The Trouble with Mistletoe
Since leaving Brookhollow and her fiancé, Luke Dawson, twelve years earlier, Victoria Mason hasn’t looked back. She’s traded the small-town dream of marriage, kid and family Christmas dinners for late nights working at a high-powered acquisitions firm, lunches at trendy New York restaurants and jet-set vacations on the slopes.So her latest work assignment, to acquire Brookhollow’s sporting goods store, poses a challenge for Victoria, in more ways than one. Because it’s almost Christmas, and she’s got other holiday plans. And the owner is reluctant to sell. And the owner is Luke.If she can just wrap up the deal before she gets caught up in her old life and her old love… or becomes trapped under the mistletoe. Again.
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She faked a smile.
She didnât need or want any more time to get to know this man over again. What she wanted was for him to sign her contract so she could get out of Brookhollow. âIâll have an offer by Wednesday, but we should go over the preliminary paperwork as soon as possible.â She scanned the store for a place to lay out her documents. âThe major chain store interested in purchasingââ
Luke turned off the lights and unplugged the strand of multicolored Christmas lights draped across the window.
âDo ⦠you prefer we do this in the dark?â she asked sarcastically.
He put his coat on and wrapped a scarf around his neck. âI have dinner plans.â
The familiar scent of his musky cologne made her pulse race. âTomorrow, then.â She stepped out into the frigid air. âIâll come by in the morning.â She pulled out a silver monogrammed cardholder. Her hand shook as she handed one of her cards to Luke.
âYour card?â
âIt has my cell number on it.â Her teeth chattered.
âVictoria, this is Brookhollow.â He laughed. âI could stand in the center and call to you, and wherever you are, youâll hear me.â
Dear Reader,
Everyone remembers their first love. Despite time, distance and future lovesâthat first experience of a spark or a connection seems to hold a special place in our hearts even as the memories fade. In this first book of my Brookhollow series, I wanted to write about what happens when that first love is so strong that it can never be replaced and how sometimes all it needs is a second chance.
My favorite romance stories have always been holiday-themed, as I feel that Christmas is the ultimate time to celebrate love and family and heart and homeâthe essence of this new Heartwarming series. I hope you enjoy losing yourself in this beautiful town as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Warmest wishes to you and your family this holiday season,
Jennifer
JENNIFER SNOW
Jennifer Snow has been writing fairy tales with happy endings from a very young age, always with one goal in mindâto become a part of the Harlequin/Mills & Boon>® family. Living in Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband and three-year-old son, she is dedicated to creating lasting, heartfelt romances that readers can share with those they love.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my familyâmy beautiful creative mom, hardworking father, encouraging brother, amazing son and supportive husband for everything. I wouldnât be living my dream if it werenât for each of you. Also, thank you a million times to my agent, Stephany Evans, for taking a chance on this story and my talented editor, Victoria Curran, for offering me a home here at the Heartwarming series.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
âPlease donât hit, please.â Victoria Mason closed her eyes as her tiny rental car slid into the parking space on Main Street. Parallel parking was not a skill she possessed and yet she was relieved to see sheâd cleared the other cars. She wrapped her scarf around her neck and reapplied her lipstick. The pink, shimmery gloss did the trick of adding a touch of color to her pale complexion. The two-hour drive on the busy interstate from New York City to Brookhollow, New Jersey, had tested her already frazzled nerves. She prayed the unpleasant road trip, with its bumper-to-bumper traffic and icy road conditions, wasnât a sign of things to come as she stepped out into the cold. The early-December wind whipped through her cashmere winter coat and her breath came in puffs of white clouds as she locked the car. An unnecessary gesture in her small hometown. This wasnât New York. Anyone here for more than two minutes could see Brookhollow at rush hour was the opposite of Manhattanâs fast pace and crazy traffic.
The Christmas season was in full swing and all the small mom-and-pop shops lining both sides of the quiet street boasted holiday displays in their storefront windows. Kitty-corner from where she stood, Pearlâs Petals showcased a frosty winter wonderland with pale pink and white poinsettias lining the base of the window. The crystal snowflakes hanging from the ceiling glistened against the white scrim backdrop. Next door, the townâs secondhand bookstore, Dog-Eared Books, featured a selection of holiday cookbooks and childrenâs stories positioned under a Christmas tree decorated with crayons and bookmarks.
From here, she could also see Town Center Square in the distance. The twenty-foot Christmas tree had been put up the day before, as was the tradition for the first weekend in December. On the corner the townâs welcome sign was bordered with holly and twinkling white lights. Welcome to Historic Brookhollow, Population 10,810. According to her mother, that number had decreased in recent years. Victoria had certainly been eager to remove herself from the population count. Now here she was, for the first time in three years. Freezing her butt off.
