Page 321 of Screwged for Christmas

What was it about a fireman on ice that made her world grind to a halt and take notice? “Million-dollar question, Ivy Winters. Million-dollar question.”

And now she talked to herself. Great.

Work awaited her and time ticked away while she drank coffee and daydreamed.

She sighed when a cold nose nudged her leg. “Life used to be easier, Max. Why did we ever grow up?” Her phone buzzed and she snatched it up, hoping to see Gran’s number but found Lewis’s instead. “Ugh. What did I ever see in him?” she asked Max as she ruffled his ear and planted a kiss atop his head. She flipped the cell phone over and looked around the kitchen instead. Large glass jars filled with flour, sugar and other baking ingredients sat atop polished cherry wood shelves along the back wall. She ran a hand over the polished wood and the feel of the smooth surface beneath her palms. Something she used to do as a kid.

On summer days as teenagers, Aspen and she would sit here after a long day’s work of helping clean the extensive grounds. Her Gran loved to reward with cookies and their efforts had earned them several batches of fresh sugar cookies and lemonade. Their favorite.

Shuffling through the small trail she’d made through the Christmas decorations that led to the living room, across to the dining room and then back to the kitchen, Ivy took stock of everything she still had on her list.

Firewood needed to be chopped and brought in for each of the rooms. Grocery shopping. Still. She grimaced at that idea. She rather paint all day and clear snow on the sidewalk so the guests would have easy access.

And the trees. She was tempted to go out to the back yard and cut down a few because she had no idea where she’d get those blasted things this close to Christmas.

She slipped on an apron from inside the pantry door and brought out mixing bowls, baking pans and set to work making a batch of her favorite cookies. Painting could wait a little while longer now that Aspen had helped with the harder projects. From there it wouldn’t take long to string the new set of lights and hang all the decorations he unearthed. “Cookies will help the work go faster, don’t you agree, Max?”

He barked from his spot by the back-kitchen door.

“Right.” Some fried chicken and homemade mashed potatoes sounded good too.

She set about battering the chicken and setting it aside to cook after she made the cookie dough then peeled and diced the potatoes. Next, she set to work on the cookies. An hour later buttery sugar goodness filled the entire downstairs and she sighed with delight as she bit into a star-shaped cookie. Who said you couldn’t have dessert first?

Ivy slipped in a second batch then fired up the stove and set the chicken to fry. Sometimes life deserved some of the good stuff.

The front doorbell rang through the entire house. Funny she didn’t hear Aspen’s truck pull up.

Max raised his head but made no move to accompany her as she wiped her hands and made her way through the dining room to the front foyer. “Great guard dog you are,” she called over her shoulder.

Ivy flung the front door open and froze.

Towering over her was a man straight out of a country western music video with a dainty woman on his arm that was as beautiful as he was handsome.

“Merry Christmas! We’re the Howards. You guys have a wonderful place up here a little hard to find though.”

Her eyes widened with pure shock and the half-chewed cookie in her mouth nearly choked her.

SHIT. Did she have her days wrong? Couldn’t be. Right? She rushed to the registry table, nothing more than a table with a few drawers and pretty seasonal candles and a hand-painted welcome sign pushed to the side.

The logs. Where did Gran put those freaking things? Why hadn’t she already checked them by now? She flicked open one drawer then the next. Where did her note say she put them? They were usually right here.

Nothing.

Ivy rushed back to the door where a smiling couple waited in the cold. Great, she’d already broken the first rule of hospitality by leaving them on the doorstep. One hand on the door, Ivy clutched the apron around her middle and yanked it off and tossed it to the side. What she had on underneath wasn’t much better but at least it wasn’t covered in flour or worse, at least she wasn’t naked!

A sweet couple –who appeared as though they belonged in Texas rather than a small town in Alaska—handed over several pieces of luggage. “If you don’t mind, please miss. So I can help the lady inside out of the cold.”

“Yes. Of course.” Ivy took several pieces of luggage and stood back from the door.

The gentleman cupped a hand over his mouth, leaned back and belted out a hearty whoop in the direction of the woods.

Ooookay. That was a first.

Ivy offered a tentative smile at him and gave a courteous laugh when he received several back in the direction of the lake.

“Gotta wrangle the kids somehow. Simple hollering doesn’t work as much.”

“Please, won’t you come in out of the cold?” She stammered her words, wobbly from the surprise.

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