Christmas Kismet (2 page)

..oo     Chapter Three     oo..

The tires of
Kate’s Jeep crunched through the crust of the new fallen snow as she pulled
into the driveway of the cabin.  She picked up the map from the passenger’s
seat and read over the directions again, making sure that she was at the right
place.  The lock box at the end of the gravel road had opened just as promised,
yielding a shiny gold key on a key ring that proclaimed
Sasquatch Country
in bold lettering.

The key chain made
Kate smile.

She’d followed the
directions to a tee.  The cabin was picture perfect.  A blanket of snow covered
the roof and smoke curled out of the river rock chimney.  The cabin’s log hewn
walls looked cozy and rustic, perfect for a quiet holiday alone.

The only problem
was the Audi SUV parked in the driveway.  The shiny black vehicle was covered
with only a thin dusting of snow, leading Kate to believe that it had only
arrived shortly before she had.  She wondered if the Audi belonged to the
housekeeper.  Perhaps they were running late with cleaning the cabin after the
last guests.

The snow began to
fall more heavily as Kate walked up the stairs to the front door.  Thick, heavy
snowflakes landed on her hair, sending a ripple of cold through her body.  The
promise of a warm, inviting fireplace lingered just beyond the door to the
cabin.  Kate held the key to the door in her gloved hand, but decided it would
be best to knock since someone was clearly already inside.

Music was blaring
inside the cabin.  Knocking twice, Kate waited, as huge snowflakes landed on
her shoulders.  She should have put on her coat.

No response. 

The housekeeper
had the music so loud that they could not hear her knocking.

Kate removed her
glove and knocked again, this time louder.

And she waited. 

A snowflake landed
on the tip of her nose.  It was really starting to snow!

Enough was
enough.  She really had tried, but standing out here in the snow was beginning
to get cold.  Kate fitted the key into the lock and it turned easily.  She
twisted the door handle and pushed open the door.

A surge of warmth
flooded over her as she stepped across the threshold.  The music blared.  It
was Bon Jovi.  Kate loved Bon Jovi.

Her eyes darted
towards the kitchen.

The cabin was most
certainly occupied.  And not by the housekeeper.

The most gorgeous
shirtless man that Kate had ever seen was staring at her with a look of utter
surprise on his face.  He stood in the kitchen, holding a lethal looking chef’s
knife in his hand.  He had been chopping onions and singing backup for Bon Jovi.

“May I help you?”
he asked as he set down the knife and wiped his hands on a kitchen towel.  He
arched an eyebrow at Kate as he awaited her answer.

“I…I….must have
the wrong address,” Kate stammered and she quickly back stepped and closed the
door behind herself.

Henri grabbed his
shirt off the back of the armchair and opened the front door of the cabin.  The
young lady was standing in the snow, midway between the front door and her
white Jeep Cherokee.  She turned around when she heard Henri open the door.

“Why did the key
fit if I have the wrong address?” she asked hesitantly as she looked down at
the
Sasquatch Country
key chain that she clutched in her hand.

Henri chuckled.

“You have the
right place.  We must be double booked,” he said with a smile as he silently
cursed Andre’s blunder.  “Come on in out of the weather.  We can sort this mess
out, I’m really sorry,” Henri said as he motioned for Kate to come back
inside.  “It’s cold out here!” he exclaimed as he reached down to button his
thin linen shirt.

Kate followed
reluctantly, wondering if following a complete stranger, albeit a very handsome
complete stranger into a secluded cabin was a good idea.

Henri closed the
door behind her.

“This is awkward,”
he said with a chuckle.  “I’ll pack up my things and be out of here in a flash.”

“No!” Kate
resisted.  “You were here first!  I’ll go.”

“No, I insist,”
Henri said.  “I own this place,” he said shyly, seeking to take the steam out
of the young woman’s argument.  “I can come back.”

“No, I’ll go…” 
Kate stammered.  “Really, it’s no trouble,” she smiled.

“I’m Henri,” Henri
offered, forgetting his manners.  “Henri Archer.”

“Kate Murray,”
Kate said with a shy smile. 

“It’s really
starting to snow, Kate,” Henri said as he glanced out the window.  “I won’t send
you out driving in this weather.  Chivalry is not lost on me,” he said as he
brushed the snow from his chestnut hair.

“Are you sure its
not too much trouble?” Kate asked.  Her eyes flitted around the cabin.  It was
beautiful and she really did want to stay.  She had been looking so forward to
some time alone to sort out her thoughts and get her life back on track.

“I’m sure,” Henri
said with a smile.  He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Kate was.  Her
auburn hair was long and silky, pulled back into a thick braid at the nape of
her neck.  She had sparkling green eyes and beautiful alabaster skin.

“Can I cook you
dinner first?” he asked, surprising even himself.  “I’ve got it half done and
it would be a shame to let it go to waste,” he said as means of explanation. 
“I’ll just finish it up and then I’ll pack my things and hit the road.”

“Sure,” Kate said
with a broad smile.  She didn’t hate the idea of spending a little more time
with Mr. Universe.  Henri Archer was certainly handsome and charming, and it
appeared that he could cook.  What could allowing him to stay a bit longer
possibly hurt?

And after all,
this
was
his cabin.

“What are you making?”
Kate asked.   “It smells divine!” she said with a shy smile.  Her stomach
grumbled at the prospect of a delicious home cooked meal.  And it appeared that
Henri Archer was a very good cook.

“Braised lamb
shanks with mushroom risotto,” Henri said.  “It’s almost done.  It’ll be ready
in a few minutes and then I’ll go.”

“Why don’t you
stay for dinner?” Kate blurted, surprising herself.

“I don’t want to
impose,” Henri said truthfully as he slipped an apron on over his shirt and
tied it behind his back.  He turned down “Livin’ on a Prayer” so that he could
hear Kate.  “I feel terrible about double booking!  My friend Andre that
manages the place for me really messed up,” he said, shaking his head as he
stirred the risotto.

“I did book at the
absolute last minute,” Kate said apologetically.  She felt terrible for kicking
Henri out of his own place.

“No harm done. 
I’ll give you a full refund when I get back to the city.”

“No!  I wouldn’t
dream of it!  Really, it’s no big deal,” Kate said as she took a seat on the
barstool next to where Henri was cooking.

“Wine?” Henri
asked.

“Sure,” Kate said
with a smile.  She shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the back of the
barstool.

Henri deftly
uncorked a bottle of wine.  He took two glasses out of the cupboard and filled
them with the deep ruby liquid.  He slid one glass towards Kate and picked up
the other.

“To the holidays,”
he said as he raised his glass.

“Yes, to the
holidays,” Kate smiled, clinking her glass lightly against Henri’s.

She lifted her
glass to her lips and took a sip, watching Henri over the rim of her glass.  He
was breathtakingly handsome, so much so that her blood rushed through her veins
as she watched him.  He had thick chestnut colored hair and sparkling hazel eyes. 
His jaw line was angular and dotted by a day’s growth of stubble.  Henri was
the type of man that caused her heart to beat just a little too fast.

“This is good!”
Kate said with an appreciative smile as she took another sip of wine.  “Where
did you get it?”

“World Market,”
Henri said, coming up with the white lie quickly.  He liked Kate at once, and
was not about to tell her that he had paid over four hundred dollars for this
bottle of French wine on a recent trip to Paris.

“It’s delicious. 
Thank you,” she smiled over the rim of her glass.

Henri turned his
attention back to cooking.  Kate’s smile had caused his heart to go wild in his
chest.  He shook his head and tried to get the silly notion out of his head.

Kate was an
alluring woman and Henri had the distinct notion that she had no idea of just
how beautiful she was.

Henri dished up
their plates.  He sat next to Kate at the snack bar that looked into the
kitchen.  Talking with this stranger somehow made his heart happy.

Kate was beautiful
and amusing.

Henri watched as
Kate brought the glass of wine to her lips.  She was a very attractive woman,
so much so that he worried that he would make a fool of himself.  Watching her
made it difficult to piece together a coherent thought.  He tried to remember
the last time he had been so undeniably attracted to a woman.

Kate was utterly
feminine.  She was so graceful in every movement but in a completely
effortless, natural way.  Henri felt at home with Kate at once.  She was so
easy to talk to.  And her body, that was another thing entirely.  He couldn’t
help but notice the way that her leggings clung to her lithe, long legs.  She
had a body made for loving, and Henri found it difficult to fight his immediate
bodily response to this woman that he had only just met.

“Are you waiting
on someone else to arrive?” Henri asked boldly.  He was sure that a beautiful
woman like Kate would not be planning to spend Christmas alone bunked up in a
secluded cabin.

“No,” Kate said
honestly.  She sighed heavily, regretting how pathetic she must have sounded.

“I’m on my own for
the holidays too,” Henri said in an effort to bolster Kate’s spirits.  “I’ve
never spent Christmas alone,” he added, feeling slightly pathetic.

“Neither have I,”
Kate admitted as she took another sip of Henri’s wine.  “There’s a first time
for everything,” she smiled half-heartedly.

Henri raised his
glass.

“To two lost souls
on Christmas,” he chuckled.

Kate smiled and
brought her glass up, clinking it lightly against Henri’s.

“To two lost
souls,” she smiled before taking another sip of wine.  Her eyes locked with
Henri’s over the rim of her glass.  His hazel eyes were kind, but they looked
sad.

Kate wondered what
troubled Henri.  He was a good looking man, the kind of man that appeared to
have it all.  She could tell from the way that his linen shirt hung on his
frame that he had a powerful physique.  And that Audi that he drove screamed
that he had money.

Why is he so
sad?

Kate tore her eyes
away from Henri and returned her attention to her food.

“At least we can
go through the motions of Christmas,” Henri said as he stood up and lit the
candles in the window and on the mantle of the fireplace.  He turned his ipod
back on and switched the music to Christmas Classics.

Kate smiled.

Henri had
decorated the small cabin for Christmas.  The candles that he had lit were
tucked in between fir boughs on the mantle and in the window sill.  Her eyes
looked beyond the dancing flames of the white candles and watched the snow fall
outside the window.

Perhaps it was the
wine, or the candles or the snow, but Kate suddenly felt the Christmas spirit
growing within her.  John Lennon crooned “Happy Christmas” through the speakers
of Henri’s ipod and Kate’s heart felt happy for the first time in a long time.

Coming here had
been a good choice.

Henri rejoined
Kate at the snack bar.  They listened to Christmas music, laughed and talked
over dinner, losing track of time.

When Henri
finished putting the last of the plates into the dishwasher, he glanced up at
the clock that hung on the kitchen wall.  It was nine o’clock.

“I really should
go.  I’ve taken up enough of your time,” he said apologetically.  He really had
been enjoying himself.  Kate was pleasant company.  “This was fun, though,” he
said with a genuine smile.

“It was,” Kate
agreed.  “I feel really bad about kicking you out of your own cabin!” she
added, suddenly wishing that this intriguing man would stay rather than go. 
She had enjoyed Henri’s company perhaps a little too much.

“Would it be
alright if I call you when you get back into town?” Henri blurted, surprising
even himself.  It had been so long since he had met a girl who sparked his
interest.

Kate’s face
flushed pink.

“I’d like that
very much,” she said with a shy smile.

Could it possibly
be true that Henri felt the same energy flowing between them that she did? 
Kate’s heart beat an erratic rhythm as she pondered the idea.  The fact was
that she didn’t want Henri to leave.

Kate scribbled her
number on a sticky note and handed it to Henri, feeling giddy.  He tucked the
note into his wallet.

“I guess this is
goodbye, then?” he asked as walked out of the kitchen.

Kate stood up. 
She was suddenly unsure of what to do with her hands.  The wine had given her a
warm, heady feeling.

“Guess so,” she
said, horrified at how pathetic her voice sounded.  She hoped that Henri hadn’t
picked up on the fact that she wanted him to stay.  What would he think of her?

“Don’t forget to
blow out the candles,” Henri said as he smiled at Kate.  He pulled on his wool
coat and put a white stocking hat on his head in preparation for the cold.

Kate couldn’t help
but notice the way that the ends of his chestnut hair curled out under the
hat.  It lent him a boyish quality that along with Henri’s dimples caused her
heart to race.

“I won’t,” Kate
smiled as she looked back at the candles.  They had burnt low, but their flames
still danced in the quiet darkness.  The time that she had spent with Henri had
been somehow magical.  It was as if with his departure, the little glimpse of
Christmas happiness that Kate had experienced was leaving in his wake.