âAm I distracting you?â Krista asked.
âYa think?â He vowed to keep his eyes on the road, but Alexâs mind was mired in the past. âTo set the record straight, I didnât break things off until after you accepted the job.â
âYou had to realize I wanted to keep seeing you until I moved,â Krista said.
âWhat would have been the point?â
âWe were having a good time together.â
âThe good times had to end, sooner or later.â
âIt would have been nice if it was later,â she said.
Were they really having this conversation? Alex didnât know any other woman who talked so bluntly. Was that one of the reasons heâd been attracted to her?
âMore time together would have changed nothing,â he said. âYou still would have moved to Europe and I still would have stayed here. Whatâs over is over.â
âWhat if itâs not over? What would you say if I propositioned you now?â Krista asked, in the same low voice she once used when they were in bed together.
Just like that, remembered sensations assailed Alex. The smooth texture of her skin. The fresh smell of her hair. The sweet taste of her kiss.
Alex focused on another memory as he pulled the truck into the parking lotâthe disappointment that Krista was leaving when things between them had barely begun.
âYou wonât proposition me,â he said in an equally soft voice. âYou wonât be here long enough.â
Dear Reader,
A few winters ago when the back-to-back blizzards that came to be known as Snowmageddon dumped record snowfall on the mid-Atlantic, I was stuck in South Florida.
Iâd spotted a fantastic round-trip airfare and impulsively taken what I thought would be a short trip to visit family and friends. Then the snow hit, wreaking havoc and closing airports. My original return flight was canceled. So were two of my rebooked flights. Instead of staying in Florida for five days, I was there for twelve.
From that personal experience, the idea for The Christmas Gift was born. In my story, Krista Novak is snowbound in the Pennsylvania hometown she hasnât visited in eight years. Flights that are repeatedly canceled because of snow force her to come to terms with the pain in her past and the man she left behind.
I wonât give away the meaning behind the title of the book but I will tell you what my gift was when I was stranded in Florida. While my husband shoveled a total of thirty-seven inches of snow from our driveway and sidewalks, I got to sunbathe at the beach.
Until next time,
Darlene Gardner
P.S. Visit me on the web at www.darlenegardner.com.
While working as a newspaper sportswriter, Darlene Gardner realized sheâd rather make up quotes than rely on an athlete to say something interesting. So she quit her job and concentrated on a fiction career that landed her at Harlequin/Silhouette Books, where she wrote for the Temptation, Duets and Intimate Moments lines before finding a home at Superromance. Please visit Darlene on the web at www.darlenegardner.com.
To my husband, Kurt,
for telling me to have fun in Florida and not complaining about digging out of the Snowpocalypse.
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
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EPILOGUE
IF NOT FOR THE CALL from the hospital, nothing could have induced Krista Novak to return to this tiny slice of Pennsylvania sheâd left behind eight years ago.
With eyes gritty from eighteen hours of traveling, Krista stared out the backseat window of the taxi cab at the modest neighborhood of mostly ranch houses.
Winter had robbed the trees of their leaves and frosted the barren ground and cars parked in the street. From almost every home shone Christmas lights, some hung haphazardly, others arranged in neat, colorful patterns.
âWhich house?â the taxi driver asked, two of the few words heâd spoken since picking up Krista outside baggage claim at the Harrisburg airport. Not that heâd been silent. Heâd hummed along to âWhite Christmas,â âChestnuts Roasting on an Open Fireâ and Alvin and the Chipmunks.
âThe tacky place with Santa and his reindeer on the roof and the Christmas animals in the yard,â Krista mumbled.
She didnât bother to add he couldnât miss it. If there were life forms in outer space, theyâd be blinded by the blaze from the lighted yard decorations and the tiny multicolored lights that covered every inch of her parentsâ house.
âI love it!â The driver, who was probably in his late sixties, wore a red knit cap similar to the one outlined in lights on the candy-cane cat. âThat animated dancing penguin is my favorite!â
The penguin was new, as were the seals that were tossing a wrapped gift back and forth. Krista had seen most of the other animals many, many times before. Her family had been collecting them for years.
âAre you kidding me?â Krista asked. âDonât you think the display is excessive?â