Page 2 of A DIY Christmas Miracle
Phase 1:Convince your friends of your plan
Chapter 1
Eli
“You want to dowhat?” my best friend blurted before reaching out to press her hand against my forehead as if she were checking for a fever. The others in our circle of friends also looked at me in surprise, and perhaps a little disbelief. As if I’d grown a third arm in front of their eyes.
Juliet’s eyes wandered across the table to my beer, but I wasn’t drunk. It was my first beer, and it was still almost full. Even though I couldn’t necessarily hold my liquor well, two sips of a light beer wasn’t enough to make this about me being drunk.
“I’d like to spend this Christmas going skiing. We could rent a cabin. I’ve already looked up a couple of great cabins that’d be big enough to house all of us,” I explained, my cheeks flushed as I eyed my friends expectantly.
Ever since I’d had the great idea to follow my father’s advice and take fate into my own hands, I’d spent all my free time looking for available and affordable cabins. I’d sacrificed all my evenings — my sacred reading time — to work on this genius plan.
Admittedly, this‘spontaneous idea’of mine might sound strange to the others. Everyone knew that I liked the snow best when I could watch it through a window and didn’t have to come in direct contact with it. But that didn’t necessarily mean that my idea wasn’t amazing. No matter what my intention behind it was.
“Why?” Cassy asked.
I shrugged, trying not to feel a pang of disappointment because she obviously wasn’t that excited about my idea. I’d expected things to go differently. I’d hoped she’d be on board straight away. Cassy was easily excitable and usually a big fan of my ideas.
“Why not? We were going to celebrate Christmas with the gang, anyway. Your parents aren’t here for the holidays, right? Didn’t they gift themselves a cruise for their sixtieth birthdays?”
“They did,” Jack confirmed, nodding. “They’re leaving the week before Christmas and will be back after New Year’s sometime, so it’s not like we’d be excluding them from anything. Actually, I don’t think there’s a reason for usnotto go.”
I could barely stifle a surprised ‘there isn’t?’ I wouldn’t have thought that Jack, of all people, would be on my side. I’d already made plans on how to convince the others my idea was a good one.
“You can’t even ski!” Cassy interjected, frowning.
“Well,Ican,” Marc said, smiling at me happily from across the table. “I like the idea.”
“And so do we,” Juliet and Linda added. “We were thinking of going on a trip for Christmas, but since we’d already said we’d celebrate with you, we’d tabled it for next year. So, this is kinda perfect for us.”
Cassy’s eyes got bigger and bigger as more of our friends agreed with my idea. My own eyes were probably just as big as hers. Even in my wildest dreams, I hadn’t imagined such a positive reaction right from the start. My stomach was doing somersaults from joy, and I had to stop myself from excitedly clapping my hands.
We’d go to a mountain cabin for Christmas! In December! In Canada! I didn’t need fucking fate to do me a favor. I’d taken things into my own hands, and part one of my plan was already working out a lot more smoothly than anticipated. Now I just needed a snowstorm…. But freaking hell, this was Canada.Canada!A snowstorm wasn’t a question ofifbutwhen.
“If you say so. It doesn’t make much of a difference to me where we’re celebrating Christmas,” Cassy finally conceded with a shrug as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but she looked at me scrutinizingly. Her gaze literally bore into my eyes. She was looking right through me, right into my innermost being where my little plan was unfolding in front of her… Oh yes, she definitely knew something was up. But she didn’t say anything. Instead, she grabbed her beer and downed the rest in one big gulp. “I've never been on vacation during Christmas. So…why not? Under one condition: everyone has to go. So, what about the rest of you?”
I nervously clutched my blank beer bottle. I’d already plucked off the label–the shreds were lying on the table in front of me–a clear sign of how long it’d taken me to gather enough courage to voice my idea.
“Well,” Will spoke up, and I immediately held my breath. If he didn’t want to go, everything was for naught. After all, my whole plan revolved around him.Will McIntyre. The newest member of our clique. One evening, two and a half years ago, Jack dragged him along because Will was a new colleague who’d moved here for the job and didn’t know anyone. Ever since I’d laid eyes on him that fateful Saturday night, I was smitten. He was just so… Will.
I sucked air into my burning lungs, still waiting for Will to continue speaking.
“I can't ski, but I wouldn’t mind a change of scenery. Besides, walks in the snow can be really nice, too.”
Walks in the snow weren’t justreally nice, they wereromantic. And if my plan worked out the way I wanted it to, Will and I would be stuck in a blizzard for a day or two before the others got through to us, and by that time, we’d already be in love and could go for all the romantic walks in the snow together. Then we just needed a dog, and we’d be a real fami— okay, stop! That was a bit much, even for me.
“Soo… everyone’s in?” I was grinning from ear to ear, practically beaming at Will, then letting my smile wander till I’d looked at everyone. “I basically have it all planned out. We just need to agree on a cabin… and I’ve already selected a couple that might work. And let me tell you, narrowing it down was, like,sohard.” I was babbling enthusiastically while reaching for my backpack. I’d come prepared, which, in this instance, meant I’d brought my laptop with me, the information on the properties in question loaded in various tabs and had even logged into the bar’s freeWi-Fialready.
“So… I’ve already put some thought into the bedroom situation. I mean, obviously, Jack and Sophie are sharing a room, as are Juliet and Linda, and Cassy and Josh.” They were the couples in our group. “It’d be kinda cool if Marc, Will, and I each had our own room.”Lie!I’d be perfectly happy to share a room with Will — preferably even a bed. “However, I don’t have a problem sharing a room and less bedrooms means we have a bigger pool of rentals to choose from. I tried finding as many available five and six-bedroom cabins that still have availability at such short notice and are affordable.”
Which hadn’t been easy at all. But I’d been dedicated.
“I don’t mind sharing a room, either,” Will said without hesitation. His words sent a warm shiver down my spine, and it was really hard not to grin like a maniac. I’d been hoping for this exact scenario; now, I just needed Marc to…
“Well, if you two don’t mind sharing a room, you can be roommates. I’ll happily take a room for myself.” His grin was triumphant.
There!Perfect.I’d known something like this would happen because Marc absolutely despised sleeping in a room with other people unless he was sleepingwiththem, and Will was a pretty easy going guy.
