'Tis the Season: A Collection of Mimi's Christmas Books
Read 'Tis the Season: A Collection of Mimi's Christmas Books Online
Authors: Mimi Barbour
Tags: #She's Not You
TIS THE SEASON
Praise for Mimi Barbour
“SHE’S ME is a delightfully deep read.”
~ Kimber, Fallen Angel Reviews (4 Angels)
“Quirky and sparky and Ms. Barbour gets the mix right…. [HE’S HER is] a great little story. Recommended.”
~ V. Scurfield, WRDF (Fantastic, Stays on Shelf)
“You definitely need to pick up WE’RE ONE and all the other stories in this series. You will not be disappointed.”
~ Roberta, You Gotta Read Reviews
(rated You Need to Read)
“These three enchanting novellas entertain with tales of time travel and body sharing. The stories of growth, transformation and sweet love are inventive, the characters unforgettable, and the dialogue well written.”
~ Gail Pruszkowski, R.T. Review (4 Stars)
“THE VICARAGE BENCH…is a truly delightful read. I was captured by the events but the characters kept me reading…. All three enjoyable [stories] are tied together by a vicarage bench, a special rose bush, and the admirable Dr. Andrews.”
~ Pamela Denise, Romance Junkies,
Blue Ribbon Reviews (rated 4.5)
“Humor, heartbreak, silliness and sensual tension…a book that will most certainly be staying on my ‘to be read again’ shelf. TOGETHER AGAIN …a job well done. I look forward to reading the other books in the series. This is definitely a book I highly recommend.”
~ Val, You Gotta Read Reviews
(rated: You Need to Read)
“I really enjoyed [TOGETHER AGAIN]. Mimi tackled something that was complicated on a number of levels and pulled it off beautifully. It was so much fun to read.”
~ award-winning, multi-published Author Susan Fox
Also Author of
Vegas Series
Action–Packed Thrillers!
Partners
– (Book 1)
Roll the Dice
(Book 2)
Vegas Shuffle
(Book 3)
High Stakes Gamble
(Book 4)
Spin the Wheel
(Book 5)
Let it Ride
(Book 6)
The Vicarage Bench Series
Spirit Travel at its Best!
Vicarage Bench Anthology
–
(Books 1-3)
She’s Me
–
(Book 1)
He’s Her
–
(Book 2)
We’re One
–
(Book 3)
Together Again
–
(Book 4)
Together for Christmas
–
(Book 5)
Angels with Attitude Series
Angels Playing Cupid!
The Angels with Attitudes Series
–
(Books 1-3)
My Cheeky Angel
–
(Book 1)
His Devious Angel
–
(Book 2)
Loveable Christmas Angel
–
(Book 3)
Other Titles
Main Menu
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CHRISTMAS RUNAWAY
Sara Hanson was miserable. What in the world had possessed her to give her young son Kai permission to spend Christmas holidays with his best friend’s family in Hawaii? Three months ago when the topic came up, he’d worked on her. Not having the heart to refuse, she’d caved. Obviously, she hadn’t thought about the fact that she’d be left alone on her favourite day of the year.
Blinding snow made driving almost impossible. She shouldn’t have waited so long to start back home. But she couldn’t leave Nanaimo without making sure that his plane had taken off safely and arrived the same way in Vancouver, then a stop at the mall for life-saving necessities such as chocolate and a favourite bottle of wine. Add a few more stops, like dinner at her favourite Thai restaurant and a movie that should have made her laugh but didn’t, and here she was driving home too late, and through weather that had deteriorated dreadfully. Ice formed in sheets on the roads as the thermometer dropped when night fell, and treacherous didn’t begin to describe the conditions.
Thankful that Pegi, her Samoyed, had travelled with her, she turned to pet the whining animal. “Don’t worry girl. We’ll be fine on our own. Kai deserves to be with his friends for Christmas. You and I’ll celebrate with a spinster party just as soon as we get back to our cozy fireplace. We’re not too far now, and as long as I go slow, we’ll get there.”
Her pet still seemed agitated, and so Sara opened the passenger window a little, knowing how much her dog liked to stick her nose out and breathe in some fresh air.
The radio had been acting up for the last few miles and finally became so distorted she shut it off. A loud cracking noise had her squinting through the blinding snow to see if a problem lay ahead on the road. She couldn’t see anything but huge flakes of never-ending snow that her windshield wipers had a hard time to clear. All of a sudden the street lamps flickered and went out leaving the highway totally black. Only her headlights gave light and some solace, as they filtered through the mesmerizing curtain of blinding white.
Unexpectedly, Pegi lunged at the passenger door next to her and barked. Without thinking, Sara stepped hard on the brake, which forced the car to fishtail. Like an aircraft on takeoff, it glided to one side of the road, and overcompensating the turn made the vehicle head straight to the other side and into the ditch.
“Pegi? What in the world is wrong with you, girl? Stop that noise. Look what you made me do.” She wailed the words and grabbed for the dog’s collar at the same time. “Settle down.”
But the agitated animal continued her uproar. She seemed to sense that the only way out was on Sara’s side. Climbing on her lap, sharp toes digging in, whining and quivering, she demanded to be let out.
“Wait till we get home. Pegi, stop this nonsense.” She tried to push the huge, furry white monster back over to her side of the car, but to no avail. Pegi wouldn’t let up, and instead, became even more forceful by licking her face and butting Sara with her head.
“Fine. I’ll open the door, but you can’t run off. You hear me? Stay close.” Sara grabbed her gloves and the flashlight she always carried under her seat and shut the car off. She left the lights on as a safety precaution, and released the latch only to have the weight of the big animal wrench the door from her hand. It swung open, and in a flash, the distraught, barking dog sailed out and disappeared. Frustrated, Sara stepped out of the car only to land on her backside. “Damn ice,” she muttered, as she carefully got to her feet only to see her dog bounding through the snow behind them. “That’s it, you dumb beast. Ever heard of the pound where they stick crazy canines in cages and feed them dried veggies pellets?”
Commands for the dog to ‘get back here right now’ got no response. Now I’ll have to go and get her, she thought. Bloody hell! That’s all I need—fall face first in a snowbank and get my feet soaked chasing an untrained, bratty pet. “Arrggg!”
The barking plus the trampled snow gave Sara an indication of Pegi's direction. Sputtering and swearing divested a little of her rising ire and lowered her blood pressure somewhat, but to say she felt annoyance eating into her stomach lining would be putting it mildly.
The staccato yelping continued and rose to frenzied proportions. Sara started into the direction the noise came from. She knew she couldn’t leave her big baby out in the night alone.
Chiding whatever impulse made her choose to wear her fashionable high-heeled boots over the practical ones she usually preferred had her shaking her head. She put on her gloves, powered her flashlight, and started in the direction of her dog’s cries.
Wet, sticky snow had built up over a foot high on the roads, in some places even higher, and was much worse when she headed for the side. The trees were thick and the gullies deep with lots of brush under the snow to trip her up. In her anxiety, the first stump she fell over only earned a grunt and a groan, but the next few made her let loose with some of her more colourful cusses. Only her determination to beat her dog senseless kept her going. Like that was going to happen. Pegi, the fanciful canine that believed she was human and had rights to the end of her mistress’ bed was the most spoilt animal in the world. The fear that her pet might be in trouble was what drove Sara on.
Rocks barred her way, branches ripped at her legs while her indulgent, twelve-dollar pair of silk stockings became their victim. To stop never entered her mind. Her beloved’s begging cries and her own stubborn streak forced her onward.
Finally, her flashlight beamed on the silly crazed mutt and instead of returning to her mistress when ordered, the creature led her further into the woods. Just when Sara decided not to play this insane game any longer, Pegi ran up to a dark mass leaning against a tree. It was then she saw movement and heard the murmur of a female’s voice.
Sara rushed forward to drop to her knees beside the quivering youngster. Shushing the distraught dog, she knelt down and shone her flashlight into the face of a frightened teen. “My God! Are you okay, sweetheart?” Brushing the wind-blown hair away from the face of the frightened girl, she added. “Don’t be afraid. Pegi’s big, but gentle as a lamb. She’s barking because she’s worried about you.”