A Little Mistletoe and Magic: Ho Ho Howls Romance Holiday Edition

by Marianne Morea

  “Good to know. So, what do you think could be done with these attic rooms?” Jenny redirected the conversation. She was attracted to the man as is, she didn’t need things to get any weirder.

  Jack measured the first room, and then looked at the other two. “Depends. You could use them exactly as they were meant. For in-house staff. Or you could rent them at a significantly reduced rate because of the shared bathroom. You know, hostel-style.”

  He pointed to the ceiling with the end of the tape measure. “Here’s your culprit. There’s a leak in the roofing tiles somewhere in this area.” He circled with the stiff aluminum tape measure, tapping lightly on the large water stain. “Which explains the water marks on the walls in the bedrooms below. It’ll need to be looked at, and insulation will have to be shored up, in the walls as well as the windows.”

  “Ugh. This place really is the money pit.” She exhaled, looking at the dark circular stain. “What I need is a live-in caretaker.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but she ignored the urge. Jackson Wilde living across the hall was not a good idea. Nope. She ignored the surprise butterflies in her belly. She was not ready for a live-in anything.

  “Don’t worry so much, Jen. What’s your timeframe?”

  “I wanted to be open for the spring season.”

  He grinned. “That gives us plenty of time. Between Sam and I, we’ve got it covered. I’m a licensed electrician, so I can check if all the wiring is up to code. I can do most plumbing as well, but Sam will have to sign off on it. That’s his wheelhouse.”

  “When I bought the place, the housing inspector said everything was workable.”

  Jack hooked his tape measure to his belt. “There’s workable, and then there’s workable.”

  She headed down the steps with Jackson following. The floor creaked under her feet, and as they passed the bedrooms on the second floor, a chill swept past. It raised goosebumps on her arms even under her blouse.

  “Did you feel that chill?” she asked, rubbing her arms.

  Jack shook his head. “Just the opposite. I thought it was unusually warm up here.”

  The chill wasn’t from a draft, and Jenny knew it. Something lurked, unsure of her, as well as Jack. It wasn’t menacing, but that didn’t make it any less creepy. She was about to say something when she heard the soft giggle of children’s laughter. She smiled. Her girls were there as well, and they were okay with Jack being in the house, or so she hoped.

  They got to the bottom step on the main floor, and Jack walked with her into the kitchen. “This room is definitely the heart of the house,” she said, running a hand over the oversized fireplace. “I love that the hearth is the original from the eighteenth century. I mean, who builds fireplaces like this anymore? The masonry and the size. I’d love to open the wall and have the hearth be double-sided. I bet it could accommodate three six-foot logs burning at once.”

  “It could, but you’d get a visit from the fire marshal for sure. No mistaken identity this time. If not him, then the historical society. They’re usually easy to work with when people do restorations, but they do draw the line at demolishing certain historic elements.”

  “Like hearths.”

  He nodded. “Among other things.”

  “What do they say about leaky sinks?”

  “Depends.” He grinned. “What seems to be the problem?”

  She turned on the tap, and the faucet coughed and sputtered, leaking from the base. Water spread across the back counter and into the backsplash.

  “See what I mean? I tried fixing it myself, but I only made things worse.” At that moment, the sputtering stopped, and Jenny leaned in for a closer look. “Wow. Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought.”

  “Jen, don’t!”

  No sooner did the words leave Jack’s mouth than the faucet’s aerator gave, spraying water in every direction, soaking Jenny to the skin.

  Her hands flew up, blocking the erratic jets, as Jack scrambled for the shut-off valve under the sink.

  Both the kitchen and Jenny were drenched. Her blouse looked like she’d entered a wet tee-shirt contest.

  “Wet and wild.” Jackson grinned, craning up from his squat under the sink. “That’s a good look for you. I’d whistle, but we just met.”

  He reached for the dishtowel hanging from a ring inside the cabinet door, and tossed it to Jen. She wrapped it around her chest, holding it in place under her armpits.

  “Uhm, remember when I said I needed a live-in caretaker?”

  “Yup.”

  “You interested in the job?”

  He straightened to his feet in the middle of a puddle. “When Sam and I merged businesses, we thought it best to consolidate. One rent instead of two. I gave up my lease and moved my tools and stuff to his workshop. I’ve been camped on his sofa since.”

  “Is that a yes, then?” Jenny pushed a wet strand from her forehead. She knew she looked ridiculous in her dishtowel burrito, but hey.

  “I’ve got a better idea. There’s a small workspace above your gift shop. It’s mostly filled with old junk, but with a little ingenuity, it could be a decent studio.”

  “Lemme guess.” Ridiculous or not, she couldn’t help her grin. “The three stooges strike again.”

  He laughed, angling his head with an appreciative smile. “Just two stooges. Me and Sam, but yup, you got the right picture.”

  “Criminal mischief.”

  “Never!” Jack’s smile widened, and the crinkle around his eyes said she wasn’t far off.

  “You’re not exactly a teenager anymore. How do you know it’s still filled with old junk?”

  “Because it’s our old junk.” Grabbing a stack of dishtowels, he wiped up the counter before dropping the small towels to the floor to mop up the rest of the wet mess. “There’s no kitchen or bathroom, but I could use the employee restroom in the shop when necessary, and then shower and take my meals here,” he paused, “if that would be okay with you.”

  It was obvious Jack was trying to be gentlemanly about her offer, and though she appreciated the gesture, there was no need. He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was pushing thirty, and the more she thought about him across the hall, the better she liked the idea. Just the idea. That she wasn’t ready for anything else still stood. Not yet anyway.

  “Sleeping above the shop, but doing your living over here, seems a little cumbersome, don’t you think?”

  She watched his body move, muscular and elegant as he wiped up the water. Her Spidey senses told her Jack was on the up and up. As gentlemanly as his offer to stay close, but not too close.

  “Perhaps, but I don’t want to impose. Especially when the offer was made in the heat of the moment.”

  Snorting a chuckle, Jenny glanced at her silly dishtowel burrito. “More like the wet of the moment.”

  The comment wasn’t meant to have double meaning, but she still felt a blush creep into her cheeks. Jack’s expression didn’t change, so either he didn’t go there, or he hadn’t heard. Maybe she was the only one with a dirty mind. Again, Tess’s fault for planting the seeds in her head. Keep the door open. Yeah right.

  She cleared her throat. “I appreciate your gallantry, Jack. Or maybe it’s your polite way of telling me I overstepped the boundaries, and you’re uncomfortable with the idea of staying here. If that’s the case, I apologize.’”

  He lifted a hand, stopping her there. “I’m fine with the idea of staying here. If anyone wasn’t going to press the issue, it’s me.”

  “Look, I’m not looking for a freebie.” Ugh. Mind, gutter. Mind, gutter. Get it together, Jen! “Uhm, what I mean is your going contractor’s rate is fine. I have no expectations.”

  Jack considered her for a moment. “There has to be some kind of give and take. How about a friends and family rate in exchange for the room and board offered?” He angled his head, as if trying to read her face. “But we take turns cooking.”

  “Deal!” Jenny nodded, not
expecting a handshake as they did in the shop earlier.

  This time, his smooth callouses warmed in her palm, and the hard feel tingled along her forearm. Jack’s eyes never left her face, and the green depths seemed to glow with amused heat. Her Spidey senses tingled even more, sizzling across her skin like wildfire.

  Holy Money Pit.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  Chapter Five

  “A little nippy to be manning a sidewalk sale, don’tcha think?”

  Jenny’s head whipped around. “Jesus, Tess!” She exhaled a start. “You’re like a cat these days, always popping up unexpectedly.”

  “Hey, if you had my curves, you’d learn to be light on your feet, too.” She picked up a blown glass ornament, looking at its sparkle in the morning light. “So pretty.”

  “Thanks,” Jen replied absently. “Getting everything unwrapped and placed was harder than I thought.”

  “Jen, I’m all for the early bird catching the worm, but the craft fair doesn’t start for hours yet. There’s no need for you out here with the frost. Not today, anyway. The Christmas Fair isn’t until next week, and they provide heaters for the participating shops. You should wait for that, instead of freezing your nips off now.”

  Tess eyed her friend eyeing the inn, and the contractor’s truck parked in the driveway. “Ah. I see said the blind man. Now I see why you’re out here peeking. Seems someone took my advice and left the door open.”

  Jenny rolled her eyes, pulling her long sweater tighter around her shoulders. “The work at the inn is big job, Tess. Way more than I anticipated.” She shrugged. “Jack needed a place to crash other than Sam’s couch, so I offered.”

  “You offered.”

  Jenny placed a silver and pink wreath around a bowl of glass ornaments. “It’s not what you think.”

  Tess’s eyebrow went up.

  “I mean it.” Jen barely made eye contact with her. “It’s strictly business.”

  “Business associates don’t share rooms across the hall from one another, Jen.”

  “Okay, fine. Then it’s a friendship with business benefits.”

  “Business benefits.”

  Jenny knocked over an apple cider scented diffuser, denting its embellished edge. “What the hell is the matter with me? I’m all thumbs this morning.” She exhaled, picking up the decorative piece. “I can’t seem to focus.”

  “Focus?”

  “Will you stop repeating everything I say? I know what you’re hinting at, but Jack is tackling the inn. Not me.”

  “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

  “Okay, Hamlet. Enough.”

  Tess shrugged. “If you say so.”

  Jenny stopped fussing with the bent edge of the diffuser, and looked at Tess. “I’m that obvious, aren’t I?”

  “Uhm, yeah,” Tess grinned, “but that’s okay. You’re out of practice.”

  “Out of practice? Honey, I’m rusted, and I squeak!”

  “They make lube for those kinds of problems.”

  Jenny laughed at that, but her chuckle turned into a long sigh. “I can’t stop thinking about him, Tess. I tell myself I’m not ready for a man in my life, but then I catch myself watching him How his tee-shirt molds to his shoulders and chest. The way his muscles move as he works. The way his jeans fit.” She raked a hand through her shoulder-length hair. “I’m a mess.”

  “You think?”

  Jenny smirked. “I’m not totally shallow, so don’t go there. It’s not just the way Jack looks while he’s working. It’s the way he is when we have dinner together, and how he putters around the kitchen helping me cook, or clean up. It feels—” she exhaled, shrugging. “I don’t know.”

  “Effortless?”

  “I was going to say that, but what I really mean is it feels unbroken.”

  “And what’s wrong that?” Tess asked strongly. “If anyone needed a little easy in their life, it’s you.”

  “You don’t understand, Tess. I’m betrayed by my own body, and the guilt is killing me.”

  “I do understand. Jackson is categorical catnip. He’s definitely a looker, plus he’s genuinely nice. He has no patience for phonies, and can sniff them out at ten paces.”

  Jen put the diffuser down with a faraway smile. “Charlie didn’t suffer fools much, either. My husband wasn’t gorgeous, but he was funny, and wonderful with me and the girls. Jack has that same smartassy, fun way about him. The kind of person who makes other people feel good just with their presence.”

  “I hate to break it you, Jen, but you’re crushing on a man with whom you’re also sharing a bathroom. Sounds halfway to intimate to me.”

  Pfft. “I’m a widow who buried a husband and two children. Women like me don’t crush. We’re not entitled.”

  “Says who?” Tess replied firmly. “In three years you endured more than most endure in a lifetime. In my book, that makes you entitled and then some.”

  “No, hon. It doesn’t. I’ve had my happiness.”

  Tess waved away that last comment. “Life doesn’t have happiness quotas, Jen. If you find a little joy, grab it with both hands. Who cares what people think?”

  “I’ll have to remember that when I leave for my friend Amelia’s on Friday. I’m spending the weekend with her and her family.”

  Tess’s brows pulled together a bit. “Pooh. I planned to ask you and Jackson over for dinner Saturday night with me and Sam.”

  “You and Sam.” Jen raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t look at me like that. Talking to you got me thinking, so I took the bull by the horns and invited him for dinner that night.” She flashed a sheepish smile. “He ended up staying for breakfast as well.”

  Jenny grinned ear to ear. “I knew it! I didn’t want to say how much I knew, but my Spidey senses zinged the whole time we talked. It was only a matter of time.”

  “Spidey senses? Were you bitten by a radioactive spider in the four days since we spoke?”

  “Not exactly.” Jenny shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. I get a feeling about people and places, now and then. Nothing that would make me bet the rent or play fast and loose with the stock market, but when it comes to what makes people tick, I’m pretty good. I call it my supercharged intuition.”

  Tess eyed her. “Wow. Now I’m not sure if you found Whisper Falls, or if Whisper Falls found you. One thing is for sure, though. You fit the town as much as it fits you.”

  “Yeah, well. The jury is still out on that.”

  “This supercharged intuition,” Tess began, “does it work on anyone?”

  Jen shrugged again. “Depends.” She waved to Esther Crane as she and her husband, Edgar, drove past the shop.

  “Hmmm. How about a test? Since you seem to know Esther well enough to wave, tell me what you sense about her and Edgar.”

  Jenny lugged her grand opening sandwich board closer to the curb. “Trust me. You don’t want to know.”

  “That bad, huh? I’ve had my suspicions about them. Esther is so submissive. It makes me want to shake her sometimes.”

  Wiping cold condensation from her hands onto her jeans, Jenny couldn’t help a knowing smirk. “Believe me. She’s not the sub in that twosome.” Jen stressed the word sub.

  “No!”

  Jenny nodded. “I was in their grocery the day before yesterday when Edgar barked at Esther for something. She was stacking eggs, and dropped an entire carton on the floor. I bent to help clean up the mess, and whoosh! There it was in living technicolor. Edgar, ball-gagged and bent over, and loving every second.”

  “Holy tickler! It’s true, then. Old Esther is a dominatrix!”

  “Ssh!” Jenny smacked Tess’s arm. “You say one word, and I swear I’ll tell the town council you’re the Sweeny Todd of Whisper Falls.”

  Tess snorted a laugh. “Who am I going to tell? To each their own, anyway.”

  Both women looked up as Jack came out the front door of the inn for something in his truck. He waved, and then headed back the
way he came

  Jenny swallowed hard, staring at the inn’s front porch even after he disappeared inside.

  “You can breathe now.” Tess smirked.

  Jenny exhaled through her nose, pressing her lips together. “See what I mean?” She shook her head. “I have to ask him to move out. I can’t concentrate, let alone breathe.”

  “Absolutely not. You may not have come here to play matchmaker, but I have no problem getting my Yenta on.”

  “Tess, please. I don’t have the energy to think, let alone deal with my tangled emotions.”

  Her new friend touched her arm, for no reason other than human comfort. Still, in that instant, everything warmed. It was as if springtime lived in Tess Everett’s fingertips. Even the air smelled like fresh blooms, instead of snow.

  “Jenny, you have to be more forgiving of yourself. It can be hard to let yourself feel when you’ve been closed off for so long. You’re a sealed room, Jen. You need to open the windows and let a fresh breeze blow away the stale air.”

  As if on cue, a soft breeze tinkled the bells on the shop’s door. Tess’s eyes crinkled with a smile, their color shifting from violet-blue to practically purple. Maybe it was a play on light, but Jen couldn’t tear her gaze away.

  “I’m afraid to let my guard down, Tess.”

  “I know, sweetie. You think too much, and you think too hard, but can’t think your way out of feeling.” Tess nodded. “You can deny it for a while, but in the end, it’ll make you crazy. Why not feel your way through this crossroads, instead of trying to think your way through?”

  There was that word again. Crossroads.

  “Facing a crossroad isn’t an obstacle, Jen. It’s a blessing. It’s like the death card in a deck of tarot. As frightening as the image can be, its message isn’t what most people think.”

  “What is its message then, if not death?”

  “Change.” Tess shrugged.

  Jenny let out a hoarse huff. “In my experience, those two things are synonymous.”

  “You’re only saying that because you’re stuck at your crossroad. Your heart is telling you something your mind isn’t ready to hear.”

  “So what do you suggest I do, then? I thought moving here to Whisper Falls took care of my crossroad.”