Christmas In Mustang Creek. Linda Lael Miller

that a stranger was staying at Geneva’s house, the house Charlotte had grown up in. Of course, she’d questioned her aunt about Mrs. Klozz, asking how she and the mysterious visitor had met, but Geneva’s answers had been consistently vague, even evasive.

      Worried, Charlotte had called Spencer Hogan, an old friend and Mustang Creek’s chief of police, to request a background check. He’d chuckled and said that wouldn’t be necessary; Mrs. Klozz was, as he’d put it, “all right.”

      Finally, Charlotte had decided to drop the subject. She’d meet the woman soon enough and form her own opinion.

      Despite all this, she felt uneasy.

      Then—just when she’d thought things couldn’t get any worse—she’d been laid off.

      Merry, merry Christmas.

      Oh, the company, an advertising firm, had given her a generous enough severance package. Her boss had explained that budget cuts were taking a toll on everyone.

      Not on him, apparently. His job seemed to be safe, unlike her own. It had taken some effort to not say something to that effect, but in truth, she just wanted to go home.

      As she watched everyone retrieving luggage while hers was, predictably, nowhere in sight, she realized how ironic it was—as a teenager, she’d been convinced that all she wanted was to leave the small town of Mustang Creek, become successful, meet the right man and never look back. She’d done it. She’d left. She’d gotten a great job. She’d met the right man.

      But she sure had looked back.

      There was one other hopeful passenger waiting, and they exchanged a shrug of commiseration. The carousel was still moving, so maybe...

      Yep, she’d left the small town. Got the dream job—and lost it. Met one Dr. Jaxon Locke, fell in love, and that hadn’t worked, either.

      The other passenger won the lottery and his case slid down.

      “Happy holidays,” he said in sympathy as he hurried away.

      Then...a Christmas miracle! Her suitcase actually bumped out—no more than two seconds before she was going to head over to the airline counter to fill in the claim form—and began the journey toward her. Yay! Clean underwear for Christmas.

      Aunt Geneva would tell her to count her blessings, and as she heaved her bag off the carousel and wheeled it toward the rental car area, Charlotte actually smiled. Things were already looking up. Oh, she still had to make the drive home with a giant storm roaring in, coasting a clipper from the Arctic, but at least she had her clothing. She’d need to make arrangements to have everything else sold or shipped home but would deal with that headache later. Her ridiculously expensive apartment had been sublet and all the rest of it was in storage.

      The snow was coming in sideways when she finally reached her rental car. Nothing like driving an unfamiliar rig in bad weather, she thought, as she climbed into the midsize sedan and turned the key in the ignition.

      She was on her way home.

      After seven years in New York City.

      Back in the day, she’d craved the city life, but now she simply wanted to get back to that big old drafty house, that comfortable house, where she’d grown up. Mustang Creek was the kind of small town where, if you sneezed, people were concerned you might be coming down with something and offered you their grandmother’s favorite remedy. She wanted the fragrance of grass in the summer, the view of the Tetons, the old grape arbor in the backyard.

      She wanted home.

      Geneva needed her, Charlotte mused as she tried to figure out how to turn on the windshield wipers. But she might need this change even more. Losing her job wasn’t a financial catastrophe since her aunt had taught her a lot about saving her money. She hated that the vibrant woman she remembered was slowly fading. Still, Charlotte viewed her own changed circumstances as a positive in some ways. They’d be able to spend time together. Quality time. Not just the fly-in, fly-out visits of the past few years. She could take care of the house, maybe use some of her savings to fix it up. The place had needed a new roof for at least ten years. She’d offered to pay for it more than once, but Aunt Geneva, her only living relative, had declined.

      * * *

      Stubborn pride was a family trait, no question about that. She came by hers honestly.

      She should’ve looked more closely at the forecast, she decided when whirls of snow, like errant ghosts, circled her car. Almost no one else was traveling, which was just as well, since she could barely see enough to stay in her own lane. Other than the dim lights of one car some distance behind her, she had the road to herself.

      She was happy that she’d grabbed coffee and a sandwich in the Denver airport, although—exhausted as she was—she could’ve used another coffee right now. She slowed her speed even more as she squinted at the increasing whiteout conditions. There was one other immediate problem she hadn’t considered. She didn’t have keys to the house. Aunt Geneva had been a seamstress, working at home; she was a wizard with her machine and had probably made most of the wedding dresses in Bliss County for the past half century. So Charlotte had never really needed one.

      To be honest, she wasn’t even sure there were keys. The doors with their beautiful faceted glass panels were original, and to her knowledge the locks had never been replaced. Maybe Aunt Geneva had given keys to the friend who was watching her house and taking care of her beloved cat and dog, but it was already after ten, and she wasn’t going to get to Mustang Creek anytime soon at this speed.

      It seemed wrong to go pounding on the door at midnight when she didn’t even know this Millicent Klozz. She certainly didn’t want to wake the poor woman from a sound sleep.

      “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” came on the radio, and Charlotte turned up the volume. She loved the song, which brought back memories of getting tucked into bed on Christmas Eve, Geneva reading her a story and forbidding her to go downstairs until daybreak.

      She’d always heeded this admonition—except for the year she was seven. She’d gone downstairs in the middle of the night—not all the way down that creaky staircase because she’d known she’d get caught—and seen the packages under the tree. When she’d heard Aunt Geneva get up—for a drink of water, judging by the running tap—Charlotte had taken a small liberty and peeked at the gifts. Most of them had her name on them.

      Then she’d climbed into her aunt’s bed and nestled there, eyes wide. When Geneva had rolled over, she’d given a small scream, obviously not expecting a small face right next to hers, dimly visible in the glow of the hallway night-light.

      “Santa was here,” Charlotte had informed her excitedly.

      “I hope he brought me a new heart,” Geneva had replied, after gasping and pressing her hand to her chest. “Lord, child, you startled me.”

      “He came to our house!”

      Charlotte still remembered Geneva hugging her, remembered the warmth of her arms, the loving smile on her face. “Of course he did.”

      Negotiating a slick turn, Charlotte wondered what her aunt had sacrificed to make sure Santa came to their house every year. As a child she hadn’t comprehended the effort that went into raising a toddler. Especially if you’d inherited that responsibility in your late fifties, because your much younger sister and her husband had died tragically in a train accident. Geneva had been single and inexperienced with tantrums and packing lunches, and later on, cheerleading practice and track meets, sleepovers with giggling girls...

      Her aunt had done it all unflinchingly, and when it had come time for college, given her guidance, but let her choose. Now it was Charlotte’s turn to give back.

      * * *

      Jaxon Locke had been chased all the way from Idaho by the storm and it was starting to catch up with him, mentally and physically.

      He had no idea if he was being an idiot or not, going to Mustang Creek.