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Chapter Twenty-Four

Author: Krista Lakes
last update Last Updated: 2022-05-25 03:33:57

Nathan

Nathan could hardly believe how easy and wonderful it was to talk with Holly. He remembered it being good while they were at the ski resort, but this was so much better. Surrounded by books and sipping on coffee, he felt like they could talk about everything.

And they did.

They had close enough opinions on politics that they didn’t argue, but could hold a lively debate. Neither one of them had much time for television, but the few shows they did watch they shared their enjoyment. She got up several times to show him a book he hadn’t heard of or to find one that he recommended.

It was a perfect evening.

“Closing time,” a man’s voice called from across the store. It was then that Nathan noticed the lights had dimmed and the low chatter of customers had faded. Even the sound of the coffee maker was gone. He looked over to see the cafe dark and everything cleaned.

“Sorry, Dad,” Holly said, standing up and kissing the man on the cheek. “I guess we lost track of time.

The man had Hol
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  • Love Under the Mistletoe   Chapter Thirty-Eight

    NathanThe walk up the small flight of stairs to Mark’s office was the longest one of Nathan’s life. He could feel Holly’s hand in his, but he still had to keep looking back and making sure she was real.They stepped into the office, and Holly closed the door behind her.“Are you really here?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice and eyes. “I thought you said you didn’t think this was going to work.”“It wasn’t the way things were,” he told her. “But, I made changes. I hope I haven’t missed my chance.”“No.” She shook her head and smiled. “You haven’t missed it. But I need to know you aren’t going to leave again. That we’re not just going to end up in the same place as before.”Nathan reached into the back pocket of his Santa costume and pulled out a piece of heavy paper. He handed it to her.“This says you’re the owner of Elements Computer Technologies,” Holly said, reading the paper. She looked up at him still confused. “I thought you were always the owner.”“No. Paradigm was the

  • Love Under the Mistletoe   Chapter Thirty-Seven

    HollyHolly didn’t want to open her eyes. She had the covers pulled up around her chin and her body was comfortably warm, but her face was cold. If she opened her eyes, that meant it was morning.And for the first time in her life, she didn’t want it to be Christmas morning.Her phone began to buzz, telling her that it was almost time to leave. She had to be at the store an hour before the party to get everything set up.With a groan, she sat up, swung her feet out of bed, and immediately regretted the decision. Her apartment was freezing. Even with socks on, her feet were cold on the floor. She hurried to the bathroom, changing her clothes as quickly as possible before the cold could set in.Luckily, she’d had enough water that she wasn’t too hung over. Just a mild headache and she didn’t want any breakfast.She grabbed her things and paused at the small Christmas tree in her living room. Three presents sat under it. There was the big, bulky Christmas present for her father, a handma

  • Love Under the Mistletoe   Chapter Thirty-Six

    HollyHolly sat before a roaring fire, watching the flames jump and dance around a yule log. She wondered if it would be appropriate to put another shot of rum in her hot cocoa or if three was already too many.She wanted to feel happy. It was Christmas Eve. She was warm and full of good food. Her father had made his famous pot roast and she’d eaten enough mashed potatoes that she was probably at least fifty percent potato herself. There would soon be presents and cookies.There was every reason to be happy and content. But, all she could think about was Nathan.So, she sat on the floor in front of the fire and drank rum.It was her annual place to sit on Christmas Eve. Holly and Mark had already watched the old Claymation version of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Now they would exchange books as was their tradition.When Holly was a little girl, they used to do this every year. Her mother would pick out an educational book with beautiful pictures for her. One year, she got an encyclo

  • Love Under the Mistletoe   Chapter Thirty-Five

    Nathan“Mr. Reed?” a soft feminine voice asked at Nathan’s office door. “I have some files for you. May I come in?”“Sure,” Nathan said, motioning forward. He was glad for the distraction. No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to be able to focus on work. His heart just wasn’t in it.The woman came in with a stack of files in her petite hands. She wore a black pant suit with a soft, pale green undershirt that brought out the light green color of her eyes. He wasn’t sure what her age was. Her hair was so blonde it appeared to be almost silver against the black of her jacket.“Why are you delivering files?” he asked as she set down the folder on his desk. “The mail-room usually handles that.”“I’m an intern,” she explained. “And since it’s Christmas Eve, there just isn’t a lot to do right now. My boss said to find something to do.”“What’s your name?” he asked her. Now that she was here, he found he liked having some company and didn’t want her to leave just yet. The office was too qu

  • Love Under the Mistletoe   Chapter Thirty-Four

    Holly“There,” Holly whispered, carefully placing the last piece of tape.She smiled at her work. The wrapping paper was neatly folded around the corners and she’d even made the tape look nice. She wrote Nathan’s name in neat print on the corner. It was possibly the best wrapping she’d ever done on a present.It was just a copy of A Christmas Carol, but it seemed like the perfect Christmas Eve present for Nathan. She’d agonized over which book to get him for the Christmas Eve tradition, but had finally settled on this one.It was tradition in her family to gift a book on Christmas eve. She was excited to share this tradition with Nathan. She was excited to share everything with him.Life was good. She tucked the book under the small tree in her apartment next to the other gift she’d picked out for him. It was just a t-shirt with the name of the town and a printed mountain background. It wasn’t much, but she thought he would like it since he was moving his company here. It felt like a

  • Love Under the Mistletoe   Chapter Thirty-Three

    NathanNathan sat in the empty office, staring at his bank account numbers on his phone.He was down ten million today, but the market looked like it might swing up by the end of the day. A ten million dollar fluctuation was nothing, but it was worrying. He hadn’t had a good up day since meeting Holly.He could see the choice in front of him. Holly or the money.The money had always been there for him. Since the beginning, money had given him what he needed. It wasn’t his family that had made him successful, it was the fact that he liked seeing the numbers in his bank account go up.He wished he could have both worlds, one of business and one with community and friends. He knew it couldn’t be. It had to be one or the other. That was the way it had always been, and up until this moment, the easy choice had been the money.He wanted to forget the smiles on the children’s faces today. He wanted to forget the warmth of the town. The way everyone said hello and treated him like he’d always

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