Read Online Some Kind of Wonderful: A Holiday Novella (The Cupcake Lovers) by Beth Ciotta - Free Book Online Page B

in their supplies. The way the storm continued to rage they could be here all night. She pushed open a curtain, allowing the waning daylight to filter inside. Furnishings were sparse and old and it smelled like stale cigarettes, but at least the place was tidy. Unfortunately, though not a surprise, there wasn’t a holiday decoration to be seen. Not even a menorah or a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
    She thought about the Coles’ home with its oversized, overdecorated spruce, the singing Santa, the army of nutcrackers. She thought about the pine and cinnamon scents. About the Christmas Eve dinner they’d be having without Maya and Zach. Being stranded in a stinky, cheerless cabin wasn’t the holiday she wanted, and it didn’t help that Zach had distanced himself. She didn’t sense that he was wallowing in self-pity, but she did feel his intensifying cynicism. More than anything, she wanted to vanquish that troubling darkness.
    Maya blinked with a vision and a goal. If she couldn’t provide Roscoe Marx with cheer and goodwill, she’d gift the spirit of Christmas to Zach.
    He clomped back into the cabin just as she shoved a log into the woodstove. “What are you doing?” he asked.
    “Building a fire, Sherlock.”
    He grunted. “Funny.” Moving in, he dumped an armful of chopped wood into the iron bin. “As it happens we’re on the same wavelength, Watson.”
    She glanced over her shoulder. “No luck with the generator?”
    He shook his head. “We’ll have to make do for warmth and light from the woodstove and fireplace. Hopefully the flue isn’t clogged.”
    “I’m thinking we’re probably stuck here for the night.”
    “That’d be my guess.”
    “I know we brought that gift basket for Mr. Marx, but he doesn’t want it and he’s not here. We are.”
    Zach’s lip twitched. “Thinking about filching Marx’s Christmas feast, Maya?”
    “I look at it as not letting good food and intentions go to waste.”
    He smiled full out then and her heart thumped against her ribs. Without another word he moved to the fireplace, and within a couple of minutes Zach had a fire raging in the cobblestoned hearth.
    Maya’s own efforts at the wood-burning stove were successful as well, and she didn’t waste a second breaking into the Cupcake Lovers care basket as well as the thermal tote packed by Helen and Giselle. She arranged the booty on the kitchen counter while Zach ditched his damp outerwear and futzed with his phone. Not getting a strong signal, he switched to Marx’s landline. Thankfully, that worked.
    “Yeah. Hi, Uncle Dan. It’s Zach.”
    Maya raided drawers and cabinets while listening to Zach fill his uncle in on their circumstance. She supposed she should have felt depressed, being away from her parents, the Coles, and Giselle. Being stranded on a mountain in a smelly cabin without an ounce of Christmas cheer. But instead Maya tingled with the thrill of an adventure. She hadn’t had many adventures lately. And thinking back, she realized her most memorable adrenaline rushes had happened with Zach.
    By the time he signed off with Daniel, the main living area, which included a basic kitchen, had heated up enough that Maya had stripped off her coat and scarf, although she retained her Santa hat—just for the fun of it.
    “Dan said this storm’s finally being reported on the news. Although it’s being referred to as the Ghost Storm. No one can make sense of it.”
    “Mother Nature has a way of keeping us on our toes,” Maya said, unaffected. Utilizing the wood-burning stove, she’d already started heating the turkey, boiled potatoes, and a can of green beans sprinkled with almond slivers. She held up two cans of soup. “Clam Chowder or Cheddar Ale.”
    Zach glanced from the stove to the table she’d set, using a pine-scented candle she’d found in the care basket as the centerpiece. Smiling a little, he looked at Maya, striking her weak in the knees. “You choose.”

Chapter Ten
    He’d told