A Girlfriend For Christmas

By Aly Grady

When a blizzard prevents teacher Caroline Crawley from getting home for the first Christmas after her mother’s death, a stranger makes her an offer she can’t refuse.
Dr. Colin Pepper is traveling home, but without the non-existent girlfriend his family is expecting.
Can a pretend girlfriend be Colin’s true Christmas miracle?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aly Grady
• Release date: Nov 16, 2018

Aly Grady

Aly Grady is New England born but for the past ten years has enjoyed living and raising her children in the Indianapolis area. She has firsthand knowledge of the racing industry because she is a racing widow. Aly enjoys trying to keep up with her children’s busy lives, reading books by her favorite authors, watching Indycar racing and traveling. “If you can read all those romance books you should be able to write one.” Aly took that challenge by her husband and ran with it to create The Racer’s Widow.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Caroline snapped the hairband she wore around her wrist as she paced the gate area of the Atlanta airport and considered alternate travel options to her hometown in Iowa. Her early-morning departure from the Gainesville Regional Airport in Florida, with its mild weather, hadn’t prepared her for the brutal reality of winter travel delays. All flights to the Midwest were canceled as the largest storm of the season continued to drop snow at an unprecedented rate .

Caroline longed to join the crush of travelers that rushed from gate to gate. Like many, Atlanta wasn’t her final destination. Past seats four, five, six, she walked, then turned back, keeping a sharp eye on her carry-ons. She pressed the phone to her ear despite the desire to smash the damn thing. She yearned for the customer service agent on the phone to miraculously part the sky above Iowa so that planes could take off and land. Caroline tilted her head from side to side. Her on-again, off-again stint in the terminal chairs left her seeking any relief. Yes, she was not afraid to say she was asking for an act of God.

You have got to be kidding me? No flights? Everything is canceled for the next forty-eight hours? Every, single, solitary plane in Iowa is sitting on the ground? There isn’t a blizzard here!

Continuing the dizzying path back and forth along the seats, Caroline pulled at the neck of her shirt, frustration mounting. As a schoolteacher, she worked hard at patience and kindness. Just the other day, Caroline heard crying from the student restroom. The young girl confided she had just moved to Gainesville and struggled with making friends. Caroline walked the halls of the school with the young girl until her parent could drop off a lucky penny—a token from a best friend at her old school. Patience. Because you never knew what the person on the other end of a phone call was dealing with. Right now, that person was dealing with her.

"Yes, I realize that it’s a holiday. Yes, I also know that it’s a busy air travel time. But how many people are actually going to Des Moines, Iowa?"

Continually pacing, burning a hole in the carpet, she sighed. Her plea was futile. No one was flying to Iowa today. Okay, I’ll try again later. Thanks anyway. Ending the call, she marched back to her bags.

Caroline’s mother had always preached to be prepared for any situation. She should have paid attention at least once in her twenty-seven years of existence and figured out all her travel options.

Gate B4 sat at the end of the concourse. Caroline deplaned three hours ago, and the area had been deserted. Now, in the short time since she was on the phone with the airline customer service agent, passengers gathered with their bags, clogging the walkway. She stepped over the out-stretched legs of a couple who had chosen the floor for their seating option.

Sitting down with a huff, she looked up at the ceiling with a silent prayer on her lips. A glimpse of red caught her attention, causing her to turn. The red sweater belonged to a man with square shoulders and a lean build. She watched as he wandered about the gate area, icy blue eyes roaming from one filled seat to the next, and then, they locked on her. She was frozen in place but the air surrounding her scorched her skin. Her heart raced, but she held her breath, afraid the moment would pass if she moved.

Slowly exhaling, she prepared to say hello, but he moved on. And just like that, the feeling was gone, too. Words that came so easily in the classroom failed her in the presence of the sexy stranger.

A flight from Jacksonville arrived with a crush of passengers milling about, waiting for the next leg of their journey. Caroline debated what to do. All the local hotels were filled to capacity between the impending holiday and the severe weather impacting flights going west. She’d already checked.

Bumping into other weary folks was not her idea of a good time, so Caroline remained in her seat next to her backpack and carry-on bag. For the foreseeable future, she would guard the items like they were her only worldly goods.

Airport news acted as a poor substitute for entertainment. She distanced herself as much as possible from the masses, pretending to watch the screen. Caroline willed her hearing to improve enough so she could understand what was being said on the television. Reading every word of the closed caption didn’t hold her attention, causing her to miss most of the information.

Sandalwood and cinnamon. Maybe it was cinnamon—it was definitely a spicy scent—coming from the person who sat down in the seat next to her. The gentleman who appeared to be the carrier of the enticing aroma also happened to be the cutie Caroline spotted checking in with the B4 gate agent.

This seat isn’t taken, is it? he said.

Oh, no, it’s all yours. I’m not crowding you, right? She pulled her roller bag between her legs.

His coffee-colored hair fell over his brow as he placed his carry-on at his feet. His extended arm revealed a knotted string bracelet. Caroline’s heart leaped with joy at the assumption that her new seat neighbor made friends with a child who would make him a bracelet. He sat back into his seat, bringing her back to the crowded terminal. I’m good, thanks. Just, from the look you gave me I thought I might have sat on your donut or something.

Sorry. She wanted to laugh, but she was too exhausted for even that. "It’s been a long day. My connection has been delayed for hours, and I’m stuck in the terminal because all the hotels are full. I won’t get home in time for Christmas. I’m just out of sorts. And now I’m rambling." Caroline laughed at herself.

The stress of traveling halfway across the country to spend time with her dad was starting to get the better of her. This Christmas would be the first Christmas for either of them without her mom. It was only the two of them and now, just two days till Christmas, it was starting to look like she wouldn’t be able to be with him. Her stomach clenched as self-pity held on tight.

It’s cute. The rambling that is. I’m Colin. He extended his hand.

Caroline. She shook his hand; his grip held firm but not overly done, like a man showing off might do. The lack of calluses on his soft hand made Caroline wonder what he possibly did for a living. "I hope you’re almost at the