Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
NOELLE
T he first time I met Nicholas Saint Clair, I was fourteen years old, and he was fifteen. After years of living overseas with my dad while he was on active duty in the military, he was finally able to retire, and we moved to Mistletoe Town, where all your Christmas dreams come true.
My mom passed away when I was six, and I couldn’t wait to move to a place where I’d suddenly feel her presence everywhere I went. My mom grew up in this town and dreamed of moving us there once my dad retired. Even after her unexpected death, my father followed through with their plan.
At first, I thought it would be an issue for him, but I think it helped heal him. Now he spent most of his time traveling, but something about this town just brought out the best in people. From the moment I stepped off the airplane, I fell in love with everything about Mistletoe Town.
Everything, and I do mean everything, about this Hallmark place was magical .
From the pristine landscaping everywhere you went to the perfectly designed neighborhoods and businesses that just screamed Christmas all year round, it was incredible. The charming aesthetic was right out of a holiday postcard or Hallmark movie. Tourists traveled from all over the world to experience the nostalgia that only this town could bring. It was contagious, even warming the coldest hearts.
Or so I thought…
The town truly was a sight to see, so to be able to actually call it home wasn’t something I ever took for granted. The picturesque location had all four seasons every year. I personally was a fan of winter only because I loved Christmas with all my heart and soul.
I know that sounded corny, trust me. However, I didn’t care. Christmas was a part of my identity, like my mom’s. I took pride in carrying on her traditions from year to year and helping others create their own. From a young age, I had a passion for baking. I think it had something to do with the Woods genes and our sweet tooth.
I turned that hobby into a career, and I’d been the town baker for the past nine years. I started from the bottom and worked my way up. My dream was to eventually own this shop one day, but in the meantime, I treated it as if it were already mine. I took my job very seriously. Making memories with families year after year was one of my favorite things about my career.
Nothing was better than seeing a kid’s face light up with the beauty and magic of this town. I loved every second of it. I guess you could say I was Mrs. Claus, and Mistletoe Town was The North Pole. Everyone knew each other, which meant there wasn’t much for a personal life, but you could easily forget that once you experienced the true joy of Christmas like everyone should at least once in their lives.
Out of all the historic sites, my favorite was the library in the middle of the town square that housed all the greatest literary classics. I’d always been a book nerd. It was hard to make friends when we constantly moved, and I found companionship in the stories I read. To see four floors filled with novels by some of the greatest writers in history was a memory I’d never forget. I hung out there often, and that hadn’t changed in the past fourteen years.
The truth was, Nicolas Saint Clair was my first real friend. You could even go as far as saying he was my best friend. But that was then, and this was now…
I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since he left Mistletoe Town thirteen years ago, and now, he owned the town he ran away from.
Including my bakery.
His plane landed an hour ago, and it was only a matter of time before he’d step foot into my happy place, spinning it into a whirlwind. From the moment I heard the unexpected news, I couldn’t think straight. It was unbelievable that his grandfather would leave his most prized possession to a man who didn’t actually want it.
Especially when he could have left it to someone who genuinely did. Although I knew he was adamant about keeping it in their family because he turned down millions upon millions of dollars a year to investment buyers dying to get a piece of the pie. It became such a hopeless endeavor that investors stopped trying to take it from under him.
As much as I wanted to pretend to be unfazed by what was about to happen when Nicolas and I locked eyes for the first time after all these years, out of nowhere, I was hit with the memory of the first time we met.
It played out in my mind like it was happening right then and there.
An unfamiliar, rough voice asked, “You new here. ”
It was technically a question, but it came out more like a statement. In seconds, my eyes met his, and for a moment, I thought I imagined him, leaning against the bookcase with his arms crossed over his chest.
He instantly intrigued me. There was just something about him that piqued my interest.
“Is that a yes?” he added, arching an eyebrow. “Or does the Grinch have your undivided attention?”
I bit back a smile. He was talking about the book I was reading.
“Aren’t you Nicholas Saint Clair?” I blurted.
I was never one for beating around the bush.
The Saint Clairs created this town decades ago and were basically royalty, but from what I heard, Nicholas kept to himself despite his family being who they were and loving every minute of the spotlight.
“I guess it depends on who you’re asking.”
I shrugged, not backing down. “I guess I’m asking you.”
He smiled almost as if he enjoyed my response. “I’d say the Grinch and I have more in common than I do with the legacy of being a Saint Clair,” he mocked, grinning. “Especially in this Christmas-obsessed town where nothing else matters but Santa Claus coming to town.”
“Oh…” I jerked back, surprised by his outburst.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he ordered in a sharp tone, sitting in the chair in front of me.
My eyebrows pinched together. “Like what?”
“Like I just told you you’re on the naughty list.”
I snickered. I couldn’t help it.
“But don’t worry,” he baited, leaning back into his seat. “I’m on that list every year.”
Playing along, I stated, “You must have a lot of coal.”
He grinned again. “It keeps my tools clean and nice and sharp.”
“Your tools?”
“Yeah.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. “I help fix and build things around town.”
“Like a handyman?”
He nodded .
“Hmm… you didn’t want to work at any of the businesses your family owns? I mean, they do run everything in this town.”
I’d never forget what he said next. “If there’s one thing you need to know about me, Noelle…”
I cocked my head to the side, realizing he knew my name too.
“Is that I don’t do anything I don’t want to. Especially when it comes to Mistletoe Town.”
“Ugh!” I groaned, realizing I just stuck the cake mixer into the bowl when it was on. Flour suddenly flew everywhere, including in my face and on my body. “Great! Just great!”
Throwing the mixer on the ceramic counter, I quickly slid off my long-sleeved dress at the exact moment the door to my shop dinged open.
“Oh my God!” Instinctively, I shot around until my feet stopped dead in their tracks, almost giving me whiplash in the process. I came face-to-face with the guy who still haunted my dreams.
Nicholas’s stare went wide, gawking at me like it was the first time he’d seen me in my lacy bra and panties. What made things worse was that I wore a black garter belt with stockings and heels. I was literally dressed in lingerie. What could I say? I was the kind of girl who loved to feel sexy in matching sets under her clothes.
When our eyes met, I was dragged to another place and time where he looked like a boy compared to the man he was now. Even after all this time, I was still physically affected by his mere presence. He was as handsome as ever with his bright, piercing green eyes and shining red hair and facial hair he was sporting. It only made him appear more distinguished and refined, but I knew better. Though it was the first time I’d seen him with a beard.
For the past thirteen years, I’d bent over backward for his family by running the bakery to the best of my ability. To see Nicholas in the place I called my second home was a situation I never thought I’d find myself in.
As I took him in, my mind raced with questions I had no answers for. I hadn’t seen him in so long, and there he was…
Standing right in front of me with a familiar yet unfamiliar expression and aura. It wasn’t unusual to feel like I couldn’t read him. If he didn’t want me to know what he was thinking, feeling, wanting, or needing, then that was the end of it.
He was always in control of his emotions, even back then.
After what felt like forever, I finally broke the deafening silence between us, squealing, “Nicholas!” I grabbed my apron off the counter to cover my body, finally snapping out of whatever fog I was in.
He held his hands up in the air. “I… I...”
“Turn around!”
He immediately did. “Noelle, this isn’t how I wanted us to?—”
“I’m not normally naked in my bakery.” I threw on the apron instead of just covering my body with it.
“Your bakery?” he questioned, turning around, but he took one look at me and gestured to my outfit. “This isn’t any better, Elle.”
He grinned in that shit-eating way I always hated.
Those five words had the effect he sought, making me remember the spark that had always been there between us and hadn’t disappeared after all this time. We were best friends and did everything together, except we never crossed that line until a few weeks before he suddenly decided to leave Mistletoe Town a couple of months after graduating from high school.
He didn’t call me.
He never texted me.
No letters.
No emails.
Not one word in thirteen years .
I thought about all of that as I abruptly left him standing there with that smug look, annoyed he was there in the first place. I changed into clean clothes, which were a pair of black overalls and a long-sleeved white shirt. I slipped on my Converse sneakers and made my way back out there. I always kept clothes in my office in case I had an unexpected baking explosion.
Focusing on the fact that I was no longer an impressionable teenager but a grown-ass woman, I marched in there with a different tune.
He announced, “I’m here?—”
“I know why you’re here.”
We locked eyes for what felt like forever.
“Still sporting overalls, I see?”
“They’re comfy for baking.”
“Are you making me cookies? You know I’m a sucker for your mint chocolate chip.”
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Hardly, Mr. Saint Clair.”
“When you call me that, I look for my father.”
“I’m just keeping it professional.”
He walked toward me, and I stepped back.
“How professional can we be when I just saw you practically naked?”
“Anyway…” I changed the subject. “As I was saying, I know you’re here.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding my eyes for a moment. “I assume the whole town does.”
“You, more than anyone, knows how fast news spreads here.”
“Right.” He glanced at me. “How could I forget?”
Unable to resist, I ask, “Wasn’t that the point of you leaving?”
He tapered his gaze at me. “Now that’s a loaded question if I’ve ever heard one, Elle. ”
“I have no interest in playing games with you, Mr. Saint Clair.”
“I’ll test my luck, then.”
For the second time in a few short minutes, he shocked the shit out of me when he confessed,
“I’m so sorry, Noelle.”