Holly thought Ash was trying to play it cool, but his chin had risen slightly at the announcement. She didn’t usually think too long about what people’s emotions were and why, only about their effect on her Cheer meter, but for a moment, she wished she had that capability again. Her watch was still buzzing intensely but giving no other indication about the types of emotions in the area. Ash’s seemed like they would be fun to experience.
“I should have known,” Holly murmured, trying to suppress a smile.
“Should have known…?”
Ash’s eyes were glowing, and Holly couldn’t help looking at them more closely, studying the warm brown flecks, the dark eyelashes, and the way they creased at the corners when he smiled. Her stomach gave a little flutter, a feeling she’d never experienced before. She took a half step back and refocused on their conversation.
“Oh, just that you have holiday cheer written all over you. Organizing the Christmas faire seems like it would be right in your skill set.”
“I’d pretend to be offended if you weren’t so spot on.” Ash laughed. “The house helped with the fall festival and the Christmas faire for a while when I was a kid, so I restarted the tradition when I took over.”
A Christmas faire in Emerald Hollow, the place currently throwing everything I know about Cheer into question.It seemed like too good of a research opportunity to pass up. Maybe the two were connected somehow. Christmas villages were typically excellent sources of Cheer, and she visited a few every December. She actually got a little kick out of seeing what humans got right about the North Pole and what they got utterly wrong. The elves loved hearing stories about it after the Advent season ended and things slowed down a little. “That sounds like something I’d like to see,” Holly murmured.
“Really?” Ash’s face brightened. “You won’t be doing research in Egypt or India or somewhere in December?”
Surprised, Holly didn’t realize she had spoken out loud. “Well, I might be. But maybe I can move some things around.” Holly’s wheels were turning. Yes, that would all work out well. She could finish her observations in Emerald Hollow, return to the North Pole to discharge her watch, spend the November cycle with some of her surefire Cheer hot spots, then return to Emerald Hollow in late December to see if their Christmas faire had the same effect on the Cheer meter as the fall season. If so, maybe she could find some answers about the source of the Cheer.
“Awesome. You’re welcome to stay at the Emerald House again, free of charge. But you’d better book now. We always sell out for the Christmas faire.” Ash’s phone buzzed in his pocket again, and Holly wondered if it kept him as distracted by work obligations as her Cheer meter did to her.
“Thanks for the tip.” Holly felt surprised that her heart was no longer racing. Instead, it had calmed at the idea of the new lead. She’d been struggling around in the dark, but she suddenly had a direction to go in and a plan for when and how to pursue the lead.
“I’d offer you a ride back to the Emerald House, but I have a few more errands to take care of here for the fall festival. Will you be all right getting back?”
Holly was startled by the question. Clauses took care of themselves, and Holly had made so few close relationships with humans that she rarely had one know her well enough to want to look out for her. It was probably just an offhand comment by a man used to providing customer service, but it still warmed her.
“Of course. It was a nice walk down here. I’m sure I’ll see you back there later.”
He agreed and gave her a bright smile then passed close by her to enter the building she’d barely noticed they were standing in front of. She caught a hint of tree scents, maybe pine, as he passed her, like he was carrying a piece of the forest around with him.
She had barely turned away from him when she checked her watch and narrowed her eyes. It had been vibrating nonstop during their conversation, and a warm patch radiated around her wrist. “What is going on with you?” she whispered to it then picked up her pace as she walked down Main Street, away from Ash. Still, in spite of her intense confusion and curiosity, she had a smile on her face.
* * *
Ash triedto avoid grinning in public as he watched her go, her hair sparkling in the bright autumn light. She had looked adorable in her plaid skirt and tights, her red sweater complementing the constant blush in her cheeks, and he again had the strange sensation that she carried an aura of Christmas. She’d even smelled like Christmas—like cinnamon or clove maybe—when she tumbled into him.
He shook his head and scrubbed a hand over his mouth.I probably need to get more sleep.He opened the glass door to his right and walked into the office of his accountant.
“Hey, Ash,” the accountant, Luis, greeted him. “How’s everything coming along for the fall festival?”
“It’s getting there. Still some things to do, but it’ll get done.” Ash slipped into the seat in front of Luis’s desk. He pulled out his phone and quickly responded to a message from his front-desk manager.
Luis nodded. “What can I do for you today?” He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers below his chin.
He and Ash were old friends, and when Ash had asked him to be the accountant for the Emerald House a few years ago, he’d gladly accepted. The walls of the small office were covered in framed newspaper clippings of local sporting events. Luis coached soccer and baseball for the town’s high school.
“How is all the paperwork looking for the vineyard deal?” Ash asked.
Luis nodded again, scooting his chair closer to where a computer monitor was perched on his desk.
“We’re making progress, but I’ll be honest, it feels like they’re dragging their feet a bit.”
“Is there anything we can do to get things moving along? I was hoping to have it closed by Christmas.” Ash strummed his fingers on Luis’s desk.
“Could you give them a little taste of what they’d get from working with you?”
“That’s a good idea. With the fall festival coming up this weekend, maybe I could sell some of their wines at our booth there. We could create a special sangria with their fruits too. If we turn a good profit, it’ll show them the potential there is in partnering with us.” Ash’s mind was already jumping ahead to the logistics.
He would have to work on it as soon as he got back to the Emerald House. The fall festival and the Christmas faire both needed to be successful. He had to take more risks and push harder in his endeavors in order to recreate the vibrant town his dad had experienced growing up.
