Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Yes, please.
And all this because I wanted some tacos and a chance at happily ever after.
Five minutes into another terrible date, I realized I should have just stayed home.
After storming off with my take-out consolation prize, I ended up spinning my car into a snowbank.
A light dusting of snow—yeah, right.
Thankfully, my knight-in-shining-tow-truck arrives to save the day and rekindle my crush. But because nothing is ever easy, we are forced to seek shelter from the rapidly worsening weather.
Cut to me stuck in a picturesque snowy cabin with my secret high school crush and plenty of time on our hands. Things are looking up!
And it turns out he’s always had a thing for me too. Who knew?
Spencer Cassidy might be a hot-as-sin mechanic who rebuilds cars for a living and spends his winters pulling tourists out of ditches, but he’s also a gentleman—respectful, protective, and worried about taking advantage of me. So we agree not to start anything while we’re trapped together.
But after years of dating non-committal boy-men and repeatedly having my heart broken, a chance with a real man like Spencer may be too tempting to resist.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
Nix
“Are you still at the bakery?” My best friend Torey called for the third time since my bakery, Mt. Holiday Bakery, closed to see if I was still there.
I rolled my eyes because she couldn’t see me as I nodded. “You called the bakery and I answered so yeah, I’m still here. And before you go in on me, I’ve just finished up all the cookies, brownies and muffins for tomorrow. When they cool, I’ll pack them up so they’ll be ready for delivery first thing in the morning.” Running my sustainable bakery, even in a small town like Holiday Grove was a twenty-four-seven job most days, but when Christmas rolled around that was doubly true. There were so many committee meetings to get ready for the Christmas Festival, the New Year’s Festival and even the Valentine’s Day Festival and they all required my baked goods to get through the planning process. And then there were the holiday parties all over town that needed me too.
“That’s why I’m calling Nix. You should really head home. Now.” The thread of worry that made my friend’s voice wobble gave me pause.
“Why? What’s going on Torey?”
“Let me guess, you’ve cranked up Adele while you baked for the past four hours, ignoring all of your news and social media notifications?”
“Maybe?” It was how I preferred to bake, especially once I closed the bakery for the day. “There’s nothing like singing badly at the top of your lungs to make the goods taste better.”
“Right, but that also means that you miss out on important information like the incoming storm, Nix!” She was using her maternal voice that I usually loved, but not today.
“It’s not supposed to hit until tonight so I’ll be home in plenty of time. Promise Mom.”
“That was the weather report from this morning. It’s already snowing Nix. Snowing and sticking.” Her emphasis brought me up short and I rushed to the back door and shoved it open.
“Wow!” My eyes widened as I took in at least one inch of thick, fluffy white snow that coated everything in sight. “You undersold it, Torey.”
She laughed. “Serves you right. Pack up and go home. I’ll walk over in the morning and finish prepping everything for delivery.”
I looked over my shoulder at the cardboard boxes decorated with the green logo for Mt. Holiday Bakery, stacked neatly in rows against the wall. “I’m almost done.”
“Good. That means it won’t take me long to do it before I get started on the bread. In the morning.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes and put her on speakerphone so I could remove my apron. “I heard you loud and clear, Torey.”
“Excellent. Call me when you get home so I know you made it safe. Unless you want to come over and we can hit up Holiday Tap, stumble home tipsy in the snow?”
“Thanks but I’m good.” The last thing I wanted to do was get tipsy around a few handsy tourists and the only other romantic options were the boys—now men—I grew up with here in town. “You go and have a drink for me. There’s a stew in my slow cooker that’s calling out for your potato bread.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere sweetheart.”
“Okay, I’m leaving as soon I finish loading up the dishes.”
“Now, Nix. I’ll do it in the morning. Unless, of course, you want to get stuck in town and sleep at the bakery?”
Ugh, she was right. “Nope. I’m leaving now,” I promised as I loaded up the day’s leftovers for the Holiday Shelter that helped abused women, children and the unhoused. “Locking the door as we speak, which would be a lot easier with both of my hands.”
Torey laughed. “Call me when you’re home safe.”
“Yep,” I promised and shoved the phone into my pocket. The drive through Holiday Grove never failed to put a smile on my face, especially this time of year. Christmas was in a week and the entire town looked like the picture perfect village it was, the place famous for the over-the-top holiday festivals and celebrations.
Every street, every house and every business was decorated to celebrate the season in its own unique way. And the week would be filled with holiday fun, including a cookie bake-off that I would be judging along with two random festival goers, a tree decorating competition in the park and even the Holiday Grove Carolers, even though I lived too far from town to get a song of my own.
“Hey Sonya!” I greeted the adorable blond with the pixie cut who ran the shelter and she jumped up to help me with the bags.
“Nix! I thought for sure you’d have gone home by now.”
I shrugged. “I was too busy baking to realize until Torey called and browbeat me until I locked up the bakery but I couldn’t head home without dropping off this.”