The wipers of Harrison's Mercedes GLS glided across the windscreen as they batted away large flakes of snow. At least he'd avoided the earlier blizzard. Now the snow was falling far more gently and whilst visibility on the roads wasn't great, it was a lot better than it had been. He was glad he had delayed his journey by several hours, even though it meant arriving in the dark, and late into the evening. That was a bonus, in fact. He would only need to spend an hour or so with his grandfather before the old man retired to his room for the night. Harrison may not have set foot inside The Grange for twenty years, but he knew exactly what went on there. Luke made sure of that.

And Luke wasn't Harrison's only informant. Three years ago, Rufus Bow, who was ninety this year, had begrudgingly agreed to a live-in housekeeper to oversee the day-to-day running of the house. A housekeeper paid for by Harrison. Not that Rufus could say no. The house belonged to Harrison, not to Rufus, and had done so for the last eight years, despite what everyone else might think. In fact, strictly speaking, it had belonged to Harrison since the day it was purchased from the Bells; he simply hadn't known about it at the time. More than once during the last eight years, Harrison had been sorely tempted to tell the old man to leave, but he never had. He might detest his grandfather, but family was family, no matter what he may have done.

'So this is Mistletythe,' Kiki, Harrison's executive assistant said, peering out at the snow-laden streets of the town. 'I see what you mean by “quiet”. The place is bordering on dead.'

She threw him a smile and he smiled back. 'I warned you, so it's too late to blame me. I still don't know why you wanted to come.' He glanced from side to side. 'The place hasn't changed in twenty years.'

Kiki twisted in her seat and tipped her head to one side, a curtain of sleek, mahogany hair falling to her elbows. 'Why haven't you been back for twenty years? Did you ever tell me? I can't recall.'

He hadn't, and she knew it. So what was she playing at, exactly? He'd never spoken of that time to her or to anyone since it happened; since he'd vowed never to return to The Grange, or to ever drive along Mistletoe Row again – the scene of one of the unhappiest times of his life.

'No. And I'm not going to tell you now, so forget it. One thing I will say though, is beware of the old man. He may be ninety but all his faculties are intact. And he can be a real charmer when it suits him. He can make you believe in unicorns if he wants to.'

'Unicorns?' Kiki gave a ripple of laughter and pulled a face at him. 'Where did that come from? I've never heard you mention unicorns before.'

Harrison cursed under his breath. He hadn't even got to Mistletoe Row and already that damn girl was playing on his mind. Twenty years had passed and yet still Juliet bloody Bell and her sodding unicorns were the first thing that popped into his head the moment he was within spitting distance of the place.

'It's something someone once said about me and my grandfather. What I'm saying is, don't believe everything he tells you. In fact, don't believe anything. That way you stand less chance of getting hurt.'

'Getting hurt? Jesus, Harrison. What's come over you? You're acting weird. You've been acting weird since the day your brother called and asked you to come down here for Christmas. If you didn't want to come, why are we here?'

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and clenched his teeth.

'Harrison?' Kiki coaxed.

'I'm here because Luke asked me to be. You're here because you said you had nowhere else to go this year and you might as well come with me and get paid double-time.' He threw her a sardonic smile.

'Double my Christmas bonus, I believe you mentioned.' She laid a manicured hand on his forearm and grinned. 'And it's not that I didn't have anywhere else to go. You're well aware that I could be skiing in Aspen with Charlie and the crowd. I chose to be here with you.'

He cast a quick glance in her direction and furrowed his brows. 'Why was that? I told you it wouldn't be fun. Or festive. Or anything else you're expecting. I told you it would be all work, in a dark and dingy old house and that you'd be far better off going to Aspen with your brother. And yet here you are. And you say I'm the one who's acting weird.'

Kiki let out a little sigh. 'Let's just say, I fancied a change. And I like spending time with you. You know that. We're friends first, more than we are boss and assistant, aren't we? We've been friends for years, yet we've never spent Christmas, or any other holiday time together. I thought it would be nice if we did.'

He raised one brow. 'So you said when you told me you wanted to come. I don't think spending holiday time with one's boss is a requisite for a good working relationship, Kiki, or something friends need to do. In fact, I think it would be quite the opposite in many cases.'

'But we're not like other people, are we? We have something special, don't you think?'

She twisted a lock of her hair around her finger and Harrison watched her from the corner of his eye. He couldn't decide if she was going for sexy, or petulant. Her tone was soft and sultry but the expression on her undeniably beautiful face was more like a spoilt child.

'We certainly work well together,' he said, turning his attention to the road and changing the subject. 'You can't see them, due to the fact that the local council is too mean to install adequate street lighting, but we're now on Mistletythe Lane and it's bordered either side by apple orchards. This time of year the apple trees are laden with bunches of mistletoe. Did you know that mistletoe is a parasitic plant and attaches itself to a host? Although it doesn't actually kill the host tree, just lives off its nutrients. It's a bit like some members of my family, in that respect.' He flashed Kiki a meaningful grin.

She grinned back. 'Or like an alien from another planet.'

'My relatives, or the plant?' He raised a brow before continuing: 'It also grows on lime and hawthorn in the UK, and poplar and conifer, I believe. Although I'm no expert. It's spread by birds. They eat the berries and wipe their beaks on the branches of the trees, leaving the mistletoe seed behind to establish itself. Or perhaps it's in their poop. Anyway, it takes years for it to get to the stage where it can bear berries. But Mistletoe is more valuable than the apple crop around here, which is why the mistletoe has been encouraged to thrive. It's a shame you won't get to see it. Even in daylight it'll be hidden under all this snow.'

'We're going to be here for a week or two, aren't we? You never know what might happen.'

For some reason, Harrison wasn't sure she was still talking about the mistletoe but he ignored the comment as he reached the narrow bridge and they drove across it in silence. From here, Mistletoe Row was full of twists and turns as it wound its way for about a mile until it climbed up Mistletoe Mount on which the stately Georgian house, The Grange, stood proud at the top, overlooking the clutch of cottages, the church, the pub and Dobbie's Convenience Store.

'At least there's a pub,' Kiki said, nodding to her left.

'And a church,' Harrison said, grinning. 'Not that you've probably ever been inside one of those, have you?'

Kiki tutted and pouted her bright red lips. 'I'll have you know, Harrison Bow that I was a Catholic convent school girl. I spent more years than I care to remember inside a church.'

'I'm impressed. I didn't know that about you.'

'There're a lot of things you don't know about me, Harrison. And there are lots of things I don't know about you, despite the fact that you and Charlie have been friends for at least ten years. We can spend this holiday finding out.'

He didn't like the sound of that. It came across as more of a threat than a treat. Or perhaps that was just him being his usual stand-off self and putting up his barriers. Maybe it was time he stopped doing that? After all, he was back on Mistletoe Row for the first time in twenty years, wasn't he? And hadn't Luke begged him to come and to try to put the past behind him? Behind them all. Perhaps the time was right. Kiki was drop-dead gorgeous and he was pretty sure she liked him. Perhaps spending this Christmas with her by his side wouldn't be all bad. Even if he would also be spending it with his grandfather.

He tried not to look at number 29 as he passed, but he couldn't quite stop his head from turning briefly in that direction. The cottage looked warm, cosy and welcoming on the outside with its rows of white fairy lights, a garland of holly and mistletoe above the double front door and an amber glow from every window. Inside, he could imagine it would be even more festive, warm and welcoming. But not to him. If he knocked on that door, it'd be slammed in his face a second after it was opened. They'd probably toss out a bunch of garlic, and possibly even some holy water, for good measure. One of the last things Juliet Bell had said to him was that he was a bloodsucking pariah. Before she'd wished him dead. He hadn't forgotten that. Even after twenty years.

'Is that it?'

For a second Harrison wondered if Kiki could read his thoughts. Until he realised she was staring in the direction of Mistletoe Mount and The Grange.

'Yep. That's it. It looks bloody depressing, doesn't it?'

She met his eyes. 'It could definitely do with a bit of brightening up. Doesn't your grandad, or your brother like Christmas? God! The place does have electricity, doesn't it? I can't see one light anywhere. Perhaps everyone's gone out?'

Harrison laughed mirthlessly. 'The old man will no doubt be in his study at the back of the house, and if I know Luke, he'll be in the gym, or the indoor pool, both also at the back. Daphne, the live-in housekeeper is probably in the kitchen.'

'Also at the back, I suppose,' Kiki said, raising perfectly arched brows. 'What's at the front?'

'The sitting room, dining room, library and my study.'

'Your study? But you told me you haven't been here for twenty years.'

'I haven't. When the old man bought the place – and I use that word charitably – he gave me a study. I know for a fact that's exactly as it was. And nothing will have changed because that old man will never change. That's simply the way he is.'

'You really don't like him, do you? What did he do to make you hate him so?'

Harrison sneered. 'What did he do? He ruined my life. And not just my life, but other people's too.'

'Ruined your life?' Kiki's brows shot together and her voice increased by at least an octave. 'If this is your life ruined, I can't imagine just how wonderful it was before. God, Harrison. People would kill to have your life. And that includes me.'

He shot her a look and after a moment he nodded. 'I suppose you're right. And it wasn't that my life was wonderful before. But it could've been. It could've been the sort of life people only dream about. He made sure that could never be.'

'Will you ever tell me about it?'

Her voice was soft and soothing but when she laid a hand on his knee, he moved his leg away.

'Sorry, Kiki. I'm behaving like a bloody jerk, I know. It's this place. Seeing it again after all these years has brought it all back with a vengeance. But I'm being melodramatic. Ignore me. I expect you're beginning to regret offering to join me for Christmas, aren't you?'

'Absolutely not. I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to see Luke again. It must be several months since he visited you. And I'm dying to meet your grandad in spite of everything you've said about him. Or not said, to be more precise. I think this is the most you've spoken of him since I've known you, and certainly since I started working for you four years ago.'

'Four years? Has it only been four? It feels a lot longer than that.'

'Thanks.' She playfully tapped his arm. 'I'll take that as a compliment.'

He grinned. 'You should. It was meant as one. You've become a good friend, Kiki. More like a sister, in fact.'

'Great.' She folded her arms and pouted.

'What's wrong with that?' He stopped the car outside the front door of The Grange and turned to her and smiled.

'You should've stopped at good friend.' She twisted in her seat and met his eyes. 'I don't want to be your sister, Harrison. I want...'

The front door of The Grange burst open and Kiki's voice trailed off as Harrison looked away to see his younger brother dashing towards them.