Christmas in Pine Island: A small town holiday romance Read online

  Well I’m glad they’re enjoying this prank.

  The man on the other end clears his throat. “Do you have any vacancies available?”

  “Yes, but . . .”

  “We’re prepared to pay double the rate since this is such a late request. I have a credit card when you’re ready.”

  Wait . . . was this actually for real?

  Thankfully all my years of working for my parents eventually kicks in and I remember how to be professional. Well . . . semi-professional. “Absolutely,” I squeak. “We’d be delighted to have Eric King and all his famous friends here!”

  “Great. Though, they are looking for a bit of . . . discretion so they might enjoy the holiday away from the spotlight. Will that be a problem?”

  “Of course not. We’re discrete here! Totally discrete!”

  “That’s good to hear. Eric and his friends really have their hearts set on spending the holiday in Pine Island. They’ll be delighted to hear you have room at the lodge. Would you be able to have their suites ready early tomorrow morning? Possibly somewhere private?”

  I nod vigorously, forgetting it does me no good since this is a phone conversation. I try again. “Yes. Absolutely. Tell them the top floor of the lodge is all theirs!”

  “Perfect. What do you need from me to complete the reservation?”

  “Can I have the names of the guests?”

  Somehow, I manage to make my floating feet carry me around the front desk. My fingers are quivering so much that I can hardly pull up the booking screen on the lobby computer.

  “One room will be for Eric King and Morgan May,” the man on the other end of the line answers. My fingers fly across the keyboard. “The second will be for Donovan Dunn and Chloe Martin. The third will be for Jacob Eckhart and Stacy Davis. They also have Jacob’s seven-year-old nephew, Ryan Eckhart, coming along. Will that be an issue?”

  “No, not at all! We have lots of activities for both adults and children. They’ll be well taken care of, I promise.”

  The man chuckles, faintly. “I can tell. Thanks so much, Miss Price. I’ll let Eric know the good news. Merry Christmas!”

  “Merry Christmas!” I choke out, disconnecting the call and then hugging the phone to my chest.

  I rub my eyes, staring at the computer screen in front of me until I start seeing stars burst in front of my eyes. Eric King. Morgan May. Jacob Eckhart. They’re coming to my Christmas tree farm! Pine Island may never be the same again!

  “What was that all about?” Ethan asks, curiously.

  He hefts himself up from the couch and walks over. Darcy trots along at his feet.

  “You’re never going to believe it,” I say, relaying the cast of star-studded guests, who will be arriving shortly.

  “Are you serious?” Ethan asks.

  I nod, but a sudden wave of anxiety crashes over me like an ice-cold tsunami.

  What was I thinking by taking that reservation?

  Real celebrities . . . staying here?

  Ethan and I have only just taken over the family business. Sure, Pine Island is a small town and for the most part we get the same guests that have been coming here for years. But I still want to do a good job.

  This is the first real holiday season we’re at the reins.

  At the back of my mind, I was a little relieved that we hadn't been fully booked for Christmas. Without my parents here, Ethan and I have been running ourselves ragged. Even though I’ve been helping out here since I was born, being in charge isn’t as easy as my parents make it look. And it doesn’t help that I’m still terribly nervous we’ll fail the customers or my parents somehow.

  We haven’t. At least not yet. But I just booked celebrities . . . talk about pressure!

  Success is the only option now.

  We have to be the best hosts possible to Eric King and his guests. There’s no way I can let my parents come back from the cruise they’ve taken to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary only to find out that I’ve totally let the ball drop here.

  Ethan and I will just have to find a way to make it work. This is my time to prove taking over the family business wasn’t a huge mistake. And I refuse to deliver anything but a perfect stay and make Pine Island proud.

  “We can handle it, right?” I ask, softly.

  Ethan chuckles, though of course he’d be way less nervous than I am. Thanks to his inheritance, he’s practically a billionaire himself. He’s not starstruck by the rich and famous like I am.

  “Of course we can, Chloe,” he assures me in his quiet, gentle voice. He leans over, lightly resting his arms on either side of me against the lobby desk. “Besides, the focus here is family, not fame, right? That’s probably what’s drawing them out here to begin with. But that means you and Margot have to be cool and not fangirl over the celebrities.”

  “Oh no! Go-Go is coming, too!” I gush, excitedly.

  The exciting news of our celebrity guests had temporarily erased all thoughts of my big sister’s visit. Margot and her husband, Owen, who’s also Ethan’s older brother, are joining us for the holiday.

  “She’s going to totally lose her mind when she finds out that rockstar, Eric King and his supermodel fiancée have booked a stay. I can’t believe I totally forgot Go-Go was coming!”

  This Christmas was already feeling pretty strange without my parents around, but at least Margot and Owen would bring along Ava, my sweet little niece. Ava is just the thing to distract me from my nerves, and from missing my mom and dad too much over the holiday.

  Ethan groans, though his green eyes still sparkle. “Obviously you’re not going to be able to contain your fangirling if just talking about our special guests has made you forget about your sister coming home for the holidays.”

  I stick out my tongue, earning another laugh from Ethan, but inside, I’m glowing. I love it when he calls the farm home. When I found out that he’d grown up in Manhattan and inherited a small fortune after his mother passed, I’d been intimidated. Compared to the life he and his brother have lived, mine felt absurdly underwhelming. But somehow, we worked: Me and Ethan, and Owen and Margot.

  People often gave us strange looks when we told them we were sisters dating brothers, but I couldn’t think of anything better. Margot is my best friend. And this way, we didn’t have to sacrifice anything. We still get to spend every holiday together.

  Speaking of . . . “Can you remind me when Go-Go and Owen are coming?”

  “They said tomorrow, but you know Margot. Your guess is as good as mine.”

  I laugh, because Ethan knows as well as I do that my sister likes to make an entrance. They met when she started dating Owen in college and her punctuality was often a problem.

  I sigh. “Seriously though . . . how are we going to have time to give these guests the perfect stay and still spend time with our family? It’s so much to take on by ourselves.”

  “Chloe . . . we’re not in this alone. We’ll call in some staff tomorrow.”

  “It’s nearly Christmas. They’re expecting the rest of the holiday off.”

  “We’ll check with the regulars. I’m sure we can get a few takers.”

  My mind is already racing through every worst-case scenario. “What if we can’t get anyone to come in?”

  Ethan straightens to take my hands in his and give them a tender squeeze. “It’s you and me, babe. We’ve got this. Besides, Eric and his friends are arriving soon, so there’s no time to worry if we bit off a little more than we can chew. We just need to roll with it. I’m sure if we treat them like we would any other guests things will be just fine.”

  “And spending time with Go-Go and Owen and Ava?”

  “Free labor,” he teases with a wink. I roll my eyes at him and he grows serious again. “You know how important family is to me, Chloe. We’ll find plenty of time for everyone. I promise.”

  Slowly, I lace my fingers with his. What he says makes sense. I know how hard the holidays still are for him. Becoming part of my family has
helped ease the loss of his own, but nothing will ever totally ease that pain. So I know when Ethan says we’ll make this work, he means it. Though the perfectionist within me is still agitated. I wish I’d had more time to prepare.

  I just want everything to go smoothly—better than smoothly. I need to prove to my parents that I'm capable of this so they’ll take more time off. My dad’s health depends on it.

  “Chloe, we’ve got this,” Ethan presses when I go quiet.

  Eventually, I nod. It’s not like I have any other choice. It’s time to dig deep and show our guests the small town charm that Pine Island is famous for.

  It might take a Christmas miracle to pull this off, but I have no other option.

  After all, I’d been the one to convince Ethan to leave his cushy life in Manhattan to move to the middle of nowhere in upstate New York so we could take over my family business. Moving back to Pine Island was the ultimate leap of faith. Choosing the family business rather than getting a nursing job after all the money I spent on my degree . . . it was a lot to ask. But after my dad’s health scare last summer, I knew it was what I needed to do.

  Family always comes first.

  I just hope I can find a way to balance family, the farm and a bunch of celebrities!

  Ethan Hall

  Chloe steps around the counter, melting against my chest. I pull her closer, looping my arms around her curvy figure and resting my chin atop her head. When I breathe, I inhale the familiar fragrance of sugar cookies that always seems to follow my fiancée.

  “I guess I better pull this off after convincing you to come all the way out here, huh?” she whispers against my shirt.

  “This has nothing to do with me,” I sigh. “We’re going to pull this off because we can. This might be the first time we’re left in charge, but we’re not going to mess anything up. We can’t fail as long as we’re together. This Christmas is going to be great. I can feel it.”

  She nods, not answering, and I take a good, long look around the beautifully bedecked lobby. Chloe had spent weeks meticulously decorating the lodge for this holiday season. She’d taken care in choosing every single ornament and garland and light. This woman doesn’t put that much effort into something and not succeed. I just wish she had as much confidence in herself as I do.

  “And you didn't have to convince me to do anything,” I add. “I love being here with you. I love Pine Island. I love our life. I love you, Chloe.”

  I’ve told my beautiful fiancée a million times that I'm happy as long as I'm by her side, but it seems she can’t hear it enough. As much as it pains me to see her doubt herself, I’m happy to reaffirm my love for her any chance I get.

  My brother and I were orphaned at a young age after our adoptive mother passed away. She had cancer and not even her billions could stop the brutal disease. After we lost our mother, Owen and I had a near-endless source of funds on which to live . . . but we didn't have her. We could buy anything except for what we truly needed—a family.

  So when I found Chloe, and her family took me in . . . well I don’t ever plan on letting go.

  When I was a child, I never would’ve guessed my big brother and I would marry two dark-haired, hazel-eyed sisters, just as I never guessed that I would eventually call a Christmas tree farm my home. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  It might have been a long and winding path, but I'm so happy to have found a place where I belong, and that place is with Chloe.

  Her family has become mine.

  However, it’s becoming obvious to me that I need to find some way to prove that to her. I can’t let her keep thinking that she’s forced me to settle in Pine Island. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

  After watching my mother slowly lose her life to illness, I know just how important every precious moment with family is. When Chloe’s dad had a scare with his heart last summer, I knew she’d want to come home. It was the right thing to do and I supported her decision whole-heartedly. I still do.

  After all, what good was all that time spent getting a nursing degree if she can’t use some of that knowledge to take care of her own father?

  There will be time for her to have a career caring for others later. Hopefully, there will be time for a lot of other great things in our future.

  I know Chloe thinks the choice to move here has postponed some of our plans, but honestly, the only plan I have is to spend the rest of my life with her. But it seems no matter how many times I tell her that, she still feels she has something to prove.

  If words aren’t enough to show Chloe how much I adore her, I think I know just the thing that will.

  For weeks, I’ve spent every sleepless night contemplating what I could do to show Chloe how head-over-heels in love with her I am and how much she means to me. I’d considered some drastic options—everything from commissioning a massive painting of Darcy to tattooing Chloe’s name on my body. And, while some ideas were a bit more radical than others, nothing seemed just right. Then, as if a lightning bolt struck me, I woke up at three AM knowing exactly what needed to be done.

  For Chloe, I’d plan a surprise wedding.

  Off the bat that might sound just as extreme as a tattoo, but for Chloe— my stressed-out perfectionist—it’s perfect.

  We’ve been engaged for what seems like forever, and part of the reason that’s the case is that she insists she hasn’t been able to plan the picture-perfect day that our love story deserves.

  What I can’t seem to show her is that there’s no need for perfection. Any day spent with her is perfect as it is. Besides, she doesn’t have time to plan anything with how hard she works here at her family’s lodge so her dad can cut back.

  She puts enough pressure on herself. She shouldn’t have to tackle a wedding, too.

  And honestly, planning this big surprise has been really fun. The arrangements have already begun to come together. I planned for it to happen on New Year’s Eve, which is also when her mom and dad will be returning from their cruise. And of course I asked my brother if he and Margot could extend their stay so they could join in our special day.

  Once I told Owen the news, he was happy to do whatever he could to make it work. Which it turns out, was just keeping the news from his wife. I’ve grown to love Margot, but that woman couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it. The only thing I told Owen I wanted as a wedding gift was for him not to share the surprise wedding news with Margot.

  It turns out it’s easier to surprise two sisters rather than one. At least that’s the case with the Price girls.

  My fiancée is a gorgeous woman, from her head to her heart—but she’s also a ball of stress. And Margot is her go-to-girl when she needs to vent. I knew Margot would spill the wedding surprise if Chloe got all worked up about having no bookings over Christmas.

  Chloe puts so much pressure on herself all the time to do everything perfectly. I wish I could somehow get through to her that she could never do anything to disappoint me, or anyone for that matter. Whatever happens with these celebrity guests, she’s fully capable of giving them a grand stay that will make her parents proud.

  However, these extra guests are definitely throwing a wrench in my wedding plans. I’ve purposely limited our bookings so we’d have the lodge to ourselves for the holidays. I thought I’d planned for everything, letting the staff have the weekend off, ordering the food and decorations, but I hadn’t anticipated a bunch of celebrities crashing our wedding.

  They’re about to turn our normally quiet country Christmas into a circus. I just hope it doesn’t spoil what I have in mind for Chloe. I want her to be able to relax and enjoy herself on our wedding day. After all, that’s the whole reason I'm springing it on her like this.

  But if she’s worried about these high-profile guests, a surprise wedding might put her over the edge.

  I'm at a loss as to what to do here.

  If I don’t sweep her off her feet with a surprise wedding, we may never find the perfect time to get
married. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can’t take love or family for granted. You have to act while you still have the chance, or else it might just slip away forever.

  Donovan Dunn

  Perfectly white snow whirls and whips around the helicopter as we soar toward our holiday destination.

  Eric has really outdone himself. Even I’m impressed, and that’s no easy feat.

  We’d gotten up bright and early to be whisked off to the airport on Eric’s command. Somehow, everyone even made it on time. They must all be excited for this holiday getaway. Or maybe it’s the prospect of riding in the luxury helicopter Eric chartered.

  The Eurocopter EC 155 is basically the Rolls-Royce of helicopters. The luxurious white leather interior seats thirteen and can get us to Pine Island in a blink of an eye with its impressive speed of two-hundred miles per hour. I sort of wish I had more time to appreciate all the remarkable ten-million-dollar chopper has to offer, but the pilot has already started making his descent.

  Though I’m enjoying the exhilarating ride, I'm just as excited to check out Everett’s Christmas Lodge and Tree Farm. My research into their business last night has really piqued my interest. I can’t wait to get into the owners’ heads a bit. I want to know more about how they advertise their business and how I can help improve it.

  I glance over at Chloe, wondering if I can get her on board with my plans to bring this new business to our firm. She didn’t seem too enthusiastic when I brought it up yesterday.

  Even though Chloe’s hand is in mine, our fingers linked, the mood feels as strained as it did last night. She went to bed earlier than I did, which is unusual. When I wandered into our bedroom to find her sleeping, all our packing done, my heart sank.

  This morning, we’d sipped coffee together, but she’d remained distant even though she was smiling. I don’t know exactly what’s going through her head, but I'm sure she’ll let me know when she’s ready. She’s like me in that way—we can’t be rushed when it comes to sharing our feelings. I love that about her. She tends to solve a lot of her own problems in her head without having to voice them to me.