Page 4 of A Cozy Christmas Escape

At thirty-three, Clark couldn’t help but feel as if life was in the midst of leaving him behind. Sure, he was a successful business owner, and he had an amazing group of friends. But outside of that?

His friends and their wives always told him that he was a catch. But if that were true, why did he seem to have so much trouble making anything that even resembled romance stick? Looking at Derek, Clark could see it in his eyes. Despite the exhaustion and stress of dealing with a sick baby, his friend was clearly deeply in love with his wife, his child, and his life. And Clark couldn’t help but be a little bit jealous, even as he felt happy for Derek.

The two men walked back to the checkout counter, and Clark began to ring up the items Derek had selected. He pushed his thoughts of family and that small twinge of jealousy out of his mind as he and his friend continued to talk. But it didn’t take long before they were interrupted by a blast of cold air when the door was pried open once more.

“Wow. Apparently, the hardware store is the place to be this evening,” Clark joked as Matthew Martinez, the local real estate agent, strode through the door.

Matthew was wearing his usual camel colored Carhartt jacket, with no other protection from the cold, and his blue eyes immediately fell on the two men standing in the shop. His face lit with a grin as he took in Derek and Clark, and he kicked the snow from his boots off before closing the distance between them.

“This is perfect,” Matthew said, his warm voice filling the space. “After I was done chatting with Clark, I was going to come see you, Derek. So this will save me a trip!”

Derek took out his wallet, sliding his card into the card reader as Clark told him his total, then both of them fixed the newcomer with twin looks of curiosity.

“What’s going on?” Clark asked.

“You know the storm that blew through here a couple of days ago?” Matthew began, and both Clark and Derek nodded, confirming that they knew exactly what he was talking about. “It did some major damage to the Hilton family’s house. The whole roof caved in.”

Clark’s eyebrows shot up in shock as Derek made a low noise of surprise.

“Are they all right?” Derek asked.

“Thankfully, yes.” Matthew nodded, his sandy brown hair glinting beneath the overhead light. “But their house isn’t, obviously. The good news is, I have a house that was in foreclosure that I’m going to get them set up in. Only thing is, it isn’t livable just yet.”

Matthew was the premiere real estate agent in the area. Almost every single house that was sold or apartment that was rented went through him. He also handled more delicate matters, such as foreclosures, and could often be found doing charity work or building houses for the needy outside of Snowy Pine Ridge. So the fact that he had decided to fix up a space for a family in need was no surprise at all to Clark.

“So,” Matthew prompted, looking hopeful. “What do you say? Would you two be able to help out with getting the house ready for occupants?”

“Absolutely,” Clark answered, not needing even a moment to think about it.

Derek’s response was almost as fast as Clark’s. “Of course. Whatever you need.”

Matthew smiled at the two of them. “I knew I could count on you. Thank you so much! With any luck, we can get them into their new place in time for Christmas so that their holiday won’t be completely ruined.”

They began going over the details, with Clark offering to cover whatever materials he could, as well as providing his services as a handyman. Having a basic knowledge of carpentry, home renovation, and power tools sort of came with the territory of owning a hardware store, and Clark had made it a point to learn as much as he could about his trade. So fixing up a house was right up his alley.

Derek agreed that he could help with some of the heavy lifting, as well as provide two trucks to help transport the materials that would be needed. Derek and Lacy owned Winter Run Racing, a dogsled business that offered rides, provided training, and was also a retailer. The constant hauling of supplies and of dogs meant that he had two large trucks that belonged to the business. Both of which Derek advised Matthew were now at his disposal.

“That’s fantastic. Thank you!” Matthew beamed as they ironed out a few more details, agreeing to get started the very next day.

The three men said their goodbyes, and when both Derek and Matthew had disappeared out the door, the snow and the winter night swallowing them up, Clark blew out a breath. It wasn’t exactly seven yet, not quite closing time, but he flipped the sign on the door from OPEN to CLOSED anyway.

It had been a long day—not a bad one, just a long one—and Clark was more than ready to make his way home and have a hearty meal before heading to bed. After closing down the shop and turning off the lights, he grabbed his coat, shrugging it on before he walked out the door.

He stopped only long enough to lock up behind himself before he strode down the sidewalk, surrounded by the glow of Christmas lights from the nearby businesses.

CHAPTERTHREE

“The kids are late,” Rudolph Hutchins grumbled as he walked past Shelley Keegan, prompting her to glance down at her watch.

“Oh no, they are not,” she said with a chuckle, shaking her head slightly at the grumpy man before her.

She was standing by the doors of the Happy Glacier Ice Rink, the skating rink that Rudolph owned. Although Shelley had once struggled with her past failures as Olympic-level figure skater, she had rediscovered her love of the ice after coming to Snowy Pine Ridge, and she’d ended up becoming a skating teacher at the rink. Despite Rudolph’s gruff complaints, her latest batch of students still had nearly ten minutes before they were even supposed to be there.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach them that if they arrive on time, then they’re considered late?” Rudolph grumbled, narrowing his eyes as he came to stand beside Shelley and glower out at the parking lot.

“Is that whatyouwere taught?” she asked, trying and failing to hide the amusement in her voice.

“Sure was.” The man next to her harrumphed just as a minivan pulled into the parking lot.

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