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By Kristine Kathryn Rusch

He expected a joyous wedding on Christmas Eve. But when the justice of the peace arrives, he finds a pregnant bride, no congratulatory family, and reluctant witnesses.

What joy can the future hold for this young couple? Unless they can find someone, an unexpected someone, someone who understands.

“A joy of clarity and lyricism. [Rusch] is a new breed of writer: a Renaissance woman.”

—Charles de Lint

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMG Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540113849

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. She publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov's Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.   

Book preview

They insisted on getting married in the mountains on Christmas Eve day. I drove halfway across the county to find them, adjusting my tie, wondering if I should have worn boots instead of my scuffed work shoes. Rain washed the window—hard, driving rain of a kind we hadn’t seen in years—and the wipers couldn’t keep up.

I found the road, a gravel driveway off a side street in a rural neighborhood, closer to the coast than I would have liked. Had I known it was this far out, I would have told them to get a license in Noti or Veneta. But I hadn’t known. The registrar of deeds had set up this appointment and had assigned me to it.

She knew I had no plans.

I turned the Buick up the driveway, listened to the wheels squeal in the mud. The driveway twisted past piles of discarded possessions, mostly made of rusted metal, through some sickly looking pine trees and past a clear-cut area. At the top stood more