Holly Pointe & Candy Canes: A heartwarming feel good Christmas romance

by Cindy Kirk

  “What a perfect day for ice skating.” Sitting on a bench near the edge of the pond, Faith laced up her skates.

  “I remember when I came here last year.” Stella Johnson glanced over at Faith, her cheeks flushed from the cold. “The temperature was where it is now, and the wind held a bite. Sam and I were just getting acquainted, but when we skated arm in arm, I felt warm.”

  “You were hot-diggity-hot for him,” Mel teased, plopping down on the bench next to Faith. “Even from the Snack Shack, I spotted the sparks.”

  Stella laughed. “Sometimes that seems so long ago, and sometimes it feels like yesterday.”

  Stella had come to Holly Pointe to get a story for her Miami newspaper. Dish the dirt was what she’d been told by her managing editor. Finding the “dark underbelly” of a town that billed itself as the Capital of Christmas Kindness had been the goal.

  Instead of dirt, Stella had fallen in love with the town, the people and with Sam Johnson, who was now her husband.

  “What’s the latest on the hottie you’re living with?” Mel’s hazel eyes settled on Faith’s.

  “Yes.” Stella leaned forward. “Tell all.”

  Faith could feel her cheeks warm despite the cold. “I’m not living with Graham Westfall, and you both know it.”

  “You’re under the same roof,” Mel pointed out.

  “That’s closer than you’ve been to any guy since I moved to Holly Pointe.” Stella glanced at Mel as if seeking confirmation.

  Mel nodded. “We want the deets.”

  Faith glanced around, needing to reassure herself no one was close enough to overhear this ridiculous conversation. “Graham, as you both are well aware, is Ginny’s son-in-law. He’s here on vacation so his daughters can spend time with their grandmother.”

  “He’s single.” Stella wiggled her brows.

  “You’re under the same roof,” Mel intoned for what felt like the thousandth time. “And he’s hot.”

  “Nothing is happening between us,” Faith insisted, figuring now wasn’t the time to bring up how much she liked the scent of his cologne or the way the skin around his eyes crinkled when he smiled…or how the heat in her belly flared whenever he glanced her way.

  Any of those comments would only add fuel to a fire already flaring to life and fanned by her friends’ speculative looks.

  “If you’re not interested...” Mel moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I could—”

  “I didn’t say I’m not interested.” The words popped out before Faith could stop them.

  “We knew it.” Stella exchanged a look with Mel.

  Then, to Faith’s horror, the two exchanged high fives.

  “What are you going to do about this attraction?” Mel asked, as if there was actually something Faith could do.

  “Nothing.”

  Mel’s brow furrowed. “Why not?”

  Faith kept her voice even, ready for the teasing to end. “He’s only here for a month. Then he’s going back to the city.”

  “A long-distance—” Stella stopped when Faith shook her head.

  “He’s got a high-powered career and two girls who take the rest of his free time.”

  “I guess there’s only one thing to do.” Mel’s tone was matter-of-fact.

  Stella nodded agreement.

  Faith expelled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Finally—at last—they’d seen the light. Even die-hard romantics could see there was no point in getting involved with someone who’d be gone in a month.

  “Have a fling.”

  Startled, Faith couldn’t have said at that moment which of her friends had come up with that ridiculous solution. She shifted her gaze from Mel to Stella and saw that both appeared not only in agreement but totally serious.

  “I can’t have a fling.” Faith waved a dismissive hand in the air, sending the bells on her new reindeer mittens jingling.

  “If you don’t remember how, I can give you some pointers,” Stella offered.

  Mel jerked her head toward Stella. “Her, ah, experience in that area—being a newlywed and all—would be more recent than mine.”

  “I don’t need, nor want, lessons,” Faith hissed.

  “I thought you knew how to skate.” Faith glanced up and saw Mel’s brother, Derek, standing before them, a puzzled look on his face.

  Derek was a handsome guy, with sandy-colored hair and green eyes. A well-regarded contractor in the area, he was single. Even though she loved green eyes, Derek didn’t make her heart beat the slightest bit faster.

  For a second, Faith wondered what Mel’s brother would say if she told him they hadn’t been talking about skating lessons but, rather, bedroom lessons.

  She settled for smiling. “I do know how to skate. Stella and Mel were just teasing me.”

  “Now that you’ve confirmed I won’t have to haul you up from the ice a zillion times, would you care to skate with me?” He held out his hand, and Faith let him pull her to her feet.

  No spark.

  “I thought you’d be skating with Mandy,” Faith said as they started a circle around the lake.

  “She isn’t here yet,” Derek told her. “Besides, I wanted to ask you what the chamber has planned for business owners this spring.”

  Faith exhaled a relieved breath. Derek had been dating Mandy off and on for the past couple of months, so Faith hadn’t thought he was interested in her. Still, she felt better knowing that him asking her to skate was strictly business.

  As president of the chamber of commerce, Faith had an inside track on what was going on in Holly Pointe. But, really, there were no secrets in this town. “The annual business Spring Fling is—”

  “Hey, there’s Mandy.” Derek gave Faith’s arm a squeeze, then left her, making a beeline across the ice toward the pretty brunette.

  Faith continued to skate, debating if she should head over to the Snack Shack for some hot cocoa before Santa arrived and everything got crazy.

  “Looks like your partner deserted you.”

  The unexpected voice had her stumbling. She might have taken a tumble if Graham hadn’t grasped her arm and steadied her.

  “Wh-what partner?”

  “The guy you were skating with.” Graham gestured with his head in Derek’s direction as they began to skate, his arm around her waist.

  She considered telling him she was steady and he could release his hold, but she liked the closeness too much to end it. “Derek is my friend Mel’s brother. He’s also a local contractor. He wanted to discuss a business festival that takes place in the spring.”

  Puzzlement filled Graham’s eyes. “He thought you’d know because you’re also a business owner.”

  It might have been a statement, but Faith heard the underlying question. “I’m also president of the chamber of commerce.”

  Because she was looking at him, Faith saw the startled look that crossed his face.

  “I thought you didn’t like business stuff.”

  Had she said that? Or had something she’d said given him that impression?

  Faith lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’m not into the high-powered stuff, but I enjoy being involved.”

  “You surprise me, Faith Pierson.” The warmth in his green eyes sent the blood flowing through her veins like warm honey.

  “Sometimes I surprise myself.” She grinned. “Where are the girls?”

  “With Uncle Shawn and the cousins.”

  Faith glanced in the direction he indicated and saw Shawn and his teenage sons teaching the wobbly girls to skate.

  Graham must have seen the question in her eyes, because he added, “I planned to teach them, but they don’t get much of a chance to interact with family. Shawn and the boys are good skaters.”

  “You skate pretty well.”

  “Thank you for noticing.” He shot her a wink. “Chelsea Piers is my rink.”

  She shook her head in disbelief. “No way. I considered that my rink when I lived in the city.”

>   “You’re kidding me.” He nearly stopped skating as he stared at her. “You lived in Manhattan?”

  “In Chelsea,” she told him. “When I worked for Benton Lewis.” “That’s one of the top accounting firms in the city.” He studied her as they rounded the ice, avoiding a group of teenage girls doing figure eights in the center. “What was your position?”

  “Senior account analyst.”

  “Really?”

  “I have an MBA from Rutgers.”

  When Faith thought back to the years that she’d spent climbing the corporate ladder and following her parents’ dreams, it felt like another life…or maybe a bad dream.

  The second the thought flashed, she shoved it aside. She firmly believed every experience, good or bad, molded you into the person you were. Those years in the corporate world had taught her that, while she loved numbers, she wasn’t meant to sit behind a desk.

  In fact, she wasn’t meant for the corporate world at all.

  “How’d you end up in Holly Pointe running your own business?”

  Lost in memories, she blinked at the question that seemed to come from far away and took a deep breath.

  It was the wrong move if she was hoping to clear her brain. The enticing scent of his cologne flooded her senses and had every nerve ending in her body snapping to attention.

  “I told you how I came here to care for my grandmother when she got sick and never went back.”

  “You just up and left your old life behind?”

  The incredulity in his voice reminded her of Thomas. Only after all this time she was able to look back and understand a little more his shock and his attempts to make her see “reason.” At the time, she’d been convinced he was thinking only of himself. She now understood her decision to leave everything behind—including him—had been a shock.

  “My roommate had moved out the month before. Our lease was up, and I’d found another place, but hadn’t committed, so that wasn’t an issue.” Faith tightened her hold on his sleeve, finding comfort in the touch. “I took a leave from work and told them my grandmother required continued care. They were understanding. My boyfriend, not so much.”

  Their heads both turned at the same time in the direction of children’s laughter. Charlotte and Hannah were up on their skates and making their way slowly around the ice.

  Charlotte lifted her hand to wave and slipped, setting off more gales of laughter.

  Faith and Graham waved to both girls, and Faith wondered if she should suggest he skate with his daughters.

  “What happened with the guy? Are you still in touch?”

  “No. I heard from mutual friends that he married last summer.” Faith remembered that when she’d heard the news, she hadn’t felt anything.

  “Did you try to do the long-distance thing?”

  She shook her head. “Our relationship had been treading water for some time.”

  “Making those kinds of decisions is never easy.”

  “Thomas didn’t understand when I told him I needed to come here to care for my grandmother.”

  “He didn’t think you should come?”

  “He told me I should hire a professional, an RN or LPN, to care for her.” Disappointment flooded Faith now, the same as it had when Thomas had mentioned hiring a nurse the first time. “He wasn’t close to his family, so I’ll give him a pass. Even my own parents agreed with him. There’s a special bond between me and my grandmother. When I came to see her, I was shocked by how weak she was…and even worse, she seemed to have lost her spirit.”

  “I understand where he was coming from.” Graham spoke slowly, as if wanting to be completely honest. “I may have made the same suggestion in his place. But I envy the closeness you share with your grandmother and believe a person has to do whatever feels right to them.”

  “I haven’t regretted it,” Faith told him. “Not one single day—”

  The clang of a bell split the air, and the exodus from the ice began.

  “What’s going on?” Graham asked, his brows pulled together in confusion.

  “Santa is coming.” Faith grabbed his arm and pulled him across the ice at breakneck speed. “You’ll want to be with the twins when they see him come over the hill.”

  Soon after, they reached the edge of the lake and removed their skates. Faith lost track of Graham when she paused to speak with one of her employees, and he continued in search of his daughters.

  A minute later, Faith smiled when she saw him with Charlotte and Hannah. He was holding their hands and gazing at where a sleigh, pulled by actual reindeer, crested a nearby hill.

  Her heart filled to overflowing when she saw him scoop each girl up into his arms—no easy feat—so they could see over the crowd.

  A fling with a single dad of two?

  No way was that happening, Faith told herself. No matter how green his eyes.

  Chapter Six

  After listening to the twins proclaim that this was the bestest day ever for the thousandth time, Graham tucked them into bed. He kissed them on the forehead, then went to work on the ad campaign for Dustin and Krista.

  When they’d asserted he’d missed the mark with his first campaign, he’d nodded, accepting the criticism, while trying to decipher what exactly they meant. He’d studied their backgrounds—her career as a supermodel, his awards and accolades as an NHL hockey star.

  After retiring from their respective careers, the power couple had brought their images and positive press to a business promoting local artisans in communities throughout the United States. Their television show featured these entrepreneurs and their products.

  Their success had led them to the decision to open a brick-and-mortar store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. A store that would sell items featured on their show.

  The store was set to open next summer, and Graham had been tasked with coming up with a knock-it-out-of-the-park ad campaign. The head of the agency and Dustin’s father went way back. That was likely the only reason the agency hadn’t been kicked to the curb when Graham failed to deliver a satisfactory campaign.

  After Dustin and Krista had left the meeting, he’d asked his boss where he’d gone wrong, but Len had had no answers. Graham could tell that his boss was as puzzled as he was, but also worried. In business, friendship and loyalty went only so far. If their agency—translation: Graham—couldn’t deliver what Dustin and Krista wanted, the power couple would take their millions somewhere else.

  Graham worked on a new campaign for nearly two hours, then ended up scrapping it all. He told himself that he’d go downstairs, grab a piece or two of the homemade fudge in the kitchen, then try again.

  When he reached the main floor, he walked softly, not wanting to wake either Faith or her grandmother. A single light blazed in the parlor.

  “What are you doing up?”

  The voice came from the sofa positioned in front of a fire that was now only embers.

  After his heart rate settled, he crossed the room to Faith. “Is that fudge?”

  She gestured to the plate sitting on a side table. “Help yourself. I’ve already had two pieces, which is one too many.”

  He noticed an empty wineglass next to the plate. “Fudge and wine. A stellar end-of-the-evening snack.”

  “Especially when paired with a fire.” She gestured to the hearth with one hand. “And gently falling snow.”

  It wasn’t the chocolate or the wine or even the large white flakes he could see out the front window that captivated Graham. It was Faith’s beautiful face illuminated in the lamp’s golden glow.

  Something inside Graham stirred. A longing that had been buried had suddenly sprung to life. “Mind if I join you?”

  “I’d like that.” She motioned to a cabinet with beveled-glass door fronts. “There are glasses in there. This wine goes perfectly with chocolate.”

  Retrieving a glass, he splashed some wine from the bottle sitting out, then took a seat on the sofa, careful to keep an appropriate amount of distance between them.
When he turned toward her, Graham told himself to keep it friendly.

  Still, his gaze was drawn to her mouth, to those full sensual lips.

  He took a gulp of wine. “This reminds me of a scene out of a movie.”

  Instead of taking off and running with the comment, she broke off a bite of fudge and popped it into her mouth.

  “After the noise and activity of the city, this is an abrupt change,” he added.

  She lifted a brow. “A welcome one?”

  He thought for a moment. Graham knew lots of people, worked with lots of people, who had the social patter down to an art. They talked a lot, but said nothing. He preferred, whenever possible, to speak from the heart. “It hasn’t yet been forty-eight hours since we arrived, so the jury is still out.”

  Surprise flickered across her face. Had she expected that he’d instantly fall in love with the place?

  “Too much quiet?” she asked.

  “It hasn’t been all that quiet.”

  His comment had her chuckling.

  “It’s just different.” He lifted the wineglass. “I envisioned being at Ginny’s, and instead I’m here.”

  “How did you think things would be at Ginny’s?”

  Graham broke off a piece of fudge and followed it with a sip of wine. “You were right. I’m not normally big on fruity wines, but this,” he glanced at the label, “really does complement the rich chocolate.”

  “I’m somewhat of an expert on wines.”

  His gaze sharpened, and he got the feeling there was a lot of things still to uncover about this woman. There were depths to her yet to be plumbed.

  “You didn’t answer my question.” She gazed at him over the rim of her glass. “How did you think things would be at Ginny’s?”

  “I know Holly Pointe goes all out for Christmas. I was prepared for all the craziness.”

  Her lips twitched, but she remained silent.

  “I hoped the girls would get to know their grandmother on a deeper level than is possible during her short visits to the city.” Graham twisted the wineglass back and forth between his thumb and forefinger. “Now, we’re not even under the same roof, and Ginny is having to divide her time between Shawn and his family and us.”