“But you don’t know that for sure…”
“Mel, stop looking for trouble. We talked about this. It’s going to be good for you. Your editor is thrilled and promised to give you a little extra time so you’re off to a promising start.”
“Yeah…I’m lucky,” Melanie deadpanned.
“You need a positive attitude, young lady,” he admonished. “I’m serious. I want you to make the most of this time you have up there.”
She mentally sighed. “I’ll try, Dad. But I’m not making any promises.”
“That’s all I ask.”
“Okay, well…let me go because the road seems to be getting pretty winding and hilly and I need to pay attention to it. I’ll call you when I get there.”
“Be safe, sweetheart!”
Hanging up, Melanie frowned at the road. It was getting narrower and the sky was getting a little bit darker. A chill went down her spine and attributing it to the cooling temperatures, she cranked up the heat.
The GPS began calling out directions to her and Melanie feared she was leaving civilization further and further behind. “I better hit the New York Times for this,” she murmured. A few minutes later she hit the brakes and stared at the giant sign on the side of the road.
“Silver Bell Falls Welcomes You!”
Melanie frowned and then looked around because she was certain she was hearing things. Turning down her car stereo, she groaned when she heard the song “Silver Bells” coming from the massive sign.
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style…in the air there’s a feeling of Christmas…
“You have got to be kidding me.” Cranking the radio up to block out the Christmas carol, Melanie slammed her foot on the gas and continued her drive. It was maybe only a mile down the road when she spotted a small grocery store, a gas station and a diner.
And that was it.
“I guess I just drove through town,” she sighed. It was tempting to stop and look around but she was anxious to get to the house and check it out first. Being practical, Melanie had already shopped for enough food and essentials to get her by for the first night. And besides, she had no idea what kind of shape the house was going to be in.
“Turn left,” the GPS directed and Melanie did just that. “Your destination is at the end of the road.”
Squinting, Melanie looked straight ahead but saw…nothing. There were trees, lots and lots of trees. Slowing down, she approached the end of the pavement and saw a dirt road that led through the trees and a small mailbox hidden in the brush.
“Charming.” With no other choice, she carefully drove off the pavement and made her way over the bumpy road through the trees. It was like a dense forest and for a minute, she didn’t think she was going to get through it.
But then she did.
The field opened up and off to the right was a house—not a cabin. In her mind, Melanie pictured some sort of log cabin, but the structure she was looking at was more stone than log. It was a one-story home with a wraparound porch and a red roof. The yard was completely manicured and the place even looked like it had a fresh coat of paint.
Since neither she nor her father had any contact with her grandmother, there was no way for them to know about the upkeep on the place. She had tried to question the lawyer, but other than giving her the deed to the house and the keys, he had very little information for her.
A little beyond the house was a shed. It looked like it was perched on a trailer and it certainly looked a lot newer than the house. Maybe it had been a new addition. Maybe her grandmother hadn’t known she was going to die and was doing some renovations on the property.
Pulling up to the front of the house, Melanie sighed. She was anxious to go and explore the space and silently prayed she wasn’t going to open the door to some sort of nightmare. Climbing from the car, the first thing she did was stretch. Looking around the property from where she stood, the only thing that was obvious to her was that she had no neighbors—she couldn’t even see another house!
Pulling the key from her pocket, she closed the car door and carefully walked up the two steps to the front porch. Stopping at the front door, she bounced on her feet and noticed that the floor was in pretty good shape—no creaking and a lot of the wood looked fairly new.
Not a bad start, she thought and opened the front door.
Stopping dead in her tracks, she could only stare. It was dark and dusty and there was a smell that made her want to gag. Not that she was surprised, but it did cause her to spring into action. With a hand over her mouth, she quickly made her way around the house opening windows. Next, she went out to her car and grabbed the box of cleaning supplies out of the trunk. Melanie knew a certain amount of cleaning would be involved, but she hadn’t expected quite so much.
For the next three hours she scrubbed and dusted and vacuumed and mopped. It didn’t matter that it was thirty degrees outside, and currently pushing that temperature inside thanks to the open windows; she was sweating. Once she was satisfied with the way things looked, she walked outside, grabbed the box of linens and went about making the bed. Next came the groceries and finally her own personal belongings.
It was dark outside and every inch of Melanie’s body hurt. Slowly she made her way back around the house to close the windows and jacked up the heat. Luckily the fireplace was gas, clearly a recent update. She flipped the switch and sighed with relief when it roared to life and the blower immediately began pushing out heat as well.
Guzzling down a bottle of water, she looked around with a sense of satisfaction. The house was small, maybe only a thousand square feet, but it had potential. Grabbing a banana from her cooler, she peeled and ate it while contemplating her next move.
“Shower,” she finally said. “A nice hot shower or maybe a bath.” The latter sounded far more appealing. Locking the front door, Melanie walked to the newly-cleaned bathroom and started the bath water. It was a fairly decent-sized tub and for that she was grateful. “Bath salts,” she murmured and padded to the master bedroom to search through her toiletry bag.
Within minutes, the bathroom was steamy and fragrant and Melanie could feel the tension starting to leave her body. Her cell phone rang and she cursed when she realized she had forgotten to call her father when she’d arrived.
“Hey, Dad!” she said quickly. “Sorry!”
He chuckled. “Are you all right?”
“I am. The house was a mess and once I got inside and looked around, I couldn’t help but start cleaning. I guess I lost track of the time.”
“Have you eaten dinner yet?” he asked expectantly.
“A banana.”
“Mel…” he whined. “You have to start taking better care of yourself.”
“I will. I know. Actually, I’m just getting ready to take a nice hot bath to relax. I promise I’ll eat as soon as I’m done.”
He sighed wearily. “Okay. Be sure that you do. Call me tomorrow.”
“I will, Dad. Thanks.”
She hung up and turned the water off. Looking around, Melanie grabbed some fresh towels from one of her boxes and set them on the vanity before stripping down and gingerly climbing into the steamy water. A groan of pure appreciation escaped her lips as soon as she was fully submerged.
“This almost makes up for all the grime,” she sighed and rested her head back, closing her eyes. “Heavenly.”
For a few minutes, Melanie let her mind be blank and simply relaxed. The hot water and the salts were doing wonders for her tired body and it was glorious. Then, unable to help herself, her mind went back into work mode. A running list of supplies she was going to need was first and she cursed not having a pad and pen handy to start writing things down. Next came the necessities of going into town and maybe meeting her neighbors.
And then there was the book.
The groan that came out this time had nothing to do with relaxation and everything to do with dread. “Damn Christmas story. Why can’t I write what I want to write?�
� It was something she’d been asking her editor for months and the only response she got was how all of the other in-house authors were contributing to building their holiday line, and she would be no exception. “Stupid rule.”
And then something came to her.
Melanie sat up straight in the tub and only mildly minded the water that sloshed over the side of the tub. “All I need to do is write a story that takes place around Christmas. It doesn’t have to necessarily be about Christmas!” Her heart began to beat frantically. “I’ve been focusing on the wrong thing!” Relief swamped her and she forced herself to relax again. Sinking back into the water, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander to all of the possibilities that had suddenly opened up.
“A romance at Christmas time,” she said quietly. “Major emphasis on romance, minor on Christmas. Technically, I’m meeting my obligations.” She smiled. “Hmm…a heroine alone—maybe stranded—in a winter storm and a sexy hero who storms in and rescues her.”
Melanie purred. “Yeah. That could definitely work.” Sinking further down into the water, an image of the hero came to mind. Tall. That was a given. Muscular, but not overly so. Maybe lean would be a better way to describe him. And dark hair. She was a sucker for the dark hair. “Sex on a stick,” she said quietly, enjoying the image that was playing in her mind.
The bathroom door swung open and Melanie’s eyes flew open as she screamed. The man standing in the doorway seemed to have stepped almost completely from her imagination. If she wasn’t so freaking scared at the moment, she would appreciate it.
“I wouldn’t count on sex on a stick or anyplace else if I were you. You’re trespassing and you’re under arrest.”
Chapter Two
For a moment, Josiah could only stare.
There was a naked woman in Carol Harper’s tub.
Holy. Crap.
When he’d driven up to his place a few minutes ago and saw the strange car parked out in front of the cabin, he immediately became suspicious. Hazards of the job, considering he was the sheriff of Silver Bell Falls. The front door had been locked and the blinds drawn just as they always were, but the car was definitely a red flag. So he let himself in.
And found the naked woman he was currently staring at.
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded, strategically covering herself so he couldn’t see what he already saw.
Like he was going to forget that any time soon.
“You need to step out of the tub, Miss…?”
“Oh, right,” she snapped. “You break into my house and I’m supposed to listen to what you have to say? I’ll call the cops! You have no right breaking in here and…”
“Wait, wait, wait,” he interrupted. “Your house? I don’t think so.”
She rolled her eyes. “Look, can you…can you just turn around or something so I can get out of this tub and put some clothes on?”
His immediate thought was to say no, but there was no way she was going to get by him—certainly not while she was naked and wet. Wordlessly, he turned his back to her and almost instantly heard the water begin to drain and then the gentle splashing as she rose.
“Um…without turning around, could you hand me a towel? I can’t reach it.”
It was almost as if the universe was mocking him. He hadn’t been with a woman in over a year and now he had one soaking wet and naked two feet away and he had to arrest her. Yeah, sometimes life really sucked.
Behind him, she cleared her throat and Josiah turned around. He swallowed hard at the sight of her. Her dark brown hair was twisted up into some sort of messy knot and she had the lightest blue eyes he had ever seen.
And right now they were shooting daggers at him.
“You’re going to need to put something on other than a towel,” he said. “I’m not bringing you down to the station in just a towel.”
Crossing her arms, she cocked a hip and smirked. “I hate to break it to you Ace, but you’re not bringing me anywhere. This is my house and you are the one who is trespassing. Now I’ll ask you nicely to leave, but if you refuse, I will call the cops and I will have you arrested.”
He couldn’t help the bark of laughter that came out. “Sweetheart, I can’t arrest myself. And I know the owner of this house personally and believe me, that isn’t you.”
“Then you knew my grandmother. She willed the house to me,” Melanie said smugly, arching a dark brow at him defiantly.
“She…willed?” Josiah asked. “That would mean…I…”
“She passed away almost a month ago,” she supplied softly. “This cabin was willed to me. I just got in late this afternoon.”
“No one told me…,” he stammered, his whole posture going lax. Leaning against the vanity, he looked at her. “I’m sorry for your loss. Carol was a real nice woman.”
He didn’t expect her own roar of laughter.
“I’m sorry…did I miss something?” he asked.
“My grandmother was many things. Nice wasn’t one of them.” Without another word, she stepped around him and walked out of the bathroom.
Josiah stared after her until he heard a door slam. Swiping a hand over his weary face, he muttered a curse and stepped out of the room and went to wait out in the living room. Hopefully she was going to come back out and talk to him.
Ten minutes later, she did.
“You’re still here?” she asked, walking into the kitchen and pulling open the refrigerator.
He walked over and stood on the opposite side of the breakfast bar. “Were you expecting me to leave?”
“Hoping is the word I’d use.” Her words were firm, but there was a slight tilt to her lips as she said it.
“Sorry to disappoint but being that we’re neighbors, I figured I’d better introduce myself.”
She looked at him quizzically. “Neighbors? I didn’t see another house around here.”
“Right next door,” he said, walking over to the front window. “You can see my house from here.”
Walking over, she looked out the window and frowned. “You live in the shed?”
He chuckled. “It’s not a shed, it’s a…it’s a tiny house.” He hated the phrase but it was all the rage right now and unless he said it, most people didn’t know what he was talking about.
She looked at him and didn’t bother to hide the smirk. “A tiny house? Seriously?”
“I didn’t name it,” he said with a hint of irritation. “That’s what they’re called.”
“Okay. Whatever,” she said and walked back to the kitchen.
“Look, we obviously got off on the wrong foot. No one told me about your grandmother and I was only doing my job.”
“Your job?”
“I’m the sheriff of Silver Bell Falls. Josiah Stone.” He held out a hand to her and couldn’t help but smile when she looked at it with a hint of disdain.
“Melanie Harper,” she finally said and shook his hand. “The sheriff, huh?”
He nodded. “At your service.”
She chuckled and turned back to the refrigerator. “I’m not trying to be rude, but all I’ve had to eat today is a bowl of cereal for breakfast and a banana for dinner. I’m sorry I freaked you out by being here, but as you can tell by the looks of the place, I’m settling in.”
He pulled up a stool at the breakfast bar and studied her. “The look of the place doesn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know Carol had planned on leaving the place to you.”
“Oh? You talked about it with her?”
He nodded again. “As a matter of fact, I did.”
Melanie straightened and looked at him. “Really? Why?”
“Because I wanted to buy the property from her. I’ve been trying to buy the property from her for years but she always refused to sell and she never told me why.” He shook his head with a grin. “Now I know.”
“Is that why you have your…what is it…teeny house out there on the property?”
“It’s a tiny house,” he corrected, “and even though
she wouldn’t sell, she did allow me to use the land. I just always thought she’d eventually cave and sell it to me.”
“Yeah, well…that was my grandmother, the puppet master.”
“I don’t think I’d say that…”
“Trust me. I would,” Melanie said, and leaned against the countertop and looked at him. “I’ll tell you what, I have to honor her nutty last wishes and stay here for three months. After that, I’m out of here. I’ll sell it to you then.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “Just like that? You don’t even know me.”
She shrugged. “Don’t care. I don’t want to be here but I have to. If you want the place so bad, consider it yours.”
“And all I have to do is wait three months?”
“I won’t even argue the price with you. All I ask is that you be fair.”
“How do I know you won’t change your mind?” he asked, still feeling suspicious.
Stepping away from the counter, Melanie walked closer to him. “For starters, I didn’t want to come here. I live in North Carolina and I love it there. Next, I don’t like the cold. This whole living near Canada thing? I already hate it. Then there’s the whole Christmas thing.”
“What Christmas thing?”
“There is no way I want to live in a town called Silver Bell anything. I hear you guys make it feel like Christmas all year long.”
Josiah smiled. “That we do. It’s wonderful. We have festivals and fairs and…”
“Save it,” she interrupted. “I don’t do Christmas so there’s no way I’d stay here. Festivals and fairs are of no interest to me.”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “What do you mean you don’t do Christmas? What the hell does that even mean?”
“Look…Josiah?” she asked and he nodded. “It’s late, I’m starving and it’s been a really long day. I really don’t have it in me to go into all of this right now. So if you wouldn’t mind…”
“I’ve got a pizza,” he said.
Christmas In Silver Bell Falls Page 2