The Christmas Dare

by Lori Wilde

  “Now that’s magical thinking.”

  “You don’t believe people can be happy together for life?”

  “And you think Santa is a hard sell?” Tasha shook her head. “That happily-ever-after stuff is for saps.”

  “Now who’s being Grincharina?”

  “What are your plans with Noah? Rekindle old flames. Fall madly in love. Who is living in a fantasy now?”

  Kelsey sighed. She hated to admit it, but Tasha was right. Filomena would throw a hissy fit if she hooked up with Noah.

  All the more reason to do it, whispered a subversive voice in the back of her mind.

  “You know what you ought to do?”

  Kelsey was almost afraid to ask. “What’s that?”

  “Something that symbolizes you’re taking charge of your life, like getting inked. What about a firefly tattoo, since Noah keeps calling you that, right here on your shoulder.” Tasha touched her own shoulder to demonstrate where Kelsey should get a tattoo.

  “I’m not getting inked.”

  “That was just an example,” Tasha said. “But if you did something that represents throwing off your old life, it might loosen those manacles Filomena’s got you wrapped up in.”

  “For example?”

  Tasha lifted a shoulder. “I dunno. Maybe cut off that Rapunzel hair.”

  Kelsey fingered her long braid and twisted it around her hand. “Beyond trims, I haven’t cut my hair since Chelsea died.”

  Tasha’s eyes met hers. “Exactly. You’re still holding on to your sister. And holding on to her is binding you to your mom. Cutting your hair is symbolically clipping the ties that bind.”

  “That seems pretty drastic.” Kelsey twisted her braid around her finger.

  “It’s just hair. You could always grow it back if you hated it.”

  She felt the resistance rise up in her hard and solid as concrete. Her hair was her security blanket. Her attachment to her twin.

  All the more reason to cut it. Set yourself free.

  She undid the band at the end of her braid, felt her hair tumble around her like a curtain as it fell below her waist.

  “You know,” Tasha mused. “You haven’t once asked me for your phone back. I expected you to pester me all day.”

  “Honestly, I got so caught up in helping decorate the gazebo, the contest judging, and hanging out with our guys, I forgot about it.”

  “I think this means you’re ready for another dare.” Tasha steepled her fingers.

  “The fourth one? So soon?”

  “The time seems right.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “I dare you to get a total makeover, starting with a new haircut. We can cut it now, symbolically, then you can go to a salon tomorrow and get it done right. We’ll get you a sexy new outfit to wear to that casino thingy and we’ll hit the makeup counter for some up-to-date tips and techniques. I saw a Sephora when we came into town.”

  Kelsey still wasn’t sure about cutting her hair, but a makeover might be fun.

  “Do it, do it,” Tasha challenged. “Go get your scissors, Girl Scout, and I’ll lop off those locks and set you free.”

  Chapter 20

  The hair salon came first.

  The chatty stylist turned Tasha’s amateur cutting job into long sleek layers that framed Kelsey’s face, and added honey-colored highlights for depth. Kelsey couldn’t believe the difference. She looked—and felt—like a brand-new version of herself.

  Then they hit the makeup counter at Sephora and the makeup artist showed her how to deftly create a smoky eye. Kelsey bought all the products needed for her transformation.

  Next came the boutiques where Tasha gave two thumbs-up to a red velvet ankle-length gown for the black-tie Christmas Casino event on Friday night. The dress had a stylish low-cut bodice and a long slit up the front of one leg that revealed her upper thigh when she walked. Very sexy. Filomena would have disapproved.

  Kelsey, however, loved the dress and bought it along with a pair of black four-inch stilettoes with bright red soles.

  She bought other clothes as well to complete her metamorphosis. Clothing she would normally never wear. Low-cut blouses, short flirty skirts, leather pants, thigh-high black boots. She felt sexy and wild. The kind of woman who had romantic sexual liaisons, enjoyed herself, and never experienced a drop of guilt over it.

  The stores buzzed with activity and she caught snatches of down-home conversations she would never hear in Dallas. Crappie were biting something fierce in Sanchez Creek. Some rowdy kids had smuggled a longhorn into the high school and left a mighty mess for Principal Bullock. The most popular B&B in town, the Merry Cherub, was completely booked up throughout the entire holiday season, except for the presidential suite of course, because who could afford that?

  Kelsey took it all in, remembering how much she’d enjoyed visiting this quaint small town each summer, and felt a stab of nostalgia. She had treasured those two months every year, and until now hadn’t fully realized how much she’d missed Twilight.

  They grabbed lunch at a sandwich shop and while they were eating, Tasha’s phone dinged with a text notification. She frowned at the screen. “It’s from Theo.” And she slid her phone across the table for Kelsey to read her father’s text.

  Tash, please tell Kels that Lionel Berg upped his offer by 50k a year.

  “Fifty thousand a year extra?” Tasha gasped. “That’s some serious moolah. Fifty K is what I’m making as La Fonda’s executive chef. See if Berg needs a personal chef, Kels. No, don’t really. I’m kidding. Sort of.”

  Oh wow. Out of proportion distress seized Kelsey by the throat. If Berg was offering that kind of money, he was serious about hiring her as his campaign manager. The scary part was she wanted to take the job, but couldn’t imagine doing it because of her mother.

  “I shouldn’t have showed you that,” Tasha said, palming the phone and sticking it back into her pocket. “You’re supposed to be relaxing and enjoying yourself. Not dealing with the real world right now. I’ll text your dad back and have him tell Berg to cool his jets until you’re off vacation.”

  Kelsey bobbed her head but couldn’t finish her lunch.

  When they got back to the Rockabye, Noah was behind the desk waiting on a guest. He glanced up, caught her eyes, and smiled.

  The smile melted her.

  There was another reason she couldn’t glibly accept Lionel Berg’s job offer and he was standing right in front of her. No matter how much she told herself that she could keep things casual with Noah, her feelings for him ran deep.

  She inhaled sharply. She needed time alone to collect her thoughts.

  “Young man,” said the woman at the desk in a snooty voice. She was greyhound thin and wearing a mink coat. “I told you those pillows in our room were way too uncomfortable.”

  “I replaced them myself, Ms. Grant.” Noah gave her his world-class grin.

  “Hmph.” The woman tilted her head in a haughty gesture that reminded Kelsey of Filomena. “So you claim, but I have a trick when I stay places to test if my special requests are taken seriously. This morning, before I left my room, I placed a small piece of pink string over my pillow and when I got back the string was still there.” Her voice dripped acid with those last two words.

  “I saw your string and I put it back when I replaced the pillows,” Noah countered.

  The woman’s jaw snapped shut. “Those pillows are simply unacceptable and unless you do something to make this right, I’m not paying my bill and I will leave you a scathing review on Yelp.”

  Laid-back Noah upped the wattage in his grin and pulled out his good old boy charm. “Now, Lila,” he wheedled in a good-natured but slightly chiding tone, calling the woman by her first name. “I know you’re a good person and you wouldn’t try to slip out on your bill over something as trivial as pillows.”

  The blowtorch glare in Lila Grant’s eyes said that if she were a fire-breathing dragon she’d burn this boat to ashes. “Don’t you da
re call me Lila, you—”

  “Ms. Grant,” Kelsey interrupted, unable to bear the conflict. “Everything will be made right. I will personally make sure you have the finest European feather pillows brought to your room immediately.”

  “Where are you—” Noah started to say, but Kelsey threw him a look that quelled him in his tracks.

  “Triple layer? I am very sensitive.” Lila Grant sniffed.

  “Triple layer.” Kelsey nodded. “And for your inconvenience, you may stay an extra night free. Plus, a complimentary bottle of Dom Pérignon will be sent to your room. How does that sound?”

  “And chocolate-covered strawberries?”

  “Yes.”

  “Made with Godiva chocolate?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Don’t try to pawn off any old chocolate on me.” She shook a bony finger. “I have an acute sense of taste.”

  “Of course, you do.” Kelsey kowtowed the way she’d learned to fawn over Filomena when she was in a mood. “You’re a woman of elegance and substance, and you deserve the very best.”

  “I do, don’t I?”

  “In fact—” Kelsey turned her back to the desk, leaned in close and lowered her voice as if sharing a secret. “A woman of your caliber should be staying at the Merry Cherub, not a damp and dank boatel. If you like, I’ll call the Merry Cherub for you and let them know you want the presidential suite.”

  “Hey!” Noah said.

  Kelsey waved a hand at him behind her back where Ms. Grant couldn’t see, and he shut up.

  “Yes, do that.” Lila Grant tossed her head and drew herself up tall. “You are exactly right. I don’t belong here.” To Noah, she said, “Please give me my bill and I will be on my way.”

  Once he’d sent Lila Grant off, Noah turned to Kelsey. “Love your hair.”

  “Thanks.”

  “That was pretty slick how you handled Lila Grant. How did you know the presidential suite at the Merry Cherub was available?”

  “Overheard town gossip.”

  “Damn, Kelsey. You are phenomenal.” He came around the desk and wrapped his arm around her waist. “One question.”

  “Yes?”

  “What would you have done if she’d stayed here? Where would you have gotten European goose down pillows, Dom Pérignon, and Godiva chocolate-covered strawberries?”

  “I have the Dom Pérignon in my suitcase that was supposed to be for my wedding night, I could have gotten random feather pillows at Walmart, cut off the labels and embroidered them with a fancy name, and as for the chocolate, I would have used whatever chocolate I could find and dunked the strawberries myself.”

  “You would have gambled that the ‘sensitive’ Ms. Grant couldn’t tell the difference in the pillows and the chocolate?”

  “Trust me. I know the Ms. Grants of the world. As long as they think they are getting the best, as long as you make them feel special, you’ll have them eating right out of your hand.”

  “She does know.” Tasha bobbed her head. “If you ever need someone to handle difficult guests, Kelsey is your woman.”

  “Yeah, my usual go-to smile wasn’t working.” Noah scratched his head.

  “Your charm works on regular people. But with someone who believes they are better than others, the only way to keep things easy is to let them have their delusions.”

  “And that is how you’ve managed to deal with your mother for the last twenty-seven years.”

  She stepped from his arms, looked up into his face. Sadness shimmered in his eyes.

  It plucked something inside her, his pity.

  “You don’t have to feel sorry for me. My life might not have been a bed of roses, but I’ve learned how to navigate it well.”

  “That you have.” He nodded slowly. “And I admire you for it more than words can say.”

  Noah took Kelsey to Pasta Pappa’s for the Tuesday night dinner special.

  She wore a black turtleneck sweater and a short, red plaid wool skirt over black leggings, and cute matching ankle boots. The leggings couldn’t hide her shapely legs, and the sweater showcased her pillowy breasts.

  Ahh, to rest his head there and dream.

  But what really grabbed him by the throat and stunned him into silence was her hair. Gone was the long, tidy braid. Her hair, which had once fallen below her waist, now floated about her shoulders in big soft curls.

  The new hairdo was engrossing, alluring. The style suggested whimsy, delight, and fun. It accentuated her perky blue eyes and her high rosy cheekbones. She looked as if she’d stepped right off the cover of a Norman Rockwell Christmas painting.

  Wholesome, yet sexy and totally irresistible.

  Testosterone shot through his body like a bullet, tore through his brain with a wild salvo of completely unwholesome visuals.

  They sat on the same side of a corner booth and kissed between feeding each other bites of pasta and reminiscing about the time they’d had pizza in the very same booth on their day off from Camp Hope ten years earlier. The restaurant was an adorable cliché with red-and-white-checked oilcloth tablecloths, Chianti bottles with candles in the middle of the tables, and Dean Martin crooning Christmas music over the sound system.

  After dinner, he took her ice skating. She wasn’t a very good ice skater and he spent the next hour with an arm around her waist as they circled the rink, which was absolutely fine with Kelsey. Then afterward, they stopped by the Fruit of the Vine winery storefront on the square for a Christmas trivia game.

  Tasha and Raylene were already there, sipping cranberry wine. Kelsey and Noah sat next to them and after the round ended, joined their team. When the server came over, Noah ordered a beer and Kelsey opted for cranberry wine.

  Before the next round began, Flynn and her husband, Jesse, came in, followed shortly by Sean. Flynn eyed Kelsey and gave her a begrudging smile. Kelsey pretended all was well and smiled right back.

  “Who’s manning the front desk at the Rockabye?” Noah asked Sean as he sauntered over.

  “Joel.” Sean sucked the foam from the top of his beer and Tasha seemed enthralled with the process, her gaze locking on the handyman’s lips. “He offered to give me the night off, so that I could come play Christmas trivia.” Sean slanted Tasha a sideways glance. Tasha practically melted off her stool. “He knows it’s my favorite night at Fruit of the Vine.”

  “Uh-oh,” Noah said.

  “What’s wrong?” Kelsey leaned against his shoulder, drawing comfort from his warmth.

  “Joel is up to something. He doesn’t just drop by and offer to give Sean the night off without an ulterior motive.”

  “Like what?”

  “A practical joke most likely.”

  “Those two are always trying to get one up on each other,” Raylene said. “Don’t be surprised if when you climb into bed, you find yourself short-sheeted.”

  “Oh yeah,” Kelsey said. “Joel did that at camp once and someone saw him coming out of the girls’ cabins and thought it was Noah and he got into big trouble. You should have seen us all trying to jump into bed that night. It was hilarious.”

  “My twin is sneaky,” Noah mumbled. “And he’s not above pretending to be me if it gets him out of trouble.”

  “He says the same thing about you,” Raylene pointed out.

  “I wonder what he’s up to . . .” Noah mused.

  “How are we going to divide up the teams?” Flynn asked. “There are . . .” She did a quick head count. “Seven of us. We need an even number.” She glanced around the room at the crowd. “Who can we draft to join us?”

  “I’ll sit this one out,” Kelsey said. “I’m pretty rotten at Christmas trivia.”

  “All the more reason you should play.” Noah threw his arm around her shoulder. “Kelsey and I are a team.”

  Sweet words to her ears.

  “I’m heading out,” Raylene said. “Noah’s got me scared at what Joel is doing over at the Rockabye. I’m gonna go check up on him.”

  “Thank you,
” Noah told her. “We’ll be back at the Rockabye in an hour.”

  “Take your time.” Raylene waved a hand. “Earl’s out on a hunting trip with his drinking buddies. I’ve got nothing else to do.” She pointed at Sean. “You. Take my seat.”

  Raylene got up and Sean took her spot next to Tasha.

  Tasha grinned and wriggled her chair closer to Sean.

  “So, all six of us on a team,” Flynn said. “That’ll work.”

  “Are you sure you want to be on a team with me?” Kelsey asked. “I’m worried about bringing you down.”

  “It’s all in good fun.” Jesse picked up a controller.

  “I’m going to the bathroom before we get started.” Flynn pushed back her chair. “Kelsey?”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “Would you like to join me?”

  No, no she would not, but clearly Flynn wanted to talk to her. Kelsey picked up her purse and followed.

  Tasha immediately jumped to her feet. “I’m coming too.”

  “It’s okay, Tasha. I’ve got this.” She smiled at her loyal friend.

  “You sure?” Tasha’s hands were clenched.

  Kelsey nodded and followed Flynn into the ladies’ room.

  “Listen,” they both said at once.

  Flynn laughed, and that eased Kelsey’s fret a little. “I’ll go first. I love my baby brother. Ten years ago, after what happened between you two, he was a complete wreck. He’ll never let you know that, but when Noah loves something, he puts his heart and soul into it.” She paused, cocked her head. “Noah is chill and laid-back, but—”

  “You don’t have to worry,” Kelsey said, keeping her tone as calm and steady as she could with her pulse jumping like crazy. “Your brother and I are just—”

  “Friends?”

  After what happened last night in his bedroom, how could she say that with a straight face?

  “Please, anyone with two eyes can see that you two still have feelings for each other. I just don’t want to see him get hurt again.”

  “The last thing I’d ever want is to hurt Noah.”

  “You know he feels like he’s not good enough for you.”