Please.
Dan hardly had a moment alone at the hospital before his cousins, aunts, uncles, sister, and parents were all crowding the room—some to offer comfort and others to yell at him for being so careless.
Back in that fire, he’d only been trapped for a minute or two before Ted and their captain had removed the debris and pulled him to safety. A quick evaluation from the doctor confirmed that he was perfectly fine, save for one shattered ankle that he’d need to go easy on for about ten weeks or so in order for it to heal.
Looked like he was getting some time off.
If only he had a special someone to spend it with.
Then, as if his thoughts had summoned her, Josephine appeared in the doorway to that crammed, little hospital room. Lolly wrapped herself in her husband Oscar’s arms while the rest of the family regarded the newcomer with knowing expressions.
“This is her,” his aunt Kelly said with a strange and dreamy smile. “It’s her.”
“Yeah, I’m Jo-Han,” Josephine said with a little, embarrassed dip of her head.
Kelly waved a hand dismissively and approached Jo to offer her a hug. “No, not that. You’re Dan’s special somebody.”
Josephine looked toward Dan with a bewildered expression.
“I swear I didn’t tell them anything,” he promised, fighting back a laugh as his aunt squeezed Jo tight and even gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
“So you saw the article then,” Jo mumbled as his aunt let her go.
“What article?” Aunt Kelly asked. “I’ve been too busy preparing for Christmas to get sucked into that social media stuff. Only six weeks until the big day, you know!”
“She can tell by the way you look at each other,” his sister explained.
Meanwhile, Josephine looked like a deer stuck in headlights. It was only a matter of time before his family proved to be too much and she decided to bolt out of there.
“Could everyone just…” Dan began, but apparently nobody had heard him over their own chatter. So he raised his voice louder, practically to a yell. “Could everyone clear out of here and give us a moment? Please!”
Aunt Kelly and his mother exchanged mischievous glances and then directed the rest of the family toward the waiting room, finally leaving him and Jo in peace.
A moment passed in silence before Josephine spoke. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, trailing a hand across the edge of his bed. He hated that they were having this moment in the hospital, but the doctor wanted to keep him hooked to an IV with pain meds for a couple of hours before officially discharging him.
“Funny how, once again, a bum ankle has brought us together. First you downtown, and now me here.” He smiled and waited for Jo to do the same.
Her face remained purposely neutral, just like the first time they’d met. Oh, how he missed that smile already!
“So it’s just your ankle then,” she confirmed. “Everything else is okay?”
Dan nodded. “Everything besides my ankle.” He grabbed her hand and held it in his. “And my heart.”
She leaned back but didn’t pull away. Maybe he could save things between them, after all.
“Dan, we can’t—”
“Yes, we can.” He couldn’t let her finish that thought, couldn’t let her voice all the reasons she believed they shouldn’t be together.
She shook her head and tried to pull away, but Dan held tight. “The article, your accident. It’s all telling us not to be together.”
“You think so? Because I think it’s telling us the exact opposite. Both of the things that you were afraid could happen already have. And look, we’ve come out the other side.”
Finally, her defenses fell to show the broken woman inside, the real Josephine, the one who was hurting for all that had happened between them and all that hadn’t had the chance to happen yet, too. “Then why am I still terrified?” she asked.
And Dan knew exactly how to answer. He’d already rehearsed all these reasons in his head, believing—knowing—that somehow, some time, he’d finally get the chance to speak with her again.
“Sometimes the fear is what makes things worth doing. It’s what makes you fight hard and keeps things exciting. Yeah, we’re new at this, but so far there hasn’t been a dull moment yet.”
Jo smiled and squeezed his hand, drawing closer to the bed. “That’s definitely true.”
“So let’s pursue this scary, exciting, wonderful thing together,” he insisted, watching as the words hit her full force. Praying, too. “I’ve never wanted anything more than I want to be with you, Josephine. Do you want to be with me, too?”
Chapter 12
Three months later
Josephine glanced around her empty condo. There was nothing like moving into a new place to make her consider just how little things mattered. She’d left most of her belongings in her main New York residence and looked forward to decorating her new condo with new furniture and new artwork.
Something rustic, homey...real. Like the person she was once all the fame was stripped away. The real Josephine Hannah.
Filming had wrapped on her Anchorage project and the movie was now in post-production. She was actually quite proud of how it had turned out despite all the drama in her personal life. Ever the professional, Jo had managed to act through the joy, the pain, the real-life stuff that otherwise threatened to get in the way.
It took the scare with Dan and his accident to finally convince her that perhaps she did work a little too hard.
Okay, a lot too hard!
The point was she’d become exhausted and needed a rest. That’s why she had called the producer of her next project and sincerely apologized but said that she’d need to decline after all. And since everyone worked at the speed of light these days, they already had a great replacement cast later that week.
Josephine already had more fame than she could handle. Now it was time to enjoy her life and art the way she had in the beginning. And it was somebody else’s turn for her dream to come true. Jo sent the new actress a giant fruit basket and a note wishing her all the best with the film.
And now she had at least a handful of months to relax and get to know herself again. Sure, there would still be red carpets, premieres, and other publicity events, but even Nadine had agreed to take it easy on Jo for at least a couple months.
So what that left her with was time and endless possibilities.
That made it hard to choose a new sofa set for her living room—just one online furniture site had several hundred options!—but very easy when it came to other things.
Her phone chimed, reminding her that she should have left already to avoid being late. Wow, time really flew when you had so much of it to play with. But she couldn’t be late. Not for this.
Not even fifteen minutes later, she pulled her new car into the gravel lot outside the park.
A handsome man waited for her at the trailhead, a giant backpack hoisted on his shoulders and a playful expression lit across his face. “You’re late again, Jo-Han!”
She frowned, slamming her car door behind her. “You know better than to call me that.”
“And you know better than to be late,” he teased, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward him. “I have something very special planned for once we reach the top.”
“I can’t believe it’s taken us so long to come back here,” she admitted.
“Better late than never,” he said with a wink.
“Yes, exactly!” She looped her arms over his neck and gave him a kiss hello.
He brushed her off with a good-natured laugh. “Save it for the top. Let’s go!”
Even though it made the hike more difficult, they held hands the entire way up. And when finally they reached the top, Dan unpacked a picnic feast from his pack and spread a blanket out so they could watch the sunset together.
“I’ve never had a picnic in the snow before,” she said before taking a bite from a chocolate-covered strawberry—her favorite.
“I guess you’re officially Alaskan now.”
“Really, that’s what did it? Not, oh, buying a condo in Anchorage or falling in love with a local?”
Dan stiffened at her words. “Love?”
“Oops, I kind of just blurted that out. Didn’t I?”
“Just a bit.”
“Is that okay? That I love you?”
“Nothing has ever been more okay in all my life,” he answered, crawling across the blanket to give her a dreamy kiss. “In case it wasn’t obvious, I love you, too. I love you so much, Jo.”
When they parted and Jo looked into her boyfriend’s eyes, she knew then that he was absolutely right.
Nothing had ever been more okay in Josephine Hannah’s life, either. And this private moment was just for them, just for Dan and the real girl who had waited inside a famous actress for years now finally getting her day in the sun.
And you know what?
It was way better than in the movies.
Also by Melissa Storm
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* * *
The Church Dogs of Charleston
A very special litter of Chihuahua puppies born on Christmas day is adopted by the local church and immediately set to work as tiny therapy dogs.
Little Loves
Mini Miracles
Dainty Darlings
* * *
The Sled Dog Series
Get ready to fall in love with a special pack of working and retired sled dogs, each of whom change their new owners' lives for the better.
Let There Be Love
Let There Be Light
Let There Be Life
Season of Mercy
* * *
The First Street Church Romances
Sweet and wholesome small town love stories with the community church at their center make for the perfect feel-good reads!
Love’s Prayer
Love’s Promise
Love’s Prophet
Love’s Vow
Love’s Trial
* * *
The Memory Ranch Romances
This new Sled Dogs-spinoff series harnesses the restorative power of both horses and love at Elizabeth Jane's therapeutic memory ranch.
Memories of Home
Memories of Heaven
Memories of Healing
* * *
Sweet Promise Press
What's our Sweet Promise? It's to deliver the heartwarming, entertaining, clean, and wholesome reads you love with every single book.
Saving Sarah
Flirting with the Fashionista
* * *
Stand-Alone Novels and Novellas
Whether climbing ladders in the corporate world or taking care of things at home, every woman has a story to tell.
A Mother’s Love
A Colorful Life
Love & War
* * *
Special Collections & Boxed Sets
From light-hearted comedies to stories about finding hope in the darkest of times, these special boxed editions offer a great way to catch up or to fall in love with Melissa Storm’s books for the first time.
The Sled Dog Series: Books 1-3
The First Street Church Romances: Books 1-3
The Church Dogs of Charleston: Books 1-3
Finding Mr. Happily Ever After: Books 1-5
The Alaska Sunrise Romances: A 9-Book Sweet Romance Collection
About the Author
Melissa Storm is a mother first, and everything else second. Writing is her way of showing her daughter just how beautiful life can be, when you pay attention to the everyday wonders that surround us. So, of course, Melissa's USA Today bestselling fiction is highly personal and often based on true stories.
Melissa loves books so much, she married fellow author Falcon Storm. Between the two of them, there are always plenty of imaginative, awe-inspiring stories to share. Melissa and Falcon also run a number of book-related businesses together, including LitRing, Sweet Promise Press, Novel Publicity, Your Author Engine, and the Author Site. When she's not reading, writing, or child-rearing, Melissa spends time relaxing at home in the company of a seemingly unending quantity of dogs and a rescue cat named Schrödinger.
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The Alaska Sunrise Romances: A 9-Book Sweet Romance Collection Page 63