❄ It Came Upon a Christmas Twist ❄

New Chapter everyone! 😃🎄

I just realized it's Friday the 13th...
Not that I'm superstitious or anything, but to those of you who might be, just stay home today, read my new story chapter, and watch Christmas movies! 😆👍🏻 
But I hardly think anything supertitious happens around Christmastime anyway. I happen to be quite familiar with the Holiday. 😉 Hee hee! Anyhoo!

This is one of my favorite chapters in the whole story...and I think you'll be able to see why. 🥰🎄🎁 

Also y'all get to see my "mad photo editing skills" 😆 using Paint on this one. Lol! Especially with the unstringing of the Christmas lights, just pretend. 🙃 I'd say they hung them from the chandelier as a guide. But I'm not sure that would be very safe in real life! 😂

Enjoy all the fun in this one my friends. 💜

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❄Chapter 6❄

“Hey,” Declan warmly greeted, stepping into the bedroom where Harper was convalescing. He saw her eyes flicker open in the glow of the rising morning sun through the frosted window. Her hair was messier than he had ever seen it, with some strands plastered to her forehead. Understandable. “How are you feeling?” he asked, stopping by the foot of her bed. 

Wearily sitting herself up, Harper covered a cough before replying, “Not much better than yesterday. My fever broke last night at least, so that’s good.” She wiped away the perspiration from her forehead. 
Declan nodded. “Yeah, Kinsley told me. So I figured it might be ok to come up and see how you’re doing. Now that you’re spreading less cooties and all.” He winked. 
“Yeah, yeah…,” she uttered in a somewhat playful tone. “So let me guess, the Pass is open now? That would be just my luck…”

“Actually,” he paused, a smile playing across his lips, “it’s not.”
“Oh my gosh STILL!?”

His mouth hung open by her sharp response. “Uh, weren’t you just insinuating that that’s a good thing because you’re still feeling sick?” Honestly he just couldn’t understand her sometimes. 
Harper jerked her gaze away from him in annoyance. “Well, yeah, sort of. But seriously it went from,” she began to gesture with her hand, “‘Oh it’ll be open in the morning ma’am’ to ‘sorry folks it’s gonna be closed all week!’” Then she dropped her hand down onto the covers. “Frustrating!”

Declan agreed, yet gave her a particular look while folding his arms. “I doubt it will be closed for that long…”

Understanding, Harper lowered her head with a sigh. She knew she was overreacting and felt somewhat embarrassed by it; forgetting that she wasn’t the only one here who was having to patiently wait through it. “You’re right,” she softly admitted with a sniff, raising her head. “I guess it actually has turned into a blessing with the way I’m feeling.” She grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand and wiped her nose with it. “I just hope I’m feeling a lot better before the conference.”

“Me too,” Declan kindly expressed. “Which could very well be sometime tomorrow so…be sure to rest up today, alright? And don’t worry about a thing. Just focus on getting better.”
“I already got the same rundown from Kinsley, Declan. But thank you.” She smiled.
It pleased him to hear her say that and he gave her a nod of acceptance.

“So what are you going to be doing today while I’m sleeping the day away up here?” Harper asked, slipping further into the covers and allowing her head to sink into the pillow.
“Oh I dunno,” Declan replied, arms still folded and arching his head in thought. He hoped to spend the majority of it with Kinsley, but of course he didn’t say that. This wasn’t the right time to hint about that to Harper like he’d planned. “Maybe I’ll check out the town some more, do a little shopping. Autumnvale really is a charming place.”
“It is,” Harper whispered, closing her eyes. “I’d forgotten…Enjoy it for the both of us ok?”
Declan smiled again. “Will do. Sleep well.”

Once Declan made it to the bottom of the stairs, he found Kinsley barely stepping through the front door carrying two large plastic totes. Instinctively he rushed to her aid. 

“Need some help with that?” he asked, placing his hand on the top tote to steady it.
“Oh Declan,” Kinsley said in surprise. “Yes, that would be great.”

She expected him to just grab the top tote, but instead he took both of them from her and placed them down in the living area with ease. It made her smile. 

There were two more totes that needed to be brought in from the deck so they each carried one in, set them beside the other totes, and then Kinsley went over to close the door and hang up her coat and cap. Declan couldn’t help watching her as she did so, unintentionally showing off her slim figure and adorable, festive outfit once her coat had been removed. He quickly glanced away when her eyes drifted back to him. 

“Based on the color of these totes,” he began as she approached him, “I think I know what all this is.” He grinned with a twinkle in his eye. 

“Yep. My brother’s Christmas decorations,” she merrily confirmed. “I thought it would be nice to liven up the place. I was kinda surprised Nick hadn’t decorated already before leaving town, but,” she shrugged, “I guess he was too busy.”

Declan folded his arms before her with a pleasurable grin. “You know, I had the same thought last night that the guest house could sure use some Christmas decorations.”
“Oh is that right?” Kinsley asked in a flirtatious tone, mirroring his own.
“Cross my heart.” He gestured.
She chuckled. “Well we’ll just have to do the guest house too then.”
“We?” 
“Oh, um, yeah,” she stammered for a moment. “I mean, if you’d like to?” She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear with a rosy cheeked smile.
Her demeanor was so coy it was arousing to Declan. But regardless he would’ve said anyway, “I’d love to. Sounds fun.” 

“Great! You know,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “I haven’t known very many guys that like to decorate for Christmas.”
“Well,” he leaned in slightly with a smirk, “I’m not like other guys…”
In a beat of playful silence, she surprised him by saying, “I noticed.” And it made his heart flutter. 

“Alright, let’s do this!” Declan declared, clapping his hands together.

Kinsley and Harper’s brother had more Christmas decorations than Declan ever expected a single man to have, but he figured it had to do with years worth of accumulation from the family’s many Holiday get-togethers. That and he had a large cabin home, in the middle of nowhere Idaho, nestled in what just so happened to be Christmas Town itself - it seemed. He was honestly beginning to wonder if it secretly was. 

“Let’s start with decorating the mantle,” Kinsley happily suggested, interrupting his thoughts. 
“Absolutely!”
“Oh but first,” she stopped to point in the direction of, “let me turn on some Christmas music. It’s always more fun to decorate that way.” 
He grinned, agreeing. “But what about Harper sleeping?”
“I’ll make sure it’s turned down low,” she assured with a smile before heading towards Nick’s epic surround sound system and started pushing buttons. 

Declan watched her with a besotted sigh. I love her, he thought. Not quite in the literal sense, but over how much she loved and did Christmas pretty much the same way he did. Why did she seem so practically perfect for him in every way, when they’d only just met each other yesterday? Was that even possible?

Normally he didn’t fall so hard for – nor feel such a connection to - a girl this quickly, not even with his past girlfriends whom he’d been so enamored with. There must have been some magical kismet in the cool, crisp Idaho mountain air.

Once the Christmas music softly rang through the air, the two got right to work decorating the entire living area. They sang and swayed to almost every song...

...grunted humorously while unstringing tangled lights...

...wrapped tinsel around themselves to create various fashion items...

- which left a few strands in their hair, on the couch, and on the floor - and talked about their favorite Christmas movies while putting the final touches on everything. They hoped they hadn’t been too loud and disturbed Harper’s beauty sleep, but it was hard not getting wrapped up in every fun and festive moment together. It all felt so merry and bright. Especially with the added touch of snow lightly falling outside the frosted windows. 

When it was all done, the two stood before the living area and gazed around with blissful sighs, admiring their work with pride.

As if the cabin didn’t feel warm and cozy enough on its own, now it had become the picturesque symbol of pure holiday comfort and charm. Bringing with it cherished memories of Christmases past that only come but once a year. 

“Wow,” Declan breathed, “we should go into the Christmas interior decorating business.” He flashed a grin at her.
“We do make a pretty good decorating team,” Kinsley grinned and expressed in return, “but there’s one very important thing that’s missing here…”
“What’s that?”
“A Christmas tree.” 
“Oh.” Declan’s face turned pale as he scanned the room again, then slapped a hand to his forehead in disbelief. “Golly how did I miss that!?” 

“I almost missed it myself actually,” Kinsley said within a giggle. “But now I remember why one didn’t pop up all taken apart in one of these many totes. Nick usually gets a real one.”
“Well alright then,” Declan declared, flexing his sorry excuse for muscles and changing his voice, “tell me where the ax is m’lady and I will fetch a tree for us!” 

Kinsley cupped a hand over her mouth to suppress a snort at his adorable request, her eyes alight with admiration. “Are you serious?” 

“Actually…no,” Declan honestly admitted, dropping his arms to his sides. “I don’t even know why I did that…” He shyly rubbed at the back of his neck with a twisted grin. “I can barely split wood for a fire! That’s why I live in an apartment that’s all electric.”
Kinsley couldn’t help chortling now, only because she could relate. “Well you’re in luck because there’s a Christmas tree lot in the center of town where the trees have already been cut down from the mountain and all one has to do is pick out the one they want. They’ll tie it to your car and everything.”
“Sweet!” He grinned.

“So umm,” Kinsley began, hands clasped behind her back and inching closer to him with a coy look in her eye, “would you like to come and help me pick out one?”

Declan’s grin turned brighter, and warmer. “I was hoping it was obvious that I’d like nothing more.”
She blushed. Sensing what he was really saying and rather liking it. “Ok. Mind if we go now?”
“Nope. We’re on a roll here.” He winked. “Let’s do it!”

Kinsley tried to suppress another giggle as they headed for the door together. It felt so refreshing for her to laugh again; and so frequently. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she did before arriving at the cabin. And her heart fluttered in a way it hadn’t in years when being around Declan, especially when he took her coat from the rack and held it towards her, encouraging her to slip into it with his beautiful, obsidian eyes. And once she did so, he kindly reached over and opened the door for her. He was a gentleman in every way and she very much liked that. They exchanged smitten glances before Declan closed the door behind them and they entered into the snowy winter wonderland.

                                                                 ❄❄❄

Every year, Autumnvale’s one and only Christmas tree lot was set up in the park next door to the schoolhouse. Lights were strung from the streetlights, to the telephone poles, all converging at the top of the pergola nestled in the middle of the park where tree sales were made and steaming hot cocoa and cider were served free to everyone.

Rows of assorted types of trees extended all the way to the back of the lot, with solar powered pathway lights in between to direct the way, and various Christmas decorations cleverly placed at every turn to further please the eye.

Children ran around laughing and playing, while the adults chatted and mingled among friends. It was the sound of happiness and pure joy that was one of many reasons Declan loved Christmas time so much. He had a strong feeling Kinsley felt the same way.

After carefully crossing the slushy road, the two took in the sights and sounds of the lot while inhaling the blended aroma of the trees and exhaling clouds of condensation in bliss.

“They really can’t make holiday tree candles that smell as pure as this,” Kinsley stated, closing her eyes. “I wish there was some way I could bottle it up and take it home with me.”

Declan smiled at her as they instinctively began walking towards the trees together. “I haven’t had a real tree for Christmas since I was a kid. For a while my parents used to take me up to the mountains to pick out the perfect tree. My dad did most of the axing since I was terrible at it.” They chuckled. “But when he had an accident at work that severely injured his leg…we couldn’t do that anymore.” He lowered his head, mourning that loss more than he thought he would in this moment. 

“I’m sorry,” Kinsley expressed. “That must’ve been really hard for him.”
“Yeah. It was for a time, but he’s handled it like a pro over the years so,” he looked back at her for assurance, “he’s doing well.”
She nodded, happy to hear it. “We never had a real tree growing up. I think I remember Nick saying that’s why he always likes getting a real one. He feels like we missed out.” 
Declan concurred. “Oh every person should have a real tree at least one Christmas in their lifetime,” he declared. “It’s the scent and the life in it that just can’t be beat.”
“I agree.”
“Even though the sap can be a bit of a nuisance...” He grimaced.
“Oh definitely! But we won’t let that stop us from picking out the perfect tree today.” She grinned with rosy cheeks.
“Absolutely not.”

Strolling through the first couple of rows of trees side by side, Declan asked her, “So which type of tree is your favorite?”
“Ohhh,” Kinsley uttered in thought, stopping to scan them for a moment, “you know I’m really not sure. I’m terrible at remembering the types of trees…” Her shy self hated to admit. 

Declan smiled at the cute look of shame on her face. He didn’t want to come off as a know-it-all, but he couldn’t help coolly and casually answering to impress her. “Well, for Christmas trees you usually have Firs, Pines, and Spruces. Sometimes Cypress and even Cedar.”
Kinsley ginned at him as he spoke, definitely impressed.
“My personal favorites are fir trees, like this Balsam Fir.” He reached out and caressed the tip of the branch. 
“Those are beautiful,” Kinsley acknowledged. “Very traditional.” Then she glanced around again. “Which one is this tree?” she asked, taking a few steps towards the other row of trees and then also caressing the tips of the tree in question. 
“Oh that’s a Blue Spruce,” he answered. “Lovely choice. It’s also the state tree of Colorado.”

“Neat,” she said with surprise. “I guess these ones have always been my favorite because of the color. It’s a cool looking color, like how winter looks and feels. And they’re especially beautiful when dusted with snow.”
As she spoke, Declan watched her supple lips move with growing admiration for her, almost missing what she said entirely. “Yeah they’re pretty common in Wyoming. Are they around where you live?” He was dying to know where she lived. If she wished to divulge it. 
“In the mountains, yes,” she replied, continuing to walk; her boots crunching in the snow. “You don’t see them in the cities much. And especially not in the more desert region.”
“Desert huh?” Declan noted. “So…Arizona?”
She grinned. “Nevada.”
“Ah. Gotcha.” Guess that’s not too far from Wyoming… He was kind of hoping for Idaho, or Utah even. Anything close to him. But he couldn’t think about that right now.

Suddenly Declan found himself getting struck in the side of his face with a snowball, the icy flakes caking one side of his glasses and chilling his eye. Kinsley gasped at the event.

As he removed his glasses to wipe the snow off, he thought, Guess that wasn’t from her, feeling a little confused. 

“Oh gee, sorry mister!” a young boy off to his left called. He was probably around 10 years old.  “I was trying to hit my sister and…you walked right in the line of fire.” A snicker escaped through his nose. 

Kinsley giggled behind her hand as well, watching Declan look to his right to see the mortified look on the sister’s face emerging from behind a tree, while glancing back at the kid and giving him the stink eye. She hoped he wasn’t being serious.

He wasn’t. Because a very subtle smirk soon played across his lips. “Oh you picked the wrong day to accidentally smack the face of one of Wyoming’s greatest snowball fighting champions,” he said, bending down to create a large, icy ball of his own.

“AHH!” the boy cried, realizing what was about to happen and ran in the other direction. His sister then ran past Declan and Kinsley following after him. 
“Let’s get ‘em!” Declan told Kinsley, clutching the snowball to save it for just the right moment.
Kinsley laughed with joy. “Ok, but let’s go easy on them.”
“Never!” he playfully retorted, running after them. 

Who would’ve thought that a Christmas tree lot would provide the perfect environment for a snowball fight? Declan sure didn’t. And the owners and customers didn’t seem to mind the shenanigans at all, surprisingly.

The kids were pretty clever when it came to hiding in and around the different trees, disappearing in a flash between them to avoid being discovered or getting hit.

The fight proved to be quite challenging to the two young adults who were not nearly as fast enough nor possessing the same amount of energy anymore. But it was incredibly fun. 

Pretty soon the boy and his sister, and a few more nearby friends, had Declan and Kinsley surrounded, their arms raised and at the ready to “fire.” 

“Surrender glasses man and pretty lady,” the boy playfully ordered, “and we’ll allow you to leave peacefully.” The other kids snickered at the comment. 

Declan and Kinsley exchanged huge, smiling glances at each other, as they held up both of their arms towards the cloudy sky in surrender. “Alright, you got us,” Declan called out, dropping the snowballs from his hands. Kinsley followed suit. 

The kids cheered then huddled together, bouncing with joy in victory. It was an adorable sight. Then they took off next door to play on the playground equipment behind the schoolhouse. Declan and Kinsley waved goodbye to them then turned to each other with the shivers. 

“That was fun!” Declan expressed.
“Yeah, it was,” Kinsley agreed, rubbing at her arms to warm them up.”
“I didn’t mean to drag you into that. Guess I just got caught up in the moment…”
“No you’re fine.” She smiled. “It was very sweet.”
His face lit up with warmth by her kind assurance.

“You alright?” he asked, noticing her chattering teeth. 
“No,” Kinsley honestly admitted. 
“Well here let me give you my coat–”
“Oh no, it’s ok. I wouldn’t want you to freeze on my account.” She knew he only had on a short-sleeved shirt underneath. “But thank you.”
He nodded. “Maybe we should grab a cup of hot cocoa?”
“Yes! Absolutely!”

A warm, creamy, and marshmallow topped cup of hot cocoa was just what they needed to stay out in the cold and continue on their quest to find the perfect Christmas tree.

Both of them got cream on their lips, which prompted the other to gently wipe it away, producing blushed cheeks between them.

After scanning the back rows of trees to see all the options, Kinsley led them back around to do another scan, in case they happened to miss the perfect one from before.

When they reached one row, Declan purposely stopped before a certain tree and gestured his head towards it to Kinsley.
A bright and rosy cheeked grin lit up her face. “The Blue Spruce,” she acknowledged.

“Yeah. This is the one you should get…” His countenance beamed. 

Stroking the tree’s branches with her fingers again, Kinsley looked over at Declan and studied him for a moment. “You don’t think the color will clash with the dark green branches on the garland in the room do you?”

She is too cute, he thought. “Maybe, but that’s ok. Because Christmas trees are meant to be the focal point in the room.” Then he gazed deeply into her eyes and meaningfully added, “To stand out above the rest…”

Kinsley returned his gaze and held it just as deeply, sensing the hidden message in his words. And it made her heart melt. “Then I guess it’s perfect.”
Declan’s eyes didn’t stray. “Yeah. Perfect in every way,” he whispered. 

After the tree was strapped tightly to the top of Kinsley’s car, the two were feeling pretty chilled to the bone. It was tempting to jump right into it and blare the heat and turn on the seat warmers. 

However…

“I’d sure like to check out that quaint looking coffee shop down the road there,” Declan said to Kinsley with a charming look of desire in his eyes. “Wouldn’t mind trying out the local coffee either.” But when she didn’t say anything right away he shuddered, feeling like he was inconsiderately calling all the shots today. “Or if you’d rather just head back to the cabin, I completely understand.”
“No, that sounds really nice,” Kinsley expressed, trying to ignore how frozen she felt. “I wouldn’t mind a reminder of how good the coffee is here.” She winked.
His face lit up. “Oh so it is good?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” She grinned. 

*Next Chapter will be here on Monday, Dec 16th! Have a great weekend and stay tuned everyone!* 

Oh and I forgot to add:

If this were a movie, I imagined this specific Christmas song playing in the background when Declan and Kinsley started decorating the living room. You know, that whole decorating montage thing? 😆👍🏻

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk9AFipS0zg