Stocking Stuffers
A Five Story Christmas Anthology
K.M. Rives
Maira James
Melissa Ivers
Sibyalla Matilde
E.J. Darling
To all the bitches who thought we weren’t good enough…you know who you are.
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Make this a bestseller, and Merry Fucking Christmas.
Contents
Finally Home
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About K.M. Rives
All In Aspen
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
About the Author
Also By Maira James
Mistletoe and Mischief
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
About the Author
Merry Little Hookup
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
About Siby
Other books by Siby
Stalk Siby…
Christmas with Evin
About E.J. Darling
More books from E.J. Darling:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Finally Home
K.M. Rives
Finally Home by K.M. Rives
Copyright©November 2020
IBSN:
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Cover Art: Darling Cover Designs
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is completely coincidental.
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This book in its entirety and in portions is the sole property of K.M. Rives.
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Finally Home Copyright© 2020 by K.M. Rives. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About K.M. Rives
Chapter One
In an ideal world, she’d be dancing in the kitchen to Christmas carols, decorating cookies and sipping on spiced cider. She’d look across the room and find her husband starting a fire while occasionally glancing her way with a come hither stare, to which she’d gladly abide. They’d cuddle on the couch and watch White Christmas as fat snowflakes fell outside the giant windows of their cabin. That was in an ideal world, where dreams came true and happily ever afters were plausible.
In the real world, though, Cami closed up Little Fawn Outfitter and Retreat alone so her employees could get an early start to their holiday festivities with their families. She’d hike the six hundred yards to her cabin and spend the evening by herself since she didn’t have a boyfriend, let alone a husband to share her home with.
As if to remind her she wasn’t really alone, Bear came trotting from his usual post by the front door. She dropped to her knees and gave him a thorough belly rub. He’d always be a puppy in her eyes, but the five-year-old Great Pyrenees was anything but puppy size. He was a hundred and fifteen pounds of solid protector. Though you’d never know that by the way he happily greeted guests at the store, begging for attention from anyone who would give him the time of day.
Cami thumbed the cash one more time before adding it to the cash drawer and locking it. When she’d finished, she raised her eyes and took her time glancing over the shop. A smile tugged at her lips. She’d built this place from the ground up on her own. It may not be her ideal world, but that didn’t mean her life wasn’t a happy one.
She had her family down the mountain in Aspen, and Little Fawn was doing well. After the holidays, business would pick back up again with the winter retreat season. She didn’t have many friends, but the ones she had were the best a girl could ask for. Still, on nights like tonight, she wished she had someone to share her life with. A man. Someone to cuddle up with in front of a fire. Someone to love.
Cami laughed to herself as she turned and placed the cash drawer in the safe behind the counter. It wasn’t for lack of trying she didn’t have a man in her life. She had dated every eligible bachelor in Aspen, but none of them stuck. And forget dating the tourists that frequented the mountain. They all had the hit it and quit it mentality. While that had been fun for a time, at thirty-two it just sounded exhausting. No, there’d only been one man who had ever held her heart, and he’d gone and broken it in two. Since then, no man could compare, and that was just fine. Settling for less wasn’t in her genetic makeup. She’d just have to make do on her own, and most days she was okay with that.
Her mood perked up when her favorite contemporary Christmas song blared from the shop's radio. Usually, she was a diehard for the classics, but there was something about this particular pop song that got her hips moving. She reached over, turned up the music and danced behind the counter, circling around Bear who had plopped down at her feet. Despite the occasional holiday blues, Cami couldn’t deny Christmas truly was her favorite time of year.
With each verse of the song, her mood improved, and she found herself looking forward to closing up shop so she could finish decorating her cabin that evening.
“Those are some impressive moves.”
Cami jumped at the deep voice from behind her. With the music turned up, she hadn’t heard the door chime. Casually, she tu
rned to meet her customer. “Oh, I’m sorry. How can I—” Her mouth went dry when she instantly recognized the man standing in front of her.
Weston Fucking James.
What the hell was he doing there? Had her momentary thoughts of him somehow conjured him into existence in the middle of her store?
The only man who’d ever held her heart. The reason she was unable to give it to another. He stood before her, still looking just as good as the day he’d left Aspen. He wore a weathered leather jacket over a green plaid shirt that made his emerald eyes pop even more. His jeans hung low, but damn were they snug in all the right places.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Cami.
She brought her eyes back to his and studied his face. He’d aged some, as had she. Crows feet and laugh lines formed as he gave her a half smile and a sharp pain hit her heart. He’d been happy all these years. Happy and married to that brunette Barbie doll. Facts she tried to forget but needed to remember at the moment.
His mouth dropped open. Apparently she’d shocked the shit out of him too. “Red?” Her hands lifted to her red tresses. She’d once loved the nickname he’d given her, even if it lacked originality. Now it just made her want to throat punch him. “I had no idea you worked here.”
She was sure he silently added, because if I did, I wouldn’t have entered the building.
“I don’t. I own the place.” Which he’d know if he’d checked on her, but in the last fifteen years it clearly hadn’t crossed his mind to do so.
West took a moment to look around the shop, his gaze traveling over every display. “Damn. It’s quite a place you got here.”
Bear padded up to him to see if he could entice West into some pets. “Who’s your friend, Red?”
“That’s Bear.” She rolled her eyes as the pup rolled over and showed his belly. Didn’t Bear know he was the enemy?
West crouched down and laughed. “He’s not much of a guard dog, is he?”
“Not when he thinks he can get some attention, but I’d trust him with my life.”
“I’m glad you aren’t up here alone.”
Her eyes rolled clear into the back of her head. He didn’t get to care. Not anymore. “What are you doing here, West?” The words came out more sigh than question.
West stood, a smirk tipping at his lips. The kind of smirk that instantly made her heart go pitter patter, even after all these years. “Mom sent me up here to pick up some spiced pecans and a fresh wreath for the door.”
Cami inhaled, trying to ignore her body’s reaction to West. “She could have gotten them from my mom and saved you the trip up here. The ranch is a hell of a lot easier to get to than trucking up the mountain roads.”
“She told me your mom was out, but that the outfitter up the mountain carried them as well. ”
“Of course, she said that,” Cami snapped with more attitude than she intended. She bit the inside of her cheek, struggling to keep her emotions in check.
“I have a hunch our mothers just wanted me to run into you.”
Cami huffed and muttered under her breath, “Fucking meddling women.”
It was just like her mother to have a hand in sending West up the mountain. She knew their past, knew what he meant to her once. Her mother also knew he’d broken her heart when he left her. Not that it mattered. Lately all her mother seemed to care about was pairing her off, because according to her, Cami’s biological clock didn’t have much time left.
West chuckled. “They never have been able to mind their own business.”
“That’s an understatement.”
West raked a hand through his hair, and she noticed a new bit of grey speckled his short locks. A stark contrast to the dark brown she’d always known. She fought the urge to reach out and touch his temple and glide her fingers through it.
Whoa, girl. Calm the hell down. He’s not yours anymore and hasn’t been for a long time.
His voice was steady, but soft. “How have you been, Cami?”
“No. We are not doing this, West. I’ll get you your wreath and pecans and then you need to go.” Mostly so her heart would stop feeling as though it was going to beat right out of her chest.
“I just wanted to—” He stopped himself as if he thought better on what he was going to say. “Okay, thanks”
Cami left the relative safety of the counter between them provided and padded across the store to the display holding handmade wreaths and pecans. “I don’t have many left this close to Christmas, which do you think your mom would like?” She held up the two wreaths she had left. “Big red bow or pinecones and poinsettias?”
“The one with the flowers.”
She grinned at his answer and handed him the wreath and a bag of her mom’s famous pecans. Her hand brushed his, and her stomach somersaulted. Traitorous body. She’d need to remind her hormones they should loathe the man in front of them.
“What do I owe you?”
She considered charging him double but remembered the items weren’t for him. “Nothing. Just tell your mom come summertime she’ll need to send some of her boysenberry jam up here.”
He smiled, the kind of smile that once made her go weak at the knees. “I’ll get out of your hair then. It was good to see you.”
Okay, his smile still made her knees tremble a little.
She nodded, afraid if she opened her mouth she’d either unleash all her pent up anger toward him or give him the impression she was okay with him visiting her. Which after the onslaught of emotions she’d experienced in the short time with him, she most definitely was not.
West turned and left. A reminder of the day he’d walked out of her life, breaking her heart. She’d come to terms with the fact that leaving really was the best thing he could have done for himself and his family. That didn’t mean it hadn’t hurt her any less.
When she heard his truck start up, Cami released the breath she’d been holding. She hadn’t been prepared to see West again. In fact, she’d avoided it at all costs over the years. Any time she even suspected he’d be in town, she purposely avoided the spots she knew he’d frequent.
Finishing the last of her shop duties, she turned off the lights and headed for the door. Upon flipping the lock, she heard a loud crack from behind her and the sound of rustling trees.
Shit.
An uneasy feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. She’d bet money that was the sound of the shelf of snow just above the road giving way. It’d built up over the last week, and while it wasn’t large enough to be considered an avalanche, the snow would do some damage. Not to mention block the road completely making it impossible for her to drive into town.
Or for anyone else to do so.
Fuck.
Panic gripped her throat, and the world slowed down as realization hit her square in the chest.
West was on the road.
Chapter Two
The setting sun had just fallen behind the tall pine trees that surrounded the outfitter. Cami ran to her truck and Bear followed. The two of them jumped in the cab and she tore out of the small parking lot, heading down the mountain. West may be at the top of her shit list, but she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. A silent prayer passed her lips that he made it past the ridge and was safely on his way back to town, none the wiser of the slide.
Her heart hammering in her chest, Cami could see where the shelf had given way before she reached the bend in the road. She nearly stopped breathing when West’s blue pickup also came into view. It looked as though he swerved and collided with the sliding snow, since his truck sat perpendicular with the road and the front half was buried in snow. As far as she could tell, the slide happened in front of him and he’d had to brake hard, causing him to lose control.
She threw her truck into park and jumped from the cab, running toward West.
Please be okay. I don’t know what I’ll do if you’re not okay.
A frisson of fear tore through her when she saw West staring blindly ahead, white knu
ckling the steering wheel.
“West!”
He didn’t move. There was no indication from him he’d heard her at all. That he was even conscious.
Her heart hammered and her hands shook as she jerked open the door. “West you look at me right now, ya hear me, or I swear to God.”
“Shelby?”
Fuck. Was that his wife’s name? There was no way she was making that phone call. She could picture it now— oh, yes ma’am. Your husband ran into a snow slide and is a little out of it. Oh, and will be stuck with me on this mountain for at least a few days until the snow can be cleared. Who am I? I’m his ex girlfriend he left right before joining the Air Force and meeting you.
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