A Soft Kiss in Winter
Page 23
She reached for him but he grabbed her hands and held them tight.
“That’s not even the worst part. The kicker is, I could have prevented it all. I saw them fellas on my way to town that night. They were drifters and asked where they could find a free meal and like an idiot drunk on teenage lust, I told them to head down the road to the house and tell Nora I’d said to feed them. I never once glanced back as they headed down the road. I was too preoccupied with what Becky had offered me to worry about my sister and it cost me everything. I invited those bastards to our house and never looked back when I did.”
She didn’t speak but the sorrow in her eyes said enough. She pulled her hand lose and cupped his cheek but he pulled away. “Don’t,” he said. “I don’t deserve your compassion or pity, nor do I want it, but I don’t want any secrets between us.”
“You didn’t kill her, Gideon.”
“I told them to go there, Victoria. I threw the lantern. Me. My actions caused it. If I had been home, none of it would have ever happened. If I hadn’t thrown the lantern, she wouldn’t have caught on fire. I did that—I’m responsible—and I have to live with it for the rest of my life.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to keep punishing yourself until the end of time. Regardless of what you say, it was still an accident. A horrible, tragic accident, but you can’t shut yourself off from the world around you and live alone up there on the side of a mountain until you’re old and gray.”
“I’ve managed so far.”
“And at what price?” She cupped his cheek again and this time he didn’t pull away. “You’re not living. You’re existing. Living is taking joy in the things around you. Loving those close to you and letting them love you in return. Regardless of what happened in your past, you deserve the same things every other person deserves. You deserve to be happy, Gideon. Everyone does.”
He took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth, then stood there with his lips pressed against his knuckles. “For what its worth, Victoria, you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in longer than I can remember. I shouldn’t have shut you out when you asked about my life but I was scared—“ He blew out a breath, pressed her hand to his forehead, and closed his eyes. “I was scared once you learned what I’d done, that you’d hate me as much as I do and I didn’t want to see the look in your eyes when you found out.”
“I could never hate you, Gideon.” She pulled back enough he could see her face. “And you shouldn’t hate yourself. Would Nora want you to shut the entire world out because of what happened?” She shook her head and smiled. “I don’t think she would, so stop hiding and start living.”
She sounded like Graham now. He’d said nearly the exact same thing when he’d told him the truth of that night.
“Thank you for telling me.”
He loosened his hold on her but didn’t let go. “Can you ever forgive me for treating you so poorly?”
“I already have.” She caressed the side of his face. “I don’t know what you thought my reaction would be once I found out Gideon, but it changes nothing.”
He searched her face for the truth in her words and saw it when he looked into her eyes. It was the same look she’d given him the first morning after they’d gone to bed together. It was the look he’d wanted to see every morning for the rest of his life.
The wind had pulled a curl from her hair and blew it against her lips. He caught the strand, rubbed it between his fingers, then tucked it behind her ear. “I said I was here for four reasons.”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
“Telling you about Nora was one. The second was to say thank you for everything. If we never see each other again after tonight, I want you to know how much being with you meant to me. I’ll never forget you, Victoria.” He paused and licked his suddenly dry lips. “I love you.”
She inhaled a quick breath, her gaze darting across his face.
“I love you more than I can ever express. I had every intention of telling you once we got back off the mountain but you weren’t there and you’ll never know how sorry I am for what happened. When I found out you were gone, a part of me died. You’re my heart, Victoria. I can’t live without it. I don’t want to.”
A lone tear fell from her eye. He thumbed it away and took a step closer to her. “That was reason three for being here. I wanted you to know you’ve changed me in ways I’ll never recover from. I’ll never stop wanting you or needing you in my life.”
More tears joined the first and he stopped trying to brush them away. “Which brings me to the fourth reason I’m here.” He cupped her face in his hands and when she didn’t pull away, he leaned in and brushed his lips against her mouth. “I don’t want to live without you, Victoria. Will you marry me?”
He wasn’t sure she replied but he got his answer when she threw her arms around his neck and cried as she kissed him. They stood in the dimly lit garden, the sound of laughter and voices ringing into the night as snow flurries began to fall. He broke the kiss and wiped away her tears. “I know it’s customary to give gifts on Christmas but I’ll apologize now for giving you something that already belonged to you.” He reached into his trouser pocket, pulling out the small jewel encrusted hair comb he’d found and placed it in her hand.
She gasped. “My grandmother’s comb!” She looked up at him, her eyes wide with joy. “Where did you find it?”
“In the cabin. It was on the floor where the bed had been sitting.”
Her smile lit her entire face. “I thought I’d lost it. It must have fallen out of my bag.”
“Possibly.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the small box he’d tucked inside the breast pocket and offered it to her. “I remembered your birthday as well.”
The smile she gave him lit her entire face. “You remembered?”
He nodded. “How could I forget when an entire town celebrates it with a special holiday just for you?”
She laughed and took the gift, glancing up at him after she pulled the red ribbon away. He took the plain brown paper when she handed it to him and found himself holding his breath when she lifted the lid from the box and peered inside. “Rose Campbell informed me it was customary to provide a ring when proposing.”
The tears were back when she looked up at him. He brushed them away, took the ring from the box and lifted her hand. “Will you marry me, Victoria?”
She smiled up at him. “Yes. I’ll marry you, Gideon.”
He slipped the ring on her finger then pulled her back into his arms. “Think you’re father will give me your hand?”
“He may not want to but he will just to keep me from running away with you.”
He laughed when she did, then kissed her knowing that now, she was his forever.
Epilogue
Victoria stared down at the wedding band on her finger and tried to stop smiling. Her cheeks ached from the permanent smile that had been etched there since Gideon had shown up at her parent’s house on Christmas Day—her birthday—to tell her he loved her and wanted her forever. She’d dreamed of his coming for her but never held out much hope he would. She’d never been so glad to have been wrong.
The roar of rushing water filled the air, the mist hitting her face and dampening her hair unnoticed as she looked up. Gideon’s arms pulled her closer, his warmth welcomed as the breeze chilled her but she’d never complain.
She’d not told her parents everything that happened to her when she’d returned home. She’d spared them the heartache of knowing the details. She’d not wanted them to fret but when she introduced them to Gideon, she told them how he’d saved her. How he’d rescued her and led her to Silver Falls—and stole her heart in the process.
They’d not been ready to lose her again so soon so she and Gideon had agreed to stay in Chicago until spring and her father had given her the finest wedding a girl could want. He’d even made good on a promise he’d made to her so many years ago.
“Seen enough?”
&
nbsp; Victoria smiled as she watched the water rush over the falls. Niagara had seemed magical when her parents told her about it and it was. It was the most magnificent thing she’d ever seen and she was glad Gideon was here to share it with her. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get enough of it.”
“Well, good thing for you, you’ll be able to see the falls every day once we get home.”
Home. She smiled. He promised to build her a house with large picture windows that faced the falls. She could stare at it to her heart’s content and she would.
New house or not, she had everything she’d ever wanted now. She was loved by a man who, although not perfect, made her feel adored and treasured. If anyone would have told her all those months ago when she left Chicago with Thomas and headed across the country, that she’d be celebrating her honeymoon in Niagara Falls with Gideon Hart, a loner who lived on the side of a cold mountain, she wouldn’t have believed them. But here she stood, wrapped in the arms of a man who saved her life.
That first day he’d found her she’d been broken and more scared than any other time in her life. He’d rescued her in more ways than one that day and slowly, inside the walls of a small secluded cabin, he’d healed her wounded heart and she’d restored his own in the process. And all it took was one soft kiss in winter.
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The End
Authors Note
Dear Readers,
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I hope you enjoyed the first look into this brand new series. The Silver Falls Series has been nagging at me for several years now and I’m thrilled to be able to tell these stories. There are three more books planned (but more always pop up as I’m writing) so we’ll definitely see more of Graham, Rose, Violet, Daisy and, of course, Silver Falls most flamboyant resident, our Scottish Highlander, Ewan Campbell.
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For those of you who have read the Willow Creek Series, I don’t need to tell you much about Aaron Hilam, who made a cross-over jump into this new series. We’ll see a lot more of that in the future with a few Silver Falls characters coming to Willow Creek, which is where we’ll be going next. Our story will pick up with Aaron, in Silver Falls, and take us back home to Willow Creek.
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To be informed about upcoming book news, be sure to subscribe to my Newsletter.
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All the best,
Lily
Cross-Over Characters
One of the characters we saw briefly in A Soft Kiss in Winter was Aaron Hilam, the man who shot Walter, and found himself in the center of a mess with Morning Dove. Aaron is a character from the Willow Creek series. We first see him in book #6, A Willow Creek Christmas. Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone so there’s no need to read them in order unless you prefer to.
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If you haven’t read the Willow Creek Series, you can find book #1, The Lawman, free at all eBook retailers.
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You can find links to The Lawman HERE. For a complete list of every book in the series, and to learn more about each book, you can find that information here.
On the run from her ex-lover…
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Jilted by a no-show husband…
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And now mistaken for a whore in the Diamond Back Saloon…
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Abigail Thornton doesn’t think things can get any worse. That is until a single slap to a man’s face starts a barroom brawl that lands her in the last place she expected to be.
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Town Marshal Morgan Avery wants nothing more than to wash away the trail-dust and sleep for a week, preferably with a soft, willing woman by his side. Instead, he gets Abigail Thornton – all one hundred pounds of her thrust at him seconds before a fist connects with his face. Breaking up the fight takes more effort than he wants to admit and when the last man falls he finds Abigail still standing and not looking the least bit contrite.
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Throwing her into the town jail for the night would salve his wounded pride and then he will let her go. Or that was the plan. When morning comes he finds himself oddly reluctant to do so. Miss Thornton is hiding something and he aims to find out what, even if he has to bed her to do so. But will one night in her bed be enough?
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Get your FREE copy HERE.
Want More
For information about upcoming books in the Silver Falls Series, the Willow Creek Series, or any other books by Lily Graison, LIKE my Facebook page, join my private reader group, or subscriber to my Newsletter.
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For Lily around the web
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Website: http://lilygraison.com/
Blog: http://lilygraison.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/LilyGraison
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/authorLilyGraison
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Or Email Lily at: lily@lilygraison.com
Reading List
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Anna: Bride of Alabama
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HISTORICAL WESTERN ROMANCE
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The Willow Creek Series
The Lawman (Willow Creek #1)
The Outlaw (Willow Creek #2)
The Gambler (Willow Creek #3)
The Rancher (Willow Creek #4)
His Brother's Wife (Willow Creek #5)
A Willow Creek Christmas (Willow Creek #6)
Wild Horses (Willow Creek #7)
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Silver Falls Series
A Soft Kiss in Winter ( Silver Falls #1)
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CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Wicked: Leather and Lace (Wicked Series #2)
Wicked: Jade Butterfly (Wicked Series #3)
Wicked: Sweet Temptation (Wicked Series #4)
Wicked: The Complete Series (Books #1 - 4)
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Blame It On The Mistletoe (single title romance)
That First Christmas ( single title romance)
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The Calling (Night Breeds Series #1)
The Gathering (Night Breeds Series #2)
About the Author
Lily Graison is a USA TODAY bestselling author of historical western romances. Her Willow Creek Series introduced readers to a small Montana town where the west is wild and the cowboys are wilder. Lily also dabbles in contemporary and paranormal romance when the mood strikes and all of her stories range from sweet to spicy with strong female leads and heroes who tend to always get what they want.
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She lives in Hickory, North Carolina and on occasion can be found at her sewing machine creating 1800’s period clothing or participating in civil war reenactments and area living history events. When not portraying a southern belle, you can find her at a nearby store feeding her obsession for all things resembling office supplies.
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Website: http://lilygraison.com/
Or Email Lily at: lily@lilygraison.com