Noelle stepped off the pontoon plane and nearly twisted her ankle on the floating pier as her boot slipped out from under her. Thigh-high and made of red velvet, it was the type of footwear that was usually perfectly acceptable for the season. But winter in Manhattan was obviously very different from winter in wherever-in-the-boonies part of Finland they were in right now. 

On top of the already grueling six hour red-eye that departed LaGuardia at one in the morning, she'd lost all track of direction during the forty-minute flight out of the capital. Hoping the tiny prop plane wouldn't crash as it soared above fjords and mountains was her central concern. This place didn't even have a proper airport for goodness sakes, forcing the aircraft to land in the middle of a lake.

"I told you to dress properly," Avery scolded from up ahead, her face barely visible under the faux fur-lined hood of a goose down parka.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Nanook of the North," Noelle replied wryly, snickering at her travel companion.

Bundled in insulated boots, waterproof pants, and thick leather gloves, Avery looked like she had come to run a dog sled race. Noelle, on the other hand, packed outfits that were good for lounging around a roaring fire while sipping wine and for playing in one concert. The women obviously had different priorities, and she would have appreciated not being nagged for hers. Especially when Miss Nacogdoches 2014 was getting a free vacation out of it at her expense.

"Hey, lady! You forgot something," yelled the burly pilot after her.

Noelle turned around to see he was holding a Samsonite pet carrier. Two, orange eyes shone out from behind the grilled door before sounding out an angry, "Meow."

"Oh, right," she muttered, reluctantly taking the baggage. Added to her rolling carry-on and violin case, her hands were more than full.

But her current predicament was no one's fault except her own. Okay, maybe it was partly Al Croaker's fault for seeing dollar signs instead of recognizing the exploitation he was subjecting to his best musician. Who could blame him, though? Arts funding had been in the toilet for years, and she respected the hustle. It was on her for not succeeding in getting out of this trip. She should have made an ultimatum. He intimidated her with breech of contract so she should have just threatened to quit. There was a 93.8% chance it would have worked.

Having a cat along on this forsaken adventure, however, was one hundred percent her doing. And who would have thought that lawyer neighbor would not only need a pet sitter for the next week, but that he'd gladly take Noelle up on the offer. So now she was in Scandinavia lugging around a cranky feline. If that wasn't fate giving her a big, fat "you made your bed, now lie in it," Noelle didn't know what was.

Pulling her luggage behind her as she followed Avery off the pier under a sign saying Tervetuloa Keskitalvi, Suomi/Welcome to Midwinter, Finland, Noelle internally huffed at the missed opportunity. Soon she was externally huffing too. The darn cat who was meowing louder than ever must have weighed fifteen pounds, while her violin had to be protected at all costs. Her boots were also soaked through from the ankle-deep snow, while her skintight leather pants and woolen poncho coat weren't nearly warm enough.

"Do . . . do you know . . . wh-where we're going?" she asked, teeth chattering from the cold.

Avery stopped and turned, holding up the smartphone in her hand. "Not really. This place isn't on Waze, Google or Apple Maps. It's like it doesn't even exist," she said. "But this seems like a main road and the houses are concentrated just over the bend, so our hotel must be in that direction."

Noelle nodded, too exhausted to argue. "Fair enough. Lead on."

Although there were no distinct tire marks, the pristine snow covering the street had been compacted to the point where the duo could (relatively) easily trudge along. With the large body of water to their left and two-story wooden houses in bright colors to their right, they headed up a slight incline toward the town.

According to Noelle's watch, it was only mid-afternoon, but darkness was setting fast. A warm glow poured out of each building they passed as lights turned on, illuminating the duo's way. It might have been considered quaint or even captivating by some, but all Noelle could focus on was putting one weary foot in front of the other without dropping any of her stuff. She was about to pull out her own phone and call an Uber, when a faint jingling caught her ears.

"Is that . . .?" she pondered, trying to place the sound. "Is that really—"

"Sleighbells!" Avery and Noelle exclaimed at the same time.

Turning around, they watched as a horse-drawn, open carriage approached. When it was just fifty or so feet away, it became clear that it wasn't a horse, after all. Because no horse had multi-pronged antlers decorating their head, as far as Noelle knew.

Avery jumped up and down, clapping her gloved hands. "Oh my gosh! It's a reindeer!"

While Noelle was as much an animal lover as the next guy—except for the not having any pets part because she was not scooping any litter boxes or bagging poop, thank you—she waved off her companion. "Chill, will you? This isn't Frozen and you're not going to pretend to be Anna. Now, help me flag this guy down."

Avery's mouth flipped down into a frown. "What if I'd rather be Elsa?" she whispered under her breath, making Noelle smile for the first time since the flight attendant sneaked her an extra mini bottle of Scotch after dinner. Avery was no Snow Queen. She was definitely Anna even if she didn't own it.

"Fine. I'll do it myself," she said before shoving the cat carrier into Avery's hands. "Here. Take the little demon."

"His name is Cat Damon, not Demon," Avery corrected, but Noelle had already begun to walk away.

Standing in the middle of the snowy road, she held up her hands and began waving them over her head.

Standing in the middle of the snowy road, she held up her hands and began waving them over her head. "Hey! Heeey! Stop please!" she yelled, but the sleigh didn't slow. It was getting closer by the second, and it just kept coming. The two reindeer pulling the carriage kept trotting. And they were headed directly for her. "Heeey! Stoooooop!"

Noelle's fight or flight response abandoned her, unless fight meant tensing her body, squeezing her eyes closed, and waiting to be trampled by a pair of Arctic ungulates. But there was no impact. Instead, there was a loud "whoa," followed by the sound of metal sliding on ice. When a warm breath tickled her face, Noelle opened her eyes. She was standing nose-to-furry nostril with one of the lead animals.

Stepping to the side, she waited to be out of hoof and antler range before having a word with the driver. "What the heck was that? You almost ran me over!" she yelled at the old man sitting on the first of two, padded benches. Bundled for the weather, only his light eyes were visible between the hat on his head and scarf tied around his face.

"Bu I in't," he replied from behind the layers of wool and fur.

Noelle scrunched her face. Was he even speaking English? "I can't understand you," she said, miming with her hands.

He pulled the scarf down, revealing a shapely nose, stubbly jawline and thin lips belonging to a man in his mid-twenties or not much older. "I said, but I didn't. Run you over, that is. Do you need a ride to town?"

"Oh, uhm," Noelle stammered, momentarily at a loss for words at the unexpected hottie.

"Yes, please," Avery said, taking over the situation. "We're staying at the Aurora Inn. Do you know where it is?"

He nodded. "Of course. Hop in."

This is my #NaNoWriMo2019 project and while I absolutely love all of my silent readers, I would LOVE to get your encouragement while writing this story. So please, please, please add it to your libraries, vote on the chapters (updates daily!) and leave me comments. <3 

I mean, I made a Matt Damon cat name pun joke for you guys :)