Page 1 of Hard Candy Christmas

Chapter One

Belinda

“Do you have to leave?”

God, the ache in his voice was killing me. I could feel his pain. I didn’t want to go, but I needed to. So, the horrible answer to his question was, yes, I had to leave.

“It’s not by choice, Chase,” I told him, wanting to hold onto him. But I couldn’t explain how my grandmother’s debt was increasing and staying in this small town just wasn’t cutting it for me to bring that debt down.

Betty Carmichael was the cook on the Montgomery ranch, and I knew, without a doubt, that if she told her boss that her bills were through the roof, they would help. But my grandmother, bless her heart, was one stubborn ass mule. And instead of asking for help, well, it fell on the shoulders of me and my mom.

My mom couldn’t leave, but I could.

And in doing so, I was going to lose my greatest friend, and greatest love.

At twenty-one, everyone thought we would stop dating out of high school, but that wasn’t the case. We were going strong.

Until I had the sit down with my mom and grandmother.

“I don’t understand, B,” he told me, cupping my cheek.

God, I wanted to tell him, but my grandmother would have my hide, that I know.

“I know Chase, but I can’t explain it. Just know you’ll always have my heart. And I’ll never stop loving you.”

I stood on my toes, pressing my lips against his, praying I could keep his love with me.

I finally broke away, gave him a watery smile, and turned to walk on the bus, leaving everything behind in Westover, Wyoming and heading south and west, to Nevada.

That scene played out in my mind as I glanced at the fields dancing in the wind. Ten years later and things hadn’t changed in this small town.

Not that I expected it to. Honestly, they never did in a small town.

Granted, I changed. I left a young woman in love, who thought her life would always be here and dreaded changing it. What I found in Tahoe was a different kind of cold, along with cruel and heartless types of people. But I also found wealth, the kind I needed to have for my grandma and her bills. What I also found was heartache.

My grandmother had told me Chase got married three years after I left to my arch enemy in high school. So, what did I do?

Got married.

Lasted a whole whopping thirteen months. And I have not just the emotional, or mental scars, but physical ones as well to prove it happened.

Guess that’s what happens when someone runs into something blindly because they’re in nothing but pain.

But that was also ages ago. I’m over it. It happened, nothing more I can do about it.

Now I’m making my way back home. Ten long years later. Why? Because my grandma, the other woman I love and adore, is better and her bills are caught up. And honestly, I was done with Tahoe.

Besides, coming back for Christmas was just the wish everyone kept telling me they were praying for.

Also, I wanted my gorgeous and picturesque mountains. I wanted my quiet.

I wanted my life back.

Well, what life I could find.

I was also sure, as word always happens in a small town, that news of my marriage, divorce, and return, was spreading like wildfire.

“Suck it up, buttercup,” I muttered to myself, turning down the dirt road to my mom’s house. Her small piece of heaven lay right next to the Montgomery Ranch; all within easy walking distance for her job.

---