Winter Arrives: Secrets in the Snow, #6

By Roz Marshall

Everybody has something to hide
Jude Winters is confident in one thing - she has no idea how to run a ski school. But a missing husband and mounting bills mean she's going to have to find out fast. The hard way.

Mike Cole has skied nearly everywhere in the world. Now it's time to tick Scotland off his list, before he kicks the snow from his boots and carries on with his Kiwi version of walkabout.

But things aren't always what they seem. And even wanderlust can sometimes be sated...

Winter Arrives is the series prequel, telling the story of how the season started for Jude and the other instructors.

SECRETS IN THE SNOW:
Fear of Falling (Book 1)
My Snowy Valentine (Book 2)
The Racer Trials (Book 3)
Snow Blind (Book 4)
Weathering the Storm (Book 5)
Winter Arrives (Book 6) - prequel
Skiing with Santa (Book 7) - short story
A Dream for Hogmanay (Book 8) - short story
The Snow Patrol (Book 9) - short story

FORMATS AND TRANSLATIONS:
Because it is set in Scotland, Winter Arrives is written using British English spelling and grammar. It is available in ebook format.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aye Alba Publishing
• Release date: Dec 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781498986335

Book preview

Winter Arrives

Winter Arrives

A Secrets in the Snow Story

Roz Marshall

Eden Press

For Mum and Dad, with love

Copyright © 2013 Roz Marshall

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. You must not circulate this book in any format.

The characters, places and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

Created in the United Kingdom.

First published 2013.

Updated 2015.

Third edition 2017.

This edition 2020.

Cover by Alba Covers

Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at rozmarshall.co.uk/books

Contents

About this book

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

A Note from the Author

An extract from Skiing with Santa

Other books in the series

About the Author

Also by Roz Marshall

Glossary

Characters

Acknowledgments

About this book

Jude Winters is confident in one thing - she has no idea how to run a ski school. But a missing husband and mounting bills mean she's going to have to find out fast. The hard way.

---

Mike Cole has skied nearly everywhere in the world. Now it's time to tick Scotland off his list, before he kicks the snow from his boots and carries on with his Kiwi version of walkabout.

---

But things aren't always what they seem. And even wanderlust can sometimes be sated…

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Wednesday 7th December 2005

JUDE SHIVERED, WRAPPED the over-sized red fleece tighter around her polka-dot pyjamas and crossed the hall into the kitchen.

On the back wall, the blue glow of the pilot light mirrored the colour her fingers were turning. It's not the boiler then.

Running back upstairs, pausing to switch the kettle on as she passed, Jude changed into jeans, boots and a ski jacket then hurried out of the back door and into the garden. In the frigid air, shrubs looked like ghostly aliens and the flagstone path had a slippery sheen. Her breath clouded around her like a shroud as she peered at the dial above the oil tank. Empty. She frowned.

Back inside, a mug of coffee shared its heat with one hand as she thumbed through the Yellow Pages with the other. After enduring a tinny loop of Greensleeves for so long that she thought her ears might start to bleed, and being subjected to the interminable questions required to confirm her identity, Jude was finally able to make her request. I'd like to arrange an oil delivery please. We've run out.

There was a pause at the other end of the line. I'm afraid we won't be able to do that, Ms Winters.

Why ever not? The caffeine was starting to do its trick, and Jude was awake enough now to feel the first stirrings of annoyance.

I'm afraid there's a hold on your account.

A hold on our account? Jude felt stupid for just repeating the words, but this wasn't what she'd expected to hear. Why? How?

There appear to have been a couple of missed payments, and your account is in arrears. If you could make good the deficit, I could organise a delivery for you— there was the sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard, tomorrow. Do you have a debit or credit card that we can use to take payment?

Jude took a long breath, then scrabbled at the end of the bench for her purse. Credit card. That might be safest, though she hated being in debt. But in this weather, they needed to be warm. What on Earth's going on, though?

Mike Cole stepped down from the colourful InterCity as it disgorged its few passengers onto the platform, and hoisted a large navy rucksack onto his back.

The sleepy Scottish station had no obvious staff — but plenty of notices, billboards, and a cast-iron sign that proclaimed in Art Deco curves that he'd arrived at 'White Cairns'.

Shrewd blue eyes briefly surveyed his surroundings, and his nostrils flared as he drank in the clear air with its hint of peat smoke and pine needles. Yeah. He gave a faint nod, then slung a battered ski bag over his shoulder and strode off in the direction of the village.

Standing in the hall, Jude flipped through the pile of un-opened envelopes until she found the one she was looking for. An elegant logo adorned its corner, and an expensive corporate address was printed on its back. She ripped it open and scanned the columns.

'DR'.

How can we be overdrawn? Allan had been working in New Zealand for months and the business account should have been paying in to the joint account regularly. She checked the deposits column. The only entry in it was the three hundred pounds she'd paid in for that quick book jacket job she'd done last month.

Suddenly she understood the meaning of the phrase ‘her heart sank’. She walked woodenly back to the kitchen, feeling like a cylindrical hole had opened up in her chest and someone had dropped