Chapter 6

chapter

six

I t is finally the big day, and I practically launch myself out of bed, excited to start the festivities. Yule is just around the corner. My dreams have been filled with Yule trees decorated with homemade ornaments, the sweet smells of holiday treats, and joyful music floating through the air. This year I’m determined to give the kids of Whispering Springs the Yule experience that younger me craved.

Walking down Main Street this time of year makes my heart explode. Towering pine trees line both sides of the long and winding street, each decorated to represent one of the many businesses that proudly call Whispering Springs home.

Walking past Blissful Bites, I can’t help but laugh to myself. Ever since Ada found out she was the mate to the sweet orc baker, she has been adding her own little touches to the place. The tree outside is a perfect example of her influence. Enchanted lights cover every single inch of the humongous pine in a rainbow of cheerful colors. A myriad of pastries dance around overhead, and somehow they’ve managed to have the scrumptious scent of gingerbread waft through the air.

Further down the street is The Enchantress, a witch shop owned and operated by Whispering Springs’ very own coven, the Blackwoods. Rue and I have been friends ever since I moved to town five years ago. The exterior of the shop always reminds me of a fairytale witch’s cottage with its thatched roof, stone, and abundance of witch bells hung by the front door. Their Yule tree outside of the shop feels like it’s from another time period. Candles flicker magnificently around the tree, creating an ethereal glow. Garland made of pinecones is draped elegantly across the branches. The ornaments are probably my favorite part. Sigils are painted on circular pieces of wood in a rich golden color that shimmers in the sunlight. Hand-dried oranges, star anise, and cinnamon add a spicy citrus scent to the air.

A knocking sound pulls me out of my holiday daze. Rue stands on the other side of the shop window. She waves at me and points towards the front door, a silent request for me to come inside. Glancing at my watch, I have some time before my shift at the library begins, so I head inside.

The bell above the door jingles lightly as I walk inside. The shop’s interior is just as breathtaking as the exterior with similar decorations covering the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Rue is a green witch and healer, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she was responsible for the many sprigs of holly and mistletoe that are on nearly every single shelf.

“What do you think?” Rue asks, holding her hands wide and giving a small twirl. Her dark curls bounce with each movement.

“It’s amazing! You really outdid yourself this year.”

Rue smiles wide, pleased with my compliment. “Thank you, thank you.” She curtsies.

“Oh, before I forget, I made you a little something. Consider it an early Yule present.” Rue searches behind the counter, and produces a small black velvet drawstring bag that fits in her palm. She places it into my hand, and my fingers lightly trace over the soft fabric.

“This is so sweet of you. Can I open it now?”

“Well, duh,” she replies with a smirk.

I tug on the drawstrings, reach my hand inside, and pull out a delicate rose gold chain with a small pale pink crystal pendant. “It’s beautiful,” I say, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug. “Thank you so much.”

“The stone is a rose quartz that I charged myself during the last full moon. Rose quartz are excellent for drawing love and compassion into our lives. You deserve both of those things more than anyone I know.”

Her words touch my heart. Rue knows that my deepest desire is to find someone who loves me just the way I am, and to start my own little family. It’s not something that I like to admit, but I’d hoped that Declan might be that person. Of course, I’m not someone who thinks that I need a man in my life to be happy. I’ve been plenty happy being single. However, after seeing Ada and Ulgan fall in love, it made me wonder what it would be like to find my own person to grow old with.

“Can you help me put it on?” I ask, holding out the delicate necklace to her. Shifting my hair to the side, Rue places the necklace around my neck. The crystal feels cool against my skin, and I instantly feel more optimistic.

Giving Rue another hug, I happen to glance at the large antique cast iron clock on the wall. “Oh, shit. I’m running late. Thank you so much Rue. I’ll see you later!”

The children’s room looks like a page of a fairytale book. Shimmering snowflakes hang from the ceiling giving the appearance of falling snow. Stations are set up around the room for families to enjoy. The reading nook with a fake fireplace that Declan built is a dream.

The only thing missing? People.

I glance at my watch. Everyone should be here by now. I bite my lower lip, worry surrounding me.

“Hey, do you mind checking to see if anyone is lined up outside?” I call to Declan, who finished the roof this morning and is now hiding his tools in my office. His help today was unexpected, but I’m lying if I say it doesn’t make me incredibly happy. He was just supposed to drop off Ulgan’s cookies, but wouldn’t take no for an answer when he offered to stay and help me.

“You’d better come over here,” he calls back, sounding concerned. What could be the problem? Are there too many people? Excitement builds, but is quickly eviscerated.

“Holy shit,” I mutter under my breath. Peering through the glass storm door, I’m met with a blizzard of apocalyptic proportions.

The streets are covered in at least a foot of snow, and every building looks like it’s trapped inside of a snowglobe. Normally, the first snow of the season would have me grabbing my coat and running outside like a little kid. But this? This has me scrunching my eyes and wishing that I could be anywhere else.

The snow drifts down in heavy blankets with no sign of stopping. Well, this explains where everyone is. I wish that I could say that I was one of those women who held their head high and shook things off when they didn’t go as planned. Most of the time, I am that person. Right now, though, my inner child is screaming at me to run and hide so that I can have a good cry.

No, Hannah. We are going to take a few deep breaths and pull ourselves together.

“Let me check the weather and see how long this storm is going to last. It might be over soon.” He digs his phone out of his pocket, looking puzzled at the screen. “That’s odd, my phone is dead. Could’ve sworn I charged it last night.”

I pull my own phone out of the pocket in my dress. Thank Goddess for dresses with pockets. I quickly realize that my phone, too, has no battery. “Okay, this is officially weird.” Declan and I look at each other in confusion at this strange coincidence.

Just then, the phone at the front desk rings. Declan holds out his hand to me, giving it a quick squeeze. He doesn’t let go right away, instead holding it as we walk towards the front of the empty library and only releasing it when I pick up the phone.

I’m beyond grateful when I hear Mable’s staticy voice on the other side.

“Hello, Hannah dear, are you there?” Mable asks, not sounding the least bit sick like she had the other day. She must be feeling better, which is great.

“Hi Mable. Yes, I’m here with Declan,” I say, thankful that she called. She must have some information about what’s going on. “This snow came out of nowhere, and both of our phones are dead. Do you have any idea how long the storm is supposed to last?”

“The news is saying that the storm will be with us for at least another day or two,” she replies. My mind reels from this information.

I turn to Declan. “She says it will be two more days of this. Maybe we should try to head home now so we aren’t stuck?” I wonder aloud.

“No!” Mable screams. Her response makes me jump, and I almost drop the phone. “I mean, no dear, you should stay put. The roads are treacherous and I would hate to imagine what could happen to you. Both of you stay right there. I’ll call Rue and have her conjure you up some supplies.”

“Okay, if you think it’s too dangerous to go outside, we’ll have to stay here.” Declan’s brows furrow with concern. I don’t think either of us had planned on getting snowed in together today. “Will you keep us posted if there are any updates? Both of our phones died, and my charger appears to be missing.” It isn’t where it should be in the top drawer of the circular desk.

“How strange. Certainly, I’ll keep you updated. Now, you two hunker down and make sure that you don’t leave the library. Toodles, dear!” With that, Mable hangs up. More questions whirl around in my head, but they’ll have to wait until I can speak to her again.

“We’re stuck here, aren’t we?” Declan asks. I expect him to look disappointed or upset, but he looks almost pleased at this news. His beautiful eyes crinkle at the corners as he tries to hide a smile.

“Um, yeah, I guess we are. Mable’s going to have the coven conjure us some supplies and she’ll let us know when it’s safe to head home.” Declan reaches out hesitantly and holds my hand in his. I’m slowly becoming addicted to this. The warmth of his palm and the rough calluses from a hard day’s work. Don’t even get me started on how it completely engulfs my much smaller hand. I wonder what else is large on him?

“Everything will be okay. Let’s think of this as an unexpected adventure. I promise to keep you safe and entertained.”

“Entertained, huh?” I chuckle. His optimism is contagious. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a beautiful lass put together all of these fun activities to do. It’d be a real shame if all of her hard work went to waste.” Slowly, he tugs my hand to the craft station that’s covered in the gingerbread cookies that Declan delivered. Icing pipes and small forest green bowls filled with candies, sprinkles, and edible glitter take up every available seat.

Declan pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit. A blush creeps onto my cheeks as I lower myself into the chair. He sits next to me and quickly gets to work setting up trays for each of us, handing me mine first.

The gingerbread smells heavenly and brings a smile to my face. Declan sets his tray in front of him, picking up a tree shaped cookie and immediately popping it into his mouth. Loud laughter bursts from me. “Dec, we’re supposed to decorate them first.”

“Aye, I know, but I just can’t help it. Cookies are my weakness.” He picks up another star shaped cookie and pops it into his mouth, giving me a mischievous grin. “Okay, time to get to work. I’ll be honest, I’ve never decorated cookies before, so you’ll have to guide me.”

“You never decorated cookies as a kid?”

“No, it wasn’t something that was done in my clan. Don’t get me wrong, we had plenty of fun, but cookies were never involved.” He reaches for another, and I smirk, almost expecting him to take a bite. He ultimately places it on his tray.

“Tell me about where you grew up. I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned it.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” he says, a playful twinkle in his eye, “but I have a bit of an accent.”

“Oh yeah?” I place my hand on his forearm in mock surprise. “Now that you mention it, you do have a slight accent.”

His breath hitches ever so slightly at the contact, and my inner sex goddess pumps her fists in triumph. So he’s not completely unaffected by me—that bodes well. Declan’s green cheeks darken into a blush.

“I grew up in Scotland. My clan has lived in the Grampian Mountains for hundreds of years.” He smiles to himself as he piles a thick coating of deep green icing to his cookie.

“That must’ve been beautiful. I’ve read about that area before. It looks so serene.” I reach over to get my own dollop of icing. My approach is a bit neater than Declan’s, but his enthusiasm for sweets is certainly admirable.

“Aye, that it is. My mother, father, brother, and grandmother still live in the same house that I grew up in. They’re always asking me to come home for a visit, but my work schedule keeps me from going. That’s changing this year though. My brother and his wife just had their child, and I’m going back home next month to meet my first niece.”

I remain quiet listening to Declan as he shares more about his charming upbringing in the mountains, and I find myself growing envious. His eyes light up as he tells me about the loch where he and his brother would fish every summer, and the time that he spent outside helping his mother with her garden.

“What about you? What was your childhood like?” he asks, dumping an impressive amount of golden edible glitter to the top of his creation.

“Um.” I clear my throat and pause, searching for the right words. “Growing up, I always knew that my parents loved me. However, their jobs as archeologists always came first, leaving me stuck in second place. The holidays were never a happy time for me. Every year my parents would be away on some treasure hunt or expedition, and I’d be dropped off at some random relatives house.”

I refuse to look Declan in the eyes. It’ll tear me up if I see pity there.

Taking a deep breath, I continue on with my slightly tragic life story that thankfully has a happy ending. “My parents and I talk on the phone a few times a year, but they’ve never come to Whispering Springs to visit. That’s okay though, I’ve created my own little family with Ada, Rue, and Isla,” I finish, and reach for the container of snowflake shaped sprinkles. A warm green hand gently rests on top of mine.

I can’t help but look up, and what I see shocks me. Declan’s eyes don’t hold an ounce of pity, but rather a reserved anger. “I’m sorry that you had to experience so much of life alone, but I’m in awe of how you’ve created a new one full of joy for yourself.”