Page 1 of Christmas Kisses (Majestic Falls: Christmas Spice #2)

Jessica Kessler

My Darling Jessica,

Of all the things I regret in my life, not getting to know you better is the biggest. I allowed family drama to come between us, and I hope someday you can forgive me for it.

Your mother and I were both strong-willed women, and we allowed a minor disagreement to destroy our relationship, and my ability to see you grow up was caught in the mix.

I know, right now, my decision to leave Hard Candy Kisses to you may seem like a burden.

But I believe in time you will come to appreciate, not only the shop, but the quiet life in Majestic Falls.

It’s a wonderful little place, and had I been a better grandmother, you would have spent every summer here with me.

It is my wish that you at least keep the store open through the holidays. You are, of course, welcome to sell it or shut it down. It’s yours now, but I hope you’ll give it a chance.

If you care enough to mourn me after I’ve passed, I pray that you won’t. Don’t feel bad for me. I’ve had a good life here, and I’ve been as happy as I could be even without family surrounding me.

I love you, Jessica. If you believe in nothing else, please believe this.

Grandma Doris

A wonderful little place…

Aside from the family drama and emotions I didn’t feel ready to address, that was the part of the letter that stood out.

Little. It must be since there was no way to fly directly there. I’d had to travel into Vermont then take a tiny connector to a town called Saranac Lake in New York. After that, I’d rented a car for the half hour drive to Majestic Falls.

Exhausting.

All of this was. But I would take care of this problem over the holidays then get back to my real life.

I read my grandmother’s letter for the hundredth time when I stopped outside of town and consulted the hand-drawn map to the house she had also left to me in her will. Apparently, GPS was spotty here, so navigating there the old-school method was the only way not to get lost.

Of course, if I’d visited my grandma in the years since I’d become an adult, I wouldn’t need a map, would I? One of my hands fisted so tight in my lap that it shook. Wincing, I closed my eyes and took a cleansing breath.

I hadn’t failed her. I’d thought she had no interest in seeing me. It was a part of my life I’d shut away in a box of childhood memories and rarely touched because my early years had been a tumultuous time.

Still, it was strange how sad I was to learn of Doris’ passing.

We’d met only a handful of times, mostly when I was younger, and not at all since before I was a preteen.

Since I’d thought she wouldn’t care, I hadn’t even reached out to her when Mom died from ovarian cancer.

My mother had been so bitter about their relationship, and I’d allowed her anger to pass on to me, though I had no idea what their feud had been about.

It was a childhood thing, taking on a parent’s feelings. Maybe as an adult, I should have put childhood things aside.

But the past was the past, and I couldn’t change it.

A knot in my throat, I tucked the letter back in my purse. With the map flat on the console beside me, I pulled back onto the road then gasped when I saw a moose standing nearby, just staring at me. The enormous animal seemed unbothered by my presence.

Carefully maneuvering past him, I continued on. My eyes darted back and forth, watching for more moose while I traveled. The scenery on the outskirts of Majestic Falls stole my breath.

Minutes later, I rolled onto Lake Main Street. Quaint businesses lined the route. To my right, I could glimpse Lake Majestic Falls between the buildings. It couldn’t be more different than the run-down, overpopulated neighborhood where I lived.

Just past the town’s main drag, I turned onto Black Bear Lane and stopped in front of a white, ranch-style home. After doublechecking the address, I pulled into the driveway. It was small and cute and looked exactly how you’d imagine a grandma living.

After a moment of taking in the area, I wrestled my bags from the rental to the front door. Trepidation tumbled in my belly as if a monster, or worse my deceased grandma, would jump from around the corner. I dug for the key I’d been given then unlocked the front door.

I couldn’t believe I’d actually come here.

I mean, I worked from home, so I didn’t need to take time off from a day job or anything.

In fact, I had the entire month of December free from client consultations, since I always took the holidays off.

But it was totally unlike me to just get on a plane and head across the country for any reason…

let alone to run a candy store at Christmastime.

I must have been out of my mind.

But here I was, in Majestic Falls, at my grandma’s place.

It was eerily still inside, and a little musty from being closed up. Wandering around, I inspected the three bedrooms, the open living room with beautiful hardwood floors, and the spotless kitchen with a bright yellow-tile backsplash and appliances that looked brand new.

The house was adorable and homey. I couldn’t help wondering what the real estate market was like out here. The home was definitely sale-ready, and I could include all the furnishings.

A pang of guilt followed the thought, but it wasn’t as if I’d just up and move to Upstate New York— way upstate. It didn’t matter how adorable everything was.

But that couldn’t happen right now. When the lawyer had contacted me to deliver Doris’ letter with the keys to the house, her candy store, and her car, I’d been so shocked I’d agreed to run the shop through the holidays as my grandmother had requested.

Which was stupid because I could barely boil water. I had no experience making candy or running a business like hers. What the hell had I been thinking?

I hadn’t been. I’d operated by emotion and not logic.

So logically , I needed to see what I’d gotten myself into here.

With the next month or so in mind, I dropped my bags into one of the guest rooms then returned to my rental car. It was time to take a look at Hard Candy Kisses and see what lay ahead of me.

After checking the address on the handwritten map I’d been given, I rolled through the picturesque town and took in the lake and mountainous landscape, each turn looking like a postcard.

Sure, I lived in Colorado, but I lived in the flat eastern part, fairly far from the Rockies.

The Adirondacks around Majestic Falls, though, were breathtaking.

I could have spent hours gawking. Instead, I was at the shop within minutes.

When I pulled up to the storefront, my heart clenched at the sight of flowers, cards and stuffed animals piled at the door.

Apparently, the townspeople had been quite fond of my grandmother and had left a small shrine to her in front of Hard Candy Kisses .

I gingerly stepped over the collection of tributes, leaving it there for now, and unlocked the door. The silent shop had a similar eeriness to what I’d felt when entering Doris’ house. My skin prickled, and I rubbed my hands over my arms in an effort to shove away the sensation of not being alone.

Because I was alone. Physically and metaphorically. No one was here. No one was in my life, either.

Walking further into the shop, I noticed everything was clean and tidy.

The empty display cases sparkled, and the surfaces gleamed.

Someone had definitely taken care of the place over the last couple weeks.

Aside from not being stocked with the actual candy, the place was customer-ready. Too bad I wasn’t.

I flicked on the lights and looked around, noting the photos on the walls before wandering into the stainless-steel nirvana of the kitchen.

Though I didn’t cook, I recognized how stunning it was.

Rows of shelves lined the walls, full to the brim with sugary ingredients, waiting to be turned into my grandmother’s world-famous candies.

The lawyer had assured me the store’s website had been updated to temporarily disable online orders, so I’d only have to deal with local, day-to-day traffic looking for sweets. I guessed that was better than nothing.

As I ran a hand over the bags of sugar, I wondered again what the hell I’d been thinking.

Whether online or in-person, this was going to be a disaster.

It was weeks before Christmas, and somehow, I needed to learn how to make and sell candy.

Come January second, I’d need to figure out how to offload the shop to someone—someone who could actually take care of the town’s beloved candy store.

As I explored, the back door of the shop opened. I jumped with a half-scream and grabbed a rolling pin from the table next to me. Holding it in front of my body, I stared at the man who walked inside.

“Stop!” I shrieked. “I have a…a weapon.”

He turned with his hands raised then grinned. I was sure I looked ridiculous, so amusement was understandable. But that didn’t matter. He was an intruder. Where was my phone so I could call 9-1-1? Did this place even have 9-1-1?

Unfazed, he dropped his arms to his side and stepped into the kitchen

“You must be Jessica,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I’m Micha Parsons. I’ve been taking care of the store since Doris passed.”

Micha Parsons?

Micha Parsons… The name sounded familiar.

I lowered the rolling pin, finally remembering his name from the papers the lawyer had gone over with me.

Micha was one of my grandmother’s neighbors.

He’d helped her at the store sometimes, and he’d offered to keep the place clean and running until I arrived.

The papers certainly hadn’t mentioned he was drop-dead gorgeous. With dark hair, bright blue eyes, and wide shoulders, he had the whole Hallmark movie of the week lumberjack-handyman package going on while he smirked at me.

“Right. Micha. The neighbor. Sorry. You startled me,” I said lamely.

“No problem,” he replied. “I wasn’t sure when you’d get in, so I wanted to doublecheck and make sure I hadn’t left anything out of place.”

“Everything looks great,” I assured him. “Thank you for taking care of things.”

“Of course.” His shoulders lifted, his eyes sad as he offered a sympathetic smile. “I’d have done anything for your grandma. She was a special lady.”

“So I’ve heard,” I mumbled, looking away. I set the rolling pin back where I’d found it. “Um…since you’ve spent so much time here in the last couple weeks, you don’t happen to remember a cookbook or recipe cards or anything like that lying around, do you?”

“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t think Doris used recipes.”

I pressed my lips together in frustration. Looked like I’d be Googling gourmet chocolate recipes before I could get this place running.

“You don’t know how to make her famous candy cane ribbons?” he guessed.

“Uh…no,” I admitted with a wince. This was worse than I thought. “The last time I saw her, I was too little to bake or candy make or whatever it’s called.”

He nodded slowly. “I take it you didn’t inherit her skills in the kitchen.”

“I don’t know what I inherited,” I admitted.

“But it wasn’t any cooking or baking skills.

That must have skipped some generations.

” I looked around the sparkling clean, overwhelmingly high-end kitchen, afraid to even think of touching anything.

“Could I maybe just order some candy online and sell it?”

“Oh, boy…” He laughed as he slid off his jacket and hung it on a hook by the door. I caught myself staring and quickly looked away as he turned back to me. Hurriedly, I took off my own coat. He took it from me and hung it near his.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go over what’s here, and we’ll see if we can’t come up with something for you. The town is forgiving, but they’re expecting the store to open this weekend.”

Okay. So, now, the lumberjack-handyman guy was going to help me make candy? What the hell?