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

by Sabrina York

  The library was a charming room overlooking the mountain, lined with shelves of old books and dark, chunky furniture. The mothers of the bride and groom had decorated the room with fake snow and tinsel and tiny icicle lights and would be a wonderful venue for a private dinner. Even so, Tori had no intention of running around town competing with everyone in a race against time. Matt sat at the table with Tori and Sasha and another groomsman and when Maddy announced it was time to find your teammate, Matt glanced at Tori, his eyebrows raised. She gave a little apologetic shake of her head at the same time Zoe seemed to dive on Matt to secure a partner. Tori laughed at Zoe’s enthusiasm.

  “If you don’t want to take Diesel, he can hang out with me for a few hours,” she said.

  “You’ll probably need to take him for a walk.” Matt looked at her like he wasn’t sure she knew how to walk a dog, but Tori had been raised with dogs.

  “I think I can manage that.”

  Matt turned to Zoe and gave her a look of agreement. “Let’s win this thing,” he said.

  The next morning, when Matt knocked on the door with a plate of food, for the second day in a row, Tori greeted him with a smile. She gladly took the plate and cup of steaming coffee he must’ve carried up the stairs and set them on her nightstand as Diesel came into the room. Matt stood leaning against the door frame, arms now folded, watching her. “You’re going to have to tell me if you like the portions and food I choose for you, if I’m going to do this every day.”

  “I was going to come down this morning to eat with everyone but instead, I’ll eat here then walk Diesel.” She locked eyes with him then looked away. “If you’re wondering, I always intended to work through the days leading up to the wedding,” she offered.

  The look on his face disturbed her, like he was trying to figure her out. Tori didn’t want to be figured out though. She wanted to be left alone. Today, with Diesel.

  “What time is the hunt?” She could hear Zoe shut off the shower in their shared bathroom.

  “Meeting at the front door at the top of the hour,” Matt said, straightening. “I’ll get some treats for Diesel you can give him when I leave. Soften the insult I didn’t take him with me.” Matt disappeared down the hall.

  Diesel lay on the floor facing the open door his head cocked like he wasn’t sure where Matt went. Tori laughed and bent to stroke his soft fur. “Hello, Buddy. You’re going to hang out with me this morning. We’ll have some fun and then you can be my muse while I work.” The dog’s fur was particularly soft behind his ears and she twirled it in her fingers, while they watched the door.

  Matt appeared in the doorway again with a bag of treats for Diesel, who recognized or smelled them and stood wagging his tail.

  Matt handed the bag to Tori and laughed at his dog’s alert expression. “He loves these things so keep them somewhere up high or he’ll have the bag torn open.”

  Tori took the bag, her fingers brushing against Matt’s. “I’ll give him one as soon as you leave.”

  Matt bent down to his dog and spoke a few words in a language Tori didn’t understand, then stood. “I gave him the plan,” he said. “I’ll be back when we win the grand prize.”

  As soon as Matt was gone, Tori opened the treat bag. Without asking anything of him, Diesel moved to a perfect sitting position in front of her and lifted his paw to shake.

  “Look at you!” she said, pulling out a treat and offering it to the dog. “What language does your master speak to you, eh?”

  Tori set the snacks on the desk and noticed that below the window the teams were gathering for today’s scavenger hunt. Groups laughed and jumped around waiting for the game to begin, Matt not having arrived yet.

  Clint whistled to get everyone’s attention and people turned their focus to him. Matt ran out the door, Zoe holding hands, running with him.

  It wasn’t exactly jealousy Tori felt to see Matt and Zoe standing together, but it was something similar as Tori imagined them racing around town on a scavenger hunt, having fun together.

  Thinking of her self-confidence, led Tori to think of the wedding day which was getting closer. Tori felt ready to walk down the aisle as Maddy’s Maid of Honor. She’d told herself that when she got in the velvet dress, she’d become a more outgoing version of herself. Or at least she’d be back to her old self. Sitting at her desk with Diesel lying beside her, Tori stared at the laptop screen.

  The Challenge for the week was lingering on the edge of Tori’s mind as something she had to partake in, and she hoped to be up for the job.

  Elevators were challenged this week to do something socially beyond their comfort zone, channel the most confident side of yourself, dig deep, do your research, prepare for success, and throw yourself into the social world for one last grand hurrah.

  “Be the person you most want to be. Laugh along with everyone else, feel like you belong, don’t worry about anyone else’s opinion,” Tori wrote.

  With the wedding falling in the second last week of the Challenge, Tori’s final hurrah would be walking down the aisle in that dress and dancing at Maddy’s wedding. If someone asked her to dance. It had been a long time since she’d danced or been touched by a man if you didn’t count shaking hands this week. And if you didn’t count brushing fingers with Matt just now.

  Tori reached down to pet Diesel and the dog lifted his head to look back at her. Tori couldn’t help but think it was almost as if he knew she needed his company. As she twirled his fur around her fingers, she wondered why she never thought to get a dog in the last year of hiding. Then, she remembered that dogs need to go outside for walks and to do their business. Having a dog would have forced her to get outside more. That might have jolted her out of her year-long pity party.

  Diesel needed to go outside. Now that the crowd at the Lodge’s door was gone, she’d take Diesel out in the snow to run around. Matt had said that he was great off leash and would come when called, but she didn’t want to take a chance and after getting on her coat, hat and boots, Tori snapped the retractable leash to Diesel’s camouflage collar and headed out the door with him.

  The day was sunny and cold, and the brisk air hit her face as she stepped out the Lodge’s front door with Diesel leading. She hadn’t encountered anyone directly on her way downstairs and outside, although there was a group of the older parents sitting around the fireplace talking. She’d waved to them.

  Diesel was pulling at his leash, even though it was retracted as far as it would go and Tori considered letting him go but she didn’t want to be responsible for the dog running away and ruining the whole wedding week while everyone searched in the forest for a lost dog.

  After Diesel had walked Tori down the road to the next driveway and back, Tori was sure he’d had enough exercise and had created enough yellow snow to keep him satisfied until Matt returned in two hours.

  But once they got back in the room and gave Diesel another treat, she noticed something strange about the dog. He had his mouth open like he was gagging but nothing was coming out. Tori’s heart flew to her throat as she watched the dog struggle. He flopped over on his side and pawed at his mouth. Was he suffocating?

  Something was terribly wrong with Diesel. He stood, turned in circles and jerked his head to the left like he was having an attack. It appeared he was breathing but his actions had Tori picking up her phone and dialing Matt’s number.

  “Tori?” Matt said.

  “Diesel and I were outside for a walk. We just came in and he’s having some sort of an attack. You need to get over here.”

  The dog was now turning in a circle to the left, rapidly spinning for no reason Tori could see.

  “I’m on my way,” Matt said. “My dog. It’s an emergency,” he said off the phone, probably to Zoe.

  Tori hated to ruin the scavenger hunt for the two of them, but Diesel looked more agitated as the seconds ticked on. “Please hurry.”

  “Try to keep him quiet and safe. I’ll be five minutes.” Matt hung up.

&nb
sp; Tori stood staring at the dog still spinning in circles, wondering what to do to help Diesel. She had no idea what was going on and who might be able to help. She opened the door in case anyone walked by who might be able to offer help and sat on the floor near Diesel.

  When Diesel saw her on the floor, he stopped and came over to her, which Tori took as a very good sign and she flung her arms around the dog. “Is it over, boy?”

  But then Diesel broke free and his head flung to the left again biting at nothing. Tori was in tears when Matt burst through her open door minutes later. Diesel had calmed somewhat but was still agitated and biting at the air to the left of his head.

  Matt knelt next to his dog, grabbed him around the middle and stopped him from turning. Diesel’s tail wagged and he whined to see his favorite person.

  “He’s been spinning in circles and biting at the air,” Tori said.

  Once the greeting was over, Diesel took up his strange behavior again, his mouth opening and closing, leaning to the left, turning, agitated. Matt grabbed Diesel’s head to still it and held the dog’s mouth open. His fingers reached inside Diesel’s mouth and Tori knelt to see what was going on inside Diesel’s mouth.

  “Is that the problem,” Matt said, taking his fingers out of Diesels mouth. The dog began to chew. Matt smiled and sat back on his haunches. Diesel swallowed and went to cover Matt with kisses.

  “Is he alright?” Tori asked, incredulous that it was over. “What was it?”

  Matt patted Diesel and stood to look at Tori. “He had a piece of food stuck in his back molars.”

  Tori froze. That was it? The attack that appeared to be fatal was only a bit of food in the dog’s teeth. That was why he’d been spinning to the left, chewing the air, as if he was fighting for his life?

  Matt laughed and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry it looked like he was dying.”

  Tori’s hand flew to her heart. “No, don’t be sorry. I’m sorry to call you back from the game for a piece of food. Your dog looked like he was on death’s doorstep.” Tori was thrilled the dog was now perfectly healthy but embarrassed that she’d ruined the scavenger hunt for Matt and Zoe. “Can you return to the game now?”

  “We were on the last clue anyhow. I think Zoe will have finished.” Matt dialed a number on his phone.

  Tori felt so stupid for summoning Matt when all it was was a piece of the bacon-flavored treat stuck in the dog’s back teeth. She watched Diesel sniff around Matt’s feet and realized that her heart rate had escalated during the emergency, and her face was hot from all the worry. It had been an intense few minutes of thinking that she’d killed Matt’s beloved dog.

  Matt spoke into the phone. “You’re kidding? Well done, Zoe? Think we’ll win?” He listened and looked over at Tori, nodding. “I’ll be right there.” Matt ended the call and smiled, heading for the door. “Looks like we’re the first to finish but I need to cross the finish line with my partner.”

  The look in Matt’s eyes as he flew out the door made Tori realize that this man was someone who liked to win. As Diesel started to follow Matt, Tori called the dog back and closed her door. “He’ll be back after he wins the grand prize,” she said.

  Tori hoped she hadn’t just caused Matt the win because she was too stupid to realize that the dog had food caught in his teeth.

  Or did she want Matt and Zoe to win that romantic dinner for two in the library?

  9

  Matt was excited and proud like he’d just been presented with something beyond a silly scavenger hunt win. But when Zoe told him she didn’t need to have dinner with him in the library that night, he had questions.

  “Are you sure? Did you hear my table manners aren’t up to par?” Although he anticipated a private dinner for two might be awkward for two people who’d just met, Matt felt they’d earned it fair and square and if Zoe wanted to be waited on by the bride and groom, he’d comply, even if he had to bring Diesel along to sit under the table.

  “I’m sure,” Zoe said. “I’m kind of seeing someone back home so it might make him feel weird if we have dinner together.”

  Matt smiled and nodded. “Do you want to do it alone or should we give it to someone else?”

  “Or you can choose someone to have dinner with.”

  The dinner sounded like fun with Maddy and Clint dressed like waiters and the meal coming from the five-star restaurant in town. Matt had walked by the Lodge library earlier in the day where they’d decorated the room. “Maybe I’ll take Diesel’s dog sitter to pay her back,” Matt said out loud. “Tori went through the wringer thinking my dog was dying.” He explained what had happened and Zoe agreed that was a good choice.

  “Tori needs a date,” she added.

  “What does that mean?” Matt stopped walking, causing Zoe to stop and turn around.

  Zoe continued. “It’s just that Tori has been hiding inside her apartment for a year and a half, living her life through her Lonely Hearts blog. That’s all.” Zoe looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t mean to suggest it was a date but if Tori agrees to have dinner with you, it’ll be good for her.”

  They started walking again and all the way back to the car, Matt thought about how he had to tell Tori he might have been responsible for the trauma that led to her isolation.

  He had to come clean.

  What was Tori thinking when she agreed to do this private dinner with Matt in the library? The thing was set up like a romantic date and she worried it might be too much. She’d barely made it to this Lodge and to the bedroom where she continued to hide out. What made her think she could pull off an almost date with the man across the hall she barely knew?

  When Matt came back from the scavenger hunt to collect a perfectly healthy and happy Diesel, he’d casually said that Zoe didn’t want to do the dinner and now he had to find someone else. Tori had to admit that when he said that, she’d felt relief, but she wasn’t sure why. Zoe was gorgeous, outgoing and available so Tori had no idea why she wouldn’t want to get to know Matt, a man who was the definition of a tall, dark handsome hunk.

  Matt thanked her profusely for watching his dog and returned to his room. Ten minutes later, Matt knocked on Tori’s door to ask if she’d prefer having dinner in a private setting tonight. “If so, I have space at my table for two.” He stood in all his gorgeous splendor, arms crossed on his wide chest, looking so casual Tori had to say yes.

  “Sure,” she said. “That sounds like a good option to dining with fifty people who want to ask me what I did all day.”

  Matt chuckled like she was making a joke and said he’d be back at seven and they could go make Maddy and Clint wait on them.

  Tori sat on her bed and worried that even though it would be nice to eat privately and not have to be sociable, she might have to engage in chit chat with Matt, the type of conversation that usually happens on dates. Where are you from? What do you do for a living? What do you do in your free time? The thought of engaging like this made Tori feel both anxious and something else she couldn’t quite describe.

  Crossing to the window to stare out at the front yard of the Lodge, Tori watched people coming and going. The group attending the wedding week was mostly made up of couples although there were a few children running around the property and playing in the snow. Maddy and Clint were young enough that most of their friends hadn’t had children yet and anyone who had children were probably coming for the wedding only, not the week of activities beforehand.

  Tori watched a group of children making a snowman off to the far side of the Lodge, the kids rolling snowballs to pile on top of each other. The children were Maddy’s younger cousins from California, children who would find it a wonderful novelty to have Christmas in the snow. Tori laughed out loud to see Diesel burst out the door of the Lodge, run over to the kids and tear around the snowman like he had a swarm of bees chasing him. Matt wasn’t far behind, running after his dog. Diesel was careful to stay away from the children but obviously wanted them to play with him, crouching down i
n the snow, barking, begging them to chase him.

  Several of the older ones took off chasing the dog while Matt stood back and watched. He looked like he was laughing too.

  A text had Tori crossing the room to her nightstand.

  “Look out the window at my dog.” It said.

  Tori returned to the window to see Matt waving at her from the field next to the Lodge where Diesel was being chased by kids who could hardly run in the deep snow. Diesel, on the other hand, was jumping and leaping through the deepest part of the snow like he was on a trampoline. Tori laughed and waved back to Matt, the phone in her hand.

  She texted back. “He’ll sleep well tonight,” and added some zzzz’s to her message.

  As she watched Diesel eventually abandon the game and head down the road with Matt, Tori wasn’t sure who she liked more—Diesel or his lovely owner.

  Tori looked pretty when she opened the door at seven, but Matt wasn’t sure what she’d done to change her look. Maybe the red sweater, or the earrings or maybe she’d curled her hair. Yes, that was it. Her hair wasn’t in a ponytail, it was down and wavy. He’d always been a sucker for girls with long hair.

  And jeans. Tori wore tight jeans instead of the sweatpants she’d worn earlier. And she was smiling at him. Her smile made him smile. Pity it had been under wraps lately.

  “Ready to make Maddy and Clint our sherpas?” he said.

  They walked the long hall to the stairs, and followed Diesel down to the first floor, exchanging chit chat about the day. Tori was even able to laugh about her earlier emergency with Diesel.