The holiday spirit has wrapped up a cowboy just for her, but romance isn't in her plans.
She’s all wrapped up in him . . .Judson Ford wants Avery McClain’s land to expand his horse breeding operation. He didn’t anticipate his attraction to her, or his admiration for her courage. And her little girl is so damn cute! Before he knows it, he’s been swept up in her Christmas spirit. Suddenly, Avery and her daughter are filling all the empty spaces in his life.
But then, Avery is offered a job opportunity that would mean she’d have to relocate. And Judson realizes that everything in him is pushing him to ask her to stay and make a life—a family—with him.
Unfortunately, someone else has other ideas.
Chapter One
AVERY MCCLAIN didn’t cry when she signed the divorce papers. Tears, along with regrets, had disappeared as she’d fought her now ex-husband for what she wanted . . .what was rightfully hers.
Since he was a prominent attorney from a long line of prominent attorneys, it had not been an easy battle. Still, despite all his slick tactics, all his demands, all his legal maneuvers, she’d refused to bend.
When something mattered, when it was important, she fought to keep what had been given to her and her alone.
Timothy had argued harder and longer for the ownership of the cabin in Montana—the cabin she’d inherited from her uncle—than he did over signing away any and all claim to their daughter.
Walking out of the attorney’s office, she smiled for the first time in months. A dark limo waited at the curb. The driver nodded as he opened the door, offering a hand to assist her inside the luxurious interior.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course, I did.” Londyn Fitzgerald, her college roommate, wildly popular fantasy author, and Avery’s only constant friend, waved a hand. “What’s the point of being famous—and very, very rich—if I can’t do something for my best friend?”
“He never even asked about her.”
Londyn blew out a long breath as the driver pulled into traffic. “He never deserved sweet Brenna,” she said, naming Avery’s three-year-old daughter. “Or you.”
“Well, now he doesn’t have either one of us.” She turned to peer through the smoke-tinted window. “I’m going to Montana.”
“What? Why?”
“It’ll be good for me and Brenna to have a fresh start.”
“Come to New York.”
“I love you for offering, but I feel like I owe it to Uncle Alex to use his cabin.” She looked at Londyn. “Maybe I’m just being stubborn. Maybe I’m going simply because Timothy fought so hard to take it from me.”
“Can’t you just picture him, sitting there in one of his three-piece suits, in a hunting cabin?” Both women chuckled. “I’m sorry, Av,” she said. “But what the hell did you ever see in him?”
“I was lonely. He saw that and used it for his own purposes.” She frowned. “I won’t let something like that happen again,” she promised.
“And you think Montana is the place to start again?”
She shrugged. “I won’t know if I don’t go.” A store sign caught her eye, and she pointed at it.
“The Christmas sales start earlier and earlier,” Londyn commented.
“In Montana I can give Brenna a traditional Christmas with a real tree, snow, and the magic of Santa. And maybe it’ll restore my faith in joy and goodness.”
“Christmas shopping in New York could do that.”
Avery laughed, wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “I’ll call you every week,” she promised.
It took time. She packed up and shipped out the few items she wanted to keep, along with giving her new contractor time to complete necessary renovations to the cabin before they moved in. Londyn, as only an understanding and the best of friends would do, postponed returning to New York and completing the final installment of her fantasy series to provide moral support. The day Avery dropped off Londyn at the airport, she and Brenna began their cross-country trip.
She took her time driving. After all, a three-year-old could only stand sitting in a car seat for so long. She constantly talked to Brenna, warding off fatigue or restlessness until they stopped, either to run off energy or take in sights along the way.
They stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast in Tennessee, then toured the Kentucky Derby Museum. Brenna squealed with delight while Avery got nauseous at the top of the Arch in St. Louis. Londyn laughed when Avery told her about the experience later that night during their weekly phone call. When road construction got in the way, she changed routes. Crossing into Montana, beneath an eye-searing blue sky where she spotted her first eagle, the vast landscape ranged from rugged mountains, already topped with snow, to dense evergreen forests and more lakes than she’d imagined.
Impatient to get to her new home, she skipped a drive through Yellowstone. “We’ll come back,” she promised Brenna, who played with the stuffed moose she’d become infatuated with at a truck stop.
She took time to stop in the town of Burton Springs and pick up some basic groceries before heading to the cabin. People nodded in that friendly smalltown way she’d come across once or twice during her travels. This time, however, it felt different. These would be her neighbors. Still, she rushed through her purchases and headed out, following the directions.
At the end of a long gravel road, she braked to a stop, shut down the engine and stared through the windshield, taking it all in. A hundred yards away was the cabin that held warm memories of an uncle who had welcomed her in the summers, given her the attention and love she’d so rarely known from her parents.
“Mama,” Brenna cried from the back seat. “Out.”
“Home,” she corrected her daughter. “We’re home.”
“YOUR UNCLE WAS a heck of an outdoorsman, but a lousy housekeeper,” Harley Barker said as he signed his name to the final document.
She’d arrived in Burton Springs two days ago and was now taking care of official business. Harley Barker, her uncle’s attorney, was the first stop. “Whenever I visited Uncle Alex, I always felt like I was going on a treasure hunt,” Avery recalled, thankful that the happy memories were starting to replace her guilt for having neglected him for so long. “I would find a bird’s nest, an old arrowhead, a collection of elk antlers, a turtle shell he used as a bowl to hold rocks and nuts, and, once, a bear claw.”
“The place is cleaned and updated for you now.”
“I appreciate you taking care of everything,” she said. The attorney had been helpful in so many ways since he’d informed her of her uncle’s passing fourteen months earlier.
“I’m obliged to tell you I’ve been approached by someone to inquire if you might be interested in selling your property.”
“No, I’m not.”
“A hundred acres of land is a big responsibility for a young woman.”
She smiled slightly. “You mean a young woman who’s lived her entire life in a city in Georgia?”
He paused, glancing at the corner where Brenna talked toddler gibberish to a collection of stuffed animals. “I mean a single mother with a young daughter.”
The reminder that she, and she alone, was responsible for her daughter’s welfare could have depressed her if it hadn’t been true since the day Brenna was born. Her ex-husband hadn’t attempted to hide his disappointment at being told he had a daughter instead of a son. His loss, she thought now as she watched Brenna put the stuffed animals in a basket, then laugh when she tipped it over so they spilled out. His very great loss.
“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Barker.”
“Harley,” he reminded her. “It’s a generous offer, one that could give you and your daughter a comfortable life.”
“You know how hard I had to fight to keep this property.” He nodded. “I have fond memories of the summers I spent here with Uncle Alex. I’m not going to dishonor his legacy by selling it off before the ink is dry on the deed.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re going to do with the land?”
“No, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure I’ll stay in Montana beyond Christmas.” She pointed at the wall calendar a month shy of turning the page to November. “But I am looking forward to spending the holidays here.”
“The town does it up right. There’ll be plenty for you to do and see.”
“I look forward to it.”
Harley stood and offered his hand. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”
AVERY MCCLAIN didn’t cry when she signed the divorce papers. Tears, along with regrets, had disappeared as she’d fought her now ex-husband for what she wanted . . .what was rightfully hers.
Since he was a prominent attorney from a long line of prominent attorneys, it had not been an easy battle. Still, despite all his slick tactics, all his demands, all his legal maneuvers, she’d refused to bend.
When something mattered, when it was important, she fought to keep what had been given to her and her alone.
Timothy had argued harder and longer for the ownership of the cabin in Montana—the cabin she’d inherited from her uncle—than he did over signing away any and all claim to their daughter.
Walking out of the attorney’s office, she smiled for the first time in months. A dark limo waited at the curb. The driver nodded as he opened the door, offering a hand to assist her inside the luxurious interior.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course, I did.” Londyn Fitzgerald, her college roommate, wildly popular fantasy author, and Avery’s only constant friend, waved a hand. “What’s the point of being famous—and very, very rich—if I can’t do something for my best friend?”
“He never even asked about her.”
Londyn blew out a long breath as the driver pulled into traffic. “He never deserved sweet Brenna,” she said, naming Avery’s three-year-old daughter. “Or you.”
“Well, now he doesn’t have either one of us.” She turned to peer through the smoke-tinted window. “I’m going to Montana.”
“What? Why?”
“It’ll be good for me and Brenna to have a fresh start.”
“Come to New York.”
“I love you for offering, but I feel like I owe it to Uncle Alex to use his cabin.” She looked at Londyn. “Maybe I’m just being stubborn. Maybe I’m going simply because Timothy fought so hard to take it from me.”
“Can’t you just picture him, sitting there in one of his three-piece suits, in a hunting cabin?” Both women chuckled. “I’m sorry, Av,” she said. “But what the hell did you ever see in him?”
“I was lonely. He saw that and used it for his own purposes.” She frowned. “I won’t let something like that happen again,” she promised.
“And you think Montana is the place to start again?”
She shrugged. “I won’t know if I don’t go.” A store sign caught her eye, and she pointed at it.
“The Christmas sales start earlier and earlier,” Londyn commented.
“In Montana I can give Brenna a traditional Christmas with a real tree, snow, and the magic of Santa. And maybe it’ll restore my faith in joy and goodness.”
“Christmas shopping in New York could do that.”
Avery laughed, wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “I’ll call you every week,” she promised.
It took time. She packed up and shipped out the few items she wanted to keep, along with giving her new contractor time to complete necessary renovations to the cabin before they moved in. Londyn, as only an understanding and the best of friends would do, postponed returning to New York and completing the final installment of her fantasy series to provide moral support. The day Avery dropped off Londyn at the airport, she and Brenna began their cross-country trip.
She took her time driving. After all, a three-year-old could only stand sitting in a car seat for so long. She constantly talked to Brenna, warding off fatigue or restlessness until they stopped, either to run off energy or take in sights along the way.
They stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast in Tennessee, then toured the Kentucky Derby Museum. Brenna squealed with delight while Avery got nauseous at the top of the Arch in St. Louis. Londyn laughed when Avery told her about the experience later that night during their weekly phone call. When road construction got in the way, she changed routes. Crossing into Montana, beneath an eye-searing blue sky where she spotted her first eagle, the vast landscape ranged from rugged mountains, already topped with snow, to dense evergreen forests and more lakes than she’d imagined.
Impatient to get to her new home, she skipped a drive through Yellowstone. “We’ll come back,” she promised Brenna, who played with the stuffed moose she’d become infatuated with at a truck stop.
She took time to stop in the town of Burton Springs and pick up some basic groceries before heading to the cabin. People nodded in that friendly smalltown way she’d come across once or twice during her travels. This time, however, it felt different. These would be her neighbors. Still, she rushed through her purchases and headed out, following the directions.
At the end of a long gravel road, she braked to a stop, shut down the engine and stared through the windshield, taking it all in. A hundred yards away was the cabin that held warm memories of an uncle who had welcomed her in the summers, given her the attention and love she’d so rarely known from her parents.
“Mama,” Brenna cried from the back seat. “Out.”
“Home,” she corrected her daughter. “We’re home.”
“YOUR UNCLE WAS a heck of an outdoorsman, but a lousy housekeeper,” Harley Barker said as he signed his name to the final document.
She’d arrived in Burton Springs two days ago and was now taking care of official business. Harley Barker, her uncle’s attorney, was the first stop. “Whenever I visited Uncle Alex, I always felt like I was going on a treasure hunt,” Avery recalled, thankful that the happy memories were starting to replace her guilt for having neglected him for so long. “I would find a bird’s nest, an old arrowhead, a collection of elk antlers, a turtle shell he used as a bowl to hold rocks and nuts, and, once, a bear claw.”
“The place is cleaned and updated for you now.”
“I appreciate you taking care of everything,” she said. The attorney had been helpful in so many ways since he’d informed her of her uncle’s passing fourteen months earlier.
“I’m obliged to tell you I’ve been approached by someone to inquire if you might be interested in selling your property.”
“No, I’m not.”
“A hundred acres of land is a big responsibility for a young woman.”
She smiled slightly. “You mean a young woman who’s lived her entire life in a city in Georgia?”
He paused, glancing at the corner where Brenna talked toddler gibberish to a collection of stuffed animals. “I mean a single mother with a young daughter.”
The reminder that she, and she alone, was responsible for her daughter’s welfare could have depressed her if it hadn’t been true since the day Brenna was born. Her ex-husband hadn’t attempted to hide his disappointment at being told he had a daughter instead of a son. His loss, she thought now as she watched Brenna put the stuffed animals in a basket, then laugh when she tipped it over so they spilled out. His very great loss.
“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Barker.”
“Harley,” he reminded her. “It’s a generous offer, one that could give you and your daughter a comfortable life.”
“You know how hard I had to fight to keep this property.” He nodded. “I have fond memories of the summers I spent here with Uncle Alex. I’m not going to dishonor his legacy by selling it off before the ink is dry on the deed.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re going to do with the land?”
“No, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure I’ll stay in Montana beyond Christmas.” She pointed at the wall calendar a month shy of turning the page to November. “But I am looking forward to spending the holidays here.”
“The town does it up right. There’ll be plenty for you to do and see.”
“I look forward to it.”
Harley stood and offered his hand. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”
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I think it sounds like a really good winter read!!
ReplyDeletesounds so good.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover. It is perfect.
ReplyDelete