Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
Brynn Asher knew she was just delaying the inevitable, but she couldn’t resist a few moments distraction at the Country Christmas event as she drove through yet another small town in Tennessee. The long drive would be at an end in a couple of hours, but there was only so much time she could handle alone with her racing thoughts.
A little taste of Christmas would do her some good—just like her daddy always said.
It almost felt like he was beside her again as she wandered around the town square through the stores with their festive decorations, booths with gifts for all ages, a group of carolers on the courthouse lawn... She ate a cup of chili from the local diner and bought hot, candied nuts from a sidewalk vendor.
Even though the holiday atmosphere brought a rare smile to her, it wasn’t enough to completely erase the purpose of her journey from her brain. She needed to get back on the road. Make sure she arrived at the farmhouse before the ice storm hit.
She paused at the corner of the sidewalk, realizing she’d made the complete loop around the old town square that surrounded the courthouse.
Time to go.
She turned right, toward the more residential area where she’d found the parking lot tucked between a few restored antebellum houses and just-as-picturesque craftsman-style homes dating back to the early 1900s.
The last of the leaves were falling to the ground with each gust of wind that came closer and closer together, warning of the coming storm. The weatherman predicted a whopper-though it was rare to get any snow at all this late in the year—with a mixture of snow and ice that was potentially hazardous.
For once, she hoped the weatherman was right.
As she walked past the public park, she saw a vendor she hadn’t noticed on her way in. It was unexpected enough that she paused to look.
How had she missed the big red truck pulling a silver airstream trailer?
That should have stood out. And what was it doing down here? She glanced back toward the town square.
She had gone a good three blocks from the downtown celebration. When she turned back, a woman stood in the doorway of the trailer, so unexpected that Brynn jumped, startled by her sudden appearance.
“Helloooo,” the woman said. “Welcome to my Tinsel Trailer.”
Appropriate, now that Brynn saw the name on one side of the canopied opening. She felt oddly drawn to the cute metal cubby and the woman with the long, gray braid draped over one shoulder...but she really needed to go.
“I was just headed to the parking lot,” Brynn said, lamely trailing off as she gestured a little farther down the block.
“Oh, but surely you wanted to step inside for a quick peek? I believe I have just the thing to accompany you on your journey.”
That was odd. How did she know Brynn was on a journey? And why did Brynn find herself walking across the grass to the stairs leading inside?
The woman presented a quintessential free spirit look-complete with colorful ankle-length skirt and gray rope of hair over her shoulder. Her eyes literally twinkled with happiness, something that both drew Brynn and made her wary. Hers was a practical soul—her father had embodied all the magic in the family.
But if the Country Christmas event had given her a small taste of the Christmas spirit she was missing this year, the interior of the trailer was a long, satisfying drink. Rows and rows of sparkling, unusual ornaments hung from the walls, framed by slow-glow Christmas lights and a variety of tinsel colors. Some instrumental music provided a barely-there backdrop to cover the silence.
Brynn breathed in deeply, overwhelmed with a rush of memories of her father and his almost boyish delight as he decorated a natural fir tree and draped lights over everything that sat still long enough. Heck, last year he’d even put one of those reindeer kits on his truck.
Now he was gone, and wasn’t she sad to be standing here trying to capture a small moment of the magic of the holiday when she should be on the road to accomplish her mission?
“I think he would approve.”
Brynn frowned. “What?”
“Your father. He would definitely approve.”
Had Brynn spoken her thoughts out loud?
“Everyone could use a little touch of holiday.” Ms. Tinsel’s naturally pink lips curved into a gentle smile. Despite the silver hair, her face was curiously unlined, with an understanding expression that made Brynn feel oddly seen.
Not the outside of her, but the inside that hurt sometimes just to breathe. She dropped her gaze to the intricate metal work of a Christmas-tree shaped lantern. What a beautiful piece...
“That’s magical, you know.”
“Isn’t all of the holiday supposed to be magical?” she asked Ms. Tinsel as the woman circled behind the counter.
Her father had always thought so. “My father loved Christmas trees. We always had one.” And Edelweiss . He’d played different variations of that song over and over during the holidays. For such a rugged outdoorsman, he’d had an unnatural affinity for The Sound of Music .
This oversized ornament wasn’t traditional. It was metal with various delicate ornament outlines cut from it to let the light through. The metal had a bronze look that reflected the yellow light inside in an almost hypnotic manner.
“It would be nice for you to carry a piece of Christmas on your journey. A little light to light your way...” Ms. Tinsel’s laughter somehow sounded like a bunch of jingle bells. “Besides, this is one of my special wishing ornaments.”
She lifted the ornament to show a tag on the underside. The Wishing Well Ornament Company, it said. That was taking things a bit far...
“It’s well-known that a single heartfelt wish on one of these ornaments will come true by Christmas.” Why did Ms. Tinsel’s smile seem to reach in her mind and convince her?
Brynn shook her head to rid herself of the silly notion.
Somehow, she was becoming okay with the woman reading her mind. Maybe it was her gentle smile or the soothing comfort of her voice. “Yes, I think I’ll take it.”
She handed over the ornament and let her mind wander while the woman wrapped up her purchase. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to go through her father’s holiday decorations yet. Of course, he’d only been gone for six months and it had taken all of that time to make decisions on the real estate and his nature photography business.
She’d been practically running it since she was fifteen years old, but that hadn’t prepared her to make the legacy decisions on whether his photos and prints should be liquidated. Especially since he’d become relatively famous in the art world under an assumed pseudonym.
In the end, she’d decided to continue to manage his original prints and turned the reprint business into her agent’s capable hands. Her father had been her life. Now that he was gone, she felt more lost than she’d expected. Of course, she’d had little time to prepare.
He’d kept his cancer a secret from her, just as he had several select things in his life. Only the pain meds had made him talkative in the end...and given her the names to go with the rage she’d harbored since she was eight years old.
For good reason...
“Wake up. Brynn, wake up.”
“Daddy?” Brynn rubbed her eyes as the light from the hallway spilled into her darkened bedroom. Suddenly the lamp at her bedside blinked on.
“Come on, girlie.”
“Why, Daddy?” She just wanted to go back to sleep—she was a notoriously deep sleeper. She certainly didn’t want to change out of her nightgown into the clothes her father was dragging out of her dresser drawers.
“It’s not safe here. We have to go.”
“I don’t want to.” She poked out her bottom lip. Her dad was a sucker for that.
But he didn’t even glance her way. “Now, Brynn.” His voice was hard, determined. He never spoke like that. It scared her. “Don’t argue with me for once.”
He set the clothes next to her on the bed. “Quickly now.”
As she changed clothes, he dumped out her school backpack and started stuffing clothes in it. Then he dragged her socks and shoes over.
He looked silly crouching in front of her with her pink backpack but he wasn’t laughing. The lines on either side of his mouth and eyes were deeper, darker than normal. Finally, he tucked her blanket around her and picked her up. “Let’s go.”
As they headed for the door, her panic spiked. “Daddy! Rocky!”
“Right.”
He spun around and grabbed her stuffed dinosaur from the bed—a completely impractical creature in hues of purple and red. He squeezed the animal between them.
“You hold onto him, you hear?”
She hugged tight onto the soft squishie as he pulled her close against his hard chest. Then he ran for the stairs.
Brynn blinked, pushing the reverie away to focus on finishing the purchase before her. She reached for the bag on the counter, only to have the woman’s warm hands come to rest on top of hers.
“Adventures are good for us. They take us in new directions. Down paths we might never have found.”
Brynn had certainly never imagined this adventure. Not a year ago. Not twenty years ago.
Her Rocky and a few clothes were the only things they’d taken with them. And twenty years later, Rocky was still with her, in her backpack in the back seat.
A couple of hours later, the panic of that night hit her again as she stood in front of her old house. Gray twilight crept in from the woods surrounding the field beyond the peak of the steeple. The house had once been the original church of Thornbury Woods. Rudimentary. Utilitarian with just a hint of the divine.
But when her daddy had bought the land, he’d turned the broken-down building into their home. Then it had been home to Maria and her children after they’d left. He’d let Maria live there rent-free—so it would be taken care of—and she’d managed the renting of the considerable amount of farm-land for him. It had given the single mother a reliable job and the chance to be home with her kids—something Brynn’s widowed father had fully appreciated.
Maria had remarried about a year ago. The house had been vacant since then. Maria had been wonderful to come into town last week to open it for Brynn as part of her monthly check in. After all her father had done for Maria, she hadn’t wanted to repay the favor by abandoning the place when he’d been too sick to make other arrangements.
But now Brynn had another purpose for it.
I left it there. I had no choice. Couldn’t destroy it. But couldn’t risk taking it with me until I knew what to do. Should have known I’d never be able to go back.
The memory of her father’s slurred confession fueled the determination growing inside Brynn. She let her gaze trace the steepled roofline, then the arched window of stained glass below. The vibrant colors were muted beneath the heavy clouds as the storm moved in.
Why did she feel so unsettled looking at it now? She’d loved growing up here, until that final night. Her warm bed in the loft. A windowscape full of ever-changing fields and nature. The little boy who lived a couple of farms down. What was his name again?
Now the place felt abandoned...haunted...and she was way too practical for that kind of thinking.
Just like she had no time for wishes. Though the ornament box in her arms said otherwise. If she could wish for anything, it would be to not be alone this Christmas. Unfortunately, wishes couldn’t bring back the dead.
The first pellets of ice mixed with thick clumps of snowflakes as they started to fall. The gloom didn’t bother Brynn. Superstitions had no place in her life. She welcomed the darkness as it fell over the vast valley and sharp peaks of the house. It would hide her well. The weather would cooperate, icing her in so no one would know she was here—at least long enough for her to find what she was looking for.
Then she’d make them pay—and pay dearly—for what they’d done to her daddy.