Page 47 of Hope and Hot Chocolate on Mistletoe Lane

And that was terrifying.

Every time I’d seen Paul since, we’d been surrounded by people and I’d treated him just like an old friend. He hadn’t asked me to do anything just the two of us. He hadn’t phoned or made any move to touch me. He was treating me like a scared deer that could bolt at any second. And I couldn’t blame him in the slightest. It was how I felt. Every time I thought about being in his bed, I was both desperate for more, and scared as hell about it happening again.

He was being careful; I was being a coward.

And I had no idea who would blink first.

‘Hi, Holly.’ Angela picked up my call and sounded wary. ‘Sorry it’s taken time to call you back but work is… busy,’ she said after pausing to try to find the right word. I took that to mean ‘stressful’. I remembered how full-on working for Grant Rivers had been.

‘I understand. I just wanted to tell you that I found out what Grant has been saying about me and why.’ I told Angela about the email he’d sent to Karl and then, for the first time, I finally told someone from the company that Grant had made a pass at me, going on to explain that although he’d then backtracked, he’d been annoyed with me ever since.

There was a long silence. ‘I’m sorry, Holly,’ Angela said finally. ‘That’s awful. He does make inappropriate comments that put me on edge. I’ll be honest, I try hard not be alone with him. I don’t doubt it wasn’t the first or last time he would try something like that.’ She sighed. ‘And now he’s trying to ruin your future. What are you going to do?’

‘Karl, the local reporter here, wants to write an article about it all if I’m amenable. He wanted to know if you’d be willing to go on the record that he has been telling clients to not hire me. And if you knew of anyone else that Grant has targeted in this way, if they might speak to us too?’

She sighed. ‘I can’t get any more involved, I’m sorry, Holly. But I need this job. Grant will end up doing to me what he’s done to you,’ Angela said, sounding upset.

Disappointment made my chest sag but I knew she felt bad. ‘It’s okay, I understand.’

‘What will you do?’

‘Honestly, I don’t know but I can’t keep letting Grant do whatever the hell he likes to people.’

She sighed. ‘I really want to help you.’

‘It’s okay,’ I reassured her. ‘I just don’t want Grant to do this to anyone else in the future. I want him to realise he can’t get away with this behaviour. I have stayed quiet in the past,’ I said, thinking about how much I kept things inside. I never told my dad how I felt, or my mum, and I didn’t speak up at school. Grant was like another school bully. I didn’t want to be silent again. ‘I’m not doing it again. I need to do something.’

‘I think you’re really brave.’

We said goodbye after that and I felt better for at least telling Angela exactly what had happened between Grant and me. She was nervous and I couldn’t blame her. Look what had happened to me after I left; she was still working for him. Maybe now she would be more careful around him at least.

At least Angela had believed me like Willow and Paul had, and I thought Karl did too, although he needed facts. My mum had believed me when I told her about being unhappy at school. I’d wanted to run when Karl told me what Grant had emailed me. But I was still here. I had stuck out that awkward conversation. I took a breath.

Maybe I could finally stop running from my past.

* * *

The farmhouse was suddenly crowded for lunch. I walked in to find Willow, Dylan and Maple the dog along with two men that were clearly related to Dylan, Sabrina with her husband and daughter, Daisy and Blake, the two young people from town that Willow had found to help work the winter wonderland, the two men in charge of the ice rink we’d hired, and Paul.

‘It’s all hands on deck,’ Willow said when she spotted me, handing me a plate and waving to the spread on the kitchen table. ‘We all need to fuel up for the opening.’ She leaned in closer. ‘That’s Dylan’s dad, and his brother Nate,’ she said in a hushed tone, pointing them out. Dylan’s dad was distinguished-looking and wore a suit, which was jarring in the comfortable farmhouse, and Nate was as handsome as Dylan but stood slightly away from the group, just watching. He was dressed slightly more casually at least. ‘I can’t believe they came on opening day but when are things not chaotic around here?’ She went over to offer them another sausage roll.

I went to the table and filled my plate and grabbed a cup of coffee, then my feet seemed to move of their own accord over to Paul. He looked good with a faint line of stubble and I instantly remembered how smooth his skin had felt on mine when we’d kissed with a passion I hadn’t known I possessed. He was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt with chunky boots and a beanie, of course. I eagerly breathed in his familiar pine mixed with gingerbread scent.

‘Hey,’ I said, which sounded a bit pathetic after everything we’d been through.

‘It’s come around fast, hasn’t it?’ Paul said, sipping his coffee. ‘How are you feeling about it?’

‘Everything seems to be in place,’ I said. ‘I’m going to do a final walk-through after this. I did one with Willow first thing but I just want to be sure. And she has her hands full with all these people.’ I looked down at my plate, Paul’s piercing gaze just a bit too much to handle. His eyes had always seen me so clearly, and that was disconcerting. ‘Want to join me?’ I asked casually. But it would be the first time we’d been alone since he’d told me in the café that he was there for me.

The problem was I hadn’t relied on anyone apart from myself since I was eighteen.

‘Sure,’ he replied just as casually.

I liked that Paul was a man of few words in moments like these.

‘Hey, guys…’ Willow called out then and we all turned to where she stood with Dylan, who had a supportive arm around her. ‘I just wanted to say thank you to you all. It’s been a crazy few weeks getting this all ready but Mistletoe Lane looks amazing and I think everyone is going to have lots of fun enjoying what we’ve created. It was a bit of a rush…’ She made a grimace in my direction. ‘But we did it. And I wanted to say a special thank you to Holly, who has been nothing short of a superstar. I was teeny bit stressed before she got here, wasn’t I?’ She grinned up at Dylan.

‘A little bit,’ he said with a chuckle.