Page 2 of All I Want for Christmas

But that wasn’t possible.

And then he remembered how his parents argued. Both had been doctors just like him and Hannah. Both had been very intelligent people. Just like him and Hannah. And both of them had almost killed each other over their professional disagreements. Especially his mother. She’d been psychotic.

He drove the jeep through the small mountain town toward the destination Hannah had put in her phone. They had never shared a room before. Sometimes he wondered why she was still his friend after all these years.

It had started off with them being study buddies, but then they’d become friends, and now they were coworkers. Neither dated much, but occasionally, he would go out with a woman. Then he would discuss his date with Hannah and he would realize this person was not the one.

Sighing, he wondered how long a blizzard could last. He had two weeks off, but he had agreed to only stay with his father through Christmas. Then they would return to Houston and he could lounge by the pool, soak up some sun, relax, and rest.

Working as an ER doctor, he needed time away from the hospital and the things he saw. There were only so many bullet holes, stab wounds, rape victims, and drug overdoses, you could take in a short amount of time. There was only so much evil in people you could deal with in a week’s time.

Hannah also worked in the ER, but she loved it and seemed to handle the day-to-day problems better than he did. Sometimes he thought he should go into another field of medicine, but he hadn’t made that decision just yet. And there were times he truly enjoyed helping people.

“Here we are,” she said.

He pulled up under the awning just as the flakes began to fall like someone was dumping a large pail of the white stuff from the sky.

“I think snow-mageddon has arrived,” he said. “Look at how big those flakes are.”

“And you wanted to drive to Whitefish,” she said, getting out and going to the back for her suitcase.

“Yes,” he said. “I guess it’s better that we’re going to be stuck in this hotel. I wonder what their Covid protocols are.”

She started laughing. “I’m just happy we have a room. Come on, let’s get checked in.”

As a doctor, he was aware of these things and had seen enough cases in the ER to last him a lifetime.

When they walked to the counter. The girl behind it seemed frazzled. “I’m so glad you’re here. The manager wanted to give this room away and I told him it was already spoken for. We only have the honeymoon suite available. Is that all right?”

Noah’s eyes widened. The honeymoon suite? Dear God, he hoped it wasn’t one of those ridiculous suites with all kinds of playthings for couples. How difficult would that be?

“You don’t have anything else?” he asked.

“No, you’re lucky to still have that room,” she said.

Hannah grinned. “We’ll take it and all the perks that go with it.”

The girl smiled and quickly made keys to the room.

“Tonight they’ll bring up chocolate strawberries and champagne,” she said.

Good grief. Exactly what they didn’t need.

They found the elevator and took the suitcases up to the room. Noah opened the door and gasped. Exactly what he’d feared. A love playground.

“What the hell? We can’t do this.”

Hannah walked in and smiled. She gazed at the king-sized bed and heart-shaped tub Jacuzzi.

“Why not? I think this looks like a lot of fun,” she said.

He stared at her wide grin.

“Go move the car from under the awning. I’ll unpack while you’re gone,” she said waving him away.

He couldn’t believe this. What kind of movies did the room have? Probably porn.

It took him ten minutes to find a suitable parking spot for the Jeep and then he hurried back into the hotel. Outside, the storm was now almost a complete whiteout.

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