Holly’s gaze snapped back to Nick. “Wait, what?”
“Jack ... he’s your husband, right?”
“No,” Holly’s hand flew to her mouth to stifle her giggle. “He’s my brother.”
Something like relief flickered in Nick’s eyes for just a second before he said, “Sorry, you introduced yourselves with the same last name. I just assumed.”
Again, Holly was at a loss for words. This time, however, it may have been due to the butterflies she now had after seeing his reaction to finding out Jack was her brother.
“Well,” Nick said, tucking the shop rag into his back pocket. “You should probably catch up with the tour. I’m gonna sneak out and get back to work on making sure the place is ... up to par.”
Holly tilted her head at him as if to say “really?” and turned to join the group. She wasn’t sure what to make of this Nick Patterson. On the surface, she could safely say he was a jerk who thought he was better than her and her snooty assistant. But he was also really cute, and she could tell he would do anything for his mom, which meant he probably wasn’t all bad.
One thing was for sure ... she’d been in enough romantic shows and movies to know a “meet-cute” when she saw one. A meet-cute was the moment in the script where a future couple meets for the first time, often under odd circumstances, with sparks flying despite a misunderstanding or two. As Holly crossed through the dining room, she couldn’t help but glance back in Nick’s direction before heading into the kitchen. He stood right where she left him, beautiful blue eyes locked on hers.
Yep, Holly thought. I really hope this is a meet-cute.
2
Nick
“How’s it going in here?” Nick asked his mom as he entered the expansive kitchen of the inn. The smell of whatever she was making for dinner had his stomach aching painfully. He’d been so busy that day he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d eaten anything. “Smells great.”
“Thank you, honey,” Joan answered, swatting his hand away from the oven before he could open it to peek inside. “Ah, ah. Stay out of there. You can wait for dinner.”
Nick wrinkled his nose. “I think I’ll pick up a doggy bag and take it back to my place.”
“You will do no such thing, Nicholas Patterson. Our guests are looking forward to a nice meal tonight after a long day of travel. You can suck it up and join us.”
“I’ve had a long day, too, Ma. I’m sure there will be other dinners...”
The look Joan gave her son silenced him mid-sentence. He was used to having dinner with the guests, especially the first night of their stay when they were usually too tired from traveling to venture out and find a restaurant in town. But the arrival of this season’s Christmas movie stars had come all too soon for Nick. He hated that their town had become such a hot spot for this kind of thing. It was always the same song and dance. They blow into town with their big trucks, production lights, sets, and Christmas decorations to put in a town that already had plenty of their own stuff on display. Then they filmed their scenes and cleared out a few weeks later.
Usually, the town handled the disruption fairly well, depending on who the stars were. He’d heard some buzz about Holly Rhodes ahead of time, but it paled in comparison to the excitement over her co-star, who he happened to want to punch in the face. But that was a different story. Feeling sick, Nick took a seat at one of the barstools facing his mom while she cooked dinner.
“Here,” Joan plopped a plate of cheese and crackers in front of him. “This will tide you over.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you get a lot done over at Colonial Hall today?”
Nick nodded while he finished chewing. “Yeah, made some headway on the set for The Nutcracker dancers.”
“Good,” Joan said. “I’ll come by tomorrow to lend a hand. I was caught up with prepping for our new arrivals today.”
“Hmm.”
“Oh, you hush. What’s another Christmas cast at the inn, huh? It’s exciting. And of course they’re all so pretty since they always film those holiday romances.” Joan’s eyes sparkled as she looked over her son. “Unless you’re worried about another Julia Smith situation.”
Nick’s throat felt dry, from the crackers, not the conversation, of course. Rather than answer his mom, he stood and crossed to the fridge, taking a bottle of water and bringing it back to his seat to drink.
“Did you hear who Holly’s co-star is?” Joan asked.
Nick sipped his water and glared at his mother. Here we go.
“The town is all abuzz with the news. I can’t personally see why he’s such a big star. He’s not as handsome as he thinks he is, in my opinion. He has nothing on you, that’s for sure.”
“Thanks, Ma.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, dear. You likely won’t see him much. He is staying here, though. So maybe you’ll spend more time than usual at your place. I’ll still need your help with running the place but hopefully you won’t have to deal with him too much.”
Again, he didn’t feel the need to respond, so Nick just ate his crackers and let his mom talk while she prepared what looked to him like the batter for homemade biscuits.
“Thankfully,” Joan continued, “you have a lot to do to get ready for the Gingerbread Ball. That’ll keep you busy. Though it didn’t seem to keep you from Julia that year, remember? Oh well, I’m sure you’ll be fine. What did you think of Holly?”
At this, Nick quirked a brow. “Mom.”
“What? I just think you need to move on from that whole Julia thing and open yourself up to love again, that’s all. You can’t take over this inn as a single man. I won’t have it.”
“I can’t?”
“Heavens, no. This inn was built on love, Nick. Don’t you roll your eyes at me, this is the house your father and I built and brought you home to. This business is more than just a business, it’s a family legacy. You can’t run this wonderful place as a crotchety old man who never found love. It’ll be bad for business. Your daddy will roll over in his grave if you run this place into the ground on us.”
Nick scoffed. “You’re telling me the only reason the inn is so successful is because of how much you and Dad loved each other? Because I have to tell you, Ma, that sounds a little cheesy.”
“I don’t care how it sounds. I am a blessed woman who has always run this inn with the happiness of a full life. You and your grumpy nature would drive people away.” Joan gestured at her son with her mixing spoon, flinging batter around the counter.
“Mom.” Nick hung his head in defeat. “Fine. Maybe someday I’ll settle down with a girl and be less grumpy. But you need to stop getting all hopeful every time one of these pretty movie stars gets here. I fell for your meddling with Julia and look how that ended up. If I ever settle down, it won’t be with one of these Hollywood types.”
Joan stopped stirring whatever she had in her favorite mixing bowl. “Right, because there are so many nice girls in town that you’ve got your eye on.”
Finished with his pre-dinner snack—and the conversation—Nick carried his plate to the dishwasher and placed it inside before turning to his mom and rubbing his hands together. “If I help you with dinner can you let me off the hook?”
“Hardly. I don’t need help with dinner, but you smell like the long day you’ve apparently had. Why don’t you go back to your place and freshen up before dinner?”
Nick narrowed his eyes at his mom. “That sounds like the opposite of letting me off the hook.”
“You betcha.”
As much as he hated to admit it, his mom had been right about how badly he’d needed a shower. Not just because he smelled like a day of hard labor, but also because it seemed to wash away some of his grumpy mood. By the time he crossed the lawn from his cottage to the back door of the inn, he was almost in a good mood, in fact.
That is, until he opened the door to find Holly’s snooty assistant, Harriet, poking around the laundry room.
“Can I help you?”
The portly woman jumped and put a hand over her heart. “You scared me.”
“My apologies.”
“I was looking for your housekeeping office. The linens in Holly’s room are scratchy.”
Nick stifled a laugh and crossed his arms over his chest. “Scratchy?”
Harriet nodded; chin raised.
“Just out of curiosity, was this your observation, or the movie star’s?” Nick shouldn’t have asked, it wasn’t the right thing to do in a customer service situation, but for some reason, he just had to know.
“Does it matter?” Harriet asked.
Nick sighed. “I suppose not.”
“So, where is your housekeeping director?”
“That would be me, at the moment. The housekeeping company comes in on a set schedule. Which is during business hours, not dinner time.”
Harriet made a face. “Interesting. Fine. Can you help me with the sheets? It’s cold here, so I imagine some sort of flannel would be best. And while you’re at it, I’ll take some in my room, too.”
Nick desperately clung to that last sentence, because it meant this whole scratchy sheet situation likely came from this piece of work and not the pretty movie star. He shook his head, annoyed that he’d thought of her like that. She was just another one of them, and it shouldn’t matter if she thought the sheets were scratchy. In fact, maybe it would be better for him if she did think that, because that would be annoying, and he surely wouldn’t like her then. It was official. His mom had gotten in his head with her meddling again.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Nick finally answered.
“Thank you.”
Nick turned toward the back entrance to the kitchen, then turned when he heard the woman clear her throat behind him. “Yes?”
Harriet sniffed. “Is dinner …”
“In the dining room,” Nick answered, checking his watch. “Should be about fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you.”
Nick watched as she turned on her heel and headed toward the front of the inn. He’d interacted with some pretty pretentious people during the holiday filming season, but there was something extra sketchy about this woman.
He glanced back toward the laundry room. They’d never needed to invest in a full business center at the inn since many people had their own laptops and tablets they could use. However, they did supply a basic desktop computer, fax machine, and printer. The only real place to keep it that wasn’t an eyesore was against one wall of the expansive laundry room.
For reasons he didn’t quite understand, Nick entered the laundry room and sat down at the computer. The screen was lit up, meaning it had been used very recently and hadn’t had a chance to go to into sleep mode. He was no detective, but he knew how to check the browsing history. When he pulled up the history tab on the screen, his eyes narrowed. The browsing history had been deleted. Had Harriet been in here working on something she didn’t want anyone to know about?
Nick closed out of the history tab and rose from the computer. It wasn’t his business. Maybe she was up to no good, or maybe she was just a very private person. Either way, at least he knew she’d made up the story about the scratchy sheets.
3
Holly
The dining room was gorgeously appointed with the perfect holiday dinner spread. If they made a dinner like this for their guests on a regular night, Holly couldn’t imagine what a real Christmas dinner looked like in this place.
“Looks good, huh?” Jack had been standing in the entrance to the dining room, waiting for her to come downstairs.
“Amazing.”
Even though they’d only just arrived in Snow Hill, Holly had to admit her brother had been doing a great job of always knowing where she was without making her feel smothered. L.A. required a bit more supervision and urgency on his part, but the risk felt low here.
She’d reached a level of fame within the last year that meant getting approached almost everywhere she went. Whether it was paparazzi, kids who were fans of her first show, or adults who enjoyed her movies. Most of it involved a harmless selfie and an autograph, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t grateful for Jack’s presence when certain people approached her. L.A. gave off a vibe of needing to watch your back and trust no one. Snow Hill was its opposite in every way.
“Have a seat, friends,” Joan said as she bustled into the room with a tray of sliced meat.
Jack crossed to her and took the tray, placing it on the table in the empty space in the middle. “This smells great, Mrs. Patterson.”
“Call me Joan,” she said, waving a hand.
Holly took a seat. “Is this a special occasion or is it going to be like this every night? Because I feel like I’m in heaven right now.”
Joan chuckled. “We like to make the first night a little more special than normal, but trust me, when you stay at the Snow Hill Inn, you’re well fed.”
“Can we expect any diet-friendly meals, or will it always be so … hearty?” Harriet asked from the doorway as she surveyed the table.
Holly and Jack shared a look. Has she lost her mind?
Joan put a hand on her hip and smiled. “You lookin’ for a diet-friendly meal, there, Harriet?”
Harriet stiffened. “Holly is here to film, not to gain holiday weight.”
Holly’s jaw popped open, but she had no idea what to say.
Joan’s smile grew wider. “I’ll keep that in mind as I prepare the menu for your stay. Care to sit down and join us? We’re just about to eat.”
Harriet nodded and took a seat next to Jack.
The cherry wood table was set for six, so Holly mentally checked people off in her mind. “Who else are we waiting for?”
“Nick will be here in a moment; he’s just finishing up in the kitchen. Then I always set an extra place in case anyone else shows up. As I understand it, the rest of our guests from the film crew were delayed and will be here tomorrow, so it should be the five of us.”
Holly nodded. She didn’t miss the way her belly tightened at the mention of Nick. He really was cute. Not that it mattered, since she was just here to film and then would be leaving on Christmas Eve. But still.
As if on cue, Nick pushed through the doors from the kitchen and put the last dish on the table. Everyone took a seat, Joan led them in a quick prayer of thanks, and delicious dishes began to pass around the table. Holly’s nose was filled with so many delectable scents, she could hardly contain herself. The main entree was London broil, and with her cooking background, Holly knew she was looking at a perfectly prepared one. As she put a few slices on her plate, her brow furrowed, and she leaned down to smell it.
“Everything okay, dear?” Joan asked.
Holly tilted her head. “Is that … coffee?”
“It sure is,” Joan replied.
“And …” Holly gave the dish another whiff. “Brown sugar?”
Joan nodded appreciatively. “You have quite the nose.”
“It’s a gift,” Holly joked. “Smells amazing.”
“Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.” Joan winked at Holly and passed her the dish of garlic mashed potatoes. “So, mind if I ask what the movie is about? I always love hearing about these things. I’m a big fan of Christmas movies.”
Nick smirked. “Mom’s the target audience for the twenty-four-hour showings on that movie channel.”
“Sure am,” Joan confirmed.
“Well, obviously it’s a classic small-town Christmas story,” Holly started. “I play Grace, a schoolteacher who grew up in the town.”
“And what’s our town called this time?” Nick asked, scooping up a fork full of mashed potatoes and popping it into his mouth.
Holly playfully narrowed her eyes at him. “Snow Hill has been re-named Hope Landing for this movie.”
“Hmm,” Nick considered it. “That’s not the cheesiest name we’ve been called.”
“Christmas Land was a little much,” Joan agreed with a laugh.
Jack quirked a brow and gestured between them with his knife. “You do realize Snow Hill is pretty cheesy too, right?”
Holly swallowed, nervous the Patterson’s would be offended, but was relieved to see them laugh at Jack’s comment. Harriet, on the other hand, had just been silently eating her food and not participating in the conversation at all. Holly made a mental note to check in with her later. Something was definitely up with her.
“And the love interest?” Joan continued. “Is he a fancy city guy who comes in and falls in love with the small-town girl?”
“Yes,” Holly laughed.
“Obviously,” Jack said at the same time. “I don’t make it a habit to watch these movies, but thanks to Holly’s obsession, I can smell the storylines a mile away.”
“Same here,” Nick agreed. “They’re all pretty much the same.”
Joan sat up straighter in her chair. “Hey, now, don’t you knock these movies, son. They bring in some pretty great business for the inn, remember? Holly, what’s his reason for coming to Snow Hill. Er, Hope Landing, that is.”
“Bill is playing a millionaire playboy who wants to come in and build a ski resort,” Holly replied.
Nick made a noise and then tried to cover it up by clearing his throat, but Holly hadn’t been fooled. Something about what she’d said had caused a reaction in him. As if to confirm her suspicions, Joan discreetly patted his forearm and gave him a look. Another mental note marked down for Holly. Figure that out. Was it the mention of Bill? Maybe he was a little star-struck. Bill was a total A-lister, after all.
“And, of course, the town doesn’t want that, right?” Jack asked.
Holly made a face at her brother. “No, the town doesn’t want that.”
“Well, I’m excited to see it all come together,” Joan said. “Nick, will you pass the asparagus please?”
Nick poked around at his food, seemingly deep in thought.
A Movie Star for Christmas Page 2