Chapter 1
“Mom, please, will you stop worrying so much about me?” Holly Shetty said into the speaker, trying to hide her jangling nerves.
Deciding to spend Christmas alone at her brother’s best friend’s remote, rustic cabin had sounded like a revolutionary move weeks ago.
On the drive, she’d cranked up pop music and sang along badly as the car climbed higher into the mountains. Soon, the city lights vanished, and it was just her, the deepening snow, and the rugged landscape around her.
Now as the car’s tires crunched over packed-down snow, and the wheels slipped slightly on patches of ice beneath the fresh snowfall, it sounded foolish and dangerous. She should have left earlier, but dropping off presents for her colleagues at the elementary school she worked at had taken longer than she had imagined. Then there was the grocery shopping and cooking enough meals to last her three to four days.
Now, as the radio channel blabbed numbers at her about the blizzard, she wondered if she’d packed enough food.
“I couldn’t hear you there for a minute,” her mom said, worry pronounced in her tone.
Holly sighed. “Mom, I spent four days with you and Dad for Thanksgiving.” Towering fir trees dusted in white, branches heavy with fresh snow, lined the winding mountain road. “I don’t see you pestering Dev this much about not being there for Christmas,” she said, throwing her perfect older brother into the mix.
“I’m not pestering your brother because he and Ethan, along with baby Maya, are spending the week after Christmas through New Year’s with us. Even your cousin Zara and her fiancé, Hakeem, are coming. Only you are not. Forget not seeing us, Dev said you’re spending it alone.”
“Mom-”
“Your dad and I are worried about you.” Her mom sniffled. “I hate that Josh changed you. And just as you were recovering from the nasty break-up, he had to be in a horrible accident.” That was her mom, an Olympic level grudge-holder for every slight and hurt done to her children.
“Mom! The accident was months ago!” Holly shouted, outrage, laughter and growing dread about the weather making her head dizzy. “Whatever Josh did to me, he didn’t have to die.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Just when you could put it behind you, he dies. You know it’s not your fault, right?”
“Of course I know that,” Holly said with sudden vehemence. “I broke up with him months ago. He was at a party and got drunk. He should have never got behind the wheel of a car. I certainly don’t think he was hung up on me, Mom. He was already dating that model and the actress.”
“Right. You are our sparkly, funny, life-of-the-party girl. And I know you can’t just fix your heart on my timeline, but I wish-”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this, mom. I want to be by myself and discover all the things that make me me again. All of you…coddle me too much.”
After a long pause, her mom’s voice came back, sounding much brighter. “That actually sounds like a good plan. Just be careful, yeah?”
Shadows lengthened, and visibility shrank as the snow intensified, falling in thick, swirling sheets that the car’s wipers struggled to keep up with. Her headlights barely cut through the gloom, illuminating only a few feet of road ahead. The surrounding wilderness gave a feeling of complete isolation, with nothing but trees and snow as far as the eye could see.
“Mom, I can barely see anything in front of me. I’ll check in with you once-”
The connection flickered out, and Holly sighed. Just when she was losing hope that she would ever arrive, she spotted a narrow turn-off. Unmarked, except for a weathered post partially hidden by snow.
This was it... she was here.
As she carefully maneuvered onto the narrow track, the tires sank deeper into the fresh snow, and she had to press harder on the gas. The blizzard was clearly worsening, and night was closing in fast.
Her heart raced as she parked the car. The heater hummed, pushing out warmth, but couldn’t quite dispel the chill creeping in from the icy windows. She felt small and vulnerable, cocooned against the relentless cold outside.
But she hadn’t driven all this way to be scared now.
Rubbing her glove-clad fingers against her thighs, Holly stepped out of the car gingerly. A strange, heart-thumping excitement, spiced with a sense of foreboding, washed over her. Thank God for Dev insisting that she borrow his all-wheel drive truck with chains and his elaborate, seemingly endless supply list. Because it was looking like she was well and truly stuck.
She straightened her woolly cap, pulled on the heavy backpack over her shoulders. Then hitched the ice-cooler in one hand, a cloth bag full of fresh groceries and books in the other, and began the hike up the steep, narrow trail winding upward.
Her boots sank into the icy crust, slipping slightly with each step. Branches, heavy with snow, crowded close, occasionally brushing her shoulders, while gusts of wind blew flurries into her face.
She grinned like a loon, even as the trek strained her thigh muscles.
By the time she reached the top of the trail, her breath came in clouds. The cabin stood in quiet solitude against the darkening sky, nestled among snow-laden pines.
Its rustic log walls were half-covered by climbing ivy, and soft amber light spilled from the windows, casting a warm glow onto the fresh snow. Smoke curled lazily from the chimney, a hint of wood-smoke mingling with the crisp, pine-scented air, making the cabin look both inviting and isolated.
A small beacon amid the vast, wintry wilderness.
Her entire body came to a jarring standstill that her brain didn’t communicate to her legs fast enough. Half-bowing forward, half-stilling in place, Holly nearly face-planted.
Wait, why the hell was smoke curling from the chimney? And the warm glow from the windows…someone was already here? Damn it!
Dev had assured her that no one was using the cabin this entire week. Not that it belonged to her brother. At the reminder of who it belonged to, Holly’s belly swooped while the rational voice inside her whispered, ‘ Run, Holly, Run!’
For a second, she glanced back down the path where her car was barely visible, already dusted with accumulating snow. The wind howled through the trees as if in warning. Turning back now could mean being stranded on a dark, icy mountain road, alone , with no hope of making it back to town before the blizzard fully hit.
And while the thought of who might already be at the cabin sent her tummy into rolling twists, there was nothing to do but go in.
The surrounding scenery was a blend of beauty and bleakness, matching the rollercoaster of emotions she’d been feeling in the last eighteen months.
Her mom hadn’t worried over her in vain.
Josh hadn’t simply cheated on her, after failing over and over to change her. He’d taken away her sense of joy and wonder in the world. Even her ability to trust herself.
She was going to leave that miserable Holly behind and do her best to be herself again.
A thick layer of powder partially buried the rough-hewn wooden front steps, leaving only their edges visible. Her boots sank slightly as she walked up. A hand-carved wreath hung from the door, now rimmed with frost. Icicles clung to the eaves like crystal teeth and tiny candles flickered in the windows. The cabin’s simple, charming facade looked like it was the scene of a storybook.
She pushed in the door, stomach twisting as it opened, bracing for whoever was on the other side. The sudden warmth that hit her was as biting as the cold. Immediately, the snowflakes clinging to her hair melted, running down her face and neck in rivulets.
Holly dropped her three bags with a thump on to the weathered wooden floor, hoping to alert whoever was inside that she had arrived.
The interior was cozy and slightly rustic, wooden beams running along the ceiling and walls lined with shelves holding old books, candles, and trinkets. A stone fireplace was the centerpiece of the main room, with an inviting, crackling fire. A few mismatched armchairs, thick blankets, and faux-fur throws added a touch of charm. There was a small Christmas tree in one corner, its tiny lights adding a soft, warm glow.
In the far corner sat a large bed draped in thick, mismatched blankets, quilts, and layers of plaid flannel. With pillows propped against a wooden headboard and a heavy, handwoven wool rug on the floor, it was the most inviting thing Holly had seen in a long while.
Books, a lantern, and an extra-large thermos mug sat on the small side table.
The kitchen was compact but charming, with copper pots and pans hanging on the wall and a narrow window above the sink that looked out onto the snowy forest. The smell of pine filled the air.
Holly shrugged off her thick winter coat, and the sweater, her bladder suddenly screaming at her for relief.
Thankfully, large area rugs absorbed all the water she was dripping. She dusted the snow off her shoes as much as possible and made a beeline towards the only door visible on one side.
A claw-footed tub was the centerpiece of the small bathroom, positioned directly under a small window that offered a view of the snow-laden trees outside.
The tub’s vintage brass fixtures gleamed in the warm-toned bulbs, a stack of thick white towels sitting on a little wooden table within reach.
Reclining in it, head thrown back, lean, muscular frame partially obscured by the steam, was Lachlan McAllister. Damp hair clung to his forehead, and greedy beads of water ran down his corded neck, down to strong, defined shoulders and then traversing his chest.
It was only when his piercing gaze locked onto hers, as intensely as if it was a tractor beam in outer space, that Holly realized she was staring. Her cheeks heated and that low stirring in her belly that had always appeared when he was near made a comeback with vengeance.
No!
She couldn’t still be attracted to Lachlan after all this time, could she?
Even if he was her older brother’s best friend—and the owner of the cabin—and she’d had a crush on him since she had been fourteen and began trying training bras.
He had also been her dead fiancé’s best friend. And the man who had essentially cut her out of his life when she’d needed him the most.
As if they hadn’t always shared a relationship built on care and affection.