A Christmas Kiss

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  Bianca’s head snapped in his direction. Her mouth opened and then closed, once twice, and then a third time, making her look like a fish out of water gasping for air. She finally turned back to stare out the window, having no words to convince him otherwise. She hated to admit it, but she knew he was right. There was nothing she could say.

  “So, where are we actually going?” she asked, finally breaking the silence that had dropped between them.

  He tossed her a quick glance. “I own one hundred acres of mountain land adjoining the Blue Ridge strip of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. And on that acreage I have twenty-five private, luxury mountain cabins, a fully stocked trout pond, and some natural waterfalls. Usually those cabins are rented out through the year, and most of them are rented out now for the holidays. But I have two of them that are vacant and my property manager left for the Virgin Islands yesterday. With the inclement weather coming, I need to make sure those two homes are secure.”

  Taking it all in, Bianca sat staring at him, her eyes blinking rapidly. A hundred acres, twenty-five cabins, and a pond with some fish. She was both awed and confused, a ton of questions flooding her thoughts.

  Ethan tossed her a look, amused by the expression on her face. He laughed out loud. “What’s wrong? You look like you want to say something.”

  She bit back her first thought to ask her second. “You don’t need to check the other twenty-three properties?” she said, her gaze still locked on the side of his face.

  He shook his head no. “Everyone up there is a repeat renter. They know what to do.”

  “Just how much property do you actually own?” she asked, her third thought slipping past her lips.

  He laughed again. “Where? Here in Boone?”

  “You have property in other places, too?”

  He nodded. “New York, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, and internationally I own buildings in London, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Morocco.”

  “Morocco?”

  “Have you ever been?”

  “No, but it’s on my bucket list of places to visit before I’m fifty.”

  “Then I’ll have to take you. Before you’re fifty, of course.”

  There was an amused smirk on her face, but she didn’t bother to respond.

  “So what else is on your pre-fifty bucket list?” Ethan asked as he flipped on his windshield wipers, the falling precipitation beginning to get heavier.

  She grinned, her smile wide and bright. “I want to visit Morocco, Mozambique, and do an African safari in Maasai territory. I also want to learn how to make pasta with Chef Mario Batali, take golf lessons from Tiger Woods, and ride in a race car with Bill Lester.”

  Ethan laughed, thoroughly amused. He nodded his head. “I’d love to make all of that happen,” he said. “We can call Bill as soon as we get back.”

  Bianca laughed with him. “You don’t know Bill Lester.”

  “Yes, I do. He and I are old friends.”

  “Prove it.”

  “Grab my cell phone,” he said. “You’ll find his name in my contact list.”

  Bianca reached for his cell phone and began to scroll through his lengthy list of contacts. Sure enough, the name Bill Lester was listed between Laurie Landry and Thomas Lions.

  She pushed the dial button, pulling the phone to her ear. Ethan shook his head.

  “Yes, Bill Lester, please,” she asked when the line was answered on the other end. “Mr. Ethan Christmas calling.”

  Her eyes were suddenly wide as she clamped her hand over the device. Her grin was miles wide. “He says he’ll speak to you.”

  Ethan laughed as he pushed the button for his Bluetooth, engaging the phone through his car so that it was on speaker. “Hey, Bill, Merry Christmas!”

  “It’s good to hear from you, Ethan. How are things?”

  “I can’t complain. How’s the family?”

  “The boys are good and Cheryl is happy.”

  “Glad to hear it. And business, how’s that going? You still driving?”

  “You know it. I’m thinking about buying a race track. I might need some investors! Men like you with deep pockets!”

  Ethan laughed. “I’ll be down in Florida in a few weeks and I hope we can catch up with each other when I get there. You can tell me then how deep I’m going to have to dig into these pockets.”

  “Let’s plan on it. I think you still owe me a drink anyway. You lost a bet if I remember correctly.”

  Ethan laughed again. “I don’t remember that.”

  “I think her name was Lucy or Lacey or something like that.”

  “Say no more. Memory jogged,” Ethan responded with a nervous chuckle. “I definitely owe you.”

  “It’s a date. By the way, when did you get a secretary?”

  Ethan tossed a look in Bianca’s direction. “I didn’t. I got a new girlfriend.”

  His friend named Bill laughed. “Say no more. Completely understood. I can’t wait to meet her!”

  “Kiss your wife for me and you have a great holiday!” Disconnecting the call, Ethan reached for his phone, pulling it from her hands. “Do we need to call Mario now?”

  “You know Mario, too?”

  “He catered my fiftieth birthday party.”

  “I’m done with you, Ethan Christmas!” She tossed up her hands, her face gleaming with joy.

  “What?” he said with a deep chuckle. “I don’t know Tiger personally, but I’m sure I know someone who knows someone who knows him. I figure we can knock out that bucket list before you’re forty, and then you’ll have to think of some other things to do before you’re fifty.”

  Amusement danced across her face, the joy teasing. “You are truly special, Ethan!” she said teasingly.

  He tossed her another quick look and a smile, then refocused his eyes back on the road. Outside, it looked like a winter wonderland run amuck. Thick snow blanketed the grass and trees, covering everything that was standing still. They were climbing steadily upward, the journey to the mountaintop suddenly feeling precarious. Since leaving the city limits, Bianca had been able to count on one hand the number of cars they shared the road with, and for the first time since they’d departed, the trip was making her uneasy.

  “It’s getting nasty out there,” she said as Ethan slowed his speed substantially.

  He nodded in agreement. “There’s a layer of ice on the road, too. It’s slicker than I expected.”

  “Should we turn around?”

  “No, we’re not too far from the first house,” he said. “I think we’ll be okay.”

  Minutes later, he turned onto a private road. He shifted his vehicle into four-wheel drive as he navigated the narrow passage. Almost two miles down the road, a large log home came into view. Against the snowy backdrop, the home was spectacular, its rustic appearance like something off the cover of Architectural Digest magazine.

  Bianca shifted forward in her seat to get a better view. “It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, her eyes flitting back and forth to take it all in.

  “The views are magnificent all year round. It’s one of my favorite places. The next house actually sits right on the pond. It’s the one house I don’t usually rent out. I keep it for my personal use. Jarrod and I used to spend weeks up here in the summer fishing and hiking. We have a lot of good memories from here.”

  “You two have a beautiful relationship. He has great respect for you.”

  “I’m very proud of my son. He has been a joy and a blessing to me.”

  “How old was he when you and his mother divorced?”

  Ethan tossed her a quick look as he shifted the car into park, leaving it to idle. He took a deep breath, blowing it slowly past his full lips. “He was only eight, maybe nine. His mother and I had joint custody, but she moved around a lot so he spent the majority of his time with me.”

  “Did you ever think about remarrying?”

  “Never found a woman who was able to capture my hear
t like that.”

  Bianca nodded.

  “Until you,” he said, turning to stare directly at her.

  Bianca smiled, the feelings sweeping through her warm and fuzzy.

  He turned to stare back out the window. “I’m going to leave the car running. This is going to take all of two minutes. I just need to check the thermostats so that the house stays warm enough to keep the water pipes from freezing.”

  Bianca nodded and, just as Ethan had said, minutes later they were headed back down the drive toward the main road. The ten-minute ride to the next property took almost an hour. There was no denying that the weather was problematic; so much so that Ethan and Bianca both were beginning to question if it was even safe to attempt to head back down the mountain.

  “This is not cool!” Bianca exclaimed, one hand clutching the door, the other braced against the dashboard.

  Ethan was proceeding slowly, his body tensed as he struggled to keep the car from slipping and sliding about. “No, it’s not,” he said. “I don’t think they expected this storm to come in so fast. From all the reports I listened to, I thought tomorrow was going to bring the worst of it.”

  “Are we going to be able to make it back to town?” she asked.

  There was a momentary pause before Ethan answered. “We’ll just take it slow,” he said, his tone unconvincing.

  He turned off the main road, down another long drive. The roadway was steeper than the last and he revved the engine, shifting gears to keep them moving forward. As they reached the top of the hill, something large stood in the road in their path. Bianca suddenly screamed and she grabbed Ethan’s arm, her nails digging into the padding of his winter coat. Startled, Ethan turned the steering wheel abruptly, then over-corrected, losing control of his car as it careened toward the trees. He had barely missed slamming into a large black bear that had reared up on its hind legs.

  For a split second, it was as if everything were moving in slow motion. Snow rushed past the windows, cascading skyward. And then the vehicle slammed forward into a ravine and up against a line of pine trees. The stop was harsh, propelling them both forward, and then just like that there was nothing but silence and the sound of them breathing. Each breath came in short, quick gasps.

  “Bianca? Are you okay?” Ethan asked, concern registering in the pitch of his voice.

  She was shaking, anxiety sweeping through her body. Her head bobbed up and down as if it were unhinged. “I think so,” she said as she pulled at her seat belt, the device having tightened around her torso. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  Ethan’s gaze swept from one side of the car to the other as he assessed their situation. He turned the ignition to off, shutting down the engine. He reached for his cell phone.

  Bianca eyed him anxiously. “Can’t you just back up?” she asked, looking about as well.

  He shook his head. “No. The tires aren’t doing anything but spinning. We’re going to have to walk the rest of the way to the house. I don’t have any cell phone service so we’re going to have to call for help there.”

  “Walk?” Her look was incredulous, her eyes wide. “Did you not see that bear? It’s not safe out there!”

  “It’s not safe here, baby. This snow is coming down fast. We definitely don’t want to get buried under it.”

  Bianca tossed up her hands, her tone terse. “You have lost your mind! I am not walking anywhere. And I’m definitely not walking out there where a bear can get to me. You better figure out how to send up a smoke signal or something.”

  “Please, don’t be difficult, Bianca.”

  “Difficult? I’m being smart!”

  “Not really, baby.”

  “Not really, what?”

  “Sweetheart, you’re not being smart. Because we can’t just sit here. There is no one who’s coming to get us any time soon. So we really need to get moving.”

  Bianca bristled, indignation across her face. “Don’t call me sweetheart,” she hissed between clenched teeth. “And you’re not about to make me bait for some crazed animal! I’m smart enough to know that! It was a bear, for goodness sake!”

  Ethan sighed. He pushed against the door, but it wouldn’t budge, the car wedged deep in the snow drifts. “Try your door,” he said, shooting her a look.

  She met the look he was giving her, but she didn’t move, showing no sense of urgency to do anything at all.

  He asked her a second time. “Please,” he added.

  She took a deep breath, then pushed against the door. She pushed once and then twice, throwing her whole body into the effort. A wave of panic suddenly washed over her, the wealth of it furrowing her brow.

  Ethan reached a hand out, drawing his palm across her thigh. “Relax,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “It’s not going to be okay,” she shouted, fear flooding her words. “We’re stuck, and if we don’t freeze to death, we’ll probably be eaten by wolves.”

  “Which is why we’re going to get out of the car and get to the house before it gets dark,” Ethan said. “We can handle the bear. We might not be able to handle a pack of wolves.”

  “Oh, my God!” Bianca muttered, suddenly imagining everything that could go wrong.

  Ethan turned the ignition back on, then rolled down the driver’s-side window. Bianca watched as he twisted his body about until he could pull himself out of the car. When he was finally standing upright, he walked the perimeter of the vehicle, assessing the extent of the damage. Snow was still falling and in no time at all his head and shoulders were covered in thick, white flakes. He moved back to the window and leaned low, peering inside.

  “You’re going to have to come out on this side,” he said. “I’ll help you.”

  Bianca shook her head. She took a deep breath, then began to crawl over the center console into the driver’s seat. Ethan reached his arms out to help her climb out through the window. When she was standing, adjusting to the deep snow beneath her feet, she tightened the hold she had around his waist, hugging him tightly. Ethan hugged her back, the two briefly clinging to each other.

  She tilted her face upwards to peer into his. “I’m not good in situations like this,” she said, her voice low and soft. “So I’m going to apologize now for my bad behavior.”

  He nodded. “It’s all good. Just stay close. The house is about a mile up the road so we’ve got a bit of a hike and it’s not going to be easy. This snow is heavy and the visibility it bad. It’s going to be hard to see.”

  “What about the bear? What do we do if it comes back?”

  “It’s not going to come back.”

  “But what if... ?”

  Ethan stalled her words by pressing his index finger against her lips. He shook his head. A silent exchange passed between them, no words needed to share what the other was feeling. They hugged again, and then he clasped her hand in his, gently pulling her along beside him.

  Although it sat only a few short yards from them, Bianca couldn’t fully appreciate the beauty of Ethan’s mountainside home. The luxurious log cabin was truly a sight to behold. The timber-framed masterpiece showcased rustic, hand-peeled logs, expansive windows, and exquisite stone work. But Bianca was frozen and exhausted by the time they made their way to the front door.

  Inside, Ethan rushed to find blankets to wrap her in, then lit a fire in the stone fireplace. Within minutes, it was raging, the heat abundant as it began to seep into the room. As he moved about checking windows and doors and turning up the thermostats, she watched him, completely enamored. Her teeth were still chattering when he moved to her side, a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

  “There’s not a whole lot here, but we won’t starve,” he said. “I hope you like chicken soup and canned spaghetti.”

  She smiled. “I’m sure we won’t be here that long. Will we?”

  He sighed, a harsh gust of air blowing past his lips. “The phone service is down and I still can’t get a signal on my cell phone. And with the snow they’re predicting it might take
a day or two for them to get to us.”

  “Let me check mine,” Bianca said as she reached into her pocket for her phone.

  “Anything?”

  She tossed the device onto the coffee table. “My battery’s dead.”

  Ethan shook his head. “And we don’t have a charger.”

  “So no one knows where we are.”

  “Well, Jarrod knows, but it might take him a minute to realize something’s wrong and come looking for us. But his getting here might be a whole other issue if this storm doesn’t let up. Like I said, we might be snowed in something good.”

  “Well, if we had to be stranded someplace for Christmas Eve,” Bianca said, “at least we’re stranded someplace pretty.”

  Ethan smiled, and both of them turned to stare out the massive glass windows. The outside landscape was a pretty postcard in the making.

  “I need to get out of these wet clothes,” Bianca said, her teeth still chattering. “Please tell me you have hot running water here.”

  He chuckled. “As much as you need. I can toss your clothes into the dryer while you shower and I’m sure I have a bathrobe around here someplace that you can use until they’re dry.” He pointed her in the direction of the master bathroom.

  She paused in the doorway, throwing him a look over her shoulder. “And I’ll have the chicken soup,” she said. “I hate canned spaghetti!”

  In spite of the inclement weather Flight 5271 out of Charlotte arrived on time, landing just before the flight board at the regional airport lit up with cancellations. Jarrod stood nervously in the arrival waiting area, both anxious and excited as he waited for Stefan to disembark. He missed his partner, but despite his excitement at seeing the man again, he was nervous about how his dad would receive his friend.

  He’d missed the opportunity to talk with his father and Jarrod was still concerned with how the patriarch would react once he discovered Jarrod was gay and in a relationship with another man, but there was no turning back. Stefan was there in Asheville to spend Christmas.