скачать книгу бесплатно
Her Holiday Family
Ruth Logan Herne
Kirkwood Lake: A town full of heart and hopeWhen her café goes up in smoke, Tina Martinelli decides to make a big change. She plans to leave Kirkwood Lake and start over–somewhere without the haunting memories of family and failure. But just as she's plotting her new life, her girlhood crush Max Campbell returns to town…and suddenly takes notice of Tina all grown up. Having retired from his military career, Max's ready to start over, too. He's given his heart to her. Now, if only Max can convince Tina to stick around this Christmas–and forever after.Kirkwood Lake: A town full of heart and hope
Home for the Holidays
When her café goes up in smoke, Tina Martinelli decides to make a big change. She plans to leave Kirkwood Lake and start over—somewhere without the haunting memories of family and failure. But just as she’s plotting her new life, her girlhood crush Max Campbell returns to town…and suddenly takes notice of Tina all grown up. Having retired from his military career, Max’s ready to start over, too. He’s given his heart to her. Now, if only Max can convince Tina to stick around this Christmas—and forever after.
Kirkwood Lake: A town full of heart and hope
“I love baking.”
“Can’t prove it by me,” Max retorted. “We’ve worked together for over a week and I’ve seen two measly cookies. Kind of lame, Tina.”
She laughed, and it felt good. They got to her door and she swung about, surprised. “That’s the first time I’ve passed the café site without getting emotional. I didn’t even realize we’d gone by.”
“The company, perhaps?” Max bumped shoulders with her, a friendly gesture.
“Indubitably,” she joked back, then looked up.
His eyes, his gaze…
Dark and questing, smiling and wondering.
He glanced down at her, then waited interminable seconds…for what? Her to move toward him?
She did.
His arms wrapped around her, tugging her close. The cool texture of his collar brushed her cheek, a contrast to the warmth he emanated.
He smelled like leather, dish soap and fresh lemons, a delightful mingling of scents in the chill of a Christmas-lit night.
RUTH LOGAN HERNE
Born into poverty, Ruth puts great stock in one of her favorite Ben Franklinisms: “Having been poor is no shame. Being ashamed of it is.” With God-given appreciation for the amazing opportunities abounding in our land, Ruth finds simple gifts in the everyday blessings of smudge-faced small children, bright flowers, freshly baked goods, good friends, family, puppies and higher education. She believes a good woman should never fear dirt, snakes or spiders, all of which like to infest her aged farmhouse, necessitating a good pair of tongs for extracting the snakes, a flat-bottomed shoe for the spiders, and for the dirt…
Simply put, she’s learned that some things aren’t worth fretting about! If you laugh in the face of dust and love to talk about God, men, romance, great shoes and wonderful food, feel free to contact Ruth through her website, www.ruthloganherne.com (http://www.ruthloganherne.com).
Her Holiday Family
Ruth Logan Herne
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For if you forgive others their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
—Matthew 6:14
To the real Tina, one of the strongest and most amazing women I know. God blessed me the day we crossed paths in Denver, and He’s continued to do so ever since. I love you, Teenster. And to Terry, Sean, Dan and Ronnie, my siblings who served when I was too young to understand the amazing sacrifice they made. Thank you. I love you. Your dedication is inspiration to so many!
Acknowledgments
Big thanks to Tony and Debby Giusti who are always willing to offer me advice on my military heroes. Your expertise is invaluable and I’m so grateful! To Melissa Endlich and Giselle Regus for their well-tuned advice about how to strengthen Tina and Max’s story. Your advice produced a stronger book and I thank you! To Natasha Kern, my beloved agent, a woman with amazing patience and insight. I am so blessed to be working with you!
To Beth for all of her help and advice on how to write a better story. To the Seekers who are always there, ready to have my back as needed! To Basel’s Restaurant, a fun, family style Greek restaurant here in upstate where I spent eleven years waiting tables. Real life is the VERY BEST research. And to Lakeshore Supply Company, our new local hardware store: I’m so glad you moved to town! Charlie Campbell’s store came alive because of your delightful Hamlin and Hilton stores.
Contents
Cover (#u31b002a3-ec25-5297-b934-0c52dc494d65)
Back Cover Text (#ubc565d68-869b-5806-bfbe-af0259b80752)
Introduction (#uf03ebe28-5df6-564e-b152-88638f2c0aa6)
About the Author (#u3dc20f3c-b8af-522f-92dc-5e1937c1421e)
Title Page (#ue159ec01-1938-5436-bc72-903425403847)
Bible Verse (#u585f176e-93ec-5a75-bf28-f73195848b43)
Dedication (#u033d3ff3-7479-5264-b308-58f36232a8dc)
Chapter One (#ulink_fb90dac5-1ab4-530f-9419-d498c47440cf)
Chapter Two (#ulink_19ab7ac3-ab82-5435-8a88-5113112d272c)
Chapter Three (#ulink_1b7e9b9c-6e33-5925-9337-1967ebc0d8f1)
Chapter Four (#ulink_1a63481f-28ee-5962-9606-18d1a8454747)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Questions for Discussion (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_b20e02c6-22b6-5e43-8046-fa3653305b2d)
The old familiar voice stopped Tina Martinelli in her tracks as she stepped through the back door of Campbell’s Hardware Store late Sunday morning. “I’ll do whatever you need, Dad. I’m here to stay.”
Max Campbell was here? In Kirkwood Lake?
Max Campbell, her teenage crush. The Campbell son who’d enlisted in the army and had never looked back. Max Campbell, the to-die-for, dark-haired, brown-eyed, adopted Latino son who’d broken countless hearts back in the day? The guy who used to hang out at her neighbor’s house, until Pete Sawyer and his girlfriend lost their lives in a tragic late-night boating accident.
She’d never seen Max at the Sawyers’ again. Not to visit Pete’s parents. Not to offer Pete’s little sister, Sherrie, a hug. Abnormally quiet became the new normal.
No more Max, no more Pete, no more parties.
A lot had changed on one warm, dark summer’s night.
The wooden back door of Campbell’s Hardware swung shut before she could stop it, the friendly squeak announcing her arrival. She did a very feminine mental reassessment before moving forward.
Hair?
Typical elfin crazy.
Nails?
Short and stubby, perfect for a hardware clerk, but not for coming face-to-face with Max Campbell over a decade later.
Makeup?
She hadn’t bothered with any. She’d spent her early morning testing a new recipe, something she hoped to use in the not-too-distant future.
“Tina? That you?” The forced heartiness of Charlie Campbell’s voice said she had little choice but to move forward, so that’s what she did.
“I’m here, Charlie.” She strode into the store, shoulders back, chin high, when what she wanted was a thirty-minute makeover. Why hadn’t she worn her favorite jeans, the ones that made her feel young, jazzed and totally able to handle whatever life handed out?
Because you were coming to work in a hardware store, and who wears their best jeans to work in a hardware store?
The two men turned in tandem.
Her heart stopped when she locked eyes with Max.
She set it right back to beating with a stern internal warning because, despite Max’s short, dark hair and dangerously attractive good looks, the guy had left his adoptive family when he’d finished college and hadn’t come back since. And that was plain wrong.
“Tina, you remember our son Max, don’t you?” Pride strengthened Charlie’s voice, while the effects of his ongoing chemotherapy showed the reality of his current battle with pancreatic cancer. “He’s a captain now, but he’s come back home for a while.”
“For good, Dad.” Max’s gaze offered assurance tinged with regret, but life taught Tina that assurances often meant little and ended badly. Around Kirkwood Lake the proof was in the pudding, as Jenny Campbell liked to say. And Max had a lot of proving to do.
She stepped forward and extended her hand, wishing her skin was smoother, her nails prettier, her—
He wrapped her hand in a broad, warm clasp, sure and strong but gentle, too.
And then he did the unthinkable.
He noticed her.
His gaze sharpened. His eyes widened. He gripped his other hand around the first, embracing her hand with both of his. “This is little Tina? Little Tina Martinelli? For real?”
The blush started somewhere around her toes and climbed quickly.
Little Tina.
That’s what she’d been to him, an awestruck kid stargazing as the wretchedly good-looking youngest Campbell brother broke hearts across the lakeside villages. Max wasn’t what you’d call a bad boy...
But no one accused him of being all that good, either.
“It’s me.” She flashed him a smile, hoping her Italian skin softened the blush, but the frankness of Charlie’s grin said it hadn’t come close. “I—”
“It’s good to see you, Tina.”
Warmth. Honesty. Integrity.
His tone and words professed all three, so maybe the army had done him good, but she’d locked down her teenage crush a long time back. Over. Done. Finished. “You, too.”
Did he hold her hand a moment too long?
Of course not, he was just being nice.
But when she pulled her hand away, a tiny glint in his eye set her heart beating faster.
Clearly she needed a pacemaker, because she wasn’t about to let Max Campbell’s inviting smile and good looks tempt her from her newly planned road. Life had offered an unwelcome detour less than four weeks ago, when her popular café burned to the ground on a windswept October night. She’d watched the flames devour ten years of hard work and sacrifice, everything gone in two short hours. It made her heart ache to think how quickly things could change.
“You’re working here, Tina?” Max angled his head slightly, and his appreciative look said this was an interesting—and nice—turn of events.
“Tina came on board to help when I got sick,” Charlie explained. He indicated the waterfront southwest of them with a thrust of his chin. “She had the nicest little café right over there in Sol Rigby’s old mechanics shop. Put a lot of time and money into that place, a bunch of years. Her coffee shop became one of those places folks love to stop at, but it caught fire a few weeks back. The local volunteers did their best to save it, but the sharp north wind and the fire’s head start was too much. So Tina’s helping us out while we’re waiting for the dust to settle with my treatments.”
Concern darkened Max’s gaze as he turned her way, as if the loss of her beloved business mattered, as if she mattered.
Don’t look like that, Max.
Don’t look like you care that my hopes and dreams went up in smoke. That despite how I invested every penny and ounce of energy into building that business, it evaporated in one crazy, flame-filled night. You’re not the caring type, remember? When life turns tragic, you tend to disappear. And I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.
Tears pricked her eyes.
