Scarlett took his suggestion of going with her to Inglenook Falls well. And now here they were. It was ridiculously early, a few days before Christmas Eve, and the journey here had granted them icy scenery, glistening frost and the promise of snow on the air. Inglenook Falls was as quaint as it had sounded from the descriptions, and as they walked from the station and saw the green sign welcoming them to town, he could see a green space dusted in white ahead of them, a bandstand with lights and garlands wound around it. They had a brief check-out of Main Street and its café, a handful of shops, and got their bearings before they found the track that they needed to follow to reach Mitch’s Christmas tree farm.
Mitch was already standing on the porch of the little log cabin, leaning against one of the posts and sipping a cup of steaming coffee. ‘Welcome!’ He raised his other hand as he stepped down to greet them. ‘You found the place OK?’
‘Easy enough.’ Nathan shook his hand in greeting. ‘It’s pretty wonderful out here.’
‘Bit different to the city, eh?’ Mitch held up his cup. ‘Coffee?’
‘No, don’t want to put you to any trouble, I’ll head off to the café. I saw one on Main Street.’ He had plans to meet up with Amelia, not that he’d let it slip to Scarlett. On the train this morning he’d gazed out of the window wondering how he could’ve gone for years in England never finding anyone to get serious about, yet here in another country entirely he’d found a woman he was interested in getting to know better. Maybe that was why holiday romances were a thing. Your guard was down, you were more open to possibilities.
‘Enid at the café will sort you out,’ Mitch advised, ‘but don’t go for a brownie, they’re addictive.’
‘I appreciate the warning.’
The pretty auburn-haired woman, Holly, who he’d met at the party emerged from one of the sheds next to the log cabin holding a big painting .
‘What’s it a painting of?’ Scarlett asked Holly, her interest piqued.
‘It’s Main Street, Inglenook Falls.’
‘We saw the bandstand on our way here,’ Scarlett smiled. ‘Although it was dusted in frost, not like this painting where it’s bathed in sunlight. I love the contrast.’
Holly pointed out the bakery on the painting, Marlo’s café, and the gap leading to a guesthouse that was set back enough that they hadn’t noticed it earlier when they were on Main Street itself.
‘Did you paint this?’ Scarlett asked.
Holly grinned and looked to Mitch. ‘I didn’t.’
‘Guilty.’ Mitch lifted the coffee cup into the air by way of acknowledgement. ‘Bit of a hobby of mine. It needs work but Holly thinks it’s finished so she’s insisting we put it up inside.’
‘He’s far too modest,’ Holly reprimanded, but landed a kiss on Mitch’s cheek. ‘He’s a brilliant artist, and he made this frame too.’
Nathan was even more impressed as he looked at the cedar wood surrounding the work of art. ‘Painting, frames and a Christmas tree business.’ He whistled through his teeth. ‘You’ve got your work cut out.’
‘Good job I enjoy what I do.’ Mitch knocked back the rest of his coffee, did up his jacket and pulled on gloves before the winter chill could get to him. ‘And as a side business, the painting and the frames do quite well.’ He told Nathan all about a couple of exhibitions he’d had in the city, how he sold frames in a few stores in Connecticut now business was picking up, as well as at holiday markets.
‘And what about this place?’ Nathan asked. ‘Is it a year-round job?’
‘It sure is. I sold off a bit of the land but the rest takes a lot of work. Lucky for me my son comes up regularly and Jude, a kid I’ve known a while, helps out. I recently opened up to the public to come choose a tree from here, so it’s been a bit of a change, especially with the markets in Manhattan to deal with too.’
Holly had emerged from the cabin minus the painting but with a camera strap hooked around her neck. ‘I’m off to take some pictures of the Inglenook Falls markets. Scarlett, you’re welcome to join me if your dad doesn’t mind.’
‘Another time?’ Scarlett ventured.
‘I’ll hold you to that,’ Holly smiled.
‘Kyle is already out in the fields.’ Mitch picked up on the reason she didn’t want to go with Holly. ‘I’ll take you to him.’
Nathan didn’t want to hang around like a spare part so he followed Holly up a different, much steeper, track to the one they’d come down to get here. She told him how she’d tumbled down it once before, which was how she’d met Mitch.
‘I literally fell into his life,’ she laughed, leading the way, avoiding any patches of ground between trees that had iced over. ‘It’s our little joke.’ She stopped and they turned so the little log cabin could just about be seen down below. ‘He’s a good man. I didn’t think so at first but he really is kind. He’ll look after Scarlett, so please don’t worry.’
‘Is it that obvious?’
‘Yes,’ she smiled. ‘Come on, this way is much quicker, Main Street is just up there.’ She pointed towards where a sunbeam highlighted a long path.
They parted ways at the top and Nathan took in the beauty of Main Street, the roofs glistening in the wintry air, people huddled up against the season’s chill and chattering away to one another as they went about their business. There was none of the urgency of Manhattan, no battling a hectic city in a biting wind, and somehow the cold here still managed to coax a smile. He hadn’t thought places like Inglenook Falls existed anymore, but the charm of a small town was strongly present with its old-fashioned shops and creaking awnings, the little green where a group of kids chased each other, the vehicles that passed through Main Street with an apologetic politeness compared to the bullying traffic of Manhattan.
He wasn’t meeting Amelia for another forty minutes so he walked towards the markets he could see in the distance and passed beneath the arched entrance sign, some of Mitch’s trees for sale on either side. It was early enough for the ground to still have the crunch of frost beneath his feet but the market was beginning to bustle with stallholders lining up their wares, greeting customers, making the most of the last few days before Christmas.
