“Seven.” He smiled at her. She melted.
“Wow! That’s impressive. So, Brooke got married?”
“Yup, three years ago. She has a two-year-old and a baby boy. They’re adorable. Then Abby has five now, if you can believe it.”
“Wow. And you?” Natalie blamed her forwardness on the dim light and cozy atmosphere. “Are you dating anyone? Planning to add to the number of grandkids?”
Cade laughed. “Someday. But that day is not today. Residency hasn’t left much time for dating.”
“I see.”
Cade watched her, and Natalie felt incredibly self-conscious while she took another sip of her hot chocolate. It was lukewarm now, but she needed something to do, so she drank it anyway.
“And you? Dating anyone?”
“Nope. Not for lack of trying on my mother’s part though. I don’t know how she keeps sending me men while she's in Europe.”
Cade laughed again, but it didn’t seem as genuine this time. “Lots of dates then?”
“I dodge most of them.”
“Hmm.”
What did that mean? And what were the chances they would run into each other now, both of them still single?
Not that it mattered. She wasn’t dating anyone, but she wanted to keep it that way. Dating people meant getting to know them, and getting to know them meant having to tell them she was broken. She’d learned in the past that was not particularly enjoyable. Plus, she was focusing on her business now. Someday she’d deal with the dating scene.
“So, your mom is still in Europe?”
Hurray, a topic even better than dating. “She came home between husband four and five. But, yeah, she’s in Paris now.”
“Wow. Husband five?”
“Six now.”
Cade’s low whistle carried in the empty room.
Silence fell again, except for the quiet droning of the news anchor.
“And a big storm is expected to come in next week, leaving northern Colorado to face record-breaking snowfall and dangerously low temperatures for the week leading up to Christmas.”
Wait. Natalie sat up and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume. The reporter continued to report on what Natalie had been hoping she’d misheard. A big storm was coming in.
“What’s up?” Cade looked back and forth between Natalie and the TV.
“The storm.”
“Yeah, it looks like a bad one... are you planning on going somewhere?”
“No, no...” she muttered distractedly, still working through how she was going to fix this. “I volunteered to organize the town parade a few months ago... and massive snowstorm equals no parade.” Natalie continued to stare at the screen, even after the reporter left the screen and some sports replay started streaming. “It was supposed to be my way to become part of the community, get them to like me enough to refer their friends and family when they came to stay. I’d be lying if I said it’s been easy to organize. Plus, there’s like six old ladies who keep checking in on me to see if I’ll fail. Looks like they’ll get their wish.” Natalie twisted her lips to the side in thought.
“Bad weather can’t be blamed on you.”
“You don’t know small-town traditions then.” Finally, Natalie tore her eyes from the screen, picking up their empty mugs and taking them over to the large sink.
“I guess not. Sorry, Nat. If I could help, I would.”
Natalie froze at the nickname no one but Cade ever used.
It was probably just a habit. It didn’t mean anything.
Except it did, because it brought back memories of cuddling on her couch, date nights to the drive-in theater, laughing over jokes that only belonged to them, late-night studying. Her in her graduate program, and him in medical school. It brought back history. And history needed to stay locked away and buried. She placed the mugs in the sink then turned and leaned against the counter as if she didn’t even hear the nickname.
“It’s fine. I’ll come up with something.”
“Yeah? You have any ideas?” Cade leaned his forearms against the table, looking a little too comfortable in her kitchen.
“No, but I’m sure I will.” Hopefully, he would drop it and just go to bed.
“What about a dinner?” So, not going to bed. Okay, then.
“Not kid-friendly.”
“Santa’s workshop?”
“Not adult-friendly.”
Cade sent her a dry smile, and Natalie couldn’t help the returning grin.
“I’ve got it!” He straightened. “It’s perfect!”
“What’s perfect?” Natalie wasn’t convinced anything could be perfect, let alone something Cade thought up in under a minute.
“I’ll tell you under one condition.”
“And that is?”
He paused for the space of three heartbeats, narrowing his eyes at her as if figuring something out. But what?
“You let me help.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. Not what she’d expected. She bit her tongue to keep from responding right away. She wanted to say no—she should say no. She didn’t accept help.
But her freaking curiosity was as out of control as her hair after falling asleep with it wet.
“Okay. Fine.”
“A carnival.”
Natalie blinked at him, her head tilting to the side. “A what?”
“Carnival. The hospital from my residency did a Christmas carnival every year for staff and patients who could attend. It was a huge hit, and I don’t think it would be too hard to get together with only a couple of weeks’ notice.”
“Twelve days,” she corrected.
“As I said, a couple of weeks... ish.” He winked, and Natalie cursed her feet, which were suddenly moving closer to him and his handsome face.
“Anyway, we just need a location, and then anyone who was doing floats could do a booth instead? I can’t imagine it would take much for them to repurpose the float items.”
“We’ll need a Santa.” Natalie sat down, energy bubbling up inside as she thought through this new idea.
“Ask Mr. Claus.”
“Mr... who?”
“Claus, err, Clarke.” Cade grinned sheepishly.
Understanding dawned, and Natalie laughed. “He does kinda look like Santa, huh?”
“Kinda? The guy’s a dead ringer for the jolly man.”
Natalie laughed. “Okay, well this might work. Yeah... it really might. I’ll call the committee tomorrow and get it approved, then all the people who volunteered for floats, and I think we could use the hotel’s event room for the night. Thanks Cade, this is a great idea.” She smiled across at him. When had she sat back down?
He smiled back, the awkwardness completely gone between them. Unconsciously, Natalie leaned forward. So did he.
Thankfully, an annoying jingle at the end of a dog food commercial chose to flood the room with music, effectively ruining the moment. Natalie cleared her throat, standing back up. She was like one of those blow-up stick people at car dealerships. Up, down, up, down, get all twisted and look like an idiot—up again.
She grabbed the plate the cinnamon rolls had been on. Cade pushed back from the table.
“I should get to bed, thanks for the food.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped towards the door. How did a man look that good in a sweater?
“Anytime.” Not really. She couldn’t risk something like this again. Thank heavens he was probably checking out the next day.
“Oh, Nat?”
Her insides twisted warmly at the nickname, but her voice was impressively steady as she responded “Yeah?”
“My parents’ basement is going to be out of commission for the foreseeable future. Can I rent my room until the day after New Year’s?”
Natalie's stomach dropped at the same time her heart soared. Stupid body. “Uh, yeah, that’s fine. Sure.”
“I’ll find you in the morning and make the rest of the payment. I don’t want to keep you up any longer.”
/> “Sounds great. Good night.”
“Night.”
The second he stepped from the room, Natalie leaned against the counter and rubbed her forehead. How was she supposed to keep her walls up for nearly three weeks?
Chapter 5
Cade
Cade walked through the perpetually revolving doors of the hotel lobby. Nat hadn’t been particularly forthcoming about when she’d be initiating plans for the carnival, but with enough pressing while he paid the rest of his balance at the inn that morning, she’d told him she was meeting a few people here this afternoon. After following the noise to a large room off the back of the lobby, he realized it was more than a few people.
The chaos rivaled his parents’ house, which he’d just left saying he needed to get his car washed. In retrospect, that was a terrible excuse. The snow hadn’t stopped falling since his arrival three days ago.
He found Nat beside a girl with mid-length brown hair and wildly gesturing hands. He recognized her after a few seconds. April—Nat’s best friend.
“April, wait, he did what?”
April stopped her waving and crossed her arms. “He dumped me, Natalie. Dumped me because I didn’t know the difference between a three-pointer and a... a... three throw?”
He thought he heard Nat snort a laugh as he stopped several yards from her and her friend. He didn’t want to cut into their conversation.
“I think you mean a ‘free throw,’ April.”
April shrugged helplessly, and now Cade was also struggling not to laugh. He busied himself by answering a few emails from coworkers. It was a miracle he’d even gotten three weeks off for the holidays, especially being his first year out of residency. He’d requested it, doubtfully, and been surprised when it was approved.
Actually, it was less a miracle, and more likely that many of his colleagues chose to work over the holidays for double pay.
A week ago, Cade would have gladly chosen the double pay over Christmas with his family. But now, as he glanced up at Nat, who was patting April’s arm and nodding at something she said, he wouldn’t change his plans for anything.
“Hey, I have the perfect idea to get you back on your feet!” Nat’s excited tone tuned him back into the conversation. Anticipating he’d be waiting a while, he walked a couple feet to a table laden with tinsel and candy canes, and sat down.
“What?” April asked warily.
“The mistletoe booth! I know for a fact Mrs. Smithson is looking for someone to man it and...” Nat cut herself off, laughing as April seemed to vacillate between horrified and angry. “Okay, okay,” she said through peals of laughter. “Not a good idea. In my defense, you wouldn’t actually be kissing anyone, just watching the booth, and maybe getting caught under the mistletoe once or twice.”
“And you call yourself my friend.”
“I am your friend, and don’t try and dump me now, not after all we’ve been through... Okay, bad word choice there, but really April, you gotta at least get back out there. There are a million more fish in the sea waiting for you. Get swimming!”
“It’s fourteen degrees out.”
“You know what I mean. Find a guy that’s totally different than what's-his-face. Go out with someone who isn’t your standard ‘jock.’ Hey, don’t look at me like that. Jocks aren’t bad, just your usual choice, and they haven’t been great to you. So...” Nat’s voice took on a new, sly tone. “I’m issuing a challenge.”
April groaned. Cade didn’t blame her—he remembered their ‘challenges.’ None of them ever went well. Well, except for that one where April challenged Nat to buy dinner for a stranger. Cade had been that stranger. Or, when Nat challenged April to stay overnight in a tent outside their apartment. Cade had really enjoyed the ensuing alone time with Nat.
“Don’t groan. It’s a good one.”
“I highly doubt that,” April grumbled.
“April, I hereby challenge you to find a man the EXACT opposite of your free throw guy, and ask him out. Before Christmas.”
“Oh.” April looked thoughtful.
“Told you it wasn’t a bad challenge.”
“Well, I still have to find someone who fits the bill in a few days.”
Nat scoffed. “Come on, it’s two weeks...ish.”
Cade didn’t notice the grin on his face until it started to hurt. She was repeating him and what he’d said to her the night before.
“Fine. I agree to your challenge,” she held up a hand, stopping Nat from what would have been a premature celebration. “But only if you find a guy and go with me.”
He watched as Nat gaped at her friend for a few seconds. Seconds during which Cade started to stand up, not okay with where this was going, though he couldn’t say why.
“Come on, Natalie,” April pleaded. “Your part of the challenge would be a lot easier than mine. You just need to find any guy. Plus, I don’t want to go by myself—you’d be the best friend ever.” She dragged out the last syllable, much as a kindergartner might while saying ‘pleeeeease’.
“I... mmm... okay. Okay, fine. One double date. We can do it... right?” Nat’s voice was comically pessimistic.
“Easily.” April smiled, then turned and looked straight at him, as if she’d been waiting for this moment. “You could just ask your friend who’s been patiently waiting for us to stop talking.”
Cade watched as Nat looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening and a light blush lighting up her cheeks as she turned fully toward him. He weirdly liked that reaction.
“Cade,” Nat choked. He waved. She looked back at her friend. “Yeah, that’ll be a no.”
Okay, he didn’t like that so much. He found himself standing taller, as if that would change her opinion of him.
“You sure know how to say ‘hi’ to a guy,” he grinned, not that he felt like smiling.
Her blush deepened, but Cade was still ticked off enough he hardly noticed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. It’s just... umm... April, you remember Cade Davis.”
April’s reaction was both enlightening and confusing. Her eyes widened in understanding and recognition, and then all emotion dropped from her face.
“I’m so sorry, it’s been so long since we last saw each other. Wow, you sure... well, anyway. What was it... three years ago? Four? It’s nice to see you again, Cade.” She stuck her hand out, which he shook, then she shot a questioning look to Nat before speaking to him again. “How are you enjoying our little town?”
“It’s very... small.” Cade dredged up another smile, still fighting off the annoyance at how Nat had completely written him off. It shouldn’t hurt so bad. After all, she’d done it before.
April laughed. “That it is.” She turned back to Nat, raising her eyebrows in a look that seemed to say they would talk later. “Anyway, I told Em I would meet her after this meeting, and you know how hard it is to pull that girl away from her work. I’d better run.”
Nat hugged her friend and said bye, then turned to Cade. Her cheeks were still slightly flushed. “Well. That’s April.”
“I know.” His hands had balled into fists, and he fought to relax them.
“Yeah... of course you do.”
“Yup. So, what did you need help with?” He folded his arms, looking around with feigned interest at the various people and Christmas decor scattered around the room. Anything to avoid looking at her.
“Actually, the meeting ended about twenty minutes ago. Now people are just brainstorming and setting up. The hotel doesn’t have any events until New Year’s, so they’re okay with people storing things here and working over the next couple of weeks. It’s very nice of them, which hurts me to say since they’re my competitors.”
“So, you don’t need me tonight?”
A flash of surprised hurt crossed Nat’s face, but Cade was too busy fighting the pain boiling up inside him to analyze her reaction.
“No, I think we’re okay.”
“Awesome. See you later, then.” He turned b
efore he could say something stupid about how she should totally date him.
He was a catch. Why the heck hadn’t anyone informed Nat?
He fumed all the way to the car, but by the time the engine warmed enough that his fingers were no longer freezing, his frustration similarly melted. And in its wake came the uncertainties and lack of confidence he hated.
What was wrong with him? How could he have taken so many of the right steps in life yet still feel like he wasn’t good enough?
And why did Nat apparently agree?
Chapter 6
Natalie
With her cook back, Natalie was able to sleep in longer, but that morning she took the liberty to the extreme and didn’t climb from bed until breakfast was well and over with. It was probably closer to lunch than breakfast, honestly.
She could only hope no potential guests had stopped by the inn while there was no one there to greet them. Usually, if Natalie had to be away for any amount of time, she asked the shop owner next door to keep an eye on the place, and then locked the door and left a sign in the window with her phone number. All current guests had individual codes to the place, so she didn’t have to worry about locking one of them out. And the town was so small she could make it back quickly if someone did call.
Sleeping in meant she hadn’t taken any of those precautions. Another check on the list of reasons Natalie was a poor businesswoman. April’s suggestion to hire someone was looking better and better every day. Even if it would severely hurt her finances.
Her phone rang as she hurried to the closet. She glanced down at it before answering.
“Hey, April.” Natalie pulled out a sweater and pants as she tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear.
“Hey, I’ve got our double date planned. You available in two nights?”
Natalie almost groaned as it all came rushing back. The challenge and Cade; her embarrassment and his returned iciness. She dropped the clothes onto her bed and fell back into it face first. She shouldn’t have even gotten up. “Well, I have the bed and breakfast.” Her words were muffled by the comforter, but April understood.
Christmas In Love: A Greenbank Holiday Romance (Greenbank Holiday Romances Book 1) Page 3