by R. Holmes
"Shh. I have a surprise, close your eyes," I whisper into her ear as I guide her down the hallway.
I open our door and cover her eyes with my hands, because she might peek and I wouldn't put it past her.
"Finn, what in the world!" she exclaims.
"Can you promise not to look if I take my hands off?"
She huffs. "Fine."
Grinning, I remove my hands from her eyes, walk over to my spot, and drop down in front of her. I pull out the box that holds our future inside. An engagement ring that's every bit worthy of the love of my life. Gramps and I spent an entire day trip to Great Falls to pick it out and when I saw it, I instantly knew it was hers.
"Freya," I whisper.
She creaks her eyes open one at a time and finds me on one knee in front of her, surrounded by the very Christmas lights she spent the past hour grumbling about. The entire room is lit by strings of lights, and there are rose petals on the bed. Her eyes light up when she takes in the room around her.
Her body goes completely still and she takes in a sharp breath. My girl is surprised just as I had planned.
"Freya Anderson, my little traitor girl, the only person I'm ever going to call Princess. I'm the hollow bones of a man without you in my life. You're everything to me. I love you more than I can ever explain and I promise to love you forever. To be the best husband I can be to you and hopefully our children. To love you free, and love you wild. To help you reach your dreams, to bring you face to face with the fears that stand in your way. Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?"
Freya releases a watery breath and fresh tears spill from her shining eyes. She nods over and over before sinking to her knees with me.
"Of course I'll marry you, Finn Mayberry!" she cries, holding out her trembling left hand so I can slide the ring on her finger.
I pull it out, then set the box down on the ground next to me. She makes another soft, happy sound when I slide the rose gold, two carat solitaire onto her finger.
"I love you so much." She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me with so much love, I feel the breath leave my lungs.
She came into my life as a traitor, out to steal everything from me... But in the end, she gave me more than I could have ever wished for.
Three Months Later
“Oh, and Evie Lark, let’s add her to the list,” Grams suggests. “She was Finn’s elementary teacher.”
Grinning, I add the name to the guest list. A couple of magazines are on the coffee table, along with my iPad with a Pinterest vision board. Our wedding is shaping up to be the biggest in Hollyridge’s recent history. I have no complaints about that. I’m looking forward to setting a big cozy vibe for the day Finn and I tie the knot.
No matter what, I’m excited to promise Finn my forever.
Grams and I are seated in the family room with cups of tea while Finn is out back with Gramps down at Saint’s stall. I bet anything he’s sneaking the donkey a Jolly Rancher. Finn can’t say no to that droopy face with those soulful eyes.
My life is like a dream now. I’ve found the family I’ve always longed for, and a man who makes me feel like every day is Christmas. I still love my holiday movies, but now I get to enjoy them in his arms with our matching mugs of hot chocolate.
The back door to the mud room opens and both Grams and I look up as Riley comes in.
“Hey, Riles.” I wave my best friend over. “Come make sure I have the address for your parents right.”
“Hey.” She glances around like she’s searching to see if the coast is clear, then joins us in the family room. “Maid of honor, reporting for duty.”
I chuckle, bumping my shoulder against hers when she takes a seat on the other side of me.
“Coffee?” Grams offers.
“No thanks, Grams.” Riley takes in the array on the coffee table. “So what’d I miss?”
“We’re working on the guest list again,” Grams says.
“Should I still leave your plus one blank for now?” I ask. “I know you said you didn’t want one, but you can bring another friend, or—”
“Uh, actually.” Riley coughs, shifting her gaze to the side. Color floods her cheeks. It’s rare to see her confidence and sarcasm tempered by shyness. “I sort of…maybefoundadate.”
Grams and I exchange a look, brows lifting.
“Oh?” Grams has that matchmaker tone she gets after time spent with her Pokeno group. A gleam brightens in her eyes. “It’s nice to see you opening yourself up, dear.”
“So tell us more about this date.” I prop my elbow on my knee and rest my chin in my hand. “Give us the goss, dude. Who is it? Do we know him?”
Hollyridge is only so big and the tourist season is only just starting. She’d have to be going with someone we all know.
“You do,” Riley hedges. “It’s, um. It’s West.”
Silence falls over the room for all of three seconds before I release a high-pitched squeal of excitement and Grams nods knowingly. Riley turns a deeper shade of red.
“Well, it’s about dang time,” Grams mutters under her breath, tilting her face up like she’s thanking a deity.
I give Riley a half hug. “Finally bagged your crush, huh?”
“Yup.” Her tone is strained.
“I’m going to make us a snack.” Grams gets to her feet. “You dears want anything?”
“No, thank you,” Riley mumbles.
Once Grams is out of earshot, I lean closer. “What’s the deal, shouldn’t you be more excited and like yay? I see the way you look at him.”
I’m sure the whole town knows how Riley feels about West. Their history goes all the way back to when they were kids. The only one who can’t see her pining for him is West himself. I want to just grab his shoulders and shake him so he’ll understand, but Finn tells me we need to let them work it out for themselves.
“I—he…” Riley pushes out a breath. Her shifty gaze travels the room once more, even though we’re the only two in here now. Most of the inn’s guests have ventured out to enjoy the town. “I’ll tell you later, okay? I’m gonna need a whole ass bottle of tequila to get through this explanation.”
My brows jump up. It’s that serious? “Okay, dude. Whatever you need. You know I’m here for you.”
“Thanks girl.” Riley groans and slumps against my side. I stroke her hair comfortingly. Under her breath, she mumbles, “Can’t believe I got myself into this mess.”
“Do we need a night at Moose’s so you can dance all your feels out?”
“Yes,” she mutters in a mock-petulant tone.
“You’ve got it, girl. This Friday, you and me. No boys allowed.”
Her laugh is muffled. “Will Finn be able to keep away if he knows you’re going off to Moose’s for a girls night? He always gets all growly and possessive over you when the other townies leer.”
“They can check my ass out all they want, it’s got a big stamp on it that says belongs forever and always to Finn Michael Mayberry,” I sass. “He knows my heart only beats for him.”
The mud room door opens again and I recognize Finn by the heavy footfalls of his boots. I can hear him stop in the kitchen to talk to Grams, his deep voice drifting through the door. A smile spreads across my face as he pops his head in. When his eyes land on me, the corners of his mouth lift.
“Hey, handsome,” I greet.
Finn saunters over, drawn by an invisible magnetic pull whenever we’ve been apart for more than a few hours, and bends to drop a kiss on my head from behind the back of the couch.
I tip my head back. “Did you grab a picture for the daily Saint Snap on our Insta?”
“Yeah, here. You know he loves it when it’s time for his spotlight. Now that he gets it year-round instead of just at the holidays as our local reindeer, he’s turning into a little diva.”
Riley snorts. “Is that why you decided Saint is your flower donkey for your wedding?”
“Exactly.” I look up at my fiancé with fondness. “Plus, i
t’s right to have him there. He’s family.”
Finn hands me his phone and I coo at how cute Saint Nick looks with his tongue poking out to take the carrot from Gramps.
“This is perfect, babe.”
Using his phone, I log into Mayberry Inn’s Instagram account and post with our hashtag for Hollyridge’s favorite donkey. Messages and comments pour in, many excited for their upcoming bookings. These days the inn is booked solid for months in advance throughout the year, tourist season or not.
It’s funny to think Finn used to be against my methods, but now we share our ideas. The inn is doing fantastic with both of us at the helm. We’ve even been doing well enough to expand our property line, purchasing the hot spring we both love so much and some of the land the Alpine occupied when it was suffering through the off-season during the summer. Dad’s resort is still next door, but it’s half the size it used to be because his stubborn methods don’t work for the kind of vacation people visiting Hollyridge want.
I’ve tried to email him with a few marketing plans I’ve put together with first-hand knowledge of what tourists and locals in Hollyridge respond well to, but they go unanswered. We haven’t spoken often since I quit, but that’s fine with me. Finn and everyone in my life now are the family I choose.
My younger brothers have even reached out. They happened to catch a Facebook Live event Finn and I put on for the Christmas in July party with Saint Nick’s annual transformation into Hollyridge’s only reindeer-donkey.
Social media is a funny thing, connecting and reconnecting people all over the world. Maybe that’s why I’ve always loved it so much.
“Can I steal you away from wedding planning for a minute?” Finn asks.
“Of course.” I take his hand as he comes around the couch to pull me up. “Be right back, Riles.”
“If you makeout for longer than ten minutes, I make no promises that I can stop Grams from hunting you down.” Riley holds up her hands.
Huffing with laughter, Finn shakes his head and leads me onto the porch. Even though we’re at the tail end of fall, it feels like it might snow.
Lacing his fingers with mine, Finn tugs me close for a kiss, cupping my face with his free hand. I hum into it, absorbing his body warmth from the early winter chill creeping into the Montana air.
“What was that for?” My eyes are still closed and I can’t contain my smile.
Finn’s thumb caresses my cheek. “Just because. Missed my girl.”
“Missed me? You see me all day,” I tease. “You barely let me leave our bed this morning.”
“Never can get enough of you, beautiful,” he murmurs. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Me either.”
I press on tiptoe to steal another kiss. His arms wrap around my waist, keeping me toasty as a cool breeze moves through the front lawn of Mayberry Inn. As the kiss ends, we both look out at the beautiful view of the mountains surrounding Hollyridge.
The feeling I get looking at this view still takes my breath away. Between the mountains and the hints of Finn’s cedar and spice scent tickling my nose, I know I’m where my heart is happiest.
Home.
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Acknowledgments
Readers, we’re endlessly grateful for you! Thanks for reading this book. It means the world to us that you picked up this book. We hope you enjoyed your read!
From R. Holmes—
There are so many people to thank when it comes to this book, but first and foremost I want to thank V for being the best writing partner, like ever. She made this process SO much fun and so easy. I can’t wait for our NEXT.
Next, I want to thank Katie Friend who I literally had the idea to write this book for! She has more Christmas spirit than any person I’ve ever met. Her spirit is infectious and I am so thankful for her. This book would not be what it is without her. Truly. Much love babe!
I want to thank my entire team for always taking my words and making them something great. Without you, I would just have words on a piece of paper. I can’t thank you enough for everything that you do! To my AMAZING assistant Amber who I love so so much. You are a Godsend. Seriously an Angel. Without you I would be a mess. I am so thankful for your organization and ability to run my life from like over two thousand miles away. I. LOVE. YOU.
To my betas Ofa, Sabrina, Jan and Brittany. You get to see things when they’re still ugly and help me make it something beautiful. To Pang and Jan both for always making me the most beautiful graphics EVER. You girls spoil me, and I am forever grateful for you both. To Clarissa for being the ultimate hype girl and always being my sounding board. To my Dirty Girls street team for always sharing and getting the word out. I love you guys! To all of the bloggers/bookstagrammers who have read, reviewed and shared our book baby. To my best friends for putting up with my shit every day (insert halo here).
Last but not least, to my family, especially my husband for allowing me the time to write this. You all sacrifice so much to make my dreams come true and I’ll never be able to repay you. I hope that one day I can make yours come true.
From Veronica Eden—
With every book, it always seems to take a bigger village and I am thankful that my support circle grows with each release. First, to Ramz, girl I am so glad we did this. I’m so thankful to have you as a friend and I love working with you as a writing partner! From start to finish, working on this with you has been a blast!
Thank you to Najla Qambar for taking our vision and creating the PERFECT illustrated cover! Your work is incredible, and we appreciate you so much for working with us on this.
To our alpha/beta team, thank you so much for taking our raw words and helping us polish this into a beautiful and touching story with your thoughtful considerations of the characters. Thank you to Rachel and Bre for always being with me and for never blinking whenever I roll into your DMs like surprise this is what I’ve got for you haha!
To my street team and reader group, y’all are the best babes around! To see you guys get as excited as I do seriously makes my day. Thank you for your help in sharing my books and for your support of my work!
To the bloggers and bookstagrammers, thank you for always being the most wonderful and welcoming community! Your creativity, excitement, and beautiful edits are something I come back to visit again and again to brighten my day. To the new bloggers I’ve met while working on this book, I’m so thankful to get to know you! You are all incredible and blow me away with your passion for romance! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for sharing, reviewing, and reading this book!
Thanks to my husband for being you! He doesn’t read these, but he’s my biggest supporter. He keeps me fed and watered while I’m in the writer cave, and doesn’t complain when I fling myself out of bed at odd hours with an idea to frantically scribble down.
About R. Holmes
Villains that Wreck You
R. Holmes is from a small town in southern Louisiana where she lives on a farm, with her husband and two little boys. Whenever she's not chasing around the goats and her boys on the farm, she spends her time watching ridiculous amounts of Netflix and is almost always stuck with her nose in a book. She thrives on horror films, sarcasm, and reruns of Harry Potter. A perpetual night owl, you'll find her in her office locked away until the wee hours of the morning. She loves to meet her readers and discuss her latest favorite books and her upcoming projects!
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Sins of my Father (coming soon)
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About Veronica Eden
Romance with Daring Edge
Veronica Eden is an international bestselling author of new adult romances romances with spitfire heroines and irresistible heroes.
Typically her playground is more on the dark side, but she loves a feel-good read. She loves exploring deep (sometimes complicated) feelings, magical worlds, epic adventures, and the bond of characters that embrace us against the world. She has always been drawn to gruff bad boys, clever villains, and the twisty-turns of morally gray decisions. If they’re moody, broody, and broken—she’s here for it. Veronica Eden also writes romance as Mara Townsend. When not writing, she can be found soaking up sunshine at the beach, snuggling in a pile with her untamed pack of animals (her husband, dog, and cats), and surrounding herself with as many plants as she can get her hands on.