Linc pulled into his usual spot near the front door of the building that had become the place he hung his hat since getting out of the Army and moving out of his family’s home.
It wasn’t too far from the main house, but far enough to take the truck rather than walk. Especially since the sun set early this time of year and the weather was unpredictable.
Eva pulled her car up behind his truck. He turned and, leaning against the bumper, waited for her.
She’d insisted on taking her own vehicle and following him so she could leave whenever she wanted, as she’d said.
Fine with him. He didn’t need to be trapped in close confines with the fiery redhead for any longer than necessary.
They were here to plan the event they were assigned. As he’d suggested and she’d shot down just yesterday. Why she’d changed her mind, he didn’t know but whatever. She was here now.
“So this is the Wilder Lodge?” Eva asked, gazing up at the stone and timber faćade of the building.
She pulled a jacket that was much too thin for December closer around her, covering today’s T-shirt selection which read, I’m not a control freak, but you’re doing it wrong.
That sentiment didn’t bode well for their future partnership in the challenge but he nodded anyway in answer to her question about the lodge. “Yup.”
He pushed off the truck and flipped to the key on the ring that would open the front door.
“And what do you do with this monstrosity when it isn’t Christmas and you aren’t having any Yule log festivities?” she asked, staring up.
He glanced up himself and tried to see the building through her eyes.
Stone formed the columns. Thick, old wooden half timbers decorated the front. The second-floor roofline of the Tudor inspired building was supported by dark wood trusses. The original roof showed off weathered slate tile.
It was impressive, he supposed. It was also cold and damp if he didn’t keep the heat turned up. And impossible to keep free from cobwebs. But he loved living there. Loved the solitude—when he didn’t have guests like his new Christmas challenge partner.
And he’d been making improvements, slowly but surely. Turning it into a full-time residence rather than an occasional place for recreation for the males of the family, which was what it was designed for. Hunting. Drinking. Card games. Not much more.
But he’d updated the systems. The new larger hot water heater now never ran cold. And after shopping for a new fridge and microwave, and installing a dishwasher, he had a kitchen that rivaled the one in the big house that Wyatt had just updated.
He turned back to Eva to answer her question. “I live here.”
That got her attention. Her gaze whipped to his. “This is where you live?”
“Yup.”
“I thought you lived in a cabin. That’s what everyone calls it. That’s what you call it.” She shot him an accusatory glare.
He shrugged as the thick wooden door swung in. “That’s what Gramps used to call it. But officially on maps and in history books it’s the Wilder Lodge.”
“Of course. Even the Wilder cabin is on maps and in history books. Why am I surprised?” she mumbled.
She walked through the front door and swept the dim space with her gaze.
He flipped on the switch and updated LEDs hidden alongside the ceiling beams cast light throughout the first floor.
Eva turned back to him and he waited for further commentary from her.
“You live here alone?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s not as big as it looks.” He shrugged.
One red brow shot up.
He continued, “I mean there’s only one bathroom, and two small bedrooms upstairs. The rest is mostly a big open common area.”
Why he felt the need to justify his home to her, he wasn’t sure, but when she looked at him like that—like she was right and he was lacking—he couldn’t help himself.
She was still frowning at him and he guessed why. “I grew up in the big house but after the Army… I wanted a place of my own. So I moved out and into here.”
“Which is still on the family property.”
“Yes.” Was she calling him spoiled? Or stupid that he thought moving a quarter mile away mattered?
“And Ethan didn’t want to move in with you after Wyatt and Livvie got married?”
Linc raised a brow. “No, he didn’t.”
With the lack of privacy, he and Ethan would kill each other if they had to share this space for any length of time. With the size of the main house, Wyatt, Ethan and their dad were just fine living over there together with Darcy. Even with the addition of Olivia and a new baby coming.
There was plenty of space for Linc too in the house. A whole floor if he really wanted to stay living there. But after the military, he’d craved his own place. Somewhere to get away from the others where he could be completely alone. Find quiet when he needed quiet.
The cabin fit that bill perfectly. It was close enough that he could drop by the house as often as he liked. Or when he was too lazy to make coffee or food for himself.
But Eva didn’t seem to agree with his choice to reside here, alone, judging by her deep frown and how she continued to spin and gape as she turned in the center of the vaulted ceilinged great room.
He tried again to see the space through her eyes. Yeah, the ceilings were twenty feet high. But as he said, that meant the rooms upstairs were tiny, tucked beneath the eaves.
Yes, the local stone of the six-foot wide fireplace continued all the way up the wall, but that stone had been quarried right here on the property. It wasn’t like it was imported Italian marble. The same with the timbers that had been cut on Wilder land.
She let out a sigh and turned her attention back to him. “This is a lot of space to decorate. What do you usually do in here?”
“I don’t usually do anything here. This is the first year I’m here for Christmas. Last year I was in Korea and before that, I stayed in the main house when I was home for Christmas from base.”
“So they made up this Yule log event?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
“No. They used to do that here every year during Granddad’s day. It kind of fell by the wayside after Wyatt’s first wife…”
Eva lifted a brow. “Died. You can say the word.”
He tipped his head, used to not saying that word. Not at home in front of Wyatt or Darcy. Not around his war buddies either.
“Okay, so it’s a blank slate,” she said, not looking as worried about that concept as he was.
“I guess so,” he agreed, not sure exactly where to start. Maybe the fireplace, since the Yule log would go in there… “I figure we could—”
“We should focus on the fireplace,” Eva began, cutting him off before he got his own idea out, as if he hadn’t been talking. She spun around. “And the staircase. The lodge is too big to try to do a bunch of little things but if we do a few really big things it will have more of an impact.”
That had been what he was going to say. Focus on the fireplace. And the entryway, both outside and inside, which incorporated the staircase. But since he could tell she already thought it was all her idea, he wasn’t going to try to claim credit for it now.
“We need a theme,” she continued.
He didn’t think they needed a theme but if she did, fine.
“All right.” He thought for a moment. With all the stone and wood, nature would be a good theme.
He was about to say that when she blurted. “Whimsical.”
“Excuse me?” Of all the things that could have come out of Eva’s mouth, that was the last thing he’d expected. “Whimsical?”
“Yup.” She spun towards him looking actually excited. It was odd. It was disturbing. And it was something he’d never seen her be before.
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like Santa hats on all these dead things on your walls. And wreaths around the big ones’ necks.”
“You mean the taxidermy?” The collection of trophies dated back to the original John Wilder’s day when this was his hunting lodge. Bobcat. Coyote. Bear. Deer. Multiple generations’ worth of trophies peppered the walls.
“Yes, Richie Rich. Whatever you want to call them.”
“Um. Okay.”
“Then we take all the small ones…” Eva swept an arm to encompass a couple of stuffed squirrels, a hare and some small game birds that were on table mounts rather than the walls. “And we put them on the mantle in a kind of winter scene. With that white fake snow cloth beneath them. And tiny bags filled with wrapped gifts. Like they’re traveling to a Christmas party.”
It sounded insane, but he wasn’t about to say that to her as she spun to face him, excitement lighting her face.
“Do you think we can find a tiny sleigh that’s to scale? And maybe little hats for them too?” she asked, eyes bright.
It might be the first time he hadn’t seen her frowning. Or looking generally displeased around him. It changed everything about her. Making her look… beautiful.
“Uh, we can try.” He was so thrown by her uncharacteristic enthusiasm he couldn’t say much else. But he did have a question. “What about the staircase?”
He hoped he wouldn’t be out looking for a life-sized sleigh to suspend from the ceiling or something else equally elaborate that she’d come up with.
“That will have greenery and white lights, just like the front door. With big bows. White ones. No, red. But black and white ornaments. Some striped, some checked and some polka dots. Maybe some red balls too. We’ll see.”
He tried to picture that and couldn’t. It certainly didn’t sound like Christmas. “And is that whimsical too?” he asked.
“Yes.” She let out a huff when he continued to frown. “Hang on.”
She whipped out her cell phone, typed a bit, then held it out toward him. “See? That’s the color scheme this fancy home decor company up by where I live in New York uses. Their stuff is really popular and crazy expensive. But we can recreate it.”
He did see. It was exactly as she described and it was… whimsical. “Okay.”
“So you agree?”
He nodded seeing no other choice. His home—his sanctuary—was about to be invaded by whimsy in the unlikely form of Eva Lucas and her harlequin-themed woodland Christmas creation.
Smiling at his answer, she clapped her hands together once. “Good.”
With one more glance around her, she gave an approving nod then focused on him.
“Now for the menu,” she began. “I have some ideas…”
Of course she did…