Page 1 of Sleigh Me Baby

Prologue

Klaus Maier

Helen, Georgia

When my brother Eull and I were younger, our dad would bring us out to our great Uncle Hans’ property each summer to spend time with him. Those were the good old days when we’d spend hours fishing in the creek and building forts out in the woods. Our uncle taught us how to hook our lines without stabbing our fingers, how to chop firewood, and how to navigate the woods. I feel like we’re eight and ten all over again, only now we’re running a successful cabin rental business that our Uncle Hans would have been proud of.

Sadly, Uncle Hans died a few years ago, leaving Eull and me forty acres in the Georgia mountains as well as his cabin rental business in his will. He had been renting the cabins for over forty years, but as time went on and people got interested in flashier vacations, the business all but dried up leaving him lonely and bored. The cabins became rundown and outdated the longer they sat unused.

I’m just getting home from a day filled with property upkeep and the last thing I want to do is scroll through the company email, but someone has to do it and it sure as hell isn’t going to be Eull.

Eull walks in twenty minutes later and tosses the mail down on the desk in front of me. "Anything good in the e-mails?" He asks looking over my shoulder.

I look away from the computer to answer my surly brother. "Actually, there is something I want to run by you. A radio station out of Florida asked if we wanted to participate in a free giveaway. It would get us some free publicity."

"Really, what are we supposed to put up?" He asks.

"How about the two-bedroom cabin by the creek. We could just do it for Christmas, like five days, four-night stay. We don't get too many reservations for Christmas week." Klaus reasons.

"Fine, only for two people. We don't run a charity." Eull says giving in.

“I’m throwing in a sleigh ride so we can get some use out of the new sleigh we just bought. I hope we have the weather for it.” I say as I start typing a response to the e-mail.

“If you want, it’s your idea so you’re going to host it. Maybe we can get more couples to book if we promote it as a romantic holiday vacation.” He suggests.

“Yeah, that’ll work. I can put a spin on it with the hot tub and romantic setting.” I say to myself.

I’m still responding to the email when I hear the back door open and shut. Eull probably went to check on the animals.

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