Snowflake Bay Read Free Page A

brushing her lips elicited a far greater response from her body than the last man she’d actually gotten naked with? Nothing positive, she was sure. About her, or about poor, couldn’t-find-an-erogenous-zone-if-it-was-staring-him-in-the-face Charlie. Which, sadly for them both, one rather universally well-known zone had been.
    â€œNow you’re good,” he said, smiling again as he stepped back.
    No, not really, she thought . But you sure are. She swallowed against a throat that was suddenly a dry wasteland, while other parts of her were . . . decidedly not. Oh, so, very, very good.

Chapter Two
    â€œAre—” Fiona had to pause, clear the dust and longing from her throat, before continuing. “Are you here visiting your folks?”
    â€œSort of,” he replied easily, completely oblivious, of course, to the havoc he was wreaking on every last strand of her DNA. “Mom finally convinced my dad to head south. For his health,” he clarified. “I’m just getting back from helping them move.”
    All visions of hot yoga mat sex fled and her eyebrows drew together as she frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said, pushing the last of her wayward curls from her face, only to get the balled-up napkin she’d forgotten she held stuck in her hair. She yanked it back out and shoved it in her coat pocket. Ever so seductive, Fi, you temptress, you . “I mean, not that they moved south, but—is he okay?” She’d known Henry Campbell and his wife, Elizabeth—Lizzy to everyone who knew her—her entire life. They were the fourth generation of Campbells to run the family’s—the thought broke off half-formed as she remembered the red pickup truck out front. How had she not noticed the distinctive white and green sign on the side panel? “So, who’s running the Christmas tree farm?”
    Ben grinned, and it really should be a crime against nature, she thought, basking in the glow despite wishing she could resist it, and him. “Dad is okay,” he replied, answering her first question. “His arthritis has gotten steadily worse, though, and he really can’t take the winters up here any longer.”
    â€œAnd that’s when you do all of your business. Aw. I’m sorry, Ben. I know how much they both love that farm.”
    He nodded. “It wasn’t easy prying them out of there, but Mom found this really great retirement community in South Carolina, right on the coast. They’ve only been there a few weeks and she’s already gotten them both involved in so many things, I’m not sure they can rightly call themselves retired.”
    â€œThey’re happy, then,” Fiona said, seeing it in his eyes. His beautiful, forest-green eyes. “That’s good. Really good. They’ve both worked so hard, they deserve some play time.”
    â€œI’ve been telling them that for years.”
    â€œYou’re not going to sell the farm, are you?” Ben was the youngest of the Campbell clan, and the only child of Henry and Lizzy. Neither of Henry’s siblings had had children, and Lizzy was an only child, so everyone knew that the farm would go to Ben one day. Then he’d left Blueberry Cove, gone off to college and beyond. Other than to see his folks from time to time, always in the off-season—which was why Fiona had never bumped into him on her annual holiday treks home—he’d stayed gone. She wasn’t even sure why the farm passing into different hands mattered so much. Yes, the McCraes had bought their Christmas trees from Campbell Christmas Tree Farm every year she’d been alive, and the past few generations of McCraes had as well. It was a long-standing tradition, not only for her family but for most, if not all, of the families in Blueberry Cove, as well as the surrounding Pelican Bay area. But did it really matter if it was a Campbell running the