Page 1 of Christmas In Love

Chapter 1

Cade

“Continuingourdiscussiononinteresting Christmas facts, Gail, did you know that ‘Jingle Bells’ was originally a Thanksgiving song?”

“You’re kidding, Dave.”

“Nope, it was. And it was also the first song to be played in space.”

“Now why—”

Cade hit his car’s scan button for the third time in five minutes, cutting off the radio announcers’ conversation. Did any of this small town’s four-and-a-half radio stations have anything on air that wasn’t Christmas related?

No. The answer was no.

Aside from the riveting conversation surrounding Christmas facts… every other station was playing the same overly enthusiastic, modernized Christmas songs. He almost turned the radio off altogether but stopped his hand halfway to the button. Sitting in silence gave his brain too much time to think.

The radio defaulted back to the first station, and ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ flooded his car. It was some weird, pop rendition that got progressively faster, until he couldn’t tell if they were singing about ‘six geese a-laying’ or ‘sixty people praying.’

He hoped it was the people praying; he needed their help getting through the holidays.

As he turned onto his parents’ street, he felt a familiar, tense feeling work its way up his spine. His jaw clenched.

Cade hated Christmas.

He forced his hands to relax on the wheel. Okay, fine. He didn’t completely hate Christmas. Who could? But it held more pain than joy these days. In fact, he was already regretting getting time off for this extended holiday with the whole family.

But don’t tell his mom that.

Honestly, he’d only visited his parents in their new house once or twice in the last two years… and he hadn’t been home for the holidays in four. Not since the Christmas his sisters had helped him pick out an engagement ring, which still sat in its case, rolled up in a pair of socks at the back of his underwear drawer. That was normal and not at all an indication of his inability to move on.

He spared his mom and dad’s house a glance before driving straight past. After four years, what was a few more minutes of driving around?

Though his parents lived here in Greenbank, Colorado, his sisters lived close to him in Denver. He saw one or the other, and their families, near-weekly. He’d seen Devon’s first steps and Lila’s last four dance recitals; he’d even stitched up the twins’ foreheads last month when they decided to reenact a wrestling match they’d seen their dad watching on TV. He loved those kids—even when they used him as a human climbing wall or aimed their handmade mud pies at his face.

But something about being together with his whole family in one house made him edgy. When they all gathered, it felt like a spotlight was on him. He was the only one without a significant other, and half the time the conversation spiraled into talking about Cade and his unfulfilling life. Maybe not in those exact words, but the sentiment remained.

Then it turned to their various suggestions of how to improve it.

Never mind that he was a pediatric doctor. He took care of kids—sick kids! Heck, wasn’t that as fulfilling as it could get? He didn’t need hobbies, a vacation, or a girlfriend. He wasfine.

He pushed out a breath, steering the car around the next corner and trying his luck at the radio again. Every single light post in this small town was wrapped in tinsel, and the roads were blanketed in snow. It was the perfect Christmas scene, and it made Cade scowl.

He went down another street. Then another. And another. Eventually, he reached the town center, which was similarly idyllic in its Christmas cheer. Lights were on every business and nearly every house—snow was falling softly. This was why his parents moved here from Denver two years before. They were nearing retirement when his mom read an article listing Greenbank, Colorado as one of the top five small Christmas towns in the country. It didn’t take any more convincing than that; she decided this was where they needed to spend the rest of their days. Never mind the fact all three of her kids—and seven grandkids—still lived in Denver. She was currently campaigning to get everyone else to move here too.

A flash of color brought his attention back to the road, and he slammed the brakes. They skidded on the icy asphalt, and the pedestrian jumped back, slipped, and fell flat on their behind.

“I’m so sorry—you okay?” he yelled to the nearly-flattened woman as he rolled down the window. At least, he thought it was a woman. It was hard to tell in that parka.

The parka’d person turned to him, face partially obscured by a hat and scarf. For a second, they just looked in shock at his car.

He should have gotten out to check on them. What kind of dirtbag doesn’t get out of the car after nearly hitting someone?

The woman—definitely the correct gender, as she scrambled to her feet and a tumble of auburn curls caught in the wind—brushed off her coat.

“Fine—thanks,” she yelled. Then she kept walking. As if he was an acquaintance that had asked how her day was, not a total stranger that had almost killed her.

Cade watched as she reached the end of the crosswalk and disappeared past the buildings to his right. His mouth turned down. Something about her was familiar. That hair… no. He was seeing things. What was it about the holidays that made Natalie the top-rated celebrity in all his thoughts?

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