When You Least Expect It
Chapters (24)
Title Page
When You Least Expect It
Haley Cass
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Haley Cass
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: Art Painter
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
First and foremost, thank you to Regina for being endlessly patient while I obsessed with this for months. To Kate, Elizabeth, Sam, Isadora, and Shelley, this story would be in such worse shape without you all reading it and screaming about it/at me throughout the process of creation. And finally, this wouldn't exist without Monica - because you challenged me that I couldn't write a love story in twenty thousand words and clearly... you were onto something.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
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ii
iii
iv
v
vi
vii
viii
ix
x
xi
xii
xiii
xiv
xv
xvi
xvii
xviii
Afterword
About The Author
Books By This Author
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i
Caroline Parker has never been a believer in Christmas magic.
Growing up, her brother Todd had blown the whole Santa secret wide open so early she couldn’t even remember believing in it. They usually had relatives come to stay with them, meaning that Caroline ended up sleeping on an air mattress in her brother, Jared’s, room – who still snored to this day. When her grandparents had been alive, they hadn’t even been allowed to sleep in or relax, because they had to be in a mad dash to get ready for Christmas morning mass.
That’s not to mention that her first girlfriend had broken up with her the day they started Christmas vacation. Happy holidays.
And now, as a divorce attorney, she gets to see firsthand how the holidays wreck families. Just like clockwork, divorce rates spike by a third every single year, making it her busiest season. All of the financial stressors and forced time together – tidings of comfort and joy, indeed.
The list goes on and on.
Needless to say, she doesn’t expect her life to change on Christmas Eve.
***
She knows she shouldn’t stop for coffee.
But, damn it, she’s only just left the office, even though due to the holiday she was supposed to have it off. She’d thought she would have all morning to lounge around and relax before being able to leisurely make her way to her parents’ house for the annual holiday dinner at five.
And perhaps she has a bad habit of running slightly late – but this year it isn’t her fault!