Christmas at Mistletoe Lodge: New Holiday Romances to Benefit St. Jude Hospital

by Sabrina York

  “There you are, Noah,” Mia said, walking past her dad down the staircase from the deck, reaching for his hand.

  Noah grinned, clasping her hand warmly.

  Her father gave Noah an intense look as Mia climbed the staircase beside Noah. “Dad, this is Noah.”

  Right away, Mia’s dad appeared to be looking at his earring. Oops, he’d forgotten to take it out. Noah was going to have to remember not to wear one when he wasn’t performing since it wasn’t allowed in the military anyway.

  Phil was sitting beside Bree on the wicker couch inside the porch, and he grimaced at Noah.

  Although Mia’s dad looked menacing, Noah reached out his hand to Mr. Michaels. “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

  Whose response was lukewarm, when he returned Noah’s handshake halfheartedly.

  “Noah,” he muttered quietly.

  It was an uncomfortable afternoon, with the conversation stilted, and Mia’s father not easing up or smiling during the entire cookout.

  Noah thought it couldn’t get much worse until Mia walked inside with Amanda, to dispose of the garbage and put away the leftovers.

  Mr. Michaels pulled Noah aside. “I’m not sure what I think about your relationship with Mia, but I wanted to make sure you remembered she’s only seventeen. I know you’re going into the Air Force at summer’s end, but you’ll be doing her the biggest favor by not expecting her to wait for you. She has to consider the future, and college, and the last thing she needs is to be tied down.”

  Especially with someone like you, Noah was sure Mr. Erikson was thinking it, even though he never said it out loud.

  What the hell? Noah didn’t deserve to be treated like this. “I’m leaving the decision of where we leave off at the end of summer up to Mia, Mr. Michaels. She’s pretty special to me, and truthfully? I can’t imagine my life without her in it.”

  When Mr. Michaels blinked, Noah knew Mia’s dad wasn’t used to having his demands ignored. But apparently, Mia had overheard the tail end of the conversation, and she gave Noah a misty smile as she rushed down the steps to walk with him to the Harley, since it was time for Noah to depart.

  When they reached the bike, Noah kissed her for all it was worth.

  She had that dreamy look in her eyes which he loved so much, when he finally started up the Harley’s engine. “I’ll see you at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn?”

  “You will. I’m even going to take video of your concert,” she answered.

  He gazed into her eyes. “Mia?”

  “Noah?”

  Noah muttered, “You don’t have a clue how much you mean to me.”

  “I think I might,” she answered. “Because you mean an awful lot to me too.”

  Dad was on his way back to Chicago a few hours later, and Mia was actually relieved. For the first time in her life, Mia questioned her dad’s choices, not only regarding her life, but about his own life as well. Apparently, Monique was several years younger than Dad, and Mia had a feeling she was going to be happy going away to college the following year.

  The concert at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn was fantastic. The place was packed, and if Noah hadn’t reserved the seats for them, Mia, Bree and Phil, along with Noah’s grandparents, wouldn’t have had a place to sit.

  Mia filmed the entire concert, with a fancy camera her dad rarely used. It had a setup with a tripod, so it could stand stationary near the band.

  The background lighting they’d designed was fabulous, and there was actually a big blue moon in the sky overhead when Noah began singing Mia her song.

  This time they moved together, dancing like they were the only ones there. It was getting serious quickly, and even though she was only sixteen, Mia knew she was deeply in love with Noah, and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world.

  19

  The music camp’s instructor who hadn’t shown up the previous week suddenly backed out for personal reasons, and Emily Richardson’s camp administrators had been having a difficult time finding a last-minute replacement.

  A sudden thought occurred to Noah as he sat in Emily’s office at the music conservatory. “Why not hire Mia Michaels as a part-time instructor? I’d also be willing to work some extra hours. The café has plenty of summer help, so I wouldn’t be leaving them in a bind.”

  Emily grinned. “It wouldn’t interfere with the ability to do your job here?”

  Noah rolled his eyes. “I work better when she’s around.”

  “It’s sure going to be rough for you two when you go to boot camp,” Emily said.

  “I’m trying not to think about it,” Noah admitted, grimacing. “We’ve gotten tight pretty quickly.”

  “Yes, you have.” Her smile went wide. “You two look so cute together.”

  Noah snorted. “Getting back to business—you know how we were talking about hiring a choreographer? Mia’s been really great at giving us ideas about what kind of moves would work well with Blue Moon’s music. We could experiment with her choreography and see what everyone thinks?”

  Emily looked thoughtful. “You might be onto something there. Tell you what—don’t mention anything about the possibility of her being an instructor. I’d kind of like to see how skilled she is first. Let’s have her audition, without telling her that it’s one.”

  “Alright,” Noah answered. “I’ve never really seen her dance either.”

  “Except with you?”

  Noah grinned and rolled his eyes upward. “Except with me.”

  Noah kept his mouth shut, and during the first day of camp while all the out of towners were getting settled in the cabins, Emily walked out from her office to speak with Mia.

  Noah saw Mia blink, but she didn’t appear to be flustered. Emily had simply decided to tell her they were considering having a few of the students do some dancing with their vocals, and both Noah and Rose had mentioned Mia was a dancer and might be interested in performing onstage.

  “Noah?” Emily called out. “Come along and help me find the right music for Mia. Will you?”

  Noah winked at Mia. “Sure.”

  They walked together into one of the performance studios which had been intentionally cleared of excess clutter.

  Emily looked at Mia and frowned. “I forgot to ask if you’d be comfortable dancing in what you’re wearing? Otherwise, we could wait until tomorrow?”

  Mia smiled, not looking at all nervous. “Nope, today will be fine. My tennis shoes will work for me if I’m going to dance to a contemporary song.”

  Noah and Mia began sifting through the music, until they came upon a song by Maroon 5.

  “This one would be great. I’ve actually performed with it,” Mia said.

  When Noah smiled from ear to ear, Emily looked at him with definite curiosity. “What’s the song?”

  “Love Somebody.”

  Emily began laughing.

  When Mia looked puzzled, Noah explained. “You’ve heard of Marielle McKinnon?”

  “I have,” Mia answered.

  “Well, she was here at camp last year, and performed this same song along with Drew Kendall, who she ended up having a summer romance with.”

  “It was hilarious. But the audience really got into it,” Emily said, smiling. “If they could have won an award for enthusiasm, they would have had first place. But what they really needed was a choreographer.”

  Mia laughed.

  There was a fabulous sound system installed throughout the conservatory, and it was only a matter of seconds before the song began echoing through the room.

  Noah didn’t have a clue how talented Mia was until she leapt gracefully into the air, dancing her way around the studio.

  Mia reminded him of a champion ice skater without the ice.

  Observing her spin effortlessly before halting in place, Emily’s eyes went wide staring into Noah’s.

  Mia continued her flawless performance, but Noah knew Emily had already made up her mind.

  When Mia finished with an agile sweep of her arms, Emily c
lapped her hands.

  Noah realized Mia wasn’t even out of breath, and he grinned.

  “Mia?” Emily asked. “How would you like to work part-time as an instructor, specializing in choreography?”

  Mia’s eyes went wide. “I think I’d love that.”

  “Good,” Emily answered, grinning. “Then you’re hired. “Let’s go fill out the paperwork.”

  Mia looked dazed, smiling at Noah before she followed Emily from the room.

  20

  The summer was passing way too quickly, Noah thought, turning over and looking at Mia as they laid beside each other on the beach.

  God, she was lovely. This was the first time they’d actually taken some time away from school to spend a few hours alone. It was strange they’d never been swimming together until now, but when they went out, it was usually to grab something to eat, or meet before or after one of his band’s performances because he’d been trying to spend some time with his grandparents too.

  Noah caught Mia’s eyes peeking at him from behind her sunglasses, and her eyes seemed to be lingering on his chest. Knowing he’d be going into the military, he’d made a habit of working out daily since he’d been in junior high. In fact, ever since the workout room had been created in the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, Noah had been allowed free access. Emily’s husband Tim was a veteran, and he and Emily were close friends of the owner of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn.

  “Sometimes I’m scared about the way you make me feel,” Mia admitted.

  “I think the feeling is mutual,” Noah said, pulling off her sunglasses and gazing into her eyes.

  Bending down he kissed her, and time stood still.

  She just couldn’t seem to get enough of him, and something about the feel of his nearly naked body pressed against hers was making her think about things she knew she shouldn’t be. Her heart was hammering in her chest, while her hands greedily explored, running over the breadth of his shoulders before moving down and covering his bare chest.

  Noah was the first boy she’d ever kissed. But what had begun earlier this summer as a relationship between a boy and girl had somehow transformed into one of a man and woman.

  She wanted to seal the certainty of their future by making love with him before he left for boot camp.

  And with as careful as Noah was being, she knew that she was going to have to talk him into it.

  It was mid-July, and Mia’s seventeenth birthday today, and Noah was trying to figure out an appropriate gift, walking through the gift shop of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn after an early workout.

  The woman at the desk gave him a warm smile. “Can I help you with something?”

  Noah sighed deeply. “I was walking by here with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, and she seemed to have her eye on some of your jewelry in the front window.” Noah rolled his eyes. “It’s her birthday today.”

  “I can help you with that, for sure. In fact, it’s my specialty, since I’m the one who actually designs most of the jewelry we carry here.”

  “Really? I’ll bet Mia would love to learn how you put it all together.” Noah grimaced. “She’s turning seventeen. Have you got any suggestions about what I should give her?”

  The woman came out from behind the counter and walked over to the display window. “How much would you like to spend?”

  “Like fifty dollars?”

  She smiled. “I have plenty I can show you. But since she seemed to be interested by something in the front window, let me show you what’s there.”

  She pulled three items in boxes from the window, showing Noah what was in them.

  “Mia did say something about dragonflies,” Noah murmured, his eyes on the necklace.

  “This is crafted from sterling silver and real turquoise,” she said. A pair of entwined dragonflies had been shaped from silver, and the wings filled with blue green turquoise.

  Noah grimaced, noticing the price tag on the box.

  “Ignore that price,” she muttered, grinning. “I love romance, along with anyone who appreciates my designs.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Noah was walking out of the shop with the package, which had been neatly wrapped. He’d also asked the owner of the shop to put aside something he knew that his grandmother would love for her birthday—a dragonfly pin made with a unique lavender stone.

  Noah was supposed to take Mia out for her birthday, although it might not be for dinner. Supposedly, her dad was returning home with his fiancé, and Mia was dreading it.

  Since they’d met, Noah had seen her father another couple times, and each time had been even more uncomfortable than the last. The sad thing was, Mia didn’t seem to want to see her dad any more than Noah did, which meant there might be trouble between them in the future.

  Mia fingered the necklace around her neck while she sat beside her father at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn. Noah had surprised her again, giving her a dragonfly pendant she’d admired in the shop window. She hadn’t even realized he’d been paying attention.

  Dad had bought her a gift card. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time he’d given her anything personal. When Mia had been young, he’d brought her small souvenirs from every place he’d visited.

  Stupidly, she’d assumed her father would ask her to invite Noah to go out and eat with them for her birthday, but of course that had been wishful thinking.

  So, here Mia was, trying to make conversation with her father’s girlfriend, Bambi. Err, correction…Monique.

  Of course, she was after him for his money. Occasionally, when she glanced at Mia pretending to be nice, Mia could see the mercenary glint in Monique’s eyes.

  She supposed she should be concerned about her father, but Mia knew her opinion wasn’t anything he cared about.

  Amanda had even taken the week off and was staying somewhere else while Dad’s girlfriend was here.

  So Mia ate, counting the minutes until she could get away to be with Noah.

  Summer was nearly over, and Noah was dreading how soon it would be before he would have to say goodbye.

  Mia’s choreography was the hit of the summer with all the participants, and even some of the former camp members. When Marielle McKinnon had stopped by and mentored for a week, she’d offered Mia a job to go on tour with her.

  Mia had been stunned.

  But Noah was happy to see how well Rose and Marielle got along with Mia, so she’d have more friends here in town. Bree and Phil had gotten very serious, and Noah had a feeling there would be a lot of weekend travel involved when Phil attended school at Wisconsin.

  He and Mia had begun performing together at some of the Sunday night concerts, and Noah was becoming a pretty decent dancer.

  The only difficulty Noah was having was resisting Mia. Their relationship was moving into the serious stage, and it wasn’t too often that a woman would put on the pressure for something more to happen. But that was exactly what Mia was doing with him since they were both seventeen.

  And he wasn’t quite sure if he’d be able to resist her much longer.

  21

  It was a Thursday evening during the first week of August, and Noah, Mia and Amanda were sitting at the kitchen table at Mia’s house.

  “The Mistletoe Lodge?” Amanda murmured, frowning. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the place before.”

  “That’s because it’s a ski lodge and it’s recently been built. They’re planning an official grand opening before Thanksgiving this year,” Noah answered. “But meanwhile, they’re hosting a charity concert to benefit our local wounded warrior home, because a key part of the training program will eventually be happening there. It’s about one-hundred and twenty miles away from here, near a town called Ashland, which overlooks Lake Superior.”

  Their band only had a handful of performances left, but they were stepping in this weekend for a charitable cause. After the concert organizer had called Emily Richardson for a recommendation when one of the bands had been forced to cancel out, Blue Moon had been asked to fill i
n at the charity concert coming up in a couple days.

  “Please say I can go and watch the concert, Amanda? It’s a fundraising event, and there will be several other bands playing besides Noah’s.”

  Amanda grimaced. “I’d love to say yes, guys, but I’m thinking your dad will go ballistic if you drive that far away on your own.”

  Mia continued, “Phil and Bree were planning on coming along too.”

  “I don’t think that would make much difference to your dad, even though Phil is eighteen,” Amanda admitted. “He’d probably think you’re more apt to get into trouble.”

  Since Mia looked so disappointed, Noah tried to come up with a solution. “Why don’t you come along with us, Amanda? He wouldn’t say anything then. Would he?”

  “I wouldn’t think you guys would want me along,” Amanda murmured. “Although it does sound like it could be fun.”

  “Of course we wouldn’t mind you coming along,” Mia reassured her. “And Phil’s borrowing his parents’ SUV for the drive so there will be plenty of space. Maybe you could even bring along a friend?”

  “Brad and the other guys in the band are driving up the night before,” Noah admitted. “I was thinking that if you did let Mia come along with us, it would only be for the day, and we would definitely be home before ten-thirty or eleven that night.”

  “I have a better idea, since I guess I’ll be going,” Amanda said. “Would it be hard to book a place to stay for Saturday night? I’m thinking rather than drive home that night when all of you are tired, we should just drive back the following day.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Noah answered. “Although the lodge has offered band members and their equipment people and managers free accommodations in the lodge and cabins, I’ve heard that most everyone will be there the day before to make it easier to set up and practice beforehand. I would think some of them would be ready to leave after the concert, since many of the other bands are on summer tours and have other places to be.”