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

by Sabrina York

“He looked like he was on death’s doorstep, not like he had a chunk of food caught in his back teeth.”

  Matt chuckled. “I’m sure it was strange enough that you didn’t want to take a chance with someone else’s dog.”

  When they reached the Lodge lobby, a woman he recognized as Clint’s relative ran up to Matt, the look on her face something he was only too familiar with.

  “Are you the doctor?”

  Matt nodded.

  “My son just fell down the stairs and I think he broke his arm.”

  Matt heard wailing in the next room where the fireplace was. He turned to Tori who looked like she just heard he was a serial killer. “Hang on a minute.”

  Tori fell in behind Matt as they rushed to the fireplace where a teenage boy sat surrounded by people, holding his arm, tears streaming down his face as he cried out in pain. Matt kneeled beside the teen. “I’ll try not to hurt you.” He touched the boy’s arm gently feeling the length of it then nodded at the mother who’d been joined by the father.

  “Should we put it in a sling?” the man said, holding up a scarf.

  Matt nodded and stood. “You need to get him to town to the clinic. Probably fractured.”

  The parents nodded, then the mother fixed the sling for the boy.

  “It would be helpful to support the arm more, maybe insert something firm in the folds of the sling.” Matt said. “And as you drive him, be careful of the bumps in the road.”

  “Should we give him something for the pain?” the mother asked, tying the sling behind her son’s neck.

  “It’s better if you hold off. The doctor in town will give him something to take effect quickly when you get there.”

  The father handed a plastic support to the mother and took off with car keys in his hand as Matt worked the support into the sling carefully.

  Matt watched the mother and several others help the kid to the door, who by now was covered in a quilt from the couch he’d been sitting on. Tori moved in beside Matt. Diesel too.

  When the group was out the door and inside the car, Matt turned to Tori. “Sorry for the delay. Are you hungry?”

  Tori nodded and they walked the length of the room to the door to the library that had a sign outside reading, “6 Star Restaurant.”

  “You’re a doctor?” Tori said as they approached the door.

  “Yeah,” Matt stopped to let Tori enter the room first, hoping she didn’t have something against doctors that would ruin the whole evening. He’d counted on getting her to relax and open up a bit, at least have a good time.

  Maddy and Clint were sitting at the table on the far side of the room by the window staring fondly at each other like they were the diners at this soiree. Matt cleared his throat and they popped up from the table surprised.

  “Bienvenue,” Maddy said in her worst French accent.

  Clint motioned for the guests to sit at the table with a wave of his waiter arm. “Welcome to our restaurant.”

  “We’re a little late because a teenager broke his arm,” Tori said like she had no idea Matt was a physician and it was a big deal. A bigger deal than the actual emergency.

  “What?!” Maddy and Clint wanted to hear all the details on the accident. Before they could serve dinner, both flew out the door to get more information, leaving Matt and Tori at the table.

  “We lost our waiters,” Matt said. “I hope you aren’t too hungry.”

  Tori smiled and reached for the breadbasket. “If they don’t come back, we can sustain life with the bread,” she said.

  She was funny. The more he knew this woman, the more he liked. And she looked so pretty in the light from the candelabra. Forget the decorations and twinkling lights around the room to make the scene look like they were dining outside in the snow under the stars. Tori was the star attraction here.

  “I’d rehearsed questions to ask at dinner in case I got stumped on something to talk about,” Tori said as she slid the butter pat across her bread.

  Matt’s feelings were almost hurt. “You didn’t think we could carry on enough of a conversation to sustain a meal?”

  Tori looked up. “Don’t take it personally. I think you know by now that I haven’t been part of many conversations with strangers lately and I’m a bit out of practice.”

  Earlier, Matt had looked up Tori’s website on the internet and read all about the Christmas Challenge she’d devised for her readers to encourage them to be more outgoing over the holiday season. Armed with that knowledge, he felt like he knew Tori a little better going into the dinner. He also realized that tonight Tori was using him for her next challenge. Or it appeared that way. Matt fully expected her to take photos of the dinner to post on her site. She’d already loaded pictures of the Lodge, the snow and even one of the breakfast room she must’ve taken the first morning, before he’d arrived. Since the Bob fiasco, she’d been avoiding the dining room.

  “I’ve turned a social corner,” she said, then took a bite.

  Matt wanted to tread carefully with her, especially now that she seemed to be volunteering information. “Did that happen because you confronted your biggest fear?” he asked buttering his own bread.

  “You mean Bob?” She thought for a moment, staring out the window. “Probably seeing him and realizing he can’t hurt me again, was helpful.” She tilted her head and laughed as she fixed him with a look. “Do you know I’m a psychologist?”

  He did now that he’d read her blog. “I saw your blog.” Even though Matt hadn’t confessed his big secret yet, he wanted to be honest with her. As honest as he could manage at this point.

  “If you read anything on my site, you probably saw I have a challenge to be more sociable.”

  Matt worried that the beautiful woman across from him was now going to tell him that he was part of her experiment. He waited.

  “I’m a bit of a fraud,” she said.

  Here it was.

  “I tell people to put themselves out there when I’ve been in hiding. I decided recently I couldn’t hide anymore and needed to do my own challenge.” She looked around the room. “Coming here has been my test.”

  Matt sympathized with her. “A shut-in all because of Bob?” He knew the answer was no and that was what was tearing him up about this lovely woman with the kind eyes and kissable mouth.

  “I probably told myself it was being left at the altar that hurt me the most, but what sustained my fear was the fact my face became famous for that video and everywhere I went, people recognized me as the clueless woman who’d had no idea her fiance would run off with another woman on her wedding day. “Where you going, Bob?’ turned into a catch phrase for any situation where the speaker was stupid and out of touch. Being compared to idiocy, especially on that day, hurt me to my core.”

  Matt wanted to slide under the table. That or take Tori in his arms and hold her until she felt safe and loved. Instead, he changed the subject and by the time Maddy and Clint returned to serve the meal, he’d told Tori all about his Native American heritage and his mission to work in the Queen Charlotte Islands. She’d asked him to speak in his Native tongue and he’d said, “You look pretty in the candlelight.”

  When asked what he’d said, Matt had to be honest and tell her.

  She blushed.

  Tori went to sleep that night feeling better than she’d felt in a long time. She and Matt had a wonderful dinner of coq au vin and wild rice with a yummy dessert, but also her heart was bursting with happiness about Matt. He’d admitted he liked her as they dug in to Fudge Cake a la mode. She’d asked him if he was talking to the cake and he’d laughed out loud.

  “Although the cake is delicious, I’m talking to you. I like you, Tori.” He’d stopped eating and pinned her with a look that made her insides go all squishy and soft. “If you haven’t guessed by now, I think you’re kind of wonderful.”

  She’d looked away to compose herself. Beside the fact that she wasn’t used to the attention, Matt was this handsome doctor with everything going for him
. He was alarmingly attractive, more so every time Tori was with him, he was a compassionate soul with a rescue dog, a man who did missions in remote areas to give back to the world and she was this shut in who barely had enough confidence to leave her house. What part of her did he find wonderful? The part where she needed him to help her off the floor after seeing her ex-fiance or the part where she called him back from a scavenger hunt because she wasn’t even smart enough to realize his dog simply had food stuck in his teeth?

  “Are you trying to be kind?” Tori had answered.

  Matt reached across the table for her hand and as he did so, Tori saw Maddy make an about face to leave the library, pulling Clint with her out the door.

  “Of course not. I’ve put off telling you that I’m intrigued. That was me trying to be kind. I thought it might freak you out.”

  Tori looked up at Matt as his thread his fingers in hers. His hand was warm in contrast to her clammy one, probably an accurate metaphor for their relationship. “I don’t see how you could think you know me well enough to like me.”

  “Technically, I’ve known you for six weeks.”

  “Hardly known me,” she said.

  “Didn’t we just spend the last hour talking about our lives?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Didn’t you tell me all about growing up in Mistletoe?”

  “I did.”

  “And did you or did you not ask me about my life and medical school and working with the people of Queen Charlotte City? Did you ask all about how my father’s father was part of the Raven clan and want to know about the bone amulet I wear around my neck? That was you, right?”

  She smiled. “That was me.”

  “And you took care of my dog today while I went on a scavenger hunt?”

  She nodded.

  “As soon as Zoe said she didn’t want to have dinner with me today, I was relieved because the person I wanted to spend time with was you.” He squeezed her hand. “I looked forward to sitting across the table from you all afternoon, hoping we would have the exact conversation we just had.”

  Matt looked so sweet, his expression soft and unassuming, Tori almost cried. Instead, she spoke two words. “Me too.”

  Later, he hadn’t tried to kiss her at her hotel room door, and she’d been grateful for that, even if he wanted to kiss her. She wasn’t sure that was on his agenda or if he simply thought she’d be an interesting person to get to know. Nothing romantic had been said even though he’d held her hand for a few minutes while they admitted to liking each other. Even though he’d said the word “intrigued,” that still didn’t amount to a romantic connection ending in a kiss.

  Still, Tori had gone to sleep remembering the look in Matt’s eyes at dinner, the feel of his hand at the table and the words he’d uttered to assure her he was interested. “I think you’re kind of wonderful.” Tonight, she wouldn’t question the words “kind of” and worry about what he might have meant on a deeper level. She would bury the feeling that Matt might like her because he was trying to save her.

  Tomorrow, she could second guess things if Matt seemed different, but tonight, she’d let herself enjoy that a worthy man thought she was wonderful.

  It was a glorious feeling.

  10

  At breakfast, Matt heard that one of the morning’s activities was a Christmas cookie bakeoff in the Lodge’s kitchen. Teams were signing up and although Matt didn’t know anything about baking, he wondered if Tori did. Eating cookies was more his specialty. And he was always up for that.

  Before digging into his plate of bacon and eggs and waffles, Matt texted Tori. “Two questions: Do you want me to bring you breakfast? And, will you enter a cookie baking competition with me this morning?”

  He had his answer when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Tori moving in with a plate of food to sit beside him. “No, on the breakfast delivery,” she said seating herself to his left. “And yes, on the cookies. I have an awesome recipe for my grandmother’s coconut macaroons. Did you sign up yet?”

  Matt scooted his chair back, wiped his mouth and crossed the room to approach the signup list. Tori watched him, a little scared that she’d boldly suggested they enter the contest, but happy to think she’d spend the whole morning with Matt doing something fun. After last night’s dinner, she felt ready to dig a little deeper to who Matt Kingfisher was.

  He glanced over at her, pen hovering above the signup list and Tori nodded her approval. Now, she had to find that recipe. But before she could dig into her breakfast, Maddy appeared from nowhere and took over Matt’s chair.

  “That seemed like a romantic dinner last night. Are you holding out on details of you and Matt?” She spoke quickly, probably knowing Matt would return soon.

  “I think it might have turned romantic,” Tori answered taking a piece of bacon in her fingers. “Is he a good guy, do you know?”

  “Clint says he’s awesome. I don’t know him well. Only that his ex-girlfriend was a media influencer and model and they broke up last year.” Maddy squeezed Tori’s arm and turned to see Matt coming back. “Are you two doing the cookie baking contest?”

  “It appears we are.” Tori crunched the bacon and smiled. She turned to Matt as he stopped behind Maddy. “Are we going to bake today?”

  “We got the eleven to twelve spot for the oven. Will that be enough time?”

  Tori was sure they could make macaroons in one hour and nodded.

  “We need to buy our own ingredients,” he said.

  “Do you have wheels?”

  Matt nodded.

  “I’ll finish breakfast and we can go. Maybe we can stop at my mom’s house for the original recipe just in case I can’t remember the exact measurements.”

  Tori’s childhood home was on the way into town and the key was in her purse. Even though her mother wasn’t there, she knew where the recipe box was kept.

  Entering the Christmas Cookie Baking Contest would only prolong the inevitable. Matt had to tell Tori the truth about the viral video that traumatized her life.

  He grabbed his keys off the dresser, shrugged on his coat and felt like he was about to sabotage the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. Romantically speaking.

  Since he’d broken up with Jessica last year, he’d had a very loveless year. In Queen Charlotte City, he hadn’t met anyone who made him want to throw himself back into the dating pool and since he’d been back, he’d kept his head down focusing on what to do next. As he decided whether to do another year-long mission in a remote area or go into practice with his friends from medical school, Matt had thought long and hard about what he wanted from a girlfriend.

  Jessica had been gorgeous but overly concerned with that fact, always primping, shopping, taking selfies, posting, worried what people thought and instead of their relationship growing closer, they grew apart once they got to know each other better. Together for only five months, the last two months were difficult as Jessica professed her love for Matt but displayed signs of being the type of person Matt didn’t usually associate with.

  The more he got to know Jessica, the more he realized her true character. She’d been stuck up and insecure at the same time, causing so many conversations about not judging people based on looks. When he got the posting in the Queen Charlotte Islands and explained that he’d be gone a year, she’d been more insulted that someone might be able to do without her than worried if their relationship would survive. Not once had she suggested she fly up to the islands to visit him, nor had she asked if he’d be taking trips back to Seattle. She simply paced the room, muttering that this could still work if he sent photos that she could post about her boyfriend helping the poor people of Canada. He’d realized that she hadn’t worried about missing him, but more about how it would look for her image. Jessica was all about her brand, her image, her followers and not so much about him.

  When he’d broken up with her and she said that she’d just find some other culturally diverse
doctor boyfriend, he understood she was lashing out, but still… Now, able to see the relationship clearly, he wondered how he got involved with her in the first place. He’d probably fallen for her because she was so beautiful and that was a trap he hoped to avoid in the future.

  Having just turned thirty, Matt was now determined to only date women he might see as a long-term relationship. He’d wasted enough time choosing women who weren’t his type.

  Tori was his type and she was gorgeous. Aside from her crippling anxiety and shyness, which seemed to be letting up, Tori was the exact type of woman he was looking for as a potential partner. Sweet, funny, kind and with a career that helped people. If she wasn’t so riddled with worry about being recognized by the video, Matt was sure they’d be an item by now. She seemed to like him.

  Headed into town to her mom’s house for the recipe, Matt looked forward to meeting Tori’s mother.

  As he knocked on Tori’s Lodge room door, he wondered if Tori’s family would wonder who the heck he was if she’d spent the last year in her apartment. What would Tori introduce him as? Her cookie baking partner? Her friend?

  The thought that he might meet Tori’s mother and be introduced as her boyfriend was a pleasant one even if it was too early to be called a boyfriend.

  He had to tell Tori about the video before he entertained more thoughts like that.

  With coconut, condensed milk and vanilla in a bag in Tori’s hand, she and Matt had a plan to go straight to the Lodge kitchen and start the macaroons. They’d had way too much fun at the grocery store, laughing about how few ingredients this recipe actually had.

  “Maybe there were two pages and you forgot the page with jalapeno peppers and onions,” Matt joked.

  “And the instructions to let the dough sit for two days to allow the heat of the peppers do their work,” she added.

  “Also, the final warning that anyone with a heart condition shouldn’t even look at these cookies,” he said.

  Tori’s face hurt from smiling by the time they were on their way back to the Lodge.