The Christmas Company by Alys Murray

Author:Alys Murray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Published: 2018-08-17T19:28:24+00:00

Chapter Ten

Kate didn’t know what Michael put in that hot chocolate, but it must have been stronger than morphine and tasteless as water. One minute, she shivered under the covers and warmed her hands against the walls of the steaming mug; the next, she woke from a dream (where she starred as an animated Who in one of those Grinch movies) with a slight start. As she blinked against the darkness, it took her a moment to remember where she was and what had happened. The bedroom, with its crackling fireplace and slightly dusty fixtures—no one had been in here but the caretaker for almost a year now—engulfed her with its largeness. Kate cocooned herself in the warm covers, feeling more than a bit like Alice in Wonderland after downing the shrinking potion. Her entire apartment could fit in this one bedroom.

Against her better judgment, she had to wonder: how could a guy with a house like this be worried about money? Clark was, to put it mildly, a complete and total miser. A penny-pincher. The festival was just the visible tip of the iceberg. She’d even caught a glimpse into his car’s trunk during their trip to bring food to the families on the outskirts of town. He claimed he intended to spend one week in town, but only packed one backpack’s worth of clothes. Everything about him proclaimed his truth: money mattered, and he wasn’t going to waste a penny of it, even if those pennies might make an entire community happy.

He had everything. But more than everything, he had nothing. Nothing of any value. Kate didn’t have a lot—she worked for the festival because she loved it, not because the festival was paying her well—but even though she counted pennies and cut coupons so she could work in her dream job, richness filled her life. Emptiness filled Clark’s.

Her heart bled for him.

“No,” she muttered. “No more sitting around.”

Admittedly, she struggled to make her heavy limbs rip the covers away and expose her body to the cold air of the old house, but she couldn’t stay in bed any longer. Her eyes flickered to the clock above the mantel. 8 o’clock. 8 o’clock gave her… She counted on her fingers… Twenty-eight hours until the end of Christmas altogether. Twenty-eight hours to change a life, to fill it to the brim with magic.

Slipping out of bed, she marveled at the soft slouch of the pajama material against her skin. It served as a good distraction against the cold floor beneath her feet. It should figure Clark would have a massive, historical house with every modern luxury only to ignore the modern amenities like under-floor heating in favor of lighting a sooty fireplace.

As Kate crossed the room, she caught her own reflection in the mirror. Her makeup came off in the wash, her hair remained damp after her shower, and the pajamas Emily dug up from one of the wardrobes weren’t the traditional Christmas pajamas she always wore because those

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