Chapter Text
For the first time in months, Kate wakes naturally. The winter sun warms her through the pale curtains, the sun lulling her out of her deep slumber. She sighs heavily and refuses to open her eyes just yet, in no hurry to move from the soft mattress and warm sheets that cocoon her.
It had been late by the time she had fallen into bed last night, her train from Washington running behind schedule and there had still been a two-hour cab ride from Boston before she had arrived in Festive Falls. It had been dark and all she had seen of the town were the pretty Christmas lights that hung from the store fronts, making the frost on the ground sparkle. After a quick shower to wash away her day’s travels, she had pulled on her new flannel pyjamas and curled up in bed, sleep coming quickly. It had been the best night’s sleep that she has had for a while.
It has been a crazy few weeks for Kate. The offer of a new job had come at just the right time for her, as she was starting to grow restless. She loves working for the D.O.D., but she also feels ready for a change and a new challenge. Plus, she can’t wait to get out of D.C., she has never been much of a city girl – too dirty, too many people, too much traffic.
Cara had accused her of running away and maybe there is some truth to that, maybe she is using the move as an excuse to end their relationship instead of confronting the reasons why they keep arguing and why Kate stays late at work every night. It isn’t working, she knows that; she knows that she doesn’t love Cara, she never has, no matter how hard she has tried. It has always felt like something is missing – the spark that she reads about so often. She has wondered more than once if she is chasing something that only exists in novels and on television.
So Cara had gone and Kate had packed up her apartment, ready to turn her life upside down and move five thousand miles away next week. The trip to Festive Falls had been a last-minute decision. It wasn’t her first choice, there is a town a few miles over that kept coming up in her research, but there were no free rooms in any of the hotels, so she had picked Festive Falls – charmed by the photos she had seen online. All she wants to do is make the most of her free time, something she doesn’t get to do very often.
Kate finally opens her eyes and takes a moment to get used to the morning light. Lifting her arms above her head and straightening her legs, she stretches her limbs and lets out a satisfied moan as her muscles pop. Her stomach rumbles, reminding her that she skipped dinner last night, and it propels her out of bed. After a quick shower, she throws on a pair of jeans and a sweater, and heads down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
Her strict policy of always starting the day with a healthy breakfast goes out of the window when she sees waffles and bacon on the menu. What is the point of a vacation if you can’t indulge? As she waits for her food, she looks around the restaurant. About half the tables are busy with diners, a mix of couples and families. She is the only one on her own and she feels a pang of sadness in her heart. Thank God for the pile of books in her suitcase to keep her company while she is here.
Forty-five minutes later, and with a belly full of carbs, Kate occupies a seat in the hotel lounge, choosing an empty armchair by the open fire. It is warm and cosy, and she kicks off her boots to curl her feet underneath her, making herself comfortable. This is what she had been looking forward to about her trip.
The room is decorated from floor to ceiling for Christmas. A grand tree stands in one corner, a scotch pine she thinks. Twinkling white lights are wrapped around it, baubles and ornaments dangling from its branches. Some of them look homemade and Kate notices a table nearby with small wooden ornaments and an array of coloured pens, two small children stood by it creating their own decorations which they sign and hang from the lower branches. It makes her smile.
Two life-size Nutcracker soldiers stand on either side of the door. Christmas ornaments adorn every surface, a Nativity scene above the fireplace, and handmade snowflakes are stuck to the windows. With a name like Mistletoe Inn, in a town called Festive Falls, she isn’t surprised that they go all out with their decorations.
Kate had left her apartment bare of any decoration, just a few suitcases packed and ready for her move when she gets home, and it cheers her up to see so much Christmas around her. Her eyes drop to her book, a holiday-themed romance novel that she is not her usual kind of read but she is pretty sure it is going to leave her with a smile on her face.
She is half-way through the story when she becomes conscious of someone stood beside her. She recognises him as the hotel concierge.
“Miss, may we bring you a drink or some lunch?”
Kate looks at her watch and is surprised to see that she has been sat in her chair for almost two hours.
“Oh, no thank you,” she says politely, still full from her big breakfast. “But, uh, is there anything you recommend I do while I’m here?”
“This is your first time in Festive Falls?”
Kate nods. The concierge sits down in the chair opposite hers and she spots his name badge, which reads Joe.
“Well, Miss, there is Main Street. We’re very proud that every shop here in Festive Falls is locally owned, you won’t find those ugly American chain stores here. And you must check out Dotty’s Diner. My Dotty opened it almost thirty years ago, when she first moved to the town.”
Kate notices the pride in his voice as he calls her ‘my’ Dotty and the way he beams at the mention of her name.
“Of course, dinner here at the Mistletoe Inn is the best in town…” He leans forward and lowers his voice. “…and I shouldn’t say this too loudly, but you won’t get a better burger anywhere in Massachusetts than at Nick’s Tavern.”
Kate chuckles. “Well, I can’t say no to that.”
“And you must take time to see the fountain at the top of Main Street. It has a statue of two turtle doves in the middle of it, created almost one hundred years ago by one of the first inhabitants of the town.”
Kate wonders what came first: the statue or the town’s festive name.
“I’ll be sure to check it out,” she promises. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Miss,” Joe says. “I hope you enjoy your stay with us.”
“I’m sure I will,” Kate says.
As Joe leaves her to chat to another group of visitors to the town, Kate closes her book and uncurls her legs. She is stiff from being sat in the same position for the last few hours and figures a walk down Main Street and an exploration of its shops is just the tonic.
After grabbing her coat from her room and bundling herself up in a hat and gloves – cursing herself for forgetting to pack a scarf – Kate steps out into the icy air. The temperature can't be more than forty degrees and she shivers, despite the thick jacket she wears. After years of living in a big city, Kate is used to putting her head down and walking at speed, but she takes her time as she heads west out of her hotel and down Main Street.
The first shop she finds is a toy store, its window decorated with a train set that travel round its track. A Santa Claus glides down the side of a snowy mountain on a sledge full of presents, figurines of children watching with delight. It reminds Kate of the train set that her brother, Noah, had when he was a little boy and how he hated it when she wanted to play with it too. The pang of sadness comes back and she closes it off behind her walls, just as she has done for the last ten years.
The next is the first of many gift shops, its window filled with trinkets and jewellery, bags and scarfs, candles and perfumes. Kate is tempted inside by the deep red shawl she spies on a mannequin, just the thing to keep her warm in the cold weather.
“It’s your colour,” the cashier – a woman called Martha – says, watching as Kate runs her hands over the thick, soft material.
“You think?” Kate says.
Martha steps around the counter and walks up to her, taking the shawl and wrapping it around Kate’s shoulders and guiding her towards a mirror.
“See? Perfect.”
Martha is right, it suits Kate perfectly and she grins at her reflection. “I’ll take it.”
As Martha wraps it up in some tissue paper, Kate looks over her shoulder at the photographs on the wall. They all seem to be pictures of the town – the church at the top of the road, a myriad of store fronts, the infamous fountain, birds and animals in the park.
“Did you take those photos?” Kate asks as she pays for her scarf.
“No, not me. We sell them on behalf of local photographers. A lot of visitors to the town like to take one home as a memory of their time here.”
One purchase later, the gift bag swings in Kate’s hand as continues her journey down Main Street. She passes more gift shops, a hardware store, clothes shops, even a vintage record store, until she finally reaches Dotty’s Diner.
She walks inside to the sound of Christmas music playing softly in the background, her nostrils immediately filled with the smell of sweet treats and hot chocolate. The lunch time crowds have gone, so it is not too busy, and Kate picks an empty table by the window, covered by a red gingham cloth with a white candle sat in a small jar with a family of reindeer etched in the glass.
A woman wearing a red apron covered in gingerbread men comes over to greet her. “Welcome to Dotty’s – that would be me! What can I get for you today?”
Kate twists her lips thoughtfully as she peruses the menu, her eyes glancing over at the counter that is filled with cakes and biscuits.
“A hot chocolate and one of those sugar cookies please.”
“Coming right up, doll.”
Kate leans back in her chair and watches the world go by. Main Street is busy with people browsing the shops and she recognises some from her hotel, others must be staying at the various inns and B&Bs in town. There is one who captures her attention, a fellow loner walking with her head down. In a town of so much colour, she stands out because of the black pants, thick black coat and black snood around her neck, into which she buries her face so Kate can’t really see her. She has long dark hair that is caught by the breeze and there is something interesting about her that Kate can’t quite figure out. She doesn’t have chance to, the woman is gone in the blink of an eye down the sidewalk and into the drugstore next door.
“Here you go,” a voice takes her attention away from the window.
Kate turns just as Dotty places a tall, steaming mug of hot chocolate overflowing with marshmallows in front of her, followed by a small plate with the cookie on it.
“Thank you.” Kate immediately takes a sip of her hot chocolate and whimpers in delight at how smooth and sweet it is. “Wow, that’s amazing.”
Dotty smiles at her. “I haven’t seen you around here before. What brings you into town?”
“I’m just here for the holidays,” Kate says. “I’m taking a vacation before I start a new job in the New Year.”
“Well, you picked the right place to be,” Dotty says. “There’s nowhere quite like Festive Falls at Christmas.”
“Oh yeah?”
“If you’re into arts and crafts, there’s a wreath-making class at the local church tomorrow morning. Or if you have a sweet tooth…” She looks down at the sugar cookie on Kate’s plate. “… there’s a gingerbread house competition at the Town Hall in the afternoon, we’re always happy when visitors help us with the judging. It gets very competitive. And there’ll be a Christmas carols around the fountain on Christmas Eve too.”
“Sounds like fun,” Kate says.
“It always is,” Dotty says.
The bell on the door rings, calling Dotty away to greet her new customers. Kate tucks into her cookie, which is shaped as a Christmas tree with decorative icing on it. Her eyes drift back to the sidewalk outside and she watches the passers-by as she finishes her hot chocolate. She doesn’t rush and it is the most relaxed she has felt for a long time.
After paying her bill and promising to stop by the gingerbread house competition tomorrow, she says goodbye to Dotty and crosses the street, browsing the shops she finds there. She picks up a pair of drop earrings with silver snowflakes on the end of them at a jewellery store and some thick woolly socks from a gift shop.
The sun is starting to set by the time she gets back to the hotel, the temperature dropping to below freezing, and she jumps into the shower to warm up when she gets back to her room. A quick search on her cell phone tells her that Nick’s Tavern is only a five-minute walk from her hotel and she decides to head there for dinner to try the burger that Joe recommended.
It is busy and the only place for her to sit is at the bar. After hanging her coat and new scarf on a nearby hook, Kate settles on one of the stools and peruses the menu, even though she already knows what she is going to order. The music is loud and she has to raise her voice when the woman behind the bar takes her order. She goes for the classic cheeseburger and fries, and orders a whiskey to warm her up.
“Delaware?”
It takes Kate a moment to realise that the question is aimed at her. She looks around, wondering where the voice came from. She spots a woman at the other end of the bar looking at her.
"Come again?"
“Where you’re from,” the woman says. “It’s a game I like to play when I’m at home. I’m thinking Delaware.”
Home, Kate presumes, is Texas given her southern accent. She’s pretty, Kate thinks. Dark eyes with long lashes, defined cheekbones and red lips with a killer-watt smile.
“You’re close actually. D.C.,” Kate tells her. “I’m in town for Christmas. Heard they do a good burger here.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” the woman says. “But I reckon it’s their wings that is their secret weapon.”
Kate can’t tell if she is flirting or just being friendly, but either way it would be nice to have some company for the evening.
“It’s kind of hard to hear you,” she says. “Do you want to sit closer?”
She wonders if that was too bold, but the woman smiles and nods without hesitation. “Sure.”
She picks up her drink and grabs her bag. Kate notices the black snood that is wrapped around one of the straps and suddenly realises that this was the woman who caught her eye earlier this afternoon.
“Oh my God, it’s you!”
The woman frowns. “Excuse me?”
Kate blushes and shakes her head. “Sorry. Nothing.”
The woman lifts herself onto the stool next to Kate’s and holds out her hand.
“I’m Lucy.”
“I’m Kate.”
When she accepts Lucy’s outstretched hand, Kate is pretty sure she feels a jolt of electricity course through her, but she shakes her head. Just because it’s Christmas and she’s in a quaint little town, doesn’t mean she’s going to have a holiday romance like the one in her novel.
“So, in D.C., I got to this place called John’s Hole in the Wall,” Kate says, making conversation. “It’s supposedly where they planned Watergate. Double patty, double cheese, smothered in Thousand Island.”
“Huh,” Lucy says, looking her up and down, “you don’t seem like a ‘smothered in Thousand Island’ type of gal.”
Kate’s lips curl into a smile. “Well, you know, I don’t seem like a lot of things.”
Someone comes by with Kate’s dinner and places it on the bar in front of her. She grabs a fry off the plate.
“You not eating?”
Lucy shakes her head. “I’ve been grazing all day.”
Kate turns the plate so that the fries are closest to Lucy, pushing it towards her. “You sure?”
She watches as Lucy gives into temptation and takes a handful of fries from the plate. “Thanks.”
It feels a little intimate for someone she has only known for five minutes, but natural at the same time.
“So,” Lucy says, “what is Watergate?”
She says it so innocently that Kate isn’t sure if she is serious or not, but her eyes sparkle mischievously and Kate knows she is teasing. She laughs.
“Are you here for the holidays too?” Kate asks as she takes a bite of her burger.
Lucy nods. “Yeah, I got here a few days ago.”
“Massachusetts is a long way from home. Why Festive Falls?”
Lucy shrugs. “My friend, Ernie, told me about it. Said he’d been here as a kid and that it would be a good place for me to come and… chill.”
“I’m not sure I’m getting a chilled out vibe,” Kate says with a grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much Christmas in one place.”
“Right?” Lucy mirrors her smile. “I don’t even have a tree up at home.”
“Me neither,” Kate says. “You know, they’re having a gingerbread house competition tomorrow? I don’t think I’ve made a gingerbread house since I was ten years old.”
Lucy nudges her with an elbow. “You gonna join in? Indulge your inner ten-year-old?”
Kate chuckles. “No. But apparently they’re always looking for volunteers to judge.”
“Eating, I can do,” Lucy says with a resolute nod. “So, what about you? How did you end up here for Christmas?”
“I just finished my job,” Kate says. “I’m starting a new one in a couple of weeks and figured I might as well use up my vacation days.”
“By yourself? I mean, there’s no-one at home waiting for you?”
Kate’s eyebrows shoot upwards at the question. “No, it’s just me.”
Lucy looks happy with her answer and nods at Kate’s almost empty glass. “So can I buy you another drink?”
Kate feels a flutter in her chest as she nods. “Yeah.”
She watches as Lucy flags down the woman behind the bar and orders another round of drinks. She’s really pretty and Kate looks over her shoulder, wondering if anyone else has noticed her. Everyone is huddled in their groups, talking and laughing, and paying no attention to them. Kate feels her ego boosted that of all the people in the bar, Lucy decided to speak to her.
Another whiskey is placed in front of her and she picks it up, clinking her glass against Lucy’s.
“Here’s to a happy vacation,” Lucy says.
“I’ll drink to that.” Kate swirls the whiskey around, watching the dark liquid coat the sides of the glass. “You know, when I was eleven, I begged my dad to let me have a sip of his whiskey. It felt like such a grown-up drink and I convinced him I was old enough to try it.”
“Did he let you?”
“He did.” Kate smiles ruefully. “And I thought it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever tasted. I hated the way it burned the back of my throat and I couldn’t stop coughing.”
Lucy chuckles. “My boss has a daughter who is eleven, I can’t imagine her drinking whiskey – or anything from the liquor cabinet. She’s still a baby in everyone’s eyes. I mean, last Christmas she made us all sit through her one-woman performance of The Nutcracker.”
Kate can’t hide her surprise. “You hang out with your boss?”
“Sure,” Lucy says.
She says it so casually, as if it is normal to spend time with colleagues and their families outside of work. That is not an experience that Kate has ever had and she isn’t sure if that is because of the type of work she does or whether it is because she is so closed off that she doesn’t allow herself to get too close to anyone.
“I love The Nutcracker,” Kate says. “My mom insisted on ballet lessons when I was younger, which wasn’t really my kind of thing.” She jiggles her limbs. “Being graceful doesn’t exactly come naturally to me. But the one thing I loved about it was that, every year, they would take us to a performance of The Nutcracker.”
“Did you ever get to be in it?”
Kate shakes her head. “When I was old enough to have a say, I begged my mum to let me join the school hockey team instead. But I still try to go to the theatre to see it when I can.”
“Let me guess, you wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy?” Lucy teases lightly.
Kate blushes. “Actually, I wanted to be the Mouse King.”
When Lucy looks bemused, Kate continues. “They just always look like they’re having the most fun on stage.”
She hasn’t thought about that for years; she isn’t usually the kind of person to share personal stories about herself and Kate isn’t sure what it is about Lucy that makes her feel so comfortable, but she finds that she likes it.
The conversation flows easily. They keep it light – best gift found under the Christmas tree, funniest family memory, biggest kitchen disaster. Lucy is funny – like belly laughter funny, and Kate is pretty sure the smile hasn’t left her face all night.
It is almost closing time when she works up the courage to ask Lucy the one question .
“So, this feels a little bold but…” She takes a deep breath, her heart racing in her chest. “Do you want to get out of here?”
The meaning behind her question is obvious and she feels butterflies in her stomach. She isn’t usually so forward, but the whiskey and being a stranger in a new town and the really really pretty girl sat beside her has emboldened her.
She needn’t have worried. Lucy bites into her bottom lip, her lips curling upwards, her brown eyes sparkling.
“Yeah, I do.”
Kate’s smile grows. “Okay. I’m gonna run to the bathroom before we go.”
She slips off her stool and heads towards the restroom. She feels warm and flushed, and is glad to find a window is open, the air from outside cooling her down. She checks her appearance in the mirror, glad she put on a little make-up before she left her hotel earlier, although her once matte complexion now shines. She splashes cold water onto her rosy cheeks and the pulse points of her neck, and dries herself with a paper towel. Tucking her hair behind her ears and straightening her shoulders, Kate’s body tingles with nervous excitement as she exits the restroom.
Only the space at the bar that Lucy once occupied is empty.
Confused, Kate looks around but can’t see her. Her bag is missing, her glass empty, the check unpaid.
And Lucy gone.