“Wow, Grandma Jean, you look great!”
“Thank you, dear. I’m off to meet the ladies from the club for a few holiday cordials. Are you sure you don’t want to come? They’d love to have you.”
“I would be there in a second, but I promised Jack I’d help get the decorations down from the attic, and I already sent him up there to make sure he clears out any wildlife before I arrive. But squirrels or no, we can’t wake up tomorrow with the place looking like it is.”
Grandma Jean laughed. “Good plan, and no, we can’t! Well, then I will leave all the decorating to you.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”
“I have faith in you, dear. I did from the moment you arrived. See you later tonight.” She leaned in and gave me a tight hug, then with a cheery smile, she jangled her keys and bustled out the door to meet her friends.
As I walked back to the inn with the setting sun at my back, I took a deep breath of the fresh pine air and looked around. This was a wonderful place to spend Christmas, and after a lifetime of lonely Christmases, I was ready to spend one with a family.
Taking the steps two at a time, I made my way toward the attic staircase. Boxes shuffled over my head, and I heard a muffled curse echoing down the hall. Balancing on the retractable stairs, I climbed into the attic and waved away the thick dust motes hanging in the air.
Jack stood in the corner, massive garlands and boxes of ornaments lay at his feet. He fumbled with a string of lights, cursing again at the knotted lengths that had somehow wrapped around his arms.
“How are you tangled up in Christmas lights?” I asked, humor threading through my voice.
“These are a scourge on Christmas and should be banned!” Jack grumbled, struggling out of the strings and dropping the whole mess onto the floor.
“They’re just lights, Jack. They can’t fight back.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. They trick you by having one light out of a hundred on the strand blow out, and the next thing you know, you’re snarled in their grasp desperately trying to find the right blub. It’s a festive snare and you can’t convince me otherwise.”
Nudging the web of lights away with my foot, I wrapped my arms around Jack’s neck and gazed up at him. “Looks like I couldn’t charm all the Scrooge out of you, after all.”
Jack’s fingers sifted through my hair. “You love it when I’m surly. Don’t pretend you don’t.”
Dipping his head, Jack grazed his lips over the curve of my chin, making me angle my neck so he could get closer. Then we were backing up, Jack pressing his body against mine. My boot came down on a bauble and the thin, glossy plastic cracked beneath my feet.
We both laughed as Jack scooped me up and set me on the edge of a storage cabinet. His hands glided up my thighs and settled around my waist as he claimed my mouth with a slow intoxicating kiss.
“We’re never going to finish decorating the tree,” I said, coming up for air.
“There’s always next year.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Or the one after that.” His lips found the pulse on my neck. “Or the one after that.”
His words made my heart flutter and ache at the same time. What if we only have this one Christmas? I smoothed my hands over the stubble on his chin and held his searching gaze. I knew he was waiting for assurances. Promises that after the holiday, I’d stay. But I couldn’t give them yet. Not until everything was out in the open, and I’d checked in with the agency.
“Let’s just focus on this one for now. I’ll help you tame those lights.”
Jack groaned and grudgingly helped me down from the cabinet. We sorted through the ornaments and set the ones aside that we planned to use, then brought everything down to the common room. After stringing the lights and hanging most of the baubles, we stepped back and admired our work.
All that was left was illumination. Jack reached behind the tree and plugged in the lights, setting off a colorful display that bounced like prisms off the gleaming ornaments. He stood behind me, enfolding his arms around my shoulders. I leaned against him and nuzzled my head under his chin, locating my favorite ornament front and center. The little raccoon hung delicately from a branch, swaying gently, then settling into place.
“I’m keeping the farm,” Jack said softly. “For a long time, I thought my dad loved this place more than me. But thanks to you, I don’t believe that anymore. This farm is a part of people’s lives and their traditions, and we get to be a part of that. I’d like to think he just wanted to share that with me, and even though neither of us went about it the right way, I realized maybe he was trying to give me a gift and not a burden.”
I tilted my head to look up at him. “That’s amazing Jack. I think he’d be happy to hear that.”
“Yeah. I can’t take back the things that were said or change the way things ended between us. But I can move forward by making new memories and honoring him that way. It’ll be a lot of work to get everything back to the way it was, but I’ll hire help, and we’ll get there. And I was thinking…” Jack hesitated, and I had to nudge him in the side to continue.
“What were you thinking?”
“Next year, I want to do another toy drive to make up for the one we lost. It’ll be bigger and better, and actually make it to the kids this time.”
“I think that’s a great idea, and I’d love to help you put it together.” As the words left my mouth, I bit my tongue, but Jack chuckled in my ear.
“I’ll remember you said that. But first, don’t go anywhere. We forgot the box that contains the tree star. I’ll go back and get it.” Jack planted a kiss on my forehead, then jogged from the room and back up the stairs.
