Let it Snow - Devon Rhodes.pdf - Devon Rhodes - SilverWitch

Let It Snow • Devon Rhodes

C hapter One

he view beyond the window, beyond the spindled

railing around the wraparound porch, was right off

a Currier and Ives print. A sparkly layer of white

draped everything in sight. It was a winter

wonderland to warm the heart.

“Fucking snow,” Garrett Clark muttered under his

breath, although there was no one there to hear him. The

quiet of the house would have normally suited him to a tee.

“I get the point already. It‟s a white Christmas. You can

knock it off now.” He raised his voice in suggestion to Jack

Frost or the Spirit of Christmaswhoever was responsible

for the overkill on nature‟s décor. “Great. This is just great.

And now I‟m talking to myself.”

That was the problem. He was by himself. Usually he

didn‟t mind being alone, which is why he did housesitting as

a sidebar to his writing… with the occasional cross-country

skiing and road biking thrown in for exercise. Pretty solitary

pursuits, all. But over the holidays?

Alone at Christmas, what a cliché. So sappy. Even he

wouldn‟t write such tripe.

Let It Snow • Devon Rhodes

He gave the whirling, falling snow outside one last glare,

then reluctantly gave up his vigil at the front window,

conceding defeat. Mother Nature was apparently not on

board with Garrett‟s plan to fill his home-du-jour with

Christmas cheer and brotherhood. He flicked off the porch

light and the snow appeared to suddenly stop falling.

I wish .

When he first accepted this housesitting gig over the

two-week holiday period, he had gone into full planning

mode. A huge Queen Anne-style inn up in the mountains

over the holidays, within driving distance of home? All “his”

for two weeks? E-mails had flown as he invited all and

sundry up for some playtime in the winter wonderland.

He hadn‟t even let the disappointing news that Ethan

Christiansen was already committed to his sister‟s house for

Christmas get him down for long. He could totally see the

appeal of being with the rugrats on Christmas morning when

they woke up after Santa had come. Ethan‟s twin nephews

and niece were all still at that magical age. Made for a very

fun season. And Ethan had promised to come up for New

Year‟s Eve.

Which was a whole week away . He wasn‟t sure why all

of sudden the romance of the place was getting to him

anyway. It wasn‟t as if he and Ethan had a hearts and

flowers relationship or anything. They weren‟t even dating.

No, their connection was more about leather and toys. And

though a part of Garrett wouldn‟t mind more than that, he

didn‟t want to rock the boat. Hot, smoking scenes were

just… fine.

Let It Snow • Devon Rhodes

Fine?

A little spooked at the direction of his thoughts and

expectationswhich he totally blamed on the fucking perfect

house with its luxurious bedrooms, clearly for lovershe

mentally chastised himself. It wasn‟t too much for Ethan to

ask, to have Garrett wait a week to see him. Ring in the New

Year together. And when he did finally come, the more basic

reality of their roles would put an end to the meanderings of

his holiday and snow-induced, sugar-coated hallucinations.

He sighed. When had he gotten it in his head that

Christmas was so important? Must be something in the air

up here. Either that or he was getting sappy now that he was

approaching his thirties.

With many of his friends unattached transplants, not

having families in the area, Garrett had been certain he‟d

have at least a couple of guys who would jump at the chance

to come up and spend the holiday in the mountains. There

was a ski resort lift about three hundred yards awayif you

had a lift ticket and didn‟t mind walking uphillplus cross-

country and snowshoeing trails. Add in a huge house with

nicely appointed rooms and a hot tub, and what more could

someone at loose ends want?

Maybe decent weather for actually getting there? Yeah,

that would‟ve been nice. With most people having to work

until today, it wasn‟t like they‟d had a choice to get a jump

on the storm.

Oh, when the weather broke, he might still get a few

takers. But it was late on Christmas Eve, and even though

Let It Snow • Devon Rhodes

Garrett knew it was just another night, the prospect of

rattling around all by himself in this monstrosity of a retreat

on Christmas Day just took his knees out from under him.

Garrett sighed again and began closing down the house

for the night, the unfamiliar routine of this new house

temporarily distracting him from his melancholy. The inn

was really beautiful and in great condition, a place to take

pride in. He could see why the ownersEthan‟s aunt and

unclehad wanted someone to watch over it while they were

closed to guests during their anniversary trip to Hawaii.

Usually his housesitting took him much further afield,

sometimes even to other countries. But it was nice to be in

an area he was familiar with for a change. For one thing, he

already had a season pass to the bordering ski resort, so

he‟d be able to do runs anytime he wanted. And he knew the

backcountry trails around here like the back of his hand.

Plus even though he no longer had family in the area to

celebrate withhis parents had moved to New Mexico

several years agoit was still home. Home for the holidays ….

He‟d brought tons of groceries up with him, but instead

of fixing something warm, he munched some cold pizza from

Bellagio‟s that he had picked up on the way here, another

plus of being close to home. He ate in the breakfast nook and

tried not to think about all the empty chairs surrounding

him.

Once he cleaned up and shut down for the night, he had

to steel himself to keep from going to gaze hopefully out the

window again and watching for headlights he knew wouldn‟t

appear. He ascended the staircase instead, letting his hand

Let it Snow - Devon Rhodes.pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: