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

by Sabrina York

  Matt must’ve seen the blood run out of her face. He leaned over and rubbed her arm. “Do you want to put your head between your knees?”

  Tori felt like she might pass out, so she sat on the floor and did as she was told, dropping her head and trying to stay conscious. Finally, when she seemed better, she looked up. “You know Bob?”

  “I know who he is.” Matt rubbed her back as she took deep breaths. “I think he knows Clint.”

  He did, but Clint would never have invited Bob. Maddy would have vetoed that before Clint could say the final “b” after saying “Should we invite Bob?”.

  “I need to go back to my room.” Tori didn’t owe this nice man any more explanation than that. And she didn’t want to keep him from the party. She tried to stand and when Matt held out his arm, she took it, unsure if her lightheadedness would take her to the ground.

  “Diesel and I will walk you back upstairs.”

  “No need.”

  “We will. Come on boy,” Matt said.

  When they came out of the hall to the lobby area, Tori dropped her hand from Matt’s arm and they crossed to the stairs in double time, Diesel running on ahead.

  They mounted the stairs and came out at the third floor. Tori had to get inside her room fast, before anyone saw her. Before Bob came around a corner with that dazzling smile she’d once loved so deeply.

  Before Tori went to sleep that night, Maddy called to say Bob was in the Lodge and wondered if Tori was OK. Not wanting to spoil Maddy’s wonderful week, Tori downplayed it.

  “It’s fine. I ended up needing to work on the blog, so I just got a quick bite and went back to my room.”

  “Are you sure? I never told you this, but Emma is related to Clint. I had no idea she was THE Emma who ran away with Bob.” Maddy sounded like tears were about to pour out in the next words.

  “I’m remarkably OK about it.” Would Maddy believe that? She hoped so.

  “Well, phew! Sasha said you’d go home but I really need you here on Saturday.”

  “I know you do. Don’t worry about that. I can’t wait to slip into that dress and look ravishing.”

  Someone called for Maddy in the background and she had to go. Tori knew her friend had duties and didn’t want to add any stress to an already stressful week.

  “I’m going to hit the hay early and be ready for tomorrow.” Tori hoped Maddy was too busy to worry about anything right now.

  “We’re all going sledding!” Maddy said, to which Tori immediately started thinking up excuses to stay behind.

  “That sounds like fun,” Tori said instead.

  She went to sleep thinking about Bob and dreamed he was her realtor and she was looking to buy a new house with her new husband. Tori didn’t recognize the man who played her husband in the dream, although she loved him with a depth that she’d never known for Bob.

  Waking with a feeling of satisfaction the next morning, Tori slipped from her cozy bed and headed to the shower.

  After drying her long hair and adding a splash of makeup to cover the bags under her eyes from crying the night before, Tori pulled on her yoga pants and a sweatshirt and opened her laptop. She wasn’t lying when she told Maddy that she needed to work. Tomorrow was check in day for the Challenge and Tori had to make sure she had some inspirational words for the Elevators. Not all her followers were doing the challenge but most everyone was following the progress.

  Tori had just brewed a cup of tea when there was a soft knock at her door. She glanced at the clock to see it was just past eight. Her friends knew she was an early riser.

  She pulled open the door to see Matt and Diesel standing in the hall, Matt with a plate of food and a mug of something steaming.

  “I was pretty sure you wouldn’t go downstairs for breakfast.” He handed over the plate and mug to Tori. “Diesel and I had to go outside for his business, and I saw you at the window. Figured you might like some food.

  Tori hadn’t seen him out there in the snowy landscape surrounding the lodge.

  “I was just making a cup of tea but this looks better.” She held up the coffee. “Bacon smells so good,” she chuckled.

  He agreed, still standing at the door.

  She couldn’t ask him in. It wasn’t that sort of a room and it wasn’t that sort of a knock on the door. “Is everyone up and getting ready to go sledding?”

  He nodded. “Getting there. You going or decided to sit this one out?”

  “Working.” She nodded to her laptop, the mug and plate still in her hands.

  “I didn’t see Bob at breakfast, if you want to know.”

  “It’s OK.” Her heart sped up and she wanted to close the door, but her hands were full.

  “If you feel like a walk in the snow later, give me a call. Diesel goes out every hour to chase squirrels.”

  She didn’t have Matt’s number and her phone was back inside the room on the desk.

  “I’ll slip my number under the door, just in case,” Matt said.

  Tori smiled at him politely. At least she hoped it looked polite. For a year, everyone who knew her had tried to get her to come outside, do things, regain her independence. She appreciated that Matt thought he might be the first to suggest she get on with her life despite everything. He meant well. “I better eat this while it’s hot,” she said, looking at the plate of eggs, bacon and hash browns.

  Matt pointed to the plate. “I didn’t see any fruit on the buffet. I guess they want stick to the ribs kind of food for sledding.”

  “Are you not going?” He’d said he be around to walk his dog.

  “I can’t leave the beast all day.”

  Tori almost offered to watch the dog, then realized she’d have to take him outside, and she really just wanted to hole up in her room and work.

  Matt turned, mumbled something about enjoying breakfast and headed across the hall.

  “Matt?” His name was out before she censored it. Tori’d been about to thank him for being so kind last night, but she didn’t know what words to use. Instead, she simply thanked him for the breakfast and shut the door with her foot.

  7

  Matt entered his hotel room thinking it wasn’t a huge breakthrough, but it was a start. The guilt that tore at him was slightly eased. For now.

  He looked at his small room and realized he couldn’t spend the whole day, or even a few hours, inside it unless he was sleeping. How could Tori enjoy hiding in her room all day?

  “We’ll think of something to do, Diesel,” he said starting to make his bed. Having been raised to keep his room clean, Matt pulled the covers up over the pillow and smoothed out the wrinkles on the bed, then straightened the blanket he kept on the bed in case Diesel decided to jump up with him in the middle of the night and he didn’t wake up to tell him to get back down on the floor on his dog bed. Dogs liked to sleep in packs against each other and Diesel was one of those, not appreciating his own soft bed on the floor beside Matt. Many mornings, Matt would wake with the large dog lying at the foot of the bed, his body touching Matt’s legs at some point. Being a heavy sleeper had foiled Matt’s plan of making the dog stay on the floor to sleep each night.

  Matt grabbed the medical textbook he was reading and headed out the door with Diesel, fully expecting to spend the morning in a corner of the Inn while most of the others were off sledding. As he passed Tori’s door, he considered asking if she needed anything, then thought he’d be better off leaving her alone for now. The pretty neighbor was not only gun-shy and skittish, but she didn’t appear to particularly like him. Probably the coffee spill had ruined his chances of any friendship. Allowing him to help her last night, was an act of desperation. She’d been in shock and Matt simply led her away. He’d asked her friend Sasha later if she’d always been shy and had been disappointed to hear the answer. She’d been outgoing and friendly before the viral video made her life miserable.

  “She might have gotten over being left at the altar by now except for the video that just won’t go away.” S
asha shook her head like it was a tragedy.

  Something in Matt had shifted and he felt himself mentally taking a stand, like he was covered in armor, ready to head into battle. He had to try something this week. He owed Tori that. Even if she didn’t like him, she liked Diesel, and luring her out of the room might be possible if Diesel was involved.

  He had a plan.

  Tori was used to hiding out in a small space. Being in her room all day felt safe, not claustrophobic. Matt had brought food, she had her laptop and good wifi, and her window overlooked the front door of the Lodge so she could see what was going on downstairs.

  When everyone returned from sledding early afternoon, Maddy had stopped in to check on her.

  “I know you don’t want to run into Bob, but I haven’t seen him all day,” Maddy said as she plunked down on the bed in her snow clothes.

  “I’m fine running into Bob. It’s time.” Tori’s lie slipped past her lips so easily. “I had a nice day wandering around. How was sledding?” If she was going to lie about Bob, what was another lie about leaving the room and having a nice day?

  “We had so much fun. Clint and I took a big tumble and I’m expecting to be sore tomorrow.”

  “Just don’t be so stiff you can’t walk down the aisle,” Tori joked.

  Knowing Maddy had social obligations waiting for her, Tori suggested she get out of her ski clothes and tend to her guests. “I’ll see you at dinner downstairs,” Tori said, as Maddy smiled her way out the door.

  A minute later, a knock on the door had Tori up and walking across the room thinking Maddy left something. Or Sasha who would be checking on her as well after the day of sledding.

  She pulled open the door to say, “Come on in,” but caught herself before the words were out.

  Bob stood in the hall, looking handsome and unsure.

  Tori’s first impulse was to close the door in his face, something she would not feel badly about, but instead she held her ground and stared at the man who’d left her at the altar then had the audacity to text her later to say he was sorry. She wouldn’t speak first.

  They stood staring at each other for a few seconds before Bob spoke.

  “Can I come in?”

  “No.” She told herself to stay strong, don’t cry, don’t ask him why.

  Bob shifted weight, his hand went to his pocket and he pulled out a money clip she’d given him for his birthday. He held it out to her. “I know this was your grandfather’s and I’ve been meaning to send it back to you but…”

  Tori stared at the clip in Bob’s hand. She wanted it back. Her hand went out, palm up so Bob could drop it, rather than picking it off Bob’s palm. Tori closed her hand around the clip. She wouldn’t say thank you to Bob. Ever. For anything. Instead she started to close the door and Bob’s hand went out to hold the door open. “Tori, we need to talk.”

  Tori noticed Matt at his door across the hall and her bravery kicked in. “I can’t imagine what we need to say to each other, Bob. And take your hand off my door. If I want to close the thing, I will.” Her last words were clipped, firm and Matt must’ve heard.

  “I have nothing to say to you. The person I loved is dead and that works well for me. Now take your hand off my door.”

  Bob’s hand fell to his side, Tori took a step back and closed the door. She considered slamming it but didn’t feel the need. She’d made her point.

  Walking to the window, Tori looked out to see the day’s light fading, the snow surrounding the lodge a grey color now. The sun was long gone having dropped back behind the mountains and trees in the distance.

  Tori’s hands started shaking. Seeing Bob had had an effect on her that she couldn’t control, and she made her way to sit on the edge of the bed and hugged herself. “It’s over. You saw him. You did it,” she said, but words didn’t help. The rising panic was taking over her emotions and she thought she might pass out.

  “No!” she cried out. “Hang on.”

  A firm knock on the door then, “Tori, it’s Matt. Are you OK?”

  She couldn’t let him see her like this again. Shaking and battling a panic attack. It would pass. Gulping for air, her panic escalated, and she stood to get more air in her lungs.

  “Can I just see that you’re OK?” Matt sounded like he was the one panicking out in the hall.

  “I’m fine,” she managed to squeak out on her way to the bathroom to splash water on her face.

  “Diesel is here,” Matt said. “Can I let him in?”

  Tori understood that the man at her door was using his dog to help her, but the sound of Diesel’s name made her stop momentarily and wonder if it would help to have a dog to hold onto. Just then the door opened just enough to let Diesel in. When the dog entered her room he found Tori at the bathroom door. She kneeled down to take Diesel in her arms, her panic turning to tears as she buried her face in Diesel’s fur and cried.

  Matt had let Diesel into Tori’s room, surprised her door was unlocked. It was a bold move, but he really believed Tori was in a state of something bad in there and needed help. Like last night, she was probably having a repeat of her anxiety attack after seeing Bob.

  Matt regretted not stepping in, not rushing forward to Tori’s defense. Bob was obviously bothering her, even just with his presence but hearing Tori read him what sounded like the riot act made Matt feel slightly better. He’d heard the tone of the short conversation and heard Tori tell him to take his hand off her door.

  Matt shut the door to his room speculating on what was going on between Bob and Tori. Was it more than he believed or was it simply two estranged lovers meeting again after the hurt had evolved into something manageable? If Tori was in a state like last night, she might need a friend.

  He thought to go downstairs to find another one of the bridesmaids but that might take too much time. Matt pulled open his room door and stepped into the hall, listening. No loud wailing coming from Tori’s room and that was good. Diesel went straight to her door and stood at attention, also listening. He sniffed in the crack of the door and Matt had a terrible thought. Was Tori miserable enough to do something rash? From inside, he heard a small voice say what sounded like, “No.” Then Tori’s voice uttered, “Hang on.” Matt knocked.

  Nothing. No one answered. Diesel gave a little whine and looked Matt’s way which was interpreted as “Let me in!”

  Matt tried again, this time getting a response. Her voice was wavering and high and although he didn’t know this woman well, he knew this wasn’t her usual state of fineness. He tried the door to find it was unlocked. “Diesel is here. Can I let him in?”

  Taking a chance, Matt opened the door enough for his dog to scoot inside, then shut the door as soon as Diesel’s tail cleared the doorway. Last night, Tori had taken comfort in his dog and either that would happen again, or she’d be furious he’d opened her door to let Diesel inside. Backing up, he leaned against the far wall and waited. Either reaction would be fine with Matt. He mostly wanted Tori to snap out of a panic attack if that’s what was happening inside her room.

  Eventually sliding to the hall’s floor to sit, Matt stayed there for twenty minutes thinking about how Bob should go home. He and Emma should do the right thing and leave. He hoped that they realized this was no place for them with Tori as the Maid of Honor at the wedding. He sat there thinking long enough that he wondered if it was almost time to go downstairs for dinner. Feeding Diesel first had become habit lately so that the begging for scraps was kept to a minimum in the dining room. It was hard to train a dog to not do this when that puppy had lived on a beach scrounging anything edible he could find.

  Just when Matt was wondering if Tori would keep his dog for the night, the door opened and Diesel ran out of her room. Matt stood and greeted the dog, glancing at the open door, wondering if anyone was coming out to reprimand him.

  The door opened wider and Tori stepped across the threshold looking pretty in a green sweater and jeans. Her hair was different, he couldn’t say how, but it wa
s. And, she looked happy. She actually smiled at Matt. A small, careful smile, but still.

  “Diesel can work a doorknob, did you know?” she asked, coming to stand in front of him. “He let himself in my room.”

  Matt knew she knew but he decided to play along with it. “He’s a clever thing. I’ll have to teach him to text so he can tell me where he’s going.”

  Tori laughed out loud. “Diesel’s huggability did the trick. Made me feel better.”

  “He’s a good hugger,” Matt said, then realized he just admitted he hugged his dog. “You headed to dinner?”

  She nodded and held up her phone. “I got away with a day in my room and still had to confront a demon at the door so I might as well go downstairs now.”

  They started walking towards the stairs. He’d feed Diesel later. “I saw Bob talking to you,” Matt offered. The trick was to keep the conversation going, he’d learned in psychology. When she didn’t speak, he took the lead. “Feel better?”

  “I do.” Tori looked down at Diesel and walked through the door Matt held open to descend the staircase. “Especially now that I saw Bob and Emma leave with suitcases.” She smiled his way.

  Damn, she was pretty.

  8

  Tori woke with more energy than she’d felt in months. She’d finally had a really good night’s sleep. And today, while the wedding group went off to do a scavenger hunt in town, put together by Maddy’s family, Tori was going to watch Diesel.

  At the dinner last night, everyone had been talking about the day’s sledding until Maddy announced that the surprise activity tomorrow was a scavenger hunt to be conducted through the town and around sites in the area. “In couples, like that TV show, The Amazing Race,” Maddy announced on the microphone. The winner of the hunt gets a catered dinner, waited on by Clint and me tomorrow night in a Christmas wonderland setting, the decorated library.”