“Featured item?”
“Huge draw. Big excitement. Crowd will go wild.” She claps again. “Your package is the Holiday Bride Experience!”
My brow furrows. “What does that mean?”
But she’s already marching back toward the trail like her boots are rocket-powered. “I’ll send details! Don’t belate! And Ethan, thank you. This will mean a lot to the town.”
She disappears over the rise, red parka bobbing until the trees swallow her whole. The woods fall silent again. And I stand there, axe in hand, wondering what the hell I just agreed to.
“Holiday Bride Experience,” I mutter under my breath. “What does that even mean?”
I stop, grip tightening on the handle. Whatever it is, it better be worth my land.
I glance toward the ridge line. For them … for my parents, I’ll do it. But if someone tries to put me in a Santa hat, I’m walking.
Chapter 3
Harper
By the time I reach the town square the next evening, Cady Springs looks like it swallowed a Christmas catalog and then asked for seconds. Festive lights hang from the gazebo. The giant spruce in the center is halfway strung with red ribbons and lights. Kids in puffy jackets are chasing each other between vendor tents while parents pretend they’re “enjoying the festivities” and not silently counting the minutes until bedtime.
I tighten my grip on the wrapped snow globe under my arm and try not to slip on the freshly shoveled paths as I weave through clusters of people. The air smells like cinnamon sugar and pine needles and someone’s hot chocolate that’s definitely going to stain a mitten soon.
Ruby waves wildly as soon as she spots me, standing next to the donation table in a sparkly red coat that looks illegal in three states.
“There she is!” she trills. “Miss Frost Fox herself!”
“It’s Fox & Frost,” I say, cheeks warming as I approach. “Not …whatever that was.”
Ruby grins like she’s been waiting all day for this moment. “Close enough. You look adorable.”
I glance down at myself in my knee-length forest green dress topped with a cozy cream jacket. I’m wearing black tights and boots I’ve owned since college. I put on a little mascara and a ‘holiday neutral’ lipstick.
“I will accept adorable,” I say. “But only if we agree it doesn’t mean potentially ready for a blind date.”
Ruby throws her head back smiling. “I give you an hour before something chaotic happens.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid.”
She pats my cheek like I’m a toddler protesting nap time. “Sweetheart, chaos is the whole point of the holidays. Embrace it.”
Before I can argue, a voice from behind sings out, “Harper! Lovely to see you, dear!”
I turn to find Mayor Janice Davidson sweeping toward me in a green velvet coat and a poinsettia pin the size of a small salad plate. Of course she’s in velvet. Of course she’s festive. Of course she looks like Christmas royalty.
“Hi, Mayor,” I say, shifting the snow globe in my arms. “I brought my donation.”
Her face lights up. “Wonderful! Let’s see it.”
I unwrap the globe carefully, revealing the tiny Cady Springs town square inside: gazebo, spruce tree, streetlamps, miniature drifting snow. A little world inside glass.
Janice presses a hand dramatically to her chest. “Oh, Harper. It’s beautiful.”
Warmth blooms behind my ribs. “Thanks. I’m hoping it raises at least a little money.”
“Oh, it will,” she assures me. “People adore your work.”
Ruby leans close and whispers, “See? You’re the star of the night already.”
