by Jacki James
A Very Terry Christmas
A Snow Globe Christmas Book One
Jacki James
Copyright © 2019 by Jacki James
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by TRIBE Editing
Cover Design by Cate Ashwood Designs
This book contains material intended for adults 18+
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
A Snow Globe Christmas Series
About Jacki James
Also by Jacki James
Chapter 1
Nicolas
It wasn’t even Thanksgiving, but it had already started. It seemed to get earlier and earlier every year, like as soon as the Halloween costumes came down, the Christmas trees went up. Hell, I hadn’t been to the store in a couple of weeks, so who knows, maybe both holidays were up at once. There was something kind of funny about that thought. The skeleton, devil, and witch costumes sitting next to the angels and nativity scenes.
One thing was for sure, this would be my last shopping trip in the city until after the New Year. Once I couldn’t even walk into the store without being accosted by candy canes, Christmas music, and for heaven sakes, booty shaking Santa figures, I was done. Most wonderful time of the year my ass. I wasn’t sure what my plan was. Last year, once the insanity of the holiday season hit, I ordered groceries and things delivered, but that wasn’t an option in Avana Springs. The only thing there was a small grocery store where I was sure I could get the basics, but I doubted I would be able to get my favorite coffee, wine, or any of the other things I preferred to eat.
I finished up my shopping and headed back to my house in Avana Springs. I needed to unload the groceries and be at the real estate office for my meeting by three. As I put everything away, I looked around. It really was a fantastic kitchen. I’d been doubtful when Todd, the real estate agent who’d handled the sale of the house, recommended a local contractor for the renovations, but finding someone to come from the city would’ve eaten up too much of my budget. The contractor, Charles, had done a fabulous job though, and the countertops, made from recycled blue glass, combined with the white cabinets were beautiful. Maybe I could talk him into doing the kitchen in my new house the same way. There was no way there was much of a market for higher-end renovations in Avana Springs, so he’d probably be happy to make the drive.
I made it to the real estate office exactly at three and parked right out front. That was one thing I could say about small town living, at least you could always find a parking spot. Todd was waiting for me which I appreciated.
“Nicolas, it’s good to see you. I hope everything is okay. I heard you got moved in.”
“Most of my stuff is still in storage in the city, but I’m moved in enough for as long as I’m planning to stay,” I said.
“As long as you’re planning to stay? You just finished a full renovation. I didn’t realize you were planning to flip the property.”
“That wasn’t the intention when I purchased it, but I’m sure you could tell when we bought the property that Jacob was the one who wanted to move here, not me.”
“I did realize that, and I heard you two weren’t together any longer, but when you went ahead with the renovation, I assumed you’d decided to stay. Avana Springs has a way of getting under your skin. I thought maybe that was the case with you.”
“No, when we came here on vacation last spring it was Jacob who fell in love with the town and wanted to move here. Since I work from home, and I thought it would make him happy, I agreed. I was the one who insisted on renovating the house while we waited on my condo to sell, and by the time that was done, we’d already gone our separate ways.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but Charles says the changes you made are fantastic.”
“They are, and the house looks great, but this was never where I wanted to live. Which is why I wanted to talk to you. I waited until the renovations were complete, because I know it’s almost impossible to sell a house that’s under construction, but now that it’s done, I want to see about getting it on the market.”
“Okay, we can do that. Financially, do you need a quick sale, or can you afford to wait until you get an offer for top dollar? That house was already on the high end of the market here in Avana Springs, and with the upgrades you’ve made, that will be even more the case.”
“I’m not in a big hurry. I haven’t even started looking for a house in the city.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding. “That’s good, we have time then. Because while I would love to get it on the market right away, this is the worst time of year to try to sell. If you can wait until spring, that would be so much better. We could get Jeremy out to do some landscaping, unless that’s your thing?”
“Yard work is totally not my thing.”
“Somehow, I didn’t think so.” He chuckled. “So, get him out to make the yard look as nice as the inside does now, and you should be able to sell it without losing any money. The main thing is we need to get people in there to see the changes. Maybe you should have a party, let people see how you’ve updated everything.”
“That would be a bit of a problem. Everyone I know is not only still in the city, but they all thought I was nuts for buying this place to begin with. Believe me, they’re not in the market for a house in Avana Springs.”
“You bought the house months ago, surely you’ve met some people by now,” he insisted.
“Nope, well Charles, but I only talked to him when he had questions. And you.”
“Carol in the diner?” he asked. “Everyone knows Carol.”
“Never been there. Oh, I met Sam and Star last spring when Jacob and I came for the weekend. We stayed in their B&B. They seem nice.”
“They are nice. That’s it? You haven’t met any of the shop owners on Main Street or the artists down the row?”
“The row?”
“It’s a short street that runs off of Main Street. It’s mostly all artist studios and galleries. It’s kind of what Avana Springs is known for,” he said.
“Oh, Jacob had mentioned that. He bought some mugs, that have a little spot made in the side for you to put your fingers in, from one of those shops.”
“Yeah, those probably came from Jessop’s studio. He’s a potter. He calls those hand warmer mugs. You’ll really enjoy those this winter.”
“I’m pretty sure Jacob took them with him when he left.” I shrugged. “But anyway, no, I haven’t explored at all.”
“Okay, I have an idea for you then. Avana Springs is serious about their holiday celebrations. Every year, we have a huge parade, tree lighting ceremony, and the Christmas Tour of Homes. All you need to do is go all out on decorating the outside since the parade route basically ends in front of your house, and then sign up for the Tour of Homes. That will get pretty much everyone in town inside your house so they can see how amazing it looks.”
“You want me to decorate for Christmas?”
“I think it’s your best bet to get the most people to see the house. This is a sma
ll town, and word of mouth is always the best advertising. The more people you can wow at once, the better your chances the right person will hear how great it looks now.”
“I’m not much of a Christmas kind of guy,” I said. “I mean, I’m not anti-holiday or anything. Like, I’m not one of those people who gets angry if you tell me Merry Christmas. I just don’t really do the whole Ho-Ho-Ho, Happy Holidays thing.”
“Okay, it was just an idea. But I’m warning you, another week and this whole town is going to look like a box of Christmas cards. These people love Christmas.”
“These people? Not you?”
“I don’t mind it. It isn’t really my thing, but I jump in and help, anyway. Good PR and everything.”
“I’ll think about it,” I assured him. “But either way, we’ll plan for getting it on the market as soon as spring hits. I guess one winter in Avana Springs won’t kill me.”
It looked like I would be here a little longer than expected. I supposed I would need to get the rest of my things from storage delivered. Not that it would help with Todd’s suggestion. There wasn’t a Christmas tree, a strand of lights, or even a door wreath amongst my belongings. I never saw any reason to bother. I went to my parents for Christmas and they had a tree, no reason to clutter up my condo with bright flashing lights and gaudy decorations. It had always seemed like a lot of work and expense for such a short time to me. I laughed to myself. The idea of my house on the Christmas Tour of Homes was ridiculous.
I grabbed my phone and called my best friend Kosmos.
“Nico, what’s up?” he asked. I barely heard him over the gunshots and men yelling in the background.
“Is that the new Battleground Anides I hear in the background?” I asked.
“It is. The beta players are loving it.”
“Just the beta players?” I asked, laughing.
“Okay, you got me. I’m loving it. This is going to be the best Battleground game yet.”
“I think so, too.”
“Hold on.” I heard rustling in the background and then I heard him talking to someone else. You guys keep playing. Take note of any problems or bugs you come across and I’ll be back on in a few. “Okay, I’m back. How’d the meeting with the real estate agent go?”
“He thinks we’ll be able to sell but not until spring. You know, I’ve made some stupid choices in my lifetime but agreeing to sell my condo and move to Avana Springs to make him happy was top of the list,” I grumbled.
“I tried to tell you that at the time.”
“Not helping, Kos.”
“Didn’t think I was, Nico. Regardless, sounds like you’re stuck in suburban hell for a while.”
“The real estate agent thinks I should enter the house in some Christmas Tour of Homes thing they do here to get traffic in.”
“That isn’t the worst idea I ever heard.”
“Are you kidding? You know how I feel about the whole Christmas season.”
“Yeah, yeah, we all know. Commercialism, people overspending, being forced to spend time with people you don’t even like, the music, the busyness, the crowds. I’ve heard it all from you every year as long as I’ve known you. You’re the only person I know who doesn’t like Christmas.”
“Exactly. So you know what a stupid idea it is for me to decorate for the holiday.”
“Yeah, you doing it is a colossally bad idea. But having the house decorated and hundreds of people going through and seeing all the things you did to upgrade the house is a great idea. You just need to get someone else to decorate it for you.”
“You know you might be onto something. I doubt there’s anyone here who does that kind of thing, but maybe I could get someone to drive out here and do it. I’ll make some calls.”
Chapter 2
Terry
I flipped the sign on my flower shop from open to closed. Normally I either headed home or to the diner to eat, but tonight I went straight to the back of the shop so I could unpack the boxes that had just been delivered. I’d ordered all the stuff to decorate my store window for Christmas and it arrived today. I couldn’t wait. Last year, the flower shop was still owned by Mrs. Potter and I only worked here, but this year, it was all mine and I planned to go all out. This was my favorite time of the year. The only thing I didn’t like was waiting until after Thanksgiving to decorate, but holiday fatigue was a real thing, and I didn’t want people to get tired of my display too soon. But my stuff was here and that meant it was almost time.
At least I didn’t have to wait to do my house. I’d moved out of the place I’d shared with my two best friends over the summer into the house that had been my grandmothers. It was weird being on my own, but I needed to do this. I’d gone from living with my parents to living with Micah and Walker. I’d never lived alone, and it was time. We’d always waited until after Walker’s birthday on December second to decorate. Last year, I’d told him he was an adult and maybe he should suck it up and let me put up a tree, but he’d thrown a fit like a two-year-old, so I let it go. But not this year, oh no. This year my tree was going up this weekend. That would give me two full months of Christmas cheer since I wouldn’t take it all down until after the first of the year.
Between that, and the store, you would think I had enough, but I was also on the Chamber of Commerce’s decorating committee. When they asked for volunteers, I was one of the first to raise my hand. It combined two of my favorite things; Christmas and Avana Springs. I’d lived here my whole life and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. It had been formed as an artist’s colony back in the seventies when a famous actor basically bought the town for his boyfriend. Artists, actors, and performers of all kinds had moved here. They loved having a safe place away from the hustle of cities like LA and New York and invested in the town. Eventually, people moved out of the city to Avana Springs, and it became less of an artist colony and more of a small town, but it kept that artistic vibe. But more importantly, because it had been originally founded by a gay couple, it had always been an LGBTQ+ friendly place to live.
I took things out of the boxes, organizing them according to the way I envisioned the window display. I was about half-done when there was a knock on the front door; the same time my phone vibrated with a text that said, Let me in. I shook my head and grinned as I walked to the front.
“I heard you knocking,” I said to Neal, opening the door to let him in. He owned the bookstore next door and was one of my closest friends.
“Yeah, but I figured you might think I was a desperate customer needing emergency roses.”
“Do you know how many times since I have owned this store someone has needed emergency roses? None. They aren’t really a thing. I mean, seriously, when have you ever needed emergency roses?”
“I haven’t. I would need a boyfriend or girlfriend first and that, my friend, isn’t likely.”
“What about that guy from Kingston? He seemed really interested.”
“He was, and he hadn’t read a book since he graduated from high school. He said he had rather just see the movie.”
“But he was hot. Maybe someone needs to not be so picky.”
“Picky? Did you hear what I said, Terry? He’d rather see the movie. That’s not being picky, that’s just having standards. What’s all this?” he asked, picking up a blown glass icicle. I took it from him and laid it carefully back down with the others.
“My stuff for the store window. I can’t wait to get started.”
“I haven’t even ordered anything yet. I just figured I would do one of those book Christmas trees and call it good.”
I gasped, “You’re kidding, right?”
He laughed. “Yes, I’m kidding. I have a whole display planned. It’s going to be amazing. I know yours is going to be fabulous, but since you’re on the committee, you can’t win the storefront contest, so that’s my goal. I want to win.”
“What brought you over here tonight?”
“Oh, I was going to see if you wanted to grab s
omething to eat.”
I glanced at my Christmas stuff. I really wanted to stay here and unpack, but I had a couple of weeks left before I could even think about decorating. “The diner or the pizza place?” I asked.
“Hell, it’s Friday, so let’s splurge and go for the pizza.”
“We’re sad, you realize that right? Two gay men in their mid-twenties with nothing better to do on a Friday night than grab pizza.”
“At this point in my life, I’d rather have the pizza,” Neal said. We both knew that was a lie. We both wanted someone in our lives, but neither of us had any prospects.
“We could go into the city, hit a couple clubs, maybe get a room and stay overnight. We’re never going to meet anyone hanging out together in Avana Springs, lamenting our singleness.”
He made a face like he’d eaten something sour. “I guess we could if you really want to.”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t. Not this weekend, anyway. I’m planning to decorate my house for Christmas and it was a long week. I’m really pretty tired.”
“Thank god. I really don’t want to go anywhere. We can plan a weekend soon, though. In the meantime, let’s go get that pizza.”
We walked down the street to the only pizza place in town. It wasn’t the best pizza I’d ever eaten, but it wasn’t bad, and I was hungry. We took our seat and ordered a medium to split. While we waited, we talked about our week and all the unusual customers we’d had. Once the pizza came, we stopped talking and ate until we were both stuffed.
“Oh hey,” he said, settling back in his seat. “Guess who was in town today.”
“Who?”
