A Tylerville Christmas: Touched By Tylerville...., #1

By Dre Leclaire and Day Leclaire

The Touched by Tylerville Series:

The home you always wanted with the town family you always needed, where miracles happen and happily ever after is guaranteed.

From USA TODAY bestselling author, Day Leclaire, and co-author Dre Leclaire comes a Christmas story guaranteed to fill your heart with the joy of the season!

Is there a limit to what you'll do to save a failing marriage? Is a lie for the right reason, wrong?

Will is determined to do whatever it takes to save his wife, Faith, and heal her heartache, even if it means pulling off the biggest deception of his life. With the help of his magical hometown, Tylerville, a surprise baby on the doorstep, three orphaned children, and a soul-deep love, Will and Faith discover that Christmas truly is the time for miracles.

A Tylerville Christmas is a contemporary romance novella previously available in the Dear Santa, I Really Tried boxed set. Written by USA Today bestselling author, Day Leclaire and her daughter-in-law, Dre Leclaire, this tale of love and redemption is sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

 

See what reviewers have been saying...

Amazon Reviewer: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★...A Special Read…. evoked memories of the movies 'Doc Hollywood' & "It's a Wonderful Life".  A small town story at its best. Yes, I was a true watering-pot.. lots of tissues.

Amazon Reviewer: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★...I'm usually not a fan of "Epilogue" romance stories. I love the newness and build up of a new romance, this couple changed my perspective. Author does an excellent job of writing the obstacles after the HEA ending. This husband's love for his wife is amazing. Yeah this is a grab the tissues one, outstanding story, one of the best I've read all year. I will be looking for more from this very talented author.

Amazon Reviewer: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★...This is a touching story about the way people should care for their family, friends and neighbors. We should all be so lucky to live in a small town like this at least once in our lives... if they even still exist.

Amazon Reviewer: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★...If you love a good Christmas Miracle, you HAVE to give this one a read!
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Day Leclaire Inc
• Release date: Feb 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781939925923

Book preview

A TYLERVILLE CHRISTMAS

A Christmas Novella

Description automatically generated with low confidence

By

Day & Dre Leclaire

USA Today Bestselling Author

Table of Contents

A TYLERVILLE CHRISTMAS

Table of Contents

Book Description

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Get a FREE Book!

Other Titles by Dre Leclaire

A Tylerville Jilted Bride Excerpt

Note From Day & Dre Leclaire

Meet Day & Dre Leclaire

Dedication

A TYLERVILLE CHRISTMAS

Table of Contents

Book Description

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Get a FREE Book!

A Tylerville Jilted Bride Excerpt

Note From Day & Dre Leclaire

Meet Day & Dre Leclaire

Dedication

Book Description

The Touched by Tylerville Series

The home you always wanted with the town family you always needed, where miracles happen and happily ever after is guaranteed.

A Tylerville Christmas

How much do you love your spouse?

Will is determined to do whatever it takes to save his wife, Faith, and heal her heartache, even if it means pulling off the biggest deception of his life. With the help of his magical hometown, Tylerville, a surprise baby on the doorstep, three orphaned children, and a soul-deep love, Will and Faith discover that Christmas truly is the time for miracles.

Note to Readers: A Tylerville Christmas is a contemporary romance novella previously available in the Dear Santa, I Really Tried boxed set. Written by USA Today and eleven-time RITA© (Romance Writers of America) finalist, bestselling author, Day Leclaire and her writing partner Dre Leclaire, this tale of love and redemption is sure to get you in the holiday spirit.  

Prologue

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"She’s going to leave me. I can see the writing on the wall as clear as if she’d spray painted it. I’m losing her." Will cradled his drink and stared across the desk at Dr. Talbot, the man who’d brought him into the world thirty-nine years ago. He was tempted to slam back the high shelf tumbler of whiskey but thought better of it. He loosened his tie and slouched back in the wooden chair, the sharp edges biting at the back of his thighs.

The job interview had decidedly taken a left turn.

A change of scenery is exactly what you need if you’re going to weather this.

Tal, as everyone in town called the doctor, matched Will’s casual demeanor, leaning back heavily in his own office chair, gently swirling the ice cubes in his glass. Though he was approaching his eighties, his eyes maintained their sharp clarity and his hands were rock-steady. A hint of grey whiskers covered his chin in concession to the lateness of the day.

Will’s loosened tie still strangled him. He pulled it off and undid his first button. He’d already shed his suit jacket the moment he’d met Tal at the front door of the clinic, the older man dressed in a worn pair of slightly wrinkled khaki’s, a button up plaid shirt, and a white lab coat. Will had forgotten how much walking into the Tylerville family practice seemed like coming home, even afterhours when all the patients were gone.

If I do this, Faith might leave me, he finally admitted.

She might leave you anyway. What have you got to lose?

Tal spoke with a candor often heard within the four walls of his practice. He was a straight-shooter, married to the job and a little rough around the edges. He’d spent a lifetime caring for others, and he’d made a point of staying out of the relationships of those around him, especially his colleagues. But the confirmed bachelor had been paying attention. Close attention.

I might lose everything. Painful doubt bubbled up in his stomach. Maybe it was the whiskey having its anticipated effect. He should have stopped for a sandwich after his five-hour drive.

You remember back when you did a rotation under me, and we had that patient that came in with a rash all over his backside that we couldn’t solve? Tal leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk, hands clasped under his chin.

John Peters, seventeen year old, right? The kid had been a medical mystery. They couldn’t pin down where terrible lesions were coming from all over his back, buttocks, and legs.

Right. We tried everything we could think of to treat him. Creams, steroids, changing his soaps, antibiotics. We drew enough blood from that kid to start our own blood bank. It took us being willing to send him on to a specialist to find out he was actually showing signs of Hutchinson Prurigo. Tal recounted the treatment plan as though he’d just been with the boy. His ability to recall such fine details about his patients, even years after the fact, was one of his personal superpowers.

Rashing up from sun exposure, but not on skin that typically sees the sun. Will remembered the boy. It had been one of his first major challenges outside of his hospital internships. How’s he doing?

He stopped skinny dipping and his butt cleared up. Tal’s mouth quirked in a wry smile.

The discovery that the boy had been skinny dipping came to light when he showed up with poison ivy in a most precarious location. The revelation had been the tipping point that guided the doctor and his intern to get the boy referred to a dermatologist with a specialty in genetic disorders affecting the skin.

Tal paused to take a long sip of his drink. You’ve been in practice now for almost a decade. You and I both have learned the best doctors are the ones who stay on their toes and keep their eyes open. They know when to stuff their own arrogance in their back pocket to refer patients out to specialists when needed.

What do you recommend, Doc? The whites of Will’s knuckles glowed under the fluorescent beam of the overhead, the stress radiating outwardly from his tense body. His head was starting to hurt.

You either go all in, do everything you can to save this marriage and her, or you pull the plug now and let it come to a peaceful end. Let that girl walk away and pray she finds someone else who can heal her heart. What do you want to do?

Fight with everything I have and save her. Save us. He spoke without pause, hesitation, or thought. There was no doubt he loved his wife beyond measure.

Then do it here, your home ground, with your people. Get her away from all the reminders of the things that tore your marriage apart. Let this town support you, lift you both up, help you rebuild. The old doctor spoke with uncharacteristic firmness.

And you’re sure about the terms? Will desperately wanted to save his marriage, but what the Doctor expected from him filled him with bone-deep fear. It was madness, unadulterated madness.

You know my condition for transferring this clinic to you. I want to retire soon, but I can’t in good conscious step down until I know everyone, and everything, is settled. The stubborn set to Tal’s jaw told Will all he needed to know.

What if it backfires? What if I can’t meet your condition? It was a simple question loaded with serious consequences. The doctor wanted Will to take on a responsibility that went above and beyond his medical practice. And he expected his wife to do the same.

And what if it’s exactly the risk you need to take? The Doctor locked eyes with Will and extended his hand. Do we have a deal?

I hope your relationship advice is as sound as your doctoring. We have a deal. Will reached across the old, scarred desk covered in charts and shook Doctor Talbot’s hand, praying he hadn’t just shaken on his own divorce decree.

Chapter 1

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"I’m not unpacking anything, Will," Faith announced.

They stood among the boxes towering in their new bedroom, her deep blue eyes daring him to engage. She pulled her black sweater tight across her middle, her arms folded across her chest. He couldn’t help but notice the color matched her mood. Brooding. It did nothing to dampen her beauty or his love for her.

Come on, Faith. Do you really want to live out of boxes for the next six months? He went for a gently teasing smile. You can’t stand it when the laundry isn’t put away straight out of the dryer. How are you going to tolerate six months of stacked boxes everywhere you turn?

Will dug through his duffle bag and found a pair of green scrubs. He’d planned to dress in black slacks with a dress shirt and tie, but the movers, in their scurry to be done before the Thanksgiving holiday, placed all their boxes, including his wardrobe, haphazardly throughout the two-story home. He’d yet to find his dress clothes. He should have ducked out of the last shift at the hospital and followed the truck here. Maybe then he wouldn’t be wearing purple dress socks with his tennis shoes.

I can’t do it, Will. She looked so alone. He would never get used to the change in her. Didn’t want to get used to it. Somehow, she’d gotten marooned on her own island with nothing but pain and isolation to keep her company. He desperately wanted to rescue her. To lift that burden from her shoulders. Why did you bring me here?

Because I love you more than anything else in the world, and you’re drowning in your own sadness. What good would it have done us to stay in that apartment in the city remembering all the grief? The helplessness?

The tears were back. He could see them across the room, and he wanted more than anything to hold her, love her. But he knew she wasn’t ready for that.

It hadn’t always been that way. Faith, in her best moments, lived her life on full throttle, vibrant and bright burning, sweet, kind. She’d been his biggest cheerleader and best friend through medical school, and when they wed, he knew they were destined for a lifetime of happiness. He’d married his true second half.

She was his everything.

Sweetheart, Christmas is in four weeks. Can’t we try, just for a little while, to be happy? Please? He knew it sounded like he was begging. He was. He just needed her to hold on a little longer. Keep trying, find her faith in them. He prayed his plan would breathe life back into her.

Why did they put us in this huge house? Don’t they know it’s just us? That it will only ever be us? She’d refused to answer his request about pretending to be happy. She’d led a genuinely joyful life up until the last two years of repeated failed fertility treatments. She’d held on to the hope that they would start a family through each of the failed cycles, and when they discovered it simply wasn’t possible for her to successfully hold a pregnancy, they’d stopped trying