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As much as he wanted to stand there and admire the scenery, his body told him he needed to do otherwise. Cold seeped through his clothes and all the way into him. He rubbed his hands together.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She glanced at his attire. “You must be freezing.”
“Yeah, I’m not really dressed for this.” His glance went out to the canopy of snow and back onto her. When he had gotten dressed this morning, he had no idea he would be going anywhere else but in town, so he’d worn his dress shoes, his dark blue Burberry wool Pea Coat, and leather driving gloves. None of which prepared him for this. His coat kept his upper body and backside warm, but his dress slacks and shoes weren’t doing squat to keep him warm.
“I didn’t mean to keep you out here. It’s just when this place is covered in snow like this, I can’t help but take a few minutes to admire it and to thank God that He blessed me with it. But….” She turned. “Enough of that. Let’s get you inside and get you warmed up. Then we can eat some lunch.”
He hoped she would say that. Not just because his insides now resembled a Popsicle, but his rumbling stomach was gnawing on his backbone. It was his own fault he was so hungry. He hadn’t had anything to eat since the masquerade party the night before.
Stepping alongside her, they walked toward the bright red door that stood out amidst all the white. A large round pine bough with a big red ribbon and holly berries hung on the door. A strand of pine boughs outlined the frame of the doorjamb. Between the two of them, the scent of pine emanated, mingling with the fresh crisp air.
Anna unlocked the door, and he followed her inside, closing the door behind him. Toasty warm air flowed over him, a welcome relief to his cold body.
When she flipped a switch by the door, Christmas lights and decorations lit up everywhere. He didn’t have time to take it all in as they removed their winter garb and hung them on a coat rack near the door.
“Make yourself at home while I get lunch ready.”
“I can help,” he offered.
“Thank you, but it’s all ready, I just have to do a few things.” She turned, and after just two steps she stopped and looked back at him. “Would you mind getting the fire going?”
“Don’t mind at all.”
She smiled that beautiful smile that went straight to his heart every time. “Everything’s set and ready. All you have to do is light the paper. There’s a long lighter on the hearth next to the log holder.” She pointed to the end of the large living room where a massive fireplace stood.
There on the hearth set a vintage brass log holder with a couple of lighters straddled across the top of the split logs. His eyes trailed upward to the blinking lights on the mantle.
Christmas candles and a huge variety of snow globes in all different sizes covered the thing. There had to be thirty or more on there and some of the bigger ones were lit so you could see the snow swirling inside of them. Nicholas had never seen so many in one place before.
“Thank you,” she said.
Tearing his gaze away from them, with a smile and a nod, he turned and headed that way while Anna headed in the opposite direction.
He walked under a high archway with a string of large red Christmas ornaments dangling from it. The white and light gray walls made the room appear even larger than it was.
Off to his right in front of the long windows stood a fresh cut blue spruce pine Christmas tree loaded with a variety of ornaments.
Green, red, blue, silver and gold decorations were tastefully situated throughout the rooms.
Fresh pine bough wreaths with red ribbons hung from each long window. Different globe ornaments filled the centers of them. On the coffee table was a unique decoration made of canning jars. They were stacked in the shape of a tree and a string of gold beads wove across the front of it like garland. Inside of them were more globes, ornaments, greenery and miniature trees. Two large snow globes sat on each side of it.
One thing was for certain… the woman loved Christmas.
And snow globes.
At the fireplace, he moved the fireplace screen, and grabbed the lighter. Kneeling down on one knee, it took three clicks for the lighter to finally stay lit. In several different places, he set the flame to the paper. It only took a few seconds for the pine to start crackling and popping, so he quickly put the fireplace screen back in to place.
Making sure everything was good with the fire, he headed into the kitchen. Garlic, oregano, basil, ricotta, mozzarella, parmigiana-reggiano cheeses, and tomato pasta sauce permeated the air along with the pine from the fireplace.
Wearing a red apron with a green Christmas tree on front, Anna scurried around in the kitchen.
