The Christmas Wedding Surprise: Your Invitation to Romance

By Caroline Mickelson

With her Christmas wedding only days away, single mom Lauren Hargrove realizes she can't go through with her plans to marry. Although her fiancé is a great catch, he's not Chase Aikman, the cowboy with a shy smile and twinkling eyes that Lauren's loved her entire adult life. Despite knowing there's no hope of a second chance with Chase, memories of the love and passion they once shared stand between her and a future with any other man.  All that Lauren has left of Chase is the six-year-old son they share, a son that he's never met.

 

Years of bareback bronc-riding on the rodeo circuit left Chase Aikman with a busted-up body and an alcohol and painkiller addiction. As he struggled towards sobriety, Chase did what he thought right by staying away from the only woman he's ever loved and the son he left her to raise alone.

When the two long separated lovers see each other again, will anger and resentment fill the space between them? Or will their Christmas gift be a second chance at a once in a lifetime love?

 

The Christmas Wedding Surprise is the fourth book in the Your Invitation to Romance series. If you like clean and wholesome stories, handsome cowboys, and tender second chance romances, then you'll enjoy Caroline Mickelson's sweet tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bon Accord Press
• Release date: Jan 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215191705

Book preview

image-placeholder

Copyright © 2022 Caroline Mickelson

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Chapter One

L auren, this is your mother calling. Again. There was a dramatic pause as the voicemail continued to replay the message. For the third time today.

Lauren Hargrove grimaced at her cell phone. She knew that tone. Her mother’s voice was usually calm, cool, and in complete control. Now, however, her words were laced with frustration. Lauren knew she’d dodged a bullet by not picking up the call, but she also knew the reprieve was only temporary.

Her wedding was less than ten days away, and her mother was counting down each moment as if it were a multi-billion-dollar, high-stakes space shuttle launch.

A shuttle launch that was never going to get off the ground.

What her mother didn’t yet know was that the wedding wasn’t going to happen. After weeks of sleepless nights, Lauren had made her final decision that very morning. She had to call off the wedding, there was no way she could go through with it.

Now she had to tell her fiancé.

And then her mother.

You can’t ignore me, dear, the sound of her mother’s voice filled the living room. We need to talk. Just because I’m two thousand miles away doesn’t mean I can’t be involved--

‘--in every little detail’ Lauren’s mind guessed at her mother’s next words.

--in every little detail, her mother’s voice continued. Call me. And remember to tell Hank that Nana loves him.

With a sigh, Lauren reached over and tapped the delete icon. She loved her mother, truly she did. But right now, she needed solitude and a chance to think things through. She glanced across the room to where Hank, her six-year-old son, was snuggled up asleep on the couch. As it always did when she looked at him, a smile stretched across her lips. Despite the fact Lauren’s mother could annoy her to a degree words couldn’t express, there was no denying that she adored her grandson. Their shared love for Hank was the strongest bond between mother and daughter.

Lauren turned her attention back to her phone. Her mother wasn’t the only one who wanted to get ahold of her. Plenty of other people had left messages for the bride-to-be, and Lauren knew she might as well listen to all of them now. She picked up her coffee cup and cradled it in her hands as the next one played.

‘Lauren, hey, honey. It’s Tina. Just calling to reassure you that we’ve got the catering for your big day under control. All the specialty menu items we ordered have arrived and we’re on schedule to serve up the most delicious wedding luncheon ever enjoyed in these parts. Call me if you have any concerns.’

Concerns? Lauren tightened her hold on the warm mug in her hands. She had plenty of concerns, but the wedding catering wasn’t chief among them. Again, she tapped the delete button.

‘Ho, ho, ho, how’s my favorite Christmas bride?’ The sound of the always jovial Dwayne Rollins, wedding photographer extraordinaire, filled Lauren’s living room. She glanced at Hank to see if the booming voice was disturbing his nap but it didn’t appear to. ‘Just calling to confirm that we’re set for your big day on the twenty-fourth,’ Dwayne intoned. ‘I’ve checked the weather forecast and it looks like we’ll have a clear day with sunny blue skies when you tie the knot. A big storm looks to be passing through between now and then but don’t worry, we’ll get you some gorgeous shots on your special day.’

A storm? Good grief, when had that come up? Lauren shifted her position on the couch so that she could see through the large picture window that framed a breathtaking view of the Rockies. Only a handful of puffy white clouds hung in an otherwise brilliant blue sky. From where she sat, the weather outside looked gorgeous.

But things weren’t always as they seemed, her own life was a perfect illustration of that. A clear sky today wasn’t a promise of clear skies tomorrow.

Lauren got up and tossed another log on the fire, appreciating the rush of warmth that followed. She stared into the flames, lost in her jumbled thoughts for a long moment. Besides her everlasting love for her son, the thing she was most grateful for was the knowledge that her best friend in the whole world was on her way from Texas. A glance at her watch confirmed that Cassie would likely arrive with her two young daughters within the hour.

She reached for her phone and scrolled through the rest of the missed calls to see if any were urgent. She knew she needed to call her wedding vendors to cancel but she also knew her first call had to be to her soon-to-be ex-fiancé, Phillip. She would call him right after she finished preparing lunch. Doubtless, when Cassie and her girls arrived, they’d be hungry. But just as soon as they ate, she’d make the dreaded calls and then curl up on the couch and pour her heart out to her best friend.

Lauren’s eyebrows lifted in surprise when she saw a missed call from a number with a Texas area code. Had Cassie changed her phone number? The call had come in two hours ago when she had been down at the barn. She tapped the message icon.

But it wasn’t her friend’s voice who greeted her. It was one of her daughters instead. Lauren’s heart swelled with affection as eight-year-old Sara’s voice greeted her. ‘Hi, Auntie Lauren, we’re almost there! We can’t wait to see you!’ but then the message cut out to a static sound that Lauren guessed was the phone dropping cell service. Which meant they were getting closer, as this was hardly an unusual occurrence in the mountains they needed to pass through to get to her ranch. A moment later Sara’s voice came back as clear as anything. ‘Mom wanted us to tell you that, okay? See you soon!’

Lauren frowned. Cassie wanted Sara to tell her what? For a moment, she considered calling back but then decided against it. Sara’s voice sounded upbeat enough that there likely wasn’t anything wrong. If she knew her best friend as well as she thought she did, Cassie was calling to request freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

With a fond smile, Lauren headed toward the kitchen. Cookies she could handle.

The familiar act of baking did wonders to soothe her frayed nerves. Seeing Cassie would make everything better, it always did. Dozens of memories paraded through Lauren’s mind as she poured chocolate chips into the mixing bowl. Despite coming from different parts of the country and having families that were as diametrically different as any two families could be, Lauren and Cassie had hit it off the first day they’d met at horse camp in the summer before fifth grade. They’d immediately become best friends and then, when Hank was born, they’d become family.

In all the years they’d known each other, the two women had never argued. No small miracle either, considering the heartbreak they’d had to pass through on account of Lauren’s love affair with one of Cassie’s brothers and her brief marriage to the other.

The magic of the first moment she’d met her friend’s brother had never faded from Lauren’s mind. Or heart. She’d accepted an invitation to visit Cassie’s family’s ranch the summer after their first year in college. She’d loved it all, Cassie’s boisterously loud, loving family, the Aikman’s working ranch, and West Texas itself. Most especially she’d fallen in love with Chase as naturally as stars shone in the nighttime sky.

A familiar painful sensation tugged at Lauren’s heart as memories of that long-ago summer flitted through her mind. She’d given her heart to Chase so willingly, had loved him so completely, and had suffered so terribly when a harsh reality had come between them.

Lauren shook her head. Enough. No more thoughts of the past. They were the reason she was in the position she was in – engaged to a man she liked but didn’t love. A man she couldn’t bring herself to marry. She let out a frustrated sigh as she dropped neat little balls of cookie dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Her friendship with Philip had always been comfortable, probably because she’d never felt about him the way she had about Chase.

An equine veterinarian, Phillip had never hidden the fact that his first love was his career. He was unapologetic that his work came first and everything else came second. That had never been a problem for Lauren, in fact, it had been a relief. A man who couldn’t give his whole heart to her had seemed a safe bet, and only fair, seeing as how she couldn’t give him her heart in return. When he’d moved several hours away last year, the miles between them had made their relationship even more comfortable. With Phillip in Denver, Lauren had grown accustomed to brief conversations a couple of times a week and seeing him about once a month.

When Phillip had proposed, Lauren had readily accepted. For all the wrong reasons, she now realized. Being a married woman meant her mother, her family, and her friends wouldn’t continue waiting and wondering if she and Chase Aikman would ever find their way back to each other.

That would never happen. The past was over, done and dusted. Her heart had been irretrievably broken. Which meant that thinking about Chase Aikman right now was the last thing she should be doing, especially if she wanted to keep a clear mind.

And she needed a clear mind. She had an engagement to end, a wedding to cancel, and her mother’s inevitable meltdown to handle.

Lauren slid the tray of cookies into the oven and then sagged against the granite countertop. Her decision was final. She wasn’t going to get married, which she believed deep down neither Phillip nor her son would mind. Although they got along well enough, they had never really bonded, which was one more reason not to go through with the wedding.

Still, as sure as she was, a part of Lauren’s mind wished the universe would send her an unmistakable sign that she was doing the right thing.

image-placeholder

Are we almost there, Uncle Chase?

Chase Aikman glanced up into the pick-up’s rear-view mirror and met his six-year-old niece’s gaze. He couldn’t help but smile at the eagerness he heard in her voice. We’re inching closer, sweetheart.

Inching? Addison scrunched up her nose. Can’t we go any faster?

We’ll be there soon enough, Addy, trust me. Just a little further to go. Why don’t you close your eyes like your sister and try to sleep?

The little girl shook her head. I’m too excited to sleep. She leaned back against the seat and yawned. I’m excited and nervous. Does that make sense?

It sure does. Excited and nervous was exactly how he felt about seeing Lauren Hargrove again after all these years. Chase reached over and turned down the volume to the country