Laura L. Walker grew up in a large family in the beautiful
Gila Valley of southern Arizona. From the time Laura was young, she spent hours
drawing characters on paper and fantasizing about their adventures. Life became
more serious, however, when Laura met her own hero and they eventually became
the parents of six children. In between spurts of grocery shopping, sewing
costumes or quilts, transporting kids to practices, and making dinner, Laura
still enjoys putting her imagination to good use. She is the author of four
contemporary romances.
Connect with the Author here:
1890 Nebraska
For schoolmarm Amanda Cordell, Christmas Eve means getting
through the special program she and her pupils have put together for the
townsfolk in Langdon. And even though she has vowed to not set eyes on handsome
Calvin Hunsaker, it becomes inevitable when his incorrigible son needs her
help. Everyone knows how bitter Calvin is over his wife's sudden death, and
somehow Amanda senses that he sees her the same way, as the spineless, helpless
socialite she used to be.
Calvin Hunsaker is determined to ignore the feeling of
attraction stirring inside him for the new schoolmarm, even if she is the most
beautiful woman he's ever seen. But she's here to pick up the pieces after her
brother and sister-in-law's untimely deaths and raise their two youngsters, not
bedazzle him with the same charms his first wife possessed. Better to bundle up
and head out of this one-room schoolhouse the second the program's ends.
But a winter storm and two mischievous boys have other
plans, and Amanda and Calvin's plans to avoid each other go awry when Calvin is
stranded at Amanda's house over the Christmas holiday. Will there be joy and
thanksgiving in their future or will the winter blues descend on them once
again?"
Snippet:
She had just
finished conversing with Mrs. Winters when she came face to face with none
other than Johnny’s taciturn father. Once again, those stark eyes of his bore
down into hers, as if searching her innermost thoughts. Heat crawled up
Rachel’s neck and she barely resisted the urge to tug her white collar with its
tied bow away from her throat. “Mr. Hunsaker.” She nodded politely.
“Miss
Ambry.” His responding nod was even shorter, and his deep voice carried a note
of pride. Keeping one hand on his sidearm, he tipped his Stetson. “Mighty fine
program. I’m obliged for your good care over Johnny these past months. I know
he can be a handful.”
Rachel
glanced over to the boy in question. He was currently entertaining a small
group of children who, no doubt, had gathered around to listen to his tall
tales. “He may be a bit more high-spirited than most children at times, but he
has a good heart.”
A
reluctant smile pulled at his lips. “Yes, I know what you mean. He has big
ideas.”
“That
will serve him well someday,” she countered.
When
it seemed they had nothing more to offer each other, Calvin tipped his hat once
again and back out of the way, calling out to his son, “Bundle up, Johnny. It’s
time to go.”
Johnny’s
animated face, which had been so terrified before, now contorted into a frown.
“Ah, do we hafta, pa?”
“It’s
Christmas Eve. Time to get you into bed if you want a certain visitor to come.
And besides, I can hear a storm brewing outside. Let’s beat it home so we can
feed the livestock.”
Johnny
turned toward the others. “I hafta go. See you all later. Merry Christmas!”
“Merry
Christmas, Johnny!”
Rachel
caught her nephew’s eye and motioned for him to grab his heavy coat and scarf
as well. Clark followed behind Johnny, absently noticing they both wore pants
that were similar in style and color.
A
few more parents called out to their children. In the flurry of buttoning coats
and pulling on hats and scarves, followed by several adults bustling out the
door, Rachel was waylaid by the last few parents who offered one final word of
praise over the afternoon’s success. Struggling to remain calm on the outside
while listening to the wind that had picked up, Rachel started to panic
inwardly. She had felt the icy air through the doorway of the schoolhouse when
some of the parents left. She, Clark, Abigail, and Genevieve lived two miles
south of town. They needed to hurry and beat the storm or else they might get
stuck along the way. She shuddered at the thought. No one should be stranded on
Christmas Eve.
She
couldn’t imagine a worse fate.
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