Christmas at Holiday House - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,40
hand.”
“You’re a genius,” Ethan said in that same dry tone that only made his grandmother laugh.
“Don’t I know it. Now go take care of your Christmas tree. Ethan, darling, I’ll see you later.”
She hurried out of the room, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since Thanksgiving.
Abby fought down her butterflies and wrangled them into a corner. “You really don’t have to stay. She’ll never know if you drive away and escape into the night.”
“If you’re naive enough to believe that, you obviously don’t know my grandmother. She knows everything.”
Did Winnie guess that Abby was attracted to her grandson? Oh, she hoped not. She had tried not to let any reaction show whenever his name was mentioned. Maybe she hadn’t been as good at concealment as she had hoped.
“You made it clear you don’t want to help with anything to do with Christmas at Holiday House. I’m sure Winnie would understand if you went home. You’ve no doubt had a busy day of work and travel.”
He frowned. “If I leave now, you would have to decorate the entire tree alone. I gather a ladder is involved. And also that you don’t like heights.”
“Both things are true. But I will manage.”
“Have you always been afraid of heights?”
“No,” she admitted. “They never used to bother me until about a few years ago when I treated a teenage girl who was helping her dad hang Christmas lights. She fell off the roof and broke her spine, leaving her paralyzed. For some reason, that triggered something in me. I was her nurse for three weeks and came to really care about her. She had been a dancer, on track to become a professional, and in a second everything changed. Now, every time I climb a ladder or stand on an overlook, I see Sami’s face and start to panic.”
Sympathy flitted across his features. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. That must be tough.”
“I have to get over it. I know I never will if I don’t face my fear.”
“You don’t have to face all your fears tonight, you know,” Ethan said softly. “I want to help.”
She couldn’t figure out a way to refuse. It was his family home, after all.
“All right,” she finally said. “If we hurry, it shouldn’t take long.”
She only hoped she could keep it together that long and not do something insanely stupid like give in to her attraction for the man.
Eight
When he walked into the great room of Holiday House, Ethan gained a small idea of how much work Abby and the other Silver Belles had been busy doing around the house.
The intricately carved mantel was festooned with fresh evergreen branches, ribbons and glossy red ornaments. Fairy lights twinkled among the green.
A garland of evergreen boughs and more ribbons twisted up the stairs.
A fire glowed in the fireplace, which Winnie had converted a few years earlier to the cleaner-burning gas. This time of year, he missed the snap and pop of a real fire, but this one was much more practical, without the mess and inconvenience of hauling logs and trying to keep it lit.
A huge tree stood in the corner, bare of ornaments. No wonder Abby hadn’t finished that one, he thought. The job looked like it would take days.
Even without the tree decorations, the room looked festive and cheerful.
Ethan always associated good memories with Holiday House at Christmastime, probably because those holidays spent away from his grandparents were usually tense and contentious.
He didn’t have many great memories of the season as his parents were usually at their most punitive and vitriolic as they fought over visitation during the holidays.
If his dad had custody that year, his mother would plan a special vacation anyway, then complain when Rick wouldn’t let Ethan and Lucy go. When they did spend the holidays with their father, it was usually in the company of Rick’s latest girlfriend or the occasional wife, who weren’t always thrilled about having to enjoy Christmas with two children who wanted to be somewhere else.
He remembered two good Christmases from his youth, both of them spent here with Winnie when his parents couldn’t agree on the custody arrangements that year.
Those were the years that taught him Christmas could be about joy and love, a time of peace, reflection, hope.
He found it funny that just standing in the great room right now could bring back many of those same feelings. The tension of travel inconveniences and long meetings seemed to melt away from his shoulders. He wanted to close