All I Want For Christmas: Coming Home For Christmas, #4

By Sylvia McDaniel

In the Honeymoon Suite of Life, Love has Other Plans

 

Dr. Noel Baker and Dr. Hannah Young share a deep, unshakable friendship bound by their love for medicine. But the unspoken attraction between them remains a line they're hesitant to cross.

 

Noel carries the scars of his adoptive parents' professional rivalry that destroyed their personal lives. He's determined not to repeat their mistakes, especially with Hannah, who's become an essential part of his world.

 

Their lives take an unexpected turn when Noel goes to visit his father for Christmas and proposes that Hannah pretends to be his partner to protect their friendship. But Hannah craves more than a mere charade.

 

As they land in Missoula, an unforeseen blizzard traps them in a hotel's honeymoon suite, forcing them into four days of close quarters. Insta-love sparks, the line between a fake and real relationship blurs, challenging Noel and Hannah to confront their deepest desires and fears.

 

The storm raging outside is nothing compared to the emotions igniting within.Can their friendship survive when a fake relationship turns real?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Virtual Bookseller, LlC
• Release date: Dec 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781959689805

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Noah Baker stood at the rental car counter with his best friend and glared at the woman behind the computer. He refused to let her ruin this trip.

For the first time in years, he was going to spend his Christmas holidays with his father and his father’s new wife. After all the crazy they had experienced over the years with his mother, he was hoping that this time his father had found happiness. I rented a four-wheel drive vehicle just in case of a storm.

Sir, we have your vehicle ready, but what I’m telling you is that you are not going anywhere. The highway between here and Whitefish has been closed. I’m suggesting that you call this hotel right now and book a room before they’re all sold out.

Stunned, he glanced at Hannah. Had she heard what this woman was telling them? The roads were closed? Why would they close the roads? And hotel rooms selling out? It wasn’t like a rock concert was in town or anything.

What do you mean sold out?

The biggest storm of the season is expected to hit this afternoon. Right now, there are still hotel rooms available. Soon they will be filled with travelers getting off the highway, unable to go anywhere. You can take your vehicle, but you’re not getting out of town.

She spoke to him, a doctor, like he was an idiot. This would be his first Christmas with his father since the elder remarried and he wanted to get to Whitefish. But it looked like they were going to be delayed getting there.

Hannah had taken out her cell phone and called the hotel the girl recommended. Surprised, he watched her level-headed way of taking charge when he seemed reluctant.

This was why they worked so well together. Sometimes he got caught up in the details and Hannah just went with the flow.

The blonde-haired woman stood off to the side of the counter making the phone call.

Yes, ma’am. We just landed at the airport and they’re telling us to find a hotel room. Do you have any available?

She started laughing. All right, we’ll take it. Let me give you a credit card number to hold the reservation. We’ll be there just as soon as we leave the airport.

It appeared they had hotel rooms and would not be traveling to Whitefish today. He’d need to call his father and let him know the roads were closed.

Thank you, Hannah said to the clerk behind the counter. It’s all taken care of. We got the last room. Let’s get the Jeep, load up our suitcases, and go.

The girl behind the counter seemed relieved and he glanced behind them. There was a long line of people trying to get cars before this storm hit. Maybe he should be thankful they had a Jeep and now it appeared they had a hotel room.

Once they walked away from the counter, he caught up to Hannah. When we get our vehicle, check the local news websites to make certain the roads are closed. I can’t believe they would close a major highway before a storm began.

Wasn’t this when the snowplows were used? Was the girl lying to him?

You’ve never lived where there are snowstorms. In Wyoming, they have gates that come down and lock across the roads so people like you don’t get stuck in the snow and expect to be rescued.

Never would he have expected the roads to close, and besides, he was a smart man who would not take a chance if he didn’t think he could get through. And yet, right now, he wanted to get on the road to Whitefish. He wanted to see his father and meet his new stepmother. It had been so long since they spent time together and he was looking forward to seeing his parent.

At least his father was happy once again.

When they found their vehicle, they packed in their suitcases and then climbed into the Jeep.

As much as he wanted to meet his stepmother, he was glad that his best friend Hannah had agreed to come with him. She didn’t have a place to go so he invited her to tag along. Besides, he liked her being with him during difficult times and this felt stressful.

Friends for over six years, they had helped one another get through medical school, their residency, and now worked side by side at a hospital in Houston, Texas. And no, there wasn’t snow in Houston most winters.

She had her phone out, checking the highway department website for road closures.

All roads between Missoula and Whitefish are closed because of blowing snow. Evidently the storm is already impacting the area north of here that leads to Whitefish. We’re screwed. I’m glad I managed to get us a hotel room.

You only got one room?

That was all that was left. I had to give her a credit card number to put a hold on the room, otherwise, it would have been gone when we got there.

With a sigh, he followed the GPS directions to the hotel. As much as he and Hannah were close friends, he had kept it on a strictly friends basis. He’d watched his adoptive parents try to work together and the fights that ensued.

He wanted to keep his relationship with Hannah platonic. If they were to become lovers, he feared losing their professional relationship. And yet, there had been many times over the years that he’d longed to kiss her and do even more.

But that wasn’t possible.

And then he remembered how his parents argued. Both had been doctors just like him and Hannah. Both had been very intelligent people. Just like him and Hannah. And both of them had almost killed each other over their professional disagreements. Especially his mother. She’d been psychotic.

He drove the jeep through the small mountain town toward the destination Hannah had put in her phone. They had never shared a room before. Sometimes he wondered why she was still his friend after all these years.

It had started off with them being study buddies, but then they’d become friends, and now they were coworkers. Neither dated much, but occasionally, he would go out with a woman. Then he would discuss his date with Hannah and he would realize this person was not the one.

Sighing, he wondered how long a blizzard could last. He had two weeks off, but he had agreed to only stay with his father through Christmas. Then they would return to Houston and he could lounge by the pool, soak up some sun, relax, and rest.

Working as an ER doctor, he needed time away from the hospital and the things he saw. There were only so many bullet holes, stab wounds, rape victims, and drug overdoses, you could take in a short amount of time. There was only so much evil in people you could deal with in a week’s time.

Hannah also worked in the ER, but she loved it and seemed to handle the day-to-day problems better than he did. Sometimes he thought he should go into another field of medicine, but he hadn’t made that decision just yet. And there were times he truly enjoyed helping people.

Here we are, she said.

He pulled up under the awning just as the flakes began to fall like someone was dumping a large pail of the white stuff from the sky.

I think snow-mageddon has arrived, he said. Look at how big those flakes are.

And you wanted to drive to Whitefish, she said, getting out and going to the back for her suitcase.

Yes, he said. "I guess it’s better that we’re going to be stuck in this hotel. I wonder what