A Snowy Little Christmas Read online

  Books by Fern Michaels

  Spirit of the Season

  Deep Harbor

  Fate & Fortune

  Sweet Vengeance

  Holly and Ivy

  Fancy Dancer

  No Safe Secret

  Wishes for Christmas

  About Face

  Perfect Match

  A Family Affair

  Forget Me Not

  The Blossom Sisters

  Balancing Act

  Tuesday’s Child

  Betrayal

  Southern Comfort

  To Taste the Wine

  Sins of the Flesh

  Sins of Omission

  Return to Sender

  Mr. and Miss Anonymous

  Up Close and Personal

  Fool Me Once

  Picture Perfect

  The Future Scrolls

  Kentucky Sunrise

  Kentucky Heat

  Kentucky Rich

  Plain Jane

  Charming Lily

  What You Wish For

  The Guest List

  Listen to Your Heart

  Celebration

  Yesterday

  Finders Keepers

  Annie’s Rainbow

  Sara’s Song

  Vegas Sunrise

  Vegas Heat

  Vegas Rich

  Whitefire

  Wish List

  Dear Emily

  Christmas at Timberwoods

  The Sisterhood Novels

  Cut and Run

  Safe and Sound

  Need to Know

  Crash and Burn

  Point Blank

  In Plain Sight

  Eyes Only

  Kiss and Tell

  Blindsided

  Gotcha!

  Home Free

  Déjà Vu

  Cross Roads

  Game Over

  Deadly Deals

  Vanishing Act

  Razor Sharp

  Under the Radar

  Final Justice

  Collateral Damage

  Fast Track

  Hokus Pokus

  Hide and Seek

  Free Fall

  Lethal Justice

  Sweet Revenge

  The Jury

  Vendetta

  Payback

  Weekend Warriors

  The Men of the Sisterhood Novels

  Hot Shot

  Truth or Dare

  High Stakes

  Fast and Loose

  Double Down

  The Godmothers Series

  Far and Away

  Classified

  Breaking News

  Deadline

  Late Edition

  Exclusive

  The Scoop

  eBook Exclusives

  Desperate Measures

  Seasons of Her Life

  To Have and to Hold

  Serendipity

  Captive Innocence

  Captive Embraces

  Captive Passions

  Captive Secrets

  Captive Splendors

  Cinders to Satin

  For All Their Lives

  Texas Heat

  Texas Rich

  Texas Fury

  Texas Sunrise

  Anthologies

  A Snowy Little Christmas

  Coming Home for Christmas

  A Season to Celebrate

  Mistletoe Magic

  Winter Wishes

  The Most Wonderful Time

  When the Snow Falls

  Secret Santa

  A Winter Wonderland

  I’ll Be Home for Christmas

  Making Spirits Bright

  Holiday Magic

  Snow Angels

  Silver Bells

  Comfort and Joy

  Sugar and Spice

  Let It Snow

  A Gift of Joy

  Five Golden Rings

  Deck the Halls

  Jingle All the Way

  Also by Tara Sheets

  Don’t Call My Cupcake

  Don’t Touch My Petunia

  Don’t Give Me Butterflies

  Also by Kate Clayborn

  Beginner’s Luck

  Luck of the Draw

  Best of Luck

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  A Snowy Little Christmas

  FERN

  MICHAELS

  TARA SHEETS

  KATE CLAYBORN

  ZEBRA BOOKS

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Compilation copyright © 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  Starry Night © copyright 2019 by Fern Michaels

  Mistletoe and Mimosas © copyright 2019 by Tara Sheets

  Missing Christmas © copyright 2019 by Kate Clayborn

  Fern Michaels is a registered trademark of KAP 5, Inc.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-4608-0

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-4611-0 (eBook)

  ISBN-10: 1-4201-4611-4 (eBook)

  Table of Contents

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Starry Night

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Misttetoe and Mimosas

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Missing Christmas

  Chapter One - JASPER

  Chapter Two - KRISTEN

  Chapter Three - JASPER

  Chapter Four - KRISTEN

  Chapter Five - JASPER

  Chapter Six - KRISTEN

  Chapter Seven - JASPER

  Chapter Eight - KRISTEN

  Chapter Nine - JASPER

  Chapter Ten - KRISTEN

  Chapter Eleven - JASPER

  Chapter Twelve - KRISTEN

  Epilogue - JASPER

  Acknowledgements

  Teaser chapter

  SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

  CUT AND RUN

  DON’T GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES

  BEGINNER’S LU
CK

  Starry Night

  FERN MICHAELS

  Chapter One

  Jessie Richmond was staring at the calendar. It was October. Her thirty-fifth birthday was in two months, with Christmas coming two weeks later. The fall weather had started to settle in, bringing with it a stunning array of autumn leaves in their colors of red and gold. Mother Nature was decorating the landscape with the accessories of the season.

  Jessie loved this time of year, a season when the sky was cerulean blue and big puffs of cumulous clouds served as the background for the foliage palette, telling the world that Christmas would be arriving shortly. Time moved swiftly yet often seemed to stand still.

  It had been three years since Jessie had spent the holidays with a significant other, which wasn’t such a bad thing considering the alternative. Had she stayed with Dennis, the season would be rife with arguments, and there would be no explanation for his late nights out. And should she dare to ask where he had been and what he had been doing, his expletive-laden response would inform her that it was none of her business. Then would follow the quarrels about with whose family they would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas. And then there was the always stressful New Year’s Eve with Judy and Ernie Stevenson. Nope. It was much better to be spending her time clearing out the bookstore, which had been left to her by her uncle Hugo.

  Jessie was his only niece, and she loved books. It would be nice to be away in a place where she had fond memories and not have to deal with her day job at the advertising agency and her nights of comforting and advising the lovelorn.

  Jessie was a striking-looking woman, with almond-shaped eyes and olive skin she’d inherited from her Italian maternal grandmother, along with the green eyes, high cheekbones, and straight blond hair from her father’s Dutch side of the family.

  Blessed with a lean five-foot-ten-inch frame, she was a natural athlete. After earning second-team all-American honors her last two years at Penn State, she had earned a place on the Olympic volleyball team, but the practices were long and grueling. During one practice, a photographer took special interest in her and encouraged her to pursue a modeling career. While she didn’t mind the fierce competition among the women, volleyball could get rough, and she decided that a fresh French manicure was much more attractive than the swollen knuckles everyone had from digging balls off the floor.

  Even though she was only twenty-two at the time, she knew it was rather late to begin a career in modeling, but the photographer’s charm won out. She quit the team and moved to Philadelphia, where he convinced her he could land her a lot of jobs. She was forced to admit that she had been a bit naïve, especially after almost a year with very few paying gigs. She lived month to month, with two, sometimes three roommates, one of whom was her photographer-boyfriend. But Jessie had a strong resolve. She would figure it out—whatever “it” was.

  While at an interview for a modeling job, Marjorie Leland, who owned an ad agency, hired her for some print and cable work for a local car dealership. Marjorie knew full well that getting modeling jobs was not easy for most women, however good-looking they might be. But Jessie was attractive, bright, and had a quick wit, and Marjorie took a liking to her. Marjorie saw her potential and offered her a position as her assistant, encouraging her to do some modeling on the side. Over time, however, Jessie became less interested in the runway and much more fascinated by life on the other side of the camera. She began to coordinate photo shoots for clients of the agency. Being a quick study, by the time she was thirty she had worked her way up to account executive.

  Jessie had a charisma that attracted the attention of almost anyone who entered the doors of Leland and Burrows. Her alluring smile and the sparkle in her eyes made her instantly likable. She was warm and open to all those with whom she came into contact. It didn’t matter who they were or where they came from. As far as she was concerned, everyone deserved respect—until they screwed up.

  The ad agency shared the floor with a local radio station, and after spending eleven years in the building, she had become friends with some of the staff. One evening last year, just as she was about to push the elevator button, Brian, the sound engineer, came running out of the studio, grabbed her by the arm, and tossed a headset at her. “Quick. Come with me! I need you to sit in for Megan.” Apparently, the regular host of the advice for the lovelorn segment, Megan Masters, Love Doctor, had thrown another one of her hissy fits and stormed out over some perceived slight.

  “Wait! What?” Jessie had no idea what Brian was talking about as he gently dragged her into the studio.

  “Megan split. Had another meltdown. Apparently, the coffee wasn’t French-roasted enough. It will only be two hours. Fake it. Whatever. They’re mostly a bunch of lonely people who want someone to talk to.” He pointed her to the sound booth, gave her a shove, and christened her “Dr. Richie, Romance Professor.” God, how she hated that name! After a week’s absence, it became abundantly clear that Megan Masters had no intention of returning, and Jessie, aka Dr. Richie, seemed to be holding her own.

  Within a very short time, listeners were blogging, posting, and tweeting about the new “Love Professor” and how much better she was: more compassionate, a good listener, asked good questions, gave good, sound advice, and was often very funny. Dr. Richie, Romance Professor was becoming the new “it girl” of the wounded and heartbroken.

  By the end of the third week, the station manager offered her the segment on a full-time basis. The pay was adequate and the hours easy. She could keep her day job at the ad agency and work her two-hour radio shift five nights a week.

  Although she didn’t have a degree in psychology, having majored in English literature, or any other formal training for what she was doing, she certainly had enough experience in the romance department. She knew, from sometimes bitter experience, all of the “what not to do’s.”

  Under the circumstances, Jessie decided that the best thing she could do was to maintain a low profile. Though she was by no means a shrinking violet, fame for its own sake had no appeal, and she wasn’t doing the program to satisfy her ego. She sincerely wanted to help people, and she already had a full-time job. Accordingly, extracurricular activities to promote the show were of no interest, and she made sure that was part of the deal when she agreed to take on the spot. The station could blog, post, and tweet, but personal appearances were not going to happen. She didn’t want to find herself defending her position as an advice giver. She knew how mean-spirited people could be, especially on social media. With pure sincerity and without a lot of hype, she became a very popular mentor to the relationship-weary.

  After a year of balancing both jobs, she had little time to look for a partner of her own. Listening to all of her callers’ tales of woe, she often thought she was being saved from another romantic disaster. She comforted herself with the company of her cat, Mozart, and her dog, Picasso. “Mozart” because he loved to run across the piano Jessie had kept since her childhood, and “Picasso” because, when she rescued him, his paws were covered in paint. Admittedly, she hadn’t played the piano for years, and it took up a lot of room, but she had a sentimental attachment to it, and her straight-faced answer to anyone who asked her why she kept the baby grand in her small apartment was “It would mean Mozart would have to give up his piano lessons!”

  Sure, she was happy, but she also secretly hoped she would find someone. Someone with integrity, who had a real job, was self-aware, mature, reliable, loyal, kind, generous, and available. Fat chance. Lately, her friends were warning her that she was “too picky,” but after a couple of failed romances, she preferred the word “cautious.” Thankfully, she wasn’t one of the walking wounded or desperate—at least not yet—so she had a different perspective than many of her listeners.

  Jessie encouraged her callers to find their own passion, to be their own person, and she was keen on pumping up people’s esteem. Broken relationships often create broken people, she would point out. She wanted to help people men
d, but she stressed that doing so required self-reflection. “Are you being true to yourself? Do you feel that you have a purpose and are you fulfilling it?”

  When callers would complain that they and their partner had “drifted apart,” she would ask, “Who were you then and who are you now? Remember, life is a constant work in progress. We evolve . . . or devolve, depending on our choices. We are not the same person we were when we were twelve—although some people still seem to behave that way!”

  She would emphasize the importance of communicating honestly and moving toward happiness—whatever that meant to an individual. More of her counsel included statements like: “Challenges are inevitable, misery is optional.” Another one of her favorite lines was: “If you were in a foxhole, who would you want there with you?” Quite often, that question was met with a very long pause. Mostly, the calls were about boyfriends who behaved badly and how the women loved them nonetheless. Some people called it “The Bad Boy Syndrome.” What caused it was the real question. Why were so many women drawn to that kind of man? Jessie thought that a lot of men were very capable of behaving badly and that, unfortunately, many women let them get away with it. But why? Perhaps it was fear. Fear of confrontation? Fear of being alone?

  Yes, fear either propelled you or held you. But what was the point if you weren’t happy and someone made you feel bad about yourself? No, Jessie’s agenda was to help restore people’s sense of self-worth.

  But today she was planning ahead for her two weeks off during the holidays. She would finish clearing out Riverwood Books, the bookstore her uncle owned in New York State, in Croton-on-Hudson, a quaint community on the banks of the Hudson River, just forty miles north of New York City.

  Over the past few years, Uncle Hugo would constantly complain about how the Internet was killing his business and his customers were all moving south. Then one day, out of the blue, she got a call from him. “I’m following my friends to Florida. The bookstore is yours, honey. Do whatever you want with it. It’s paid for, so take the money and buy yourself that house you’ve always talked about. I’m closing up shop. You know where to find the key.”