Love at First Snow: A Christmas Miracle Read Free

and jewelry—totally the opposite of the women
who hung around the ice arena on any given night, the women with
whom he’d been recently soothing his pain. He found her sexy. Very
sexy.
    She left the room briefly, and Blake
watched, liking how her jeans hugged the soft curves of her behind.
A huge dog sprawled in its bed studied him through one half-closed
eye, as if to say, Good luck, buddy.
    On cue, Dr. Whitney walked back into the
room. “How’s our patient?”
    He gave the cat a glance. “Hanging in there.
Hey, I’m sorry to take up your time on Christmas Eve.”
    A shadow crossed the woman’s face, which
quickly hardened into an emotionless mask. “No worries. My plans
tonight consist of a good book, hot-buttered rum, and a roaring
fire.”
    “Sounds pretty good,” he admitted. Too bad a
hot, intelligent woman like her had to be sharing that hot-buttered
rum with a significant other. Probably another doctor or
something.
    “Yeah, quiet holidays can be a welcome
relief from big gatherings with family and friends.” She spoke with
conviction, but her eyes told a different story. He wondered if
that story was similar to his own.
    “Yes, sometimes that’s true,” he allowed.
“No family dramas, no bickering or that type of thing….” He’d give
everything he possessed for a family drama right about now. “I’m
Blake by the way.”
    “Sarah Whitney.” She stared out the window,
her gaze faraway. The snow kept accumulating. “Sometimes snow seems
so barren, so lonely. It blankets everything in white,
beautiful…but cold and stark, especially at night.”
    Especially when a person didn’t have anyone
to warm their bed. Was someone warming Dr. Whitney’s bed? Was there
anyone special in her life? But…why the hell did he even care? Sure
she turned him on, but he barely knew the woman.
    Part of him disagreed. He felt as if he’d
known her for a very long time.
    She continued to stare out the window, and
Blake nodded, thinking again about what she’d said. He hadn’t seen
snow the same since it contributed to his family tragedy. He didn’t
say that, though. He just said, “I’ve been coming here since I was
a child. I don’t remember a snowfall quite like this.”
    “No, we don’t get it much here. And this is
even worse than the Christmas Eve storm four years ago.”
    Blake stiffened. He fought to breathe, like
someone had slammed him into the boards from behind. He looked away
and regained control. “Like I said, I apologize for keeping
you.”
    She glanced up, and he suspected she saw
more in him at that moment than most people did in an evening. “You
don’t need to apologize. You aren’t keeping me from anything.” She
studied him then. “You’re not a local. I’d know if you were. Are
you here for the holidays?”
    “Yeah, I come every year.”
    “You have friends on the island?”
    “No, not really.”
    “Oh. You’re here with family.”
    “Nope, just me.”
    His stomach clenched at the thought of how
very alone he was, and something flickered in her brown eyes.
Sympathy? Mutual commiseration? Understanding?
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to
pry.”
    “That’s okay.” Blake stroked the thin little
kitten. Only it was as alone in the world as he.
    “It would be best if you take him home with
you tonight. I hate the thought of leaving him overnight in this
clinic by himself, and I’ll have to wait until he’s stronger to
deal with the leg injury. It’s an old one. I’ll send some medicine
and some soft cat food with you.”
    Blake opened his mouth to protest, to let
her know he’d just done a good deed. That’s all. But the animal was
a stray, had no one, just like him. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t
abandon the little bugger. Not on Christmas Eve.
    “Okay,” he said. “I’ll take him.”
    “Do you live far?”
    “I live at the end of Madrona Lane on the
water side.”
    “The big three-story A-frame?”
    “Yeah, that’s the