Chapter 6

Chapter Six

“Merry Christmas!” Danny called as he walked into the foyer of Atlas and Payton’s lakefront home.

“Hey, there you are,” Zach Frost said, coming up and giving him a bear hug.

Danny took in the scent of wood and tree needles and smiled. “You just brought them their tree tonight, didn’t you?”

“Paying customers first, man,” Zach said as he pulled back. “Besides, I’m pretty sure the rock star was off doing a charity concert or some other altruistic thing, so he wasn’t here to help me haul it in.”

“I was though,” Payton said, handing each of them a glass of wine. “I could have helped. In fact, I think we’d have had it up faster than you and Atlas did today.”

“You think so?” Atlas draped his arm over his wife’s shoulders and grinned down at her. And then before she could answer, he added, “You’re probably right. Never underestimate my wife. She’s a force of nature.”

“I’ll remember that.” Danny followed them into the house and placed the gift he’d brought under the giant tree that stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the lake. He stared at the tree for a long moment, taking his time to remember the year before. To smile at the memory of his grandmother, Georgia, who’d spent her last Christmas in that very house, surrounded by family.

“She’s here, you know,” Payton said softly as she appeared beside him and slipped her arm through his.

“Has Atlas seen her?” he asked, glancing at his cousin, who was a medium.

“He hasn’t said, but it’s not necessary. I can feel her presence. Can’t you?” She smiled softly up at him. “Ever since I started decorating, she’s been on my mind. And I swear I heard her tell me to get her a glass of wine the other day.”

Danny laughed. “She would be asking for wine.”

“Come on. Dinner’s almost ready.” Payton led him to the dining room, where Zach and his wife Ilsa were already seated.

“I’m going to go see what mischief Atlas is getting up to in the kitchen,” Payton said. “Sit. We’ll have dinner on in a minute.”

After Payton disappeared into the kitchen, Danny took a seat across from Ilsa.

“No Mia tonight?” Danny asked, referring to Zach and Ilsa’s daughter. She was a sweet preschooler who was the apple of her parents’ eyes.

“She’s with Holly and Rex tonight. They’re making Christmas cookies and overdosing on hot chocolate and marshmallows,” Ilsa said with a chuckle. “I told Holly she was going to have to keep her overnight so there was a chance Mia sleeps off all that sugar.”

“That’s probably a good plan,” he agreed, though he could only imagine what it was like to have a child around. Starting a family wasn’t something he’d ever thought about after he’d left Marissa. She was the only person he’d ever been able to imagine as the mother of his children.

“It’s a brilliant plan. A four-year-old hopped up on sugar is a little demon,” Zach said. “A cute one, but a demon nonetheless.”

Danny eyed the six place settings. With Mia absent, that meant they only needed five. “Who’s our sixth guest?”

Both Zach and Ilsa shrugged.

Ilsa frowned and said, “I told Payton that Mia couldn’t make it.”

“The place setting isn’t for Mia,” Payton said as she walked back in the room carrying plates of food. Atlas was right behind her with a couple of bottles of wine. “It’s for my friend. She’ll be here any minute.”

Just as Payton finished placing plates on the table, the doorbell rang.

“That’s her!” Payton hurried to get the door.

Atlas held up the wine bottles. “White or red? ”

Danny glanced down at the filet and what he knew had to be goat cheese mashed potatoes and said, “Red.”

“Good man,” Atlas said and proceeded to fill everyone’s requests.

When Danny saw that Ilsa went with the white wine, he frowned. With steak? He nearly shuddered at the thought. But then he noted that she had fish with some sort of white wine sauce on her plate. Which meant Payton had gone out of her way to make sure everyone had a meal they really like. He glanced at his cousin, who was still filling wine glasses, and felt a twinge of jealousy. Not because he was a rock star and had more money than should be legal, but because he’d found the love of his life. And by all accounts, she appeared to be the perfect woman. At least when it came to cooking.

Marissa never had been much of a cook. Not back then. But she hadn’t been much of a bartender either, and now she was slinging drinks every night and had built quite the following. Danny had loved watching her hands fly while she made cocktails when he was at the bar the night before.

“What are you smiling about?” Ilsa asked in a raised whisper.

“Huh?” he glanced at her and then shrugged. “Just admiring Payton and her hospitality skills.”

“No, that’s not what that smile was about.” Ilsa gave him that mom look that was intended to pry the truth out of one of her kids.

But Danny ignored it. “It’s the truth. Look at all the trouble she went through. ”

“It was no trouble,” Payton said, appearing back in the dining room. “You know I like to cook. Just leave room for pie.”

Danny turned around to tell her there was always room for pie, but he was struck speechless when he spotted the woman she’d invited. The auburn-haired beauty had an ethereal look about her. Her skin seemed to glow, and her whiskey-colored eyes shone brighter than anyone else’s in the room. She wore a long, flowy cream-colored dress and flats that looked like ballet slippers. Nothing about her outfit was weather appropriate.

“Everyone, I want you to meet Sophie,” Payton said. “She’s in town for the season and has become a regular at the pie shop. Sophie, this is everyone.” Payton introduced everyone by name and then seated the otherworldly woman in the chair beside Danny.

Payton and Atlas sat at opposite ends of the table and then Atlas stood to give a toast.

Danny didn’t hear a word that Atlas said. He was too busy trying to find some way not to stare at the woman beside him. Not only was she beautiful, but she also had some sort of magical glow that was lighting her from the inside out.

When he noticed she’d put her wine glass to her lips, he glanced around and noted that both his cousins were staring at him with humor in their expressions. They could see that Danny had been transfixed and were just waiting to give him hell about it. He cleared his throat. “So, Sophie, what do you do that brought you to Christmas Grove this holiday season? ”

Her smile entranced him, and he was starting to feel like maybe he should step outside for a minute just to clear his head.

But then she spoke, sounding completely normal, and the spell seemed to break. “I’m a project manager of sorts. I’m here to make sure the project we’re working on goes smoothly.”

“What company do you work for?” Ilsa asked, leaning in and looking almost as transfixed as Danny had.

Good , he thought. At lease he wasn’t the only one who appeared to be glitching out when it came to the beautiful stranger.

“Just a small one nobody’s ever heard of,” Sophie said, tucking a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear. “I’m more interested in hearing about all of you.”

That was all it took for each and every one of them to give her a full breakdown of who they were and what they were up to.

Zach had just finished telling her all about the Christmas tree farm when he said, “But I’m not even the most interesting Frost. We also have Atlas, who is a legit rock star, and Danny, who runs a very successful pottery shop. All I do is sell trees.”

“Trees that bring joy to hundreds every year,” Sophie said.

Zach toasted her with his wine and said, “Yes. That I do.”

The woman finally turned to Danny and asked him an unending number of questions about his studio, and she seemed genuinely interested in everything he had to say .

Finally, she said, “I like you, Danny Frost. You should take me on a date tomorrow.”

“A date?” he sputtered, completely caught off guard.

“Yes. Breakfast, and then I want to come take classes at your studio. I have always wanted to try pottery. It seems like this is fortuitous, don’t you think?”

He didn’t think it was fortuitous at all, but he kept that to himself. “I don’t know about breakfast. I’m really busy these days?—”

“I know. That’s what you said,” Sophie practically purred at him. “That’s why I chose breakfast. For busy people, it’s always a great first date. Food is fast and you can have an excuse to leave if it isn’t working out. But if it is, you have all day to hang out together. Let’s see where that takes us, Danny.”

“You can’t turn her down now,” Zach said.

Atlas just laughed and then backed up Zach by saying, “You’re the man, Danny. Take her out, show her a good time, and then bring her by the Christmas Tree Festival at the farm next week.”

Danny was ready to kill his cousins, but there was nothing he could do but agree to the date without looking like a major a-hole. “Sophie, would you like to have breakfast with me tomorrow at Candy Canes?”

Her shoulders straightened, and as a pleased smile claimed her face, she said, “I thought you’d never ask.”