A Witch For Mr. Holiday: Witches of Christmas Grove Book 1 Read online

  A Witch For Mr. Holiday

  Witches of Christmas Grove, Book 1

  Deanna Chase

  Copyright © 2019 by Deanna Chase

  Editing: Angie Ramey

  Cover image: © Ravven

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, business establishments, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

  Bayou Moon Press, LLC

  www.deannachase.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  Contents

  About This Book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Deanna’s Book List

  About the Author

  About This Book

  Welcome to Christmas Grove, where holiday magic and matchmaking is in the air.

  When Rex Holiday walks into the charming town of Christmas Grove, all he plans to do is to spend the season helping out at his buddy’s Christmas tree farm. What he doesn’t expect is for an overzealous matchmaker to slip a love potion into his cider. But the joke’s on the resident matchmaker, because not even a potent love spell can break through the walls he’s built around his heart. But when the girl next door catches his eye, some of his barriers start to crumble. Still, Rex Holiday’s time in Christmas Grove is only temporary. He can’t afford to fall in love. Or can he?

  Holly Reineer is a powerful spirit witch who can see the future for everyone. Everyone but herself that is. And when Rex Holiday walks into her life, she sees his, too. He’s destined for a big corporate job all the way across the country. So when he starts to show interest in her, she knows it’s only temporary, and Holly’s not interested in a fling. She wants her happily-ever-after. But he’s very hard to resist… Can a love spell rewrite the future? If so, Holly will need to learn to follow her heart and, for once, trust what she can’t see.

  Chapter One

  Special Delivery for Holly Reineer.

  Holly stared at the elegantly wrapped package and frowned. The late November sun glinted off the shiny silver paper, making her squint from the reflection as she tried to rack her brain for who might have sent her the present.

  It most likely was from someone in town. Lemon from the Christmas Grove Express had delivered it herself. Which meant either someone had sent Lemon the package to wrap and deliver, or someone had wrapped it themselves and hired her to deliver it. Holly knew the latter scenario was most likely. Lemon was notoriously bad in the wrapping department. If left to her, she’d shove the gift in a bag, throw some tissue paper on top, and call it a day.

  “What do you have there? Looks like Santa came early this year.” Ilsa McKenzie, Holly’s best friend, strolled up onto the porch of Holly’s yellow Victorian. “Who’s it from?”

  Holly shrugged and sat in her porch swing. “No idea. It was just delivered.”

  Ilsa twisted her long black hair up into a messy bun and sat next to her friend, eyeing the package. “Well. Aren’t you going to open it?”

  “I was thinking of putting it under the tree so I’ll have something to open on Christmas morning.” Holly’s parents had passed in a freak accident eighteen years before, and since she didn’t have any siblings, holidays were a little light on the presents. Ilsa always got her something, but they had a tradition of trading gifts on Christmas Eve every year.

  “No way! What if it’s a puppy? You can’t leave it in there for a month.” Ilsa grabbed the package and shook it gently.

  Holly rolled her eyes. “It’s not a puppy. You just have no patience.”

  “True.” Ilsa winked at her friend. “My impulse control is non-existent. Speaking of impulse control, did you see the new guy in town? He’s gorgeous. I might have accidentally-on-purpose grabbed his ass in the grocery store this morning.”

  “You mean Rex Holiday?” Holly asked, trying to ignore the sick jealous feeling in her stomach. “Did you… um…”

  “Ask him out?” she asked, her eyebrows raised and a challenging glint in her eye.

  Holly narrowed her eyes at her friend. “You know, don’t you?”

  Ilsa threw her head back and laughed. “Who doesn’t know? That love spell is the talk of the town.”

  Two days earlier, at the Christmas tree lighting in Christmas Grove’s town square, Rex Holiday had unwittingly hit Holly with a love spell. Now he was all she could think about. The tall guy with sun bleached light brown hair and bright blue eyes made her want to throw herself at him. It wasn’t just his classic good looks. He had an easy smile and a confidence about him that drew her in and made butterflies flutter in her stomach that she knew had nothing to do with the spell. Or at least they hadn’t when she’d met him in Love Potions, the town’s chocolate shop, ten minutes before the love spell incident.

  “I swear, if I didn’t love Mrs. Pottson so much, I’d hex that old witch myself,” Holly said.

  Ilsa laughed harder.

  “Shush.” Holly scowled at her friend. “It isn’t funny. He’s leaving. Like they all do. What am I supposed to do? Date him? Really? What if I fall for him like I did Ryan a few years ago? Remember what happened that time? I spent an entire weekend in bed, crying my eyes out and eating two pounds of chocolate by myself. If you hadn’t cut me off, I’d probably weigh more than the house by now.”

  “Ryan was different,” Ilsa said, waving a hand. “You didn’t know going in that he was going to leave. But Rex Holiday? He’s here for a month. And he’s hot as sin.” She fanned a hand in front of her face. “What’s wrong with a little fling? A girl needs a little affection every now and then, right? Let your hair down. Have a little holiday romance. You deserve it.”

  Holly fiddled with the bow of the package. She’d love to throw caution to the wind and date Rex for the next month. On an intellectual level, she knew her friend was right. Holly should enjoy herself. She was thirty-two years old and had only really dated two people. One she’d known would leave, but she’d believed him when he said he’d come back no matter what. The other one? He had come back, only to leave again. She’d learned the hard way to trust her visions. They never lied.

  “Come on, Hols. You need a date to the Christmas ball anyway. We both know there isn’t anyone else in town you want to go with,” Ilsa coaxed.

  “That’s still a few weeks away.” Holly rose from the swing and headed inside with Ilsa right behind her. After she placed the present under her ten-foot Christmas tree that filled the front window,
she turned to her friend. “Ready for some hot chocolate?”

  “You’re trying to change the subject.” Ilsa glanced at the present. “I bet it’s from Rex.”

  Holly sighed. “Ilsa, why would you think that? I’ve only talked to the guy for a total of maybe five minutes. He’s not buying me gifts.”

  “Who else would it be from?” Ilsa followed Holly into the large kitchen at the back of the house and glanced out the window toward the Christmas tree farm next door. “It’s not from me. And you haven’t heard from Ryan in two years.”

  Holly flinched. Ryan was still a sore spot even though she was completely over him. It was just hard to move on from the damage he’d caused.

  “Sorry,” Ilsa whispered. “I didn’t mean to bring him up.”

  “Maybe it’s a secret Santa gift,” Holly mused. “We do that at the library, you know.”

  “Sure, Hols.” Ilsa gave her arm a squeeze and slid into one of the chairs at the breakfast table. She rested her chin in her hand and stared dreamily through half-lidded eyes. “Can I tell you about Zach now?”

  “My neighbor Zach?” Holly asked.

  “Yeah. That one.” Ilsa’s lips curved into a small smile. “We had a moment yesterday.”

  “What kind of moment? The kind where you flirted with him and he ran away? Or the kind where he flirted with you and you pinched his ass?” Ilsa was a lot of things, but subtle wasn’t one of them.

  She laughed. “Both of those do sound like me, don’t they?”

  Holly nodded and went to work on fixing them both some real hot chocolate, the kind made with milk and actual chocolate bars, not powder. She poured milk into the pan and dropped in the chocolate, but before she could get her wooden spoon, her vision blurred slightly, and when she refocused, she let out a small gasp.

  “What did you see?” Ilsa asked immediately, her voice full of excitement.

  “Oh, dammit, Ilsa.” She spun around, her face pinched in frustration. “You committed me to a double date?”

  Her friend just shrugged and batted her eyelashes at her as she asked, “Are we having fun?”

  Holly moaned her disapproval. In her vision, she saw herself and Ilsa playing mini golf with Rex and Zach. Ilsa was in Zach’s arms, while Holly was lying on the putting green, laid out flat and dying of embarrassment. Rex was peering down at her, his brow wrinkled with concern. “You are. I’m an idiot.”

  “Oh, good.” Ilsa clapped her hands together, and Holly glared at her again. “Oops. I just meant that means I’m successful in getting you to go. It’s tomorrow night. Six o’clock. We’re having dinner and then heading to Karma Arcade. They’re hosting couples’ night, no kids.” She smiled brightly at Holly and slid out of her chair. “I better go while I’m ahead. See you tomorrow!”

  “Forget it!” Holly called after her. “I’m not going. I don’t care what my vision says.”

  “Six o’clock. Wear the green dress. It shows off your eyes,” Ilsa called back just before Holly heard her front door open and then slam closed.

  “Traitor,” Holly mumbled and turned off the burner for the hot chocolate. She was no longer in the mood. Instead, she brewed herself a cup of coffee and went out on the back porch to watch the sun set over the foothills.

  Holly loved her little slice of heaven. Ten years ago, when her grandmother passed, she inherited the Victorian and the twenty acres it sat on. She utilized a couple of acres for her berry farm and leased the rest to Zach Frost for his Christmas Tree farm next door. It worked for her. What else was she going to do with twenty acres of land by herself? Besides, she loved the Frost family. She’d grown up with Zach and loved him like a brother.

  “Spruce!” a man’s faint voice sounded from the trees.

  Damn. What was that dog getting into now? Zach had gotten a Lab puppy about five months earlier, and the thing was always getting into something. Holly stood and scanned the small clearing for the rambunctious dog.

  The man called for the pup again, but his voice sounded even farther away, as if he’d turned around. She was about to sit back down when the golden dog darted out from between the trees carrying a bright-white stuffed animal in his mouth as he ran full speed across the yard.

  “Spruce! Stop!” Holly cried and jumped down into her damp yard. It had rained the night before, leaving her lawn soggy.

  The dog didn’t even look Holly’s way as he kept running straight for the opening to the berry farm.

  “No!” Holly said again and snapped her fingers.

  The dog suddenly paused, and it was at that moment that the stuffed animal in Spruce’s mouth twitched.

  Holly’s eyes widened as she realized the animal wasn’t stuffed at all. It was a real live bunny that Spruce had between his jaws. “Drop the bunny,” Holly ordered, quickly moving toward the dog.

  Spruce just stood there, his head tilted, jaws unmoving as he looked at Holly, as if he had no idea what Holly wanted him to do.

  “Listen, pup,” Holly said when she got within a few feet of him. “I realize you think Cottontail there is a toy, but you could be hurting her. You need to let her go.”

  The dog didn’t move a muscle.

  “Come on, sweetie. We all know you aren’t a killer.” Holly slowly reached a hand out, placing her palm right under Spruce’s muzzle. She was right there to catch the poor frightened animal the minute Spruce released it. “Drop the bunny,” Holly ordered in a quiet but commanding tone.

  Spruce’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Holly held her breath, terrified the dog was going to bolt.

  “You’re okay, Spruce. We’ve got this,” Holly soothed. “Let Auntie Holly have the bunny.” She reached up to scratch the dog’s ear, something she knew the pup was a sucker for. And after a few moments, Spruce’s jaw relaxed, and the bunny fell out of his grip and right into Holly’s other hand. But the bunny was too big for her to hold onto and flopped to the ground at her feet.

  Holly let out a gasp when the poor thing didn’t move, and she bent to retrieve the creature. But before she could scoop the bunny up, a loud branch snapped just beyond the tree line and Spruce bolted again, this time running right into Holly and knocking her flat on her back. As the dog scrambled by her, mud and clumps of grass splattered all over her as the wetness of the yard seeped through her jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt.

  “Holly?” a man said as a shadow fell over her.

  She wiped a drop of mud off her eyelid and blinked up at the man. Late afternoon sunlight glowed around him, causing his face to be hidden in shadow. But she could tell he was holding the bunny to his chest, stroking its long ears. “Is the bunny okay?”

  “Looks like it,” the man said. “Are you?”

  “I’m fine.” She planted both hands and tried to push herself up. But the grass was too slick and her right hand slid out from under her, causing her to slam right back down onto the ground. And this time when she looked up at the man, he’d shifted just enough that there was no mistaking him. The man who’d just watched her flail in an impromptu mud bath was none other than Rex Holiday.

  Chapter Two

  Concern mixed with amusement as Rex peered down at Holly Reineer. To say he was happy to run into her was an understatement. He’d thought of almost nobody else since he’d met the pretty redhead at the chocolate store. But he wouldn’t have chosen for Zach’s dog to run her down and send her flailing. She was flat on her back with mud speckling her gorgeous heart-shaped face, and she had a frown on her lips. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure, I just need to get up.”

  Rex extended a hand to her. “I can help with that.”

  “I’ve got this,” she said, scrambling to get her feet under her. But as soon as she put weight on her left foot, she let out a yelp of pain and slid back down into the mud.

  “You’re hurt,” Rex said, crouching down beside her. He needed to get her inside and warm her up before the cold chilled her to the bone. Not to mention her foot needed attention. Luckily, he was just the man to help.
“Here. Take the bunny.”

  She shook her head and opened her mouth to say something, but Rex put the animal in her hands and cut her off.

  “I’ll get you inside, but I need my hands free.” Without waiting for her inevitable protest, Rex quickly scooped the woman up in his arms and carried her and the bunny into the back of her house. Bypassing the large kitchen, he moved around to the breakfast table and gently placed her in one of the wooden chairs. After carefully propping her foot on another chair, he asked, “Where can I find your hand towels?”

  Holly blinked at him, still clutching the bunny.

  “Hey,” he said, placing a light palm on her cheek. Her eyes were wide and her face too pale. He didn’t know if she was in shock from her injury or because he’d taken charge without consulting her. Either way, everything inside of him demanded that he soothe her. “You’re okay. I’m just going to get a towel so I can clean you up a bit.”

  “Right,” she whispered and cut her gaze to the kitchen. “They’re next to the sink. Top drawer.”

  “Got it.” Rex hurried into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of frozen berries from the freezer, and found two towels. After wetting one, he quickly returned to Holly’s side.

  Her head was tilted back, and she was muttering something about being a klutzy idiot.

  “Nah. You’re a hero. You saved the bunny.” He smiled down at her, amused at her annoyance.