The Mills & Boon Christmas Wishes Collection. Maisey Yates

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      “But seriously, I don’t want to get under your feet. The cottage will be a nice little sanctuary for us.”

      “So you’re really moving in together?” For someone so adamant about not following the traditional path, she’d surely changed her tune. I was certain it was the magic of the lodge – the open spaces, the way time moved slowly here – that allowed people to think and ruminate about what their heart really wanted.

      “Yep, I’m taking one giant leap, and seeing if the man still loves me when he trips over a mountain of clothes.”

      I switched on the radio and Christmas carols filled the room. “I got an enquiry about a New Year’s Eve party. You’ll never guess who.”

      “Who?”

      “Timothy. The realtor he works for wants to throw a party.”

      “Your old flame?”

      I laughed. “Glowing coals at best.”

      “We’ll dance until midnight if we can keep you old fogies up long enough.”

      I laughed. With the early mornings and fresh air, I was usually in bed by ten. No longer having to hover at clients’ parties until dawn, then head into work full of caffeine and promises… Life at the lodge suited the new me.

      ***

      Pots and pans clanged in the kitchen and the delicious scent of roasting turkey wafted down the hallway. Cruz was a damn fine cook, and I was thrilled he’d agreed to work at Cedarwood. He and Amory were making goggle-eyes at each other, like they’d only just fallen in love, and I had to hide a smile each time I walked past the lovebirds embracing. Who knew what their future held, what any of ours held, but they were focusing on the fact they loved one another, and that was enough for now. Between them, and Isla and Micah, I felt conspicuously single.

      The dining table was dressed in a gold tablecloth, adorned with glittery Christmas baubles. I polished the champagne flutes once more, admiring the perfect placement of cutlery and the poinsettia taking centerstage in the middle of the table. Flutes polished to a shine, I placed bonbons to the right of each place setting and silver napkins to the left.

      Christmas carols played chirpily overhead and I tried hard not to let sentimentality take over. It had been a tumultuous year, and yet I’d come so far, surrounded by friends and family who’d also had their lives shaken up and were trying to come out the other side.

      In the corner, the Christmas tree blinked merrily, and underneath was a veritable treasure trove of presents waiting to be opened. Even though it was Christmas Eve, we’d decided to exchange presents tonight. No doubt the couples would exchange their own presents the next day, but tonight it was all about what we’d bought for our friends…

      Kai walked in, carrying bottles of chilled champagne, and a gift under one arm. He stowed the champagne in the ice buckets and hopped from foot to foot and wouldn’t meet my gaze. “You can put the gift under the tree, Kai.”

      He cleared his throat. “Actually, I wanted to give it to you now.” He handed it me, and I noted with a smile the delicate antique ribbon and superfine wrapping paper. It was almost criminal to open it.

      “You didn’t have to get me a present.” Surprise colored my voice.

      He shrugged, and gave me a loose hug. “Merry Christmas, Clio.”

      “Merry Christmas!” I slowly unwrapped the gift, letting out a gasp when I saw it. “How did you find this?”

      “A lot of digging,” he said. “Do you like it?”

      It was a sketch of Cedarwood from its heyday. It was exquisite, the pencil strokes a touch blurred with age, the paper browned at the edges, but framed in a gorgeous antique frame that would protect it for the next fifty years.

      “Kai, I can’t believe this, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Look at the lodge!”

      I peered closely to make out every minuscule detail. Nothing had changed, from the gable on the roof right down to the balustrades on the porch. It was all the same as now, except the windows were bracketed by heavy brocade curtains, and now we had sheer window treatments. And on the porch was a rocking horse, fit for a small child… Again I had that sense I was being watched, that someone stood just behind me. My skin prickled.

      Before I could ponder it any more, Amory click-clacked her way into the room and said, “You’re exchanging presents? Oh Clio, that is utterly divine! Mine are under the tree in the salon – I’ll be right back. But we’re not opening them until after dinner, because yours might involve a drinking game…” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “Forget I said that.”

      Micah wandered in wearing a fuchsia-pink Christmas hat. “She made me,” he said, laughing. Isla wore the same but in green. “And we’ve got our ugliest Christmas sweaters on, in honor of our first Christmas at Cedarwood.”

      They were ugly. Matching sweaters with a reindeer flashing uneven, eggshell-colored teeth – more like a bad-tempered donkey braying. Still, Christmas just wasn’t Christmas without an ugly sweater. “Delightfully ugly,” I laughed.

      Cruz put a plate of cheeses, green olives and rosy-red cherry tomatoes on the table, all lined up in the shape of a Christmas tree. “Cute!” I said, loving that he was so festive with his food.

      “Wait,” he said. “I also made something else.”

      He came back a few minutes later carrying the most exquisite gingerbread house. It had candy-cane pillars, and a white-iced snowy roof; the windows were open and inside sat teddy bear biscuits, warming themselves near an open marshmallow fire. Trees were made from tempered chocolate and dusted white with icing sugar. Green candyfloss made up a Christmas tree decorated with star-shaped candy. “Wow, Cruz, did you make this from scratch?” The spicy scent of ginger permeated the air.

      “Amory helped,” he said.

      We burst out laughing, knowing she would have hindered more than helped, just as I would have. Our skills were not culinary, that was for sure. But still, my mind spun with ideas for the future: cooking classes he could do with our guests, and perhaps even a little giftshop of our own where we sold handmade biscuits and treats like these.

      Micah added a log to the fire, sending little bursts of fireworks up the flue.

      While we munched on the nibbles Cruz had made I drifted away, thinking of Mom and Aunt Bessie. My aunt had politely refused my invitation for Christmas Eve dinner – insisting us ‘young people’ spend it together, because we were having a gathering at hers tomorrow.

      We went to take our places at the table, but not before I saw Kai standing innocently under the mistletoe. In the spirit of Christmas I pushed my chair back and dashed over to him, landing a big, loud kiss on his cheek. His eyes widened, and I pointed up. “Just following tradition,” I said.

      Amory winked at me. “Yeah, and she put mistletoe under every doorway just in case.”

      I laughed. “You’re just jealous I didn’t kiss you.”

      “Yes,” she said. “I am. There’s always next year.”

      “Shall СКАЧАТЬ