Page 44 of Tis The Season for Secrets
“He’s meant to be my best man. If I can ever get him to come home for long enough to ask him! Luckily the wedding isn’t for another year, and you’ve given me the perfect excuse to get him to visit.” Mason sounded like he missed his friend a lot. Juliet winced at the idea that Will’s actions could ruin their friendship.Swallowing her nerves, she tried to stop herself from wondering what they’d do if they knew who she was.
“I’m sure he’d love to; his work just keeps him busy.”After all this deception, maybe I am a Frost after all.As much as she wanted to meet her mom, she pledged to herself that she wouldn’t come back here again without permission. “The view is beautiful. I can’t believe I never knew the village was shaped like a star,” she rambled nervously, pulling a blanket from behind her and trying to keep warm under it. “It’s so pretty I nearly forgot about the cold.”
“Sorry, the higher we are, the colder it gets. We shouldn’t be much longer,” Mason assured her, and Kevin handed her another blanket. “It took Lyla months to get used to the weather. Make sure to wrap up warm while you’re here– I’m surprised Will didn’t warn you.”
Juliet got the feeling he suspected something, but she decided to focus on the view instead of her paranoia. The less she said, the less she’d have to lie. She didn’t want Will to have to betray his friend more than he already had. After what Kevin had said in the library, she couldn’t believe how much he’d risked by being close to her.
The sound of the reindeer galloping on the shovelled flagstones through a set of tall gates brought her back to reality. The painted gates were rather chipped, but the golden cursive letters S and K shone brightly. It was very similar in design to the gate to the Frost estate. Juliet guessed her family had tried to replicate the finer details of the home they’d lost after their banishment.
Peering over her shoulder as the gates closed behind them, she felt like she had trapped herself in a nightmare.
Juliet stared at the most elaborate cabin she’d ever seen, wondering if the Frost family had had a place like this once upon a time. Following Mason and Kevin up the porch of their home, she noticed the glass corridors that connected the three logged buildings. Juliet tapped the snow off her shoes as Lyla opened the door to the trio.
“We brought a guest for dinner,” Mason started, and Juliet winced, watching Lyla’s smile turn to shock. “I believe you two have already met.” Mason kissed his fiancée’s mop of curls.
Thankfully, Lyla recovered her smile quickly. “Juliet, of course, we met a few days ago. I thought you and Will wouldn’t be back for the holidays.”
“We didn’t intend on returning, but something came up,” Juliet said, grateful she hadn’t outed her. Now she owed Lyla for saving her twice.
“Sorry– Jones is a bit of an escape artist.” Lyla quickly ducked down to pick up a rather chunky ginger cat. “Come in and I’ll close the door.”
Juliet took a deep breath before stepping into the foyer, where the heat from a grand fireplace beneath the wooden staircase comforted her raw nerves.
“Will should’ve told me he was bringing her home for the holidays, we could’ve had a welcome party,” Mason said to Lyla, shrugging off his thick jacket, while Juliet admired the golden tinsel wrapped around the banister and considered doing the same in her own place around her bed frame. She reminded herself to focus less on the Christmas dreamscape and more on the life-altering situation at hand.
“I should’ve reached out when you ran into him at the coffee shop, but I’ve been so distracted,” Mason said to Lyla. “The workshop is behind on dust production because of a bad snowstorm,” he told Juliet, as though she knew what dust was.Workshop? Like Santa’s workshop?Don’t workshops make presents? What’s dust got to do with anything?She stopped her nervous laughter from escaping. Luckily, Mason didn’t wait for her to respond. “Lyla only got here herself now that her company is on holidays,” he explained. Juliet, having no idea who Lyla worked for, gave his fiancée a pleading look, hoping for her intervention before her head exploded.
“I think we shouldn’t overwhelm our guest; she hasn’t been here long,” Lyla said on cue, and Mason zipped his lips, clearly just excited to meet his friend’s girlfriend. “Could you make sure Kevin doesn’t eat all the gingerbread biscuits while I give Juliet a tour?”
“I can take a hint. I’ll let you two talk.” Mason disappeared through a tall archway to the kitchen.
With everyone gone, Juliet took the chance to explain to Lyla how she’d ended up here.
“I’m so sorry about coming here. It wasn’t planned, and I had no idea how to find my way back to Will’s house from the library. The bell separated us when we arrived, and I ran into Kevin.They insisted I came for dinner—” Juliet cut off when she saw the Christmas tree in the sitting room, decorated with beautiful glittering snowflakes. This place wasn’t like any cabin she’d been in before; it gave the Frost estate a run for its money when it came to grandeur. Even if the decorations were a little overdone.
“Breathe,” Lyla said gently. “I told my share of lies when I first arrived here, and you aren’t in any trouble. Though I will be giving out to Will for putting you at risk again.”
Juliet was glad to have her on her side, even if it was her snooping that landed her here. She wondered what Lyla had had to lie about, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
“How did you get separated?” Lyla asked.
“I don’t know. Will used the bell to bring us here, but I ended up in the library and he wasn’t with me. I tried to look for him, but I ran into Kevin, and you were the only person I could think to name,” she said, wishing she had a better explanation. “Did you know bells can do this?”
Lyla shrugged. “It happens; travel by bell isn’t exactly science.” It wasn’t the concrete comfort she was looking for. However, it was some relief to find that she wasn’t the only one who was in the dark about most aspects of Yule’s magic.
“There’s nothing scientific about this place,” she agreed, glad to have someone to confide in.
“Just don’t mention anything about the Frosts. Once Will gets here, I’m sure he’ll come up with some excuse for you both to leave. We just have to make it to then,” Lyla whispered, as Jones, the ginger cat, rubbed himself against Juliet’s legs. “Can I ask how long you and Will have been seeing each other? I thought he was helping you with your family, but you called yourself his girlfriend?”
“I’m not – I mean, we aren’t really together. I mean we’ve been together, but not like together together,” Juliet stammered,unsure how to explain. She buried her face in her hands. “I’m not making any sense.”
Lyla chuckled softly. “Don’t sweat it. You aren’t the first ‘fake’ relationship in Yule and probably won’t be the last.”
Oh God, is Will going to think I’m in love with him?Or that I think we’re in a relationship?There was no way Will or Kevin weren’t going to mention meeting his ‘girlfriend’. She wanted to ask Lyla if they had any duct tape for her mouth so she wouldn’t put her foot in it again.
A warm voice interrupted them. “You can’t keep her all to yourself, Lyla! Let me get a look at you.”
Juliet guessed the white-haired older lady was Mason’s mom. Her red apron, which read KISS THE KLAUS, brightened Juliet’s mood. Before she could introduce herself, she was wrapped up in a hug which she realised she desperately needed.
