Chapter 4 #2
Another twinkle of light flashed from his right. He walked toward it, feeling as if he was magically drawn to something. It wasn’t until he got to the tree line that he heard it. There was a faint tinkling of bells, followed by what sounded like someone humming the tune “Silent Night.”
“Who’s there?” he asked.
The humming and the bells stopped, and utter silence rang in his ears.
“Hello?” he tried again.
“Over here,” the inviting voice called.
Jackson hesitated for just a moment before he took a step into the woods.
Suddenly the snow vanished. There were twinkling lights secured to the trees, and the voice was singing again.
He spun, looking for the cabin, but it wasn’t there.
All he saw was the warm forest clearing that was full of Christmas lights and a crackling fire in the middle.
Despite the change in scenery and seemingly being cut off from the cabin, Jackson didn’t feel threatened. Quite the contrary. He somehow knew that he’d been invited into a special magical realm, a place that had always existed but remained hidden for years at a time.
“Do you have a message for me?” he asked in a normal voice.
A few feet in front of him, light shimmered from seemingly nowhere until the most ethereal Christmas fairy appeared in front of him.
She had long silver hair, a poinsettia flower pinned behind her ear, and was wearing a green velvet dress that was cinched with a piece of garland.
When she spoke, her voice was like a warm hug, rich and inviting. “Good evening, Jackson Bell.”
“Good evening,” he said, in awe of the familiar vision in front of him. He had the distinct impression that they’d met before, but he had zero memory of it. “I’m sorry. I don’t know your name.”
“How could you? I’ve never given it to you.” Her eyes twinkled with kindness. “You can call me Grace.”
“Okay, Grace.” He swallowed, sure that this was a once in a lifetime event. “Can you tell me what you are? A fairy or…”
“Yes. A Christmas Grove woodland fairy. I, along with my family, protect this land,” she said kindly. “And the people who love it as much as we do.”
“Are you saying you protect Felicity?” he asked.
The beautiful woodland fairy just smiled at him and said, “She’s going to need you this season.”
“Felicity?” he asked, wanting to make sure he didn’t misunderstand her vague message.
She nodded. “In order to be sure that this land remains safe, you’re going to need to help her find her Christmas spirit.”
“I think we had a decent start tonight,” he said, wondering if he was hallucinating.
“You did. That’s how we know you’re the right one for this mission.
Remember, Jackson Bell, you’re the chosen one to help Felicity remember the magic of Christmas.
” Her smile faded, and worry seeped into her brilliant blue eyes.
“Otherwise, us fairies will cease to exist and the orchards will slowly die out.”
“That’s… dramatic, don’t you think?” he asked.
The fairy shook her head and then faded away, taking the cozy surroundings with her.
He blinked, and suddenly he was just in a thicket of snow-covered trees. “Grace?” he called out.
Silence.
He glanced around, squinting through the snowflakes.
There was nothing to be seen but trees and snow. Had he just hallucinated? He couldn’t help but wonder. But he really didn’t think so. The interaction had just seemed far too real.
And really, what was the harm in doing what he could to help Felicity find her Christmas spirit? It was a job he’d gladly do.
Determined to take the message to heart, he turned around, spotted the lights glowing from the cabin, and headed back.
Felicity was waiting for him at the door. “What took you so long? Were you building a snowman without me?”
He chuckled. “No, but we’ll do that first thing in the morning.”
“Deal.” Felicity grabbed his hand, and instead of leading him to the living room and the fireplace, she led him to the bathroom where she’d already started the hot water in the shower. She moved to untie the robe, but Jackson quickly put his hands over hers, stopping her.
“I don’t think we should do this tonight,” he said, squeezing her hands gently.
“I don’t see why not.” There was a sly smile on her face as she placed her hands on his chest and ran them over his pecs. “We’re two consenting adults who don’t have anything else to fill our time.”
There wasn’t anything he wanted more than to take her to bed and explore every inch of her.
But the last time they’d been together, she’d been clear about it just being a one-time thing.
And since she was obviously more than a little tipsy, he just couldn’t take that step.
“We’ve both been drinking,” he said gently.
“I don’t want you to regret anything in the morning. ”
“Oh, I’m not going to regret anything,” she said, shaking her head. “Not when it comes to you.”
“You have no idea how much I like hearing that,” he said. “But I still think we should table this tension between us for another night. Unfortunately.”
She let out an audible sigh. “Fine. I always did think you were maybe too much of a gentleman,” she teased. “But we’ll see if you change your mind once we’re both in that bed.”
Jackson swallowed hard. “I should probably sleep on the couch.”
Felicity stared at him for a moment, and then right when she opened her mouth to answer him, there was an audible boom, and the lights went out. “Uh-oh. Power’s out.”
“Should we check the breakers?” he asked, though with the storm, he assumed it was a widespread outage.
“We can, but it’s unlikely to change things,” she said as she tapped the flashlight on her phone and then led him into the kitchen area before opening a door to a small laundry room. “The panel is on the left side.”
Jackson took her phone, quickly checked the electrical panel, and then determined it wasn’t a tripped breaker. “Looks like we’re in the dark for the foreseeable future.”
“You can forget that couch. The fireplace isn’t going to keep the bedroom warm, and there are only a couple of extra blankets in the cabin,” she said. “If we both want to keep warm, we’re gonna need our shared body heat.”
There was no arguing with that, so he just nodded and followed her back into the cold bedroom. She disappeared into the bathroom where the shower was still running.
Jackson found a couple of candles and lit them before stripping out of his wet clothes and hanging them in the closet, hoping they’d dry by morning. Then he wrapped himself in the second terrycloth robe and waited for her to finish in the bathroom.
When she finally came out, her long blond hair was tied up into a messy bun and her skin was rosy from the warm water. “Bathroom is all yours.”
He hesitated, too taken in by her beauty to move.
Felicity chuckled softly. “If you keep looking at me like that, I think that gentlemanly resolve is going to fly right out the window.”
She wasn’t wrong. He nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he reemerged, showered and teeth cleaned with the complimentary toothbrush that had been provided.
Felicity was curled up in the bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. He slipped in behind her, wrapping his arm around her completely naked body while he was in his boxer briefs.
“Sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t have any pajamas.”
“It’s okay,” he said hoarsely, desire intoxicating him. A full body shiver overtook him, and she snuggled her backside against him, probably assuming he was cold.
He carefully placed his hand on her bare stomach, closed his eyes, and prayed he’d make it through the night without mauling her.