Mia Ross - Jingle Bell Romance

Unfortunately, a tiny, annoying part of him disagreed, and he was wrestling it back into submission when Todd jogged up and stopped beside him. “Coming?”

“In a minute.”

Todd gave him a curious look but shrugged and followed Julia into the house. Standing there with snow falling all around him, Nick took a deep, chilly breath of air. He’d never met a woman who rattled him as thoroughly as Julia Stanton did. Whether that was good or bad, he couldn’t say.

But it was definitely interesting.

* * *

When Nick came through the door into the cozy kitchen, Julia watched as his niece attacked him like a frenzied cub.

“We’re doing the tree today!” she shouted with obvious joy. “That means you can help us.”

“I don’t know about all that,” he hedged, hanging his coat on the rack near the door. “I’m not much use in the decorating department.”

“Oh, it’s easy,” Todd assured him between sips of cocoa. “Just do what the girls tell you, and you’ll be fine.”

Taking a steaming reindeer mug from Lainie, Nick chuckled. “This might come as a shock, but I’m not in the habit of taking orders from anyone.”

He sat down, and instantly Hannah was in his lap. Having seen him at his prickly worst, Julia thought it was adorable how his niece had taken to her brusque uncle.

“What do you do at your house for Christmas, Uncle Nick?” Hannah asked.

“I pretty much hang a wreath on the door and call it done. I don’t have kids, so it’s not a big deal.”

“Julia doesn’t have kids, either,” Lainie pointed out. “And she does a fabulous job with her decorations.”

“She sure does.” He flashed her an approving grin that actually made her blush. To hide her reaction, she lifted her Frosty the Snowman mug for a sip of cocoa.

“You need somewhere to put your angel,” Hannah informed him in a very grown-up voice. “Ours came from Eye-land.”

“Ireland,” her mother corrected her. “Gramma brought it back from one of her trips to Waterford.”

Hannah looked up at Nick with wide eyes. “Did she bring you one, too?”

Nick traded an uncomfortable look with Lainie but finally nodded. “It’s different from yours, but it’s really pretty. I keep it on a shelf in my living room, and whenever I look at it, it reminds me of Gramma.”

The kitchen went silent, and Julia could hear the quiet ticking of the mantel clock in the next room. A quick glance at Lainie told Julia her friend wasn’t accustomed to her tightly controlled brother opening up that way. Then again, you’d need a heart of stone to resist Hannah Martin’s innocent charm.

“That’s nice,” she rattled on, “but we put ours on the tree. Daddy usually lifts me up to set her on, but since you’re here you could do it.”

Clearly worn down, Nick gave in with a chuckle. “Sure, munchkin. I’ll give you a hand.”

“Yay!” Now she turned pleading eyes on Julia. “Can you help us? You’re so good with ribbons and stuff.”

This time, she didn’t check her watch. It simply wasn’t in her to disappoint any child, but especially not this one. A few months ago, she’d hesitantly entered the Safe Harbor Church for the first time and searched for a place to sit in the crowded chapel. Lainie Martin had spotted her and slid down to make room for the new girl in town.

That simple, friendly gesture marked the beginning of a solid friendship Julia had come to treasure, and she was touched that they’d include her in one of their family traditions. “I’d love to, Hannah. Thank you for asking.”

After hugging Nick and then Julia, she scampered away with her parents to start gathering up the ornaments.

“She’s such a doll,” Julia said as she took a seat across the table from Nick. “You must love her to pieces.”

“It’s hard not to.”

The wistfulness in his tone alerted her that something was bothering him. While she suspected what it might be, she thought it might help him to voice it out loud—with a little nudging from her along the way. “It’s nice to be with family this time of year, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Looking down at his hands, he wove his fingers together before adding, “I’ve missed a lot the past few years.”

“You’re here now.”

When he lifted his eyes to hers, the misery in them made her want to give him a hug. She still thought it would help him to talk out what he was feeling, but she couldn’t bring herself to press on still-aching wounds. Old hurts were the worst, she knew, and some never healed. She had no idea what had estranged him from his family, but for Nick’s sake, she decided it was best to change the subject. “When did you last go sledding?”

Her question had the desired effect, and his expression brightened as he laughed. “Ten years ago, maybe more.”

“If this snow keeps up, we’ll be able to do something about that. There’s a great hill at the edge of town.”

“Spinnaker Hill, out near the old saw mill,” he filled in. “Cooper Landry and I used to ice down a track and race the other guys after school.”

“That’s right. Bree told me you and Cooper were friends growing up.” Julia had a hard time imagining this hard-driving man hanging out with Holiday Harbor’s easygoing mayor for more than five minutes, but odder things had happened.

“Best friends,” Nick confirmed. “He was why I sent Bree to do those stories over the summer. The original article was Cooper’s idea. It started as a puff piece to lure in some tourists and ended up exposing some honest-to-goodness corporate fraud.”

“A juicy story like that must be good for your magazine.”

He flashed her another version of that nearly irresistible grin. “We won a few awards for bold journalism, if that’s what you mean. Readers love that kind of stuff, ’cause it reminds them of what could happen in their own backyards.”

“And that sells subscriptions.”

His grin faded considerably. “Not as many as I’d like, and building up subscriptions is a constant headache. To be honest, I’m jealous of Bree, getting to sniff out a story and set it up for people to read. Designing layouts and keeping up with invoices aren’t nearly as much fun as writing.”

“I know what you mean,” Julia sympathized. “I love stocking and arranging the store and working with customers. When it comes to the bookwork, though, it’s like torture.”

“I’m curious about something.” She motioned for him to continue, and he asked, “Of all the things you could do, why a toy store?”

No one but her parents had ever asked her that, mostly because few people knew where she was and what she was currently doing. Now that she thought about it, maybe that was one reason the locals had been so slow to warm up to her. They simply didn’t understand why she was there in the first place.

To Nick, she said, “I earned a degree in Business and International Relations by taking classes wherever my parents were living at the time. I’ve always enjoyed collecting toys, so when I decided to move here, opening a toy store seemed like a good way to blend my hobby with my education.”

“It can’t be easy in this economy.”

“Neither is running an online magazine,” she pointed out, “but like you, I do my best to offer people something unique they can’t get anywhere else.”

She appreciated that he didn’t question why on earth someone from such a wealthy background was working at all. That was something she’d rather not discuss with anyone if she could possibly help it.

“Sounds like we’ve got something in common after all,” he commented lightly.

“What’s that?”

“We’re both masochists who’d rather work 24/7 and be in charge of our own business than put in forty hours a week for someone else.”