---

Awards and Recognition
#1 Bestselling Holiday eBook, December 2008 - Fictionwise

#4 Bestseller in Romance, December 2008 - Fictionwise

#12 Over All Bestseller, December 2008 - Fictionwise

---

Excerpt

Prologue

“This is the last one,” Emily said, placing the box in her hands on the table. “It was in the corner of the attic. I almost missed it.”

Meredith slid the box to her and opened it, taking a look inside. A ball of tangled Christmas lights lay on top and she tossed them aside before digging further into the box.

“Oh, this stuff is old,” she said. A few mismatched ornaments she’d never thrown away lay within, old Christmas cards, crumpled wrapping paper, smashed bows and an assortment of ribbons and gift wrap tags. “I don’t think there’s anything worth using in this one. It’s just rubbish. We’ll toss it out with the other stuff.”

“Maybe Nicholas could use some of it for that little tree he has in his room,” Emily said, grabbing a snowman with a lopsided grin from the depths of the box.

Meredith smiled. “Oh, he’d love that. I’m sure he could find something in here to use,” she said. “There’s more than enough to decorate one small tree.”

Digging to the bottom, Meredith’s hand stilled when she eyed an old paper angel. Her eyes widened when she saw it and she reached for it, pulling it from the box.

The origami angel had been made with a page from a magazine, the colored ink faded over the years. The angel itself was crumpled and bent, but it wasn’t the shape of the handmade ornament that sent Meredith’s thoughts racing.

She smiled and held the angel in her hands as if it were made of glass. Of every holiday decoration she’d accumulated over the years, this one brought the best memories.

The memories of that first Christmas.

Chapter 1

Meredith Gunter sat stunned, staring out the front window of her car. The tree she'd run into laid across the cold, bent metal of her brand new car. Smoke billowed from under the crumpled hood and when she looked behind her, up the steep incline she'd just driven her car down, a bubble of hysterics surfaced and she let out a series of ear shattering screams.

With her lungs aching, her throat hoarse, and her entire body shaking, Meredith took deep breaths to try and calm down. She closed her eyes, hummed quietly to center her thoughts, and felt better when she opened them.

A quick glance around the interior of her car, she spotted her purse on the floor and reached for it. Digging her cell phone out, she dialed her father's number and waited.

Three long beeps later, a scream of frustration filled the air. "No signal" flashed on the screen and she threw the phone back to the floor before looking out her driver's side window.

"Nothing but trees," she mumbled while she stared out at the surrounding forest.

The day was overcast; the sky was gray and thick with heavy, low-lying clouds. Meredith glanced up, squinting as something fluttered by the window and her eyes widened a moment later. "Oh, please tell me that isn't snow!" she said, watching the small white flakes dance in the breeze. "This is just perfect."

Oh, take the short cut Meredith. It never snows this early in the year. The words she'd thought earlier mocked her now and she frowned before turning her head to look up the hill.

She unlocked her door, opened it, and climbed out, wrapping her coat around her body to protect her against the wind.

The climb up the hill was difficult. Her high-heel boots sunk into the soft ground and she grunted as she slipped and fell to one knee, cursing her now ruined white slacks, and was out of breath by the time she made it to the road.

There was nothing but wet pavement and trees as far as the eye could see.

The small furry animal that darted in front of her, and caused her to swerve to begin with, was nowhere in sight. "Figures," she said to herself, turning to look back down the hill at her car. The back of it wasn't even visible from the road unless you knew where to look. Trees surrounded it on all side. It was dented and long sections of paint had been scratched off to the metal where she sideswiped the trees on the way down.

Her graduation present was now nothing but junk.

Meredith nibbled her bottom lip, looking at the surrounding forest. The last town she'd seen was at the base of the mountain and there was no way she was walking the now, snow covered roads.

She tried to remember if there were any houses near by. It had been almost a year since she'd taken this short cut. She cursed her stupidity. Why had she been in such a hurry to get home? She couldn't even remember, now.

The wind gusted and she shivered, pulling her coat tighter around her. She needed to do something. She couldn't stand on the side of the road all day. "I can't very well sit in the car either, can I? No one can even see it."

She groaned, her shoulders slumping and felt tears burning the back of her eyes. "Dear God," she said, looking up and blinking the snow catching on her eyelashes away. "If you can hear me, it's Meredith. I know I've been kind of bad lately, and I really did want to go to church every Sunday, but if I had missed those parties on Saturday night, no one would have liked me, and you wouldn't want me to be a social leper now, would you? Anyway, I'm in trouble. Can you please send someone to help me?"

Meredith smiled into the heavens (just to be safe) and waited. The wind blew harder as the minutes ticked by and she bounced on her heels to try and keep warm. Her fingers were numb, her nose frozen to the point it was starting to run, and the snow on the ground getting deeper by the second.

Glancing at her car, she gave the road one last look before darting to the edge of the grass and started back down the hill. She'd made it half way down when she heard it. A vehicle barreling up the road.

She turned back, rushing up the hill and looked both ways, trying to see where the car was. She saw it seconds later. Only it wasn't a car. It was a truck. If you wanted to call it that.

A large, beat up, red pick-up truck was flying up the road. A roll bar jutted up over the cab and blaring music disturbed the stillness around her. It was missing the front bumper and the hood was a different color than the rest of it. She raised one eyebrow as it approached. If the truck were that ratty, what would the person inside be like? "Oh lord. It's probably some snaggle-toothed mountain man who hasn't seen a woman in years. Hide, Meredith, before he spots you."

She didn't have to worry. The truck flew past her like she wasn't even there, a wave of wet earth and snow slush splashing up and covering her in its wake. She gasped in shock, looking down as the brown water dripped off of her and shivered when she felt it soaking into her clothes. Her hair hung in long, wet tendrils in front of her face and she felt goosebumps pimple her skin as a sudden gust of wind chilled her to the bone.

Meredith stood stunned, staring down at her self before she blinked, raising a hand to wipe the gunk off her face and finally screamed in frustration. She looked to her right, the direction the truck had gone, and straightened her spine, yelling, "You asshole! I was standing here!"

The taillights flashed red and the truck slid to a stop. It idled in the road for long seconds and Meredith's temper flared hot by the time it started the slow, backward trek to where she stood.

BUY THE EBOOK FROM:

» Buy at Alinar Publishing
» Buy at Amazon Kindle
» Buy at Amazon Kindle UK
» Buy at Amazon Kindle DE
» Buy at Barnes and Noble
» Buy at Sony Reader Store
» Buy at Diesel eBook Store
» Buy at Smashwords
» Buy at Kobo

Also Available at the Apple iBook Store

 

BUY THE PRINT BOOK FROM:

» Buy at Amazon.com
» Buy at Barnes and Noble