The Christmas Lake House (Lake Tahoe #1)

Chapter 1

Seemingly random events have a major impact on a person’s life. Lily McCann was about to step into one of those events.

Miserable, Lily pulled her coat closer around her neck in a feeble attempt to shield herself from the cold drizzle and chided herself for not leaving an umbrella in her everyday tote. It seemed that the weather, much like everything else in her life, couldn’t be trusted. That morning, when she’d left for work, the sun had been cresting the horizon, and she’d been sure it would be a bright day. Cold, but at least sunny.

Instead, the weather had gone downhill fast, leaving her to walk home in the rain without her raincoat or an umbrella. Under her breath, she cursed her ex-husband and then immediately regretted it. It wasn’t entirely his fault that Olivia, her free-spirited daughter, was choosing to spend Christmas with him and his new, very young girlfriend, Jen. She could see how his offer to spend the holiday in Spain would be much more appealing to Olivia than coming to stay in Lily’s tiny studio apartment, but did he really have to pay for both her and her boyfriend to go?

Lily jumped aside as a car whizzed by, splashing rainwater on her already-soaked legs. She cursed again, then closed her eyes and tried once more to be remorseful. The passing motorist couldn’t have known the puddle would splash up and get her wet, and certainly, Scott, her ex, hadn’t invited Olivia and Tom just to spite her, right?

As glamorous as the brochures made it sound, San Francisco wasn’t the nicest place to be in winter, and if she were perfectly honest with herself, she’d trade Christmas in the city for a trip to Spain as well, so she couldn’t really fault Olivia for wanting to go. She couldn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop Lily from missing her. Her twenty-eight-year-old daughter had been working in London for the past four years, and the few times a year that Olivia was back stateside, she worked in New York City. Christmas had seemed to be the only time she saw her anymore, unless it was through the tiny screen on her phone.

The rain had started. She tucked her chin and pulled her collar up as far as it could go, while her thin coat slowly started to dampen and soak through to her clothes. Her boss at the bookstore required her to show up in stockings and a skirt, despite the fact that she spent a good part of her day sorting, cataloging, and displaying old books. He insisted on preserving the old-time nostalgia of his establishment, and part of that nostalgia was having his employees dress formally. Or maybe, as her co-worker, Karen, insisted, he just had a fetish for watching a woman climb up and down a ladder in a dress. Either way, now that Scott had left her and she’d been forced to return to the workforce, Lily needed the job.

She shook the rain from her eyes and looked up to take stock of her surroundings. She’d been walking the familiar path back to her apartment on autopilot, and it wouldn’t be the first time she had walked right past the street where she needed to turn. In fact, it had been just last week that she’d ended up all the way at the pier before realizing where she was--right after Marcus, her son, informed her that he and Megan had decided to go on a cruise this year instead of coming to see her.

Remembering his call, she bit her lower lip in an effort to keep her resentment from boiling over. She suspected that Megan, Marcus’s wife, had been the driver of that decision. Since she and Scott had divorced and given up the large house they’d raised their two children in, it was clear Megan disliked staying with her. The woman definitely enjoyed the finer things in life, and while Lily and Scott had still been together, they’d been able to spoil her, even hiring a part-time maid and a cook for the times Megan, her two children, and Marcus came to visit. Christmas had been an elaborate affair, with lots of gifts and outings to the finer restaurants and theaters the city had to offer. Being hustled into nice restaurants and watching The Nutcracker had clearly been enough for Megan to overlook the cold and dreary weather San Francisco offered in December.

Unfortunately, now that she relied mainly on her meager income from the bookstore, Lily couldn’t afford many luxuries, and Scott and Jen’s penthouse wasn’t big enough to accommodate the family of four. Megan had been grumbling for the past two years about making the trip from Los Angeles and to endure the cold, and it shouldn’t have surprised her when Marcus broke the news about the cruise. Even so, it had, and the thought of that conversation still made her flush with emotion. Her heart still raced as she recalled having practically begged Marcus to change his mind or consider letting her and Olivia join them.

She should have known Megan was standing close by, listening in. Megan was always nearby whenever Marcus called, making sure he didn’t wander off script while on the phone. Lily had no doubt that if it were up to Marcus, she would have been more than welcome to come. She was the one who watched her two step-grandchildren whenever they were all together, and she truly enjoyed her time with them. The seven-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, really were a pleasure.

The day Marcus had called to tell her about the cruise, she’d been walking home on a day very similar to today. If she were honest, every day was very much like today at this time of the year. The idea of the sun and warm breeze on her skin had sounded so wonderful that she’d suggested she go along and act as a nanny to the children so Marcus and Megan could have more time together.

Thinking about the long silence on the phone after her suggestion, she closed her eyes to shut off her embarrassment. She could clearly envision how Marcus had probably looked to his wife for permission and imagined how Megan’s pursed, sour lips drawn down in a scowl. Finally, after he’d muted her for nearly a full minute, Marcus had begun stammering about how much he would love for her to come, but for various reasons, it was an absolute impossibility. He’d even reminded her about Olivia and how she wouldn’t be able to join them, and Lily couldn’t possibly leave Olivia without somewhere to go on Christmas.

Now, as she felt the heat rise from her body to her face, she shuddered. Lily should have just left it at that. She should have just assured him that of course she understood, and it had just been a silly, spur-of-the-moment idea that flitted through her mind and out her mouth. Everyone would have retained their dignity--all awkwardness avoided. But no, she hadn’t taken the graceful way out. Instead, she’d resorted to explaining why it would be such a great idea for them to let her come: how a grandmother should be with her grandchildren, how much she missed her time with him and how she missed the conversations they’d had before he was married. In essence, she’d resorted to begging, even stooping so low as to tell him how lonely and miserable she felt in San Francisco.

Of course, it hadn’t worked, and she should have known it wouldn’t. Once Megan had her mind made up, there was no changing it. One thing was certain: Marcus had married a very strong and determined woman. The only thing Lily had succeeded in was making the situation uncomfortable and awkward for her son, and he hadn’t called her since. She sighed, knowing she only had herself to blame for that. He’d probably gotten quite the earful after they’d hung up, and Lily could only hope that she hadn’t been the cause of too much strife between the couple.

Looking up again, she concentrated on the street in front of her. That was what her self-help tape said to do: focus on the present, not the future or the past. Lily wondered if the smooth-voiced narrator had ever spent Christmas alone in a cold and rainy city or if he was sitting on a warm, breezy veranda overlooking the ocean, like she imagined he probably was.

She focused on the young girl jogging toward her, wearing a light slicker and a pair of tight-fitting jogging pants. The girl was young, likely barely eighteen, and as she got closer, Lily saw she wore headphones and bounced her head in time to the music. Frowning, she thought about stopping the girl and chastising her for being so oblivious. They were in a big, busy city, after all. She’d preached to her own children the importance of being aware of their surroundings countless times.

Lily watched as the girl slowed down and then bent to tie her shoe. That was when she saw the man lurking closely behind her. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was about him that caused the tiny, wet hairs on her neck to stand on edge, but they did. He had on a dark hoodie pulled around his face, making it impossible to see any identifiable features, and for some reason, Lily got the impression that he was matching his pace to that of the young woman in front of him.

When Lily reached the corner of the street where she should turn, she looked at the pair just a few yards away. The girl was now stretching, still oblivious to anyone around her, and the man seemed to be watching her and glancing down the alley just a few feet to the side. Deciding she was already soaked and a few more minutes of standing in the rain wouldn’t make any difference, Lily stopped and rummaged around in her tote, pretending to look for something but keeping her attention on the man.

He was fast; she had to give him that. If she hadn’t already been watching, she might never have noticed how quickly he lunged and put his arms around the unsuspecting girl, rendering her helpless and trapped almost instantly. His hand was on her mouth, and as he started to pull her toward the alley, Lily saw the girl’s eyes were wide with shock. Likely, she still hadn’t registered what was happening to her.

Sprinting the few yards toward the pair, Lily started swinging her tote like a lasso, and just as she reached them, she let loose with as much strength as she could. Granted, she hadn’t packed her umbrella that morning, but the tote was filled with enough junk she’d neglected to clean out over the last few weeks to give it some weight. It swung around with an audible thump, hitting the man square on his back with enough force that his arms loosened sufficiently for the young woman to scramble out of his grasp. Unfortunately, the force of the hit also caught the girl off balance, and she fell to the ground, landing on her hands and knees.

“Leave her alone!” Lily glared at the man, putting herself between the girl and him and winding up to take another swing if she had to.

“What the hell! Are you crazy, old woman? That’s my girlfriend. Back off and leave us alone!” the man spat out.

Uh-oh. Lily stepped back uncertainly. Surely, that wasn’t the truth. He couldn’t have just been playing a trick on his girlfriend.

Her kids were always telling her to mind her own business.

She looked down at the girl, who was slowly rising to her feet, ready to apologize and ask if she knew the guy, but the terrified look on the young woman’s face gave her the answer she needed. Turning back to the stranger, she started swinging her tote again but stopped short when she saw the knife glinting in his hand.

His lip curled in disgust. “You should have minded your own business, lady. Now I’m going to mess you up bad!” The hatred and venom spewing from his mouth were intense, and Lily wondered if there was actually a person or a monster hidden behind the hoodie.

Her heart thrummed like the little drummer boy’s at Christmas, but she didn’t want him to know she was scared. “Get out of here, or I’m going to call the police!” she shouted, holding her tote out in front of her for protection while at the same time frantically digging around with one hand for her pepper spray. It was too late for that, of course. She should have had enough sense to have it in her hand, ready to spray, before she’d played hero and hit the man. By now, the young woman was on her feet, and Lily prayed she had a phone on her and would have enough sense to call the police, but the girl seemed frozen to the spot, unable move.

With a growl, the man leaped toward her, and as she held the tote up to her chest, the last thought in Lily’s mind was, Dear God, I hope this doesn’t hurt too badly!

The lethal strike never came.

The man who suddenly stepped in front of her, grabbing the attacker’s arm and twisting it behind him, was tall and apparently strong enough to take on a man half his age. He had on a cowboy hat, and it seemed to be all Lily could focus on.

Who wears a cowboy hat in San Francisco? she thought, as she turned her attention to the girl still standing in shock without moving.

Lily put her arms around the girl and realized the child couldn’t have been more than sixteen. She hugged her close. “It’s okay, honey. I’ve got you.”

From a few feet away, she heard someone calling out, “Hang on to him; the cops are on their way!”

As she looked over toward her assailant, she saw the cowboy sitting on top of him. The younger man’s arm was still bent behind him, but his hand no longer held a knife.

As Lily turned her attention back to the girl, she heard the wail of sirens in the distance, and before she knew it, the area was full of commotion, cops, and questions. The poor girl was quickly whisked away, apparently still in shock, to meet up with her parents who had been called to the scene. Lily was questioned about what she’d seen and what had happened.

As the kind policewoman took her statement and her information, Lily glanced from time to time over at the tall cowboy. He stood almost completely turned away from her, talking to another officer who was also frantically scribbling in a notebook. Lily, cold and soaked through, turned back to the woman questioning her. She wished the cop would hurry up and finish with her questions so she could go. She just wanted to thank the cowboy and go home to warm up, but by the time the policewoman shut her notebook and Lily turned around, the cowboy was nowhere to be seen.

By now, the crowd had also dissipated, and no one seemed to be paying attention to her. Lily turned around to ask if she could leave and realized that none of the cops seemed to remember she was even still there. Shrugging, she turned toward the corner and walked down her street. By the time she let herself into her apartment, Lily was soaked through and shivering violently. Without thinking about it, she stripped off her soaked clothes and piled them on the floor while she wrapped herself in a warm blanket and huddled over the one tiny radiator in her apartment.

As her bones slowly started to thaw, the terrified face of the young teenager kept flashing through her mind, and Lily gave a silent prayer of thanks to God that she’d been there to help. The thought of what the young girl might have had to endure if Lily hadn’t looked up in time to intervene caused her to shudder.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low, incessant buzzing that had been going on for a while, and as she focused on where it was coming from, her eyes landed on her mangled and wet tote.

Her phone.

Scrambling from her perch on the old-fashioned radiator, Lily caught her legs in the blanket and ended up sprawled on the floor, just a few inches from her bag. As she pulled herself along, she dug around in the wet interior, finally finding what she was looking for, and snatched it out.

Without looking to see who the caller was, she answered, “Hello?”

“Lily! Where on earth have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for over an hour! You’d better sit down because you’re never going to believe what I have to tell you!”