It Started with Christmas: A heartwarming feel-good Christmas romance

by Jenny Hale

  After a long time of contemplation, her focus on the ring, and tears in her eyes, Nana finally spoke. “Do you know why Papa used to hide presents?” she asked.

  Holly shook her head.

  “Because he always said that life is like Christmas. Anyone looking under our tree might just see a bare space, and sometimes we think the same about our day to day lives—we overlook the riches that are all around us—but, in life, if we hunt for them, we find treasures hidden everywhere, in places we’d least expect them.” Her eyes fluttered over to Joe and she offered him another kindhearted look, clearly delighted in the fact that he’d brought Papa back for just a little bit. “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about your mom and dad, your sister, little Emma… Until now, I’d been too grief-stricken to come back to the cabin, and I feel like I’ve driven them away.”

  “No, Nana. You can’t think like that.”

  “It’s okay. Besides, we were renting out the cabin. While nothing here resembles what your papa and I had anymore, I feel him in this place now. I see his friends here, I still pull his coffee mugs out of the cabinets, I have his things in the barn. But I also have the gift that he gave us of a new space to gather, a wonderful, gorgeous home where we can have Christmas. The family couldn’t all fit in my house in Nashville, and they didn’t have anywhere to go… but I’m wondering if I should stay at the cabin and we could have the Christmas holidays here every year. I’d like to invite them back.”

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

  “Why don’t you ask them when you make your Christmas call to them today?” And then, out of nowhere, Nana gave her the biggest smile Holly had seen in years. Holly knew right then she’d never forget this Christmas.

  Twenty-Five

  The presents were all unwrapped, paper and ribbon still strewn about in the other room, and the Christmas breakfast dishes piled up and sitting empty in the sink. Nana, Joe and Holly settled in at the kitchen table with a slice of pie.

  While they were cooking, Holly had washed the mug that Joe got her, and she was sipping from it. The satisfaction over Nana’s seemingly permanent smile and the fact that, for the first time, the three of them were chatting so easily wrapped around her like a giant hug.

  “I’m so thankful for the snowstorm,” Nana said. “Without it, none of this would’ve been possible.”

  Before Holly could respond, a soft pounding at the door stopped them. “I’ll get it,” she said, standing up.

  She opened the door to find Rhett, or what she thought might be Rhett from the view of his limbs behind an enormous present. “I couldn’t wait till later,” he said, plopping it down just inside and stepping through the door.

  “Some things never change,” Nana said to Joe in the kitchen. “Merry Christmas, Rhett.”

  “Hey, Nana!” he called, scooting the gift toward Holly as he turned his attention to her. “The streets were clear enough that I could get in to Nashville today and I got you something.”

  “Aren’t the stores closed?”

  “I texted the owner of this little shop in town and asked if she’d open the store for me. She said she would if I’d take a photo in front of the storefront so she could share it on social media. Whatever it takes, right?” He laughed. “Y’all come on in and join us,” he said, beckoning Nana and Joe into the room like he was in his own home. Holly couldn’t help but grin—she’d missed this.

  “Would you like some pie?” she asked.

  “Naw! I don’t want pie!” he said, beaming. He was jumpy with excitement like he always was on Christmas morning. “I want you to open my present!”

  She laughed, his enthusiasm contagious.

  “Nana,” he said to Nana as she made her way over, while Holly dragged the enormous gift to the center of the room, “I didn’t forget about you! Your gift’s in the truck. Once Holly opens hers, I’ll give you yours.”

  Joe lowered himself down onto the sofa, regarding Rhett’s gift. What Holly wished she could tell him was no matter what this monstrosity that Rhett had gotten her was, and no matter how much money he’d probably spent on it, she’d much rather have her mug, a slice of sweet potato pie, and that beautiful little painting of a place from her dreams.

  “You just gonna stare at it, or are you gonna open it?” Rhett teased.

  Holly ripped the paper, tearing a long strip down the front, and revealing a designer suitcase. It was scratch-resistant, polycarbonate, according to the tag that showed under the rest of the wrapping, and cobalt blue with white piping along the edges.

  “For when you travel with me!” he said, throwing his arms around her waist and picking her up.

  She wriggled free.

  “I have the other pieces in the truck—I only wanted to wrap one.”

  “The other pieces?”

  “Yeah, I got you the whole set. I wasn’t sure what you needed. I’ll bring it in later.” He pounced across the room like a distracted toddler. “Nana! You know you can hardly wait to see what I got you, right?” He kissed her cheek, and she rolled her eyes playfully, a chuckle escaping. “Be right back!”

  Rhett headed off to get the gifts, and it was as if he’d sucked the sound in the room right out with him. His big, charismatic personality left them all quietly contemplative, and Holly wondered what was on Joe’s mind. He was in the corner chair, gazing into the fire.

  Before she could ponder it, Rhett was back, holding a bouquet of flowers. Holly wondered with whom he’d had to pose for a picture to get those. He handed the bundle of red and white roses, baby’s breath, and petite ivy to Nana. “For you, my lovely lady,” he said as he held out the flowers.

  “These are beautiful, Rhett.” Nana carried them back into the kitchen and set them on the counter where she used to put the bouquets of wildflowers Holly picked her as a girl.

  “They aren’t as pretty as you,” he said when she returned, making her laugh at his syrupy sweetness. Rhett always turned it on strong for Nana just to embarrass her, but she ate it up every time. “I’d like to take Holly for a few hours if that’s okay.”

  “Is this our date?” she asked.

  “Yep.” He raised his eyebrows at Nana, his eagerness clear. “Get your coat. The truck’s running.”

  “You shower us with gifts and then run off,” Nana teased.

  Rhett shrugged, playful, as if he had no other choice.

  Joe stood up. “Excuse me,” he said politely. “I have…” He gestured toward his room, but didn’t finish his sentence. Holly wondered what he could have on Christmas Day. Certainly, he couldn’t have work. Perhaps he was off to call Katharine. “Merry Christmas,” he said to Rhett. Then, he walked down the hallway to his room and shut the door behind him.

  “Nana, are you okay if I go?” Holly asked, pulling her eyes from Joe’s room down the hallway.

  “Of course, dear. Have fun. I’ll just bother Joe if I get bored.”

  Her joke surprised Holly, and she was delighted to see Nana warming to him.

  “Okay, then,” Holly said. “Back soon!” She grabbed her coat and followed Rhett outside. His regular truck had been replaced by an imposing and clearly brand spanking new Chevy Silverado that was purring in the drive.

  “New truck?” she asked, opening the massive black shiny door and hoisting herself up inside.

  “Yeah, still got the old one though. It’s in my garage. And I also still have the old jeep that you like,” he said while she buckled her seatbelt. “But I wanted nothing but the best for my girl today.” He closed the door and headed around to his side. Rhett hopped in, belted himself, and hit the gas.

  My girl. She hoped it was a term of endearment and not the possessive use of the phrase. She was not his in any way, and she thought she’d made that pretty clear. The thing was, anyone who looked at them together would wonder why Holly didn’t want to be Rhett’s significant other. Holly and Rhett had a history together, she could trust him with her life, he was an honorable person who would never intentionally hurt
her, he made her laugh, and Nana adored him.

  But Rhett was busy. He was absent most of the time. Him being here day in and day out for Christmas caused a misconception: he’d be gone again right after the holiday, leaving everyone. And after they went to California, he’d be off touring somewhere else. Holly wouldn’t want that life forever. She wanted stability; she wanted long hours on the porch, mornings cocooned in blankets with the person she loved under the early light of day, and home-cooked dinners together when the stars came out.

  When she finally focused on the road, Holly apprehended that they weren’t on a road at all, but a hidden gravel path meandering through the hills. She held on to the door handle as the large truck tires bumped along the uneven surface, much of the snow still covering the ground under the canopy of trees. Finally, when she was so turned around that she’d never find her way back, Rhett pulled up to a small, snow-covered clearing in the woods.

  “What is this?” she asked, glad that she knew Rhett so well or she’d worry about his choice of date location.

  “It belongs to me now—eighty acres,” he said, turning off the engine.

  So Rhett had used his money well and purchased a nice piece of property in Leiper’s Fork. Holly couldn’t imagine anything better for him. “Are you going to build something here?”

  “I already have.” Rhett got out and walked around to her side of the truck, but Holly had already hopped out when he got to her. Rhett shut her door and faced the clearing.

  She looked left to right—nothing. Were they going to have to hike to wherever it was he was taking them? Surely, he didn’t plan to keep her in this freezing cold. She hadn’t brought her gloves or scarf.

  Rhett stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Look,” he said into her ear. Then he pointed to the top of the trees and Holly sucked in an icy breath of surprise.

  It was a tree house. But not like any tree house she had as a kid. This was an actual house in the trees. Hidden by all the branches and evergreens, she’d never have noticed it, but now she could see the golden light in the windows and the rocking chairs on a deck that overlooked a stream past the clearing down below.

  “How do we get up there?” she asked, breathless.

  Rhett took her hand. “Follow me.”

  He led her to a close group of trees and, completely concealed from the drive, there were stairs that wrapped their way around the trunk of one of the oaks. Holly climbed up beside Rhett and followed him to the top, every stride allowing a more magnificent view, until they were on the porch that enveloped the entire house. The sight of the hills and valleys, the streams snaking through them, the remnants of snow sprinkled onto every surface like some sort of life-sized oil painting absolutely dazzled her.

  A soft mewing came from behind them and she felt something press against her leg. “Oh, look,” she said, reaching down and scooping up a tiny kitten, all fluffy white with orange spots. It purred in her arms, nuzzling her face and licking her chin with its scratchy tongue.

  “Wow, what the heck?” Rhett laughed. “I could hardly get that cat to come near me. I found it in the back of an alley in the city. It just didn’t look like a city cat to me so I brought it out here, started leaving food and milk for it, until it trusted me. But I guess it trusts everyone now.”

  “Does it have a name?” She held the kitten out at arm’s length and looked into its blue eyes as it wriggled to get close to her again.

  “I call her Hattie.” He reached over and ran his strong hand over the delicate little head of the kitten. “Found her behind Hattie B’s restaurant. I took her straight home without getting any food, and you know how I like their hot chicken.”

  Holly grinned. “I don’t want to ask you why you were in an alley behind Hattie B’s…”

  “It’s the only way I could get in and get some without being mobbed.”

  Holly sobered. She couldn’t imagine that.

  The kitten pushed against her to get down, so she let it roam on the decking and looked around. Holly dragged her fingers along one of the two rocking chairs that overlooked the landscape. They were rugged, made of unfinished tree limbs, but sanded enough to feel comfortable under her touch. “This is amazing,” she said.

  Rhett spread his hands out along the railing, looking at the view, his breath billowing into the air. “It doesn’t suck, that’s for sure.” He turned around, eager. “Let me show you the inside!”

  Rhett moved past Holly and opened the glass-paned door. Beside it, she noticed a tiny flap door for Hattie, and it made her smile. “After you,” he said, dramatically waving his arm, allowing her to enter.

  A fire was roaring in a stone fireplace that towered over them, enveloping one wall all the way up to the beams at the vaulted ceiling. He’d lit candles, and their flames, along with the glow of lamplight, filled the room. An oversized plaid blanket was draped on a leather sofa that faced the view through a wall of windows and in front of it was an old trunk that he was using as a coffee table, a few local magazines fanned out on the top of it.

  While she looked around, Rhett went into the kitchen that faced the den area, the open floor plan allowing them to talk. “What do you think?” he asked, popping the cork off a bottle of champagne, the hollow sound of it filling the space. He poured two glasses and the fizz danced above each glass.

  “I’m speechless,” she said. “It’s… incredible.”

  “No one can find me here,” he said as he walked around the bar and handed her a glass. He set his own on the trunk and plopped onto the sofa, kicking his feet up. Hattie let herself in and found a comfortable spot in his lap the second he sat down. “I can just be myself.” He patted the cushion next to him while he stroked the kitten.

  “Is it crazy being Rhett Burton, the star?” She sat next to him and curled her legs underneath her. She hadn’t thought about it until now, but to many, he wasn’t that boy she knew. He was some larger-than-life caricature of the real Rhett Burton. Holly had gotten glimpses of him on TV, his fans crammed up against makeshift fences, waving paper and pen at him, their phones in his face while he signed autographs before running up on stage to perform above their squeals and screams.

  “Yeah,” he said. “But it’s a good crazy. I like it. I just can’t do it twenty-four-seven, you know? Sometimes I need to get back here and be around people who know who I am.”

  She definitely knew who the real Rhett Burton was. She knew everything about him. And an old memory popped into her head just then. “Yes,” she said, “It’s good to come home to people who know you. Like people who know you’re deathly afraid of bees…” She hid her grin with her glass.

  He gave her a challenging but playful look. “It bit me on the ass!”

  Holly nearly spit out her champagne in laughter, the bubbles invading her sinuses. She clapped her hand over her mouth to keep it all in, her chest heaving at the memory of it. It took her a minute, but she finally recovered enough to try to look serious. “There was no welt there.” She giggled again.

  “No. There wasn’t. But there was a stinger! And how mortifying that I had to pull it out behind a tree at the age of thirteen when you were looking!”

  “Remember Buddy said to put tobacco on it?” She laughed again, nearly snorting. “He swore it would take the sting away.”

  “As if I wasn’t humiliated enough,” Rhett said, “I had Buddy coming at me with a can of chewing tobacco, telling me to rub some on my backside in front of a girl!”

  Holly started to laugh so hard she couldn’t stop, bringing her to hysterics, the memory of Buddy chasing Rhett, while he held one cheek and ran around the yard yelling, “It hurts!” as clear as if it had happened yesterday. Once the giggles subsided, she wiped her eyes. “Those were fun days, weren’t they?”

  He gave her that crooked grin. “Yeah, they sure were.” Rhett took his feet off the trunk and leaned toward her, his smile wide. Hattie jumped to the floor and walked off toward the kitchen. “And now I know to never allow
an interviewer near you! Who knows what kinds of stories he’ll dig up on me with you around!”

  Then his smile faded.

  “I miss those days.”

  Holly nodded.

  “Sometimes they seem so far away.” He got up and walked over to the window, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I like the me that I am when I’m with you,” he said without turning around.

  “Who you are with me is who you really are, Rhett. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  He finally faced her, studying her for a long time. “Maybe I should keep some of Buddy’s dip in my back pocket to remind me of that.”

  “And if you always have some, Buddy won’t need to worry if he forgets his as long as you’re around.” She made light of it, although she felt the weight of his statement.

  He shook his head and chuckled. “I’m glad you’re going with me to California.”

  That was when she wondered if perhaps she would be that token of home that he wanted to keep in his back pocket, that constant reminder of who he was because it was so easy to forget when he was out there on the road. Was that why he really needed her with him? But she wouldn’t think about it right now. She needed to just enjoy the moment.

  Twenty-Six

  Holly scratched her head through her uncombed hair, yawning as she strained to focus while rooting around behind Nana for her new coffee mug. Yesterday, Holly and Rhett had two bottles of champagne and then they moved on to wine. They talked so long that they both lost track of time, and he offered to cook her dinner. She hadn’t eaten all day, so she jumped at the chance for his cooking, remembering how great he was with an outdoor grill. So, unfazed by the winter air, he fired it up and cooked them a feast of steak, grilled vegetables, and potatoes, and they ate at his new farm table under an antique chandelier, all the windows allowing a mesmerizing view of the night sky. When she insisted on getting home for Nana in case she needed her, Rhett had been a perfect gentleman. He bundled Holly up and walked her home, but she had no idea of the hour that she arrived at the cabin.