On Christmas Hill

On Christmas Hill

Smashwords Edition

* * * *

On Christmas Hill

Copyright © 2012 by Nichole
Chase

ISBN-13: 9781301054305

Without limiting the rights under
copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
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permission of the above author of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the
product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The
author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of
various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have
been used without permission. The publication/use of these
trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the
trademark owners.

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For my family and
friends.

Chapter One

The car sputtered as I sat at the
entrance and tried to see through the trees. Old wooden gates
framed the driveway, and I could just make out the dark roof in the
distance. A plume of smoke floated above the tree tops and I prayed
that meant there was a fire going. I wasn’t used to all of the
snow. It was beautiful, but foreign to this Florida girl. And cold.
A wet cold that soaked through my cotton mittens, making my fingers
sting.

I took my foot off the brake and slid
the car through the gates, grateful I hadn’t needed to get out and
open them. An old wooden sign had the words “Christmas Hill”
painted in beautiful letters. The lawyer hadn’t known the story
behind the name. Honestly, she hadn’t seemed to know much at all
about my great aunt when she called to tell me about the property.
Just that there was a groundskeeper, a small amount of money
stashed aside, and the location. Oh, and the key. It was a hefty,
antique key with a red ribbon tied to it.

The snow glittered in large piles on
either side of the narrow driveway and I was glad my car was so
small. Otherwise, I might have had a hard time fitting. Remy made a
whining noise from the passenger seat and I wondered how he would
handle the snow. I was pretty sure if he hopped out of the car and
into one of those snow drifts I’d never see him again. His big
brown eyes were excited, though, and I loved seeing his tail wag.
It dispelled some of the apprehension I was feeling at becoming a
home owner, not to mention the whole spending Christmas alone. At
twenty-three, I hadn’t been looking to put down roots. I could sell
the place, but the will had said I had to spend one Christmas there
before I could even start the process of selling.

From all accounts, it looked like Great
Aunt Gertie had been Christmas obsessed. As my car navigated the
winding driveway, I saw large animals playing in the snow. Several
of them were jumping and butting heads, moving around the clearing
with a smooth gait, as if the snow wasn’t even there. At first I
thought they were horses, until I got a little closer and noticed
the antlers. Moose? No, that wasn’t right. A sharp chuckle jerked
out of my mouth as my mind processed what I was seeing. Reindeer. A
herd of reindeer.

“
Looks like you’re going to
have some company, Remy!” I shook my head in wonder. What was I
going to do with reindeer? I hoped the groundskeeper took care of
them. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

As I rounded the final bend, I was
rewarded with a visual feast. A large, wooden cabin looked out on
the field I had caught glimpses of, a red—dare I say Christmas
red—barn sat not far away. Off in the distance was another small
house with cheery green shutters and a large pile of wood on the
porch. But I hardly noticed them with my eyes trained on the
gorgeous house in front of me. I pulled right up to the house and
put my car in park. The front door was made from side-by-side
panels, with wrought iron handles. Thick, green, wreaths hung
perfectly centered on each and soft lights glittered in the topiary
that flanked the doorway. Understated, but lovely. I sighed in
relief. Hopefully the theme would hold and the inside wouldn’t look
like Santa’s workshop.

I don’t have anything against
Christmas, or Santa, but I also didn’t want to live in somewhere
that a holiday had thrown-up. Wouldn’t that kill the excitement,
the nostalgia? Remy put his paws on the dash and gave a short,
happy yap. Poor guy probably needed to use the potty. It had been
almost four hours since I had stopped last. Once we hit the hilly
area, I just hadn’t wanted to pull over. The scenery had been
breathtaking, and if I was being honest with myself, I’d been a bit
excited. While I hadn’t known Aunt Gertie very well, I had always
looked forward to her Christmas packages full of cookies and little
toys. Before my father had died, he’d always treated the package
like it was something magical. I’d wait until he came home every
year so we could open it together, while mom smiled and shook her
head at us.

The last few years had been
bittersweet. I’d looked forward to the packages, but once they were
there, I’d been torn about opening them. The box had simply
reminded me that Dad was gone. And this year, Mom wasn’t even going
to be home for the holidays. She was going skiing with her friends.
Not that I blamed her, because the holidays seemed to throw Dad’s
missing presence into a sharp light.

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head
to clear it of my sorrow and opened the door. “C’mon, Remy!” The
black and white dog jumped over my lap and out of the car before I
could even swing my feet into the snow. I laughed as he bounded
through the white stuff, sinking up to his shoulders. Wiggling
backward, he sneezed and turned around to go the other way. “Over
there, Rem!” I pointed at a spot in the grass that seemed to have
accumulated the least amount of white stuff. Once he was finished
with his business, I grabbed my purse and slung it over my
shoulder.

The groundskeeper was supposed to meet
me, and it was getting late. I didn’t want to hold the old guy up.
Especially since it looked like he had taken the time to build a
fire in the house. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and he might have
family waiting on him. Pulling my hat down over my ears, I took the
steps two at a time. Remy barked behind me, pulling my attention
and I gasped when I realized the reindeer had come to
investigate.

“
Remy!” I ran back down the
stairs and scooped the nosey dog up in my arms. The reindeer didn’t
seem threatening, but they were huge. Much larger than I realized
reindeer grew. One of the braver ones took a few steps closer to me
and I turned to look at him. At least, I think it was a he. Did
female reindeer have antlers? I knew regular female deer didn’t,
but reindeer weren’t exactly your normal deer. The reindeer sniffed
the air around me, before pushing his nose at my shoulder. I
couldn’t help my smile when he nudged me.

“
Well, you’re a friendly
guy.” Lifting my hand, I ran my fingers over the velvet soft fur
along his nose.

“
He likes you.” The deep
voice made me squeak and I turned around to see a man leaning in
the doorway to the cabin. He was wearing jeans and a long sleeved
grey thermal shirt. His arms were crossed over his chest, but the
corners of his mouth were turned up. If my heart wasn’t already
jumping out of my ribcage it would have stuttered at the sight of
him.

Chapter Two

“
Good grief, you scared the
crap out of me!” I touched the spot where my heart pounded under my
jacket. Even with the scare of a lifetime, I immediately noticed
the man was gorgeous.

“
Sorry, I didn’t mean to
startle you.” He pushed off of the door and strolled down the
steps. “I’m guessing that you’re Molly?”

I nodded my head, still a bit shocked.
The closer he came, the faster my heart beat. Where I originally
thought he was attractive in a rugged sort of way, I quickly
changed my mind. Oh, he was rugged with a five o’clock shadow that
enhanced the angles of his face, but he was more than that. Dark
eyes under dark brows ran over my body and I felt frumpy from
having been in the car for so long. I should have stopped to primp
before making the final leg of the trip. If I had known the
groundskeeper was hotter than an underwear model, I would have
stopped to primp.

“
I’m Nate.” He held his hand
out to me, so I juggled Remy to one arm. His hand swallowed mine
whole, the skin along his knuckles broken and coarse.

“
Nice to meet you, Nate.” I
shouldn’t have assumed the groundskeeper was older, but just the
word brought to mind an old man in a derby hat.

“
And who’s this?” He ran a
hand over Remy’s head, scratching behind his floppy
ears.