Another Christmas with the Mountain Man (Christmas in Appleridge #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Maggie

It was Christmas Eve, and I was alone. Not that I minded. I wasn’t big on celebrating the holidays.

I flicked through the endless channels, not finding anything interesting to watch. You’d think with the millions of Christmas movies available, I’d find something that interests me, but nothing.

Having moved back to town only a month ago, I hadn’t made friends yet, spending a lot of my free time taking care of my older parents. Who had already retired for the night, leaving me to with a lot of free time on my hands.

With a big sigh, I laid down on the pillows on my couch and tossed the remote on the coffee table, settling on the Hallmark channel. Maybe the plot would spark something in my head.

Something had to work. Fighting writer’s block wasn’t for the weak. Nor was fixing plot holes.

The latest romantasy book I’ve been writing took a serious detour and I sort of wrote myself into a corner. Now I needed to backtrack and figure out where to go, but that was a tomorrow problem. My brain couldn’t take anymore today.

Nor could my feet, considering I paced around the house looking for some damn inspiration and found nothing except a good workout.

I grabbed a handful of cheese popcorn from the tin on the table and shoved it in my mouth, the salty cheesy taste exploding on my tongue. Yum. The cheese powder is like crack.

Ding!

The chime of my doorbell rang through my small cabin. I glanced at the clock. It was after nine. Who was at my door at this hour?

I sat up with a start, afraid something might be wrong with my parents. They are the reason I moved back home, to be close and help them out, but I checked in on them this morning and all was well.

The bell chimed again, and I quickly hurried to the front door, smoothing down my Christmas pajamas and checking my hair in the entryway mirror. I looked a mess, but oh well, it would have to do.

One look through the peephole and I gasped.

No way. It couldn’t be.

I looked again.

It was him.

Garner.

Out of everyone I would’ve guessed to be standing at my door after nine o’clock at night, it wouldn’t be him.

I hadn’t seen him in years.

What is he doing here?

Instant panic and white-hot lust crashed together, and it was as if I couldn’t breathe. Garner rang the doorbell a third time.

How is this happening?

With a shake of my hands, I opened the door, and there Garner stood.

He was no longer a boy. Oh no. The cute high school kid had morphed into a full-grown man.

A very handsome, very muscular one at that.

I took my time sizing him up, taking him in, and looking over the body I was no longer familiar with.

Snow fell around him, the flakes landing on his beanie hat. But his eyes…still so strikingly blue. I dreamed about those eyes. Hadn’t stopped since he left all those years ago.

Holy hell.

“Maggie, hi,” He breathed, his voice deeper than I remembered. His face now sported a thick, full beard, and the urge to run my fingers through it nagged at me.

“What are you doing here?” I couldn’t help but go on the defense. He showed up with no warning. Out of the blue.

“Can we talk for a minute? Maybe inside, where it’s not two degrees.”

I watched as more snow fell around him, my mind still shocked he was standing there.

Is this real? Or am I imagining it?

My fingers squeezed the skin on the back of my hand hard, and a sharp shooting pain traveled up my arm. I definitely wasn’t sleeping.

Garner and I ended on good terms. There was no reason for me to turn him away. Except one big one.

If I invited him in, he’d end up in my bed before the night ended.

I pushed the thought away as I opened my door wider and stepped aside. “Come in.” I was an adult. I could handle this.

It would probably help if I got dressed.

I closed the door behind him as he wiped his feet on my welcome mat and shook off the snow. “I can take your jacket.” I offered. He handed it to me, and I hung it on the rack by the door.

“The living room is right through there.” I pointed to the right, off the entryway. “I need to run upstairs and get dressed first. I wasn’t expecting company.”

“I don’t mind if you’re in your pajamas. You’re beautiful either way.”

My cheeks flushed, and my defenses dropped slightly. Here he goes, working his magic already…

“Thanks. I’ll just be a second.”

I ran up the stairs before he could say another word, fetching my robe from the bathroom. I slipped it on and tied it tight around my waist. At least I was a little dressed now.

Garner is here.

Garner is in my house.

On Christmas Eve…how?! Why?!

Grabbing my brush, I ran it through my hair quickly and smoothed it down, the little flyways still doing their annoying thing. With one last look in the mirror and a deep breath, I hurried back downstairs and nearly skidded into the living room, Garner pacing back and forth in front of my couch.

When he saw me, his eyes lit up and he chuckled. “Still the same Mags I remembered.”

I forced a smile, still too curious why he was here to let my guard down completely. “Let’s just cut to the chase. There’s no bad blood between us. There never has been. But to say it’s shocking you showed up on my doorstep is an understatement. Especially on Christmas Eve.”

“I know. I had…I had nowhere else to go. My parents are in France and think I’m schmoozing it up with movie stars and producers. I couldn’t be alone.” He explained.

The sadness in his eyes formed a thick lump in my throat.

What has he gone through?

My heart softened as my shoulders fell. I didn’t enjoy seeing anyone struggle, especially not those I cared about.

I’d never admit to anyone, but I never stopped loving Garner. Not once since he left.

I tried dating others, but nothing compared. Nothing felt like what it did when I was with him.

And now here he was, in my living room, on Christmas Eve, hurting and alone. I couldn’t turn my back on him. Not now, not ever.

Yet there was a bit of a hiccup standing in our way.

I was engaged to someone else.