Joan waved a hand. “It’s no trouble, Nick. Just shut up and eat it, will ya?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As Nick made himself a plate, Joan busied herself with tidying up his kitchen. He knew it was just her way, and that she had no ability to keep her hands still even if she tried. Still, he knew his mom, and something seemed a bit off to him. He grabbed a Coke out of the fridge and then took his plate of food to the table. He wondered if he should ask what was wrong or wait for her to tell him. Taking a bite of his food and realizing he was too hungry to talk, he decided to let her tell him when she was ready.
A few minutes later, Joan sat down across from him. “How’s dinner?”
“Great, as usual,” Nick replied before taking another bite of mashed potatoes.
“I’m glad. The guests seemed to like it, too. They wondered where you were.”
Nick took a sip of his Coke.
“Holly, specifically. In case you cared.”
“Not really, no.”
Joan narrowed her eyes at her son. “I have to tell you something.”
“I know.”
“Of course, you do. Now listen up, I have no control over this situation, and you know darn well that we are going to be hospitable no matter how we feel about this woman. Do you understand?”
This got Nick’s attention. He put down his fork and sat back. “Which woman?”
“Julia.”
As soon as he’d heard her say the name, his stomach dropped. But his head, on the other hand, still hadn’t quite caught up to what his mom was trying to tell him. “What about her?”
“Julia is at the inn. She and Bill arrived earlier this afternoon.”
Each word was like a separate rock being thrown at his gut. “Why?”
“Apparently she insisted on coming out here with Bill, though I can’t imagine why she’d want to after what she did,” Joan said, shaking her head in disgust. “You should have seen how sickly sweet she was to me when they checked in. It was just ... well, she was acting. And not very well.”
Nick couldn’t even find it in him to smile at his mom’s joke. “She’s really here?”
“Afraid so.”
“Too bad they can’t stay at the motel with the crew,” Nick said absently.
“Oh yes, I’m sure she of all people would be just itching to do that. Besides, it’s your fault the inn is so nice. Without you, it would be in shambles and no movie stars would ever stay there.”
“Hmm. Not a bad idea.”
Suddenly not hungry anymore, Nick brought his dish to the sink. How could she come back here after the way they’d ended things? And how could she think it would be okay to stay in the inn, right under his nose? Nick was not looking forward to seeing her, and it would be near impossible to avoid her with his daily tasks taking him to the inn several times a day. Sure, he had other jobs around town that needed his attention, but the inn was still his main priority.
“Are you okay, bud?” Joan asked.
“Yeah,” Nick answered, his back still to her as he braced his hands on the kitchen sink. “I’m fine. Just annoyed, I guess.”
“Me, too, honey. Well, I’m more like spitting mad, but who’s counting?”
Nick turned and leaned against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Are they staying all the way until Christmas Eve like the rest of them?”
“I think so.”
“Well, at least I have the ball to worry about. That’ll keep me out of the inn most days.”
“Everything still on track? How’s it looking?” Joan asked.
“We’re on track,” he replied.
The Gingerbread Ball was the longest standing tradition in all of Snow Hill, and it was started by Nick’s mom and dad the year they opened the inn. Each Christmas Eve, the whole town came together at Colonial Hall to celebrate Christmas as a family. It was a formal event that people in Snow Hill planned for months in advance. Since Nick was the town’s handyman in addition to keeping everything squared away at the inn, he’d also been put in charge of the Gingerbread Ball as soon as his dad had first gotten sick. That made this ball his eleventh year in charge and it ran like a well-oiled machine by this point. Well, except for the year Julia had been there. He wished that ball had never happened.
Nick came in through the back door, his cottage only about thirty yards behind the main building of the inn. He risked a look into the laundry room, not really expecting to see Julia in there, but checking for her just in case. Then he continued down the hall and into the parlor. Apparently, the fireplace had been acting up so his mom had called him over to see about it. He cautiously rounded the corner, afraid she’d pop up at any moment. Hopefully she was already on set with Bill and he would be able to slip in and out unnoticed.
“Morning.”
Nick squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of a feminine voice behind him, but then just as quickly realized it was the cheerful voice of Holly, not Julia’s often sarcastic one. He turned to greet her with a smile that instantly turned into a wince.
“That is officially the ugliest ugly Christmas sweater I have ever seen,” Nick told her, shaking his head.
Holly looked down at the green and red monstrosity with its tinsel and pom-poms and glitter galore. “What? You don’t like it? I got you one so we could match.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “You’re too much.”
“And you’re here a lot. This inn sure keeps you busy.”
Nick gestured to the fireplace. “Ma says it’s acting up and asked me to take a look.”
“Well, the care you both put into this place shows. Every room in this house feels like home. I’m sure it’s because of how much you and your mom love what you do here.”
“Thanks,” he answered, a quick tinge of warmth spreading through him at her words. He really did take pride in running the inn with his mom. He’d known very early on that it was going to be his someday, and he’d grown up caring for it as if it already were. It meant a lot to him that she could see that and knew what it would mean to him to hear her say it. Not that it really mattered what she thought, since she’d be leaving in a month and taking her compliments with her.
“Anyway, I was just about to head to set when I saw you come in,” Holly explained, hooking a thumb at the front door.
Nick craned his neck around her. “Just you? Err ... is everyone else already on set?”
“Bill is there already filming some scenes that I’m not in,” she answered, checking her watch. “My call time is in about an hour, so Jack and I figured we’d walk around the square and take our time showing up.”
Relief swept over him. Julia was probably on set with Bill. All he had to do was hurry up and finish this task and then get to the rest of his workday before they got home, and he’d be in the clear.
“I should get to it,” he told Holly, surprised to find that he enjoyed talking to her and didn’t actually want to cut their conversation short.
“Us, too, Holls,” Jack said, appearing from the stairs. “Otherwise you won’t be able to eat first and then you’ll get hangry and your scenes will suck.”
Holly rolled her eyes at her brother. “Have I told you lately that I hate you?”
“Not today,” he replied with a wink. “I’ll wait for you outside.”
Jack nodded at Nick as he crossed to the door and went onto the porch. Nick looked back at Holly. “The café in the square has really good sandwiches if you want something quick to eat.”
“Thanks. I don’t really get hangry and ruin my scenes.”
Nick narrowed his eyes at her. “You sure?”
“I mean ... maybe a little.”
“I’ll tell Mom to make sure we have extra food around just in case.”
Holly gave him an amused glare and turned for the door, stopping at the coat rack. Nick watched as she stood up on her tiptoes and reached for jacket, then averted his eyes as the hem of her s
weater rose up and called attention to how good her legs looked in the tight black leggings she wore. The last thing he needed was to be attracted to another movie star who was going to take off a few weeks later. Nothing good would come of that.
Just as he turned back to his task at the fireplace, a loud crash caused him to jerk back around and find her flat on her back with the coat rack completely covering her small frame. He bolted into the foyer and lifted the wooden antique off her, then helped her push the five or six coats off her face. She lay there on the floor, bright red—whether from embarrassment or the coat rack hitting her in the face, he couldn’t be sure—and laughing hysterically.
“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling next to her on the floor. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh with her or check her for a concussion. “Holly, how many fingers am I holding up? Did it hit you on the head?”
Holly laughed and clutched her sides but didn’t respond.
“Did it land on your side?” He put a hand over hers, the contact actually causing both of them to pause and take notice of the sparks that passed between them.
“I’m sorry, I told you I was clumsy,” she said as her laughing fit subsided. “I accidentally grabbed both my coat and the coat behind mine, so when I went to put that one back, I think I just tilted the whole thing too far.”
Nick glanced up at the coat rack. “Yeah, it would be kind of top-heavy. Here, let’s get you up.”
He took her hands in his and brought her to her feet. Again, the heat that passed between them with that simple touch was alarmingly present. She looked up at him with a combination of self-consciousness and humor, and he found the mixture completely adorable. Then her eyes left his and fixated on something above them.
Her hands still in his, he followed her gaze. At that moment, he honestly didn’t know if he was excited or upset about what he found there, but his heartbeat picked up either way. A bundle of mistletoe hung from the chandelier. It was tied with a little red bow, and he silently cursed his mother for placing a booby trap to catch him in. Sure, maybe it was just a decoration. Or maybe she was sticking her nose in his love life again, hoping to make something magical happen at Christmas. Well, he was sure he could get out of it somehow.
Nick’s eyes traveled back down to hers, finding them holding an air of mischief. Her lips quirked up in an expression that said she was daring him to take action, and she smelled like a blend of peppermint and sweet vanilla. Okay, maybe mistletoe wasn’t the worst thing in the world. And maybe he didn’t need to get out of it, after all.
“Nicholas,” a female voice came from the top of the stairs, and this time, he knew without a doubt who it belonged to.
Dropping Holly’s hands, he looked up. “Julia.”
He watched as his ex began descending the stairs towards them. She wore dark jeans, heels, and a preppy sweater that couldn’t have been any more opposite of Holly’s if it tried. There was once a time that the sight of her would have made his heart start beating out of his chest. When she’d been there to film her own Christmas movie, he remembered coming to the inn in search of something—anything—to fix or tinker with if it meant getting a moment alone with her. Now, it was like the blood in his veins grew colder with each step she took that brought her closer to him.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Julia gave Holly a once over. “Nice sweater.”
“Right back at you,” Holly replied, fixing a warm smile on her face. “I’m going to head to set. Good to see you, Julia. Nick, thanks for the help with the ... er, coat rack ... situation.”
Nick barely concealed a laugh and then gestured to the several coats that were still strewn across the hardwood floor. “Don’t worry about those, I’ll get them.”
“Gee, thanks,” she said with a laugh as she closed the door behind her.
Nick pursed his lips slightly as the cold air slipped in through the door, the chill matching his feelings for Julia. Without acknowledging her, he stooped to clean-up the mess of coats and hung them on the wooden rack.
“You won’t even say hello to me?” Julia said, her tone matching his icy feelings.
Placing the last coat on the rack, he turned. “Hello.”
“Very mature.”
Nick stalked into the parlor, intent on finishing his task with the fireplace and getting out of dodge. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t even had a chance to open the thing up and see what was wrong with it yet. As he stooped to the edge of the hearth, he heard her cross the parlor behind him and sit on the couch. He continued with his investigation of the fireplace and ignored her, but she sat there sighing all the while like a dramatic teenager.
Finally, he turned. “Julia, is there something I can do for you?”
“Can we talk?”
“About what?”
Julia tucked a strand of her chin-length black hair behind her ear, revealing a massive diamond stud earring. The sparkle that shone off it was a glaring reminder of how different their worlds were. Those studs would probably eclipse the inn’s entire budget for the Gingerbread Ball, and they saved up for that all year with their profits from the inn’s operations. Julia’s new husband probably bought her those earrings without even checking the price.
“About how we left things,” she replied.
Nick straightened from his hunched over position by the fireplace. “You mean, the way you left me, high and dry. On our wedding day. In front of the whole town?”
Julia looked at her hands. “Nicholas, come sit with me. Let’s just talk this out.”
“Why? We haven’t talked since that day, and I’m fine with that. Maybe that means there’s nothing to say.”
“I came here with Bill so I could see you in person and apologize. Please, let me.”
Nick shook his head but figured it might be better to just let her say her piece. Then he could ask her to stay away from him for the rest of her time there. He took off his tool belt and set it on the hearth, then tossed the screwdriver he still held in his hand onto the belt. Probably better that he didn’t bring that to the couch with him in case he decided to take his own ear out to save himself from listening to her nonsense.
Finally, he sat, crossing one leg over the other and throwing an arm over the back of the couch. “Fine. Talk.”
“Thank you,” Julia breathed out, relief clear on her face. “You look great, by the way.”
Nick gave her his best disinterested, blank stare in reply.
“So, Holly is really pretty. Other than the sweater, that is. She’s one of those Christmas lovers, isn’t she?”
No reply.
“Doesn’t seem like your type, really. She’s too...”
“Kind? Genuine?”
Julia narrowed her eyes and shuddered slightly. “Bubbly.”
“I thought you wanted to apologize. If you’re just here to gossip about your husband’s co-star ... I have work I could be doing.”
“Okay, yes,” Julia said. “Well, as soon as Bill told me where this movie was going to be filmed, I knew it was a sign that I had to come see you. Total fate.”
Nick quirked a brow. “Or, it was because Snow Hill is the setting for a lot of these Christmas movies, and it had nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe so. But I felt deep down that I needed to talk to you, Nicholas. I needed to make it right.”
Again, he stared back at her instead of speaking.
“I promise I’m a different person than I was two Christmases ago. I know what I did was wrong, I know I hurt you, and I’m truly sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
“Why?”
Julia frowned. “Why, what?”
“Why do you need me to forgive you?”
“Well, it’s just, I don’t know. So we can move forward without this hanging between us. I feel terrible for what I did. So ... will you?”
Nick uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, putting his face in his hands.
“Nicholas, please say something,” she co
axed, putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a gentle squeeze with her fingertips.
Her touch made him flinch back. “Julia. You come here, to my inn, with your super famous husband that you married literally one month after leaving me at the altar, and you think me forgiving you will help you move forward? You’re not having any trouble moving forward. In fact, I’m the loser who’s still living in the past. And honestly ... I don’t think forgiveness will be anywhere on my radar while you’re staying at my inn during the same month we’d be celebrating our second wedding anniversary.”
Julia looked shocked, as if she hadn’t expected him to be so honest about his feelings. As if she’d expected him to just roll over and do whatever she wanted like he used to. Nick was done catering to her and her wishes. He was done keeping his mouth shut while she talked her way out of making him feel uncomfortable with her lack of respect for him. He’d done plenty of that once upon a time, and he definitely wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of forgiveness just to ease her guilty conscious.
“I really am sorry,” she said, not looking up from her hands.
Nick noted the size of the diamond on her left hand and scoffed. “Yeah, I’m sure you are. Look, if there’s nothing else, why don’t you go join the rest of the movie stars on set. I’ve got work to do.”
Julia gave him one last pleading look, then headed for the door. Nick wanted to hop up, grab his tools, and break something. But since he was in the parlor of the inn he cared so deeply for and didn’t want to see it destroyed, he refrained. Instead, he slumped back on the couch and stared at the ceiling.
Maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t kissed Holly under that mistletoe. He didn’t think he could handle being left by another Christmas movie star who only cared about herself and the next steps in her career. Snow Hill was his home. This inn was his future. And these people were only passing through.
5
Holly
Holly took a deep breath of the crisp winter air and smiled as she exhaled. “This place is magical.”
A Movie Star for Christmas Page 4
