Christmas Haven. Hope White

      “Hey, you okay?” Chief Morgan Wright asked, kneeling beside the woman.

      His instincts piqued when the female whipped around the corner and raced for the opposite end of the ferry. They went on red alert when he spotted a strange man make that same turn and start searching between cars.

      “Ma’am?” he asked again. She didn’t answer at first. He’d seen her go down, flat on her stomach.

      “Don’t hurt me,” she gasped.

      “You’re okay. I’m a police officer.”

      She sat up and the air ripped from his chest. No, it couldn’t be. He’d never forget the face of his first love. Julie Burns, the girl who’d taken a piece of his heart with her when she’d left ten years ago.

      Dear Reader,

      How many of us have made a decision in our lives that seemed like a good one at the time, but as the years passed we wondered if it had been the right one? Living with regret can be frustrating and can hold us back from reaching our full potential.

      Julie’s story is about making a decision based on guilt, and discovering the beauty of self-forgiveness. It’s also about believing in the grace of God, and opening your heart to His love.

      This book holds a special place in my heart since it’s about putting the past where it belongs—in the past—and embracing the possibilities and the wonders of love, friendship and God. As Julie and her high-school sweetheart, Morgan, evade danger, they make peace with their past and learn that through forgiveness anything is possible.

      Thanks for giving me the chance to share this story with you.

      Blessings,

       Hope White

      Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

      Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

      Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

      —Luke 6:37

       Christmas Haven

       Hope White

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      To Drex—Dream a little dream, my friend.

      ONE

      Julie Burns had planned to visit her family for Christmas, but not like this, not running from danger.

      She dug her fingernails into the strap of her backpack and quickened her step. Heart pounding in her chest, she crossed Sunset, eyeing the ferry terminal ahead.

      She was close, a block away from hopping the ferry and escaping the threat.

      She hoped.

      “Don’t be paranoid,” she told herself as she shot a quick glance over her shoulder.

      The last thing she wanted was to draw attention by acting nervous. She’d tucked her blond hair into a knit hat, put on her glasses, which she rarely wore, and hopped the bus to the Edmonds ferry terminal from downtown. She did everything she could to look average, nondescript. Invisible.

      The police hadn’t been able to help her. Not when she’d reported Andy missing, or when she reported the kidnapping of Dane Simms, another teenage street kid that she worked with at Teen Life. When Julie’s office had been broken into, the cops had investigated, but chalked it up to a random burglary. She sensed there was more to it.

      Then she started getting anonymous calls and felt as if someone was watching her, waiting for an opportunity to…

      Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a dark sedan cruising slowly past. She focused on the doors to the ferry terminal, closing in, nearly there.

      “Excuse me?” a man called out from the car.

      She ignored him at first, hoping he was speaking to someone else.

      “Miss? Is this the ferry to Kingston?”

      Breathe. It’s okay. He’s just asking a question.

      She turned to the driver, a clean-cut-looking man in his thirties. “Yes, it is.”

      “Great. Do you know where they line up? It’s my first time on a ferry.”

      “I think back on the main street, there.” She pointed.

      “Thanks very much.” He smiled and pulled away to get in line.

      With a slight shake of her head, she refocused on buying her ticket. Relax, don’t be so paranoid. She’d taken precautions to make sure no one had followed her and had removed all her personal information from files at work, which wasn’t easy with Helen spying over her shoulder. The woman was always looking for an opportunity to point out Julie’s shortcomings to their boss. She’d probably lead the rally to fire Julie when she didn’t show up for work tomorrow.

      Julie couldn’t worry about office drama. She’d packed a bag this morning so she wouldn’t have to go back to her apartment after her dinner meeting, and instead came straight to the ferry terminal.

      To escape, back to her hometown of Port Whisper. Morgan’s smile flashed across her thoughts and regret sliced through her chest. It surprised her. She didn’t think it would still hurt. Not after all this time.

      But Morgan Wright had been her first true love.

      Her only true love.

      Now, with her work schedule counseling homeless teens, she had little time for romance, but didn’t miss it. She wondered if that was because she’d had her chance at love with Morgan and blew it.

      “Don’t think about it,” she hushed.

      It only added to her anxiety. To calm herself, she pictured her hometown, the safe, predictable, boring world in which she grew up.

      And had left ten years ago. She’d had to leave. She’d needed to do more by helping underprivileged teens in Seattle.

      It had seemed like a good plan, until last week, when it all fell apart.

      She bought her ticket and headed up the ramp to board the ferry.

      Heading home. Something she said she’d never do. Not because it was a bad place, but she couldn’t bring herself to go back and be that person again, a small-town girl living in a city where the biggest crisis was the Langford brothers breaking into Stuckey’s Hardware to steal supplies to make pipe bombs.

      The teens she counseled dealt with homelessness and drug use, abusive parents and a bleak future. She wanted to help the people who really needed her.

      She shifted into a booth by the window and pulled out her phone, feeling bad for having