A Heartfelt Christmas Promise Read online

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  Wishing you all a few small-town slow-down days.

  Merry Christmas.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to the incredible team at St. Martin’s Press. Eileen Rothschild, I couldn’t ask for a better editor. I love the extra push you give me and my craft is so much better for it. Tiffany, Natalie, Marissa, DJ, you bring the whole picture together, and keep all the parts moving. Thank you so much for the attention to those details.

  Thank you, Kevan Lyon, my agent, for believing in me and getting my stories into the right hands. I appreciate your tenacity, patience, and skilled negotiations, and all the cheers along the way. I never would have written the first Christmas book had it not been for you, and they sure have brought me joy.

  Thank you, Rolling Hills Percheron Farm in Winston Salem, specifically, Jeremy Hancock, for showing me around your farm and letting me know when the colts were born. This book has been in my head ever since that first visit. Thank you, Jennifer Siegenthaler, for sharing your experiences and pulling Jeremy away from chores, or let’s get serious … the college basketball game, long enough to answer my questions that you couldn’t about the horses and hitch process. I’m so inspired by those beautiful gentle-spirited animals and the work it takes to run that farm.

  Thanks, Andrew, for your patience, support, prayers, and for always making me laugh. You are my balance when things start stressing me out. Thanks, too, for sharing your team hitch experiences, and for helping me bring a real horseman’s point of view to the story. You’re my real-life hero.

  Last, but not least, thank you to my friends and family. No story is written alone. There are beta readers, brainstormers, people I see doing something that inspires me, the “get real” gang that’ll talk me off the ledge or tell me I’m flat-out crazy, and the readers who remind me why I ever sat down to write that first book in the first place. I had one simple goal:

  Write one book, to help one gal through one lousy day.

  Writing this novel would not have been nearly as satisfying without your help and fellowship.

  Thank You!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Vanessa slid her hand along the slick wooden banister as she climbed the stairs. The warmth of the wood softened the appearance of the decorative black wrought-iron balusters—a real statement of strength and beauty.

  As a young girl, she’d dreamed of living in an elegant house like this, and this one wasn’t that far from her office in downtown Chicago, either.

  Walking through the guest rooms, she could picture one of them decorated with a colorful handmade quilt atop inviting crisp white sheets. Fluffy feather pillows, soft and firm ones, piled like a cloud for a heavenly night’s rest. A small upholstered chair would be perfect by the window overlooking the mature trees in the backyard. Except for the evergreens, almost everything was already winter-bare.

  It would be so beautiful blanketed in snow. She could fill brightly colored bird feeders for the red cardinals that just flitted from the bushes at the fence edge to a limb right in front of the window. The only birds outside my windows at my condo are pigeons and all they do is leave a mess on the windowsill. This was definitely a step up, and so quiet compared to the city.

  Vanessa walked back downstairs knowing this was the home she’d been searching for. “I love this house.” She joined her Realtor, Sally, in the living room. “My friends kept telling me when I found the right one, I’d know it. Now I understand what they meant.” Excitement swirled in her stomach like blowing snow in a frosty blizzard.

  This is it. Home.

  “I can’t believe it.” Vanessa pulled her hands close to her heart. “Finally. Did you keep count of how many houses we’ve looked at?”

  “I could do the math, but you don’t really want to know.”

  “It’s been nearly a year of house hunting.”

  “Your travel schedule didn’t help.”

  “True,” Vanessa said. “I was beginning to think I’d have to give up the idea of a house with a yard close to work altogether.”

  “I told you I’d find you the perfect house, and Sally Fields always delivers.”

  Every time Sally talked about herself it was with first and last name, and usually followed by “no relation to the actress.” Not that anyone would think so. The actress didn’t have an “s” at the end of her name, for one. Plus, Sally the Realtor was a good foot taller than the talented actress with the infectious smile.

  Sally strutted through the house like a peacock. “At least you knew what you wanted from day one.”

  “I usually do.” Vanessa walked over to the windows that overlooked the deck. “That’s not always a good thing, though.” As a little girl, she’d loved the rope swing at her cousin Anna’s house. Anna was Mom’s cousin. Anna and Mom had been inseparable until the day Mom died. Swallowing back the sorrow, she concentrated on the trees on this property. The biggest, a huge oak she’d never be able to wrap her arms around, could easily hold a swing.

  Vanessa had spent many hours with Anna while Dad worked. They’d swing for hours in the backyard. Vanessa remembered lifting her toes toward the tallest branches, soaring high and hoping to reach heaven, and catch a glimpse of Mom with angel wings. Mom seemed so close on those days.

  Maybe I’ll have two so Anna and I can swing at the same time. People never outgrow swinging, do they?

  Sally rattled on. “… and the closets are wonderful. So much storage. You just don’t find this kind of house every day. It’s a kitchen a chef would kill for, commercial equipment and everything, but it’s done so nicely that it’s still homey.” She stepped beside Vanessa.

  Vanessa tipped her chin up. Sally towered over her at every bit of six feet tall in the too-high heels that were her trademark. “It’s very pretty, but you know I don’t cook.” But Anna does. She’d probably really love it.

  “Right. Yes, but the in-law suite is nicely set apart with a den. Just like you wanted.” Sally curled the listing sheet in her hand as if she were going to pop a fly on the noggin with it. Or maybe it was more likely that Sally would hit her if she didn’t quickly jump on this deal.

  Hesitation and second thoughts consumed her. Now that she’d found what she wanted, was it stupid to buy a house this big when technically it could be just her? She’d tried to talk Anna into moving in with her before with no luck. But now that Anna had retired, how could she turn her down? There was plenty of room here for long visits, if she couldn’t convince her to move in at first. Vanessa hugged her arms around herself. That’s what she truly wanted.

  “Wasn’t easy to find everything on your list.” Sally looked quite proud of herself. “This one even has the fence for the dog you don’t have yet.”

  “But you did find it. Thank you.” She opened her arms wide, taking in the fresh spa colors of the great room. “This was totally worth the wait.”

  Sally lifted a fi
nger in the air. “Well, there is one teensy hitch.”

  The glow in Vanessa’s heart faded. “Don’t tell me this is over my budget.” She tried to maintain her cool, but with her teeth clenched and her fists now too, she was probably far from looking calm. She’d never had a good poker face. “I told you not to show me anything over the budget. I hate it when Realtors pull that, and I left work to meet you today with no notice. Let it be anything but that.”

  Her finger and thumb about an inch apart, Sally said, “Just a smidge over.” She winked and expanded the space between her fingers a little more.

  That wink about pushed Vanessa over the edge. “You called me away from work to see this house, and it’s over my budget? Really? I had meetings scheduled. You said it was urgent.”

  “It’s a sweet deal. It’s going to go quick. We can come in under the listing price, but the agent said they are expecting other offers.”

  Don’t they always say that? The house was perfect. “How much over budget are we talking here?”

  Sally handed her the listing she’d been twisting in her hands.

  Vanessa pulled the paper straight and scanned the information. Her jaw pulsed. This wasn’t teensy at all. “This is a hundred thousand dollars over my budget.”

  “But you qualified for—”

  Swallowing back what she really wanted to say, she responded simply with a “No ma’am. I set my budget. Not the lender. Period.” Trying to maintain her temper, she turned and walked out. She took her frustration out on the car door, which she slammed twice as hard as necessary. The clock showed she’d just fallen in love with that house in record time. On a good note, she could probably get back to the office for the acquisition and merger meeting.

  Sally still stood in the doorway as Vanessa backed down the long winding driveway.

  What a waste of time.

  She pressed the accelerator and headed for the highway without another look back. Once on the interstate, she pushed the buttons to start the heated massage feature on the driver’s seat.

  A quick glance in the rearview mirror highlighted a deep line on her forehead. The one that always appeared when she was stressed out. She rubbed her finger across it, and opened her eyes wide, trying to force herself to relax.

  “I need to focus on work. There are never any surprises there. Just the way I like it.” She patted the steering wheel as if she expected it to repeat words of confirmation back. “Forget the house. Even if it was perfect. That’ll have to be a project for another time. Another year.”

  Suddenly, for no apparent reason at all, the traffic snarled to a standstill—cars nose-to-tail for as far as she could see. “Of course.”

  The car idled at a stop. Her phone rang, and she cringed. Sally would be begging her to reconsider. Just as she was about to silence the ringer, she noticed the caller ID. It wasn’t Sally; it was Anna. Her mood lifted instantaneously.

  “Anna? How do you always know when I’m out of sorts, and need a friend?”

  “It’s my superpower, cuz.”

  Anna might have been joking, but she honestly had an uncanny ability to arrive at every godmother-appropriate point in Vanessa’s life. They were first cousins once removed, or was that the same as being second cousins? She never could figure that stuff out. No one knew genealogy like Mom. All Vanessa really cared about was that Anna was like family, blood relatives or not.

  Anna had always called Vanessa “cuz,” even though she’d been more like a much, much older sister all Vanessa’s life. “Anna, it’s so good to hear from you.”

  “We are way overdue, aren’t we?”

  Anna was so much better about calling than she was. “I’ve been meaning to call.”

  “I know you’re busy. How have you been? You’re still working too much, aren’t you?”

  Vanessa groaned. “Actually, I took a little personal time this morning. I’m on my way to the office now.”

  “Music to my ears!”

  “I may have made that sound better than it really was. It was just a big waste of time.”

  “Now, why would you say that. Any time off is a blessing.”

  “I wasted my morning looking at a house that wasn’t in my budget. Now I’m sitting in traffic, and late for a meeting.”

  “It’s barely nine o’clock. I’m sure the tide will turn before you even break for lunch.”

  “If only I ever took one.”

  “You’ve got to eat. You need to take care of yourself. We’ve had this talk before.” Anna’s voice held that tone that only mothers could usually get away with.

  “I know. I know. If I take a break for a healthy lunch, I’ll get that time back in productivity later.”

  “That’s not just me talking,” Anna said. “It’s a proven fact. Maybe you’d deal better with the stress, too. Couldn’t hurt, right?”

  “Hearing your voice has reduced my stress level already.”

  “Great. So, catch me up. How’re things going? What’s new? If you and Robert are looking at houses you two must be talking marriage again?”

  “He actually doesn’t know I’ve been house shopping.”

  “What? You’re going to have to let that man into your life at some point.”

  Vanessa laid out the whole story on the house, and how it was perfect, but not. “And Robert’s been acting like he’s about to pop the question.”

  “I’ve been holding back saying this for a long time, but you keep dodging marriage with him. You’ve got to decide if you’re going to marry him, or just let him move on.”

  “Well, I—”

  “I’m not asking for an explanation. This is something only you can decide, but you two have been together longer than some marriages last these days. It’s not fair to either one of you to let this drag on status quo.”

  She blew out a breath. “Anna, I know we look like the perfect couple on paper. He’s nice. Successful. Handsome. Generous. Dependable. The only thing we don’t agree on is he loves living in his rooftop condo, and I’m ready to be out of the city to have a house with a yard, but that’s not the reason.”

  “Then what?”

  “I don’t love him, Anna. I’ve tried so hard. I like him a lot. I’m just not in love with him.” It frustrated her so much. “Maybe I’m not capable of that kind of love.”

  “Of love? Everyone is capable of love, Vanessa. Follow your instincts. I think you know what you need to do.”

  “It’s not going to be easy to break it off. But you’re right.” She sat there feeling a little numb. Why had she let this go on so long? “Anna, I miss you, and these talks.”

  “I miss you too. I’m always here for you. We’re family.”

  “I know, but wouldn’t it be nice if we lived closer? I was thinking you could even come up here and live with me now that you’re retired.”

  “Things happen for a reason. Sometimes you just have to open your heart, and trust it will all work out the way it’s supposed to rather than trying to manage every detail.”

  Vanessa laughed. “You know how I hate surprises. I don’t see that happening.”

  “Ultimately, the journey will be wonderful. I promise.”

  Anna was always saying stuff like that. Even to people she didn’t know. It used to embarrass Vanessa, but now it seemed sweet. “If you say so.”

  “I do say so. And who knows. Maybe one day we’ll live closer, but nothing is stopping us from more frequent visits. We can always fly.”

  “We’ll do better next year.”

  “Yes, we will. Now, the reason I was calling was that I’d really love it if we could make plans together for the holidays. You could come here. I’ll cook and spoil you rotten.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Don’t you dare say no. I’ll fly to you in Chicago if I have to, even if it is bitter cold and damp. Get your calendar out and ink me in. Somewhere. You name the place. I really want to see you.”

  Vanessa was already going down a list of things in her mind. “Wait
. Everything’s okay, right?”

  “Of course. You’re like the daughter I never had, and you’re so much like your mother. I miss her too, you know. We’ve let too much time slip by. Let’s have a family Christmas this year. You and me.”

  Mom had always known how to do it up right. Christmas hadn’t been the same since she passed. Her absence left a gaping hole in everything special. Without her it never seemed worth doing, but spending Christmas with Anna was definitely the next best thing.

  “Anna, I’d love to spend the holidays together. Yes. We will absolutely do it.”

  “This is the best Christmas gift ever.”

  Vanessa’s eyes glossed. “This is going to be perfect. I just pulled in at the office. I’ve got that meeting this morning where I’ll be getting my next assignment. The good news is you might not have to come to freezing Chicago for Christmas. All that hard work I’ve put in over the past few years has me positioned for the pick of the projects. I may very well be working in Paris, France—”

  “Paris? Wow. AGC has been really good to you.”

  It was true, but she worked hard for everything she got. “Or Leavenworth, Washington, which doesn’t sound all that fancy, but from what I hear it’s the best place in the whole country to spend Christmas. Fluffy, white snow glistens from every building, and a million holiday lights decorate the entire Bavarian-style town. It’s like being in a snow globe of the North Pole. They even have reindeer.”

  “Sounds like the company acquired Santa’s summer home.”

  “I hope not. They told me it was a ski resort and vineyard. Year-round destination.”

  “Anyplace we go is fine with me,” Anna assured her.

  “This trip will be my treat. No argument, especially since we have to accommodate my schedule, but I promise it will be less work and more play.”

  “Your mom would love what a successful businesswoman you’ve become.”

  Anna hadn’t mentioned Dad. They both knew he’d never admit he was proud of her … even if he was. Vanessa had vied for his approval for as long as she could remember. Why can’t I let my need for his acknowledgment go?