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Back The Christmas Wedding Guest
Chapters (36)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Booklist
  36. Excerpt

Harrison picked the seasonal turkey pie, causing Shaye to sigh and shake her head. His son settled at one of the tables to eat it while Toby got him a carton of milk to go with it. Judy sat with him until he was done, then ushered him out the door.

“We’ll see you at home,” she said.

“I’ll be there by five.”

He watched them get into Judy’s compact SUV, then caught sight of a woman walking a dog on the other side of The Wreath. At first the dog held his attention. The massive, dark gray Great Dane wore a colorful blue-and-green knit sweater. Both the dog and the outfit were unusual enough to be noteworthy, but when his gaze slipped to the woman holding the leash, he felt a firm kick in the gut.

He knew that walk—the one with the little bounce. Long brown hair had been cut to jaw length, and the cheerleader uniform had been replaced with jeans and jacket, but he recognized her all the same. She was the grown-up version of the teenager he’d given his heart to all those years ago. She’d been his first time, his first love, his first everything. And as Dena had warned him, Reggie was back.

Five

Micah had been hoping for a little more Christmas from the town of Wishing Tree. On his Saturday morning walk, all he’d seen was Thanksgiving and harvest decorations. There were plenty of turkeys and gourds and pilgrims but not a single elf or snowman to be seen.

Steve had told him Christmas arrived the Friday after Thanksgiving and that he would be overwhelmed by holiday cheer and seasonal decorations. Micah hoped that was true—he could use a little inspiration. So far his attempts to write a holiday love song had been a dismal failure. He’d yet to string together more than three chords, and the closest he’d come to even a single phrase was, “I love you at Christmas,” which was hardly going to win him a Grammy.

He stood in the middle of what he thought might be the town square, although it was round, and someone at the B and B had told him it was called The Wreath. The big open area could easily host a pop-up fair or a giant Christmas tree. There were businesses circling it, including a couple of restaurants, a pet boutique, some store called Wrap Around the Clock and, most important to him, a coffee place.

He walked into Jingle Coffee and stood in line. The store was crowded and warm, with all kinds of mugs for sale and several kids clustered around what looked like a hot chocolate station.