A New Tradition (2 page)

The closer I got to the cabin, the more excited I became to spend a little time snuggled up to Henry in one of my grandmother’s handmade quilts by a cozy fire, watching my movies and reading a couple of chapters of the new romance book on my Kindle.

“Look there.” I stopped one farm over from the cabin. In the distance, there was a light on in the old Turner cabin. No one has lived there or even been there in over ten years. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know if it was still livable, but the smoke rolling out of the fireplace was a sure sign that someone was in there. “I’ll have to ask dad about that.” I let my foot off the brake, headed on down the fence line and turned onto the gravel road.

We had never bothered to pave it, not only due to the financial cost, but the gravel gives the cabin a more rustic feel. The cabin sits on seven acres off the main road, and the snow covering it made it difficult to stay on course. I did the best I could.

I knew I was halfway there when I came upon the old maple that my dad had nailed a sign to. The sign reads,
Shhh…unwinding
. And that was exactly what I planned to do.

Unwind for a couple days…so much so that I was going to be cool, calm and collected when I Skyped with Mr. Bassett.

I had a habit of talking to myself in order to make mental notes and reminders.

“Home sweet home. At least for a couple of days.” I was happy to see the carriage light that my mom had bought from Mulberry End’s only antique store was shining bright. Mom did tell me that dad had put a timer on the lights just in case I didn’t make it there before dark.

They know me so well
, I thought. On a normal day of work, I didn’t even leave until well after dark. Sometimes the holidays were no different.

The sun glistened off the freshly fallen snow giving the cabin a wonderful spotlight.

“Oh, oh.” My spirits did a little dive south. Realization hit me. Christmas at the cabin sounded fantastic, but I wanted the cabin I was used to. The one that was always decorated for Christmas when I got there. Not the one where my parents went to London, England without decorating the cabin.

“This isn’t going to dampen our Christmas.” I grabbed Henry from the passenger seat and got out of the car. “We are going to decorate. Audrey will have to wait.”

The cabin definitely wasn’t as vibrant without the poinsettias and three-foot Christmas trees that mom decorates the wooden window boxes with. Even the carriage light was a little naked without the big red ribbon. Luckily, I knew where the decorations were.

Grabbing the hidden key, I unlocked the door and went inside. The large open plan fit our family’s needs. It was a kitchen and family room combo with a large stone fireplace built in the middle to help with a little separation. Plus, it helped out with the acoustics of the tall wooden beamed ceiling. To the left of the front door are the stairs that lead up to two small bedrooms, decorated with queen beds, quilts, and antique dressers, separated by a Jack and Jill bathroom.

Flipping the light switch on, the cabin was illuminated. I let Henry down. He ran to the back of the house and then up the stairs, looking for my mom. She always had a treat waiting for him, and today was no different. There was a little catnip in a bag on the table, along with a present wrapped neatly in red paper with a large green bow on top. I’d wait to open the present until tomorrow after I eat my Christmas dinner.

“Here you go.” I took the treat out of the bag and gave it to Henry. “First things first.”

I eyed the fireplace with trepidation in my soul. I had seen my dad light it several times, yet I have never done it on my own. I grabbed a couple of pieces of newspaper, crinkled them, and laid them on the grate. I took a handful of kindling and built a triangle teepee shape out of wood. With a stroke of a match, the flames caught the paper on fire, and with a few snaps and crackles, the kindle was lit.

“That needs to get going, so I’ll get our things.” The silence of just Henry and me in the house was a bit eerie. I flipped on the TV for a little background noise.

It was as if the sky had opened up. The snow was falling faster and the flakes were bigger. Quickly, I grabbed the bags out of my car. One for Henry and three for me. Yes, three.

One for work that has all my files for Mr. Bassett, one for my DVD’s and food, and the last one is for my clothes, including my tiara.

“Henry, it’s cold out there.” I set the bags down, noticing the smoke filling up the room. “Shit, shit, shit! The damper!”

With the long poker, I jammed it up the flue and pulled the knob. Immediately, the smoke escaped up the chimney.

I fanned my hand in front of my face to clear the smoke, and poor Henry sought shelter under the couch. The only thing sticking out was the tip of his long white tail.

Plopping down on the couch, trying to melt some stress, I laughed. I laughed so hard that Henry jumped up on the couch and rubbed his body along my arm, making sure I was okay.

“No, I have not lost my mind.” I grabbed the TV remote. “Laughing cures a multitude of ills. At least that’s what Audrey said.” I turned the volume up when I saw the weather report was flashing on the screen.

“Here are the current conditions across much of the Yukon and Canada. The cold air is pushing the nor’easter down into the Northeastern part of the United States, including all of Connecticut. The lake effect and snow showers are moving across New York, Vermont, northern New Jersey and of course Connecticut. We are getting snow reports of three to four inches per hour.” The meteorologist flailed his arms, doing spirit fingers across the states he was rattling off. “It is shaping up exactly the way we have been predicting for the past three days.

“Three days?” I turned the volume up. Why hadn’t I heard there was a nor’easter coming? “Grrr…” Mr. Bassett, that’s why.

I hadn’t slept or hardly eaten in the past couple of weeks since I had received the email where Mr. Bassett informed us that the Design Studio had won the final bid for the boat casino. I had to be prepared for the Skype call that he insisted had to be on Christmas morning.

“
Moon River, wider than a mile,
I'm crossing you in style some day.”
Audrey sings Moon River from my phone.

“It’s Mom.” I smile, knowing she’s checking on me. “Hey, Mom.”

There was a lot of static on the phone. I’m not sure if it’s the storm or if she didn’t get the international plan ordered for her phone in time for her trip.

“Sabrina, can you hear me?” Mom yelled into the phone. “We are here in England! You’d love it!”

“Mom! I can hear you!” I scream back. “Can you hear me?”

“Sabrina? Sabrina?”

“Mom, there is a storm going through. A nor’easter.” I wanted to ask her if there was anything I needed to do for the cabin to prepare. Regardless, it looked like I was going to be staying at the cabin longer than I had planned. “Mom?”

The line went dead. At least I had heard her voice and knew they were okay. I was sure they had seen the weather and were just checking on me.

The show must go on. I tucked the phone in my pocket just in case she called back, then started hunting down all the Christmas decorations, which wasn’t hard since they were stored in the closet under the steps.

Each box was labeled, making me smile. It was just like my mom to be so organized. Unfortunately, my organization skills took after my dad… there was a place for everything…in the junk drawer.

Before the snow got too deep, I grabbed the box that read ‘window boxes first'. In the box were four small, decorated Christmas trees and four bundles of fake poinsettias. If my memory served me, she had the tree centered in the wooden box with poinsettias on each side.

“This shouldn’t be so hard.” I put on my coat, picked up the box and headed outside. “Come on, Henry. Let’s go potty.”

Henry wasn’t fond of snow, and if it got any deeper, I’d be shoveling him a path to do his business.

I sat the box in the fresh snow and it sank down a little. Henry was hopping around, almost blending in with the white fluffy stuff.

Carefully, I took out each tree and spread the branches apart, creating the shape of a fir. One-by-one, I put them in the middle of each window box under the four front windows. And in no time I had the poinsettias neatly tucked on each side and hung the red ribbon on the carriage light.

“It’s starting to get dark out here.” I looked up into the air, taking in the grey sky and the nor’easter that was creeping upon us. “Henry?” I looked around, but couldn’t see him. “Henry?”

Panic and fear knotted in my gut. His little paw prints were like a little trail I followed.

“Henry!” I screamed frantically looking into the acres upon acres of snow-covered land. “Henry!”

I continued to follow the paw prints deeper and deeper into the woods that separated our property from the Turner’s. In the distance, I could hear the sound of an axe chopping into wood.

“Henry!” Tears streamed down my face. Never in a million years did I think Henry would run off. “Henry, please listen to mommy!”

The chopping stopped.

The paw prints cleared the woods and spilled onto the Turner farm. Smoke billowed from the Turner cabin. I raced toward the cabin, following Henry’s paw prints the entire way.

A big burly guy in a red plaid jacket and lumberjack hat positioned the axe over his shoulder as he stood over the woodpile, staring at me like I had lost my ever-loving mind.

“Henry!” I yelled, waving my arms at the stranger. “Help me! Help me! I’ve lost Henry!”

The snow got deeper and deeper as I tromped across the land. The lumberjack leaned the axe up against the wood and stared at me as I rushed toward him.

I didn’t care that I didn’t know him. All I cared about was finding Henry, and his paw prints were leading the way.

“I’m sorry.” Heaving in and out, I bent over to catch my breath. I noticed I had on my work flats instead of snow boots. My feet tingled with the cold. “I lost my cat. His paw prints,” I pointed to the snowy imprints, “led me here.”

“I wondered who that little guy belonged to.” His voice drifted like the beautiful snow.

Looking up, his electric blue eyes caught me off guard.

“I. . .” I stammered, “Can I have him?” He peered at me intently.

“Sure.” The warmth of his smile echoed in his voice. “He’s found a friend.”

He gestured for me to follow him.

Hmm…
I couldn’t help but wonder what was under that lumberman’s cover up. Shaking off the images, I followed him into the cabin.

“Are you a descendent of the Turner’s?” I didn’t have to rely on my dad to get the information.

“No.” He swung the door open and Henry greeted us alongside another white Persian, only it was a she with a hot-pink bow wrapped around a small segment of hair on the top of her head. “There he is. Looks like he found my Eliza.”

“Eliza?” My heart jumped. “As in Doolittle?” My Fair Lady banged around in my head.

“Exactly.” A faint light twinkled in his eyes. “I have a slight fondness for old movies. I’ve been told that I have an old soul.”

He pulled off his cap, exposing the most beautiful set of golden locks---a Heath Ledger kind of look.

“Well, thank you for taking in Henry.” Anxiously, I waited for him to take off the coat. I had to see exactly what was under there. “Anyway, you never answered me about the property.”

He picked up Eliza and she licked him all over his face as he rubbed her back.

“Wynn.” He held out his hand for me to shake. “What is your name?”

“Sabrina.” I took his hand. His fingers were cool and smooth.

“As in Sabrina Fairchild from the movie Sabrina?” He asked, dropping my hand. He put Eliza down and took off his coat, revealing a lean, yet muscular frame. His black Henley left little to the imagination. His blue jeans were a perfect fit. Not too tight, not too loose. “You really do love Audrey Hepburn.”

“Nah,” I surprised myself at how I brushed Audrey off. A first for me. “I’m an old soul too. I grew up on old movies, and I have felt a kindred spirit with her because we shared the same name. In a movie, that is.”

“Can I offer you a cup of coffee?” He walked into an adjoining room, giving me the opportunity to look around. After all, he still hadn’t answered my question about being a member of the Turner family.

Unfortunately, I had never been in here before, so a comparison wouldn’t help me. Though, everything did look new and nice. Black leather sofas dotted the cozy room. The wood burning fireplace glowed from the flames and an iron cast kettle sat on top.

My heart sank. There were no Christmas decorations. Nary an ornament to be seen.

“Do you…” I started as he came back in with two mugs dangling from his fingers.

I smacked my head. “Coffee.”

“What?” He asked and poured some hot water from the kettle into one of the mugs.

“That is one thing I forgot to pack.” Damn! I love coffee, and from the looks of the weather, I wasn’t going to be getting some anytime soon. “Thank you, but we’ve taken up enough of your time.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. It’s getting dark and I left the fireplace going.” I peered out the window. Night had already fallen upon us. The Rum and Monkey wasn’t sounding so bad right now. “But I will take a rain check for tomorrow if you aren’t busy.”

If all goes well with Mr. Bassett, I’m sure a good cup of coffee and the company of hunky Wynn would be a great way to celebrate not only Christmas morning, but the finalization of the big casino deal.

If I’d known about the nor’easter, I might’ve taken Jenna up on her offer, but then again I wouldn’t have met Wynn. Not that anything was going to happen.
Just a little extra spice for Christmas.

He set the mug down and got his coat. “The least I can do is drive you home.”

“I don’t think your little fancy car is going to go anywhere in this snow.” I noticed his ‘save the world’ smart car outside when I was frantically looking for Henry.

“I have a snowmobile. It will only take a second.” He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Plus you have on those little shoes and you never know what kind of animals are in those woods…coyotes…bears even.”