Sweet Christmas Kisses 4 is releasing on September 26th, and I'm so excited to share with you the first chapter of
Christmas in Walnut Creek, my contribution to the boxed set.
Will a Christmas blizzard reunite a couple and give them a second chance at love?
Chapter
1
Jillian McAdams had never seen snow come
down at such a clip, and that was saying something, because she’d seen some storms
that were real doozies, having lived in Walnut Creek her entire life. The
quaint little town was nestled in the hills of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the
corner of the state against the Canadian border and the upper Connecticut River.
When the forecast predicted snow, you got snow and lots of it. This was
different, though. Talk around town had been that this Nor’easter was supposed
to cripple the area. Wind and snow pummeled the inn’s large picture window,
rattling the panes so hard, she feared they might break.
With a sigh, she turned away from the
window and went over to the front desk to check the guest registry. The weather
could wind up having a real impact on business. She’d already received numerous
cancellations, leaving her inn less than half-full for the Christmas
holiday—the busiest time of year. She needed to be booked solid this week and
right through to the second week in January, if she was going to make any
profit at all.
There’d never been a problem filling the
Lakeside Inn, and why would there be? The bed and breakfast had twelve elegant
guest rooms in the main house, each with a private bath, and eight cabins that
were ideal for families or romantic honeymoons. The one-hundred-acre estate was
laced with miles of hiking, biking, and cross-country ski trails. It sat beside
Willow Lake—a deep glacial lake well-known for its gorgeous natural beauty—and was
at the base of Mountain Top Resort—one of the best alpine ski areas in the
state. And she offered New England charm
and hospitality too, along with providing equipment and storage facilities in one
of the state’s prettiest and most undisturbed regions. None of that mattered,
though, if her guests couldn’t get there.
Her stomach grumbled loudly, so she
wandered into the kitchen for her fifth meal of the day. “I can’t believe I’m
hungry again,” she said, walking over to the stove to see what Flora was cooking
for dinner. The woman’s hair was pulled up into a bun at the top of her head, making
her appear older than she really was. Life hadn’t always been kind to Flora
Weber. She’d lost her husband three years ago due to a snow mobile accident,
and then she lost her home shortly after that. The position at Lakeside was
perfect for her. It included cooking, cleaning, occasional front desk work, and
whatever else needed doing, in exchange for a good salary and a room at the
inn. It had worked out great for them both, and Flora had become Jillian’s
close friend.
The woman looked over at her and smiled.
“Chicken and dumplings will be ready in about ten minutes.” Penny, a red Shiba Inu
with a mischievous sense of humor, was lying at her feet, looking up at her as
if waiting for something to drop into her mouth.
“I could use some comfort food right
about now, even though I’ll be big as a house if I keep eating like this.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about,
except taking care of that little one you’re carrying inside. Why, you’re
skinny as a rail, except for that tiny bump.” Flora’s eyes swept over her
approvingly.
“Yeah, I’m glad all my weight’s going to
Macie.” Jillian ran her hands over her belly, hoping to feel the baby kick, but
all she felt was a fluttering movement.
“It’s Macie now? Last week it was Noah.
So you’ve decided it’s a girl?”
“When she moves, it feels like
butterflies. That’s too dainty for a boy, don’t you think? Although I don’t
care what I have as long as it’s healthy.”
“My gut’s telling me it’s a girl. Are
you sure you don’t want to find out the sex?”
Jillian shook her head. “Nope. I want to
be surprised.”
“Then I’ll make sure everything I get is
yellow or green.” Flora gave the pot on the stove a stir. “I set the table for fifteen.
Has anyone else arrived since last count?”
Jillian frowned. “No. Just more
cancellations. I’m afraid what we have now is all we’re going to get. Anyone
venturing out at this point would be very foolish. And just in case we lose
power and need to use the generator, I moved everyone to the inn, except a
couple on their honeymoon. They wanted to stay in their cabin. I have a room
available, though, if need be.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be fine, and Mac can
handle anything we can’t. Besides, it’s not like we haven’t had to deal with a
snow storm before.”
What Flora said was true, and Jillian
was glad that Mac had come on board, but this was her first winter without Dane
since opening five years ago. And what made it even more difficult was spending
the holiday without him. They’d been together since college and had married
shortly after graduation. Six months later, they decided to buy Lakeside. It had
been in need of major repair, but they couldn’t have asked for a more perfect
location for an inn. The first few years were wonderful, but everything changed
when the hit TV show Winter Games
came to town to shoot an episode at Mountain Top Resort. Along with needing a
lot of extras, they also were looking for a local to play a ski instructor. Not
only was that right up Dane’s alley, but with his Brad Pitt-like good looks, he
was a shoo-in. At first she’d been as excited as he was about his guest role,
but when it turned into a recurring character, she knew their lives would never
be the same again.
They’d tried to make things work. And it
had for a while. Dane had gotten a tiny apartment in New York and would come
home whenever he had a break from shooting, but it was difficult trying to keep
a long-distance marriage together, and five months ago, it came to an end when
Jillian filed for divorce. She was tired of reading about Dane’s latest love
interest in the gossip magazines and wondering if there might be some truth to
them. She needed a husband by her side. Not an absentee one whom she barely
knew anymore.
Dane didn’t contest it. And there’d been
no arguing. No fireworks of any kind. Their marriage had simply fizzled out. Next
month, the divorce would be final and the love of her life would be gone
forever.
With a heavy heart, she went into the
dining room. Mac Long was crouched in front of the fireplace, loading it up
with logs. He was a good-looking guy with dark brown hair and eyes, the
complete opposite to Dane’s light coloring. He looked over his shoulder at her
when she entered.
“I’ll have this thing roaring in a
minute,” he said with a wide smile. It was no secret he had a crush on her.
Maybe once her divorce was final and her heart had healed some, she’d agree to
go on a date with him. But before that, she couldn’t even consider it. No
matter how attractive he was.
“Thanks, Mac.” She smiled back at him,
but the way he was looking at her made her cheeks grow warm, and she quickly
looked away. “Our guests should be arriving any minute now.” She’d just
finished speaking when Sonny and Joan Potter came strolling in. They were an
elderly couple who’d spent every Christmas at the inn, since its opening.
“Evening, Jilly,” Sonny said. “The storm
has really picked up. I’m glad we got in when we did. If we’d waited any
longer, we wouldn’t have made it here. Hope you don’t lose power.”
“I hope not too, but if we do, there’s
no need to worry. We’ve got a permanently installed generator that’ll get us
by.”
“Too bad Dane’s not here,” Sonny
remarked. “It’s bad enough he’s working over the holiday, but to be in the
midst of a blizzard…well, I’m sure you’re wishing your husband was here with
you.”
Mac shot her a look of confusion as he
lit the fire. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat. “I better go see if Flora
needs some help. Have a seat. Dinner will be right out.”
Mac followed her into the kitchen. “What
was that about?” he asked solemnly. “Sonny and Joan don’t know you and Dane are
divorcing?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t know what
to say. They love Dane, and when they didn’t see him around, they assumed it
was because he was filming. I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell them.”
Mac crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s kind of late now, don’t you think?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “It’s getting
more and more difficult, that’s for sure. I guess I should do it after dinner.”
“Honey, you do whatever feels right.
Your personal life is just that…personal.” Flora brushed by them carrying a
huge bowl of chicken and dumplings.
Jillian picked up a basket of biscuits
and followed her into the dining room. Mac was right behind with a platter of green
beans. All the guests had arrived except Tommy and Lana Sawyer.
“I’m not surprised our newlyweds haven’t
ventured out of their cabin,” Jillian said to Mac with a grin.
“If you make up a couple of plates, I’ll
take them over.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she
asked.
He shook his head. “Not at all. I need
to shovel the sidewalk anyway before the snow gets so deep that it becomes an
impossible task.”
Jillian’s brow furrowed. “You’re going
to eat something first, though, right?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not going to
starve. I’ll grab something later.” He set the platter of green beans on the
table.
Flora filled two dinner plates with food,
then handed them to Mac. “There’s tinfoil in the pantry you can use to wrap
these.”
“Thanks.”
After he disappeared into the kitchen,
Jillian took a seat at the head of the table, passing the basket of biscuits to
the Beaumonts. They were from Georgia and had been hoping for a white Christmas.
Boy, did they get what they’d wished for. Charlie and Rose had three children:
Chrissy, who was ten, Davie, a well-behaved eight-year-old, and little Sarah,
who was just three. Across from them were the Newtons from Tennessee—Ellen and
Ira. They had a sixteen-year-old son, Jessie, who was a fantastic skier. And beside
them were Nora and Bobbie Rogers, empty nesters who were really happy to be
spending the holiday away from home.
“I’m so glad you all decided to spend
Christmas at Lakeside,” Jillian said happily as Flora filled each plate with
her fabulous chicken and dumplings.
When everyone had been served, Flora
took the empty bowl into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Penny trotted into
the room, positioning herself between the Beaumonts’ two oldest kids, Chrissy
and Davie. The Shiba Inu was stubborn and clever, and when she wanted something,
there was very little that would divert her attention onto something else.
“Penny’s a beggar,” Jillian warned. “We
don’t feed her scraps from the table, because if we did, she’d be even worse
than she is now.” Jillian shifted her gaze over to her dog, whose tongue was
hanging out as she focused all her attention on the two children.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. McAdams. We won’t
feed her,” Chrissy replied, garnering a huge smile from her dad.
“That’s right,” Davie replied, dunking
his biscuit into the sauce on his dinner plate. But before he’d even taken a
bite, Penny leapt up and snatched the biscuit out of his hand. The little boy
burst into tears. “I didn’t give it to her. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know you didn’t.” Jillian sprang out
of her chair and began to chase the dog around the table. “Penny, drop it,” she
ordered. But it was too late. She swallowed the biscuit. “I’m sorry, all, but I
think it’s best if Penny doesn’t join us for dinner.” Everyone laughed, and she
was glad to see Charlie hand his son another biscuit as she led the dog out of
the room by its collar.
She walked Penny into the kitchen, where
Flora was seated at the small round table in the corner having dinner. “This
one just stole a biscuit right out of Davie Beaumont’s hand.” Jillian took a
leash off a hook next to the back door and clipped it to the dog’s collar.
There was a thin smile on Flora’s lips
as she tried not to laugh. “Where have your manners gone, Miss Penny?”
Jillian gave the dog a stern look. “They
left with Dane.”
Suddenly, Flora’s face went grim. “You’re
right. Penny was much better behaved when he was here. I’m no doggie
psychologist, but I’ll bet she’s acting out because she misses him.”
Jillian bent down and rubbed the dog’s
ear. “You’re probably right. Even though she’s used to him being gone for long
periods of time, I think she can sense that he’s not coming back.” She and Dane
had found Penny at a shelter when she was just a pup, and after a day or two,
it was quite obvious who the dog preferred. But Dane’s apartment in New York
didn’t allow animals, and even if it did, he wouldn’t be able to provide her
the attention she needed with his work schedule. They’d both agreed Penny would
be much better off staying here.
She handed the leash to Flora. “Would
you mind keeping Penny with you until our guests have finished dinner?”
“Not at all, and I’ll make sure she
doesn’t get my biscuit,” Flora replied with a wink, pushing her dinner plate
toward the middle of the table.
Jillian returned to the dining room and
took her seat once again at the table. She was happy to see that everyone
seemed to be enjoying themselves. The conversation was upbeat and revolved
around Christmas that was just two days away. Hopefully, the storm will have
moved on by then. Every year, she and her guests attended church in the center
of town. It would be a shame to have to miss it this year.
“Dinner was fantastic. I need to get that
chicken and dumpling recipe from Flora,” Ellen Newton said, wiping her mouth
with a napkin.
“I’ll let her know that you’d like it.” Jillian
had to eat quickly seeing as most of her guests were just about finished.
As she was clearing the table, she caught
sight of Mac through the large picture window. He was shoveling the walkway to
the front door, and his hulking frame was covered with snow. The wind was
blowing swirls of white and seemed to be covering up the area he had just
cleared. She gave him a lot of credit for fighting such a useless battle and
hoped he would come inside soon.
The group moved downstairs into the game
room for coffee and dessert. The kids immediately headed over to the arcade
games, while the adults settled into the comfortable armchairs near the
checkerboard tables.
After about an hour, Jillian said good night
to her guests and headed back upstairs to help Flora in the kitchen, but she
wasn’t there. Instead, Jillian found Penny tied to the table leg. Fear clenched
her heart. She opened the back door and was hit in the face with a burst of wet
snow. Jillian quickly slammed it shut. “I wish you could tell me where Flora
went,” she said to the dog, but as expected, the Shiba Inu simply wagged her
tail.
Jillian raced down the hall toward the
front of the house, remembering the last place she’d seen Mac was outside
shoveling the walkway. The front door was wide open and it looked like it had
snowed inside the foyer due to the thick white covering on the floor. She
walked carefully, being sure not to slip.
Outside, she spotted Flora helping Mac
up the front steps. “What happened?” she yelled out the door.
“I slipped and twisted my ankle or
something,” he replied. “I’m okay. Get back inside before you freeze.”
Jillian wrapped her arms around herself
and had to admit she was already ice-cold. She stepped aside, giving Flora and
Mac plenty of room to get by. She closed and locked the door before following
them into the lobby area where Mac had collapsed on one of the sofas. “So let
me ask again, now that we’re all inside. What happened?”
“I’d finished shoveling and was about to
come inside when the heel of my boot hit some ice and I went down. Hard.” He
unzipped his ski jacket, shucked it off, and then handed it to Flora so she
could hang it out in the hall to dry.
“You need to put ice on your ankle,”
Jillian advised. “If it’s not better in the morning, we’ll have to see about
getting you to a doctor.”
He grimaced. “In this blizzard? Not
likely. Besides, I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t worry,” Flora said, coming to
stand beside the sofa. “I’ll help him get up to his room, and then I’ll get him
that ice pack you recommended. We don’t need his ankle swelling like a
balloon.”
“Sounds like a good plan, nurse.” One
corner of his mouth twisted upward as he regarded her with amusement.
Flora rolled her eyes, and as Jillian
looked from one to the other, she thought what a handsome couple they’d make if
they were to fall in love. Hmmm, maybe the blizzard just might help with that…
“Well, since you two seem to have things
under control, I’m going to go get my dog that’s tethered to the kitchen table
and call it a night.”
Flora clamped her hand over her mouth.
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I tied Penny there so she wouldn’t run out the front door
when I was helping Mac.”
Jillian patted her arm. “You did the
right thing. That dog would’ve bolted for sure, and she would’ve been oblivious
to your calls. The last thing I needed to deal with tonight was Penny missing
in this blizzard. Good night, you two!”
A little while later, she was settled in
her gorgeous cherry sleigh bed with Penny nuzzled beside her. The spacious
corner suite was located on the second floor. It had windows facing front and
side that offered beautiful views, and the sitting area, with its comfortable
couch and huge stone fireplace, was one of her favorite places to retire after
a long day at work. Memories of snuggling up there with Dane surfaced, and she
fought to control her swirling emotions. It would do no good to dwell on the
past, she told herself. What’s done is
done. She needed to focus on the future. With that thought planted firmly
in her mind, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
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Today bestselling
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paranormal and romantic suspense. She’s a Daphne du Maurier Award winner and a
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