Holiday Hangup: Christmas in Emerald Ridge by Kelsey Kain

Author:Kelsey Kain [Kain, Kelsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tamrin Banks
Published: 2023-12-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Crystal

Istretch and moan, feeling my sore muscles protest the movement. I push all that down and climb out of the bed, smiling when I see the snow outside the window. It’s been a long time since I spent the holiday where it’s meant to be spent.

Home.

I frown and push that feeling way the hell down. It’s not home. Nothing’s really home anymore. Not the place we moved after Jessup died. Not here on Emerald Ridge, the site of one of the most painful memories of my life.

But also the site of my favorite memories as well. I cross to the window and smile, looking out at the snow but not really seeing it.

Instead, I see Jessup and I having a snowball fight with a young Jake trying to protect me from my brother’s deadly aim. The two of them locked in a deadly showdown with me in the middle.

I turn to see the frozen lake just barely peeking through the trees. My mind turns back to the Fourth of July party that they had on that beach and the overnight stay where we sat around the campfire and the two of them told me the most horrible ghost stories until I was terrified to go to sleep.

And then Jake sat up outside my tent to make sure that I wasn’t scared and that I didn’t have nightmares and if I did, he was there to protect me.

Jessup wasn’t deliberately cruel. He was just a big brother who loved to mess with his baby sister. And to tell the truth, that was one of the things I missed the most after he died. The way he teased and tormented me but I always knew that he loved me.

Tears trickle down my cheeks and I swipe at them, sniffling angrily. I have good memories of my brother and this place. That should be enough.

The door opens and Jake comes in, hesitant until he sees the tears on my face. “Hey.” He strides over to me and pulls me into his arms. “Are you okay? Does something hurt? I can get you some Tylenol if you need it.”

I shake my head and bury my face in his chest, breathing in that scent that I remember so well. It’s still the same and it still calms me after all this time.

“No. I’m not sore. I was just…remembering.”

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer. “What are you remembering? Your brother’s….?”

I shake my head and sigh, gusting into his warm flannel and feeling the hard muscles under the soft fabric. My heart speeds up but I pull all those squishy feelings back.

“I was remembering the snowball fight we had. The winter before he passed.”

He chuckles and the rumble of it rolls through my whole body, sending fire cruising through my belly and limbs. I feel boneless in his arms.

“Yeah. He was brutal in those snowball fights. I had bruises for a week after that one.”

“That was because you protected me. You always protected me when he got a little wild.

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