Page 51 of Holly and Ivar
“Not for years.I kept in touch with Aunt Betty through letters and then emails, but I’m ashamed to say I never came here.Life seemed to get in the way.I regret that now.”
They moved through the rest of the house.Through the kitchen and pantry before climbing the narrow stairs leading to two small bedrooms.Holly noted the slant of the ceilings, the uneven floor, the nail in the wall where a picture used to hang.It was a home that had once been full of love.
“What will you do with all these items and family mementos?”Holly asked.
“If Chad had his way, we’d bulldoze the whole thing.But I’ll go through it.There are some things worthy of a local museum.Some things I’ll keep.”
As they made their way to the door, disappointment crept in.Nothing Holly had seen brought them any closer to understanding the Hales.
“There’s something else you should see,” Rowan said, her tone a bit brighter.“I spent a lot of time there each summer.”
They followed Rowan around the side of the house toward the shed.Holly’s eyes landed on the weathered door.On it hung a rusted bell from a green ribbon.She stopped as a tremor of recognition moved through her.
Rowan smiled wistfully.“She kept that up all year, saying, ‘A little Christmas magic keeps out the wrong kind of mischief.’”Then she pulled the door open, and they peered inside.“I used to help her polish little wooden toys in here during summer visits.She’d hum these tunes I didn’t know and make me paint stars on everything.”
This time, Holly went pale.
Ivar turned toward her.“You okay?”
Holly forced a smile.“Just taking it in.”
But she could tell he didn’t believe her.And he was right.She wasn’tjusttaking it in.She’d realized the Hales weren’t living near a Yule vein by chance.They knew something.About magic.About Kringles.The shed was full of signs.
Chad stepped up to the shed, peering in as if it were a closet of junk.“Can’t wait to bulldoze this, either.”He wiped the snow off an old picnic table, laying out his construction plans.“Imagine all this gone,” he waved at the buildings and the forest before pointing.“Hotel there, village there.Shops and restaurants underneath.Condos on top.Parking to your left.The gondola takes you up.It’s quite a ride, but then you’re in the ski bowl.”
Ivar peered at the map.
“Holly, take a look at this,” he said, pointing at the ski bowl.
She leaned over the map, pulse quickening as her gaze followed Ivar’s finger.The exact center of the ski bowl was also the location of the Yule Tree.
Her stomach flipped.Panic wasn’t in her vocabulary, but the world tilted, her body remembering the same dizzy surge she’d experienced the day Rita called the medic.
But then, Ivar’s shoulder brushed against hers.His presence steadied her, like roots anchoring a tree against strong winds.Her heart still raced, but the world stopped spinning quite so violently.As she turned to move, her foot slipped slightly on a patch of ice.
Before she could fall, Ivar reached out and caught her elbow.Reflexively, she grabbed his hand.
She didn’t let go.
Neither did he.
Their fingers interlaced naturally, like puzzle pieces finding their match.A warmth traveled up her arm that had nothing to do with temperature, but it also wasn’t Yule Tree energy.This was from her heart.
Their eyes met.His were steady and soft as they held her in his gaze, and she wondered if he knew how her heart stuttered as he looked at her that way.
He cleared his throat.“Don’t worry,” he said, voice low.“I got you.But I think it’s time to go.”
Beside them, Chad scowled at the trees.“Good idea.This place gives me the creeps.Let’s wrap this up.”
Holly’s head was whirling.She had come hoping to learn about Rowan’s emotional connection to the property.Instead, it was as if someone had dumped a puzzle onto her lap and expected her to put it together without showing her the picture on the box.
It wasn’t until they reached Ivar’s truck that she released his hand.
“Thank you,” she said.
“What happened?I thought you were going to faint.”
“Me too,” she admitted, allowing him to help her up.They waved as the Hales drove off, and even though they were alone, she waited until he was inside the truck and the doors were closed to tell him what she suspected.
