Sawdust and Mistletoe

by Michelle Pennington

  And then her eyes grew heavy, just as Molly’s had. Warmth and comfort and belonging drugged her drowsy brain, and the thought of the cold air outside and a frigid ride home did nothing to encourage her to wake up and go home. The last thing she remembered was Chevy Chase trying to get his lights to turn on.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hunter had woken up every morning for the last few weeks on this same couch, but never to find Ava cuddled up on his chest.

  He was sitting up with one leg stretched along the couch and rested his other foot on the floor. She was turned facing the back of the couch with her face resting on his chest. With his arm draped across her waist, he could feel the slow rise and fall of her breathing. She looked so lovely with her lashes fanned out over her cheeks and her expression softened by sleep.

  Thoughts of waking up with her every morning danced through his drowsy brain, but before he could get very far with his imaginings, Molly ran into the room. Her eyes widened when she saw Ava.

  “She’s still here?” Molly’s voice grew shrill, and Ava shifted in her sleep.

  “Shhh. She’s sleeping,” Hunter whispered.

  Molly held her fingers to her lips. “Shhh.” Then she tiptoed over and looked at Ava. Molly ran her hand over Ava’s smooth blonde hair as if fascinated by it, and Ava took a deep breath and turned over. Hunter lifted his arm to let her get comfortable, then settled it along her arm. He played with her fingers, while Molly giggled and watched.

  “She looks like a princess.”

  “Oh yeah? Which one?”

  “Sleeping Beauty.”

  Hunter smiled. “Do you think she’d wake up if I kiss her.”

  “Yes. Kiss her, Unco Unter.”

  Just as Hunter leaned forward, planning to just pretend for Molly’s enjoyment, Ava’s eyes flew open and Hunter froze as Ava’s eyes shifted around, trying to figure out where she was. Two seconds later, she slapped her hand over her mouth and sat up so fast she knocked Hunter’s nose with her head.

  “Ow,” he said, covering his wounded nose.

  “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know. My nose might be broken.”

  Ava was awake now, and apparently had zero tolerance for him this morning. “No, it’s not. But I’m sorry. It just startled me.”

  “Well, you just scared the crap out of me.”

  “Sorry, but you looked like you were about to kiss me and I probably have morning breath. And I can’t believe I spent the night on the couch with you.”

  “Yeah…” Hunter said, carefully testing his nose for possible fractures. “I wish I’d been awake for more of it. Seems a sad waste of time that we slept through it.”

  He was pleased to see Ava’s face blush bright pink. She seemed to be avoiding his eyes as she said, “Plus, from the light coming through the windows, we slept in. We have a lot to do today.”

  Hunter turned to Molly, who was laying across the coffee table on her belly with her head on the floor. “Molly, will you show Ava where the bathroom is?

  “Yes.” Molly got down by sliding off onto the floor.

  “That’s okay. I know where it is,” Ava said. She disappeared down the hall, and Hunter stretched, then made himself stand up. Patiently waiting for his turn in the bathroom, he walked over to look at the window. The neighborhood looked like someone had shaken powdered sugar over everything. The snow was deep enough in places to cover the brown grass, but the roads were only dusted, and rooftops were still visible except in the nooks and crannies where more snow had collected.

  He heard a buzzing sound behind him and saw that Ava’s phone was lit up with an incoming call. It rang once more before Ava came out of the bathroom.

  “I hope Krista doesn’t mind that I used some of her mouthwash,” Ava said.

  “Actually, that was probably mine.”

  “Oh,” Ava said, looking embarrassed.

  “Don’t worry. Since I’m planning to kiss you thoroughly in a minute, I’m glad you used it.”

  Ava picked up a throw pillow from the couch and hit him in the chest with it.

  “You’re being exceptionally violent this morning. Are you always like this when you wake up?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never woken up with you before.”

  Hunter laughed when her eyes widened and she blushed again. “You’re saying it’s my fault? That doesn’t sound promising.” He stood up. “I’ll be right back. Oh, and someone called you.”

  A few minutes later as Hunter brushed his teeth, he stared at himself in the mirror and tried to make a decision. He had no doubt he wanted to see where things might go with Ava. He wasn’t just attracted to her—any guy would be. It was so much more than that. He felt happy around her, and deeply concerned for her happiness as well. Being with her made him want the kind of life his brother had, and that had never happened before.

  He’d talk to her. Right now.

  He leaned forward, closer to the mirror and ran his hands over his scruffy jaw. Maybe he should shave first.

  But then he heard his name called from the living room and jetted out of the bathroom because there was panic in Ava’s voice.

  “What?” He asked, his eyes wide as he looked around to see what was wrong.

  Ava tossed blankets and pillows around on the couch, urgently looking for something. “It was Sharon. Someone vandalized the decorations for the ball.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes. She sent me pictures. It’s awful. We need to get over there. Now. But I can’t find my flipping keys!”

  Hunter glanced at Molly, who was jumping on the couch and adding to the chaos. “Look on the tree.”

  “What?” Ava looked at him like he was crazy, so he walked over to the tree and started searching the branches.

  He found the clip he’d taken out of Ava’s hair last night and tossed it to her. “Molly likes to decorate the tree.”

  Ava caught on and joined him in the search. When he heard her laughing a second later, he leaned around the tree to see what was funny. She held up a ring of keys. “I so don’t feel like laughing right now, but oh my gosh, that’s just funny. There must be two sets of keys on this tree.”

  “Hey, those are mine,” Hunter said. She tossed him the keys, and he shook them at Molly. “Keys do not go on the Christmas tree.”

  “Why not?” Molly asked.

  “Because…because they don’t. If you’re in a hurry, Ava, I can just drive you over there and we can come back for your car later. Oh, unless you want to go home and change first.”

  Ava shook her head. “I look like crap, but I want to get over there and assess the damage.

  “Let’s go then. Molly, will you please find Ava’s keys and give them to your mommy?”

  Molly nodded, and Hunter got Ava’s coat and held it out for her. They hurried out to his truck and jumped in. Hunter turned the heat on full-blast and felt bad when he saw Ava shivering. “It should warm up soon.”

  “I hope so.”

  There wasn’t much traffic, but the roads were a little slippery, so Hunter drove slowly, even though he was sure Ava wanted him to drive faster. By the time they got to the Bellmark Hotel, the heater had warmed up the truck and Ava had stopped shivering. As soon as he put the truck into park, Ava opened her door and jumped out. He turned off the truck and ran after her, catching up to her in time to open the main door for her.

  Ava nodded at the woman behind the reception desk but didn’t say anything until she got to the ballroom. Hunter opened the door and stepped back but wasn’t able to go in himself because Ava was frozen in the doorway. Looking over her head, he wasn’t surprised.

  All of the arches were dismantled, the sugar-frosted decorations strewn around, the centerpieces were torn apart and thrown around the room. Whoever had done this had made sure that very little of it would be salvageable.

  Hunter put his arm around Ava and gently pushed her ahead of him into the room. She seemed to be in shock but pulled herself togeth
er quickly. Stepping forward, she bent down and picked up a peppermint candy that was bigger than his head and made out of painted Styrofoam. It flopped open from a gouge down the middle of it, exposing the pebbled white interior as if someone had broken it over their knee.

  “Ava, you’re here.”

  A classy woman in a red wool coat strode over to them from across the ballroom. This must be Sharon.

  “I can’t believe this,” Ava said, walking towards her.

  “It’s despicable. If I could get my hands on whoever did this, I would not show any mercy, I promise you?”

  Ava bent and picked up the remains of a garland that had been torn down and ripped apart. “But even Marcia wouldn’t go this far.”

  Sharon sniffed. “Why wouldn’t she. You’re threatening her business, and the woman has never had any morals to speak of.”

  Ava dropped the garland and turned to face Sharon. “I’m so sorry. If I had known this would happen, I never would have taken the job. I hate that my personal drama has caused your fundraiser so much trouble.”

  Hearing a tremor in Ava’s voice, Hunter stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, offering her his support the only way he could just then.

  “Ava, this is not your fault. Remember, I knew exactly what I was dealing with when I offered you the job. When my grandmother told me what Marcia had done to you, I decided to show that woman what happens when you treat people like that. I should have known she’d do something like this.”

  Hunter cleared his throat. “Have they checked the security cameras?”

  “They are now,” Sharon answered. “They called me as soon as they discovered it this morning, but so far, they don’t know any more than we do.” Then the woman paused and looked at him. “I’m so sorry. We haven’t met. I’m Sharon.”

  “Hunter,” he said, extending his hand to shake hers.

  “I’m so sorry I called so early,” Sharon said. “I obviously dragged you two out of bed.

  Hunter heard Ava’s tiny gasp, but said, “Out of couch actually. We crashed last night and didn’t make it any further than that.”

  Ava spun around. “Hunter, you shut up right now. You’re making it sound like…like we…”

  Hunter grinned down at her, then gave in. “We watched a movie with my niece last night and fell asleep on my brother’s couch. I guess we were both worn out from working here all day yesterday.”

  Sharon nodded and looked around. “I’m sure it looked awesome. I just wish I knew what to do now.”

  Ava pressed her lips tightly together, then said, “You just get the tables and chairs in as planned. I’ll take care of the decorations.”

  “But how can you possibly decorate in time?” Sharon asked. “The ball is tomorrow evening.”

  “I don’t know yet, but I will. I’m not going to let Marcia win.”

  Hunter’s heart warmed as he saw her spunk and drive fire to full force. Clearly, now wasn’t the time to talk to her about feelings and futures, but he was even surer now about what he wanted to say.

  Chapter Twenty

  After leaving the staff to clean up the debris from the vandalized decorations, Ava went home to shower and dress. By the time she was done putting her clean, dry hair into a French braid, someone knocked on her door.

  She opened it to find Olivia on the porch with cups of cocoa and their favorite donuts. “I come with sugar.”

  “Thank goodness,” Ava said taking the donuts from her.

  “You know, we’re going to have to stop eating like this someday.”

  “We only eat junk when we’re stressed,” Ava said taking a bite of a white chocolate glazed cake donut with bits of peppermint on top.

  “Which is pretty much all the time.”

  “Well, I’m not starting today. We have a lot to do, and I haven’t even figured out how we’re going to do it.”

  “Are we going with the North Woods theme this time?”

  “Yes. We just need to find somewhere we can go and find a ton of evergreens, pinecones, holly, and mistletoe.”

  “Okay, brainstorming time.”

  “Where’s Hunter?”

  Ava shrugged, trying to ignore her suddenly hammering heart. “He’ll be here soon.”

  Ava’s phone rang. It was Mrs. Trundell. Surprised, she showed her screen to Olivia, then answered. “Hello?”

  “Ava, my dear. Sharon called me and told me what happened. We’re not going to let that woman beat us. I called to see if I can help in any way.”

  As she opened her mouth to answer, there was a knock on the door. “That’s so sweet of you to call. We’re still trying to figure out our plan, but if I think of anything, I’ll give you a call.”

  Ava watched as Olivia opened the door and Hunter came in. He had shaved and his hair was still wet from his shower, but what really caught her attention was the smile on his face. Her lips pulled automatically into a matching smile, like she couldn’t even help it. She also couldn’t help the heat running over her when he came up and pulled her into a hug, even though she was on the phone.

  She spun in his arms, trying to listen to what Mrs. Trundell was saying, and the next thing she knew, Hunter had pulled her down onto his lap as he sat on the sofa. Being on the phone made this difficult to deal with. Especially with Olivia watching with bugged out eyeballs.

  She had to focus on Mrs. Trundell.

  “…and I know how much you like to decorate with fresh greenery. You always make me such lovely wreaths and garlands from what you gather on my property. There’s plenty more out there. Why don’t you come over and get as much as you want?”

  Ava’s mouth dropped open. “Really? Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely, dear. You’re welcome to it. All ten acres of it.”

  “Mrs. Trundell, you have no idea what a miracle that is. Can we come right away?”

  “Sure thing! I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Ava hung up. “Oh my gosh, guys! We’re in business. Let’s go get some greenery.” Ava turned to look at Hunter and found his face only inches from hers. “Hunter, can you drive your truck over?”

  “Anything you want, I’m there.”

  Then to her surprise, he kissed her, right there in front of Olivia.

  “You seem to be in an awfully good mood,” she said, trying to sound casual, even though her voice was a bit rough.

  His arms came around her, pulling her tight against him, while he nuzzled his face in her neck. “Mmmm, yep. But I guess we’d better get going, huh?”

  And then, just as suddenly as he’d pulled her down, he boosted her back up again, standing along with her. Ava clenched her teeth and a thread of disappointment shot through her. She had to stop being silly. “Do you have a saw and ax, or do we need to stop and get some tools?”

  “I’ve got everything you’ll need.”

  “I’d say so,” Olivia said. She burst out laughing. “Ava, you should see your face. Now come on, lovebirds. If I have to go work in the cold, I want to get it over with.”

  Olivia stepped outside, and Hunter took her hand in his. “What are you waiting for?”

  “Why are you doing that in front of her?”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “Why? Are you ashamed of me?”

  “No. Of course not. We’re just not…we haven’t…”

  “Talked? I know. But I think it’s time we did, don’t you?”

  Ava’s heart gave a great big lurch and butterflies swirled in her stomach. “Yes. Maybe. But not right this second.”

  Hunter just smiled, not looking at all put-out. “Of course not. We have work to do. But once we get this job done, you and I are having a conversation.”

  She swallowed and nodded. Hunter took her coat off the hook by the door and held it out to her, along with her scarf and hat.

  “Bundle up, Scrooge. Cuz, baby, it’s cold outside.”

  Ava groaned. “If you start singing, I might do something rash.”

  “There you go being violent
again.”

  Then he kissed her on the cheek and held the door open for her. She slipped past him, brushing against his chest in the narrow door frame. The man was delicious and way too charming for her peace of mind. Somehow, she had to work with him, and not be completely distracted by him.

  Hunter got in his truck and Olivia motioned for Ava to get in first, so she ended up squished in the middle of the bench seat with her thigh pressed against Hunter’s. Every time he moved his foot from the gas to the brake, it sent a shiver of sensation through her. And even though Olivia kept up a long-winded and pointless conversation all the way to Mrs. Trundell’s house, Ava was very aware that her best friend was watching when Hunter reached down with his big, strong hand and threaded his fingers through hers.

  Hunter didn’t seem at all concerned about driving on snow-covered roads with one hand on the wheel. And since he got them safely to Mrs. Trundell’s without even one little slip, Ava guessed that he was well-practiced in driving on snow.

  When they drove down the Trundell’s long, tree-lined driveway, they saw Mrs. Trundell come outside, wrapped in a fuzzy red robe, wearing snow boots. Her tightly curled hair was the same color as the pristine snow, and Ava couldn’t help but notice that she looked a lot like Mrs. Claus. It made her smile.

  They got out of the truck, and Ava rushed over to her. “Oh, you didn’t have to come outside. It’s so cold out here.”

  “I’m fine, dear. Besides Victor has the heat turned up and the fire blazing in there. A shot of cold air is just what I needed. Now, I just want to tell you that we’ve been meaning to pay someone to come out and clear out some of the growth back there, so you’ll be doing me a favor if you cut a lot out. And I want Marcia McBrady’s eyes to pop when she sees what you’ve done.”

  “We’ll do our best,” Ava said. “Can I give you a hug?”

  Mrs. Trundell’s face lit up, and she stretched out her arms. “Well of course.”

  Ava hugged, careful to be gentle when she felt the frail shoulders beneath the robe. “You have no idea how much this is helping us.”

  Mrs. Trundell fluttered a hand at her and turned to hug Olivia. Then she looked at Hunter and waved him over. “You too, young man.”