Christmas at Mistletoe Lodge: New Holiday Romances to Benefit St. Jude Hospital

by Sabrina York

  Woofy leapt over her as nimbly as a tightrope walker and settled a short distance away. The path along the tree trunk clear, she held onto a branch and stretched out to reach the kitten.

  The kitten hissed as Miranda lunged, taking the kitten off guard. But as she held it against her chest, she lost her balance and fell.

  She splashed into the ice-cold stream and landed on her backside. “Ow.” The stream wasn’t deep, but it was like taking a bath in a tub filled with ice cubes.

  Still holding onto the kitten, she pushed to her feet. Soaking wet, she waded to shore and released the kitten where it scampered to Woofy; its new best friend.

  Miranda struggled between wanting to restrict them both to dry kibble for a week and the urge to hug them. Teeth chattering, she said. “Okay, Woofy, so you’re not in trouble, but if you plan to save a stranded animal again, you need to find a way to warn me first. I was worried about you.”

  “That was impressive.” A woman, with a face as round as a plate, came up alongside Woofy and the kitten. She wore a pink raincoat, splashed with rose buds and held an umbrella shaped like an upside-down purple tulip even though the rain had stopped.

  “Aunty Bell.” Miranda rushed to give the woman a hug. “You dropped off the face of the earth. Where did you go?”

  Aunty Bell patted Miranda’s cheek? “My dear, you had just started your business, and we were fighting all the time, so I thought it best to leave.”

  Miranda released her hold on her aunt and smiled. “We fought because if you weren’t trying to find me a boyfriend, you were pushing me to contact Jake.”

  “Any luck on that front, dear? Have you heard from Jake?”

  Miranda shook her head slowly. Her aunt never gave up. “You keep singing that same song. No, I haven’t heard from Jake. Why would I? He’s the toast of the European music scene, and he and his band play at all the Christmas faires.” Her voice trailed off as she avoided her aunt’s all-knowing stare. “Or so I’ve heard,” she added quickly. She didn’t want her aunt to know how closely she followed Jake’s career.

  She reached for Woofy’s leash. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”

  “I missed you.”

  Miranda put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. “Aunty?”

  “Very well, if you must know, I need your help.”

  This was so like her aunt. She had a good heart and wanted to help everyone, sometimes at a cost to her own family. Case in point; she’d showed up the day after her mother’s funeral. “I’m pretty busy until after the holidays.”

  “This won’t take long,” her aunt said as she shook raindrops from her umbrella. “I have an emergency request from a friend, and you need to come with me right now, tomorrow at the latest. We are on a deadline. Their party is in seven days. You can bring Woofy and Tink might want to come along as well. She is fond of you. I can tell.”

  It was also like her aunt to never take, no, for an answer and to want to help a friend. Miranda glanced at the kitten who rubbed against her aunt’s leg. “This is your cat?”

  “When she wants to be.”

  A bright orange limo pulled up to the curb and the door opened as though by remote control.

  Miranda eyed the vehicle. “You have a limo the color of a pumpkin.” She shook her head and smiled again. She’d forgotten what it was like with her aunt. There was a pinch of magic and strange coincidences in every aspect of her aunt’s life. Miranda would wager a box of her favorite chocolates that her aunt had orchestrated Woofy rescuing Tink.

  “I’d like to help,” Miranda said, “but I’m afraid that my schedule is booked until after the New Year.”

  Her aunt collapsed her umbrella and tucked it under her arm and then bent down to pick up Tink. “All that has been taken care of. I talked to your lovely assistant, Julia, Jeanette…”

  “Juliet,” Miranda said.

  “Yes, of course, Juliet, another name from Shakespeare. She confirmed that she would cover your schedule.”

  “I can’t let Juliet do that. It’s too much work. Maybe I could steel away for a short time, though. My place of business, the Animal Castle, is on the next block, across the street from the Boarding House Restaurant. I’ll meet you there and we can work out a schedule.”

  Her aunt raised her hand to protest as Miranda tugged on Woofy’s leash and left her aunt standing near her limo with her cat cradled in her arms.

  “Woofy, you sure know how to pick them.”

  The dog gave a short bark in response.

  2

  Across town in the cozy kitchen of the Mistletoe Lodge, the co-owners, Henry Avon hung up the phone.

  “What did our son say,” Rosalind said as she added milk from a rosebud china pitcher to her husband’s tea. She’d heard once that coincidences had to be planned, but the amount of planning that had gone into the idea they’d hatched a few months ago had grown to such a level that it was difficult to keep track of all the players and plotlines.

  She sat down opposite her husband of thirty-five years and sipped her tea. She didn’t rush him. He wanted to have the plan succeed as much as she did and the slightest misstep might ruin everything.

  They were like two peas in a pod, their friends liked to say, and often finished each other’s sentences. She knew Henry wore the Christmas sweater that matched hers because he knew it pleased her, for the same reason she sat beside him and watched football games, instead of her knitting channel.

  He took a slow steady drink. “Our son said his flight arrives this afternoon.” Henry reached over and squeezed her hand. “He was pleased we wanted to have a renewal of our wedding vows on Christmas Eve, but mentioned that he thought it rather sudden.”

  She harrumphed. “Sudden? This was nine months in the making. Carrying our son to term was easier. But if we told him too far in advance, it would never work. He would have insisted we celebrate the renewal of our vows where he lives in London.”

  Henry nodded. “That boy is always trying to talk us into selling this place and moving closer to him.”

  Rosalind sipped her tea to keep from bringing up the only thing they argued about. The reason Jake wanted them to sell the Mistletoe Lodge and come live with him was because he suspected the struggle it took to keep it going. Each year they dipped into their savings more and more. They’d inherited the lodge and the grounds from Henry’s father and every year they turned into a reenactment of a Middle Faire. In the faire’s glory days, families came from all over the world. There were over seventy booths that sold crafts or demonstrated skills used in the middle ages. They even had a fenced in area where knights fought in mock battles and there were demonstrations of archery, and jousting. But families didn’t come as often as they had in the past and so corners were cut and changes made.

  Despite their telling Jake that things were better then ever, he guessed something was wrong and would tell her that his dad looked more tired than usual. She knew how her husband loved the Mistletoe Lodge, but maybe it was time for him to let go.

  “Do you think Jake suspects,” Rosalind said. “Everything must look like a coincidence.”

  Henry drained his tea and reached for a biscuit. “He was too distracted to ask many questions. If you ask me, he works too hard. He travels all over Europe with his band performing at the Christmas fairs. He did ask if we needed a wedding planner, but I told him we had it under control.” He paused. “Is it under control?”

  Rosalind broke a biscuit in half and spread homemade blueberry jam over the two halves. “I think so. Mrs. Bell called and assured me that everything was in motion. Then said the strangest thing. Something about unless she was hampered by rules and guidelines, she and Miranda would be here no later than the day after tomorrow. By then, we will be gone, and Jake will have arrived.”

  “I so wish we could be here when Miranda gets here. I even understood why they broke up and with Jake all set to propose marriage with your grandmother’s ring.” He shook his head.

&n
bsp; Rosalind traced her finger over the edge of the teacup. She remembered the night Miranda and Jake had broken up. He’d stormed into the lodge, packed his things and hadn’t been back since. When she asked him about that night, he always changed the subject. “I miss her too, but our plan depends on giving our son and Miranda the alone time they need to rekindle their relationship.”

  “What if the spark is missing between them? It’s been ten years.”

  Rosalind set her uneaten biscuit aside. “That worries me as well. But our boy is so lonely. He won’t admit it and says that everything is fine, but I saw the lost look in his eyes last year over the Christmas holidays. I went by Miranda’s business and met a nice woman who had opened a dress shop next to Miranda’s and learned that Miranda is not seeing anyone either. Our son and Miranda were made to be together.”

  Henry leaned across the table and gave his wife a peck on the cheek. “You’re a matchmaker to your core, my love. We must, however, face the chance that this won’t work. What excuse are you going to give Jake for why we aren’t here when he arrives?”

  “We will leave him a message on his cell as soon as his flight is in the air that we made an emergency visit to Victoria, Canada to see one of our sick friends.”

  “We don’t have any friends in Canada.”

  “Jack hasn’t been back for a visit since he left for university. He’s always paid to have us visit him. He won’t know that we haven’t picked up a few friends while he was gone. Besides, he knows all our friends in Seattle, and I didn’t want to risk him calling one of them. This has to work.”

  3

  In Issaquah, rain mixed with icy sleet pelted down from the sky as Miranda headed to the Animal Castle. She kept going over the conversation with Aunt Bell. Her aunt claimed that Juliet could cover Miranda’s schedule. That was absurd. She and Juliet were booked solid. They were so busy this time of year that they were considering hiring a part time person. Maybe Aunty Bell had her confused with another dogwalker.

  Miranda hurried down the sidewalk toward the Animal Castle. When she’d decided on the name for her business, she’d contacted a sign company to create the image. But none of their designs fit her vision. In the end she’d created the design herself and was pleased with the whimsical backdrop of a castle with animals dressed as knights and ladies of the court.

  She loved this block and when an opening came around in one of the storefronts, she’d taken out a business loan and jumped at the opportunity. She’d grown up in this area and the street named, Dreams Come True by one of its founders at the turn of the twentieth century, was a nostalgic look back on a time before box stores and chains.

  As she passed by the café, the smell of bread and sweet rolls baking made her mouth water and her stomach grumble. She wanted to stop, but there wasn’t time. She worried that F.G. was right and that for some reason a few of her clients had cancelled. The restaurant across the street had just posted its daily specials: homemade chicken soup, turkey and cranberry sandwiches on sourdough bread, baked ham with sweet potatoes and baked squash with marinara sauce.

  Okay, she was officially starving. It served her right for missing breakfast.

  Next to the restaurant was a pottery, glass blowing and art studio. The newest addition was a clothing design store next to her business that made custom clothes for all occasions, including costumes for fantasy and science fiction conferences, and themed parties and weddings.

  She entered the Animal Castle, and once inside she unleashed Woofy who then trotted to the back of the shop for his breakfast.

  “You’re soaking wet.” A tall young woman with white, spiky hair, purple eyeshadow, and wearing jeans and a black and gold T-shirt with the logo of a castle on the front. “What happened? Oh, and did Francis Geraldine Bell find you? She said that I could call her F.G.”

  Miranda laughed softly at the initials her aunt used. “That makes sense. F.G. is my aunt.” Miranda accepted a sweatshirt with their logo from Juliet. “I asked my aunt to meet me here. She has a crazy idea that you can cover while I take off with her to help a friend.”

  “That’s just it. It was the strangest thing. Shortly after you left for your run, the phones started ringing. All of our clients canceled, and soon after, F.G. called and said she wanted to hire you as an event planner and would cover the cost of what we lost in the cancellations.”

  Miranda didn’t know whether to laugh or weep. She opted to remain calm. It was true that she’d once been an event planner. She’d also taken on a variety of other jobs to pay her mother’s medical bills. The job that was the most lucrative, and one she was the best at, was as a dog walker.

  “I’m no longer an event planner. And when I did, I was the wedding planner’s assistant and I sucked at it. The only reason your mother didn’t fire me was because you and I are best friends.”

  “I told her all of that. Well, not the part where you misplaced the bride’s gown, but the part about you wanting to start your own business. I even suggested she contact my mother. F.G. said that was not an option. Evidentially, the client asked for you by name.” Juliet paused. “After all the cancellations, we should accept.”

  “Why don’t you go in my place?”

  Juliet held up her left hand and wiggled her ring finger. “Wish I could, but David’s parents are arriving tonight, and he has the evening and the next few days planned. You’re the one.”

  “I don’t want to be the one. I want to be invisible. I know your mother is busy, but do you think she could recommend someone?”

  “She could, but do you remember the part where I mentioned that all of our clients cancelled until after the New Year? I’m not just your BFF, I’m your accountant. We have rent, bills, doggie, kitty and chocolate to buy.” She grinned. “Not necessarily in that order.”

  The door opened and a whiff of fresh baked cinnamon rolls drifted in with the winter air. The woman who entered wore a silver quilted jacket with a rhinestone Christmas Pin attached to the collar. “Thought you looked hungry when you walked past my bakery,” a woman said. She removed the cloth from the frosted rolls and handed one to Miranda.

  Miranda’s stomach moaned in delight. “DeDe, you are a lifesaver. How did you know?” Miranda reached out for a plump roll and took a bite, rolled her eyes and sighed. “Delicious. I’m in heaven.”

  DeDe laughed as she handed one to Juliet. “For starters, you walked past my shop without stopping. That’s not like you.”

  “There’s a lot on my mind today.”

  The door opened again, and Aunty Bell entered. “Is this a good time to chat?”

  Miranda opened her mouth to say, no, this is not a good time, but DeDe interrupted.

  “I know you,” DeDe said. “You were in my bakery a few days ago and bought my entire batch of double fudge brownies with sour cream frosting. Did your guests enjoy them?”

  “It wasn’t for a party. It was for my dinner.”

  DeDe smiled and cast Miranda a knowing glance. “She is one of us.”

  “Do you mind if I have one of your cinnamon rolls?” Aunt Bell said.

  DeDe nodded. “Please help yourself. If you are interested, I made more brownies.”

  “That would be lovely. Perhaps Miranda and I will eat them on our way to our meeting tomorrow.”

  Miranda cleaned the frosting off her fingers with a napkin. “You’re assuming I’ve accepted the job of event planner.”

  “Your schedule is cleared and once you know the location, I’m sure you’ll jump at the opportunity. The owners of the Mistletoe Lodge are renewing their marriage vows.”

  Miranda dropped her cinnamon roll on the floor. Memories crashed back of the last night she’d seen Jake. She’d been so stupid and so sure she was doing the right thing.

  She accepted the paper towels Juliet handed her as Woofy trotted from the backroom and licked her face. She swiped at her eyes and petted him behind the ear. “I’m okay,” she whispered and stood.

  Miranda tossed the paper to
wels and roll into the trash. Jake’s parents had always been so nice to her, but she couldn’t face Jake again. “I can’t.”

  “Mistletoe Lodge?” DeDe said. “Is that the place with the Medieval Reenactment Christmas Faire at the base of Snoqualmie Falls?” When F.G. nodded, DeDe rushed on. “Before my parents moved to town, they had a booth there during the Christmas season. Miranda, you must go. Henry and Rosalind are such a lovely couple. A lot of people who used to work at the faire are still around and I’m sure they’d love to attend the wedding. You should ask them if it would be okay for me to invite them.”

  Juliet put her hand on Miranda’s shoulder. “Miranda used to date their son, Jake, and it didn’t end well. Helping with the wedding plans would be awkward.”

  “He won’t be there,” F.G. said with a mouthful of frosting. “I have it on good authority that their son won’t be arriving until the day before the wedding. That is plenty of time to decorate the lodge.”

  Miranda felt the weight of everyone’s stare. She was backed against the wall. “Well, if you’re sure Jake won’t be there, I suppose I could help out for a day or two.”

  4

  Jake felt like the prodigal son as his taxi drove into the gravel parking lot of the Mistletoe Lodge. He hadn’t been back in years. But whenever he asked his parents if they needed help, their answer was always that they had things under control. So, when they announced that they were renewing their vows on Christmas Eve, his suspicions went into overdrive. December was their busiest time of the year. Why would they add more stress to their lives?

  December was also busy for him. He and his band were in high demand, but they’d survive a week without him. His family came first. And he would be back in time for New Year’s.