subject loomed: would Donner and Blitzen be the horses that he worked with next? Because—would their owner have a presence in his life?
“Are we ready?” Ellery walked up to him, wearing white, fur-topped boots, a red sweater and a white vest jacket over it. She looked amazing, especially with her eyes sparkling. “They’re incredible! Oh, Bing. I can’t imagine anything prettier than this sight.”
Not Bing. It would only get prettier when he placed her in the scene.
“Can I give you a hand up?” He lifted her onto the buckboard, and then climbed up beside her. She smelled like Christmas—cherry candle wax and sugar cookies. “Freya and Chip are going to meet us in front of the hotel.” He clicked and lightly snapped the reins. Donner and Blitzen stepped in sync, and the carriage shuddered into motion.
Ellery clung to his arm as it bounced over the uneven yard. “I’ll need to hang onto you.”
And that little whisper-voice wasn’t whispering inside him anymore. It was at full shout-volume and saying, Bing would need to hang onto her.
∞∞∞
“Turns out, your carriage rides through Wilder River were the best advertising I could have done.” Ellery’s face glowed as she greeted him at the barn where Bing was unhitching the team.
“Yeah?” he asked as he removed the bit from Donner’s mouth.
“Yep. With the Sleigh Bells Chalet logo painted on the back of the carriage—thanks to Kit—I’ve already booked over a dozen rides for the next few days—with people who aren’t even staying at my hotel. They said they want to stay with us next time they come to town. Can you believe it?”
“Easily.”
Ellery had done it all. She’d saved her grandfather’s hotel with her ingenuity and hard work. And her indomitable spirit, just like Rose Red and Snow White had.
“Are the horses going to be up for that?”
“They’re draft horses, made for work, and these two seemed happier as the day went on. You could book two dozen rides a day and they’d be in heaven.” And he loved them for it.
Ellery sighed in relief. “Oh, good. Because if this keeps up, Donner and Blitzen will have paid for themselves in no time.”
“That’s fantastic.”
“How did your other rides go?” She helped Bing with the breakdown of the tack, hanging it in all its designated places on the wall. “I heard you gave them fake history on the tour and they couldn’t stop laughing.”
“I learned from the best.” Seven carriage rides had filled his afternoon and evening. “Most people I just took touring. Only a few got the fictional Wilder River treatment. But really, it was easy. Fun.”
“Just like being with you.” Ellery shot him a wink, one that penetrated the thick, callused layers he’d built up.
“Let’s take Donner and Blitzen down to their stables.” He handed her the reins on Donner’s bit. “They deserve a rest.” Maybe he’d sneak them an apple for their efforts.
“So do you. Would you like to spend the evening with me?”
Would he! “Are you sure you’re not too wiped out?”
“Running a hotel is definitely a wiper-outer, but I’m not feeling it today for some reason.” Her boots crunched down the snowy lane in sync with his—just like her horse team when it was in harness. “Without you, Bing, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have any of the hope that is floating me across the snow right now.”
Before he could stop the jumble of thoughts or filter the words, he was talking, too. “You’ve given me a floating hope, too, Ellery.”
“Me?”
He figured he should explain all the reasons why—and tell her the impact she’d had on him. Ringing sounded in his ears, the rush of the blood and the hollering of the feelings inside him, screaming at him to let her know how he was starting to feel every time he woke up in the morning, every time he went to bed at night. That Ellery Hart was his only thought and his only wish, and—
“Hey, Bing?” Ellery said, interrupting his reverie. “Is that your phone? Are you going to get that?”
“Oh, huh? What?” Sure enough, it wasn’t a ringing in his ears—well, it was. Only a literal ringing. “Hello?” He handed Ellery the reins to Blitzen as well, just as they approached the doors to the barn where the horses were being boarded. “This is Bing Whitmore.”
He hadn’t bothered to check the number, but he knew the voice on the other end instantly. “Bing? I hate to interrupt your vacation. Freya told me not to—under any circumstances. But I thought you’d want to know this. Please don’t fire me.”
“It’s all right, Reggie.” They guy taking care of Whitmore Stables in Bing’s absence had Bing’s full confidence. “What’s going on?”
Heat sizzled from Bing’s toes up to the roots of his hair. This couldn’t be good. The air crackled with not good.
Reggie cleared his throat, and Bing could almost picture him wincing. “It’s Rose Red.”
“What about her?” Bing’s voice was thin, a single thread. “She’s not—”
“She’s still with us, but she doesn’t look good. Dr. Harrison thinks it’s an infection. He brought in Dr. Wilson for a second opinion.”
“And?” It came out almost as a whisper.
“And they both think you should come home.”
Now the ringing in Bing’s ears commenced for real. It silenced everything else, except the throbbing of his heart in his throat. He stood a long time.
“Bing?” Reggie broke through.
“I’m … I’ll be there. Keep her going for me until I get there.”
Ellery
“Week two and wouldn’t you say we’re managing fine?” Kit said, her voice unsure, but fake-reassuring at the same time. “I mean, with that Reggie guy who dropped in out of nowhere, it’s not like we don’t have anyone to run the horse and carriage business. The hotel is full.”
“And I keep getting compliments on my clove- and nutmeg-blend tea.” Mom shoved more than half a sugar cookie in her mouth at once. “Mmm. These cookies. They’re so moist.”
Even with the apple cinnamon candle warmer melting on the desktop filling every inhaled breath, and with Kit’s tree trimmed to a heart-stopping degree and filling half the lobby, and even with nearly every room in the hotel filled with ski-toting guests—Ellery couldn’t feel anything but a vast chasm.
If anyone were to whisper in her ear, or pat her on the back, the echo could have deafened all of Wilder River.
“The beverages and baked goods are great, Mom.”
Kit tugged on Ellery’s arm. “Come with me.” She took the ledger, shut it, and stuffed it beneath the counter. “Enough tea. You need some serious chocolate. A lot of it. And hot.”
There wasn’t enough hot chocolate in the entire world to fill the emptiness.
Ellery followed Kit through the french doors into the yet-to-be-reinstated hotel restaurant. Kit sat her down, and a minute later brought two mugs of steaming cocoa. “I know you hate the marshmal
lows, so I left them out.”
Steam floated, but it didn’t blur her vision any more than it already was. “Thanks.” Her voice was flat. Two-dimensionality had overtaken her world.
Kit took a sip, but pulled the cup away quickly. “Ouch.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes”—Kit smirked—“but you’re not.”
Gah! No kidding! “I’m fine. It’s Christmas. The hotel’s coming back. You said so yourself.”
“Your Grandpa Bell would be so proud of the way you’ve turned the place around.”
“Yeah.” Ellery pushed her mug a little, and a ripple skated across the chocolaty surface. “He loved this place.”
Kit exhaled heavily. “Ellery.”
Ellery didn’t lift her eyes. The ripples in the cup softened and died. “You don’t have to say it. I know what’s coming.”
“Yes, Bing Whitmore left.”
Just as Ellery had predicted. A salt shaker for her wound. “He was a guest. That’s what guests do. They check in, and then they check out.” Seven long days had passed since Bing Whitmore checked out, and nothing had come from him, other than his friend Reggie.
“But sometimes they check into your heart but not out of it.”
“Please pass the crackers to go with all that cheese.” Why did Kit have to keep stating the painfully obvious? “At least he sent a replacement hostler until I can find someone trustworthy for Donner and Blitzen.”
“But there’s no replacement. Not for him—is there?”
Geez, Kit. Leave it alone! It wasn’t like Ellery had any control over Bing’s decision to leave, and she wouldn’t have asked him to stay anyway. He had a sick horse, one that was extremely important to him. He’d been up front with her on that topic. Rose Red mattered to him immensely.
“In a warped way, it’s kind of a pattern.” Ellery traced the floral design on the tablecloth. “Men show an interest in me, and then they remember their greater interest lies somewhere else.”
The Sleigh Bells Chalet: A Small Town Romance (Christmas House Romances Book 2) Page 9
