by Nancy Fraser
Heather squinted in the shifting light until her eyes widened.
There, nestled in a bed of old horse blankets and hay, lay Snowball. And her four kittens!
“Oh my God, John,” she cried. “You did find her. Hailey. We have to find her.”
A few minutes later, they led the confused girl to the same space. Heather covered her eyes as John guided her by one hand.
“What is it?” Hailey fretted.
Heather removed her hands.
Hailey burst into happy tears, and she rushed forward, crying, “You found Snowball!”
JOHN’S HEART FILLED with joy at the idyllic scene before him on the afternoon of Christmas Day. Heather and Hailey, sitting beside his Christmas tree in the farmhouse parlor alongside his father. A fire crackled in the fireplace, a roasting turkey filled the entire house with its delicious scent, and his favorite ladies fussed over Snowball and her four wee kittens. One snowy white, one smoky grey, and two others a hodgepodge of both colors. Rumor had it, old Mr. Tinsel was more than just Snowball’s “best friend.”
“Do you really think he’s the daddy cat?” Hailey asked Pops.
The old man grumbled and groaned, looking embarrassed. “Well...” He coughed. “Let’s just say there’s a real good chance. Can’t believe your Snowball is one of our missing barn cats. Mr. Tinsel, too. They’ve got quite the circuit, working their way to town and back again. No wonder she decided to have her kittens here. It’s familiar. It’s home. At least one of their homes.”
Hailey went to lean against Pops where he sat in his favorite easy chair. “We can keep them though, right? They’re our cats now, aren’t they?”
The old man’s arm wound around the girl, and he hugged her. “I’d never take away your pets, Hailey. You’re a good cat mama. They’re lucky to have you.”
“Pops offered to help with all the kittens, Hailey,” Heather told her. “And he said you can come any time you want to play with them after they’re old enough to be grown-up barn cats.”
“We’ll all take care of them together, right? I know we can’t keep that many cats in our apartment,” the wise girl proclaimed. “I’m just happy they’ll have a good home, and we can still sort of keep them.”
Heather rose and ambled over to John. “I need to check on dinner. Wanna help me?” She wore a secretive sexy smile for his eyes only.
Once they were in the kitchen, John eased the door closed and went to her. His arms wound around her waist to pull her close. “I’m happy,” he admitted. “Are you happy?”
“So happy,” she replied with a breathless little sigh before he sealed his lips to hers in a deep kiss.
“Thank you for Operation Snowball, even if we didn’t need to do an all-out search and rescue. You helped my little girl—and me—to believe that Christmas wishes can come true.”
John smiled. “My Christmas wishes came true as well.”
“You made wishes?” she asked in a doubtful tone.
“I did.”
“Well, are you going to tell me?”
“Only if you’ll kiss me again.”
Heather eagerly obliged.
“Hey...what are you doing for New Years?” His brain jumped tracks, and he groaned when she snuggled his neck and nipped his ear.
“I don’t know. Staying home. Like I always do.”
“Oh,” he grunted in disappointment.
“Hailey has another sleepover,” she revealed in a nonchalant tone. Then Heather gave him a saucy smile, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Wanna come over and eat pie with me?”
John growled as he tipped her chin to kiss her again. “I can’t wait.”
The End
A Note From Kathryn Hills
THANK YOU FOR READING Operation Snowball! I hope you enjoy the small town of Dickens as much as I do.
Christmas has always been a magical time for me, filled with hope and childlike wonder. And just like the characters in my book, my holidays growing up began with the search for “the perfect Christmas tree.” So, it wasn’t hard for me to imagine a sweet love story set among the snowy fields and lush, fragrant pines of a New England Christmas tree farm.
Is there more to my story? I believe there is, and I hope you’ll join me back in Dickens again someday.
Until then...I wish you peace, love, and joy. Always. ~ Kathryn
About Kathryn Hills
THE RICH HISTORY AND many mysteries of New England are the perfect backdrop for many of Kathryn’s books. Winding roads lined by old stone walls, forgotten cemeteries, grand homes with shadowy pasts...all sparks for her imagination. Whether it’s a quaint seaside town or the vibrant city of Boston, it’s easy for this “hauntingly romantic” author to envision the past mingling with the present.
Taking it further—to have her characters experience the past and present, opposite to “when” they belong—is the fun part. No surprise, some of Kathryn’s favorite stories involve time travel. And ghosts! Sprinkle in some magic, and you’re off on a great adventure.
When not writing, this best selling author is researching, taking photographs, gardening, or cooking up something special in her chaotic kitchen. Kathryn shares her colonial home in the north woods with those she loves most – her wonderful husband and daughter, and three crazy dogs.
Web and Social Media Links
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Angel Kisses and Holiday Wishes
Peggy Jaeger
Award Winning Romance Author
Angel Kisses and Holiday Wishes
AFTER A PERSONAL TRAGEDY, Sage Hamilton left the town she’d grown up in and the boy she’d given her heart to. With a vow never to return, Sage forged on with her life in order to forget the sadness of her past.
Keith Mills loved Sage from the first moment he spotted her ambling down the hallway of their middle school. And she’d felt the same about him. Or so he’d thought until she walked away from everything they’d meant to one another with a tearful and rushed goodbye.
But now, eighteen years later, she’s back and, as the town’s new doctor, it looks like she’s staying. Can Keith put the hurt of Sage’s dismissal to bed for good? And will she want to rekindle the love that had burnt so bright all those years ago?
Dedication
ANGEL KISSES AND HOLIDAY Wishes is dedicated to my mother who has faced many personal tragedies in her 84 years and has always managed to rise above them.
Chapter 1
THE SOFT HUM OF INSTRUMENTAL Christmas music and the woodsy, sweet scent of newly-cut evergreen wafted around Dr. Sage Hamilton as she pushed through the front door of her favorite store in Dickens, Trim-A-Tree. Work obligations had forced her to leave holiday shopping until almost the last minute. Foregoing lunch, she took the hour break instead to hunt for a suitable gift for her nurse, Brianna. The young woman loved the holidays, evidenced by the addition of jingle bells to her work sneakers, the candy cane covered scrubs she’d been sporting in all colors of late, and the light-up antlers she wore whenever a pediatric patient was scheduled. Trim-A-Tree, Dickens’ fully stocked holiday-themed store, was the perfect place to find a present special enough for the girl.
“Well now, there’s my favorite doctor,” Matilda Cudworth, the owner declared from her perch behind a display counter. Dressed from head to toe in a red Mrs. Claus-wannabe outfit complete with granny-style half glasses and a bonnet, Matilda’s sunny smile erased the chill of the cold and cloudy December day from Sage’s bones.
With a laugh, Sage shook her head while she stamped the fresh snow from her boots. “Since I’m your personal doctor, I’d be concerned if I weren’t your favorite.”
“True.” The older woman grinned. “But I’d still like you best even if there were a thousand to choose from in this town.”
The kind words went a long way in lifting Sage’s spirits, which had taken a down turn once the calendar flipped to the current month. This was her first holiday season alone in over a deca
de and she’d been having a personal pity-party-for-one the past few days whenever her mind drifted to her present circumstances.
The decision to move back to the town she’d grown up in once her divorce was finalized had initially left Sage apprehensive. It had been almost two decades since she’d lived in Dickens and been a part of the small, tightknit community. Since she’d left town, she’d grown up, changed; matured. Would people still see her as the smart but shy teenager she’d been, or would they be able to respect her for the physician she’d become?
The town’s immediate acceptance of her new role was something that helped ease her anxiety and now she had zero regrets about returning. Leaving the city she’d called home for the past ten years had been hard, but she needed a complete break in order to move on, emotionally. There were too many daily reminders in Newport of her failed marriage. She couldn’t continue working in the same hospital or living in the same town as her ex. It was simply too...embarrassing.
Serendipity struck the first time she’d done an on-line physician job search once she made the decision to leave. She’d spotted the advertisement for a family doctor needed in Dickens after trolling through dozens of other job openings. A few weeks after the ink dried on her new contract, Sage packed her personal possessions and pointed her car in the direction of the town she’d left at eighteen; the place she’d vowed, once upon a time, to never return to.
“What can I help you with today, dear?” Matilda asked.
Sage explained the special gift she wanted for her nurse.
“Nothing too cutesy,” she said, “But I’d like to give her something to show her how much she means to me. Without Brianna I don’t know how I’d function most days. Heck, every day. She keeps me on schedule, the patients adore her, and she truly is one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the good luck to work with.”
Her gaze ran around the front of the chock-filled store. Jammed with holiday trees in all sizes, from three-foot table toppers to seven-foot ceiling grazers, each tree overflowed with all sizes and manner of ornaments and decorations.
A six-foot fir adorned with an assortment of teacher-themed items sat next to an evergreen filled with firsts: first baby, first home, first anniversary, even a first pet.
“The selection you have, Matilda, is amazing.”
“Variety is the spice of life, dear. And I think I’ve got the perfect thing you’re looking for.” She moved from behind the counter to an overflowing spruce standing in front of a faux-fireplace bedecked with boughs of real holly and white lights. “Come have a look.”
“Goodness.” Sage’s eyes widened. The tree was embellished with dozens—if not more—medical and nursing ornaments. From silver caducei, to red crosses, nursing caps to stethoscopes, every branch on the tree held something perfect for a healthcare worker. She spotted a wooden carving of a nurse holding a thermometer and a clipboard; a porcelain, bespectacled doctor standing in front of an eye chart; a woman in purple scrubs holding a swathed baby bundle in pink.
“How does anyone ever choose?” Sage asked as she ran a finger along the nurse and infant ornament.
Matilda cocked her head, the red cap shifting a tad over her bouncy white curls. “That’s my specialty,” she said with a smile. “I’ve got a knack for finding which ornament will serve best.”
Matilda’s startling blue eyes twinkled with moisture behind the half glasses Sage knew—for a medical fact—the older woman didn’t need in order to see clearly.
“I think this one will do nicely.” She gingerly removed something from the back of the tree and handed it to Sage.
In the shape of a pink scrub top, the ornament had a blank name badge over the breast pocket and a stethoscope wound around the collar. On the backside were the words
May all the care, kindness, and love you give others
come back to you a thousand fold.
Thank you for all you do.
“I can inscribe Brianna’s name on the badge and write a message from you under the saying, if you’d like.”
Stunned, Sage replied, “It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. How did you...?” she shook her head.
The older woman’s smile grew cheeky. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Sage. Since way before you first came into the store when you were a little girl. After a while, it’s second nature to know which ornament will suit the person it’s intended for.”
Before she could stop herself, Sage’s gaze traveled back to the nurse holding the baby.
The sadness she’d been waging a valiant fight with to keep contained threatened to seep through her resolve. With a mental shake she beat it back down.
No more gloomy thoughts. If I’ve learned anything this past year it’s that happiness is a choice. You can either wallow in sorrow, live with regrets, or move forward.
With Christmas just two weeks away, she was determined to get through it with a smile and not mooning over the death of her marriage and lonely, childless state.
She squared her shoulders and took a cleansing breath.
When she turned back around, she found Matilda’s gaze zeroed in on her. Those piercing blue eyes were pulled tight at the corners, an expression of thoughtful concern gracing her aged face. For a moment Sage wondered if the woman possessed, among her other talents, the ability to read minds.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked. “Anything else you...need?”
Someone to love me for me immediately popped into her head.
Where the heck did that come from?
She didn’t dare say it out loud for fear the older woman would think her personal physician was coming unhinged. Sage could quote chapter, book, and verse on the statistics of people who mentally unraveled during the holiday season.
She cleared her throat. “This is my first Christmas...back in town,” she said, grateful she’d pulled back the word alone, “and I need decorations for my office.” With an eye roll she called up a grin. “Brianna insists I put up a tree. Said it’s office tradition. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any decorations with me when I relocated and I don’t have time to rummage through the attic and go through all my grandmother’s old holiday boxes. Mind if I browse a bit?”
“Of course not. Take your time.”
Sage wandered around the shop and picked out a dozen ornaments from various trees, each more intricate, the craftsmanship more detailed, than the next. A quick glance at her watch showed the hour she’d taken had flown by. A full compliment of afternoon patients waited for her back at the office, so with one last wistful glance at the nurse and baby ornament, she said, “I think that’s it.”
Matilda had engraved Brianna’s gift as Sage ambled about the store. While the older woman wrapped each individual item in bubble wrap and then surrounded them with tissue paper, the shrill blare of a pager blasted from Sage’s purse, competing with the piped in carols drifting from above. She bit down on her bottom lip while reading the message across the screen display.
“Problem?” Matilda asked, as she placed the purchases in a shopping bag with the store’s logo.
“Emergency.” She handed over her credit card. “I need to get to the hospital.” After she had her receipt in hand, she added, “Thanks, again, for your help.”
“I hope everything works out for you.”
Sage nodded. “Your lips to God’s ears.”
“SHE SHOULD BE IN RECOVERY in a little over an hour,” Deb Kramer, the ward nurse in charge of Corrine Mills reported. “The circulating room nurse called about five minutes ago with an update.”
A banner with Happy Holidays hung from above the nurse’s station, while gold garland wound around the workstation columns. A table-top tree bedecked with silver tinsel and a paper star sat front and center on the ward clerk’s desk.
“I’m going to order a battery of tests for her once she’s stabilized from the surgery. Her blood pressure came down some in the ER from the initial 200 over 110 reading the paramedics took. Since Corri
ne has a history of hypertension that’s been controlled well,” Sage said, “I need to figure out what caused the spike.”
“Has her grandson been notified?” Deb asked. Sage’s eyes were drawn to the pin of Rudolf and his blinking red nose Deb had affixed to her scrub top.
“Corrine’s maid, Maria, called him. He said he was getting the first plane he could.”
“My guess, for what it’s worth?” Deb signed off on the chart in her hand and placed it back in the rolling rack of patient charts. “He’ll charter a private one to get here as fast as he can. It’s not like he can’t afford it, and Mrs. Mills means everything to him.”
Even though she hadn’t seen, nor spoken, to Keith Mills in almost twenty years, Sage knew what a successful man he’d become. The first time Corrine walked into her office for a routine checkup, the older woman brought her up to speed on her only grandchild’s accomplishments, regaling Sage with stories about his architectural firm and the myriad of important projects he’d been involved with around the world.
“Make sure someone pages me when he gets here,” Sage instructed. “I’m going down to medical records to do some charting.”
“Will do.”
Brianna had rearranged Sage’s afternoon schedule in order to deal with Corrine Mills’ emergency. One of the best parts of coming back home had been reconnecting with Corinne. Since the passing of her own grandmother and mother, Sage had missed the wisdom and counseling of the women who’d helped mold her into the person she was today. Corrine Mills, with her ready shoulder to lean on and ears meant for listening, had been the perfect person for Sage to reconnect with.
Of course, hearing all Corrine’s accolades about the man Sage had once loved was a bit...unsettling. But she’d put on a happy face and let the old woman brag to her heart’s content.
Keith Mills.
He’d filled so many firsts in Sage’s life, reminding her of the ornament tree in Matilda’s shop. First kiss, first boyfriend, first love...and lover.