Nicholas still wore the ridiculous Santa hat and the equally ridiculous Christmas lights necklace as he lounged on his living room couch with a book pressed close to his face. The fireplace in his rented lodge cabin crackled with fake gas flames, but the effect was still soothing. He'd rented the small cabin instead of staying at his parents overly Christmas decorated house.
Reading had always been one of his favorite pastimes, but with the nature of his work, he never had any time to ever get around to it. Today, for the first time in what felt like forever, he didn't have anything pressing to do. He didn't have really anything to do until he received word from Luke about a potential offer for Christmas Wishes.
He’d already faxed and scanned and emailed all of the relevant financial documents back to his office in Manhattan, and Luke had confirmed receipt of them within seconds of Nicholas sending them off.
So now, all Nicholas had to do was wait.
He turned another page in the book, finding himself lost in a world that was not his own. It was wonderful to escape for a few moments, and he promised himself that he would do this more often. He'd forgotten the simple pleasure of reading. The pages turned quickly under his fingers until he reached a new chapter where a certain character named Molly appeared.
And then, Nicholas’ concentration was shot.
His mind went to the only Molly he’d ever known.
Molly Carmichael.
The woman was so... optimistic.
And ludicrous. And preposterous.
And imaginative. And sweet.
And hilarious. And thoughtful.
And...
Nicholas snapped his book shut. He needed a distraction, so he reached for what was left of his cake.
While he chewed through his dessert, his mind went back to the first time Molly had offered him a candy cane right out of her pocket.
Nicholas wished he could go back to that moment in time. He then wished he could go back even further than that, to the very first moment he met her. He wished he could have made a better first impression. He wished that he could have come across as charming rather than rude.
He didn’t know if Molly had forgiven him or not for his unfortunate comments about her Head Elf title, but he found himself worrying about it more and more with each passing day.
Did he want Molly Carmichael to like him?
Nicholas shook his head and set down the cake.
No. He told himself. That couldn’t be right.
That was so childish. Despite her beautiful smile and long legs, he didn't need her to like him. He needed to sell this store. The last thing he needed was any kind of romantic entanglement in this town.
Nicholas mentally kicked himself before picking up his book again, this time skipping right over the Molly-centric chapter.
A few minutes later, his phone rang, distracting him yet again. He reached to answer it, not bothering to check the Caller ID. Nicholas knew that if someone had his personal phone number, then they must be someone important to him.
“This is Nicholas Kerstman.”
“I got an offer! I got an offer!” Luke’s voice cracked with excitement on the other end of the line. He quickly cleared his throat. “Mr. Kerstman, sir, I got an offer for Christmas Wishes!”
“Wait, already?” Nicholas set the book down, his mind snapping quickly back into business mode. “They already looked over the financials?”
“Yes! And they love the seasonal Christmas concept. Combined with the year-round website, of course,” Luke informed him. “They were even thinking of expanding the offerings to Halloween, Easter and Summer. You know, all the big concepts.”
“All the big concepts...” Nicholas cringed, something inside of him uncomfortable with the thought of changing Christmas Wishes into an all-seasons shop. “Well, I guess that would be fine, as long as the price is right...”
“Trust me, sir. The price is right!” Luke said. Nicholas imagined him jumping up and down with excitement. “They said they wanted to see the shop in person in three days. Would that work for you, sir?”
“Three days?” Nicholas navigated to the calendar app on his phone. “Luke, that’s Christmas Eve.”