The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

chapel the TLC it needed, but then the door swung open, catching me mid-flight.

      “Kai, you won’t believe…” My words dried up. “Micah, oh, hi. What is it?” He wore a look of mutiny and I knew damn well why. It was all I could do to stifle giggles and instead appear unruffled.

      With folded arms he said, “The old set-them-up-and-don’t-arrive trick? I really thought your matchmaking days were over, but I guess not.” He stared me down and it was all I could do to keep a straight face. He couldn’t actually prove I’d done it on purpose.

      I put a hand to my chest. “Me? I did no such thing! As you can see…” I gestured to the multitude of paperwork scattered over the desk, notebooks filled with scrawls and laptop glinting with pictures of the lodge on a slideshow. “I’ve been extremely busy and an emergency cropped up. Anyway, how was it?”

      He rolled his eyes dramatically. “When you use that chirpy voice it’s even more obvious. It was a setup and Aunt Bessie was in on it. She was one step away from lighting candles and serenading us.”

      Dang it! Aunt Bessie, like me, was a hopeless romantic, but wasn’t exactly subtle at times. “Did Isla catch on?”

      “I’m sure Isla thinks Aunt Bessie is great, if not a little zealous with customer service.”

      I laughed. “Well, look, you survived a real date!”

      Groaning, he fell into a chair and rubbed his face. “She’s great: funny, beautiful, and totally eccentric when she talks about flowers, which she does a lot, but she’s leaving, right? When Cedarwood is finished. So what would be the point? Don’t you see, I’m setting myself up for failure if I even consider it? We both know long-distance love doesn’t work out. You tried it and failed, right?”

      “It didn’t work for me, but Timothy and I were so young! That was completely different. This is just another damn excuse from you. It baffles me, Micah!”

      “I wish you’d focus on your own love life and leave me be. You’re being the world’s biggest hypocrite, you know.” He ran a hand through his hair, and dropped his gaze like he was confused. Isla had ignited something in him and he just had to work through those feelings and leap!

      “Did Cupid strike me with his bow and arrow?” I retorted. “No, he struck you! So don’t try and turn this around on me.”

      “Yeah?” His lip twitched as if he knew a secret. “And you and Kai aren’t spending any time alone together?”

      I let out a scoff. “That’s only by brute force. He’s got it in his adrenaline-junkie head that climbing up mountains will help me sleep. And it does because my entire body aches afterwards and all I want to do is snooze so I can’t feel the muscle pain.”

      He grumbled under his breath and I knew I’d won the battle.

      Men. Love wasn’t that complicated, surely? My mind drifted to Kai, and as I thought about him packing up his truck with all his tools, and driving off into the sunset, I understood Micah’s worry a little better.

      “Yeah, well, dating Isla isn’t a good idea,” he said. “She’s great, but she’s a nomad, going from job to job.”

      “Hmm,” I mused. Really, anything could happen, right? Isla could fall in love with Cedarwood and want to stay on…

      Had I broached that possibility with her?

       Chapter Nine

      “So, I’ll organize someone to fix the stained-glass windows?” Kai leaned against the stone wall of the chapel, pad and pen in hand. It felt cooler inside since the thick limestone walls absorbed the frosty air.

      “Yes… ideally I want to keep these windows if they can be restored, rather than replace them.” Sun leached through the glass and colored the stone floor in prisms of light. The stained glass was circa 1920s and I didn’t want to lose any of the heritage. Even if it cost more to find an artist to repair what remained, it would be a worthy investment. The designs were eye-catching – flowers and cherubs, a landscape made from glass – but they were also a marker of another time, and part of the history of Cedarwood.

      He continued: “Before we do that, though, the beams have to be raised and the rot at the base fixed. Also, the vestibule is full of rising damp and some of the stones need to be replaced. Aside from that, the main issue is refurnishing it.”

      The pews still sat in solemn rows in front of the pulpit but the elements had ravaged them over the years, and sadly they weren’t restorable.

      “Could you make new pews?” I asked. “It’s not as though they’re complex, are they?” Kai hadn’t signed on to renovate the chapel, and I wondered briefly if I was looking for an excuse for him to stay. Or was it that I relied on him, and knew he’d do the job properly, safely?

      “I could knock some up. If we found some nice timber they’d last for ever. If the snow and rain hadn’t seeped inside these would have too. Once the windows are fixed and the damp sorted the chapel will stay dry and the furniture will be safe all through the winter.” His breath came out wispy with fog from the cold. “I’ll get them done before I leave so you can go ahead with your bridal expo. I’ll submit our plans to the council for approval, but you’ll have to follow up on them once I’m gone. They can get lost sometimes unless you badger them.”

      I nodded, feeling a catch in my throat. Perhaps it was the chill of the room. “It’ll be so strange without you here.”

      He gave me a weak smile. “No one will force you up the mountain.”

      “True. Small mercies and all that.”

      We lapsed into silence, as I fumbled for something to say. A knock at the door saved us, so Kai made his excuses and left.

      “Have you got a minute?” Isla’s forehead furrowed.

      “Sure, what’s up?”

      “The grounds beyond the lake are a little unruly, and I wondered if you wanted me to work that far along. Or are we leaving it wilder?”

      Beyond the lake was the entrance to one of the walking trails, and the land was overgrown and full of brambles. “We will need to tidy that area if guests wander that far, but it probably won’t be an issue until spring. I think Kai and Micah are the only ones crazy enough to walk in lashing wind and rain at the moment.”

      “OK, well, I’ll add it to the list and see how we go for time.” She shuffled around like there was more she wanted to say.

      “Anything else?” I asked, giving her a wide smile.

      She chewed on her bottom lip before replying. “Clio, thanks for offering me the contract for Cedarwood. I know you would’ve had applicants with more experience.” It struck me that the bubble we had was bursting. Everyone was thinking of their next job, of leaving Cedarwood for good. I’d miss them all, and what we shared here, and it was hard to believe I’d continue without them. Still, I wouldn’t pine just yet. We had a few more weeks together.

      “Your resume was best suited to us. There was no question about your being the right landscaper,” I said, meaning it.

      There were times Isla had a kind of solemnity, a heaviness, as though she carried a burden. When that passed she was energetic and lively, but when her guard fell, like now, it was obvious there was something wrong, always hovering just below the surface. I sensed she needed a confidante.

      “That’s nice of you to say.” She fiddled with her gardening gloves and wouldn’t meet my eye.

      Rays of saffron sun shone through the stained-glass window. “Isla, what is it? You know you can talk to me as a friend.”

      “Do you have sisters?” she eventually asked.

      I shook my head. “No, I’m