Blue Ridge Christmas Read online

  Blue Ridge Christmas

  Rachel Hanna

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Foreword

  Before you start reading BLUE RIDGE CHRISTMAS, I would also like to offer a FREE January Cove book to you as well! Just click on the image below to download your copy of WAITING FOR YOU.

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  Holly Helm loved Christmas more than anyone she knew. Being born on Christmas Eve certainly helped, but she loved the holiday more than just about anything, other than her daughter.

  “Mommy, can I put the angel on top?” Gracie asked as she held the angel that had been in Holly’s family for as long as she could remember.

  “Sweetie, you’re a bit short to get it up there, don’t you think?” Eight year old Gracie always thought she could do anything, which was a great attribute to have, but her small stature wasn’t exactly suited to putting the angel on top of the tree.

  “I’ll climb on your shoulders,” she said with a grin. Holly tousled the hair on top of her head.

  “I don’t think so, sweetie. Mommy has a toy store to run, and I wouldn’t want to be laid up in bed from putting you on my shoulders!”

  “Yeah, that would be like Santa Claus getting hurt right before Christmas!”

  “Okay, I found the ladder. It was in the shed out back,” Aimee said. She and Holly had been best friends since preschool, and sometimes Holly didn’t know how she would’ve made it through life without her. The loss of her parents when she was in college was almost too much to take, but Aimee had swooped in from Tennessee and taken care of her. Now that she was back living in their hometown of Orchard Falls, Holly felt like she had family again.

  Orchard Falls, situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia, was the only place Holly had ever wanted to live. Her parents had moved there just before she was born thirty-two years ago, and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

  When she’d married Paul just after college, they’d planned to stay in Orchard Falls forever. But, Paul’s company relocated them to Atlanta for his job a few years later. Living in Atlanta was the worst six months of Holly’s life. She wasn’t a city girl, and she felt completely out of place there.

  One morning, after kissing Paul goodbye before he went to work, she laid back down with Gracie, who was just three at the time. The next thing she remembered was a knock at the door and two uniformed police officers. It was the worst day of her life, and explaining to her toddler that Daddy wasn’t coming home again had been too much to bear.

  She returned to Orchard Falls a few days later. At the time, her great aunt Esther was still running the family toy store even though she was in her eighties. No one else wanted to take it over, so it was just about to be sold. Instead, Holly agreed to take it over and she’d been running it ever since.

  The toy store had saved her, honestly. She loved Christmas, and seeing the happy looks on the kids’ faces each year filled her up with so much love that it lasted her all year long. She waited for Thanksgiving each year just so she could start celebrating the holidays. As soon as the turkey was eaten, she started putting up the tree and decorations. If it was up to her, she’d celebrate Christmas every single day.

  “Yay! I know I can climb the ladder and get the angel up there,” Gracie said, starting to step onto the rickety old ladder.

  “No, ma’am!” Holly said. “Aimee, can you help my little daredevil get the angel up there before she busts a gut?”

  Aimee giggled. “Like mother, like daughter.”

  “Oh, please. I was never a daredevil,” Holly said, as she hung her favorite teddy bear ornament on the tree. Paul had bought it for her on their first Christmas together. She smiled as she looked at it, remembering the good years they had together.

  “Says the woman who jumped from the second story of the McAllister’s barn on a dare just to get Tommy Ellsworth to give you his Halloween candy,” Aimee mumbled, trying not to let Gracie hear her.

  “You jumped that far?” Gracie said, her eyes wide, as she looked down from the ladder Aimee was holding.

  “Thanks a lot,” Holly whispered to Aimee. “No, dear, your aunt Aimee is getting old and senile.”

  “Very funny,” Aimee said as she looked up at Gracie placing the angel on the top of the tree. “So, have you started decorating the store yet?”

  “Not yet, but you know I will this week. Had to get this place ready for guests first.” Holly had purchased the only inn in town about a year after she came back to Orchard Falls. The Victorian house had been converted to Hickory House Inn years ago, and she was so happy to see it come on the market at the time. She and Paul had often talked about buying it one day, so when the settlement money came in from his accident, she knew exactly what to do with part of it. The rest went into Gracie’s college fund.

  “Are you doing a theme in each room again this year?”

  “Of course,” she said as she hung one of Gracie’s handmade preschool Christmas ornaments that she placed on the tree every year like clockwork. “One room will be a mountain Christmas theme, one will be nutcracker themed and the other room will be a disco Christmas.”

  “Disco Christmas?” Aimee said with a laugh.

  “You know I like to be different.”

  Holly loved the whimsy of the holidays, and she did whatever she could to spread cheer. She baked cookies for the local firehouse, visited residents at the nursing home, played piano for the kids in foster care. It didn’t matter what she was asked to do, if it involved Christmas, she would do it.

  The rest of the year for Holly was simply waiting for the next Christmas season to come around. She went to every after Christmas sale, collecting gifts and decorations for the next year. Every other holiday paled in comparison, so she soaked in as much of the Christmas spirit as she could during December.

  “You want me to do what?” Greg said, staring at his boss, Bruce, like he’d lost his mind.

  “I need you to travel to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia and check out a piece of property. It might be perfect for the resort project, and you’re the perfect person to go.”

  “Me? Why me? I never leave New York City. You know that.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to leave the big city for a bit and check out this property. It’s near a little town called Orchard Falls.”

  “Orchard Falls? That even sounds boring.”

  Bruce rolled his eyes. “You think you’re too good for a small town?”

  “It’s not that, really. I just enjoy my routine. Plus, it’s Christmas time and I’d rather stay in my little cocoon than go to some podunk dot on the map and pretend to enjoy all of the materialism of the holidays.”

  “Wow, I don’t think you should ever write Christmas card copy,” Bruce said, standing up. “I need you there by the weekend. I’ve rented you a room for a week.”

  “A week? Why so long?”

  “Greg, we need ground reconnaissance. Surely, you can put a smile on your face for that long.”

  Greg had hated holidays since he as a kid, and Christmas was at the top of the list of the ones he despised. Watching everyone pretend to be all happy and jolly when they acted like jerks the rest of the year irritated him. And then there were the memories, but he didn’t like to think about those.

  Bruce turned to leave the room before looking back. “Have you heard about Reagan?”

  Greg looked up from his paperwork. “If you’re asking if I heard my ex-wife got remarried last weekend, then yes, I heard.”

/>   Bruce held up his hands. “Okay, just wanted to make sure you knew.”

  “I don’t care, Bruce. We’ve been divorced for three years. She has her life, I have mine.”

  “And what does yours entail exactly? Work, work and more work?”

  “Says my boss.”

  Bruce chuckled. “I hate to see you alone for the holidays, man. I couldn’t imagine spending the Christmas season alone, without my wife and kids.”

  Greg paused and looked at him. “I relish being alone.”

  “Right. Well, talk to Sophie about your travel plans. Enjoy Orchard Falls.”

  Greg grunted. “Yeah, right. I’m sure it’ll be life changing.”

  Holly reached high up on the shelf and pulled down the coveted box. The little boy jumped up and down.

  “That’s the one!” he said, excitedly, as he looked at his mother.

  “I can’t believe you had this,” the mother said, a big smile on her face. “All he’s talked about wanting for his birthday is this robot. No big box store had it. Thank you so much!”

  Holly prided herself in providing her customers with whatever they needed. Even though more and more people were ordering online, she tried to stay ahead of the game so that her customers were always covered if something sold out at another store or on the Internet. There was no doubt that it was getting harder to compete with online stores, but she believed people would always want to shop in a real toy store with their kids.

  “I’m glad I could help! We here at The Blue Ridge Toy Factory want to make every birthday and holiday special!”

  As the mother and son walked off to check out, Holly felt that familiar holiday spirit creep up inside of her. She truly enjoyed every moment of the holiday season, and she couldn’t understand anyone who didn’t love it as much as she did.

  Of course, it had been an issue in every dating relationship she’d had so far. Her dedication to her inn and toy store weren’t always well understood, and the hours she put in making Christmas cookies, hot cocoa and specially wrapping gifts took time away from nurturing a relationship.

  The holidays were supposed to be a time of togetherness with those you love, but she often felt lonely. Of course, she had her daughter and her friend, Aimee, but without someone special to share the best time of the year, she ended up feeling sad when it was all over. Everyone went back to their normal lives, and she always felt like something was missing.

  “How many Christmas trees are we going to put up?” her cashier, Billy, asked. He stood there holding another big box of ornaments, sweat starting to bead on his brow. The whole day had been devoted to decorating the store, and she could never decide when enough was enough.

  “Just one more, in the window. We can’t leave that one out!”

  Billy walked away, hanging his head and grumbling something. Holly just didn’t understand how anyone could have a sour look on their face at Christmas time.

  “Hey, there, Mr. Townsend. How’s our wonderful town of Orchard Falls doing?” Holly asked when the mayor of their tiny town walked into the store. He came every year around this time to load up on toys for his grandkids.

  Mr. Townsend, who was about as old as the town was, took off his plaid, wool hat and held it to his chest. “Well, darlin’, I’m a bit worried about our beautiful city.”

  “Oh no. What’s wrong?”

  He leaned on his wooden cane and sighed, his bushy white eyebrows almost covering his blue eyes. “I don’t know how much longer we can keep all these investors away. Everybody wants to build something on the Peach Valley land. Everything from malls to hotels. It’s a sad thought for this old geezer.”

  She rubbed his shoulder, the rough feel of wool scratching her hand. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “I don’t believe so. Just pray we can talk the owners out of selling it. You know, when the Ellicots passed away and their kids decided not to run the peach farm anymore, every investor in the Southeast started eyeing that property. Some things should just be left alone.”

  “I agree. Building on that land would ruin our little town. I’ll keep my ears open for any information about it, okay?”

  “Thanks, hon. You’re a treasure to our town. Your parents would be proud of you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Townsend. That means a lot.”

  “Well, I guess we’d better get my shopping done. My grandson really wants some superhero building set.”

  “I know just the one! Let me show you,” she said, taking his arm and leading him across the store.

  Chapter 2

  Greg stood on the sidewalk next to his rental car, staring down the street. He held his large smart phone to his ear, his mouth hanging open.

  “Where on Earth did you send me, man?”

  “Orchard Falls, of course. I told you that.”

  “Why would we ever want to build something here? There are like ten people in the town, and I swear I feel like I landed inside of a Christmas snow globe.”

  “That sounds nice,” Bruce said.

  “No. Not nice. Cheesy. Overdone. Nauseating. But, not nice.”

  “You’re so jaded, Greg. Why not try to enjoy the season?”

  “I’d rather be in my apartment overlooking the city, looking over P&L statements.”

  “And that’s sad. Do me a favor, try to really get a feel for the place and the people. We need to know if the resort will work well there.”

  “So far, I’m not impressed,” Greg said, dryly.

  “You’re never excited about anything. Talk to you later. I have to meet Rebecca for lunch.”

  Greg hung up and slid his phone back into the his pocket before taking his bag out of the car. He knew the inn he was staying at was nearby, so he decided to just walk until he found it.

  Luckily, Hickory House Inn was just around the corner from where he parked. He stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the massive Victorian house, complete with a wrap around porch. For a moment, it reminded him of his grandparents’ home. They’d lived in a small town in Tennessee when he was a kid, and he often visited with his parents - that was, before they wrecked his childhood with the world’s nastiest divorce and custody battle. Of course, right before Christmas.

  He walked up the steps, noticing the massive amounts of Christmas decorations that were already up on the outside. Wreaths, blow molds, topiary trees covered in white lights. Through the front window, he could already see more lights than astronauts probably saw from space.

  “Oh great. Mrs. Claus must live here,” he muttered to himself.

  “Just a bit younger, but close,” a woman said from behind him. He turned to see her, and she certainly wasn’t what he expected. Petite with a thick mane of auburn hair, she definitely didn’t bear any resemblance to Mrs. Claus. She was girl next door gorgeous, even though he had never believed that existed. The girls that lived next door to him growing up made trolls look like beauty queens.

  “Oh. Sorry. It’s just… a lot,” he said, waving his hand toward the decorations.

  She scrunched her nose a bit, which was awfully adorable, and smiled slightly. “Well, I love Christmas. What can I say?”

  “And you are?”

  “Holly.”

  “Of course your name is Holly. Were you born on Christmas or something?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

  “Christmas Eve, actually,” she said, proudly.

  “Wow. Okay, then. I’m here to check in. Unless there’s a less… festive… place?”

  “Nope. This is it for Orchard Falls. I mean, if you go about an hour west of here…”

  He held up his hand. “That’s okay. I’m only here for a week. I think I can handle it.”

  “Great. Come on in,” she said, her Southern accent on full display.

  She opened the large carved wooden door, and he followed her inside, being careful not to hit his head on the gigantic wreath on the door. He wondered where a person got a wreath that large anyway.

  If he’d thought the outside was overly do
ne, the inside won the prize. Christmas trees seemed to be in every corner, and the place smelled like a cinnamon stick had a baby with a gingerbread man.

  Greg stood there, looking around the room. Every single surface seemed to be covered in some kind of Christmas decoration, from the green garlands draped around the banister to the basket of pinecones sitting by the fireplace. Even the rustic hardwood floors looked like they were put there specifically for the Christmas season, although he assumed they were the same year round.

  Holly walked behind a hand carved desk near the stairs and and opened a large spiral notebook. "And your name?"

  "Greg Ward.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. "And what brings you to Orchard Falls, Mr. Ward?”

  Suddenly, Greg froze. The last thing he wanted to do was blow his cover. He was supposed to be getting information about the town and its people for his boss, and telling them who he was didn't seem like such a good idea in that moment.

  "Actually, I write for a magazine in Atlanta. I was thinking about doing a story on the town and how it celebrates the holiday season."

  Why had he just said that? Of all the people to say that to, she seemed like the worst. This woman was Miss Christmas, through and through. Why would he tell her he was writing a story about the holidays? Now she was going to drive him insane for the next week.

  "Wonderful! Our town can always use good publicity. We thrive on tourism here, and there are so many little mom and pop shops that could use the extra business."

  He nodded slowly. "Great."

  She eyed him carefully, cocking her head to the side a bit. "But I have to say, you sure don't seem like the type who would want to write a story about Christmas in Orchard Falls. Or Christmas anywhere, really.“

  "Hey, we all have to do what our boss tells us to do, right?"