by Jaclyn Hardy
Jaclyn Hardy
This is a work of fiction, and the views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author. Likewise, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are represented fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Book design and layout copyright © 2018 Dragons & Fairy Tales Press
Cover design copyright © 2018 Dragons & Fairy Tales Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Copyright © 2018 by Jaclyn Hardy
DEDICATION
For My Family
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I love Christmastime for the books and movies that come along with it (Well, and everything else about it). I was so excited to write this one, but then life had other plans. But thanks to awesome friends and family, I was able to brainstorm and write it.
Thank you to my mom. I’d still be struggling with the ending without being able to bounce ideas off of you. Thank you for believing in me.
Thanks to my amazing beta readers. I love you all and I appreciate you being there for me!
And thanks to all of my readers. You’re the best!
Heather checked her phone for the hundredth time as her family pulled into the hotel parking lot. Still no cell service. She was supposed to be getting a call at any moment for the job she’d interviewed for, and she was stuck in the middle of southern Idaho for Christmas. Why her parents had chosen to come here for their vacation was beyond her. Yes, her Aunt Cassie lived here, but couldn’t they have chosen somewhere warmer?
“Wow, this is beautiful. So much better than the pictures online.” Mom smiled up at what looked more like a mansion than a hotel. Which meant it most likely didn’t have Wi-Fi or a pool.
A cool breeze blew through the gardens, promising snow. Why they couldn’t be at the beach instead was beyond Heather. She should have gone with her roommates. Heather pulled her coat tighter and grabbed her suitcase. Just a couple of days and she’d be out of here. She could handle that.
Leaves blew past them as they went up the walkway, her twin brothers rushing past her. Of course, they’d be excited. They were ten.
“You look about as excited as I feel.” Heather’s sister, Janie, smirked.
Heather laughed and walked inside. Okay, so this was a little fancier than she’d expected. The decor was more up to date than she’d expected, and they’d obviously updated a lot of it. A large Christmas tree stood in one corner, decorated with hundreds of lights, bulbs, and ornaments. Large wreaths hung at each window, and Christmas music played quietly in the lobby.
Their room was upstairs and to the right. The twins would be with Mom and Dad, so Heather got to share with Janie. The room was small, but it was nice. They’d gone all out with decorating it, and best of all, the bed was comfortable. Heather snuggled under the covers, determined not to get out until it was time to go back home.
“I’m going exploring. Want to come?” Janie pulled on her coat.
“I think I’ll take a nap. You go ahead.” And by nap, Heather meant digging into the book she’d been waiting to read.
Janie sighed and grabbed Heather’s blankets. “If I have to be here, so do you. Come on. Maybe there’s some cute guys around here somewhere.”
“Great. If you see any of them, say hi.” Heather tried to get the blankets back, but it was no use. At twelve, Janie was pretty feisty and tended to get what she wanted. “Fine.”
Heather grabbed her jacket. “But if they want me to country dance or whatever, I’m ditching you.”
Janie laughed. “It’s not like that’s all they do all day. Besides, I heard there’s a big pre-Christmas dance tonight.”
“How do you hear these things?” Heather stopped long enough to grab her wallet in case they decided to go somewhere, then let Janie drag her out of the room.
“I’m small. People talk all the time when I’m around.” Janie didn’t let go until they were downstairs. “They were talking about it while we checked in. Oh, hey. Look.”
A large poster was pinned to the bulletin board near the main desk. The dance would have a live band. Most likely country music. But it was better than sitting in her room all night.
“Fine. We’ll go. But if the music is lame, we’re leaving early.”
Someone laughed behind her. Heather turned to find a rather good-looking guy standing there. Too bad there was a ring on his finger, or this trip would have been a lot more interesting.
“I guarantee you’ll like the music. My wife is singing.” The man held out a hand. “I’m Patrick, by the way. I own this hotel, along with Rachel.”
Heather could feel her face burning. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know anyone was here. I’m Heather.”
“Nice to meet you. And you’re . . .?”
“Janie. Your hotel is amazing.”
Patrick smiled. “Thanks. Rachel gets most of the credit. I need to get back to work, but I hope you two have fun. Make sure to check out the gardens.” He started walking away, but turned around. “Oh, and I highly recommend going to the dance tonight. You won’t regret it.”
“I’m sure we won’t.” Heather steered Janie toward the back door so they could go into the gardens. The wind blew hard and cold as they tried to maneuver the paths.
Janie stopped and turned back. “I think I’ve had enough air for today.”
Heather laughed and followed her sister back in. Hot chocolate and a good book in bed sounded like the perfect solution to her. She checked her watch to see what time it was. Perfect. It was still early enough in the afternoon that she could do just that before dinner and the dance that she hadn’t decided if she was going to attend.
“Want to see what video games they have?” Janie pointed toward one of the front rooms of the hotel.
“No, I’m good, but I bet you can find Eric and Sam there. I’ll be up in our room, trying to get warm.”
Janie took off without looking back. Apparently, she wasn’t too heartbroken that Heather hadn’t followed. Fair enough. Heather grabbed a packet of hot chocolate from the condiment table and ran upstairs with it. She had a book calling her name.
Heather groaned at the knock on the door. She’d just gotten to the best part of the book. They were about to find out who the villain was. She climbed out of her bed and answered the door to find her parents standing there.
“Ready for dinner?” Mom glanced down at Heather’s pajamas and frowned. “You’re not going down to dinner in that, are you?”
Heather must have read longer than she’d thought. “Give me a sec.”
“Wait, is Janie in there? She can come down with us.”
“No, she’s with Sam and Eric playing games downstairs. Just go. I’ll meet you down there.” Heather closed the door and stared at the clothes in her luggage. She probably should have unpacked. Oh well. No time now. She grabbed a blouse and a nice pair of pants and changed, then checked to make sure her hair wasn’t sticking out all over.
The dining room was already full when Heather made it downstairs. Dad waved his arm to let her know where they were sitting. She weaved her way through the tables and sat next to Sam.
“There are way too many people here to have them all staying at the hotel.” Heather opened the menu and glanced through the entrees. Strange. She flagged down a waiter. “I was looking for the vegetarian menu. Do you have one?”
The waiter sighed and left, bringing back a menu a moment later. “There you go.”
“Thank you.” Heather glanced through the list and ordered eggplant parmesan.
Snickering came from the table behind Heather, and she distinctly heard vegetarian among their laughing. She turned to glare at them and met the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. She pushed past her momentary inability to speak. “Excuse me? It’s not polite to laugh at other people’s choices.”
“It is when that person clearly doesn’t understand that the hotel is owned by a rancher’s daughter. Which means most of the food that comes through this hotel is raised by her family. Insult the food, you insult the family.” The man’s eyes danced as he spoke, annoying Heather further.
“I don’t care what her farm raises, it gives no one the right to laugh.” Heather huffed and turned back around to find her family staring at her. “What?”
Mom leaned forward. “Don’t speak to people like that. It’s rude.”
Heather wanted to argue back, but this wasn’t the place. She stabbed a fork into the side salad in front of her and took a bite before realizing she’d forgotten the dressing. When her dinner came, she looked at it in disgust. She flagged down the waiter. “I told you eggplant parmesan. This is lasagna. Please take it back and bring me what I ordered.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ll be right back.” The waiter took her plate.
“It’s not like meat’s going to kill her.”
Heather bristled and turned in her chair. “Seriously. Can you guys keep your opinions to yourselves?”
More snickers. When she turned back around, her mom glared. “What?”
“Ignore them. And stop embarrassing us, please.” Mom smiled up at the waiter and shot another look of warning at Heather.
Heather poured more dressing onto her salad and ate in silence. It wasn’t like this was the first time she’d had people mock her for her choice to go vegetarian. But usually it was from friends teasing her, not complete strangers.
Her meal finally came, and it was worth waiting for. It was cooked to perfection, something she hadn’t expected in a remote place like this. If she could have dishes like this all week, it would be worth the mocking.
As soon as the meal was over, employees cleared up the tables and slid them to the sides of the large ballroom. Heather followed her family out of the room while the band set up. She was tempted to go back up to her room to read, but she was curious to know what the dance would be like. Being in med school meant she didn’t get out to dance much. Or do anything else, really.
“Are you staying?” Janie looked up at her, hopeful. “Mom said I can only stay if you do.”
“I’ll stay for a bit. If it’s lame, we’ll go.”
Janie grinned. “Awesome. I’ll go tell Mom.”
She ran off, leaving Heather a chance to check her messages. She was supposed to find out her grades soon, and she didn’t want to miss it. Still nothing.
Janie came back breathless. “Okay, Mom said you have to keep an eye on me, unless you find a guy. Then you’re excused and I have to go find her.”
Heather raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, those were Mom’s words, not mine.”
“Figures.” Heather stood. “Well, good news for you is that I don’t plan on that happening tonight. You’re stuck with me.”
Janie rolled her eyes. “You make guys sound like a bad thing.”
“And you’re twelve. You have plenty of dating time ahead of you. Oh, hey, looks like they’re letting everyone back in.” Heather put her hands on Janie’s shoulders so she wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.
Music echoed off the walls from the live band. They started with a popular country song and everyone cheered. Heather was impressed. Rachel’s husband was right. She was good. The crowd cheered and clapped after the first song. Janie bounced on her toes. Heather had never seen anyone who loved dancing more than she did.
“Go. Dance. I’ll watch from here.”
Janie didn’t wait for Heather to say anything else. She ran out into the middle of the line dance going on and after one or two sets, she had all of the moves down. She added more of a hip-hop style, but that just made it more fun.
“Your sister is a great dancer.” The man from dinner stood next to her, arms folded.
“She is.” Heather forced herself not to think about how he filled out his button up shirt quite nicely. He’d been awful to her. But then she hadn’t exactly been nice back.
A slow song came on, and Janie immediately grabbed a boy close to her age to dance. Heather smiled.
“Want to dance?”
Heather looked up at the man in surprise. Saying no would have been rude, and she’d already had her fair share that night. “Sure.”
He leaned closer as the music got louder. “Sorry about earlier tonight. I didn’t mean to insult your dietary choices. We just don’t get a lot of vegetarians around here.”
Heather smirked. “So that’s a reason to mock the ones who do choose to eat that way?”
“No. That’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “Can we start over? Hi, I’m Stuart. And you are?”
“Heather.” She forced herself to calm down and enjoy the music. Stuart was a good dancer, and she was surprised at how at ease she was with his arms around her. And as long as he was this close, she couldn’t get lost in those blue eyes of his.
He hummed to the music until he realized what he was doing. “Sorry. This is one of my favorites of her songs.”
“You know Rachel?” Heather cringed inwardly. Of course he knew her. This town was small.
“We grew up together.” Stuart let go of her waist and spun her before pulling her back in. “I hope you enjoy Cottonwood Creek while you’re here.”
If she could spend more time with him, she’d enjoy every minute. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you.”
He smiled, making her knees go weak. “Hopefully I’ll see you around. I’d ask you to dance again, but I promised my mom I’d let her set me up with at least two girls tonight before I take off. I have to be up early in the morning.”
A flare of jealousy popped up, but Heather waved. “Go. Have fun. I’m actually surprised my mom isn’t down here doing the same thing.”
Stuart laughed and pushed his way through the crowd over to a lady who had to be his mom. She pointed over at another woman about Heather’s age. Janie chose that moment to tug Heather’s hand, pulling her away. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or sad that she couldn’t see Stuart from where she stood.
“They have refreshments. And look. There’s like ten different kinds of cookies and cupcakes.” Janie’s eyes were wide as she pointed them out. “Can I have one?”
Heather shrugged and took a cupcake for herself. “I don’t see why not.”
Janie grabbed two cookies. “I can’t believe you danced with that guy after he was so mean to you.”
“Yeah, well, he asked, and I couldn’t say no. And what about you? That boy was pretty cute.”
Even in the dimness of the room, Heather could see Janie’s blush. “He was, but he’s from here. It’s not like we could ever hook up.”
“Again, you’re twelve. You shouldn’t hook up anyway.” Heather nodded toward the front of the room. “Besides, that doesn’t seem to stop him. Looks like he likes you just as much.”
Janie’s blush grew darker. “Should I ask him to dance again?”
“Why not? We’re on vacation. It’s a good time to take chances.”
“Then why don’t you ask your guy to dance?” Janie shot her a
sly smile before pushing her way over to the boy.
Heather searched the crowd for Stuart and found him hanging out with the guys who had been sitting at his table. She bit her lip. She’d told Janie to take a chance. Maybe she should, too. No. It was different. Besides, he would have come to ask her to dance already if he’d wanted to. He knew where she was.
Wait, where’d he go?
“Hey, I finally got away from my mom. Would you like to dance again?” Stuart stood just inches from Heather.
Her heart beat rapidly. “How did you get over here so quickly?”
“I’m a ninja. But don’t tell anyone or you’ll ruin my surprise.” He took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.
“I didn’t think ninjas lived in Idaho.”
He leaned in. “That’s what we want you to think.”
Janie met Heather’s eye from across the room and gave a thumbs-up. Heather couldn’t help the burst of laughter that popped out.
“What?” Stuart’s cheek brushed hers as he turned to see what she had laughed at.
“My sister. It’s nothing.” Heather waited for Stuart to turn back around before she gave a quick thumbs-up back to Janie. “So, do they do these dances often?”
Stuart nodded. “This mansion used to hold balls all the time, and Rachel wanted to keep them going once she got the hotel opened. It was Patrick’s idea to have her perform instead of getting another band. When things are too crazy, she’ll hire one out instead.”
Heather glanced over at Rachel. Stuart seemed to know a lot about her. And the way he said her name told Heather that he must have really liked her at one point. Small towns. Heather shook her head.
“What now?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you seem to know everything about everyone.” Well, mostly Rachel and her family, but Heather didn’t want to add that part.
“I know enough.” He pulled away once the song ended. “I better get going. See you around sometime?”
