St.Helena Santa

by Kate Kisset

  Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Marina Adair. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original St. Helena Vineyard Series remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Marina Adair, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  St. Helena Santa

  Family Ties – Book 2

  Kate Kisset

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the St. Helena Vineyard’s Kindle World, where romance is waiting to be uncorked and authors from around the globe are invited to share their own stories of love and happily ever after. Set in the heart of wine country, this quaint town and its cast of quirky characters were the inspiration behind my St Helena Vineyard series, and the Hallmark Channel movie, AUTUMN IN THE VINEYARD. I want to thank these incredible authors for spending time in St. Helena, and all of you readers who are adventurous enough to take the journey with us.

  I hope you enjoy your time here as much as we have.

  Warmly,

  Marina Adair

  Table of Contents

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  KATE KISSET LINKS

  ABOUT KATE KISSET

  NOTE FROM KATE & COMPANION PLAYLIST

  DEDICATION

  I wrote this novella, featuring a strong, dashing firefighter as my hero, months before the massive wildfire struck in October, 2017. The fire burned over 140,000 acres in Northern California, raging through much of wine country. Many of the beautiful vineyards and buildings we write about in our beloved St. Helena Vineyard Kindle World series are still standing.

  This novella is dedicated to firefighters and first responders everywhere.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lilly

  Liliana Martelli balanced cellophane-wrapped loaves of smelly fruitcake on her arms and tucked them under the crafts table. Cinnamon, anisette, and peppermint candy smells flooded the St. Helena Ladies’ Meeting Hall, along with fifty or so blue-haired shoppers angling for deals.

  Straightening her blouse, Lilly eyeballed the entrance, still hoping her friend would come through the door. Her Santa Paws Crafts Fair, Bake Sale, and More co-chair, Jessica Kelly—who promised to help set up at seven this morning—was a no-show.

  Since it was approaching eleven, Lilly was getting more worried than ticked off. Jessica wasn’t a flake and in all the years she’d known her, Jessica had never left her in the lurch. In fact, she beat Lilly here yesterday. Why hasn’t she called?

  Brushing her long brown hair off her shoulders, Lilly crouched again and shoved a few more cakes under the table. Co-chairing and working her nonna and great aunt’s booth hadn’t seemed like a bad idea months ago when they cornered her. It was impossible to refuse her great aunt ChiChi Ryo, St. Helena’s matriarch, and her grandmother Cha-Cha, queen of the Cha-Cha pasta empire—especially when they ganged up on her.

  But ten minutes ago, the grannies tottered over and informed Lilly that they expected her to sell out of their famous fruitcakes again. What was Lilly supposed to do now? Pull a Christmas miracle out of her hat? There is no way she would ever sell out of those smelly cakes. Not a chance.

  Lilly had already deceived the grannies by sneaking thirty-five of their unsold loaves out of the hall yesterday. They were still hidden in the trunk of her car. Lilly didn’t know what she’d do with them, but didn’t have the heart to confess that their fruitcakes were not only not famous, they were infamous for their ability to function as weapons of mass gastronomic destruction.

  Ugh. Proceeds from the fair were going to the St. Paws Animal rescue, and Shay Michaels needed the funds. But who would want these for Christmas? Why couldn’t the grannies make something she could sell, like truffles, cupcakes, cookies, anything other than these icky cakes?

  Muttering under her breath, and chuckling about how complicated smuggling fruitcake into her car was, Lilly plunked another block on top of the stack. Worst case scenario, she’d buy all the fruitcakes. Even though they didn’t come cheap.

  She scooted out from under the table and scanned the room for ChiChi and Cha-Cha, hoping they wouldn’t check their sales again, a standard procedure they’d started at nine and continued every half hour.

  And every time, Lilly lied. To make things even worse, she’d exaggerated, and raved about how quickly the loaves were flying off the table. Why had she done that? She folded her arms and shrugged to herself.

  Keeping the back of ChiChi’s perfectly coiffed chignon and her nonna’s tumbling gray curls in sight across the room, Lilly grabbed a few more cakes and ducked under the table again.

  Humming to Michael Bublé and Rod Stewart singing “Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” Lilly took a moment under the table to rearrange the cakes to make it easier for her to pack them into shopping bags and tiptoe them into her car later.

  The scuffed toe of a large cowboy boot poked under the tablecloth, making it flutter in front of her. She knew once the customer tasted one of the samples she spent a half-hour cutting with her nose plugged, they would bolt.

  Lilly gave a hopeful, “be right there,” anyway. She quickly stacked the remaining loaves, and a second booted toe appeared. The customer shifted his weight from one big foot to the other. He wasn’t going anywhere.

  “All set,” she said, carefully ducking out from under the table. She straightened and looked down at her apron, smoothing a few wrinkles. “What can I get”—Oh, sweet mother of fragmented hard drives, what is he doing here?—“you?”

  Brett Benning, St. Helena Station One firefighter, and Jessica Kelly’s too-handsome-for-his-own-good brother, slowly skimmed his outrageously sexy baby blue eyes over her. Folding her arms again, she shifted, pretending she wasn’t rattled, or even…a little turned on.

  Lilly knew Brett through his sister. They all went to the same private high school in Napa, but Brett, being a few years older, graduated before she got there. After Lilly’s parents moved to Los Gatos after her senior year, she and Jessica had managed to stay in touch. She made it a priority to see Jessica at least once a year.

  She only knew of Brett because of his reputation. Not that Lilly blamed him for being a six-foot-five, delectably muscled hunk—he had to be to have played professional football the way he did before the injury. Besides, there was no way anyone could walk around the planet being as gorgeous as he was without accidentally stepping on a few hearts along the way.

  Lilly glanced down at the table, trying to stay cool and calm, which was a stretch with smoke pumping through her veins. She’d only seen Brett’s brutally handsome face from a distance or on television. Up close he was jaw-dropping, exactly the type of man she needed to avoid.

  She couldn’t let a dalliance distract her, and get in the way of her new enterprise. The almost instantaneous success of her boutique computer business had taken her by surprise. She wasn’t going to let anyone, no matter how insanely good looking, side track her. A roll in the hay was the only thing a man like Brett could offer, and she wasn’t buying.

  Not interested.

  With an unreadable expression somewhere between cocky and amused, Brett tossed back his light brown hair and folded his arms, his biceps straining his black T-shirt.

  Lilly tried not to notice, and didn’t allow her eyes to roam all over h
im. Instead, she did her best to maintain a helpful, professional expression, like any respectable fruitcake salesperson would.

  Keeping his stare fixed on her, and taking his own sweet time, his attention moved from her eyes to her lips. Then he tilted his head, seemingly fascinated by her hair, and her blouse, but then came back to her lips.

  A ridiculously sexy grin lit up his breath-stopping face. “Were you hiding from me?”

  Reflexively, Lilly stepped back. At twenty-eight, she knew the signs. The man was like candy to a diabetic. Brett would trigger a sweet sugar rush and knock her into a coma for days.

  She repositioned a block of fruitcake in front of her as a barrier. “Hi Brett. I’m Lilly, Jessica’s friend.” She extended her hand.

  Brett’s big, rough hand locked around hers. And damn if his touch didn’t shoot a tingle straight up her spine. “I can’t believe we’ve never been formally introduced.”

  He smells like oranges and spice, or? Whatever it is, is Sexy… Lilly squeezed out of the handshake, doing her best to ignore what his smile was doing to her insides. “I know. It’s about time, right?” Why now?

  She placed another loaf on top of the cake in front of her, fortifying her blockade.

  Brett eyed the dish of fruitcake samples. “I wanted to give you a heads-up that I’m taking Jessica’s place as co-chair.”

  “Ha! Good one.” She waited for him to laugh with her, but he only shook his head. When his smile disappeared, she panicked. “Is Jessica okay? She never showed up this morning.”

  “Jessica and Jim had to go back east to help his dad. He had surgery last week and took a turn for the worse late last night.”

  Although Lilly didn’t know Jim well, he always had a smile for her, and he made Jessica the happiest she’d been since Catholic school days. “How serious is it?”

  “I don’t know, I haven’t heard from Jim. He took the week off at the station, so obviously he’s planning to stay awhile.”

  “So, Jessica asked you to take over?” It didn’t make sense. Jessica knew the St. Paws Crafts, Bake Sale, and More was one of the most crucial fund-raisers of the year for Shay’s pet rescue. Besides not being able to say no to the grannies, it was one of the reasons Lilly decided to co-chair.

  Brett eyed her, probably having fun watching her squirm. “You’re not disappointed I’m helping you?”

  “Um…” She was having trouble wrapping her head around the situation. Was she expected to work with him for the next three weekends? Lilly fiddled with a fruitcake. “No, I’m not disappointed. Just...surprised, I guess.”

  Getting her hopes up, she gave him a double take. “Did you clear this with ChiChi? Because she’s the one in charge. It isn’t up to me or Jessica to make this kind of decision.”

  “I talked to ChiChi this morning,” Brett said, running a hand along the edge of the table before meeting her eyes again. “I'll be on hand to help you for the duration. I can set up the booths in the morning.” He eyeballed one of the cakes and then turned, surveying the room. “And I can break everything down on Sundays. Adam Baudouin and a few guys from the station have already offered to help.” He pivoted back to her. “Whatever you need…”

  “Thanks.” Lilly couldn’t imagine co-chairing a craft and bake sale was in his wheelhouse, and drew a complete blank on what else she could suggest to keep him occupied. She eyed him again, making sure he was as impossibly hot as she’d thought. Damn. He was.

  “It looks like my grandma has some competition,” he said taking a closer look at the plate of samples.

  “Try one.” Lilly rotated the dish so he could see every angle of the morsels. Let’s see how dedicated to this sale you really are… “Go ahead.”

  Grinning, Brett selected a large, oily lump with green and red bits sticking out of it and popped it into his mouth.

  She hadn’t expected him to be so trusting and put the whole thing in his mouth. She almost felt sorry for him.

  Lilly kept a straight face and waited, watching him chew.

  Surprisingly, Brett didn’t gag. He did, however, lift his chin ever so slightly, allowing her to see his Adam’s apple strain in an apparent struggle to get the chunk down his throat.

  He covered his mouth and took one last gulp. “What an unusual flavor…”

  “It’s good, though, right?”

  “Delicious.”

  Oh, he’s good at this… “Another?”

  “I couldn’t.” Brett waved the plate away, backing away from the table. “I don’t want to eat all your samples.”

  Lilly was having too much fun to let him off the hook. She leaned across the table holding the plate. Every time he moved, the plate followed. “Don’t be shy, now. In fact, why don’t you help yourself to that nice, big piece?”

  “Now there’s a man after my own heart.” ChiChi said, sneaking up from behind him with her sister in tow.

  Saved by the bell. “Brett, I don’t know if you’ve met my grandmother.” Lilly reached across the table, giving her grandmother’s hand a little squeeze. “Meet Charlotte Contessa Liliana Ryo.”

  “Don’t be silly with the formality, darling. Brett already calls me Cha-Cha.” Her blue eyes sparkled. “Yes, we’re all very well acquainted, darling.”

  Since when?

  “Lovely to see you,” her nonna gushed, giving Brett’s cheek a little pat. “I would recognize you anywhere. I have you stashed in a drawer at the house,” her grandmother winked. “I’m saving all of you for the new year, though.”

  “Thank you.” Brett looked uncomfortable and turned back to Lilly. She gave him a blank stare and didn’t ask her grandmother what she meant by keeping him in a drawer. Just because she didn’t know what they were talking about didn’t mean she was stupid enough to ask. Questions would only encourage her grandmother to explain, and who knows what mortifying path to embarrassment that would lead to?

  Getting back to business, ChiChi extended her manicured hand to the sample plate. “We interrupted, dear. You were about to enjoy a sample of our famous Ryo cake.” She gestured to the largest slippery-looking blob on the corner of the platter.

  “Yes, Brett, didn’t you say you were hungry?” she asked.

  “I did?”

  “What?” Lilly glanced up at the ceiling.

  “Go ahead, dear,” ChiChi urged.

  Brett hedged. Lilly saw his wheels spinning, trying to come up with an excuse. Cha-Cha didn’t back down, and pushed the samples closer to him.

  The thick, greasy hunk of cake caught the fluorescent light, making gold jelly bits glisten. Brett tentatively lifted the cube and, fortunately, this time had the presence of mind to take a small bite out of it.

  “Delicious.” He coughed. “Are you sure you didn’t help ChiChi and Cha-Cha make it?”

  For a moment their eyes met, and his laugh made her crack up.

  “How long are you in town?” he asked.

  “I'm here for the month. I’m in between jobs.”

  “How many cakes would you like?” ChiChi got back to business, but it wasn’t really a question. Brett didn’t know it yet, but he wasn’t leaving with less than two.

  Cha-Cha took it upon herself to put two cakes in a shopping bag. The scent of rum almost knocked Lilly over. “That’ll be thirty dollars, please.” Jangling the mass of bracelets on her wrists, Cha-Cha held out her hand.

  Lilly bit down on her lip, eyeing Brett. How would he handle this? Her nonna didn’t seem the least bit apprehensive about charging thirty bucks for her intestinal bombs.

  Cha-Cha tilted her head and flashed a dimple. Then she fluttered her eyelashes.

  Without a word, Brett pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, met Lilly’s eyes for a beat, and doled out the cash. Cha-Cha passed the bag to him. “Thank you kindly. The pets will appreciate it.”

  “Thank you.” Brett accepted the bag, quickly crumpling the top closed. “If you ladies will excuse me, I need to get back to grandmother’s table. It looks like she has a few custome
rs.”

  Brett bestowed a gracious smile on ChiChi and Cha-Cha, and then flicked a gaze to her, suggestive enough to make Lilly’s insides feel fuzzy.

  “Remember, I’m here to help.” He grinned before taking off in a slow, sexy swagger across the room.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lilly

  Snuggled under a fluffy duvet with her head wedged in a luxurious pillow, Lilly was awakened by a caustic smell filtering into the bedroom.

  A hint of light seeped through the window. ChiChi always turned on the outdoor light near her window when she visited. Lilly covered her nose with the blanket, but the odor penetrated the fabric.

  She rolled onto her back, pulled down the duvet, and took a sniff to confirm her fears. She’d hoped to stop the grannies before they fired up their ovens again, but forgot set her alarm for the butt-crack of dawn. After rolling out of bed still half asleep, she slipped on her furry red robe with the Santa boot shaped hoodie, crammed her feet into slippers, and made a beeline to the kitchen.

  If she couldn’t stop ChiChi and Cha-Cha from making more fruitcake, she’d at least do her best to slow them down.

  “Good morning, my beauty.” Dressed in a beaded red caftan, with her grey curls in a loose bun, Cha-Cha beamed behind the vast center island laden with candied fruits, dates, rum, and whatever else went into their secret concoction. Lilly slid onto a stool and stared at her, wondering how it was possible her nonna could be so dressed up, this early.

  “Coffee, dear?” ChiChi placed a steaming mug in front of her before she could reply.

  Lilly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What time is it?”

  “Half past five.” There wasn’t a grey hair out of place in ChiChi’s chignon. Massive pearls adorned her green velour track suit. “Would you like a drop?” ChiChi reached for the bottle of dark rum.

  “No thanks.” Lilly covered her cup and then shifted to get comfortable. “How long have you two been up?”