Chapter 7

The snowdrifts down into town were piled high, and Main Street had not been plowed. Westbend was its own winter wonderland, and Danny walked with Mel by his side, loving how her eyes lit up the further into town they went, her three dogs trailing obediently behind them. The sun shone brightly overhead and the snow glittered from the light. Icicles glinted from the trees and overhangs of shops as others in the town walked along, headed for the festival. Today was Saturday, and since the blizzard had stopped, more people could be out and about to enjoy it.

“Alright,” she said when they came to a stop at the edge of the festival tents.

“Alright what?” Danny pushed.

“You were right, this is nice.” She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Oh, we’re just getting started,” he warned and took her hand in his before they walked through the line of tents. Several heaters blasted from inside them, but Danny barely felt the cold with Mel so close to his side. “I have to pick up several gifts while we’re here today.”

“For who?” she asked, then squealed in excitement, pointing further down the tents before taking off ahead of him. Bobby and Lucy ran after her, but Xena stayed by Danny’s side as he scratched the top of her head, watching Mel at the stall, talking enthusiastically to someone.

“I guess we should follow her,” he said, and Xena barked.

They passed stalls filled with food and beers, crafts from the local shopkeepers, and several frozen delights, as well as a stall dedicated solely to hot chocolate. He paused there and bought two large thermoses full before catching up to Mel. The woman she spoke to was around her age with short, spiked, blonde hair and black fingernails. She didn’t have a coat on, and Danny wondered how she wasn’t cold when he saw what lay further back in her large tent.

“Danny,” Mel said and grabbed his arm to pull him closer. “This is Cindy, an old friend of mine.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said as he handed Mel one of the thermoses before he shook Cindy’s hand. “Strong grip there.”

She laughed and shrugged. “Long days of working will do that to you.”

“Cindy works a forge here in town. She does metal work, wall art, and weapons when she’s in the mood,” Mel said proudly. “She even did some work at the inn.”

“And I’d love to do some more if you ever asked me to.” She eyed Mel until her friend’s cheeks flushed. “You know we’d all love to see you more, and that place of yours. Imagine my surprise when Marty told the entire bar last night that you had a man staying with you.”

“I’m sorry, I should call you—wait, did you say about the bar last night?”

Cindy grinned wickedly as she leaned closer. “The whole town knows your secret.”

“Damn it,” Mel muttered. “Sometimes I hate that man.”

“Is it bad?” Danny worried he might piss off the locals if they thought he was stomping all over Robert’s memory, but Cindy threw her head back and laughed.

“Hell no, it’s about time she got some.”

“Could you say that any louder?” Mel groaned, and Danny burst out laughing beside her. “Oh, think this is funny, do you?”

He shrugged one shoulder and sipped his hot chocolate. “I don’t see why not? They obviously care about you. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I hope you like little old ladies digging into your life, buddy, because that’s what’s going to happen.”

Danny leaned down and slanted his lips across hers before she had a chance to pull away, and they were lost in each other as the festival went on around them. Several people clapped, and someone whistled before Danny ended the kiss and straightened to find Mel torn between a glare and a grin as she smacked his arm.

“You got yourself a damn fine kisser.” Cindy nodded in approval.

“And that’s all we’ve done,” Mel emphasized. “Danny said he needed to find gifts for a few people, and I thought you’d be the best option to help him out. Give you some business.”

Cindy waved Danny further into the tent, and she waved her hands over shelves and tables filled with glass and metal trinkets. “I have something for everyone, or I like to think I do,” she said with a throaty laugh. “Who are these presents for? Anyone I know?” She waggled her eyebrows, and Danny buried his face behind his thermos. “Knew it. She’d like something from that table.”

Danny walked to the table filled with glass pendants and earrings in all colors and styles. “This is fantastic work. You have a shop in town?”

“I do, but I’m working on trying to branch out. I just need a backer, I guess.”

“Ever thought about selling your items in gift shops? I might know a guy who runs several hotels up and down the east coast,” he told her as he ran his finger over a beautifully crafted pendant. “These would definitely sell.”

“Would you mind putting me in touch with him?” Cindy bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement. “I don’t think I could ever repay that favor.”

Danny waved away her worries. “This one, what do you think?” He picked up the twisted glass icicles, formed together in the shape of a heart and colored red and black. A smaller heart hung between them, so delicate, yet safe at the same time, trapped within the larger one. “Think she’d like it?”

Cindy took it carefully from him, smiling brightly. “You have no idea how much she will.”

“You two were close?” he asked, chancing a glance to be sure Mel wasn’t too close to hear.

“We were, until Robert died,” she said sadly. “It took so much out of her, losing him and the baby at once. I wasn’t sure she was going to make it there for a while, and some days, I still wonder.”

“You didn’t stay in touch? You live so close, though,” he said as Cindy wrapped up the pendant and tucked it safely in a small, wooden, hand-carved box.

Cindy set it aside and inquired about who else he shopped for. He said his parents, and she led him to another table with metallic flowers and several knives he knew his dad would love. “I tried,” Cindy finally said, “to stay in touch. We all did, but she pushed us away. She didn’t want us to see her in pain, I guess. The only ones who ever really saw her were the guests and the five people who worked there with her, but she even cut back on them until it was only her and Donna.”

“Donna helps her run the inn?”

“She has her daughter take care of the diner when she’s busy up there. Anything to get Mel to open up and move on, but none of us could do it.” With a wry grin, Cindy looked at him straight on. “Until you came to town. What did you do to her?”

Danny picked up an intricately crafted lily made of several different pieces of iron and pointed to a small, six-inch knife with a wooden carved handle and smooth blade. “I accidentally made reservations at her inn for the holidays. One thing led to another, I guess.”

“You guess,” Cindy repeated in disbelief. “There had to be something else.”

“Perhaps it was my charming attitude,” he added with a wink.

“Nah, she doesn’t fall for that shit.” Cindy’s hands paused in wrapping up the last two items. “How is she, really?”

Danny wasn’t sure what Mel would want others to know, but Cindy was her friend and if she could let Danny into her life, then it was time she let her friends back into her life, too. “She’s doing better now, I think, but last night, she nearly destroyed everything in her apartment upstairs. I stopped her before she broke something she’d really regret.”

“You’re a good man, you know that? Not many people would wander into her inn and brave out the storm.” She set all three gifts in a paper bag and told him the total. He pulled out a wad of cash and handed her several hundred. “This is too much,” she argued, but he refused to take it back. “What are you, secretly rich?”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he teased. “Nah, I'd just rather carry cash around than deal with a card. Got my Christmas bonus from work early.” He waited anxiously to see if she’d call him out on it, but she took the hundreds and slipped them into the cash box. “Mind if I ask you something?”

“You’re taking care of my friend,” Cindy said. “You can ask me how much I weigh and I might even tell you.” Danny grinned and raised an eyebrow. “I said might, now what’s your question?”

“I’m thinking of visiting my folks for Christmas on the farm in Iowa and want to ask Mel to come with me. Think she’ll go?” he asked, his hands twitching with nerves. “We only met three days ago. I don’t want it to seem too fast.”

Cindy turned to stare at her friend laughing as she spoke with another woman in an opposite stall selling blankets and shawls. “She hasn’t left Westbend since she got the news,” Cindy confided to him quietly. “Getting out of here might be just what she needs.”

“How should I ask her?”

Cindy rested her hand on his shoulder and sighed. “Very, very carefully. But if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll say yes. Oh, and I slipped a little something extra in that bag from me to her. Make sure she gets it Christmas morning.”

Danny promised he would, thanked her again, and left the stall. Cindy greeted more shoppers, happily showing off her wares, and Danny knew if she had shelf space in his hotel gift shops, she’d run out of items to sell before the new year was out. He watched Mel closely as she admired a plaid blanket of rich greens and maroons, holding it up to her face to feel the softness of the fabric.

“Like that one?” he asked when he’d reached her side.

She nodded, running her hands over it. “I do. I haven’t bought a new blanket for the inn for some time,” she said and reached into her coat for her wallet, but he stopped her. “Really, I can get it.”

“Maybe I want to do something nice for you,” he insisted and motioned to the blanket to the woman selling them. He pulled out a hundred and quietly told her to keep the change as Mel took the blanket from the stand and wrapped it in her arms. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked as they walked on.

She drank her hot chocolate, and her gaze wandered over the stalls and the townspeople saying hi to her. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out here. And I’m thoroughly enjoying myself, happy?”

“As long as you tell me every few hours that I was right, I’ll be happy,” he said, nudging her arm with his. “We still have to pick out a tree before we head back.”

“And ice carvings,” she said excitedly. “They should be doing them in an hour or so.”

They walked a bit further until they saw the large, enclosed, heated tent the shoppers were stopping at for lunch. He motioned towards it, and Mel tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow as they went to grab a bite.

“The dogs?” He glanced around. “Where are they?”

“Not far, don’t worry.” They entered the tent and found a table towards the edge with a plastic window. “Robert trained them well, and most everyone in town knows them.” She peered out the window and laughed, pointing. “See? Made friends already.”

Danny looked out and saw all three dogs wrestling in the snow with several kids who were playing and tossing snowballs. A woman came over and asked them what they’d be having after handing them a condensed version of the diner menu. They both ordered burgers and fries with more hot chocolate, and the waitress hurried away to put in their order.

“Cindy’s a very talented artist,” Danny remarked.

“Yeah, she’s been doing that type of work with her dad for years, long before I knew her,” she said. “Cindy was one of Robert’s friends until I came to town, then we were the besties and he was the outsider.” She smiled and tapped the table with her hands, lost in memories. “She ask about me?”

“As any good friend would. She’s worried about you.”

“And what did you say?” she asked hesitantly.

“I told her the truth, but she seemed happy enough that you were out today, enjoying the festival.”

“And with a guy,” she added. “I really hope they don’t pester you too much.”

He leaned closer and captured her hands in his, staring deeply into the sapphire depths of her eyes. So many emotions warred there, but amongst them was the same desire creating a firestorm within his gut. He considered taking her by the hand and leading her back to the inn, but pushing too hard too fast could drive them farther apart instead of bringing them closer together. He settled on a sweet kiss planted on her lips instead, resting there until the waitress politely cleared her throat and set down their hot chocolates. They broke apart with a laugh, and Mel’s cheeks flushed bright red.

“Wow,” she whispered as she cleared her throat, picking up her mug with trembling hands. “You know, I’m going to be really honest with you here.”

“I think after last night, I’d expect nothing less.”

Her face paled immediately, and she nearly dropped her mug. “Last night? Why, what did we do last night?”

“What?” he muttered and shook his head. “No, no, I didn’t mean that. Besides a very few intense moments, we didn’t do anything besides kiss, I promise,” he assured her. “I just meant how open we were with each other last night.”

Liar, you’re a goddamn liar, a voice whispered in his ear, but he ignored it.

“Good, that’s good,” she babbled, and he raised a brow. “I mean not good as in I don’t want to, ever, I just… last night, I was a little unstable and then things got out of hand and I didn’t want to do something that you’d regret—”

Danny placed his finger over her lips so she stopped rambling. “I’d never regret anything I did with you, Mel. Never. Understand?”

She nodded slowly and he removed his finger, taking her hands instead. “Now, what did you want to be brutally honest with me about?”

She fiddled with her mug and looked down as her cheeks reddened again. She tugged hard at her ear and cleared her throat before her lips finally parted. “It’s been a… been… You know, a long time since I’ve dated, let alone… let alone done anything else, if you catch my drift.”

Danny’s hands slipped to his lap as he realized exactly what she was saying to him. All the fantasies of her in his bed that had taunted him the past two nights appeared before his waking eye as he watched her chest heave with each deep breath, those full breasts he wanted to hold and caress, those hips he desired to press against his as he drove her to crying out in pleasure.

“Are you saying you want to?” He prayed that was exactly what she was telling him.

“I think… maybe.” When her gaze flickered up to his, the smoldering heat there nearly drove him to dive across the table and kiss her hotly, no matter who might be watching. “I’m just out of practice and might be a little rusty.”

“Well, you know what they say,” he uttered. “Practice makes perfect.”

Mel swallowed hard, and she licked her lips as they lifted in the crooked grin quickly stealing his heart away piece by piece. “Let’s get through lunch first,” she suggested as the waitress returned with their food.

They ate in silence, but the sexual tension charging the air between them was so thick, Danny imagined he could reach out and cut it if he wanted to. Each time she took a bite and licked those lips or her fingers, he imagined them on his body, forming moans and screaming out his name as he showed her there was, indeed, still life after so much loss. By the time lunch was over, he’d readjusted his jeans at least ten times and walking wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

“Problems?” she asked as he winced again.

“Nope, perfectly fine,” he replied, loving how easily her hand slipped into the crook of his arm. “Time to find a tree, I think.”

“The lot’s at the end of the street,” she told him, and they shifted direction that way.

They didn’t speak as they walked to the towering Christmas trees, but it was far from awkward. Instead, she leaned into his side and held his arm closer, resting her head on his arm. With all the women Danny had dated in the past, none of them acted like themselves around him. None were normal, just doing what couples dating do. They’d hang on him, but in a way to make other women jealous, fawning over him. Mel simply held him as he held her, and the extreme warmth of her actions stretched from his toes to his head until his whole body thrummed with that heat.

“You alright?” she asked when they reached the tree lot and he didn’t move forward.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m great. Why don’t you start looking? I’m going to check in at the office real quick, make sure my boss didn’t leave me any messages about taking off more days.”

He drew out his cell as she walked into the trees, taking off her right glove so she could run her fingers over the needles. When she was out of sight, he shoved his phone back in his pocket and ran his hand over his head. He needed to tell her the truth before this went any further, but every time he tried to think of the right way to explain, he panicked and nothing came out except a sigh. Hurting her was the last thing on his mind, but the moment he told her, that was exactly what would happen. He would hurt her, betray her, and he might never get a chance to make it right.

“You look troubled,” a man said as he stepped up beside Danny in the snow.

“You could say that,” he muttered, catching a glimpse of Mel in the trees, leaning her head back and laughing as she tried to see the very top of one.

“Let me guess, a woman, right?” the guy said.

Danny shot him a sideways glance, catching a baseball cap covering his face in shadow. “Isn’t that usually the case?” He didn’t recognize the man, but a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.

“How can one woman cause you such a damn headache?” the guy sighed with a quiet laugh.

Danny nodded along with him until he remembered a conversation he’d had with Todd the night before he left for Westbend. He’d said the exact same thing about the same damn woman. “Yeah. Yeah, makes you wonder if it’s all worth it,” he replied slowly, turning to stare harder at the man, but the thick beard on his face made it hard to make out any recognizable features. “Have we met?”

“Nah, just swung by to see the festival on my way north,” he said.

“Where you headed?”

“Not sure yet.” The man shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets. “Figure I’ll know when I get there. This woman of yours, though, you care for her?”

Danny rested his hands on the fence leading into the tree lot. “I do. We only met a few days ago, but man, I can’t even explain it. She’s not like any woman I’ve ever met before. She’s strong as hell, stubborn too, but damn, there’s a storm in those blue eyes of hers that could sweep a man away if he’s not careful,” he mused with a lilt to his lips. “I’m not sure how I managed to live without her.”

“Sounds like one hell of a woman,” the man agreed. “So what’s the trouble then?”

“She doesn’t know who I really am,” he muttered quietly. “I didn’t lie to her, but I haven’t told her the truth either, and the second I do…” He trailed off, imagining Mel chucking a hammer at his head when she found out the truth.

“People do crazy things out of love,” the man replied.

“Love?” Danny snapped and shook his head. “No, I didn’t say love.”

The man grinned knowingly. “You can’t hide it. I can see it plain as day on your face, man. You love her.”

Did he? Danny caught sight of Mel again, and his pulse quickened as his breathing grew ragged. His hands clenched the fence tighter. He thought this was all just from arousal, but was it really from something deeper? “You’re saying you believe in love at first sight?” he asked skeptically.

“I believe in a lot of things now that I never thought I would,” the man replied simply. “The time will come to tell her what she needs to know when she needs to know it. Won’t be easy—hell, you’re going to have one intense fight ahead of you—but in the end, I swear it’ll all be worth it if you don’t give up on her.”

Danny chanced a glance at the man’s hands as he pulled them from his pocket and caught the glimmer of a wedding band. “Speaking from experience?”

The man’s eyes darkened, and he looked into the tree lot as a serene look came over his face. “Yeah, you could say that. Good luck to you, man. Just remember, she’s worth it.”

He clapped Danny on the shoulder and walked away, tugging his hat down on his head. Danny craned his neck to find Mel, wanting to ask her if she knew the guy, but when he turned back, the man was gone. He walked a few steps one way then the other, but there was no sign of anyone in a baseball cap. Scratching his neck when his hair stood on end, Danny shrugged and pushed through the trees to track down Mel.

“Find one you like?” He found her sitting in the snow at the base of a tree. When she turned her face to him with her crooked grin and bright eyes, he chuckled and plopped down beside her.

“Think he’s big enough?” She tilted her head this way and that before she rested it on his shoulder.

Danny moved his arm around her and drew her in close. “I think it’s definitely big enough,” he said, closing his eyes as the sense of home hit him hard in the chest. Maybe he’d talk to her about going to Iowa tonight after they got back to the inn.

And when are you going to tell her everything else?

He grimaced until he remembered what the man told him. It’d all be worth it, and there was a chance he could find another way to make the investors happy. Maybe when he told her the truth, he could tell her he wasn’t even looking at her inn anymore. He needed to call Todd and tell him to start looking at alternative properties and ideas. He knew the investors wanted ten total properties and desired this chunk of land in particular, but Danny had always been good at negotiating deals. He’d find a way to make them happy and hopefully, keep Mel as well.