“So, you’re staying here for the holidays?” she asked.
Casey shook her head. “It’s not holidays yet,” she corrected with a serious expression. “Miss Evelyn has made us a calendar in the classroom. And we cross off the days we still have to go to school. Miss Evelyn is really fun. I was worried first when we came here that I wouldn’t like school. But I do.”
“Do you live here?”
“Yes, for…” Casey thought long and hard, her face scrunched up in concentration. “Fourteen months now.” She beamed that she had worked it out. “That’s more than a year. That’s a long time, right?”
“A very long time. I’ve only been here for three months.”
“It’s good you came. You can help me now.” Casey presented Emma with the money again. “Is this enough?”
“What exactly do you want?”
“A dozen chocolates to make Daddy fall in love with Miss Evelyn.”
Emma almost lost her balance and had to put a hand to the tiled floor to stay seated on her haunches.
“If a dozen is too much,” Casey said quickly, “ten is okay as well, I guess. But he will have to eat some for a few days. Things don’t work when you don’t try them for a few days. That’s what Grandma told Grandpa when he had a cough and he wouldn’t take any more honey because it’s so sweet. Grandpa doesn’t like sweet things, but Daddy does. He always pinches Aunt Fay’s chocolate cake. I saw him do it once and he told me not to tell. You will keep it a secret, won’t you?”
“Of course,” Emma reassured her at once. Her legs had turned numb from sitting in this awkward position. She straightened up again and leaned down to Casey. “I think I don’t need any money for this special assignment. It will be a Christmas gift. Just tell me what flavors your daddy likes best.”
“Chocolate,” Casey said with a nod.
Emma laughed. “But I make all kinds of chocolate. Extra dark and white and cream. With fillings.”
“You have to decide. You know what to make. You are the…” Casey thought deep again. “Expert. Grandpa says you must never argue with an expert.”
Emma had rarely taken such a delicate order, phrased in such vague terms, but she couldn’t say no to this cute little girl. Casey obviously had a big loving family here in Wood Creek to look after her, but still she wanted one thing: to make Daddy happy.
Emma’s gut clenched. She came to the wrong person, a pestering voice in her head whispered. In all of Wood Creek you must be the only one who knows nothing about happiness. About falling in love. You can’t do this. Tell her your schedule is full, because of Christmas.
She bit her lip. But looking at the bonbons in her counter, her chest widened, and she pulled back her shoulders. I can make chocolate. I can shape it and fill it with the most delicious flavors. I do know about that, and that’s exactly what Casey’s here for. I can help her.
And I will.
Her head whirled with ideas and her hands itched to get started. Even if she had to work deep into the night to find the perfect combinations, she would. This assignment was special. Emma winked at Casey. “I’ll get your order ready for you. You can pick up the first batch tomorrow. Then you can give them to your father over the weekend. I’ll have new ones ready on Monday.”
“Do you think it will work?” Casey asked eagerly. Her eyes shone with a bright confidence that fanned the ideas drifting through Emma’s mind. Salted caramel. Cream with strawberries. Rum and raisin.
“Of course it will work,” she said.
Oh, really?
What if Casey’s dad falls in love with Miss Evelyn and she turns out to be engaged or something. You don’t know a thing about that teacher. You’re just throwing yourself into this, but you’re not a kid anymore. You should know better.
She added quickly, “I’m sure that when you wish for your father to be happy again, it will come true somehow.”
Casey exhaled in relief. “I knew it. Thank you.” She ran to the door and opened it, again without ringing the bell above. She slipped out into the snow that was falling even denser. Emma followed her to the door and watched her as she halted to look left and right before crossing and vanishing from sight behind a parked van. As her little form was no longer there to discern through the snowy curtain, it almost seemed unreal, as if the whole encounter hadn’t happened. Couldn’t have.
The chilly wind breathed across Emma’s face, and she shivered, ducking back inside. Her foot slipped, her weight tilted to the side and her arm swung up to keep her on her feet. Her heart pounded, and she sucked in a breath. The tiles underneath her feet were wet with a thin layer of dirty water. Melting snow.
Casey has been here. It’s all real. A real assignment, and a huge responsibility.
So maybe Casey’s dad didn’t want to fall in love, and maybe Miss Evelyn was engaged to another, but that wasn’t the point. The point was doing what Casey had asked. Reassure her she had done everything in her power for her daddy’s happiness.
Emma nodded to herself and retreated into her workspace, where the marshmallows were still waiting for her. Picking up the tweezers, her thoughts were circling on her delicate assignment.
What to make for this man who had proclaimed to hate kissing…
…
To keep reading A Family by Christmas, click HERE!
Acknowledgments
The genesis of this love story begins in Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001. That was the tragic and unforgettable day when this tiny Canadian town nearly doubled its population, taking in some 6,700 airline passengers who had been diverted due to the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. What happened that day in Gander is a story of hospitality and love in its purest sense. The residents opened their hearts and homes to those strangers who needed a place to wait out another kind of storm.
Though this book was inspired by that communal act of kindness, nothing nearly as tragic or earthshattering happens to our protagonist Ally Henderson. However, she does experience a shocking turn of fortune that forces her to lean on the collective shoulders of the people of Bethlehem, Colorado on this fateful Christmas. Like the folks in Gander, they open their hearts and homes, and provide Ally the love and support she so desperately needs in her time of trouble.
I hope you enjoy this Christmas romance as much as I loved writing it. It is my fourth Christmas novel, to go along with the five Christmas movies I’ve either written or co-written over the years. I hope this story shows that most anything can be overcome if we’re not afraid to reach out to others to help us through the storm.
This book wouldn’t have landed in your literary Christmas stocking without the help and guidance of some talented and caring people. I am profoundly grateful to those who shepherded this novel from the early and later drafts to publication. I’d like to first give thanks for my tireless and supremely talented agent, Jessica Kirkland, for believing in me and this book. You are the best.
I’d also like to give a gratitude `shout out’ to the entire team at Entangled Publishing, including (but not limited to) my favorite Editorial Director Stacy Abrams, CEO extraordinaire Liz Pelletier, publicists Debbie Suzuki, Riki Cleveland and Shayla Fereshetian, Production Editor Crystal Havens, and Managing Editor Curtis Svehlak. Also, thanks to Cora Graphics for a truly lovely and wintry cover design. I’m so blessed to have such a competent, professional and talented team behind this project.
I’m also deeply grateful for the many friends and family members who have so richly populated my days and years, as well as you readers far and wide who make me want to keep writing in hopes you’ll find enjoyment in my pages and want to read more. May all your layovers be pleasant ones. Merry Christmas.
About the Author
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Robert Tate Miller was raised in Hendersonville, North Carolina where he started writing at a young age.
Rob has written many screenplays and has had six movies produced for the small screen. His TV movie credits include Three Days, Secret Santa, Hi
dden Places, Farewell Mr. Kringle, Christmas Cookies, and Love Struck Cafe. Rob wrote the novels Secret Santa (Atria), Forever Christmas (Thomas Nelson), and The Christmas Star (Waterfall Press). Rob graduated from the University of Georgia with a BA in Journalism/Mass Communications. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Also by Robert Tate Miller…
Cowboys Need Not Apply
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The Christmas Layover Page 22