Love Inspired December 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2: Cozy ChristmasHer Holiday HeroJingle Bell Romance

by Valerie Hansen

  “Y’know, I’m used to being the guy in charge,” he reminded her, pointing to himself for emphasis. “I tell other people what to do, not the other way around.”

  “Maybe that’s your problem,” she shot back. “You steamroll people, so they never question you or push back with their own opinions, even if they have good ideas. You miss a lot that way.”

  Nick opened his mouth to let her have it, then realized she had a point about him missing things. In truth, she was echoing something that had begun dawning on him during the pageant rehearsal. For the first time in years, he was involved in Christmas, not just counting the days to his latest Caribbean holiday vacation. Much as he hated to admit it, he enjoyed seeing the decorations all over town and was even starting to get used to the endless stream of sappy music.

  “Okay,” he relented, shutting off his system before standing up. “Just a couple hours, though, and only because it’s easier than arguing with you.”

  “You don’t fool me for a second, big brother. You want everyone to think you’re a cranky old bear, but deep down you’re just a big softie.”

  “I’d appreciate you not spreading that around,” he muttered. “It’d be bad for my image.”

  Laughing, she tossed her load of clothes on the bed and saluted him before executing a military turn and heading back into the hallway.

  Picking through the pile, Nick chose two pairs of hunting socks, a heavy sweater and a grown-up version of the snow pants he’d worn when he was a kid. As he zipped himself into a parka with a warm hood, he flashed back to a time in his life when he’d dressed this way all the time, bundled against the bitter cold of a place he’d done everything in his power to forget. He remembered meeting Cooper, Ben and other buddies at Willow Pond, choosing up sides and playing hockey until dark.

  Other days, they went straight home from school to grab their sleds and camping jugs full of warm water. Racing to a good-size hill out on the edge of town, they’d tramp down the newly fallen snow, watering it to make the track slicker.

  That was where Lainie was taking her family now, and the realization made him stop in the middle of tying a knee-high snow boot. Desperate to escape his shameful past, he’d left behind all the memories Holiday Harbor represented to him. What he didn’t understand until now was that in turning his back on the bad things, he’d lost sight of the good times, too.

  Innocent and fun, they came back to him now in a flood of laughter he’d all but forgotten. And suddenly, the looming deadline for his magazine was the last thing on his mind. He couldn’t wait to get back to Spinnaker Hill and see if—like the rest of the town—it really was the way he remembered it.

  *

  Julia couldn’t believe her eyes.

  When she arrived at the sledding hill, she immediately noticed Nick, clearly dressed in Todd’s too-large outdoor clothes. He sat on an old log at the edge of things, cradling a quilted bundle that held his sleeping nephew.

  “Watch me, Uncle Nick!” Hannah shouted, squealing when Todd gave their toboggan a shove and jumped on behind her and Lainie.

  They made it about halfway down the long track, and Nick laughed. “Your steering needs a little work, munchkin. Hey, Julia.”

  He was the most intense man she’d ever met, and seeing him so relaxed and at ease stunned Julia so much, at first she didn’t know what to say. When she managed a feeble greeting, he gave her a puzzled look. “Something wrong?”

  “Well, no,” she stammered, which was very unlike her. She’d been schooled in every form of etiquette on the planet, and she was seldom at a loss for words. Laughing at herself, she shook her head. “I guess I didn’t realize you had a laid-back side.”

  “It’s been a while since I’ve let it show.”

  Noah shifted in his sleep, and the scarf covering his face slipped down a few inches. Nick pulled it up to leave just the boy’s nose showing, and the smile he gave his sleeping nephew would have melted the iciest heart on the planet.

  Unfortunately, Julia’s was far from icy, and she couldn’t keep back a smile of her own. Though he was the self-confessed black sheep of his family, she’d come to understand that Nick McHenry used his bad-boy status to conceal a generous heart. When you figured in his dark good looks, it could only add up to trouble for any girl trying to avoid romantic entanglements.

  Yet for the first time since her trust had been shattered, Julia felt herself opening up to the idea of allowing another man into her life. This man. With his brooding manner and sharp wit, he appeared to be her opposite in every way. But seeing him with his niece and nephew, how gently he handled his mother and a difficult situation with his father, she’d begun piecing together a completely different picture of him. She wasn’t sure she was ready to have feelings for a man again…but her foolish heart wasn’t giving her much of a choice in the matter.

  He brushed off a spot on the log for her. “Have a seat.”

  She hesitated, then realized she was being ridiculous. Standing her sled upright in the deep snow, she sat down beside him. She’d never had a problem coming up with something to talk about with him, but her old shyness chose that moment to resurface, and she searched for something to say.

  Finally, she came up with a topic that seemed fairly safe. “How did you end up on babysitting duty?”

  “Lainie and Todd kept taking turns going down with Hannah while the other hung on to Noah. I took a few runs, and then I offered to keep junior so she could have them both to herself for a while.”

  Spoken in a matter-of-fact tone, the simple answer impressed her far more than if he’d bragged about how great he was. “That’s very thoughtful. I’m sure they really appreciate it.”

  “Give ’em a few more trips back up the hill,” he said with a grin. “Then we’ll see how they feel.”

  Sure enough, after about ten more minutes, Lainie trudged over and flopped down in the snow. “I know this hill wasn’t this big when we were kids.”

  “Sure, it was,” Nick teased. “You were just a lot younger back then.”

  When she stuck her tongue out at him, Julia knew she’d gotten a glimpse of how the two of them had acted when they were growing up. Lighthearted and happy, the way they would have been before Ian died. His death had altered the McHenrys in so many ways, some large, some small. Some changes had been unavoidable, but others had mushroomed simply because no one knew how to stop them. She renewed her promise to do everything in her power to break down those barriers and bring happiness back to this family that had been so kind to her.

  “I’ll take Noah.” Lainie held her arms out. “You and Julia should get to have some fun, too.”

  Seeming to sense her uneasiness, Nick cocked his head at Julia with a questioning look. “Is that okay with you?”

  Shaking off her shyness, she nodded her head. “Sure.” Grinning, she added, “But I get to steer.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” The gleam in his eyes took the sting out of his grumbling, and they strolled across the wide hilltop to choose a clear starting spot.

  Nick’s gaze traveled a little farther out, where teenagers were doing tricks on snowboards and a few were grooming what looked to her like a narrow sheet of ice. “We used to do that,” he said, nodding toward the daredevils. “Only back then, we just stood up on our sleds and went as far as we could. Ben was the craziest, so he usually won.”

  “Ben Thomas?” she asked. When he nodded, she laughed. “He’s so responsible now, it’s hard to imagine him risking his neck that way.”

  “Back then we thought nothing bad could ever happen to us.”

  She couldn’t miss the subtle shift in his tone, from nostalgic to wistful. Talking about his past seemed to be getting easier for him, and she decided it was time to pry a little bit. “Before Ian died?”

  “Yeah.” Still focused on the boarders, he frowned. “That first winter, I didn’t even come up here. Ben and Cooper kept asking, but I couldn’t do it. Even after that, it was never the same without Ian.”


  Something in his response touched her, and she gently asked, “What was he like?”

  “Better than me in every way you could imagine.” Apparently finished with his walk down memory lane, he set her sled down and knelt in the back, digging his toes in to keep it in place. “Ready?”

  “Nick, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “Don’t worry about it.” The sorrow in his eyes eased a little, and he gave her one of those maddening bad-boy grins. “But if we keep yakking out here, folks are gonna think I came to chat with you instead of sled.”

  “Which would be bad for your image,” she guessed as she settled into the front of the toboggan.

  “Deadly. Ready?”

  Grasping the steering rope firmly in her mittened hands, she nodded. “Ready.”

  Getting to his feet, he shoved off and gave them a running start before landing behind her with a thud. He reached around her and grabbed the handles to keep from falling off. After a few runs, they had a nice track and were getting a long ride. It wasn’t even remotely romantic, but racing down that hill with Nick’s arms around her was the most fun Julia had had in a very long time.

  Inspired by the childish fun around her, she let herself fall backward into the snow and began waving her arms and legs.

  Nick stared down at her with a look of disbelief. “Snow angels? Seriously?”

  “Not serious at all,” she assured him as she carefully stood to avoid ruining her impression. Admiring her handiwork, she asked, “What do you think?”

  “Not bad,” he said, chuckling as he shook his head. “I just wish I had a camera so folks would believe it.”

  “Everyone needs to have fun once in a while. Even you.”

  Without warning, she shoved with all her might, and he went down in a cloud of snow. Sitting up, he dangled an arm over his bent leg. “What was that for?”

  “Fun.”

  “Not for me.”

  “Then for me,” she retorted with a laugh. “I thought it was hilarious.”

  “Wonderful.”

  When he held out a hand in a silent request, she let out a very unladylike snort. “And let you pull me down? Not a chance.”

  Muttering under his breath, he picked himself up and fell in step beside her. While they were trudging up the hill, someone shouted, “Hey, McHenry!”

  Looking up, she saw Cooper Landry standing at the top of the hill. Holding out two large, steaming containers, he grinned. “Wanna race?”

  “Cooper.” The name came out in a murmur, and Nick’s normally stern features lit up with pure joy. In that moment, she glimpsed the boy he must have been and how much his childhood friend meant to him. It didn’t last, though, and he bellowed back, “You sure your wife’ll let you go?”

  Bree poked her head out from behind Cooper. “Bring it on, smart-mouth.”

  Nick’s laughter was unlike anything Julia had heard from him before. It was lighthearted and carefree, not the controlled, bitter-edged kind she was accustomed to. It struck her that during their first meeting, he’d been grumpy about Cooper’s absence not because he was annoyed, but because he missed his old friend.

  When they reached the top, Bree greeted her boss with a stern glare. “Okay, hotshot. Why didn’t you come to the wedding?”

  “Work.” The smooth reply told Julia he used that excuse enough that it rolled easily off his tongue. “You know, that thing some of us do instead of shutting off our phones and sailing around the Caribbean for a month.”

  “Nice try,” Cooper informed him, the mock-stern tone belied by his big grin and warm handshake. “We had a blast, and we’re not a bit sorry.”

  Nick grinned back. “I’m glad, really. How’d you like the catamaran?”

  “Awesome,” Bree answered, trading a smile with her husband before adding, “It was really nice of you to arrange that for us.”

  Nick was about to say something when a black blur came barreling toward them. Stepping protectively between it and Julia, he held out both arms to stop a huge Newfoundland dog from running her down. Taking his cue, the dog slammed on the brakes and sat in front of Nick, his tail stirring up a whirl of snow.

  “This must be the famous Sammy,” Nick said, kneeling down to his level. Polite as always, the dog lifted his paw for Nick to shake. “It’s great to meet the star of Bree’s Holiday Harbor stories.” To the humans gathered around, he added, “This ball of fur was a real hit with our readers. Lost dog rescued by local mayor—it was small-town Americana gold.”

  “That piece got my miserable career back on track.” Ruffling his ears, Bree stepped back into Cooper’s embrace. “Not to mention, if I hadn’t come here, I’d never have met Cooper. All thanks to my new boss.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nick grumbled, eyes twinkling in fun. “You’re just pitching for a new assignment.”

  “As long as it’s in northern Maine. With the way the weather’s been so far this winter, I’m not keen on traveling anywhere ’til spring.”

  “Enough shoptalk,” Cooper announced, pointing toward his burgundy four-by-four parked nearby. “I’ve got extra water, and Ben’s on his way with more. If we lay some down before he gets here, the track’ll be ready quicker.”

  “We’ve only gone down a few times,” Julia pointed out. “It’s not packed down very much yet.”

  “We can fix that,” Bree told her. “If we go together, we should be heavy enough to get a good track started.”

  With Bree in the front, Julia ran in and launched them along the broken snow. Their descent was quicker this time, and they ended up much farther down, laughing on their backs while they added more snow angels to the flock Julia had started. She’d spent her winters in wonderful places all around the world, skiing and skating, attending operas, ballets and formal balls. But nowhere had she enjoyed herself more than on this simple sledding hill overlooking the ocean.

  Rolling over, she looked out toward the frozen harbor and saw the thing that had drawn her to this place on her first visit months ago.

  Last Chance Lighthouse.

  Built onto a rugged outcropping, it looked as if it had sprouted from the bedrock centuries ago. Today, the old tower was nearly lost in a cloud of chilly fog and Julia asked, “How is Mavis doing in this weather?”

  “She’s fine. Cranky as ever. We stopped in to see her this morning, and she scolded us for staying away so long.” Lying on her stomach, Bree tapped her boots together like a teenager sharing secrets with a friend. “Of course, she was feeding us gingerbread the whole time, so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”

  “I worry about her out there all alone.”

  “Cooper made sure someone checked on her while we were gone. Now that we’re back, she and I will be working on a history of Holiday Harbor, so I’ll be spending a lot of time with her.”

  “Hey, this ain’t a hen party!” Nick bellowed from the midpoint on the hill. “If all you’re gonna do is gossip, then get outta the way.”

  “Whatever.” After sending him a wilting look, Bree got to her feet and retrieved the sled. Offering Julia a hand, she murmured, “If we time it just right, we can run him over. Whattya say?”

  It was completely unlike her to do such a thing, which of course made it that much more appealing. Giggling, Julia nodded and they ascended the hill arm in arm, trading news as they went. Near the top, she gave Bree a quick hug. “I know we haven’t been friends very long, but I really missed you.”

  “I know what you mean. Some people just click, like we did. It’s good to be home.”

  Home, Julia thought, looking around at the laughing groups of people enjoying the crisp afternoon. Old and young, brash and timid, all of them had other things to do, but they’d chosen to come here and spend the afternoon with each other.

  This was the kind of feeling she’d been searching for her entire life. She loved knowing that she belonged somewhere and that someone other than her parents was kind enough to make her part of their family. That she’d found her
place in this tiny fishing village on the coast of northern Maine was more than a surprise. It was a blessing.

  Looking into the clear winter sky, she sent up a heartfelt prayer of gratitude. A warm feeling of contentment settled over her, letting her know God was listening.

  Chapter Seven

  Before Nick knew it, the sun was going down. Of course, this time of year that happened around five, but still, he hated to see the afternoon end. He hadn’t had this much fun in years.

  The ice track was a huge success, and the older kids were thrilled with it. When he overheard a couple of them making plans to pile up snow on the sides and build a half-pipe, he made a mental note to get a snowboard and try it out. Early some afternoon while the kids were all in school, just in case he stunk. The thought made him laugh.

  “Something funny?” Cooper asked while they stacked empty water jugs back in his car.

  “Just thinking. Where would I get a snowboard?”

  “There’s a new outdoor shop out on the highway between here and Sandy Cove. They’ve got all the latest stuff. I hear,” he added quickly when Bree sent him a curious look.

  Oblivious to the couple’s exchange, Ben announced, “I’m starving. Anyone wanna hit The Albatross with me?”

  Inside ten minutes, the nine of them were sitting around the largest table in the place, smack in the middle of the restaurant. Noah sat in his high chair, feeding pieces of cracker to Todd while Lainie patiently listened to Hannah read the words she knew from the menu out loud. Cooper and Ben were arguing about who’d had the best run, and Bree had her head together with Julia over something Nick was pretty sure he was better off not knowing about.

  Sitting back, he soaked it all in with a smile. Normally, he was so busy that when he finally stopped working for the day all he wanted was some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, that meant his social life was almost nonexistent. He didn’t have many friends away from the business that soaked up ninety percent of his waking hours. Once he got back to Richmond, he’d have to do something about that. When the most fun you’d had in three years was sledding in Maine, it was time to reassess.