Seducing Santa (Holiday Series Book One)

Chapter Nineteen ~ Deck The Halls

Grayson had the decency to look a bit ashamed and sheepish before finally giving Holly an answer.

“Out back, leaned up against the shed.” He replied.

“And why, Mayor of Holiday, have you not put it up yet or even decorated it?” she questioned, a playful tone to her voice.

“Maggie hid it in the back of my truck without me noticing when I went to go pick up the tree for Town Square. She had me pick out one for Town Hall after we had our little…argument, and while I was doing that she hid the other one with a note telling me to take it home. Which reminds me, we will miss the tree lighting now. It takes place right at the end of the parade.” Grayson added, trying to distract her from the topic of his lack of decorating.

“Well then, If I am going to miss the tree lighting why don’t we just have our own right here?” She suggested that smile of hers wreaking havoc on his heart.

He saw the excitement in her eyes at the prospect of decorating and knew he could not say no to her.

“Fine, Let me go dig out the boxes. If you want, feel free to search my kitchen and find yourself something to drink. Also…” He added, coming and taking her jacket and hat before going to hang them on the coat rack in the entry hallway.

Holly walked over to his kitchen, wasting no time opening up all of his cabinets. Grayson watched her for a moment, grinning at how good she looked under the warm glow of his bar lights in her red sweater and light jeans. He had to force his gaze off of her and focus on what he was supposed to be doing, making his way up the stairs.

It had been four years since Grayson had decorated his house or put up a Christmas tree. The one small strand of lights he had outside were still the same ones he had never taken down. Yes, he was one of those annoying people who had Christmas lights on his house all year long, but in his defense, he never turned them on until the first of December and turned them off again on New Year's day.

His house didn’t have an attic but there were three bedrooms and Emily and him had chosen one of the bedrooms as storage/office space. He opened the door to the room and flicked on the lights, not remembering the last time he had even been in this room. A year or so after Emily’s passing he had completely re-done his whole house. Every inch of it had reminded him of her and he needed a fresh start so he would actually want to come home rather than hole himself up in the office. The only room he had not touched was this one.

It was virtually untouched since Emily had still been alive. He still saw boxes of her many craft supplies with her handwriting on them. He headed over to the walk-in closet where the tubs of decorations for all the various holidays were stored. The Christmas ones were easy to find and once again he could see Emily’s handwriting on the side of the green and red tubs saying which ones were indoor and outdoor decorations and which one was the tree. Grayson grabbed the indoor and tree tub, turned off the light, and closed the door behind him before carrying the tubs downstairs.

The sudden aroma of chocolate wafted toward him. He walked around the corner into the living room and set the tubs on the couch before heading over to the bar to sit down. Holly turned and smiled at him when she saw him, placing down a very large mug of hot cocoa topped with small marshmallows before him.

“Wow, I forgot I even had this. Where did you even find it?” He asked, lifting the mug to his lips and giving the hot liquid a cooling blow.

“Stuffed away in the back of your cabinet, still in the original gift wrap. I am assuming this was probably a gift from last year you forgot about?” Holly explained, raising her mug to her mouth and taking a small sip.

“Really? Was it just a package of hot cocoa mix with a bow on it?” Grayson asked, not remembering ever getting a present of hot cocoa.

“Actually, it was a gourmet hot cocoa mix with actual chocolate. I just warmed up some milk in the microwave and dropped the pieces of chocolate in it and stirred it up. The marshmallows I just came across shoved in the back of your cabinet,” Holly said, grinning at him now over her mug.

Grayson chuckled, knowing he was being teased for not even remembering what was in his kitchen. Grayson finally took a sip of the cocoa and was amazed at how smooth and rich it was. He could not even remember the last time he had hot cocoa. Even at the festival each year, he always stuck to the coffee.

Holly took a few more drinks of the cocoa and then placed the mug down on the bartop, walking over to the tubs he had left on the couch. She opened the green one first, labeled “Christmas tree” and began pulling out a long string of lights. They were badly tangled but her fingers worked quickly at untangling them. It was almost mesmerizing to watch.

“You had best hurry up and finish that cocoa. I need you to go get the tree. Do you even have a stand?” Holly asked, pulling out a power strip and looking around the room looking for a plug.

“Yes, somewhere in my shed. You just stay here and keep warm. I will get the tree to you as soon as I can, m’lady.” He teased, giving her a dramatic bow before heading through a side door connected to the kitchen that led out back.

He heard Holly’s laughter before the door closed behind him, the sound filling his home with an emotion that had not been present within its walls in a long time. The door led to a mud room where his washing machine was behind a sliding door and his outdoor clothes hung up near the back door. He put on his red plaid work coat and old lumber boots before heading out the back door.

His backyard was rather bare, the shed in the far right corner being the only real structure. He and Emily had had such plans for the place, like building a patio with furniture for BBQs and maybe even getting a hot tub. None of it had ever happened, his career always getting in the way of home projects.

He shook his head, trying to clear his head of all the regrets he usually tried not to think about. Walking across the yard to the shed, the tree still in its net wrapping leaned against the side of the shed. He opened the door, a workbench with tools he had not touched in years still neatly organized sat against the back wall.

He looked to his right where storage shelves were filled with mostly car maintenance products and a few other outdoor yard tools. His eyes traveled to the bottom of the self where the tree stand stood, leaning down to pick it up before grabbing a multi-tool off his bench and heading back out the door.

He placed the stand on the ground and had to do a strange balancing act with the tree while he twisted the screws into the bottom of the trunk. He was fairly good at doing it, having worked on Maggie’s Tree farm when he was a kid and having to do this for many customers. It did not take him long at all to get the tree secure and straight.

He stood up and hauled the tree to the back door, placing the tree inside while he took off his coat and boots. He walked through the door that led to the kitchen, tree in hand, and froze when he saw what awaited him on the other side.

He had only been gone for about fifteen minutes but already his living room had been transformed. Holly had turned on the TV, a fireplace roaring on the screen as a soft piano and saxophone played “The Christmas Song.” A garland with green and red baubles already hung on the mantle, the top covered in a white fluffy material that looked like snow as a Christmas village was being built across it.

Grayson had completely forgotten about their collection, Emily always buying a new one every year. Holly was just placing the very last one, a small Christmas tree farm stand with a red truck that had a Christmas tree tied down in the back. She turned to him when she heard the door open and smiled brightly, gesturing towards the display.

“You have such an amazing collection! I love it! The popcorn factory is my favorite, though!” She exclaimed excitedly, going to stand in front of it to get a closer look at it again.

Grayson just shook his head in amazement, watching her for a moment longer before carrying the tree in front of the large windows in the living room, the place they had always put it. He pulled the multi-tool out of his pocket and started opening up the netting with the small blade, letting the branches pop out one by one.

Holly came up beside him and reached out to grab one of the small branches, running it through her fingers through it to check that none of the pine needles fell off.

“It appears to have not dried out yet. I’ll go get some water before we put on the lights.” She offered, heading back to the kitchen.

They worked in perfect harmony together as they set up the tree and strung up the lights. Holly even began humming along to the music playing and Grayson joined in, singing the words to the familiar tunes and making Holly laugh. They went with simple multi-colored baubles, matching the lights. Holly even dug out some other ornaments, like a Santa, some reindeer, and a few snowmen. At the bottom of the tub, she found a red box that Grayson had been dreading, recognizing it immediately the moment she pulled it out.

He had just been about to take it away from her and tell her they had enough already, but Holly was quicker. Opening up the top and pulling back the tissue paper that was protecting the keepsake ornaments inside.

Grayson froze when he saw the sonogram photo in the silver-framed ornament sitting right on top. Holly stared down at it with an unreadable expression on her face before she quickly closed the box and placed it back in the tub.

“I–I’m sorry.” she stumbled out quickly.

The Christmas music played softly in the background as the room fell into an awkward silence. Grayson took a step toward Holly, stopping right before her and reaching past her into the tub. He pulled out the box and opened it, staring down at the small black and white photo that he had not seen in nearly four years.

He walked over to sit down in the armchair next to the couch, taking his eyes away long enough to motion toward Holly to sit down as well.

“It's okay, I knew this was in there…” Grayson assured her, seeing the apprehension in her expression slowly melt away.

He looked back down into the box as Holly took a seat on the couch. His eye catching sight of a similar framed ornament just below the other one, this one having a picture of Emily and him. Her familiar big smile and big brown eyes looking straight into the camera while he had been looking at her in the photo. He set the box down on the coffee table and pulled out the ornament, handing it to Holly.

“This is my wife Emily. She died four years ago. In fact, I have not opened this in all that time. Christmas was her favorite holiday and decorating was her thing. I don’t think I picked out any of the decorations in that tub. Even that Christmas Village was all her doing.” He explained, gesturing towards the mantle.

Holly’s eyes went wide and her cheeks instantly flushed as she quickly stood up from the couch.

“I’m so sorry! I’ll put them away–”

“No, please, I am glad to see them all again. It was time.” Grayson reassured her, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down onto the couch.

There was a long pause, Grayson watching her uneasy expression and the way her teeth were worrying on her lower lip. He had not let go of her hand and his thumb began stroking her palm in a soothing motion. He knew he had to break the silence, needing to get out what was weighing down on his heart.

“Emily and I were so excited the day she said she was pregnant. We had been trying for so long and even doing IVF. She had almost made it through the first trimester when she suddenly miscarried. It took a toll on both of us, but more on her than me. At the time, I was working on running for mayor and I was desperate to start a family. Not only because I wanted one, but also politically I knew it would look good. I was a complete i***t. We argued that night. She kept telling me how she needed time and I kept pushing. I even threatened divorce and I did not even try to stop her as she stormed out the door. I was drinking heavily when it started snowing outside. I passed out on the couch and was woken up by a loud banging on my front door. There was a blizzard outside, I could hear the wind rattling the windows and the whole room was filled with flashing red and blue lights. I opened the door and the sheriff was standing there with his hat in his hand. Emily had been driving out in the storm and did not see the oncoming truck. She swerved off the road and down a hill straight into a tree. The truck driver had not even reported the incident and by the time they found her, she was already dead.”

Grayson kept holding Holly’s hand but looked down at the ground the moment he started talking. He had never really had to tell this story to anyone before. In a small town, everyone had already known by the next day and looked at him with pity in their eyes as they spoke their words of condolence. He had replayed the night over and over in his mind many times, but there had never been any reason to say the details out loud.

He felt Holly give his hand a squeeze and finally looked up at her, surprised to find only sadness, but no pity within the depths of those bright blue eyes of hers. She lifted his hand to her mouth, her warm breath sending a tingling sensation down his arm and straight to the pit of his stomach as she brushed her lips softly over his knuckles.

“That must have been horrible…” she whispered.

“It's all in the past now. I spent a long time blaming myself, but after a lot of counseling and encouragement from my family, I was able to move past it. Well, to an extent. Obviously, there were still a few things I have not been able to bring myself to do. Like putting up a tree and decorating and also…sleeping with another woman…until you.” He confessed.

A small smile slowly began forming across her lips before she stood up and moved to sit in his lap. Grayson suppressed a groan at the feeling of her soft rear grinding into him as his arms wrapped around her waist, placing his hands on her generous hip and lower back. She placed her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look up at her as she leaned down and placed the most gentle of kisses across his lips. It was pure torture not to grab the back of her head and deepen it, but he restrained himself, letting Holly take the lead.

“You mean to tell me you had a four-year dry spell and I was your first in all that time? How on earth are you restraining yourself right now?” Holly teased.

“By a thread,” Grayson replied in a husky voice.

“Then let's break it,” Holly whispered into his ear, causing that very thread to snap.