Sunny's Christmas: A Colorado Billionaires story

by Regina Duke

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Blurb

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Regina's Books

  Regina's Bio

  SUNNY’S CHRISTMAS

  by

  Regina Duke

  Sunny’s Christmas

  Copyright © 2014 Linda White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from Regina Duke.

  www.reginaduke.com

  Published by Regina Duke

  United States of America

  Electronic Edition: November 2014

  ISBN: 978-0-9862903-0-5

  This book is a work of fiction and all characters exist solely in the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to places, events or locales are used in a fictitious manner.

  Digital formatting by StevieDeInk, stevie1@steviedeink.com

  Edited by Marian Kelly, RavensGateEditing.com

  Cover design by StevieDeInk © 2014

  Image from Fotolia.com

  Sunny lost faith in men when her prom date, Brady, abandoned her on the dance floor and never came back. Eight years later, can a chance encounter turn him into her Christmas miracle? Find out in this special holiday installment in the Colorado Billionaires series from USA Today Bestselling Author Regina Duke.

  CHAPTER ONE

  December 23

  SUNNY FINCH’S CAR WAS FALLING APART, just like her life back in Los Alamos. She coaxed it along I-25 as if it were a living thing.

  “Come on, you can do it. Please don’t die on me out here.” She cast a worried look at the fat snow clouds looming overhead. Los Alamos had had a partly cloudy morning with the requisite freezing cold its residents expected in winter. Now, as she promised her car the sun and the moon to get through Raton Pass, the northern sky was filled with lowering clouds, and every now and then she saw a stray flake dance to the ground.

  Peanut, her black-and-white papillon, grumbled in his plastic crate. At ten pounds soaking wet, even his complaints sounded cute.

  “You’re fine, Peanut. I just let you out to pee thirty minutes ago.”

  Peanut made a resigned sound that reminded Sunny of a toddler whining. She couldn’t help but smile. Thank goodness she had this one ray of sunshine in her life.

  She wished she hadn’t told her cousin she’d come to Denver for Christmas. She should have kept her mouth shut. But Donna had a way of figuring things out. It never failed. If Sunny was having a hard time, Donna would call or send a card with a check in it or hound her into making a foolish promise on Facebook. Sunny had agreed to go in a moment of weakness. She’d been feeling very alone lately. The poor little Honda’s sputtering engine was just another complication at the end of a very complicated relationship.

  Well, not the end, really. More like the long drawn out aftermath. She glanced every few seconds at her dashboard, waiting for the unwelcome warning light that would spell real trouble.

  Her parents had picked a fine time to spend Christmas in Malaysia. They kept sending pictures of themselves half-naked on the beach. Wasn’t her mother too old to wear a bikini? And her father had never once mentioned to her that he had a longing to dip his toes in foreign waters. Why couldn’t they go to Cabo, like sane people? Having them literally on the other side of the world made it feel like they were on another planet.

  And yet, it wasn’t as if she’d planned to spend the holidays at their house. Her parents were totally anti-pet. No dogs, no cats, no bunnies or guinea pigs. Nothing. Her childhood had been a long slog through strings of birthdays and holidays, waiting and hoping and praying that someday they would relent and give her a puppy. But no such luck. She would go on overnights to friends’ houses and every pet in the house would end up on her bed for the night. Everyone felt she had a special connection to animals. Everyone except her parents.

  So there it was, the fundamental difference that had led to her leaving home at eighteen and not looking back. She took every animal-related job she could get during high school, and by the time she was on her own, she was running her own dog training and petsitting business. She was proud of herself.

  If only her parents were proud of her. Instead, they were mortified by her life choices. They were physicists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and they’d made it very clear ever since she was a little girl that she should focus on the sciences. They hired tutors and spent money on special summer schools and science camps.

  Her mother was the worst. She hadn’t even wanted Sunny to have a boyfriend. Her father had softened as she grew up, and more than once she heard him trying to convince her mother that biology might be a nice choice because then Sunny could go to veterinary school. Her heart had soared when she heard him talking about such an opportunity. But her mother wouldn’t hear of it. Math and physics or nothing.

  Sunny had earned a college degree by taking classes at night, and spurred on by her father’s suggestion, she’d majored in animal science. She’d built her business over the last eight years. Now, at twenty-six, she wasn’t rich, but she was self-supporting, and that was a big deal.

  The one area of her life that her mother had approved of was her hesitancy to enter into any relationships after high school. Her major crush had invited her to the senior prom, and she thought all her dreams had come true. Then, without explanation, he abandoned her on the dance floor and never returned. She had to call her father for a ride home. The horrible memory of that humiliation stayed with her for a long time. If she were honest with herself, she would admit it still haunted her dreams. But she was young and attractive, slender and fairly tall at five ten, with her father’s sparkling green eyes and her mother’s Danish blond hair. She attracted men whether she wanted to or not. She had fended them off, not wanting to chance another humiliation. She concentrated on building her business in Los Alamos, where household incomes were very high and limited night life meant that many residents left town for the weekend to enjoy the cultural and social offerings of Santa Fe and other cities. Many of them needed a petsitter, and she was able to charge reasonable fees and stay busy year round. She was doing extremely well for someone who was not employed at LANL.

  Her success had made her very attractive to John. She felt a pain near her heart as she thought of him. John the Studly, John the Charming, John the Liar. She thought he loved her. It turned out he loved her steady income. John the Jerk. He wouldn’t even clean a kitty litter box. His devious nature was the reason she was having car trouble. He’d told her he would gladly take her car in for servicing.

  She remembered the conversation so clearly. “I need the receipt for my taxes.”

  “Oh, babe, I’m sorry, I lost it. But I can tell you what it cost.” He pulled out the change from the hundred she’d given him and counted it. “I’ve got thirteen here, so it had to be eighty-seven dollars. They had to change an air filter and stuff.”

  “That doesn’t help my expense sheet. Always keep the receipts.” She’d been irritated, but she’d let it go.

  The end had come when she discovered why there was never a receipt. While she was doing her petsitting rounds, he volunteered to take Peanut to his appointment for vaccinations. Three months later, Peanut developed some dis
turbing symptoms, including fever and diarrhea. She called the vet to make an appointment.

  The clerk commented, “Oh, yes, you’re late with vaccinations, too. Shall I add those to the appointment?”

  “Late? No, that can’t be. John took him in three months ago for all his shots. Can you double-check?”

  Silence. Then, “I’m sorry, Ms. Finch, but that appointment was canceled. We haven’t seen Peanut for anything in fifteen months. The doctor can squeeze him in this morning at ten-fifteen if you like.”

  Peanut was diagnosed with a stomach ailment, but Sunny had feared it was Parvo. When she returned home, she told John it was over. She couldn’t trust him with her animals. She never wanted to see him again.

  The infuriating part was his reaction.

  He’d shrugged like it was no big deal. “Okay, babe, if that’s how you feel. You know how to find me when you get lonely waiting for your dog-whispering prince charming.” He turned at the door to take his parting shot. “Thanks for all the spending money.”

  He’d been taking her cash, pretending to do her errands, and pocketing the money. He never took her car in for servicing. He never did anything he said he would do. He just took her money and lied to her face when they were together. The worst part was, it nearly cost her the life of her superstar, Peanut.

  Sunny had ended it with John in September and good riddance. She never expected to hear from him again. Then some of her clients began canceling their bookings. They had a better offer. Someone new had started petsitting in their little town. When she pressed for information, one of them read her the flyer they’d received. It was John!

  That’s what threw her into a tailspin. He had her client list, and he was systematically robbing her of their business by undercutting her prices.

  Ordinarily, Christmas was her busiest time. People wanted to travel and they needed a petsitter. Only this year, because of John the Jerk, she had no Christmas clients left by mid-December. That’s when her cousin popped up, wanting her to come to Denver for the holidays. And Peanut was no problem. Donna’s Siamese would love to have a visitor.

  Sunny doubted that part, but she was weak. She gave in. Now she was sorry. She should have stayed home and spent her holidays looking for a job to get her through the next few months. Her December income had evaporated. January and February would be difficult. She’d have to commute to Albuquerque and work in PetSmart again to make ends meet. She was pretty sure that once January and ski season came around, John would abandon his petsitting venture. She had never known him to hold down a job past the second paycheck. But even so, he was forcing her to whittle away at her tiny nest egg. Another man, another humiliation.

  She patted Peanut’s crate on the passenger seat. “At least things can’t get any worse,” she muttered.

  Christmas music faded in and out on her radio. She glanced at the dash lights again. The little town of Raton was coming up. Her car was struggling at stop signs. She wondered if she could roll through one and not get caught. Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as she moved slowly through the streets. She crossed her fingers that the car wouldn’t die at the next stop sign. Just her luck, two other cars were rolling through the intersection in front of her, moving slower than molasses. One driver had white hair and could barely see over her dashboard.

  Sunny massaged the steering wheel and watched a mid-sized tour bus take on passengers up the block. A sign on the side of the bus said, “Christmas Express.” An Hispanic mom with six kids was ready to board. The driver stepped down to load their luggage. He was wearing a Santa suit. The little ones were jumping up and down with excitement at seeing Santa Claus.

  Santa pulled candy canes out of his pocket for the kids and they scrambled up the tall steps into the vehicle. Sunny found herself smiling at the sight, but her lips settled in a grim line as she coaxed the Honda across the intersection. Another two hundred yards and she could increase her speed. Once she did that, she should be fine until she reached the next town. She was ready to heave a sigh of relief when she made it past the village. She pressed her foot to the accelerator, and the Honda coughed twice and died.

  “Noooo!” She beat her fists on the steering wheel. Then, while she still had forward momentum, she forced the wheel to turn with both hands and managed to pull onto the shoulder. No engine, no power steering.

  She sat there for a few minutes, weighing her options. The week before, she’d tossed a mailing from Triple A. It felt too expensive for a budget battered by John’s treachery. She regretted it now. There was very little traffic and the snowflakes were getting fatter. It was going to get colder fast.

  “Peanut!” Papillons lose body heat quickly. Now that the car heater was useless, she reached into the back seat and found her emergency fleece blanket. She wrapped it around Peanut’s crate. “We have to walk back to Raton,” she said. “And we’d better do it now, before it starts snowing harder. I hope they have a room at the inn.” Her Christmas reference was ruined by her snarky tone. She gathered her shoulder bag and got out. She left Peanut in his crate. It was easier to carry him that way because she could set him on top of her rolling luggage. She fetched her red down jacket from the back seat, put it on and zipped it up. She was out of her car and had the dog crate bungeed to the luggage when a large vehicle slowed and pulled in behind her car. Peanut barked.

  Sunny turned to look as the Christmas Express tour bus door opened. Santa got out and greeted her.

  “Need a hand?” His breath hung in the brittle cold air like tiny clouds. Fat flakes of snow stuck to his red coat and refused to melt.

  “I could use a lift back into Raton. My car isn’t going anywhere.”

  Santa looked worried. “Raton is full up. Where you headed?”

  “Denver.”

  “We can get you half way there. We’re going to Eagle’s Toe.”

  Sunny chewed her bottom lip. “Raton is full?”

  “Teresa—Mrs. Gonzalez—told us that she and the kids had to sit in the lobby all night. Some special meeting in Los Alamos coming up.”

  “Over Christmas? Huh. My mother would never stand for that.” Which was why she’d left for a Malaysian holiday, thought Sunny. Oh, well. She needed a ride. Halfway was better than nothing. “Thanks, I’d love a ride.”

  A man appeared at the door. He had thick wavy dark hair, a perfect nose, and the last hint of an outdoorsman’s tan. He raised his head and said something to Santa.

  Sunny’s heart lurched, then fell. How could the fates be so cruel? Just when she needed help the most! Could it be?

  Eight years was a long time, but she didn’t think she’d ever forget his face. It was definitely Brady Felton, the boy who broke her heart and humiliated her in the middle of senior prom.

  CHAPTER TWO

  BRADY FELTON CAUGHT SUNNY’S LOOK of disbelief and froze. “Sunny Finch?” He smiled a welcome filled with surprise, pleasure, and hesitation all at once.

  Sunny could feel an iron cage closing in on her heart. She could not let this man near her feelings again. Her words were clipped. “Hello, Brady. Long time, no see.”

  Santa was already reaching for her luggage.

  “Wait,” said Sunny, unstrapping Peanut’s crate. “He has to ride inside with me.” She swore to herself that if she’d been traveling alone, she would have turned around and walked back to Raton, even if it meant sleeping on a lobby bench. But she had to think of Peanut.

  “What you got there?” Santa bent low to lift the fleece blanket and peek into the crate.

  “My papillon, Peanut.”

  “He’s a cutie. Get on board.” Santa turned to Brady. “I’ll just stow this and we’ll be on our way.”

  Brady nodded. Then he stepped outside to let Sunny climb in. He started to reach for Peanut’s crate.

  “I’ve got it,” said Sunny briskly. “Lots of practice at dog shows.”

  She clamped her jaw to stop the stream of words. Sunny was talkative by nature. If she was going to give B
rady the cold shoulder, she’d have to watch her mouth. There was no law that said she had to talk to him. She’d just pretend he didn’t exist, the same way he’d made her feel on prom night so many years ago.

  She climbed aboard and looked for a seat. The bus was over half full. The six little kids had been shepherded to the back of the bus, where they were happily deployed across the long bench seat. Their mother sat one row ahead, close enough to keep tabs and stop them from running toward the front. Sunny worried that the kids would be too much for Peanut, so she picked a row near the front of the bus. She set Peanut’s crate on the empty seat beside her.

  She busied herself with giving him a dog biscuit as Brady got back on.

  Brady’s brows drew together in a question. “Is everything okay?”

  “Perfect,” she said tightly. “My car gave up the ghost on the side of the road and I’m riding a bus two days before Christmas. What could be better?”

  Brady knew sarcasm when he heard it. Something was wrong, but he needed to get the rest of the passengers settled before he tried to figure out what it was.

  “Let me know if you need anything.”

  Sunny didn’t meet his gaze. Instead she stared straight ahead and gave him a thumbs up.

  Brady couldn’t believe his luck. He’d always had a soft spot for Sunny. In fact he’d asked her to the senior prom. His memories of that evening were a heartbreaking blur. That was the night his life changed forever. For months afterward, he’d tried to reach out to Sunny but to no avail. He wrote letter after letter. He always hoped she would understand, but she never replied and she refused to talk to him on the phone, even after several letters. Could she still be upset about that night?

  He decided he was being silly. Eight years had passed. They both had lives. A lot had happened since that night. Still, his heart had skipped a beat when he’d spotted her on the side of the road. That was when he’d made the split-second decision to let Sunny ride with his group. After all, it was the least he could do for old times’ sake. Maybe later he could figure out why she looked so upset.