by Tonya Kappes
With the long poker, I jammed it up the flue and pulled the knob. Immediately, the smoke escaped up the chimney.
I fanned my hand in front of my face to clear the smoke, and poor Henry sought shelter under the couch. The only thing sticking out was the tip of his long white tail.
Plopping down on the couch, trying to melt some stress, I laughed. I laughed so hard that Henry jumped up on the couch and rubbed his body along my arm, making sure I was okay.
“No, I have not lost my mind.” I grabbed the TV remote. “Laughing cures a multitude of ills. At least that’s what Audrey said.” I turned the volume up when I saw the weather report was flashing on the screen.
“Here are the current conditions across much of the Yukon and Canada. The cold air is pushing the nor’easter down into the Northeastern part of the United States, including all of Connecticut. The lake effect and snow showers are moving across New York, Vermont, northern New Jersey and of course Connecticut. We are getting snow reports of three to four inches per hour.” The meteorologist flailed his arms, doing spirit fingers across the states he was rattling off. “It is shaping up exactly the way we have been predicting for the past three days.
“Three days?” I turned the volume up. Why hadn’t I heard there was a nor’easter coming? “Grrr…” Mr. Bassett, that’s why.
I hadn’t slept or hardly eaten in the past couple of weeks since I had received the email where Mr. Bassett informed us that the Design Studio had won the final bid for the boat casino. I had to be prepared for the Skype call that he insisted had to be on Christmas morning.
“Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style some day.” Audrey sings Moon River from my phone.
“It’s Mom.” I smile, knowing she’s checking on me. “Hey, Mom.”
There was a lot of static on the phone. I’m not sure if it’s the storm or if she didn’t get the international plan ordered for her phone in time for her trip.
“Sabrina, can you hear me?” Mom yelled into the phone. “We are here in England! You’d love it!”
“Mom! I can hear you!” I scream back. “Can you hear me?”
“Sabrina? Sabrina?”
“Mom, there is a storm going through. A nor’easter.” I wanted to ask her if there was anything I needed to do for the cabin to prepare. Regardless, it looked like I was going to be staying at the cabin longer than I had planned. “Mom?”
The line went dead. At least I had heard her voice and knew they were okay. I was sure they had seen the weather and were just checking on me.
The show must go on. I tucked the phone in my pocket just in case she called back, then started hunting down all the Christmas decorations, which wasn’t hard since they were stored in the closet under the steps.
Each box was labeled, making me smile. It was just like my mom to be so organized. Unfortunately, my organization skills took after my dad… there was a place for everything…in the junk drawer.
Before the snow got too deep, I grabbed the box that read ‘window boxes first'. In the box were four small, decorated Christmas trees and four bundles of fake poinsettias. If my memory served me, she had the tree centered in the wooden box with poinsettias on each side.
“This shouldn’t be so hard.” I put on my coat, picked up the box and headed outside. “Come on, Henry. Let’s go potty.”
Henry wasn’t fond of snow, and if it got any deeper, I’d be shoveling him a path to do his business.
I sat the box in the fresh snow and it sank down a little. Henry was hopping around, almost blending in with the white fluffy stuff.
Carefully, I took out each tree and spread the branches apart, creating the shape of a fir. One-by-one, I put them in the middle of each window box under the four front windows. And in no time I had the poinsettias neatly tucked on each side and hung the red ribbon on the carriage light.
“It’s starting to get dark out here.” I looked up into the air, taking in the grey sky and the nor’easter that was creeping upon us. “Henry?” I looked around, but couldn’t see him. “Henry?”
Panic and fear knotted in my gut. His little paw prints were like a little trail I followed.
“Henry!” I screamed frantically looking into the acres upon acres of snow-covered land. “Henry!”
I continued to follow the paw prints deeper and deeper into the woods that separated our property from the Turner’s. In the distance, I could hear the sound of an axe chopping into wood.
“Henry!” Tears streamed down my face. Never in a million years did I think Henry would run off. “Henry, please listen to mommy!”
The chopping stopped.
The paw prints cleared the woods and spilled onto the Turner farm. Smoke billowed from the Turner cabin. I raced toward the cabin, following Henry’s paw prints the entire way.
A big burly guy in a red plaid jacket and lumberjack hat positioned the axe over his shoulder as he stood over the woodpile, staring at me like I had lost my ever-loving mind.
“Henry!” I yelled, waving my arms at the stranger. “Help me! Help me! I’ve lost Henry!”
The snow got deeper and deeper as I tromped across the land. The lumberjack leaned the axe up against the wood and stared at me as I rushed toward him.
I didn’t care that I didn’t know him. All I cared about was finding Henry, and his paw prints were leading the way.
“I’m sorry.” Heaving in and out, I bent over to catch my breath. I noticed I had on my work flats instead of snow boots. My feet tingled with the cold. “I lost my cat. His paw prints,” I pointed to the snowy imprints, “led me here.”
“I wondered who that little guy belonged to.” His voice drifted like the beautiful snow.
Looking up, his electric blue eyes caught me off guard.
“I. . .” I stammered, “Can I have him?” He peered at me intently.
“Sure.” The warmth of his smile echoed in his voice. “He’s found a friend.”
He gestured for me to follow him.
Hmm…I couldn’t help but wonder what was under that lumberman’s cover up. Shaking off the images, I followed him into the cabin.
“Are you a descendent of the Turner’s?” I didn’t have to rely on my dad to get the information.
“No.” He swung the door open and Henry greeted us alongside another white Persian, only it was a she with a hot-pink bow wrapped around a small segment of hair on the top of her head. “There he is. Looks like he found my Eliza.”
“Eliza?” My heart jumped. “As in Doolittle?” My Fair Lady banged around in my head.
“Exactly.” A faint light twinkled in his eyes. “I have a slight fondness for old movies. I’ve been told that I have an old soul.”
He pulled off his cap, exposing the most beautiful set of golden locks---a Heath Ledger kind of look.
“Well, thank you for taking in Henry.” Anxiously, I waited for him to take off the coat. I had to see exactly what was under there. “Anyway, you never answered me about the property.”
He picked up Eliza and she licked him all over his face as he rubbed her back.
“Wynn.” He held out his hand for me to shake. “What is your name?”
“Sabrina.” I took his hand. His fingers were cool and smooth.
“As in Sabrina Fairchild from the movie Sabrina?” He asked, dropping my hand. He put Eliza down and took off his coat, revealing a lean, yet muscular frame. His black Henley left little to the imagination. His blue jeans were a perfect fit. Not too tight, not too loose. “You really do love Audrey Hepburn.”
“Nah,” I surprised myself at how I brushed Audrey off. A first for me. “I’m an old soul too. I grew up on old movies, and I have felt a kindred spirit with her because we shared the same name. In a movie, that is.”
“Can I offer you a cup of coffee?” He walked into an adjoining room, giving me the opportunity to look around. After all, he still hadn’t answered my question about being a member of the Turner family.
Unfortunately, I had neve
r been in here before, so a comparison wouldn’t help me. Though, everything did look new and nice. Black leather sofas dotted the cozy room. The wood burning fireplace glowed from the flames and an iron cast kettle sat on top.
My heart sank. There were no Christmas decorations. Nary an ornament to be seen.
“Do you…” I started as he came back in with two mugs dangling from his fingers.
I smacked my head. “Coffee.”
“What?” He asked and poured some hot water from the kettle into one of the mugs.
“That is one thing I forgot to pack.” Damn! I love coffee, and from the looks of the weather, I wasn’t going to be getting some anytime soon. “Thank you, but we’ve taken up enough of your time.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. It’s getting dark and I left the fireplace going.” I peered out the window. Night had already fallen upon us. The Rum and Monkey wasn’t sounding so bad right now. “But I will take a rain check for tomorrow if you aren’t busy.”
If all goes well with Mr. Bassett, I’m sure a good cup of coffee and the company of hunky Wynn would be a great way to celebrate not only Christmas morning, but the finalization of the big casino deal.
If I’d known about the nor’easter, I might’ve taken Jenna up on her offer, but then again I wouldn’t have met Wynn. Not that anything was going to happen. Just a little extra spice for Christmas.
He set the mug down and got his coat. “The least I can do is drive you home.”
“I don’t think your little fancy car is going to go anywhere in this snow.” I noticed his ‘save the world’ smart car outside when I was frantically looking for Henry.
“I have a snowmobile. It will only take a second.” He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Plus you have on those little shoes and you never know what kind of animals are in those woods…coyotes…bears even.”
The thought of getting mauled by a coyote definitely wasn’t on my Christmas list. And he did have a point about my shoes.
“I’d love a ride, thank you.” I nodded and smiled.
“Here.” He took Henry and tucked him inside my coat. “This way he will stay warm and you can hold onto me so you will stay safe.”
Within minutes we were on our way back to the cabin.
“If you need anything, you know where to find me.” He steadied the snowmobile as Henry and I got off. “Merry Christmas, Sabrina. It was nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” I tried not to smile too much, but the feel of his torso felt nice beneath my hands as I had held on tight…extra tight. “Merry Christmas, Wynn.”
Chapter Three
“Henry,” I put him down in the cabin, and then peeked out the window, watching Wynn drive off on the snowmobile, “I should yell at you for running off. But who am I to stand in the way of love?”
He whined as if he understood what I was saying.
I went back over to the boxes to find all the other decorations for the house. Before I put up the artificial tree and the other knick-knacks, I put the salmon I had brought for tonight’s dinner in the oven and some rice on the stove.
With a glass of wine and a little holiday music, I had the cabin decorated in no time. It wasn’t exactly the way mom did it, but it was close enough.
While my dinner finished cooking, I got out my laptop and the Bassett files and placed them neatly on the old country-style table my father had made out of an old barn door. I wanted to make sure that everything was ready for tomorrow. I turned on my computer to make sure the internet modem was up and ready. It worked perfectly. I was able to check my emails just before the oven timer went off.
“It’s time.” I pulled the salmon out of the oven and turned the stove off.
Henry followed me upstairs to the bedroom where I had taken my bags. Carefully, I pulled out my Holly Golightly black dress that I wore every time I watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s, pulled my long black hair up into a bun, styled my bangs to the side, and securely bobby-pinned my tiara in place.
We went back downstairs with my DVD in hand. With the movie in the player, I filled my plate, grabbed my wine, and settled on the couch. Propping my feet up on the coffee table, I sat my plate on my lap.
Sigh. . .
“This is cozy.” I took a bite, but didn’t even swallow before there was a knock at the door. Henry jumped down, running to the door, pawing at it. “Who in the world is here?”
I sat the plate on the coffee table and peeled back the curtain to see if I could see anyone. Instantly, I knew it was Wynn when I saw the snowmobile parked in front.
Swinging the door open, a rush of snow and cold air hit my shoulders, reminding me I had on my Breakfast at Tiffany’s costume.
“Wynn.” I felt around my head and pulled off the tiara. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought you might need some of this.” He eyed me suspiciously while holding up a thermos in one hand and Eliza in the other. “But I see that you are busy,” he strained to see inside, “with a date?”
“Date?” I looked down and laughed. “Just Henry. Come on in.”
Henry danced around my feet and jumped up on Wynn trying to get to Eliza as she squirmed in Wynn’s arms.
“Are you sure?” He asked before he stepped in.
“Yes.” I held the door open as he stomped his feet on the door frame, knocking off any snow. “You are just in time for a salmon dinner and movie night.”
Eliza and Henry ran around the room like they were playing tag. Wynn followed me into the kitchen.
“You can throw your coat over there.” I pointed to one of the chairs at the table.
I tried not to stare at him as he rubbed his hand seductively down the kitchen table.
“This is pretty cool.” He knocked on it.
Taking a plate out of the cabinet, I placed the extra salmon I had made and a scoop of rice on it. “My dad made it. He actually brought this old cabin to life. Just like you’ve done with the Turner cabin.”
“I guess I never really answered your question about the cabin.” He walked over and took a wine glass from the wine cabinet. He gestured toward the bottle. “May I?”
“Yes, of course.”
I watched as he worked his way around the kitchen; swift, full of grace and virility. He got his own napkin and fork as though he knew exactly where everything was.
“What?” His firm mouth curled as if always on the verge of laughter.
“I’m sorry. I was just watching how comfortable you are here.” As if I minded. I couldn’t have planned a better night if I tried. The Rum and Monkey was a distant memory. “I mean, I don’t even know you.”
He took his plate and wine, walking into the family room and sat on the couch.
“Before I tell you anything, I need you to explain why you are dressed up.” He took a sip of wine, and then sat it on the coffee table. “And spending Christmas Eve alone.”
“My parents are on a once in a lifetime trip to England. I have a very important, life-changing meeting in the morning, so I opted out of going to any other family member or friend functions.” I sat down next to him and smoothed out my black ball gown. “I was looking forward to coming to the cabin for a little relaxation and some time with Audrey. My girlfriends and I started having our annual Audrey Christmas Eve movie and going out for karaoke at the Rum and Monkey tradition years ago, but like I said, I have a life changing meeting in the morning.”
“On Christmas?” His brows drew together in a frown.
“Like I said, life-changing.” I took a bite. “Of course my girlfriends begged me to stay at home, but I didn’t want to chance having too much to drink and not getting up in time for my meeting.”
“You aren’t going to be going anywhere in this storm. Especially in that old Mercedes of yours.” He rose in one fluid motion and went over to stoke the fire.
I tried not to stare at him and turned my attention to Holly Golightly as she held her coffee cup and doughnut while she
admired the jewels in Tiffany’s window, with Moon River playing in the background.
“You do kind of look like her.” His words made my heart swoon. I could feel his sexual magnetism that made him so confident. “I’m sorry. Did I offend you?”
“No, not at a-l-l (I draw out the word into several syllables). It’s just that I feel so silly dressed like this when I only do it once a year.” I picked up my wine glass. “Here’s to a new tradition.”
He picked up his glass and we toasted. He sat his glass on the table and with his powerful hands he yanked me up to my feet.
“Let’s not waste a good song or dress.” He pulled me to him and led me around the room as we danced to the instrumental version of Moon River.
His steady gaze traveled over my face and searched my eyes.
My body tingled as he swept me weightlessly around the room.
“You have obviously had dance lessons.” I had to break the silence or my body was going to melt right then and there.
“My parents sent me to the finest schools.” He danced me around to the couch and pulled away, bowing down. “Thank you, Ms. Golightly.”
“No, thank you.” I tried to do my best accent, sad that the dance was over. “So tell me about you.”
I had to know more. There was no way this handsome stranger was going to come into my life and leave in a couple of hours, never to be seen again. My desire to learn everything about him burned a place in my heart.
“I’m a bit of a loner.” He sat back and melted into the cozy couch, relaxed. “My parents sent me to the finest boarding schools and on to Harvard for my higher education. They are busy living their lives as I continue to do what I know best.”
“What’s that?” My heart, and body, ached for him. What a sad story. I couldn’t imagine having that type of relationship with my family.
“I bury myself in my work.” He stood up, his body towering over me. A brief shiver rippled through me. He walked back into the kitchen, reappearing with the bottle of wine. “I bought the old Turner farm about six months ago.”