Praise For
OVER THE RIVER
AND
THROUGH THE WOODS
A Christmas
Novella
With Bonus
Holiday Dessert Recipes
From Readers
Around The World!
“TOTALLY HALLMARK
WORTHY!!!”
~Kim Swain, Red Line
Editing
“A very touching story
that puts you in the mood for hot cocoa and Christmas. Lacey Weatherford has
you captivated from page one.”
~ Lisa Markson, The
Paranormal Bookworm
“If the Hallmark Channel
is looking for a new story to make into a movie for their Countdown to
Christmas, this one is it!”
~ Raquel Ariemma,
Roc N Read
Chapter One
“Oh my gosh! I can’t
wait to go home for Christmas break tomorrow. It’s going to be so much fun!”
Noelle, my roommate, exclaimed as the two of us packed our suitcases in our
dorm room. “All the parties, family, food, fun, and presents—it will be a
blast.”
“I agree. My whole
family will be there too. I can’t wait to play with all my nieces and nephews.
It’s kind of like a loud, crazy circus; but it’s still so much fun being
together.” I was interrupted by the phone vibrating on the bed next to me.
By the time I ended my
phone call with my mom, my mouth was watering. She told me all the wonderful
things she’d been cooking in preparation for our arrival. “I can’t wait for
some of her cherry cheesecake and Christmas pie. Those are two of my most favorite
things to eat. Well, unless you count Aunt Sally’s brownies. Those are pretty
awesome.” I attempted to close the top and zip my very over-packed suitcase,
full of clothes and presents, as well as toiletries for my two week vacation.
“Of course, I won’t get to enjoy any of it if I don’t survive the ride home.”
Noelle glanced at me
and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Please, you will survive just fine. It was
nice of Micah to offer to take us after Christian’s truck broke down. We
could’ve been stranded.”
Christian was Noelle’s
boyfriend, and Micah’s best friend. We’d gone to the same high school before
heading off to Ivy College together. We had all been good friends until I
caught Micah kissing one of the cheerleaders, at school. It wouldn’t have been such
a big deal, except he was my
boyfriend at the time. We’d been steady dating for two years and I’d fancied
myself in love with him. Not anymore, though. I’d hated him ever since. He
never even tried to apologize to me; so we’d spent the rest of our senior year
avoiding each other, the animosity between us growing steadily stronger.
Now I was going to be
stuck in a car with him for two and a half hours. Thank goodness Christian and
Noelle would be there as buffers. Otherwise, I might have considered slitting
my own wrists to get out of the trip.
“You two really should
try talking to each other to see if you can come to some sort of agreement and
get along. Chris and I hate having to bounce between the two of you all the
time, worrying we might offend one of you.” She crawled onto the bed and sat on
the lid to her suitcase, attempting to zip it closed.
“He’s had plenty of
opportunity to apologize to me. Besides, I think he’s enjoying being the campus
Casanova. I swear I see him making out with a new girl every week.”
“You sound jealous,”
Noelle replied, grunting as she dragged her suitcase off the bed and over to
the door.
I scoffed. “Not
jealous, grateful; ecstatic even, as well as a bit sad for the poor girls.
They’ll all find out what kind of guy he is, sooner or later.”
Noelle sighed heavily.
“Micah is an amazing guy, Felicity, not to mention gorgeous. You can’t deny it,
because you used to see it, too.”
“Yeah, well, I was
wrong. We all know how that turned out.” Placing my suitcase beside hers, I
turned to face her. “So, what else do we need to do? There’s that party my
teacher is throwing for the music students, tonight. I promised I’d help out.
She’s counting it as the rest of my work study hours, which will give me a
little extra money for next semester.”
Noelle quickly glanced
around. “I think we are done here.”
“All right.” Grabbing
my white coat, I slipped it on before shoving my feet into my tall, fur-lined
snow boots. “I’ll see you later tonight, then. It will probably be after
eleven, so don’t worry if I’m late.” I wound my white, cable knit scarf around
my neck and dug my matching gloves from my pocket.
“I always think you
look like a snow angel when you go out in that get up.” Noelle laughed. “All
that light blonde hair against your white clothing. I keep expecting you to
break out in Christmas carols or something.”
I laughed heartily as I
reached for the door. There were far worse things than angels to be compared
to. “Have fun with Chris tonight.”
“Thanks, I will. Be
careful on your walk to the auditorium. There was a lot of ice on the
sidewalks, earlier; although I saw the grounds keepers spreading salt to keep
it under control.”
“Will do,” I replied,
stepping from our room into the vacant hall.
Most of the students
had already left campus and were headed home, even though there were still a
few parties scheduled, tonight.
It was already dark as
I carefully made my way across campus, toward the large auditorium. The Music
Department party was being held in the Greenroom and I promised to arrive an
hour early to help Mrs. Wimble set up. Here and there I passed a student or
facility members hurrying on their way; but, for the most part, I was alone.
The sidewalks were,
indeed, still icy, even though most of the snow from the last storm had been shoveled
away. Piles of it still covered the ground, marred with thousands of footprints
from people walking across the lawn. Glancing up at the black sky, no stars
shone through the heavy cloud cover. Another big storm was predicted for
tomorrow and most people had left campus in an effort to beat it. I hoped it
would hold out long enough for our little group to make the trip back up the
mountain to our small town, Evergreen. If not, we would be stuck here until
they re-opened the roads. That idea didn’t appeal to me at all. We’d already
discussed that possibility when Chris’s truck broke down. As much as I hated to
admit it, it had been a blessing that Micah had offered to take us all back
home.
Stomping my feet to
remove any loose snow, I opened the auditorium door and proceeded down the hall
into the warm building, thankful to be out of the bitter cold. Music was
already coming from the Greenroom and when I entered, I found Mrs. Wimble and
her husband busy decorating everything with garlands and lights.
“Hi, Felicity!” she
greeted me warmly, from the top of a small step ladder. “Dave and I got an
early start on things, but I still need help setting up the banquet tables for
the food and decorating them. The DJ should be here any minute to set up, too.”
She pointed to a large box next to the door. “Everything you need should be in
there.”
“Got it!” I shrugged
out of my coat and accessories and carried them over to one of the chairs
against the wall.
***
The party was in full
swing a mere fifteen minutes after people began arriving. Students were on the
make-shift dance floor, shaking it up to popular favorites as well as holiday
music. The DJ worked the crowd well, mixing genres to keep everyone happy, and
having a good time. From my spot behind the refreshment table, I couldn’t help
but laugh at some of the shenanigans going on as several guys got together and
attempted to strut their stuff to a popular line dance. They really were awful.
“What’s a pretty girl
like you doing stuck behind the table?” A tall, cute, blonde guy smiled, his
eyes drifting over me before returning to my face.
“I’m here helping as
part of my work study hours,” I explained.
“Oh, I see. Well, do
you have to stay here or can you join me for a dance?”
I glanced to where Mrs.
Wimble was setting out a new tray of cookies. “Go on, Felicity, Bill and I can
take care of this for awhile. Have a little fun.”
“Are you sure?” I
asked, knowing I was here to work.
“Positive,” she replied
with a smile.
Stepping from behind
the table, I walked toward the dance floor, the guy following a step behind me.
“My name is Felicity.” I stopped, turned and held my hand out to him.
He shook it gently. “So
I heard. I’m Chance, by the way.” A slow song started and Chance quickly swept
me into his arms. “How come I haven’t seen you around before? I’m assuming
you’re a music student if you’re working in this department.”
“I am,” I replied,
resting my hands lightly on his shoulders as we swayed. “But I’m not in the
choir, band, or orchestra, like most of the students here. I’m doing private
study for piano. So, most of my time is spent alone, in a practice room.”
“Well, that’s a
travesty.” He stared down at me, a slight twinkle lighting his eye.
“What is?” I asked, not
following.
“That you’re always
locked away where none of us can appreciate your beauty.” He chuckled and I had
to work to avoid rolling my eyes. This guy was definitely a player; but, for
some reason, I still blushed. “Had I known there was such a beautiful angel
drifting around campus, I would’ve hunted you down a long time ago.”
I laughed and tried to
casually brush his comment off. “Yeah, I don’t get out much. I have a pretty
heavy schedule.”
“Maybe things will
lighten up and I’ll see you next semester, then.”
“Maybe,” I replied,
noncommittally.
“Are you going anywhere
for Christmas?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m headed home
tomorrow. I grew up about two and a half hours from here.” For some reason, I
was reluctant to tell him the name of my town.
“Well, you better get
an early start. There’s supposed to be a big storm coming.”
“I heard. We plan on
leaving first thing in the morning.”
“We?” he asked.
“My roommate and her
boyfriend.” I didn’t bother to acknowledge Micah would also be coming along.
The song started drawing to a close.
“Look me up when you
get back. Everyone in the music department knows me. Maybe we can grab a burger
or something?”
“Sure, thanks.” I
returned his smile as another student came up to us.
“Can I cut in?” he
asked politely.
My gaze drifted to Mrs.
Wimble, who signaled for me to keep dancing. Smiling, I nodded in acceptance as
the newest stranger placed his arms around my waist.
“I’m Derek,” he said
with a boyish grin. “Where are you from?” The conversation between us ran much
the same as the first; and by the end of the night, I’d met half the male music
student body.
It was late when I
stumbled into my dark apartment, tired and ready for bed. Turning on the small
lamp on my nightstand, rather than the overhead light so I wouldn’t wake
Noelle, I was surprised to find her bed empty and made. A piece of paper rested
on it. I picked it up, hurriedly reading through it.
Felicity,
I tried to reach you, but couldn’t ever get an answer. The auto place
called right after you left to tell us Chris’s truck was fixed already. We went
and got it and are headed home. I called Micah when I couldn’t get a hold of
you. He said he will still pick you up in the morning and bring you with him.
Sorry about the change in plans.
See you there,
Noelle
“No!” I shouted,
crumbling the paper into a ball and throwing it angrily at the wastepaper
basket. This was horrible! How could she do this to me, knowing how much I
detested Micah? Now I had to spend two and a half hours alone with him! This
was going to be pure torture!
Dragging my phone from my pocket, I saw the reason for
the missed calls. It was dead. Tossing it onto the nightstand, I flopped onto
my bed with a groan, burying my face into my pillow. “Two and a half hours! Two
and a half hours! I swear I am going to strangle you when I see you again,
Noelle!”
© Lacey Weatherford Books/Moonstruck Media, LLC.
Over the River and Through the Woods Links
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