Page 7 of Bah Humbug Mate

“In any event, she left her entire estate to me. I had the attorney split off what has always been the herd’s home and territory as well as any income provided by it. The rest will come to me as long as I meet the stipulation of the will. If I fail, it all reverts to a distant cousin named Rudy who doesn’t give a damn about my grandmother’s herd.”

“That’s awful,” she said. “What’s the stipulation? How can I help?”

“The stipulation is a bit out there, and you can help.”

“Tell me what I can do.”

“Marry me,” he said simply.

“Wh… what?”

He grinned. “You heard me; marry me. My grandmother’s will stated that if I am to inherit, I must be married. Not only that, I must be married by December 24th.”

“As in, this Christmas Eve?” Her eyes grew wide as Dash nodded. “That’s crazy. I mean, we’re not strangers, but we know very little about each other.”

“I know I find you attractive, intelligent, and you and your herd are having money troubles…”

Noel pulled back, “I’m not for sale.”

Dash shook his head. “I’m sorry. This is awkward, to say the least. As you can see, I don’t have a lot of time.”

“I don’t think I can be involved in a sham marriage.”

“It won’t be a sham, or at least I hope it won’t. The will stipulates that the marriage has to last at least ten years. I would be earmarking part of my inheritance to provide for you and your herd—not just for the ten years. After that, regardless of what happens between us, you and your herd would be provided for, and when I die, you would inherit everything I have—the remainder of my inheritance, The Workshop, all of it.” Dash took her hand. “I know it sounds crazy, but this could work.”

Noel leaned back, withdrawing her hand, finding his physical touch not unpleasant but distracting. “I don’t know Dash…”

“I understand, but honestly, this is a win-win-win situation. Think about it, you and your herd will get the money you need, I’ll get my inheritance, and my distant cousin won’t be able to oust my grandmother’s herd.”

“I understand, but you’ve really come out of left field at me.”

“I know. I can only imagine how crazy I must sound, but I have to tell you, the more I think about it, the better I like the idea. Plenty of people have married for reasons other than love and have been able to have happy, successful marriages. I’m not going to try and rush you into my bed, although having an intimate relationship as part of a ten-year marriage would be my preference, but this is really about all the financial advantages to both of us and the people we care about.”

“I don’t know,” she said slowly, pondering the idea.

He wasn’t wrong. It did make some sense. The idea was tempting, and he was right about why people had married for something other than love for millennia. The tree farm and the seasonal store the herd ran hadn’t been doing as well recently as they had in the past. People seemed to be leaning more and more toward fake trees. Ones they could put up and take down pre-lighted. And hand-crafted items seemed to be becoming a thing of the past, despite what she might have told Dash. People were willing to embrace fakes at half the price as opposed to paying someone for the time and creativity they put into creating something.

Dash could be on to something, and he brought more than money to the table. The herd and other reindeer-shifters had been floundering for years. Theirs had once been a proud legacy but with fewer and fewer people believing in Santa Claus and even Christmas itself, there was talk that the days of traveling around the globe in a single night might be approaching its end.

It seemed every place Dash touched brought warmth and arousal in its wake. She’d been around Dash plenty of times, but for some reason, she found herself drawn to him in a way she never had been before. Was there something there—something that required further exploration? Could a marriage based on a financial need lead to something more?

With all of the pros and cons swirling in her mind like the maelstrom of a shift, something settled within her, but she wanted to be smart about this. Putting on her best business face, she said, “Let’s talk specifics and terms.”

That caught him by surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that.

* * *

The town’s holiday party was held a week later. Dash had invited his distant cousin, Rudy, and his mate to be their guests. Dash had agreed to fly Noel and Nicole Wells, Asher Wells’ mate, to Seattle after the party to do some preliminary looking for a wedding dress. Noel had yet to explain to anyone in her family or herd what was happening and what she was contemplating.

Noel was now living in one of the apartments over The Workshop. As far as anyone knew, she and Dash had become an item and were living together in one apartment. It wasn’t true, but if they were going to pull this off, they needed to be a couple who had fallen head-over-heels for one another. They had both privately told close friends and family that they believed the other to be their fated mate.

Tonight was important. It was the annual Mystic River Holiday party. Everyone would be in attendance. The plan was to announce their engagement and give no one any reason to think that the relationship wasn’t genuine. Noel had been working at the herd’s holiday shop and was tired when she trudged up the stairs. If they hadn’t had things all planned out, she would have preferred to grab a burger and beer, gone up to her apartment, maybe watched a little television and then curled up in bed.

When she entered the apartment, she saw the most glorious deep plum dress laid out on the bed and a note placed at its center. She now recognized Dash’s handwriting. The note said:

I thought you might like something new for the party. If you don’t like it, don’t feel obligated to wear it. The store in Seattle said it was ‘on trend,’ whatever that means.

We both know what we have to do, but let’s try and have fun doing it.

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