‘No.’
‘Kiki, just listen.’
‘No. No way. You’re not lending me anything. I am fine. It was my decision to use my half of the money on this. You save yours for all those little Danish babies you’re going to have.’
Chloe’s nose crinkled again, but Kira didn’t miss the little spark that appeared in her twin’s eyes at the mention of babies. God, her sister really was in deep.
‘Okay, but you have to tell me if you need help. I cannot have you so far away from me and know that you are struggling.’
‘Ha!’ Kira’s fake laugh was slightly unhinged. ‘Struggling? Chlo, I am thriving over here. I promise.’
Chloe looked skeptical but Kira just kept smiling until her sister moved on. ‘Have you made any friends yet?’ she asked.
Friends? Hmm. Did dogs and reindeer count?
‘Oh, yeah. Plenty of friends.’
‘Kiki…’
Shoot, maybe Chloe could still detect some lies.
‘I haven’t had time for friends yet. I just need to get through the holidays and then I’ll have time to hang out with people.’
People, but not Bennett, because he’d be gone by then. And that absolutely should not bother her. It didn’t bother her. At all. Why was that guy and his warm sweaters and sweet smile even popping into her head right now?
It probably had something to do with the very detailed dream she’d been having involving her, Bennett, Santa’s sleigh, some very provocative candy canes, and a ‘naughty and nice’ list they seemed to be working their way through.
Dear God, what was wrong with her?
She shook her head. It was way too early in the morning for all this subterfuge. She needed at least another two hours of sleep, preferably dreamless, and a pot of coffee before she had to be greeting customers.
‘I should really go. Big day today!’ Kira’s forced cheerfulness had Chloe raising her eyebrows, but Kira didn’t have the energy to do any more convincing.
‘Okay. Love you, Kiki.’
‘Love you, too, Chlo’
She hung up before she could get emotional. She had a Christmas-tree farm to open today, hopefully one with actual customers, and she didn’t want puffy eyes for her big day.
‘Opening day!’ Iris chirped beside her, clapping her hands. ‘This is exciting.’ Her strawberry- blonde hair was done up in a braided wreath around her head today and she looked like she belonged in some sort of Nordic Christmas advertisement. It was the exact vibe Kira wanted, but vibes didn’t matter if she didn’t have customers.
‘Very exciting. As long as people actually show up.’
‘Of course they’ll show up,’ Iris said. ‘I know you’re new here, but trust me, Dream Harbor shows up for anything resembling a festival, grand opening, carnival, or fundraiser. You should see the turnout for town meetings.’
Kira huffed. ‘I have. And it’s weird.’ She’d attended one back in the fall to convince the mayor and the residents that she had no intention of reopening. And one failing boiler later, here she was.
Iris laughed, leaning back in her rocking chair. They were sitting on the little porch in front of the customer-service cabin, waiting for their first customers to arrive. Or praying they would arrive, in Kira’s case. She’d put all her eggs in this one very precarious basket, and she really needed it to work.
The panic of not having money was real, and she’d been so undeservedly lucky to never have felt it before.
‘I found these,’ Kira said, changing the subject to ease her anxiety about the day. She held out the two old letters and the list of possessions Bennett had found. ‘What do you think they’re all about?’
Iris took the papers and laid them on her lap. Kira had finally read the letters hoping they’d help make sense of the strange list of items. One had been a letter from what seemed a distant relative of his to Edwin, the last owner of the farm, requesting to come visit the farm so he could ‘get the lay of the land’. And the other was a copy of Edwin’s revised will from his lawyer.
‘Looks like old Edwin was getting his estate in order before he died.’ Iris shrugged.
‘Don’t you think the list of stuff is kind of odd?’
‘He was kind of odd.’
‘The house had a lot of old furniture in it when I moved in, but I certainly didn’t find any Tiffany lamps. And what do you think happened to Ellie’s baubles?’
‘They were probably buried with her,’ Iris mumbled.
‘What?’
Iris smiled innocently. ‘I imagine his wife was buried wearing her best jewelry, right? Or they gave them to a family member.’
‘Hmm. Yeah, I guess. I haven’t checked the attic yet, though. Too creepy.’
Iris laughed. ‘I don’t blame you. When we were cleaning out my great-aunt’s attic we found an entire family of raccoons living in her luggage collection.’ Iris shivered at the memory.
‘Aww … cute.’
‘Not cute. The little garbage monsters had made a huge mess.’
