Holiday Kisses

by Melody Grace

  Holiday Kisses

  Sweetbriar Cove: Book Five

  Melody Grace

  Melody Grace Books

  Copyright © 2015 by Melody Grace

  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.

  Cover design copyright British Empire Designs.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Introduction

  Also by Melody Grace

  Holiday Kisses

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  I. No Ordinary Love

  Chapter 1

  Also by Melody Grace

  About the Author

  Thank you for reading!

  Holiday Kisses was the first story I wrote set in Sweetbriar Cove, and now that I have a series based there, I thought it would be fun to go back and revise the original novella to include some familiar faces - and new town traditions!

  So pour some prize-worthy egg-nog, snuggle up, and enjoy this taste of the holidays wherever you are!

  xo Melody

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  Also By Melody Grace:

  The Sweetbriar Cove Series:

  1. Meant to Be

  2. All for You

  3. The Only One

  4. I’m Yours

  5. Holiday Kisses (A Christmas Story)

  6. No Ordinary Love (2018)

  The Beachwood Bay Series:

  1.Untouched

  2.Unbroken

  3.Untamed Hearts

  4.Unafraid

  5.Unwrapped

  6.Unconditional

  7.Unrequited

  8.Uninhibited

  9.Unstoppable

  10.Unexpectedly Yours

  11.Unwritten

  12.Unmasked

  13.Unforgettable

  The Oak Harbor Series:

  1.Heartbeats

  2.Heartbreaker

  3.Reckless Hearts

  The Dirty Dancing Series

  The Promise

  Welcome to Sweetbriar Cove: the small town where happily-ever-after is guaranteed.

  Book Five

  Holiday Kisses

  Hot British director Dash Everett needs inspiration - and fast. He’s hoping that a Christmas vacation in Sweetbriar Cove will give him everything he needs to break his writer’s block: a deserted cabin, his laptop, and his old friend Jack (Daniels, that is). But it turns out, isolation isn’t nearly as inspiring as the beautiful spitfire behind the front desk...

  Ellie Lucas isn’t crazy about spending her holidays catering to the arrogant (and sexy) guest in Cabin 4 -- and she really doesn’t have time to play muse. She’s ready to leave her small-town behind for a fresh start, but when an unexpected snowstorm sends both their plans awry, she finds that a dash of Hollywood magic is exactly what she needs to see the joy in one more Sweetbriar Cove Christmas…

  The Sweetbriar Cove Series:

  1. Meant to Be

  2. All for You

  3. The Only One

  4. I’m Yours

  5. Holiday Kisses (A Christmas Story)

  6. No Ordinary Love (April 2018)

  1

  It was three days before Christmas, and Ellie Lucas was up to her elbow in raw sewage.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” the guest in cabin four fretted. Mrs. Atkins was in her sixties, with salt-and-pepper hair and a bright orange windbreaker. “It’s an heirloom, passed down from my grandmother. I just don’t know what I would do if we lost it.”

  “Uh huh.” Ellie tried to keep a cheery smile on her face as she held her breath and reached a little deeper into the toilet. Even in sturdy rubber gloves, she couldn’t ignore the squishing sensation as she rooted around for the beloved ring – or the gross smell. She didn’t even want to know what she was touching right now. “And you’re sure it fell in?”

  “Oh yes.” Mrs. Atkins hovered in the tiny bathroom. “I heard it drop.”

  “Like a splash?” Ellie asked, trying not to gag.

  “No, more like a clatter,” she said. “I was standing right here. It’s a pink gemstone,” she added. “It’s not worth much, but the sentimental value…”

  Ellie leaned down further, searching the floor until she saw a glint of metal from underneath the vanity.

  “You mean, like this?” Ellie freed her hand from the bowels of the toilet, and used the long pipe of the plunger to knock the ring free. It rolled into the middle of the floor.

  “You found it!” Mrs. Atkins scooped it up. “Oh, you angel. Thank you!”

  “All part of the service.” Ellie straightened up, getting light-headed now from holding her breath, and replaced the toilet fixtures. “You, umm, might want to air out the room a while. Just saying.”

  She stumbled outside and inhaled a lung full of crisp New England winter air. It was a bright, blue-skied morning and the snow was still soft on the ground on Cape Cod. The woods were white and frozen around the cabins, and through the bare branches, she could see glimpses of the flint-colored waves down by the shore. Walking in a winter wonderland…

  A stinky, sewer-scented wonderland. Ellie peeled off the stinky glove and discarded it in the trash as she crossed the courtyard and let herself back into the main lodge. She breathed in the scent of pine trees and cinnamon cookies with relief and went to rinse her hands, slathering on plenty of soap, but somehow, the smell still lingered.

  She sighed. The really gross part was that wasn’t the first time she’d been down on her knees rooting around in a guest’s sewage, and she was guessing it wouldn’t be the last. Ellie Lucas, the sewer queen of Sweetbriar Cove.

  The front desk phone rang. She picked it up with a bright, “Sweetbriar Inn, wishing you a happy holidays!”

  “How’s it going?” her older sister, Charlotte, asked.

  Ellie trapped the phone under her ear and spritzed some pine-scented room freshener around. “I’d be better if you hadn’t abandoned me.”

  After working the holidays every year that she could remember, Ellie’s parents had finally decided to take a much-deserved break—thanks to a sweepstakes cruise vacation they won in a radio contest. Her sister already had plans to spend the week in Boston with friends, and since they couldn’t afford to turn away business, Ellie had been left running the inn alone.

  “I’m sorry,” Charlotte apologized.

  “No, it’s fine,” Ellie lied. “Are you having fun, at least?”

  “Tons. And Mom and Dad called this morning, they’re setting sail at noon. They said to tell you bon voyage.”

  “Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?” Ellie asked.

  “They’re new to the cruising life,” Charlotte laughed. “She was worried they wouldn’t have cell reception out on the water.”

  Ellie smiled. “You should have seen how many wet-wipes she packed. I tried telling her the ship would have toiletries for sale, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “Hey, at least if they get stranded, she’ll be the cleanest person around! What about you?” Charlotte changed the subject. “How are you handling things?”

 
; “It’s non-stop, as usual,” Ellie quipped, looking around the quiet reception room. “Lost rings, a missing paperback book. Some guests saw deer in the woods, there was nearly a riot.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got it handled.”

  “I’ll let you know if there’s an emergency,” Ellie reassured her, “like running out of eggnog, or forgetting to restock the mistletoe.”

  “OK, I’m going shopping with the girls.”

  “Rub it in, why don’t you?” Ellie sighed. “Have fun!”

  Charlotte hung up, and Ellie turned back to the front desk. Despite her teasing, she didn’t mind staying home to work that holiday season. More guests meant more tips—and she needed every last dollar if she was ever going to get out of Sweetbriar Cove.

  Not that it wasn’t a lovely place to live. Nestled in the crook of the arm of the Cape, with white sandy beaches in the summer, and bright leafy woods in the fall, it won “most charming New England small town” three years running. But visiting somewhere on vacation and living there 24/7 were very different things, and after twenty-two years with everyone knowing everything about her, Ellie was ready to see what else the world had to offer.

  If she could ever get around to leaving.

  “There she is!” The Atkinses bustled in, wrapped up warmly in matching winter hats and ready to go. Denise beamed, “I was just telling my husband how you saved the day!”

  “It was nothing.” Ellie smiled. “Are you guys heading into town?”

  “That’s right. We thought we’d get a sneak peek at the square, and scope out the best spot for the carol service tonight.”

  Ellie grabbed some leaflets. “Well, be sure to check out the nativity. And I think…yes, there’s a gingerbread house contest at three. Just stop by the tearooms.”

  “Ooh, doesn’t that sound delicious?” Denise cooed. She tucked the papers away, and gave Ellie a smile. “I just love how everybody gets into the holiday spirit for the festival here in town. It’s a real treat.” She paused, looking around the room. “Well, almost everybody. You have a great day now!”

  They headed out into the snow, and Ellie cast a new eye around reception. Her parents had been too busy preparing for their trip to get into decorating, so they had left that to Ellie. There was a tree in the corner by the door, stockings pinned to the mantle, and mistletoe over the desk. By most people’s standards, it was perfectly festive, but this wasn’t just any small town. It was Sweetbriar Cove—home to the famous Starbright Winter Festival—and here, more was definitely more.

  Ellie went to dig around in the back until she found a box of old decorations. She knew they were lucky to have such a tourist attraction outside the summer season. Other inns and motels on the Cape saw their business disappear as soon as the weather grew frosty, but with the Starbright Festival, Sweetbriar was still the biggest draw around. A whole week of festivities, drawing holiday-lovers from across the country—and filling their cabins to capacity. She had one more guest due to arrive, and then they would be fully booked.

  The least she could do was sprinkle some more tinsel around.

  Ellie was balancing on the top of a stool, adorning the tree with another round of sparkly ornaments when the bell over the door beside her dinged a warning.

  “Wait!” She yelped. “Don’t open the—”

  Too late. The front door swung wide open, knocking straight into her stool, and sending her careening into the prickly embrace of the Christmas tree.

  “Oww!” Ellie cried, clinging on for dear life.

  “Oh crap, sorry!” A man’s voice came, crisp with an English accent. “Hang on!”

  “I’m hanging!” she gulped, trying to keep her balance. The tree rocked perilously, seventy pounds of tinsel-bedecked branches swaying closer to disaster.

  Ellie felt strong arms wrap around her legs. “It’s OK, I’ve got you.”

  Before she could move, she found herself lifted down and set on the ground. “Thanks,” she said breathlessly, turning. “We were this close to a tree disaster—”

  The words faded on her lips. She was looking up at the sexiest man to ever step foot through the doors of the Sweetbriar Inn. Granted, the average age of their guests was about fifty-seven, but still. If they’d had a parade of male models striding through every other week, there would still be no competition.

  Dark hair, curling just a little too long over blue eyes, and cheekbones she could have willingly impaled herself on. He had two-day stubble and was wearing a battered navy peacoat, looking distractingly disheveled, with a leather duffel bag hoisted over his shoulder.

  In other words, dangerously good-looking. Emphasis on the danger.

  She had rules about getting involved with tourists or men who were so hot, they should have come with a warning, and the sum of it was pretty much: Don’t.

  “Hi,” Ellie managed, quickly stepping back and putting a safe distance between them. “Welcome. Thanks for that,” she added.

  “My pleasure. Although, that thing still might tip over of its own accord,” he noted, looking at the sheer weight of decorations. “You don’t go for the minimal look, then?”

  “There’s nothing minimal about the Starbright Festival,” she said, heading over to the desk and pulling herself together.

  “The what now?”

  Ellie looked up. “The festival. That’s why you’re here, right? To celebrate the joy of the holidays, in all its snow-capped spirit.”

  The man frowned. “Actually, I was after some peace and quiet. A friend of mine recommended the place. I thought it would be empty out of season.”

  He looked around the room, scowling a little as he took in the decorations she had spent the afternoon putting up.

  Great, a whole town full of cheery Christmas fans, and she got stuck with Scrooge.

  “Bad timing,” she tell him cheerfully. “Christmas is the busiest season for us. We’re fully booked.”

  “I have a reservation,” he said, moving closer. “Dash Everett.”

  Oh. Her last guest of the day. She checked the file. “Here you are. You’re in our most secluded cabin, on the other side of the lake. There’s nobody around, you’ll have all the peace and quiet you need,” she added pointedly.

  “Good.” Dash nodded, still looking put out. Ellie wondered what he wanted all the quiet for. Usually, the holidays were for getting together with friends and family, not travelling to some remote cabin in the middle of the woods.

  Still, she was glad. The cabin was far away, and if he didn’t want to be disturbed, that meant she wouldn’t see him—and his distractingly blue eyes—for the rest of the week.

  She grabbed his keys and a welcome pack, then paused. He was wearing jeans and a thin-looking sweater under his coat, and his boots looked brand-new, not the heavy-duty snow boots they all trampled around in come winter. “When you made the reservation, they did tell you how…rustic the cabin was?” she checked.

  “Yes,” he nodded. “No TV or phone, that’s fine. I need to write, not get distracted by any of this holiday bullshit.”

  A brooding, tormented writer. Great.

  “OK, just as long as you had fair warning.” Ellie pulled her jacket back on and lead him back outside. He followed.

  “What’s your name, by the way?” Dash asked.

  “Ellie. Ellie Lucas.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, Ellie.” He held out his hand. It would have been rude to ignore it, so she reluctantly shook his outstretched hand. It was surprisingly warm, and curled around her fingers in a sure, steady grip.

  She looked up into his eyes, and forgot about the freezing temperatures.

  Now that’s heat.

  Ellie pulled away, unsettled. “The cabin’s this way,” she told him briskly, jabbing her head towards the frozen lake. “You better leave your car here in the lot. We haven’t plowed the lane, and you’ll just wind up getting that thing stuck without snow chains on your tires.”

  “How do you know which car is mine?” Dash aske
d, surprised. “I could be the guy in that Jeep.”

  Ellie gave him a look. He chuckled. “OK, maybe not,” he continued. “But in my defense, I just flew in from LA. We don’t really get snow over there unless it’s the synthetic shopping mall kind.”

  Los Angeles. Ellie pictured palm trees and golden sands, and pipes that didn’t freeze every December. If she lived out there, she would never leave, but there was no accounting for taste. Besides, she reminded herself. He was just visiting. Icy cold temperatures and snow banks seemed plenty exotic when you had a return ticket out in a couple of days.

  Anything was charming when you knew you could leave it behind.

  Feeling a hollow swell in her chest, she picked up Dash’s duffel and started trudging along the path around the lake. He hurried after her. “I can take that.” He tried to grab his bag.

  “It’s fine.” she tugged it back.

  “Really, I can’t let you do that.”

  “All part of the service,” Ellie said, gritting her teeth stubbornly.

  Standoff.

  “Are you really going to make me fight you for it?” Dash laughed, looking too damn charming, and with that sexy accent to boot.

  She felt a sudden flash of rebellion and let go of the strap. He was thrown by the sudden change in pressure and stumbled back, flailing for a second before he fell on his ass in the snow.

  Not so charming now.

  “Whoops!” she tried not to smile. “You need to be careful on this ice!”

  But Dash didn’t miss a beat. He got to his feet and casually brushed the snow off his pants. “I’m guessing you don’t offer laundry service,” he said wryly – still looking unruffled and way too hot.