In the picturesque town of Winter Grove, the tenacious Alicia Whittaker faces off against her best friend's snobbish brother, Zeke Brighton, when his disapproval of his sister's boyfriend threatens to upend their Christmas.
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Tenacious college stud...
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Alicia
The Snowball's Chance was empty when Alicia stepped inside. It was too early for it to be open, but usually, Olly was around, preparing for the night's opening...
But he was nowhere to be seen.
"Olly?" she called.
"I'm here," came Olly's ragged voice.
A hand rose from beneath the bar and slapped onto the counter before Olly appeared, pulling himself up with great effort. As he stood, he was bent at a strange angle and rubbing at his neck.
"Jeez, what happened to you?" Alicia asked.
Olly groaned and flopped across the bar."I was putting up some more garland and pulled something in my neck."
"You don't look so good," Alicia said, hurrying over. "Are you going to be able to open the bar tonight? Do you need Sterling to fill in for you?"
If Sterling couldn't come tonight, that threw a big wrench into her plans...
"I'll be fine. I just need to rest," Olly said. "So, don't worry, Sterling is still coming to the festival tonight... Though he would love an excuse to get out of it. He's not pleased you volunteered him for that, by the way."
Olly laughed but then winced and clutched at his neck.
Alicia pressed her lips together. "It's for his own good."
"Mm-hm," Olly said, rubbing at his neck again. "I'm sure."
"Look, I can make this work—"
"I'm sure you can," Olly said, straightening up as much as he could. "And you can tell me all about it while you help me. I want to get this over with so I can go upstairs to the loft and put heat on my neck. Come on."
"Help you with what?"
"I need some stuff from the cellar, and I can't exactly carry anything at the moment." He hunched further as if to accentuate his broken form and pouted at her.
Alicia looked around. "Where is Sterling? I thought that's why you hired that beefcake, to carry things for you."
"He's off with Celeste. She's anxious for tonight—worse than before the dinner."
Alicia's chest tightened. Poor Celeste. This tension between her brother and Sterling must really be weighing on her... And if it wasn't resolved soon, it would cast a long shadow over this Christmas. Their last Christmas...
And then there was her news...
"Let's get this over with," Olly said as he headed for one of the doors behind the bar. "Oh, and I'm so telling Sterling you called him a beefcake."
Alicia rolled her eyes, tossed her coat on one of the stools, and followed after him. When she reached his side, Olly pointed at the door in the corner. It was old and off-kilter. It let out an icy draft...
