Chapter 10
yule have fun, i promise
Ivar
They passed the inn, stopping briefly so Ivar could collect Al from Liv’s office. The husky bounded into the snow as if he’d been launched from a cannon, tail flying, nose buried in powder.
As they drove toward his cabin, Ivar’s thoughts spun circles around one question: What on earth had he been thinking?
Bringing the polished, caffeine-fueled toy executive back to his home?
Maybe he’d lost his mind.
But deep down, he knew why he’d done it. He recognized that brittle energy in her voice, that need to control every variable. He’d lived that way until a few hard lessons stripped it out of him.
The truck crunched up his long, tree-lined drive. When the A-frame came into view, Holly leaned forward.
“Cute place.”
“Thanks,” he said, parking beside the porch. “It’s my house.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
She gave the place a once-over, lips curving like she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or groan. “Yeah. I totally see it.”
They stepped out, and Al bounded ahead, circling the porch in wide, ecstatic loops.
“Stay inside where it’s warm,” Ivar said, opening the front door. “I need to grab a few things.”
She nodded, glancing around. He watched her take in the fireplace, the books, the scuffed floorboards as if she were cataloguing details for a report.
He wondered if she noticed that nothing in his cabin matched.
The mugs were chipped, the rugs faded, the lamp held together with a bit of wire. Of course she did.
She touched the edge of his kitchen table, tracing a groove in the wood. “It’s peaceful here.” Soft, as though afraid to disturb the stillness.
He wanted to tell her that peace wasn’t something you found. It was something you let in. But she was standing by the window, looking out at the pond dusted in snow, and he wondered, shutting the door and heading for the garage, if she was starting to understand.
***
He returned in ten minutes, his arms full of gear. "Come on."
She turned, startled, from her reverie. "We're going somewhere else?"
"Not far. To the pond."
As they stepped into the cold again, he handed her Liv's snowsuit. "Are we ice fishing? Because if this involves bait or sitting in the cold, I'm out."
He grinned. "We're not fishing."
"Then what are we doing?"
"Dog sledding. Al's been inside all day, and he needs to stretch his legs."
"Dog sledding?" She sounded incredulous. "With me?"
"Yup. Around the pond. It's Al's favorite thing."
"For some." She muttered. "And what kind of name is Al, anyway?"
"First name Al, last name Pine."
She blinked, then laughed. "Al Pine. That's terrible."
"That's what the shelter named him. We just call him Al."
"A humane society with a sense of humor."
"Exactly." He raised his voice. "Al! Dog sled!"
A crash echoed through the trees, and the husky appeared with fur dusted white and eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"See? Told you he loves it."
"Surely he's not strong enough to pull both of us."
"He's stronger than he looks. But we'll take turns."
Ivar hitched Al to the small sled and explained as he worked. "He knows the route. All you have to do is hang on."
He climbed on first, gave Al a pat, and called, "Hike!"
They shot forward, gliding across the edge of the frozen pond. The sled hissed over the snow, Al's harness jingling in rhythm. By the time they looped back, Holly's expression had shifted from skepticism to curiosity.
"See? Easy."
"I don't know about this." Her eyes narrowed. "Why do I think you're trying to scare me off the land?"
"I doubt you scare easily. Now, on you get. Sitting down."
She hesitated, but lowered herself onto the sled anyway. "The things I do for my family."
"Say 'Hike!' to go. 'Whoa!' to stop. Ready?"
Holly inhaled deeply. "Hike!"
Al surged forward, the sled jerking into motion. Ivar gave a quick push and watched as they circled the pond. There was Al and a flash of teal snowsuit, and a high-pitched yell.
At first it sounded like fear, but as she rounded the last corner, he heard genuine joy.
Holly was laughing.
"You're a natural," he called out.
When she returned, breathless and flushed, her eyes sparkled. "That was amazing. I think I'm addicted. Can I go again?"
"You sure can." Wow. He hadn't expected that.
He hadn't expected her.
She was an enigma. A contradiction wrapped in a teal snowsuit. And he wanted to know every layer of her story.