Wrapped Up in Christmas
Table Of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Stars and Stripes Quilt Pattern
About the Author
Sneak Peek of Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy
Wrapped Up in Christmas
Copyright @ 2019 Janice Lynn
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Quilts of Valor Foundation, discussed in this story, is very real. Its mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting, and healing quilts. To learn more about the Quilts of Valor Foundation or to donate to their cause, please visit https://www.qovf.org/.
Print ISBN 978-1-947892-64-4
eBook ISBN 978-1-947892-65-1
www.hallmarkpublishing.com
To my real-life Hallmark Happy Ever After, Michael. I love you.
-Janice
Chapter One
After months of sweat, grit, and sheer determination to get to the picturesque Kentucky town he’d only recently heard of, Bodie Lewis had finally arrived in Pine Hill.
He turned off his pickup’s engine, ruffled his dog Harry’s scruffy black and white fur, and let out a long breath. Put him on a dangerous overseas mission, and he was in his element. Searching out a little elderly lady in the civilian world to express his gratitude? Not so much.
“We made it,” he told the dog who had been at his side nonstop for the past few months.
A dog and a quilt.
Not exactly things he’d expected to call his own, nor to have made such an impact on his life.
If he added the just-purchased truck he was sitting in and a rarely touched bank account, he’d be listing all his worldly possessions. Until recently, he hadn’t been in one place long enough to justify his own transportation and had always driven government-issued vehicles when the need arose.
He ran his hand over his dark hair. Although an average length by most standards, the strands felt out of place. He’d worn a crew cut most of his adult life—a cut he was no longer required to maintain, thanks to his honorable discharge.
The “honorable” was enough to gut him.
There had been nothing honorable about the demise of the rest of his unit.
Pain shot across Bodie’s chest. Pain of grief and emotion so raw he longed to scream. His ever-present anger, threatening to boil over into rage, constantly simmered at the loss of his brothers-in-arms, and at the loss of his career.