Page 1 of A Bright Winter Season

CHAPTER ONE

Hazel Owens pushed open the back door of her cozy little house and let out a long sigh. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was a bit windblown, and in her hands were several shopping bags and a pair of ice skates.

“Oh, wow, am I glad to be home.” Behind Hazel, her daughter Samantha stepped inside the house as she spoke. Samantha’s nose was pink from the cold, and she was grinning happily. “Today was amazing, but I am so ready to sit on the couch and drink some hot cocoa.”

“That sounds amazing.” Hazel smiled at her daughter. “But then don’t forget about your homework, okay?”

Samantha sighed dramatically. “I never mind homework unless there are better things to do.” She wrinkled her nose. “And there are usually better things to do.”

“Nothing better than getting a good education,” Hazel said cheerfully as she began to unload the contents of their shopping bags onto the kitchen table. “Just let yourself pretend the work is a game. Do your best, and that will make it more fun.”

“Okay.” Samantha smiled and scampered over to the kitchen table. She watched eagerly as her mother unloaded item afteritem from the shopping bags. “We really had a great haul today, didn’t we?”

“Oh, we really did.” Hazel set down a snowman-shaped soap dispenser with a sigh of satisfaction. “And honestly, I think we got even better stuff at the thrift store than at the general store.”

“I almost agree—but that snowflake-covered fleece blanket from the general store is my favorite.”

“Mmm, I hear that. But I love this snowman and the set of window candles from the thrift store the best. Our house is going to look so cozy at night, with little electric candles shining in every window.”

“Tomorrow, we need to do all our decorating,” Samantha said excitedly. “Now that we’ve put up the Christmas lights outside, we need to make the inside of our house look all Christmassy too.”

“I agree. Maybe we can start later tonight, when your homework is all done? We could put on a couple of Christmas movies and decorate the living room.”

Samantha grinned. “Yes! I’ll do my homework so fast.”

Hazel shook her head, laughing. “No rushing, young lady. You go drink your hot cocoa and then get on upstairs. We’ll have plenty of time to decorate, don’t you worry. It’s only the beginning of December.”

“True, but my new goal is decorating tonight.” Samantha nodded emphatically. “You should pick out the Christmas movies while I’m doing my homework.”

“I’ll pick out some options, and you can help me make the final choices,” Hazel said. “How’s that?”

“Perfect!” Samantha bustled about making herself a cup of rich hot cocoa. “I think we should watch an old one and a new one. I love old movies, but it’s always nice to watch a Christmas movie that’s in color.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Hazel began to hum a Christmas carol as she finished unpacking all of the lovely things they’d bought that day. They’d spent their morning ice skating, and then after getting lunch at The Lighthouse Grill, the Owens’ family restaurant, they’d gone shopping for Christmas items. It had been a wonderful day but a long one, and Hazel felt tired and ready to settle down on the couch for a while.

Samantha was soon in the living room drinking her hot cocoa, and a few moments later she let out a shout of, “It’s snowing!”

“Yay!” Hazel called back. No matter how old she got, she loved the sight of snow tumbling down from the sky. She paused in her work and looked out the kitchen windows, watching the beautiful sight. It was dark outside, but the snow could be seen falling past the Christmas lights of the surrounding houses. Hazel took a deep breath and sighed happily, thinking to herself that this Christmas was going to be the best one she’d had in a long time.

Ever since she and Samantha’s father had gotten a divorce, Hazel had been single. For the most part, she hadn’t minded too much, but the holidays had always felt somewhat melancholy for her. She’d sometimes felt as though something was missing from her life, as though she couldn’t be completely happy unless she had a man to go through life with her.

This year, however, she felt completely content. She’d been spending time nurturing herself and learning that she didn’t need another person to make her life feel complete. She was looking forward to enjoying the holidays with her new sense of contentment.

I guess it’s good that everything happened the way it did, she thought as she began to tidy up the shopping bags.Even though it made me so sad at the time.

She sighed, still feeling disappointed when she thought about how she might have almost had a relationship but then missed her chance. Recently, she’d wanted to tell Jacob Dorsey, Rosewood Beach’s local handyman, that she was interested in him. She’d gathered her courage and had her confession of interest all planned out, and she’d even packed up a gift basket to give him. Just before she’d told him about her feelings, however, she’d learned that he’d started dating another woman who lived in a nearby town.

She’d been crushed, but the heartache had led her toward taking better care of herself. She hadn’t wanted to try dating someone else, since all of her attempted relationships in past years had led to disappointment one way or another, so she’d focused her energies on healing from her hurt over Jacob and treating herself with kindness.

As hard as that situation had been for her, it had shown her that she still had so much to be thankful for in her life. She had her wonderful daughter Samantha, and her wonderful family members, all of whom lived close by in Rosewood Beach. Together, they were a community that supported and encouraged each other, and Hazel knew she wouldn’t trade her beautiful, close-knit family for anything.

She thought about how things had been before their father, Frank Owens, had passed away. Julia and Alexis had been living in New York and L.A., respectively, and she’d missed them a great deal. Although nothing could make up for the loss of her dad, who she’d loved very much, she was grateful that after his passing her sisters had come to live in Rosewood Beach, Connecticut. In many ways, their family felt more complete than it had in years, and being able to go to her family for support over the highs and lows of life was something that she treasured.

The most important person in her life was decidedly Samantha. Her sweet pre-teen daughter was always a source ofjoy in her life, even when she did things that made her mother nervous, like wanting to go to a school dance with a boy.

Hazel started to put away some of the things that she and Samantha had bought, and then she brought the rest of the items into the living room, since they would use them later that night to decorate the house. She set them down on the coffee table carefully and exchanged a grin with Samantha.

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