“Did you actually see him do it?”
She ran shaky fingers through her hair. “I don’t remember.” She looked like she was about to fall apart.
Jim put an arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side. “Don’t worry, eh? Let’s go inside and get this sorted.”
*
Hollie wanted to cry. Not just a few tears, she wanted to have a full-blown bawl-your-eyes-out ugly cry. But she refused to do that in front of Jim and have him think she was some sort of hopeless hapless female. Still, what was she going to do? She allowed him to lead her to the lounge room and push her gently onto the couch.
“Do you have travel insurance?” he asked.
She nodded. Another thing her mum had insisted she take out. Another reason to thank her mum. And another tale to add to her North American adventure. She was starting to think the whole thing was becoming a mis-adventure.
“Do you have the number?”
“I think so. It should be with my passport.” She rifled through her handbag, found the passport wallet, pulled it out. “I’ve got a list of important numbers in here.”
He leaned over and squeezed her knee. “See, I told you it’s all going to work out. You can make an insurance claim and go buy new clothes. I don’t know one single woman who wouldn’t be excited about that prospect.”
She scowled. “Not this woman. I hate shopping.”
“You could get new boots?”
She shook her head.
He nudged her shoulder. “Aw, come on. What if I tempted you with factory outlet shopping?”
“Nope. Still hate the idea.”
“Bargains?”
She rolled her eyes. “Not doing it for me.” She punched in the number and waited for the call to connect.
He chuckled. “I’ve never met a woman like you, Hollie Douglas.”
“I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing.”
She missed his reply as her call was answered. While she was passed from person to person, explaining four times to four different people what had happened, Jim lit the fire and excused himself to make lunch. She hadn’t even realized how late it was.
“What do you mean you can’t process my claim until next week? Why can’t you do it tomorrow?” She was aware she was raising her voice.
“Ma’am, tomorrow is Christmas Day. We can’t process your claim until the twenty-seventh at least.”
The weight of the woman’s words hit her in the chest. Christmas Day? Tomorrow? How had she lost track of the days?
“Ms. Douglas?”
“Yes, yes, sorry, I’m still here. Thank you.”
Hollie spent the next few minutes giving the woman her details.
“As promised Ms. Douglas, I’ll process your claim after Christmas. Is there anything else I can help you with today?”
“No. Thanks.” She sighed heavily.
“Happy holidays,” the woman replied with false cheer.
Hollie disconnected the call and dumped her phone on the couch.
“Yeah, happy holidays to you too,” she replied sarcastically.
“No luck?” Jim asked.
She shook her head. “I’m such an idiot. I’ve completely lost track of time. I didn’t realize it’s Christmas Eve.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got enough cash on me that I can buy what I need, so I guess that means the bullet is going to have to be bit. I’ll have to go shopping.”
“Urgh,” Jim grunted.
She glanced at him in surprise. “What? Ten minutes ago you were the one excited about shopping.”
“Shopping on Christmas Eve? Are you nuts? Don’t you have crazy last minute shoppers in Australia?”
She sighed, slumped against the couch and threw her hands in the air. “This is such a disaster. By the time I go shopping, it will take me hours and I still have to get to the bed and breakfast.”
“Stay with me.”
His words were so soft she wondered if she’d imagined them.
He touched her gently on the hand, his fingers barely grazing her skin, but it was enough to send her pulse skyrocketing.
“Call the bed and breakfast and cancel. Stay with me for Christmas.”
Chapter 9
“I can’t stay with you for Christmas!”
“Yes you can,” he assured her. “You said you wanted to meet my mom, so this will be your chance.”
“But Christmas is a family time. You should celebrate it with all your family, not with strangers.”
Jim ran his fingers through his hair. A tightness settled in his chest, making it hard to breathe. He dropped his eyes and plucked at a loose thread on his woolen sweater.
“Mom and I like to keep Christmas low-key. My sister lives in Vancouver and only comes across every other year. This year she’s staying there with her husband’s family. My dad died last year and—” he paused, dragged in a deep breath and continued in a rush so he could let the words escape, “—and I lost my wife Madison two years ago to cancer.”
Hollie sucked in her breath and sadness flooded her brown eyes. The hand she placed in his was warm and offered silent support. He returned her tight squeeze with one of his own.
“I’m so sorry, Jim.”
Her words were soothing to his soul. He swallowed. “This will be our first Christmas with just the two of us. To be honest, I was kind of hoping we could skip it this year, but for Mom’s sake, I said I’d make lunch. Having you here will make it feel like we have a reason to celebrate for a change.”
“I can’t. I really can’t.”
She stood and walked to the Christmas tree.
“What would you be doing if you were home?” he asked softly.
“Christmas at home is a big affair. I have three older brothers who are all married, and over the last few years the size of our family has grown as each of them have begun having families.”
“So it’s important to you to celebrate Christmas?”
She nodded. “Very important. It’s a huge day. Some years there are over twenty-five of us sitting around the table.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost Christmas in Australia now. To be honest, the idea of sitting down for Christmas lunch with only two other people is so sad.”
“What were you planning to do on your own on Christmas Day this year then? If you go to the bed and breakfast, you’ll be on your own. What’s sadder than that?”
Hollie fingered the dark green leaves of the tree and stared out the window. He followed her gaze.
“It was supposed to be my dream – to celebrate a white Christmas – but it feels like the dream is melting faster than snow in sunshine. Nothing is working the way I’d planned and hoped and dreamed.”
He hovered, watching her. She’d undone her hair and it cascaded down her back in waves. The afternoon sunlight streaming through the window bounced off it. Her hair wasn’t just pretty, it was gorgeous. He was about to tell her she should wear it out more often when he stopped himself. He didn’t have a right to say something so personal.
When he first met her, he thought Hollie Douglas was a confident, sassy, sure-of-herself woman, but he’d caught the vulnerability and uncertainty in her eyes too many times to count now and it troubled him. It also bothered him that she was so far away from family at this time of year. She said a white Christmas was her dream, and if that was true, why wasn’t she sharing it with someone special?
Memories of Madison filled his mind. He remembered the Christmas before she died. They’d sat on the floor and she’d leaned back into his chest staring at the orange flames licking the logs in the hearth. Her hair was gone, her body ravaged and weakened by the cancer, but he’d never loved her more than at that moment. She lost her battle a week later.
A tear rolled down Hollie’s cheek and he went to her then, pulling her into a friendly hug. She returned the hug, leaning into him while he stroked her back. He captured and clung to the moment, breathing in the flowery smell of her perfume.
He didn’t want to let her go, partly because it had been two long years since he’d held a woman in his arms, and partly because Hollie fit with him in a way Maddie never had. It didn’t feel like he was losing the memory of his wife by hugging Hollie.
He didn’t release her immediately, continuing to hold her in his grip, glad she didn’t pull away. For a fleeting moment, he wondered what it would be like to kiss her. A delicious shiver traveled up and down his spine before he quickly banished the thought. No point starting something that had no future. He might be attracted to Hollie, but she was on vacation and within days they would never see one another again. He wasn’t a player – never had been, even before Madison. He was the kind of guy who kissed the girl he planned to marry.
He gulped. Marry? Where had that idea come from? How had he jumped from thinking Hollie has pretty hair, to Hollie is stunning, to Hollie is wife material? His thoughts were blowing around his brain like a blizzard and as hard as he tried to gather them in, it was useless. He released her, dropping his arms to his sides and stepping away.
“I’ve heated soup for lunch. While I get it, have a think on my offer, eh?”
He turned away, but not before he caught the way she blinked rapidly and blew out her cheeks.
He returned with two bowls of soup and placed them on the coffee table. “I hope you don’t mind eating in here. I don’t really sit around the kitchen table much.”
“It’s fine.”
He decided not to push her for her answer on whether she would stay with him. Instead, he went for neutral ground.
“What’s Christmas like in Australia? I can’t imagine Christmas without snow. It wouldn’t seem right.”
She forced a smile for his benefit. “Definitely no snow or fires. Unless it’s bushfires. In our family, our tradition is to spend Christmas Eve at Carols by Candlelight in the local park. Every year we take a picnic dinner, sit on blankets, light candles and sing Christmas carols. It’s magical – my favorite part of Christmas.” She gave a little toss of her head. “Then on Christmas Day – right about now – all the family get together at Mum and Dad’s place for lunch. Mum still makes the traditional turkey and ham and veggies and all the trimmings, but it’s Dad’s job to look after the barbie and supervise the backyard cricket game – stop the kids hitting the tennis balls over the neighbors’ fence.”
He frowned and she stopped talking.
“What did I say?”
“Veggies? Barbie? Cricket?”
She giggled. “Sorry. Vegetables. Barbeque.” She deliberately rolled her voice to sound like him. “And you do know what cricket is, don’t you?”
He pulled a face at her. “I’m not that uncivilized. Cricket is a sport. Two batsmen, a bowler, fielders, wickets and stumps and they wear white.”
She nodded slowly. “Very good.”
“But how do you play it in a tiny backyard?”
“You’ll have to come to Australia for Christmas sometime and I’ll show you.”
His heart raced at the suggestion. “I might hold you to that.”
They finished their soup and when Hollie was done, he took her bowl from her.
He licked his lips. He really hoped his next suggestion wouldn’t sound pushy or controlling or plain weird.
“I called a friend of mine who owns a store in Niagara-on-the-Lake. She closes at two today, but she’s happy for me to bring you through and pick out what clothes you need. She has boots too.”
Hollie looked at him, mouth wide before a scowl creased her brow. “But didn’t you say everything in the shops is really pricey? I don’t have lots of money.”
He nodded. “It can be expensive, but Alicia is a very good friend. She’ll do you a good deal, I promise.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and he wanted to reach over and do the same to the other side.
“Well if you’re sure it’s not too much trouble, then thanks.” She stood. “If you can give me directions, I’ll get going. I don’t expect you to waste your arvo following me around.”
He wanted to laugh at her stubbornness, her independence. “I’m not letting you go on your own. I’ll take you. I still need to buy one more present anyway.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all. It’s not often I get a chance to show someone my own backyard. I can’t wait to show you how perfect Niagara-on-the-Lake is. We’re about to take the prettiest drive in the world to the prettiest town in Canada.” He threw her his keys. “Can you start the pickup while I stoke the fire, grab my camera and lock up?”
She hadn’t said yes, but time was running out and he sensed she was softening to the idea of staying for Christmas. The thought of another day with Hollie was causing a strange fluttering in his chest that wouldn’t ease. When he’d hugged her, he thought his heart was going to melt or stop or burst. He pushed the thoughts aside. What was the point in feeling this way? He reminded himself a final time that she was only in the country for a short time.
“In Australia we call it a ute,” she told him when he joined her a few minutes later. A cold gust followed him into the cab.
He dumped a box between them on the bench seat. “Call what a ute.”
“This car. We don’t call them pickups, they’re utes.”
“Really?” Jim released the clutch and the vehicle bumped over the drifts of snow.
“It’s short for utility vehicle.”
“Hmm. I’ve noticed that about you.”
“Noticed what?”
“You shorten lots of words, or add ‘o’ to the end of them. You said something earlier and I still can’t figure out what you were saying.”
“What was it?”
“Ah-vo.” He rolled the word slowly around his mouth, trying to pronounce it the way she did.
She chuckled at his poor attempt at the Australian accent.
“Arvo,” she repeated. “It means afternoon.”
“I figured out what it meant in context of what you were saying.”
She gestured to the box. “What’s in here?”
“A blanket, candles and matches, sandwiches and a flask of coffee.”
“What for?”
“It’s good to be prepared in case we get stranded.”
“Aren’t we driving less than ten minutes down the road?”
He nodded. “Yep, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
The car lurched over another mound of snow as the driveway met the main road. The road had been compacted by a snow mover earlier that day so they were able to travel safely toward Niagara-on-the-Lake.
As they drove, the scene unfolded itself in front of them like the pages of a winter fairy tale. Hollie oohed and aahed like a kid in a candy store with every passing mile. Every snow-topped tree and fence post glistened and glittered like diamonds in the sunshine as though the dazzling display of beauty was for her benefit alone. He felt like he was seeing his country through new eyes.
“Jim?”
His heart stilled. “Yeah.”
“I’ll stay for Christmas.”
There was a heartbeat of silence before he reached over, found her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I’ll try to make it a Christmas you’ll never forget.”
Chapter 10
The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake was like something out of a Christmas movie. The trees were bare except for the occasional pine tree that stood out dark green against the white snow. Mounds of melting snow were piled high on either side of the road in front of charming nineteenth century houses, which were set off the road on large blocks. Red and white maple leaf flags flew proudly out the front of some of the homes and she even spied the occasional union jack.
She’d expected the actual town center to be quiet but it was bustling with people. Shops, boutiques and inns lined both sides of the road and last minute shoppers strolled down the sidewalks. They drove past a cenotaph brick clock tower in the middle of the main street and turned right past the Prince of Wales Hotel
that stood proudly on the corner.
“Wow, that place is gorgeous.” She craned her head for another look.
“Gorgeous and expensive. Very expensive. We’ll take King Street and I’ll show you the mouth of the Niagara River then we’ll turn back around, park and head to Alicia’s shop.”
Jim drove slowly along the lakefront, pointing out the ice floating past and people walking on the icy mounds on the lake’s edge. Everywhere she looked people were walking, bundled up against the cold. It really was the prettiest place she’d ever seen and better than anything depicted in the tourist brochures. Maybe there was a silver lining to the canceled hotel booking.
“What have you got planned for your vacation?”
She shrugged one shoulder. Should she tell him about everything on her white Christmas list? With sudden clarity, she realized she wanted to tell Jim everything. About Steve. About their broken engagement. About Mackenzie and her crazy idea for Operation White Christmas. He’d been honest about his wife’s death and she felt she owed him the same truthfulness.
“This trip was supposed to be my honeymoon,” she mumbled.
Jim’s head snapped around. “What?”
She sighed. “My fiancé and I split up two months ago and I couldn’t change the flights. My friend convinced me I should come anyway.” She gave him a wry smile.
“Oh Hollie. I’m sorry.”
They drove in awkward silence and she regretted telling him. Now she’d made him feel uncomfortable.
When he finally spoke she realized he had been thinking about what she’d said.
“So, what sort of things are on this list? Maybe I can help you achieve them?”
A dark brown horse pulling a white buggy trotted down the road in the opposite direction, catching her attention. She twisted in her seat to watch it pass. A man and woman were bundled close together beneath fur blankets in the carriage. The driver, in top hat and tails, waved cheerfully at her.
“That’s not on the list, but I want to do that,” she gushed. “That looks so romantic.”
He pulled into a parking space and gave her a strange smile. “I think something like that could be arranged. But first, let’s go shopping.”
Operation White Christmas: Escape to the Country Page 6
