Christmas at Holiday House

by RaeAnne Thayne

  She froze, almost dropping the leftovers she was transferring to other containers. “We weren’t there with José and Rodrigo. Technically, we went separately. I took Chris and José took Rod. We just happened to be assigned lanes next to each other.”

  He couldn’t read her expression, which made him suspect he was right. Lucy was usually far more transparent. “And did something happen?”

  She gave a laugh that sounded forced. “No, other than it was Christopher’s first time and he still bowled better than I did.”

  “I can see where that would upset you greatly for thirty-six hours. I don’t blame you a bit.”

  She made a face. “That’s me. I’m as passionate about my bowling game as Winnie is about her gingerbread house.”

  “I’m surrounded by cutthroat competitors.”

  She smiled, though it still didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m fine. You can stop worrying about me.”

  “Impossible. It’s my job. It always has been, right?”

  She let out a laugh that almost sounded like a sob and hugged him. “I have the best big brother in the world,” she said.

  He wanted to ask her if her mood had anything to do with the tension he had sensed between her and José but had a feeling she wouldn’t answer him honestly.

  He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, anyway.

  He decided to change the subject. “I’m actually glad I had the chance to talk to you. You’re still planning to help out at the resort this week, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thanks for doing that.”

  “I don’t mind. I still haven’t heard exactly when I’ll be needed yet.”

  “I’ll have José get in touch with you.”

  If he had any doubt her strange mood had anything to do with José, the sudden tightness around her mouth would have confirmed his suspicion.

  “Great,” she said in a deceptively mild voice.

  He decided to press forward on something he’d been thinking about for a long time, not sure if he would get the chance again during her visit home. “While you’re here, will you do me one more favor?”

  She looked suddenly wary. “If I can.”

  “Will you at least think about sticking around? You know we can always use someone with your vast language skills to help us out with translation services at the resort. And now that José is sticking around closer to home, I could use somebody to scout out new locations. Who better than my baby sister, who loves to explore new places and speaks about fifty-three languages?”

  “Eight,” she corrected. “With another six or seven dialects.”

  “Sorry. I always forget the dialects.” He gave her a serious look. “I mean it. I would love to have you on board, Lucy. We make a good team. I know it’s been important to you to go out and help the world. I respect that. I do. You’ve done wonderful work. But you could do good things at Lancaster Hotels, too. If you don’t want to be involved on the business side, there’s always plenty to do for our charitable arm.”

  “You know I’m not very good at staying in one place.”

  “I know that’s what you’ve told yourself. But how do you know? You’ve been moving around constantly since college. Think about it, okay?”

  “I like my life,” she said.

  “I know. But who’s to say you wouldn’t like your life as much or more if you stuck around where people love you?”

  She didn’t say anything, and he could only hope that meant she was absorbing his words as she said good-night and headed for her room.

  * * *

  Was he gone yet?

  Abby stood at the door of her room, hand on the knob as she debated whether it might be safe to go into the kitchen yet.

  Before Christopher had fallen asleep, he had been almost inconsolable to realize he had left his favorite road-grader toy at the table. She had promised she would retrieve it and place it with the rest of his vehicles so he could find it first thing in the morning.

  So why couldn’t she make her legs cooperate to walk into the other room?

  She knew why. She wasn’t sure if Ethan was still there, and she didn’t want to run the risk of facing him again.

  She was such a coward.

  She hadn’t heard voices for several moments, since she had heard Lucy go down the hall to her room and her door close. A moment later she thought she heard the outside door close.

  Okay. He was probably gone. She could do this. With determination, she turned the doorknob and walked out into the hallway.

  The grader would probably be somewhere around the table. She flipped on the kitchen light and nearly screamed when a dark figure appeared in the doorway leading to the great room.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Ethan said.

  She willed her suddenly racing heart to calm down. “I didn’t expect to see you. I thought I heard the outside door.”

  He gave her a long look, and she wondered if he could guess she had been avoiding him.

  “I started to head out but then remembered that earlier today Winnie asked me to check on an electrical problem in one of the rooms on the second floor. I came back in like the dutiful grandson I am, then realized she didn’t tell me which room. I was debating either trying them all or forgetting the whole thing. You don’t know what she was talking about, do you?”

  She could almost breathe normally again. “Yes. The power in the angel room keeps tripping. Every time it does, we have to reset the fuse in there. I wonder if it’s an issue with too many Christmas lights overloading the circuit.”

  “That’s a possibility. The electrical lines in this house were all upgraded during the previous renovation but can still cause issues. It could be a fire hazard. I better take a look. It might be a two-person job. Want to give me a hand?”

  “I... Sure.”

  She didn’t. She wanted to rush back into her room and shut the door. But she wasn’t a complete coward. She could do this.

  She followed him to the great room. The Christmas tree they had decorated, on a timer until midnight, still glowed merrily.

  She couldn’t help thinking about the first time he had kissed her.

  “It looks pretty good from up here, doesn’t it?” Ethan said as they reached the landing to the second floor.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Wonderful. I’ve never seen a prettier tree. Some nights I like to come in here by myself and just sit here with the fire in the hearth and the snow falling outside. I find great peace here.”

  He smiled a little. “I can see why. I could use a little peace. Maybe I need to sneak over in the middle of the night to follow your example.”

  “I’m sure Winnie would welcome you, as long as you gave her a little warning first.”

  “Right. I would have to tell her in advance or she would probably clobber me with the Tongan war club she keeps by the side of her bed.”

  “Her what now?”

  He laughed. “You haven’t seen her war club?”

  “I can’t say that I have. Why does your grandmother have a Tongan war club?”

  “She picked it up at an estate sale somewhere because she liked the carving. She didn’t pay much, but a friend who collects antiques persuaded her it might be worth something so she had it appraised. Turns out, it’s rare and worth thousands of dollars, believe it or not, but Winnie doesn’t care about that. She still keeps it stashed under her bed in case burglars ever come in to attack.”

  “Wouldn’t a baseball bat work just as well?”

  “Probably. But it wouldn’t have the same panache. Why use a baseball bat when you can use a priceless Tongan war club?”

  Oh, she adored Winnie. She would miss her so much. “Your grandmother in an amazing woman.”

  “I know. Believe me, I know.”

  At the angel room, she led the wa
y inside and flipped on the lights. They came on for a moment then flipped back off again.

  “Definitely overloading the circuit,” he said. “Let’s unplug what we can, reset the fuse, then try again.”

  She started with the Christmas tree while Ethan worked on the other side of the room.

  “I suspect this might be the problem,” he said, pointing to an extension cord that had a second extension cord with three lamps plugged into it.

  “I’ve talked to her about not using extension cords everywhere,” he said with a sigh, unplugging the lamps. “She’s going to burn this whole house down.”

  He unplugged the second extension cord and the lamps. “I’ll go reset the circuit breaker down at the end of the hall. Stick your head out and let me know if the lights come back on.”

  “Okay.”

  A moment later, the overhead chandelier came back on.

  “Should I try to plug the tree back in?”

  “How many extension cords did she use there?”

  “None. It’s a pre-lit tree with only one plug.”

  “Go ahead.”

  She bent down, found the outlet, and a moment later the lovely white angel tree came on.

  “We’re going to have to leave two of these lamps off. I think it’s just too much with all of the other lights on in here.”

  He plugged only one lamp in, then went back to turn the light off and on. This time it worked perfectly. He turned it off and on again with no further problems.

  “I think you did it. Good job,” she said. “I don’t know why we didn’t think to check the extension cords.”

  He turned off the light for good and walked out into the hall, his features set with frustration.

  “What would happen if a fire started up here and worked its way down to her bedroom when she is alone in the house again after Christmas?” he asked as they headed down to the great room. “She doesn’t move very fast these days. I don’t know if she could make it out.”

  She didn’t want to think about that possibility. Nor did she want to think about Winnie being alone.

  “I’ve offered to move in with her, but she doesn’t like that idea, either,” Ethan went on. “It wouldn’t be a perfect solution for either of us since I travel so much, but at least it would be something.”

  “Maybe she could hire a companion.”

  “I’ve suggested that, too. I wish I could persuade Lucy to come home to stay, but even that wouldn’t be the perfect situation.”

  “Winnie loves this place.”

  “I know. I get it. But even before she was hurt, Holiday House was too much for her to take care of by herself. I wish I could help her see that.”

  “This isn’t just a house to her, though, is it? This is Winnie’s whole identity. She’s spent her entire adult life in this house. Sixty years. She has cared for it, remodeled it, raised her son here and, if I’m not mistaken, largely raised her grandchildren.”

  “True enough.”

  “Now that she’s coming to an age when the demands of caring for it are becoming too much, I wonder if she is struggling to figure out her new place in the world. If she’s not Winifred Lancaster, owner of Holiday House of Silver Bells, who is she?”

  He stared at her, the lights of the Christmas tree reflected in his eyes. “You might be right.”

  “I don’t know the answer, though. I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you for being a sounding board, anyway.” He looked out the big windows to where the outside lights he had fixed twinkled against the darkness.

  “It’s snowing again,” he said. “Which reminds me. When can I take Christopher skiing? I’ve got some time Wednesday afternoon. Would that work?”

  She wanted to tell him no day would be good, but she knew she was being selfish. She didn’t want to go skiing, but it was unfair to deprive her child of something because of her own fear.

  “I think Wednesday would work. That’s very kind of you. Thank you.”

  “I like Christopher. He’s a great kid. His enthusiasm for life is contagious.”

  “It’s hard to have a bad day when he is always reminding me of how beautiful and exciting life can be.”

  “He’s right,” Ethan said gruffly. “It can be.”

  The silence stretched between them, suddenly crackling with awareness.

  He wanted to kiss her again. She didn’t know how she knew—it was something in the slant of his mouth, the heat in his eyes. She caught her breath. She should walk away right now, just whisper a quick good-night and slip back to her bedroom where she was safe.

  “Abby. You should probably go to bed.” His voice was a rasp that seemed to shiver down her spine.

  “I know,” she whispered, though she couldn’t seem to make herself move, her heart pounding again and everything inside her waiting for the delicious magic of his kiss.

  At last, at long last, he released a breath that sounded like a sigh and pulled her into his arms.

  * * *

  He shouldn’t be doing this.

  Ethan knew the moment his mouth touched Abby’s again that he was making a mistake.

  Every time he kissed her, he only ended up wanting more.

  She was so soft and sweet and she made tiny, sexy little sounds when he kissed her, which he found intoxicating.

  He wanted more than kisses. That was the problem. He wanted to find an empty room in the house, and spend the night discovering new and creative ways to elicit more of those sexy sounds.

  She fascinated him on so many levels. She was kind, compassionate. A caring woman with a huge heart, as he saw in the way she interacted with her son and the patience she used with Winnie. She could also be brave, facing with courage and strength the kind of pain that would have destroyed a weaker person.

  He admired and liked her more than any woman he had met in a long time. That didn’t mean he wanted anything more than kisses with her.

  Abby deserved a man who was free to give her all the love and affection she could ever want, someone with the same capacity for love that she had.

  That man wasn’t Ethan. Hadn’t he already demonstrated that clearly? He never let his heart get involved. That’s what the woman he had once intended to marry had told him, anyway. A year away from Brooke had certainly proven her right. He hadn’t loved her. He was probably incapable of love. That part of him may have been damaged irreparably by his parents and their endlessly bad romances.

  He didn’t want to hurt Abby. She had suffered enough. But, oh, it was hard to do the right thing.

  For a little bit longer, he allowed himself to savor her mouth, the softness of her arms around him, the curves of her body against him. He dreaded the moment he would have to stop.

  He finally knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. He slid his mouth away from hers and dropped his arms to the side.

  When he spoke, he used a deliberately casual tone.

  “Sorry. Looks like we got a little carried away again.”

  She blinked for a moment, looking dazed and aroused. “I...guess we did. We seem to do that when we’re alone together.”

  “Maybe we should be more careful not to find ourselves alone together.”

  He saw heat flicker in her eyes for only a moment before she blinked it away. “Good idea. Fortunately I won’t be here much longer. We only have to make it through Christmas and we should both be home free. Good night, Ethan. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go find a toy grader.”

  As he walked out into the cold December night, Ethan knew he had handled that poorly.

  He should have been honest with her, but how did a guy tell a woman that he suspected something inside him might be broken?

  By the way. I know we’re only kissing here, but in case you wanted something more, don’t look for it here.

  It sounded ridiculous, even
to him.

  So now what? He couldn’t avoid her. She would be staying with his grandmother until after Christmas. He was supposed to take her and her son skiing in a few days.

  No matter. He would simply be as polite to her as he was to Mariah Raymond, Emily Tsu and all the other Silver Belles.

  No matter how difficult.

  Fourteen

  This was certainly awkward.

  For the past half hour, Lucy had been doing her best to interpret a small billing dispute between the front-desk staff and a guest from Japan who spoke and understood English but preferred to have a translator along just in case.

  The billing dispute wasn’t the problem. They were close to resolving it to the satisfaction of everyone, until the man asked to speak to management—which meant José.

  Lucy had been working at the resort for three days and hadn’t seen him except from a distance during that time.

  As she was working mostly with guests and tour operators, staying under the radar hadn’t been difficult until now.

  Mr. Aiko, it turned out, only wanted to thank the hotel management for the wonderful stay he and his family had enjoyed. He asked Lucy to explain to José that he was part owner of a group of hotels across Asia. He had heard good things about the Lancaster properties and wanted to check them out himself.

  “Thank you very much,” José said. “We would love to return your visit and see what we can learn from you. Which of your hotels would you recommend?”

  They discussed visits and exchanged contact information, then Mr. Aiko and José bowed to each other, the guest thanked Lucy for her help and then left her alone with José.

  She knew she should slip out the door of his office, as well, but she admitted she was starved for the sight of him.

  She missed her friend. She missed taking in a few ski runs together at the end of the day or hanging out in the hotel bar, listening to the live entertainment. She missed having Sofia’s delicious tamales that she spent all day cooking or going ice-skating together at the park.

  “How was your date the other night?”