Seducing Santa (Holiday Series Book One)

Chapter Two~Last Christmas

After Holly had gotten home and packed her suitcase, she realized there was still much to be done at home before she left. She suspected that the meeting with the mayor would go fine, but just in case things did not work out, she needed to make preparations for the Christmas Eve party that they held every year at their house. She could leave instructions for the housekeepers to do the other decorations, but decorating the tree was always her favorite, so she preferred to do it herself.

She walked over to her desk and opened up her laptop, jotting down all the things she needed to be done for the party. She would give this to the head housekeeper in the morning, but it was late now, and all the servants had gone to bed. She pressed the print button and walked to the printer to retrieve the list, reviewing it once again before folding it and placing it in an envelope. She grabbed a pen and scrolled Attn: Head Housekeeper on the front before walking over to her jacket and slipping it into the pocket. She could probably leave it on the table by the front door, but Holly preferred to hand it over in person, so that way she would not have to worry that they had missed it.

Usually, the servants would get the decorations out of the attic themselves and have the boxes laid out for her, but since it was not the usual date they decorated yet, they were still stored away. She had wanted to take a shower since it had been nearly three days since she had been home, but decided that there was no reason to get clean only to get dirty again.

She rummaged through her clothes for a pair of winter leggings with a snowflake geometric print and a cozy Christmas sweater, a snowman with a carrot nose, and button eyes on the front. She still had her hair in a ponytail and decided to change it back into a messy bun since she would be doing a lot of bending down. She looked in the mirror and smiled, already feeling in a Christmassy mood at the sight of the snowman on her sweater. She snatched up her phone and wireless headphones before slipping on a pair of Rudolph slippers with red light-up noses before heading toward the attic stairs.

With this outfit, she had no pockets, so she had to hold her phone in her hand, going to the Christmas playlist she listened to every year. She pressed play, and Bing Crosby’s deep, smooth voice filled her ears, singing about a white Christmas. She made a note to watch that movie again this year on Christmas Eve, after the party, as it was a yearly tradition of hers.

She always had her own little after-party in her room with a cup of hot cocoa and her favorite holiday films. She would watch them until late in the morning, but still somehow was always the first one to wake up Christmas morning, ready to help with the family feast. These traditions were started by her mom when she was still alive, and Holly did her best to keep them going.

Her father and brother probably couldn't care less. In fact, last year her brother had spent the whole holiday with his new girlfriend in the Bahamas, and Holly and her father had been left alone together, not speaking a word while they ate. Not that her brother being there would have made the situation any better, but the silence had been suffocating; at least with her brother present, there would have been some conversation.

She quickly shook her head, not wanting to think about that and bring down her mood. She hoped that after she landed the mayor’s approval, this Christmas would be different, and her father might actually genuinely speak to her rather than just as an afterthought.

She found the door that led to the attic staircase and switched on the light switch located on the outside of the door. A thin sliver of light could be seen beneath the door, and Holly was relieved to know that the light bulb was working. It was not like their attic was scary. It was very clean and orderly; however, there were no windows, and without light, it was pitch black. She opened the door and headed up the stairs, having to turn on the second switch to light up the rest of the attic. The boxes were very well-organized and color-coded, and the Christmas decorations were all stored in red and green tubs. She walked right over to them and was relieved to find they were also labeled, each one assigned to a certain room in the house. She just needed to find the ones labeled for the Christmas tree.

She placed her phone on a nearby pile of boxes and started lifting away some of the tubs until she found the ones she was looking for. She smiled and clapped happily when she only had to remove one stack in order to locate them. She pulled them out before putting the other tubs back that she did not need.

Now, she only needed to find which tub had the lights in it, since those would have to go on first. She opened the first tub and saw Christmas bulbs and some garland, then proceeded to the next one, which was filled with their special ornaments, ranging from crystal snowflakes to ceramic snowmen. She closed it and opened the next one, relieved to find the box filled with the white lights for the tree. Holly much preferred colored lights herself, but her father did not find those fitting in their elegant home. Holly had a small tree in her room every year that she decorated as she pleased, mostly filled with ornaments from the places she had traveled to and bright, blinking, colored lights.

She put the top back on the tub and was about to lift it when she suddenly heard a ping in her headphones, indicating that she had received a message. She had nearly forgotten about her phone, even though Brenda Lee's voice was singing in her ear about rocking around the Christmas tree. She walked over to the box where she had left it and pressed the home button, letting out a disgusted noise when she saw it was only a message from her ex.

From Logan:

What are your plans for this Christmas? Want to hook up? I miss you.

“Ugh, no.” She whispered out loud while pressing the block button.

Logan had been her date last Christmas Eve. They had only been dating a few weeks, which was usually Holly’s limit. She was known in her circle of friends as the serial dater, a nickname given because she never let any relationship last more than a month. The moment she felt like they were going to try to take the relationship to the next stage, she ended it, which was precisely what happened between her and Logan that night of the party. He had been trying to get her attention all night and following her around like a lost puppy, but she was the Hostess and had a lot of things to do. She was completely fed up with his behavior by halfway through and told him to go home, eventually breaking up with him over text. His clingy behavior had not ended there, though. For the past year, he had been popping up every now and then, and this was probably the third time she had blocked him, each time creating a new social media account to message her with. One time, he had even been waiting outside of McCormick Attractions, and she had to call security to escort her to her car.

She sighed and tried to push all thoughts of Logan from her mind, placing her phone on top of the tub and about to pick it up when the label on the box her phone had been sitting on caught her eye, Mrs. McCormick’s Decorations. Her mother? She went over to the box and pulled apart the flaps, letting out a gasp when she saw a stuffed polar bear right on the top. Tears came to her eyes at the sight of him; she could not believe she had forgotten about Snowy! She picked him up and held him to her, the bear being just as soft as she remembered. There was even a smell to him that reminded her of Christmas’s past. In fact, the whole box smelled of vanilla and pine, which were her mother's favorite scents.

Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she had tried to stay home as long as she could. The last Christmas they spent together, she had been too weak to decorate, so Holly had to take over for her. She had been seven at the time and could not reach the higher branches, but a servant helped with those while Holly focused on the bottom ones. Christmas was her mother’s favorite holiday, and that was the reason she named her Holly; her favorite song "A Holly Jolly Christmas." That last Christmas had been rough, especially since right after her mother ended up in the hospital, her father refused to let Holly visit her. He said Holly would only exhaust her, citing how much of an energetic child she was, while Chris was calm and quiet. He did not even let her say goodbye on the day she passed away.

Holly looked down into the tub and saw more things, but they were unfamiliar. Snowy had been a decoration her mother had specifically gotten for her one Christmas, and he sat on the couch that faced the tree, but these other items seemed much older. There was a small Christmas box with a jolly-looking Santa on top and the words "Handmade Ornaments" written across it.

Holly pulled out the box and opened it to find exactly what it said. A few of the ornaments she recognized as things she and her brother had made at school, but others seemed much older. She saw a snowflake made out of painted white clothespins, and in the center was a photo. She pulled it out and saw a young girl sitting in Santa’s lap, a bright smile on her face. She knew it wasn't her, even though the girl did have the same blond curls that Holly did; was this her mother? She turned the ornament over and found the words Holiday RI, 1984, inscribed on the back.

Holiday, Rhode Island? That was the town she was going to! She looked through the box but did not find anything else about the town of Holiday, most of the other items being just random handmade ornaments and a few holiday projects Holly remembered doing in school. She looked over the photo one more time, not remembering ever having seen a young picture of her mother, but knowing instinctively it had to be her.

Her mother never spoke much about her childhood, but then again, Holly had been too young to really ask her about it back then. She did not even know her mother’s maiden name! She grabbed Snowy and the picture, setting them down next to her phone on top of the tub and lifting it up to carry it down the stairs, gently humming “O’ Christmas Tree” while her mind raced with questions she could no longer ask, since the only person with the answers was dead. She did not dare bring this up to her father, who had not talked about their mother at all since she died. No, this was a mystery she would have to solve on her own.