The Ultimate Christmas Bundle

Single mom Quinn is down on her luck.

It’s a few days before Christmas and despite her efforts to keep her life from crumbling, fate isn’t on her side. Just as she wrangling her five-year-old into her car, the wind picks up and her car door scratches the paint of the Jaguar next to her. The car that just happens to belong to Collin Stewart—the boy who broke her heart years ago.

Collin is back in his sleepy home town to spend the holidays with his sick grandmother. He didn’t think that he’d run into Quinn—the girl he’s never really been able to get out of his head. At the prompting of his grandmother, he calls Quinn to inquire about her plans for the holidays only to find out that there’s been fire at her house, leaving her homeless. The only plausible reaction is to ask Quinn to come stay with him.

She’s hesitant, but agrees.

They soon learn it’s harder to live in such close quarters with feelings they can’t quite ignore. Not when Collin’s grandmother seems determined to push them together. Or Quinn’s precocious daughter seems to be winning Collin’s heart. Add the magic of Christmas and Quinn and Collin must decide if there’s just enough magic in the air to change their broken hearts.

Quinn stood in the ribbon aisle, staring at the piece of wrinkled paper in front of her. She was trying to make out the words that had been blotted out by Macie’s black marker. Sure, it was an adorable drawing of a mom and daughter standing next to a Christmas tree their same size, but Macie had covered up the itemized list that Quinn had printed off. 

Now, Quinn felt completely lost as she tried to make out the type of ribbon which she had noted would be best suited for a handmade bow. That was the last time she’d leave a piece of paper just laying around, waiting for her five-year-old’s artwork. 

“Mommy, let’s get this one,” Macie said as she walked up to the cart and threw a unicorn printed ribbon into the basket. 

Quinn tried to catch it before it landed with a thud, but it was too late. She gave her daughter an exasperated look. 

“We can’t get that.” She reached over the back of the cart, rose up onto her tip toes, and fished the ribbon out from the back. “Chardoney will have a conniption fit,” she muttered under her breath.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of Mrs. Perfect. Perfect hair. Perfect body. Perfect house. Chardoney Suthers was the PTA president and snob of Middleton Elementary. 

“Conniption fit. Chardoney,” Macie repeated, giggling. 

Quinn glanced over at Macie. “You can’t say that around Serenity,” Quinn said. That was the last thing she needed. Macie repeating the things she muttered under her breath to Chardoney’s daughter. 

Macie just continued repeating it as she walked up and down the aisle, running her fingers against the different sized spools of ribbon. 

Quinn sighed and grabbed a couple spools of green velvet ribbon and threw them into her cart. She should have known better than to sign up to help with the holiday party. She wasn’t crafty. She wasn’t perfect. And she certainly didn’t have the time to wrap the meticulous bows that she knew Chardoney wanted. But, Quinn’s pride always seemed to get the best of her and now, she was stuck making these blasted bows. 

And all the while,  Chardoney acted as if that was the last thing Quinn was capable of. 

“Come on, doll,” Quinn said, nodding toward Macie and pushing the cart through to the next aisle. 

After a thirty-minute trip through the store to find wire, Quinn wheeled into the checkout. The woman behind the counter was incredibly slow as she scanned each item. Quinn stared at her, hoping that through sheer will, she could get this woman to move faster. It didn’t work. 

And, of course, Macie found the candy and starting putting them into the cart. 

“Are you getting those?” the cashier asked.

Quinn shook her head. “Um, no. Sorry,” she said, reaching into the basket and pulling them out at the protest of Macie. 

“Not today,” Quinn said, forcing a sweet smile to Macie when all she wanted to do was scream. She barely had enough in her account to cover the decorations she’d agreed to make, there was no way she had money to cover sweets too. 

Macie threw herself onto the floor and began screaming. Quinn quickly paid and then half-dragged, half-carried Macie from the store. 

The wind took her breath away as she stepped out into the freezing Montana air. She attempted to pull her coat closed around her, but with the bag and a limp Macie, she was unsuccessful. 

“Little Miss, if you don’t stand up right now, I’m taking away a present from under the tree.”

Yeah, right. That wasn’t a threat she’d follow through on, but she was desperate. After Ryan left, things had been tight. She was a single mom working as a bank teller, so money was a scarcity. The four measly presents at the bottom of the tree were the product of a lot of scrimping and saving. 

Macie was going to get every one of them because those four measly presents were all she had. There were certain times in Quinn’s life when she tried to will Santa to be real, and this was one of them. 

That threat seemed to snap Macie momentarily from her fit. She straightened and allowed Quinn to guide her to the  beat-up Ford truck. The truck was a gift from her father when her parents moved to sunny Florida to escape the freezing Montana winters. 

Quinn would have escaped too, but with Ryan here, refusing to let her leave, Quinn was stuck. 

After getting Macie into her seat and buckled, Quinn dumped the bag onto the cushion of the passenger seat and sprinted around to the driver’s side. Just as she opened the door, a gust of wind picked up, causing her door to swing wide…and scraped the paint of the car parked too close to her. 

She mumbled a few curse words under her breath as she shut her door and dipped down to see the damage. The shiny red paint now had a jagged line cutting right through it. And just her luck, it was a Jaguar. 

There went her teeny, tiny savings. 

“Excuse me,” a deep voice said, coming up from behind her. “You scratched my car.”

She closed her eyes for a moment before turning. She needed to prepare herself for the backlash that she was sure was coming. Forcing her sweetest smile, she faced the man, only to have her jaw drop. 

Collin Stewart. 

Frustration, anger, embarrassment…all the feelings that she associated with that man came rushing back through her. Why was he here? When did he get back? And why, oh why, did it have to be his car?

“Quinn?” he asked, leaning closer.

She pinched her lips together and glared. She couldn’t help it. He’d broken her heart seven years ago and she still hadn’t forgiven him. It wasn’t because she was a spiteful person, he was just that awful. 

But, her mom raised her to be polite and Collin looked as if he needed a response. 

“Hey, Collin,” she said as she tried to meet his gaze. 

“Wha-what are you doing here?” he asked.

Why did he sound surprised? “I live here.”

He glanced over at the Craft’n Stuff sign. 

She sighed. “Well, not here here. I live in Middleton now.” She folded her arms. “What are you doing here?”

He ran his hands through his thick, dark hair and dropped his gaze to the ground. A wave of worry washed over his features and for a moment, Quinn allowed herself to feel sorry for him. But only a moment. 

“I, um…” He cleared his throat. “My grandma’s not doing too well. I flew in from New York to spend the holidays with her.”

Instantly, Quinn's heart squeezed. She knew that Ruby, Collin’s grandmother, had been sick. She just didn’t know it was that bad. She cursed her ridiculously busy life. She’d meant to go visit Ruby but things always seemed to get in the way. 

She softened her expression and let a little smile form. It wasn’t for him; it was for his grandmother. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. A gust of wind raced around her and she tucked her hands into her jacket, trying to contain her body heat. 

Collin raised his gaze to study her. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Silence fell around them. Snowflakes danced in the racing wind. The parking lot lights lit up the snow, making it feel calm. The darkness of the sky above them shimmered with stars. 

Quinn's heart pounded at the memories of Collin which seemed to be trying to resurface. She’d loved him once. But that was a long time ago. A lot of things had changed. 

A knock on the window behind her drew her attention over. Quinn’s small face and big blue eyes peered out at them. 

Macie. 

Her daughter. 

Collin’s sudden reappearance caused her to momentarily forget the presence of her own child. 

Grabbing the handle of the door, she turned to Collin who had a surprised expression on his face. 

“I should really be going,” she said as she pulled the handle and the door popped open. 

Collin nodded and just as she slipped onto the seat and moved to close the door, he stuck his hand out to stop her. 

Her stomach flipped as she glanced over at him. What was he doing?

“Your number,” he said. 

She swallowed. There was no way she thought that was a good idea. “I really don’t think we should go down that path again,” she whispered. 

He studied her for a moment. His brows were furrowed and it looked as if he were trying to process what she was saying. Then he shook his head and chuckled. “Not for a date.” Then he nodded toward his car. “The scratch?”

Realization screeched into her mind like a freshly scratched Jaguar. He didn’t want to date her or talk to her. He wanted her contact information so he could send her the bill. 

Her hands shook as she reached into her pocket and ripped Macie’s artwork in half. After scribbling her number on it, she handed it over to him. 

“I, um…” There was no way she wanted to tell him that she couldn’t afford to pay for it—her pride had been stung one too many times with this man. Maybe, he’d be kind and bill her after the holidays. She could find some money then. “Can I pay for it after Christmas?”

Macie appeared next to her. “Who’s this?” she asked. 

Quinn glanced over at her daughter and then back to Collin. “Well, this is someone Mommy once knew.”

Macie studied him and then shot her little arm forward with her hand stretched out. “Macie Humphries,” she said. 

From the corner of Quinn's eye, she saw Collin study her. Then he reached out his gloved hand in front of Quinn’s chest and shook it. “Collin Stewart.”

She eyed him. “Do you like marshmallows in your hot chocolate?”

He chuckled. Quinn moved to tell him that he didn’t have to answer, but Collin said, “I’m a whipped cream kind of guy.”

Macie gasped as a huge smile spread across her lips. “Me too,” she squealed. 

Quinn shushed her. “Go buckle up,” she said, nodding toward her booster seat. 

Macie sighed, but obeyed. 

When Quinn turned back around, she saw Collin studying the piece of paper. She wished she could read his contemplative expression. 

“I should go. I’ve got bows to make,” she said, motioning toward the plastic bag on the seat next to her. 

Collin glanced over and then nodded. He folded up her number and slipped it into his jacket pocket. “I’ll call you later.”

Quinn hated the fact that her heart picked up speed from those four little words. They didn’t mean what they sounded like they meant. It must be her old feelings resurfacing. He was calling her to slap her with a big fat bill. That was all. 

She started the engine and after a few gasping breaths, it roared to life. Collin stepped away from the door, allowing her to shut it. 

She tried to ignore the fact that he was watching her as she checked over her shoulder and backed out of the parking spot. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, so she lifted her fingers up from the steering wheel in a sort of half wave. 

Collin nodded. 

Quinn shifted into first gear and took off. 

Macie was bouncing in the backseat, singing softly to herself. After a few minutes of driving, she piped up, “I liked that man, Mommy. Are we going to see him again?”

Quinn's stomach twisted as she glanced in the rearview mirror at Macie. “Probably, honey,” she said, breathing out the words.  

Well, not probably. Most certainly. This was a small town. It was going to be hard to miss him. Plus, she owed him a new paint job. And from the look of his car and his clothes, things with Collin had stayed just as wealthy as she remembered. 

At least her daughter didn’t pick up on how hopeless she felt. Instead, Macie giggled and began blowing her warm breath on the window and tracing her fingers through it while whispering, “I hope so.”